4th of July

This year has been the first year since we got married that Jeff was not on duty during the fourth of July yeah! The best part is that Bay is that bay is not a newborn with colic and he is old enough to enjoy fireworks. Last year was a pretty tough year for me since bay was so miserable with colic. Since Jeff had the holiday off we decided to go down to Twin Falls and spend the day with Jeff's family. We got there in the afternoon and stayed until late that evening. We were able to visit with Jeff's grandma, his parents, and Candace Chad and Emma.
That afternoon we went to the old part of downtown and walked along the businesses and looked at lots of handmade quilts that there displayed in the windows. Now I don't know how to sew at all but I definitely can appreciate the had work that went into those amazing quilts. After the quilt walk we went back to house and had BBQ burgers and the traditional 4th of July trimmings. After dinner we visited and Jeff's family watched bay for a bit while Jeff and I went for a drive down into the canyon in the Jeep. I miss our Jeep but appreciate Jeff's parents taking care of it for us. When we got to the river Jeff decided to jump in and convinced me to do the same.
It felt so good.
After our Jeep ride we returned back to the house to visit some more and decide our plans for the evening. The College of Southern Idaho puts on a firework show every year at the college that we were going to watch from Jeff's parent's roof but the neighbors tree was perfectly placed right in the way so we gave up on that idea pretty fast. Instead we did some fireworks out front of their house.
Bay was mesmerized by the colors and the noises, he loved them! We had a great fourth of July!

Bay's first really nasty boo boo

I have to preface this post a bit so bear with me...

Whiskers has been driving us nuts for the past 12 hours. She is getting into everything and won't leave us alone (she is usually like this after we return home from a trip! Today she was being her bad self and jumped up into the pantry onto the lowest shelf of canned goods. I tried to scare her out but Bay thought it was great having her cornered at his level. In the process of trying to get her out a can of string beans fell off the shelf and onto bares bare foot. This was the result...
I don't know if Bay has ever screamed quite that hard before. I thought it just scared him but when I looked at his foot I could see that it was painful. I feel terrible that he got hurt but am grateful that it ended up just being a scrape and a nasty bruise rather than a broken foot. As a result of this fun episode we are not having the pantry door closed at all times in order to prevent further incidents like this one

out with the old in with the new....

Jeff and I have been talking about how we needed to buy a vehicle that is more family friendly and we could travel in together. We love our truck but it is not the most comfortable vehicle for all three of us to travel in since the person in the passenger has to bite their knees in order for Bay to have enough room for his legs in his car seat. We also loved our Honda Civic as well but that car had not been dependable enough for us to drive long distances and we were afraid it was going to die anytime on us. It was just not the best situation.

We were planning on saving up and purchasing a Honda or Toyota car next summer but when we heard that my grandparents were selling their Honda we became very interested. They had a 2002 Honda CR-V that was in amazing condition that they were selling since they were going to buy a new Toyota. We talked it over with my grandparents and with each other and we decided that we were going to do it...we were going to buy the car from them. The next step was how to get it back to Idaho and to sell our Civic, both of which were easy tasks to do.

We put our Civic up for sale on Craigslist and it was sold in about a hour and a half. It was so amazing! We decided to fly into Salt Lake and see my sister and pick up the car and drive it home...It worked out so nicely to see family and get the car all at the same time. As for the Honda Civic...I don't miss it much.

I loved the car but the CR-V has already been such a nice vehicle for us. I love it and can't thank my grandparents enough for giving us the opportunity to purchase their car...we feel like we are in heaven now having a car that is so perfect for us!

utah in review

We are back from our trip to Utah. We had a nice visit with my sister and my grandparents and best of all I got to pick up my new car! We flew in Monday afternoon and were picked up by my grandpa. Once we got our luggage we headed to Riverdale Utah near Ogden to visit with my grandparents some more and finish tying up any loose ends for the purchase of the vehicle. Bay's great grandma taught him how to stack and knock over dominos. He thought it was great.

After visiting with them we went down to my sister's house in Springville to see he family and finally get to hold my new little nephew and see my sister and her husband. Cute little Eli...isn't he just the cutest baby ever! I love his hair!

