Tubing With Uncle Matthew

My cousin Matthew (whom my kids refer to as "Uncle Matthew") came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. He grew up in So. Cal. and now lives in AZ so, funny thing, he's NEVER been in the snow. Go figure right? Well, of course, we just had to take him up on the mountain to play in the white stuff. We bought a few tubes from a local tire shop and headed up. We had a lot of fun, although the hike to the hill and then up it was a killer. We'll opt for a tubing spot closer to the road next time. Can't wait to go again!!!

Here is our car, loaded and ready for some fun in the snow.

Talon had a blast climbing up and down snow banks while we loaded the tubes back onto the car. In this picture, Josh has just thrown him into the snow. He loved it!!!

Uncle Matthew and Talon. Kaleb was too cold for the picture.

Kaleb and Talon...all bundled up.

Uncle Matthew trying to decide if that was worth the lung burning climb to the top. You have to remember, he's from AZ (600 ft. above sea level). At the top of Fairview Canyon it's about 10,000 ft. We didn't even warn him. How mean was that?

Josh and Talon. Tal sure doesn't mind the hike to the top.

You're almost there...keep going. Josh, Talon, and Uncle Matthew at the top resting before the ride down.

Yay for Uncle Matthew!! His first tube ride down a snowy mountain. Good thing we were there to document this special occasion. 

Bowling With Old Friends

I recently  a chance to catch up with an old friend from Snow College. We hadn't spoken in 10 years and we found each other on facebook (my new best friend).  It was so fun to catch up. We had our teeth cleaned (he's a dentist now), went to dinner and went bowling. Poor Steve got creamed by everyone but the babies. Ha ha ha!!! But we had such a great time and it's so fun how friends can still be friends no matter how long you've been apart. Here are some pictures from our fun night out.

This is all of us bowling together. So fun!!

Keep your chin up Steve. You'll have your chance next time.  

Here we go Tal...give it a great big push.

Great job Kaleb!! STRIKE!!!

Check out these cute little bowling shoes. I didn't know they made them this small.

Just Wondering...

My sister-in-law, Hailee, is getting married next month and I get to be the Maid of Honor (actually, I guess I would be the Matron of Honor, but that makes me sound old) so I thought it would be okay if I was a little different than the other girls. Our dresses are hot pink and really cute, so I thought these shoes would be appropriate. Hailee loves them, and that's really all that matters right? But I was just wondering...would you wear these shoes if you were in a wedding?

Can Lights and a Tub

The electrician finished up our house the other day and we couldn't be more excited about our lighting. We added can lights throughout the kitchen and living room for some extra light. I am very glad to be able to  have a nicely lit house.

This picture is looking into the kitchen. It's hard to see them, but there are 6 can lights there and there will also be 2 pendant lights over the island.  

This shot is looking into the living room toward the front door. In here we added 6 cans in the actual living room and then the 2 farthest cans are directly over the walkway between the living room and the wall to the front bedroom. I can't wait to see them all lit up.

And finally...the tub we've been waiting for. This one is a winner. The bath/shower combo that the plumber put in was so awful. 9 1/2" to the bottom of the overflow drain wouldn't have even let the water cover our bodies. Plus, it was the same tub/shower that we had when we lived in student housing. That's pretty lame. So, we ordered this tub and now, we'll be able to enjoy a nice soak every once in while. Hooray!!!

Coby is 10 Months!!

My how time flies. Coby is already 10 monts old. He is so much fun too. He loves crawling around and following his brothers. He plays so good with toys and loves to stand up next to things and let go. He'll stand there forever and  squawk at himself. He is also trying to walk, but only behind a push toy for now. We are so proud of you Cobster and we love you.

Here is Coby sitting in a basket chewing on his favorite teethers...nerf bullets. It doesn't matter how may teethers we buy, he won't use them. He prefers these instead.

Coby...just happy and playing.

Happy 2nd Birthday Kaleb!

Kaleb's birthday was actually 3 weeks ago and boy did we have fun. His birthday was on a Thursday and everyone couldn't come for a party until Sunday so we got to drag it out for 4 days.  It was great!  Josh and I hung streamers all over and blew up 70 balloons.  The kids were so excited to see the decorations and loved playing with the balloons. The morning of his birthday we had muffins and, of course, his had a candle to blow out. After dinner that night we had ice cream bars. Then on Sunday we had cake and ice cream with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Hailee, Uncle Chet, Grandpa Larry, Grandma Colleen and Tate. What a blast to have everyone here. Kaleb and the boys had a great time.

Here is Kaleb blowing out his candle the morning of his birthday.

Ice cream bars for dessert anyone?  Kaleb liked them so much he ate almost 2 whole ones.

Kaleb opening presents at the Sunday party.

Here he is with his cake and Grandma and Grandpa.  

