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. 

 

Alturas Lake: Labor Day

 Here is a small glimpse of the fun we had at Alturas Lake over Labor Day. It was a nice weekend of fishing, swimming, sitting by a fire, eating, and chillaxing. The water was freezing cold, but that didn't stop us! The days were in the mid 80's but the nights were in the low 40's! Needless to say, we weren't quite prepared for the colder weather. At times, we had on every cold weather item that we brought. Glad the forest service let use have a fire within designated rings.

Here are a couple pictures of the the success that we had. I truly enjoy the expression on Elayna's face as her and Aunt Amy hauled in a nice rainbow. Ed, however, was experiencing some difficulties catching a trout, but when he finally had a hit and reeled the fish in, his expression was also priceless when he saw the lips of a big sucker coming out of the water! Once he moved off the lake and into the stream, he started catching real fish...kokanee Salmon!

Lastly, here are the animals that we saw on the trip. Some we brought with us, others we saw along the way. The woodpecker and the squirrel let me get quite close to them! The praying mantis Ed saw while we were stuck in construction from across the highway. The frog jumped off the bank right in front of Hannah, so we caught him and held him for a moment. It was cool to show Hannah all the bright red salmon. They were everywhere in the stream!

 

August Catch Up...A Month Late!

As soon as we moved to Boise, we decided that it was about time that they girls got a hair cut. Besides the fact that it was ridiculously hot, both Hannah and Elayna were starting to look a little scraggly! This would actually be Elayna's FIRST hair cut...not even a minor bang trim had ever been done to her. Not bad for a three year old! Hannah decided that she wanted a short hair cut...she definately got what she wished for. Elayna also wanted a short hair cut (mainly because Hannah got one) so I asked for a hair cut that was still long enough to pull out of her eyes, but short enough for her to notice! They both LOVE it.

Even though it had been quite hot, we still managed to get outside and play at the new park off of Eagle. It has sprinklers that turn on and off randomly, so it keeps the kids guessing...there is no rhyme or reason to their pattern (at least I didn't see one). Elayna loved to get wet, Hannah prefered to swing (she just learned how to do it herself) so she never got in the sprinklers. Not sure what it is with kids and sitting on sprinklers, but it is sure entertaining for the watching adults!

Mid August, we went camping to Stanton Crossing in the middle of Idaho. It was quite dry, pretty dusty and very smoky, but we still managed to pass the time fishing, swimming, watching the dogs and pulling out teeth! Beau was a little unsure of himself when it came to swimming, but between Hannah, Holly and Cooper, he "manned-up" and joined the swimming group. He finally decided he had had enough when Hannah took him riding down the rapids. Elayna wanted to ride the rapids, but got nervous once she entered the water and quickly ran back out. After we were all truly tired, we went back to the camper where Hannah successfully pulled out her first tooth (she had been trying for more than a month!). Needless to say, the tooth fairy had to find her location to the camper in Stanton Crossing.

This year was like my Kidergarten for Hannah...even though it was first grade. Since the time Hannah was three, she has been at the same school as me. I watched her through the preschool year, pre-kindergraten year, and kindergarten year. This year was the first time I sent her to a different school! The worst part was that I couldn't even take her. Her school day starts at 9:00 and mine starts at 7:30, so Ed had the pleasure of getting her there. HOWEVER, with our schedules so staggered, I can pick her up every day! As she walked out of class, she came out with the biggest smile I had seen in a long time. She came out screaming "I LOVE MY SCHOOL, and my teacher!" I guess knowing that she was enjoying life, it made it easier.

 After the first week of school, we took the girls to the fair. Elayna is still too small to ride most rides, and Hannah is barely too small to ride the adult rides, so we were quite limited on the amount of rides we could ride. Somehow we were able to stay busy riding the rides, feeding the animals, eating pronto pups and snocones, and visiting the butterfly gardens. I am pretty sure Hannah will be riding the Zipper with me next year since Edward refuses to !