We spent the next two days there trying to help my little sister with the baby and meals. Can I just say that he is one of the most beautiful babies ever. Eli was sooo cute and I just loved being able to see him and hold the cutie pie! I don't know what it is but my siblings and their spouses have made some way cute babies (and in talmadges case they adopted a cutie!).The poor little guy has had a rough few weeks because of tummy troubles. We tried to be helpful and make meals and do some things around their house as well as enjoy their company. We had a really nice visit with them and then packed up later in the evening and headed back to my grandparents for another visit. We spent about 2 hours or so there before we drove on to Twin Falls to spend the night with Jeff's parents. Relaxing with my grandparents on their porch.

After staying the night there we had breakfast and lunch and visited before heading home to Eagle. It was a great trip especially since we had such a nice car to travel in!

chickens

My brother and his wife recently built a chicken coop this spring/summer and while we were visiting Oregon we got the chance to check it out. Bay thought the chickens were great, he even talked to them. Someday years down the road from now we hope to do the same and be able to have a few birds of our own. I was very impressed at how my brother and his family worked to make the coop happen, and the work that his wife did in designing it. Look at how neat the coop is.

bay's first trip to the beach

Bays first trip to the beach was very memorable. The sun was shining, the beach was beautiful but the wind was anything but cooperative, and the water was cold. He spent a long time just putting his hands in the sand and feeling its texture. The best part was for once he did not try and eat it. He also thought the seagulls were great! He spent a long time just chasing them all over the lawn, it was so cute. Despite the cold wind it was really fun to be able to take him to the beach, a place that holds many memories for Jeff and I.

Roads End Beach. The weather is deceiving since you cant "see" the wind
Daddy and Bay braving the wind at the beach.
Watch out seagulls, Bay is mobile and is on the loose. He did pretty well keeping up with the birds
Mommy and Bay enjoying the sunshine and braving the wind.

shelburg falls

While we were in Oregon we had the chance to do a really amazing hike. One of my dad's students told him about a waterfall that many people do not know about that is located near the well known silver falls. We decided to check it out and were amazed at what we found. It was a beautiful hike, that was well worth the trip. We even found out that you can drive up really near the falls and there are campsites. We decided that we needed to go back and camp at a later date. Here are some pictures from the hike...enjoy!
Notice how lush the foliage is. It was so beautiful and green
This waterfall rivaled all of the ones at silver falls state park. When you look at this picture you can see why.
My dad took this picture for us and it actually turned out being really nice.
They guys took turns carrying Bay and as you can see he loved it!

waterfront park

we finally made it to Salem. My dad was teaching classes that day so we went out to the studio to surprise him. When we got there we were the ones that were surprised because my mom just happened to be there as well. We got a two for one deal. We visited for awhile before heading home and getting ready for my nieces birthday party. The party started at the best local pizza place called Walrey's Pizza. We had dinner there and then went over the bridge to waterfront park for cake and presents. Bay thought it was great to be able to run around and play with grandpa, daddy and his cousin.

Papa or grandpa lee always loves to play with his grandkids
Auntie Amy couldn't get enough of holding little Bay. Don't you love the hat?
Here is what the bridge looks like looking from one end to another.
We went to the waterfront park a couple of times during our visit. One evening after dinner we went down to the other side of the park and walked across the old railroad bridge. The bridge was changed from a railroad bridge which is no longer in service to a pedestrian bridge. They did a great job renovating it and making it safe and enjoyable for the public,the best part was the beautiful view of the river.

portland audubon society

After the purse episode the day before I was ready to have a much better day. We slept in that morning and by the time we were checked out of the hotel it was lunch time so we ate lunch for breakfast. We decided to go to our favorite local fast food restaurant Burgerville. Let me just say that is the best "fast food" place ever. They are a local chain that believes local sustainable and environmental practices. The quality of their food is amazing the their selection is not too shabby either. We had fresh strawberry shakes there that were awesome! After breakfast we headed to Portland where we stopped at the audubon society center. The center was really neat it had education birds (unreleasable birds used for educational purposes) nature trails, and a great gift shop. Bay really enjoyed looking at all the stuffed birds and walking along the nature trails. One of the volunteers and an education bird (a peregrine falcon).
Daddy and Bay walking across a bridge on one of their beautiful nature trails
Jeff took this picture of me carrying Bay along the nature trails
Beautiful pavilion nestled in a pond. The pond was full of yellow bellied salamanders. We spend about a hour or two at the center before driving to Salem. I would highly recommend checking this place out if you ever get a chance! A big thank you to my sister in law and brother for recommending it to us!

enjoying some whip cream

I made some whip cream the other morning and decided that I would share the beater with Bay. He seemed to really enjoy them what do you think?

road trip...

