November 2012

In November, we were blessed with the opportunity to see friends and family that we hadn't seen in quite some time. Melissa and Baby Davy a.k.a. Scooter came to Idaho Falls to visit. The girls truly enjoy seeing their Aunt and new cousin. We had lots of laughs and plenty of fun. Too bad the visits never seem long enough. Hopefully soon we will get everyone together for a longer period of time!

Over Thanksgiving, we went to Butte. Once again, it was great to see family that I hadn't seen in quite some time. I also got to meet my new baby cousin Otto. With so many family members, we had the Thanksgiving dinner at a nearby church. Elayna loved that red dress she is wearing. I don't think she took it off the entire weekend! Thanks Sam for sharing!

 

October 2012

Well, I had a SNOW DAY on Thursday, so I spent most of the morning putting together a couple more collages! Here is how we spent our October.

We started the month of by heading out for our annual hunting trip. This year we spent it up in Malta, Montana. My dad won an auction for a two day pheasant hunting trip for five with meals included. Not knowing what to expect, Amy,  Ryan, Ed, my dad, and me grabbed our gear and headed north. (Of course we dropped the girls off in IF to stay with Big Grandma, Little Grandma, and Papa, dogs stayed in Boise) When we arrived at the ranch, there was lunch already on the table...delicious! While there, we had some great meals, good hunting, fabulous weather, but most of all made some new friends. Here are some pictures of the week. Six boxes of shells, and limiting out twice, we had quite the successful weekend. We actually had another pheasant for dinner the other night, and my kids gobbled it up before we could have much of it!

Of course, with October, comes Halloween and Boo at the Zoo. This year we went to Boo at the Zoo in Boise. May I just say that Idaho Falls, you do a much better job. None-the-less, the girls loved it anyways. Having two little girls, Halloween will never be ghouls and goblins...it tends to be a never ending rotation of Disney Princesses. Last year we were Rupunzel and Cinderella. This year, Snow White and Ariel. Of course we wanted under the sea Ariel, so we needed a mermaid fin. Both kids truly loved the opportunity to dress like a princess.

Finally, we carved our pumpkins the weekend before Halloween. Ed drew the short straw and had to help Hannah carve her pumpkin. She always has some sort of unique, curvy face to carve out. This year, it was heart eyes. Elayna is much easier. She wanted basic shapes for the eyes and nose, and a fairly simplistic smile. I have her draw them first, then I try to replicate it. After Ed finished carving Hannah's pumpkin, he was out of energy to attempt something fancy for our pumpkin. So, he pulled out the drill and attempted to drill a nose into it. As you can see, it was quite humorous. Hannah and Elayna's contribution was gutting the pumpkins, and drawing faces on the remnants.

 

September 2012

Well, the blog has been evading me lately. Working the 14+ hours a day really can take away time from the little things. All spare time was spent with the kids...or traveling! Hopefully I can get the blog caught up and keep it there. However, I always tend to fall behind in the winter. I guess I can make that my New Year's Resolution.

Starting off the first of the three blogs is our Sage Hen Hunting Trip. Hannah looks forward to this trip, since it is a relatively mellow hunt, with not much walking. She did have to get out and hike for about 3 miles or so. She only started complaining at the furthest point from the truck. Funny how time repeats itself. I remember a similar hike when I was 6. None-the-less, she enjoyed herself. Her favorite part was spotting the birds from the sun roof. Elayna (only being 3) was left with grandma. She knows that when she is 4, she can start coming out with us as well. She actually told the waiter at the restaurant that the other day...couldn't believe she remembered. I guess we better hold up to our end of the deal.

After hunting, Ryan's band was playing down at the Teton Harley Davidson. We quickly showered and ran down there to listen for a bit! It was great to see friends and family that we hadn't seen for some time. Here are a couple of pictures of the rest of that weekend.

Lastly, Hannah had her first swim meet with the BoiseY Swim Team. She continues to speed up on her times and has made a very good friend on the team. He is also 6 and the two are inseperable at the meets and at practice. Elayna is very excited to start swimming with Hannah. We recently enrolled her in swim lessons at the YMCA as well. She is already a level 2. I told Hannah to watch out. If Elayna keeps it up, they will actually compete against each other in a couple of years. She keeps telling me she wants to swim in the big lanes with Hannah. With her determination, I believe that she will be there before we know it.