A new adventure

Ice skating! That's right - we went ice skating. Premier had a family friendly ice skating party on 12/21 so Jaisha, Jamie, Ethan and I all went. They had skates Ethan's size so we suited up and away we went. Well, not quite that easily... We got the skates on and Ethan was able to walk pretty well on the spongy surface. So, with trepidation and anticipation, we shuffled over to the ice. Jaisha had Ethan's right hand and I had his left and onto the ice we went. Well, Ethan thought it would be great to slide his feet back and forth over the ice while Jaisha and I held him up. He scooted and wiggled all around giggling all the way. After about 30 feet of laughing and trying to keep our balance as well as his, Jaisha and I turned back. Again, giggling all the way, we made our way back to the entrance of the rink. At that point, we grabbed a cookie (with M&M's - of course!) and some hot chocolate and decided to sit for a break. Ethan sat causually swinging his feet, eating his cookie, and repeating "Fun, Mama. Fun!". Overall, it was a fun experience and nobody got hurt or even fell (including me!). Looks like we'll have to go again!

Snow day!

It has snowed since Ethan was born, but this is really the first time we could take him out to enjoy it! It started snowing on Friday evening and tapered off on Saturday. Sunday, on the other hand, it really blasted! We took Ethan outside and let him play. His favorite activity was to fill up his Tonka dump trucks with snow and them dump them out again. We tried sledding on Sunday, but he really wasn't into it - I think the snow was coming down in his face. We did try again on Tuesday and he liked riding around the yard on the sled - courtesy of Mommy! So, enjoy the pictures and I hope you are all keeping warm!

Ethan's Birthday Party

Ok, ok - I haven't been very good about updating. I want to post Ethan's pictures and info for his birthday party and then we'll go back for mine. I know many of you are wanting to see pictures from my surprise birthday party - hopefully soon!

So - here goes the story of Ethan's enormous birthday party. Since we have a bigger house, I thought we would do one big party. Well, good news is that most people showed up! We feasted on lasagne, Caesar salad, and garlic bread. Of course there was a cake. We did Costco for the cake and I decorated it with tractors and farm animals - Ethan's favorites!

Not only did Ethan get his favorite things on his cake, he also got MANY MANY presents! Thank you to everyone who gave to the 'worthy cause'! We opened books, motorcycles, new dishes, trucks, blocks, clothes, and about 100 tractors! Well, maybe not 100, but it felt like it. He also got an awesome Harley Davidson coat, a playdoh set, and a basketball hoop that he has recently enjoyed.

Overall, this was a great day. We got to see family and friends and we all watched the Apple Cup together (we had both Husky and Cougar fans in the house...). Everyone had a great time - especially the big boys! Steve and Tyson had some fierce balloon competition going - you'll have to ask Ty who won that battle! Thanks again to everyone for spoiling the child - can't wait for Christmas!

Pumpkin patch

It's that time of year where we get to experience the pumpkin patch! Jaisha, Jana, Alex, Ethan and I went to the pumpkin patch in Everson on the 14th. There were goats, horses, ducks, turkeys, and even a donkey! Alex enjoyed a ride on the train, but Ethan wanted nothing to do with it. It's probably because he saw the tractor with the hayride! That was really all he wanted once he saw there was a tractor. After the train ride, we all piled onto the trailer for the hayride to the pumpkin patch. We got to the pumpkin patch, grabbed out wheelbarrow and went on the quest for the perfect pumpkin. There were many to choose from, but we ended up with a tall, skinny pumpkin and a couple of weird-o's to take home with us. We also got to pick apples from the orchard. The boys were starting to get hungry and tired, so we skipped the corn maze and rode the tractor back to the main drag. Overall, we had a great day with lots of fun memories. Both boys continue to talk about the pumpkin patch and tractor ride. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Weekend fun

Last weekend was a fun one for us. On Friday night, we went and watched out neighbor, Tony, play football. Of course Jamie was there, but Alex joined us! They cheered and had fun making noise for the home team. Looks like football games are going to be a part of our future...

On Sunday, Alex turned 3! Jana and Aaron hosted a birthday party at their house. Aaron just finished building the monster truck tree house. What a great structure! The kids just loved it. I was pretty impressed on how it all turned out. Alex got lots of Thomas the Train stuff and really enjoyed opening his presents. Ethan was right there "willing to help" Alex if he needed it. I am sure he is primed and ready for his birthday now.