I am regressing with these posts back about a week sorry but we have been busy...I have to sometime catch up to where we are today...Our road trip to Oregon was almost perfect. Bay was an angel and we didn't have to stop except for gas and bathroom breaks (for us that is). Bay was such an angel and so content the whole trip! We took our first real break in Hood River Oregon which is only about and hour and a half from our destination. Daddy and Bay in Hood river. The pergola is on a walkway that overlooks the river.We had dinner up by the library on the hill which had a killer view. It was perfect weather and Bay loved being outside and walking around.
We had the best ice cream I have ever had at this place called Mikes. It was to die for. I am not a fan of banana flavored anything but this ice cream was sooo good. We decided to get a flavor that all of us could share and something we thought bay would like so that is how we ended up with banana. I have to say that I was impressed with this place because their place was a "green" establishment. They used hormone free milk and natural flavors in their ice cream and their spoons were made from corn..so they were biodegradable. So cool! This is Bays ice cream face. He does this face whenever anything is really cold.

About 20 mins down the road I realized that I had left my purse in boardman at a gas station. We had to drive back over 100 miles to get it. Luckily a little old lady had turned it in for me and everything was still inside and undisturbed. It gave me a little renewed faith in humanity and that there are people that are genuinely good still in the world. Yikes that could have been bad. Since we had an extra 3 hours on the trip courtesy of me we decided to stay in a hotel in the Dalles. We stopped and looked at 2 places both of which were either way expensive or were full. Let me just say the motel 6 was perfect and a steal of a deal at 12:30 at night. Luckily we got one of the last 2 non-smoking rooms with a king sized bed...the next morning we were off to salem. I will have to report more on the next day of the trip in another post...

fathers day 2009

Father's day was pretty different this year. Jeff and I got to celebrate father's day with his family at Carmela's vineyard. This place is the same place we did mother's day with his family. We got to have brunch and had a tee time to golf but that did not seem to work as this nasty storm rolled in. We actually ended up staying there almost 2 hours longer than anticipated to wait out the storm. We decided not to drive home in the nasty storm. I took a movie because I didn't think anyone would believe how bad it was. I was a dork and forgot to take a picture of the album that I made Jeff for his first year being a father...sorry ! Enjoy the mini movie and the storm pictures...these are all the pictures that we had from that beautiful day! These are the first clouds that were rolling in but as you can see they got much worse. These were the clouds that packed the punch of the nasty thunder and lightening and the rain!

mix of photos

Its been entirely too long since I have posted...sorry. We (Bay and I) are currently in Oregon as our carpet is being ripped up in our house and the installation of the new stuff happens Tuesday. We decided since the carpet out gasses and we don't want to be exposed, and we really don't have a baby friendly place to stay. It all seemed to work out with my parents already driving out for my little nephews blessing over the fourth of July we decided to hitch a ride. A free ride home and a few more days with my parents equals a good solution. I have a million pictures to post so I will do many posts.We have been busy in Oregon doing all kinds of great things as a with my family but those pictures will come later so stay tuned. Here are a few older ones...enjoy!
Whiskers has been sleeping in the washer on the clothes that need to get washed, we have learned to be careful as to not start the washer without checking for the cat.
This is the jogging stroller that my brother and his wife let us borrow...we love it..and so does bay.
Finally this is the newest thing that Bay is doing. He started sticking his tongue out and pulling at it. We see lots of his tongue these days.

The Birthday Boy...

Jeff's birthday was awhile back but here is a run down of what transpired on that special day. Jeff got off shift that morning and I we went for a walk to Rembrandt's an amazing church that was renovated and turned into a neat coffee shop. We shared a scone and got a couple of drinks and just spent about a half hour to an hour just enjoying each others company. Then that afternoon we met up and had an amazing lunch at Tucano's a new Brazilian restaurant in Boise. I had heard good things about their food but nothing could have prepared me for how good it was. Jeff loved it! After dinner we went back and took a family nap and Jeff opened presents from Bay and I. Next we went for another walk together to get ice cream and a movie. At about 7:30 Candace, Chad and Emma came over and we had dessert.
I made a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. We ate cake and watched Slumdog Millionaire. It was so much better than I thought it would be we all really liked it. Jeff said it was the prefect day...I was so glad he had so much fun!

bath time

We couldn't resist posting this picture we thought it was pretty funny.

