First Snow

"Wanna build a snowman with me, mom?"

...was the first thing Ethan asked me when I picked him up from daycare today. Cute huh?

Our first snow was yesterday, October 6th. We got about 3 inches. It's really wet and melting today. Hurray! I'm not ready for the next 6 months of winter...

Ethan also made his first snow angel and then had his first hot cocco drink with marshmallows afterwards...he liked it; no surprise he LOVES chocolate!

A Little More...

...progress on our re-landscaping project that we started late August. We got the gate back up and the road base down. All that's left is a couple more boards under the fence line and some curbing between the grass and road base. Hurray! Almost done before it snowed....yes first snow was October 6th this year.

Re-Landscaping

We have started a project at our house....updating/changing the landscaping. When we are done we'll have curbing around the house, replace the remaining bark under the windows with rubber mulch or small rock, add a few shrubs and flowers, and add gravel/road base behind the fence (which still needs to be put back up). Here's the progress so far....

The Befores: (removing the bark)

The Middles: (framing and prepping for cement)

The Afters: (the cement is poured)

We have a nice big driveway now!

Ethan's 3rd Birthday

Ethan's Birthday is June 26th. We had a family dinner on his actual birthday (spaghetti, french bread, and salad then chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert). Grandpa Rick and Ethan celebrate together because their birthdays are two days apart.

and Spencer convinced me to do a friend party for Ethan the following tuesday after I got off work. He had a pirate themed party.

Here's his invitation I made...(yes I burned the edges of it to make it look like "pirate" paper).

It says: Ahoy there matey! Pirate Captain Ethan is turning three! So join us for a Pirate Birthday Party! He needs shipmates to swab the deck, walk the plank and hunt for the long, lost treasure... A pirate cake and some ice cream will also be there for your pleasure! Please say you'll come for a swashbuckling fun Pirate Birthday Adventure! We set sail on June 28, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. and we will return by 3:30 p.m. Captain Ethan's Pirate Ship is docked at 3864 Summer Sun Dr. RSVP Pirate Co-Captains- Corinne 317-1556 and Spencer 317-1590.

Seven kids came over and made pirate hats then went on a treasure hunt following this map

They walked the plank and received a hook to become real pirates. Then island hopped. Shot cannon balls at bad pirates trying to steal the their treasure, then looked for a red "X" that marked the spot for treasure.

Walking the plank was a board over cinder blocks.

Island hopping was jumping thru hoola hoops.

Cannon shooting was throwing balls at pictures of pirates on poster boards and

a treasure chest pinata was under the red X.

Then hit the pinata and got their loot of candy.

Then we did cake, ice cream and presents. We made a treasure shaped cake.

3 Attempts and here it is:

The pirate party was ended with the party favors (sword, necklace, whistle, pirate money, eye patch, prism, and activity sheet all inside a treasure chest):

The party was a success! Till next year.....

Ethan Playing Drums

Hopefully he doesn't want to play the drums for real when he's older. Other instruments would be a lot quieter.

Mount Borah

I hiked Mount Borah yesterday with Spencer's best friend Ryan and his wife Lacy. We got to the trail head at 6am and started hiking. It took us 6 hours to hike to the top and 4 1/2 to hike/run down. Mount Borah is Idaho's highest mountain at 12662 feet in elevation and we hiked about 5500 feet in elevation over 3.8 miles. It was a hard hike. I can say I never want to do it again. Once was enough and I am proud of my accomplishment. Spencer had a pistol shooting match and Ethan stayed with my sister-in-law, Jolene. Enjoy the pictures!

Me, Lacy, and Ryan at the beginning. Started hiking at 6am

Starting to get lighter

Along the trail as sun was rising

Still hiking up

Us before "Chicken out ridge"

Almost to the beginning of "chicken out ridge"

During "Chicken out ridge"

Looking back at the last part of "chicken out ridge"

Other side, pass "chicken out ridge"

All the hikers behind us still on "chicken out ridge". There were lots of people hiking this day.

Made it to the top!

All of us at the top

View from the top

View of the top. We counted 40 people at the top with us.

More view from the top

Another view from the top

Crawling across the snow. It was slushy on the way back down. Some guy actually tried to run across it and fell 500 feet and broke his ankle. We didn't see it happen. Other hikers told us about it.

Hiking down. Lots of loose and sharp rock.

Hiking down some more

A cool looking tree along the way

We did it! taken after 10 1/2 hours of hiking

Family Reunions and Fourth of July

We had two reunions for my mother's family in Blackfoot over fourth of July weekend and both of my sisters and their families stayed at my house. I had 10 extra people staying in the basement. Thank goodness I have the extra room. It was fun to have the company and Ethan enjoyed playing with his cousins. I didn't get out my camera so sorry no pictures. I think Kathryn and Lisa took lots of pictures. Check out their blogs listed under brothers and sisters to the right.

Saturday from 10am-6pm we were at reunions and then we went to my Grandparents house and did fireworks. My sister shared some pictures. Uncle Nathan was helping. Spencer was working all weekend. :( This was Ethan's 1st time ever seeing or doing fireworks. He sure liked it!