Plumbing too?

Yes, we've had a huge undertaking with the remodel of our roof. We are still in the process of finishing it, so I'm not posting pictures until it's done. It does look 100% better than when we started, but we have several finishing touches that still need to happen.

So, a couple of weeks ago, Dan was curious why our water pump would randomly turn on when nothing was running in the house. As you know, curiousity killed the cat! Dan began digging around the water line and discovered a leak. Now another project begins. Luckily, this is a quick, one-day project where Dan replaced the water line from the pumphouse all the way into the house. Of course, when Dan was done, Ethan wanted to "help" replace the dirt. I've included a couple of pictures of Ethan "helping" Dan at the end of the day.

Roof construction

Well, I know you have all been on the edge of your seats, just waiting for me to post the 'construction' piece of the roof. Well, your wait is over! There are TONS of pictures,so I am going to post a few of the most interesting. Many of these show the many people who helped us out along the way. Most notably, we are SO THANKFUL for Loren, Jim, Steve, Ross and many others that were part of the adventure.

Roof tear down

As many of you know, we have been wanting to put a new roof on the house. Well, for the last 3 weeks or so, we have been doing just that. We began tearing the old roof off the house at the end of July. Of course, we have found many exciting treasures. To begin, we discovered 3 layers of composite roofing under the existing metal roof. There was also a colony (herd, horde, group, gaggle, hertle?) of bats living in the attic crawl space (insert "ewww" or "gross" or another applicable comment here...)! We counted at least 35 of them coming out one night. We also found an old, abandoned GI Joe - which probably just fell out of Bear's pocket. We all know how much he used to love GI Joe's! Anyway, the scariest part is the live, melted wire we found after removed the old insulation. Needless to say, we are now 2/3 of the way to new electrical wiring all through the house. Expensive endevour, but well worth the cost. So, for now, I'll post the demolition pictures for you to enjoy. We are still doing some finish work, but I'll get some current pictures up soon of the almost finished product.

The two boys...

I know it's been awhile so I'll be doing some catch-up on the old blog. This is just a short one with some pics from yesterday. Alex and Ethan were playing and wanted to "sleep". As you can see, it was too cute!

The Deming Log Show

This year was Ethan's second year at the log show. Last year, he slept through most of it and didn't really get into it. This year is a different story. He was so excited to see log trucks, tractors, and chainsaws! We walked around quite a bit and enjoyed all the exhibits. We eventually ran into Jamie ~ one of his favorite people! Jamie took Ethan down the big tube slide and then on to the swings. He had never been on a slide before and he loved it! At the end of the day, around 4:00, Grandma Linda came to pick Ethan up to spend the night. He was so exhausted (with no nap) that he fell asleep in my arms as we were walking out of the arena! That alone shows how much fun he had. Can't wait for next year!

Guess who got buzzed...

Hey all - I know it's been awhile and I have a ton to blog about, but hey, I've been busy! So, here is a brief one. Last night, after sweating all weekend long and getting mucky hair, I shaved Ethan's head. Yes, his blonde locks are gone. So, here is a picture of my little boy (notice I don't say baby...) I'll have more later. :)

The luau

As you all know (I think you do anyway...) we had a surprise luau for Mom's 50th birthday. What a great time! Jaisha, Jana, Becki, and I made almost 200 shish-kabobs and 6 kinds of Jello shooters on Friday night to prepare for the big day.

On Saturday, people started arriving after 1:00. We parked in the field at our house - lucky for us, Mom is oblivious to these types of activities. She didn't even think the cars in the field were weird! We were all waiting patiently in the shop for Mom to arrive around 3:00 or so. Well, after waiting for 15 minutes, Jana called her and found out she was still at home! Yikes! Needless to say, the party continued anyway and we prepared for the surprise later.

So, when Mom finally arrived (an hour late) we partied! I got her a grass skirt and fun print t-shirt and flip-flops so she could be "Hawaiian". We grilled our shish-kabobs and ate a TON of food. What a great time - there were family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors.



Even though it rained, we all had a great time. Hopefully the pictures come through (we only have 70 of them!).


I hope you all enjoy!