Walking outside

I know that I already posted one video of him walking but this one is even better. He is too funny. He is really moving around the house these days!

Our first visit to the Emergency Room

Bay made a new friend a day or so ago. Our neighbor has this cool dog named Murphy that is a collie that he got from a ranch in eagle. He is a friendly dog that just kinda hangs outside the house and greets you as you go by. I decided since he was a nice dog to expose bay to another dog since he is obsessed with animals these days(or at least cats). So no harm was done in having the dog give him a little nuzzle and walk around him right? WRONG!

I noticed that Bay had what I thought was a scab on the back of his head yesterday morning. I remember telling my mom about it and how I was surprised that I hadn't noticed it earlier. I wasn't going to pick at it so I just left it alone and figured it was from when he bumped his head on the dresser the other day. The day went on and we were having trouble getting Bay to go to sleep jeff was holding him and rubbing his head and noticed the "scab" (or so I thought it was). He took a look and began freaking out. He said it was a tick. I had never seen a tick and to my knowledge they were small like the size of a pin head...not like this one. After stressing out calling people and looking on the internet we decided to go to the ER.


There we were parents of a one year old in the ER with a huge tick in our kids head. I felt like the biggest looser of a mom for not looking closer at the "scab"
earlier, but Jeff pointed out he hadn't noticed it either which made me feel much better. Luckily the ER was totally dead we were the only patients there. It was nice to be taken right back to an exam room and have it looked at. They did quick vitals and the doctor was with us right away.


The doctor took one look at Bay's head put on some gloves, yanked the tick out (along with like 10 of Bay's hairs)and that was it. It took about 5 seconds and it was over. Bay didn't even flinch. Ahhh relief was finally ours. The nurses gave Bay a cute bear stuffed animal as the doctor talked with us for a min, after which and we were discharged and on our way. It turns out I guess these ugly guys are very common this time of year and super easy to remove, and are not the kind that carry diseases. We are pretty sure it came from Murphy so I guess no more playing with him anymore. Hopefully we don't have to deal with anything like that again...I am just grateful that it was not as big of a deal as we thought it may be. Little Bay is fine and is as good as new, and as his parents we are now just paranoid that we have ticks somewhere hiding on us. Don't even ask how many times i made Jeff check my hair for me(nice thing is he doesn't seem to mind that much)...

walking movie...as requested

I have had lots of request to put more movies of this guy in action Here is a pretty good mini movie of this little guy walking...Enjoy!

a new visitor

The other night as we were moving in there was a few people gathered under the pine tree out front of our house looking up into the tree. I took bay and went outside and look what we saw. Can you see it? Look closely for the mask Yep you guessed it there was a raccoon in the tree. It was the early evening so it was hard to get a decent picture but there it was just hanging out in the tree staring back at us. We think that it had been up there all day and must have been scared by the garbage man or something and was just hanging out until nightfall. We were glad to see that it was gone the next morning. The last thing that we need is to have a rabid raccoon in the neighborhood.

My last day of work

Wednesday last week was my last day with the kids. I found myself almost dreading it because I have no idea what I will do with myself just watching one kid all day. Emma gave me a sense of routine and order and now that is gone. I have to say having the opportunity to watch Emma has made me grow so much closer to her than I imagined. She really is a sweet little girl and I feel blessed to be a part of her life. It was fun to see the kids get to know each other too. When we went back over the weekend Emma got really excited to see Bay and I, and let me tell you that sure makes you feel good. Here are a few pictures of the kiddos...I can't wait for Bay to get to spend more time with Emma this summer getting to know her more..it should be really fun.
I loved watching them get to know each other.
Emma and I, she loves to cuddle.
This is what an afternoon with a toddler looks like, the best part is you clean it up and it looks like this again 5 mins later. Little Emma. I guess she's not that little just younger. She about as big as bay!