Deer Camp 2011

Every other year Adam, his dad, and brothers go on a deer up in North Idaho. They take all the sheep herder tents and set up for a few days of hunting and true guy time. Adam and Keith both got deer which was just a nice plus to a fun trip. Keith's brother-in-law and a friend of Phil's also went along to make the group a little bigger. They had lots of fun despite it being a little windy and soggy. Afterwards, they met us at the cabin for a few days to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Neil's takin' a breather, not a bad view!

Adam's deer... Yeah!!!

Around the camp fire

Tent City

Halloween 2011

I'm so far behind on blogging. I guess I just better start with what I have now and then back track later. At least that way I won't get any further behind!

Halloween 2011 was a low key and fun event for us. We had 2 fighter pilots and kept up the tradition of the littlest cowboy in the red hat. They were of course all the cutest things you've ever seen! We hit Granny and Papa's where we met up with Jenny and Chad and their little fire fighter and monkey. Granny had lots of good candy, including the wax soda pop bottles that have the juice inside! (I love those things!) Then we hit Grandma and Grandpa's where the kids got goodie bags with TONS of stuff inside! We walked down to all of their neighbor's houses as well, since they rarely see a trick-or-treater.

We ended the night with our usual Papa Murphy's pizza and trick-or-treating in our neighborhood until the boys froze. They have almost as much fun answering the door for kids at our house so they spent the last hour of the night doing that and loving it. Cole kept answering the door without the candy bowl and would have to run back for it, leaving the kids on the doorstep just standing there. Lots of fun!
I also included pics of our pumpkins this year. We had a pumpkin carving night with the Daytons and I thought they turned out pretty darn good! Here's what they were: Adam - scary clown, Me - stars, Cole - scary face, Mason - howling wolf, Craig - elk antler, Brenda - moon and stars, Rylie - flower, Ella - kitten.

Cole Turns 5 Years Old!

I can't believe I have a 5 year old! That is the one thing that makes me feel like time has flown by. I can remember finding out I was pregnant with him and can remember being pregnant for the first time. I remember him being born, holding him for the first time, and doting on my first baby! Now, he wants nothing to do with being a baby!!! He is all big boy and sometimes wants to be much older than he is... slow down, cowboy.
He just had his 5 year check up and his stats are as follows: 43.3 lbs and 44 1/4 inches tall. He told Dr. Gee he likes to play outside, go for walks, and ride his bike. He is really getting into legos and building sets and just made a motorized car out of the erector set he got for his birthday. We're doing home preschool and he amazes me all the time! He can read most 3 letter words and is working on 4 letter words. He can say, write, read, and sound out all the letters of the alphabet and is working on letter combos. He is doing easy addition problems and loves science. He also loves to help me in the kitchen with baking and is great at measuring out my ingredients... and tasting them:-) Kade absolutely adores him and smiles and laughs at everything he does. Mason also looks up to him and I can tell they will be great friends. At this time he likes to boss Mason around a little more than Mason would like, but they love playing together. He amazes me as a fisherman and can't wait until he is old enough to hunt with his dad. He also has really taken to swimming, especially after a week in Park City swimming in the hotel pool every day!

For his birthday this year Adam was up at elk camp hunting for a week. So, my mom and I decided to do a little tirp of our own and go to Park City, Utah where she has a time share. It was fabulous and Cole really got into spending his birthday deciding what we got to do all day. Morning at the pool, shopping with gift card at Walmart, building lego helicopter while watching Despicable Me in hotel, playing Ticket to Ride with Granny on her ipad, going out to Mexican food for dinner (where he ordered a cheeseburger), going to the hotel pool again, and ending the night with a popcorn party and the movie Soul Surfer. What a day! He kept saying, "It's my birthday so I'm the boss, all day long!" I had to remind him that I was the overall boss but he got to dictate most of our activities! The next day he asked, "Am I still 5?" and "When will it be my birthday again?" I think it was a hit!

Once we got back into town we had a birthday party with our families and some friends. We went to POJO's, one of Cole's favorite spots. I had gotten some Living Social deals for tokens and ride tickets so each friend got to have some in their goodie bag. I made cookie pops (a family effort to decorate), and had rootbeer floats and cream puffs at the party. It was a great party and Cole was so blessed to have such great friends and family there to celebrate with him!

Birthday sombrero, Ole!

The "gamers", Granny on her ipad and Cole on her iphone

Birthday presents, Mason gave him the sunglasses

Birthday fish from Granny

Park City Vacay

The boys and I went to Park City, Utah this past September while Adam was elk hunting for a week. I was getting tired of just sitting around at home every September while Adam gets to take a week off. Of course I could bring all three boys up to elk camp and basically take care of them by myself in a camper for a week, but who wants to have that much fun:-) So my mom and I decided to take a trip at the same time and Park City came up on her time-share. My Auntie Fay, cousin Katie, mom, the boys, and I headed down for an absolutely great time! The trees were in amazing color changing mode and it was gorgeous, sunny fall weather the whole time. We got to stay at the Marriot Summit Watch in an awesome 2 bedroom suite. They had a great activity center with heated pool and 4 hot tubs! Mainstreet was just outside the hotel and we got to ride the trolly up and down the street. We visited the Olympic Park and there was an awsome outlet mall nearby too, where we spent a little more time than the boys would like:-) We also got to celebrate Cole's 5th birthday while we were there. It was an absolutely great time and we had so much fun!!!

Random Pics

A few pictures of this summer and early fall that I didn't want to miss having on the blog!