Happy Birthday Kaleb!!  We love you so much!

Dried In (Mostly)

A couple of weeks ago, we tar papered the roof. So, we are almost officially dried in. Now all we need are shingles, doors and windows. The plumbers, the electrician and the heat guy have all been hard at work on the inside these past couple of weeks (pics of the inside coming soon). We are excited with how fast things are moving along. Now, it's on to the neighbor's house until we are all at about the same spot.  

Cole, Dan (Spencer's Dad) and Tim on the roof.

Rear view of the house all papered.

Same 3 guys, still hard at work. Just in case you are wondering, Josh was working this day, but doing other things. Other people offered to get on the roof and help, but these guys had a system.

Front tar paper...DONE!  Now it looks even more like a house.

Free Photo Book

I saw this on one of my friends blogs. I know some of you didn't get a chance to do the photo book from Snapfish so here is another great opportunity. Follow this link, make your book and use bzzalbum as you coupon code. I've already started my book...good luck with yours!!

http://mommysnacks.blogspot.com/2009/01/snack-time-free-photo-album-at-hoorray.html

House Building Fools

We have been hard at work trying to get our house, and 2 others, ready for shingles, interior doors and windows. Josh is so great to come home from work and go right back again. I never hear a complaint. I go when I can (I totally love it!) and help with whatever I can. Here are a few pics of the recent progress.

I got this AWESOME tool belt from my Father-In-Law for Christmas.  I think it's the greatest thing I've ever seen. It's pretty handy too.

These are a few of the interior walls. This picture is looking toward the front bedroom.

This picture is looking through the kitchen/dining room to the living room and through the master bedroom closet. See what will be the stairway to the basement on the left?

On Saturday, we worked on sheathing the gable ends and doing the over builds on the garage and over one of the front bedrooms. Here we are in progress on the south gable end.

Gable end complete!

These last two are for my dear Mother. Everytime I climb up on the roof or in the rafters I think of her. She'd probably have a heart attack if she came and watched me work. Love you MOM!

This is me helping nail up the fascia board to the outside of the first truss over the garage. It doesn't look as high up as we really were.

Here we are again. Josh, Cole and I, nailing on the barge rafters. "Hi Mom!"

Road Trip, Christmas and the House

We had quite an eventful Christmas with our drive to Washington. The weather on the way up was pretty bad.  We had to go through Pocatello because I-84 was closed through Snowville. Then we had to drive really slow through the Columbia Gorge. The kids were troopers though. Luckily Costco had a DVD player to replace our broken one or we would have been in deep trouble. Here are a few pics from the last few weeks.

Here is Coby in the car. He played with his feet most of the way to Washington. I guess I'm glad he was entertained by something. What a happy boy.

Talon and Kaleb found an empty wrapping paper roll. I'm not sure how it got in the car, but they split in half and played sword-fighting for a while. It was pretty funny.

This is a picture from the drive. The wind was blowing like crazy when we got to the Blue Mountains. It wasn't snowing much, thank goodness, but the wind was a little scary.

Here is a picture just out the window of the car.  It's the Columbia River surrounded by snow.  I thought it was gorgeous.  

When we got to the Columbia Gorge, there was about 18 inches of snow on the ground and about 6 inches on the road. The last 70 miles of the trip we had to go 30mph. We weren't sure if we were going to make it to Washington before Santa did. But all was well and we made it. Phew!! 

I thought these trees covered in snow were so beautiful.  Josh and I were amazed through this part of the drive at how gorgeous everything was all covered in snow.

On Christmas day, it snowed flakes the size of silver dollars. This was a rare treat because it hardly snows in Vancouver anyway, so to see it on Christmas day was amazing.

Here are the kids with Papa waiting to open gifts.

Josh and I got matching aprons (for the house) that say, "NO! I'm the boss." Although we all know who is really the BOSS. (Ha ha...Love you Josh!)

We had so much family in town for my sisters wedding (which I don't have pictures of) that my mom decided to do a family dinner on Sunday, Dec. 28th. It was so fun. We had tons of people there from both sides. What a great night! We are all so scattered that we don't get to see each other much. I even got to spend time with my cousin Matthew whom I haven't seen for over 10 years.

Here are Uncle Ray, Aunt Charlotte and Cousin Juliana.

Coby and my beautiful cousin Mercedes.

When we got home, we had another Christmas with my in-laws. They brought the gifts to our house and we had lunch, opened presents and did a family picture. We all had so much fun!

Kaleb and Talon in the snow bibs they got for Christmas. That's going to make playing in the snow much more fun.

Coby got this big stuffed fish from Uncle Chet. He and Grandma are checking it out.  

When we got back from vacation, they had the inside walls of our house built, the trusses on and part of the sheathing on the roof.  It was a Christmas Miracle!