Fun... Fun... and more Fun!

What an exciting weekend we've had! My mom's friend Gina was visiting from Bend so we filled the weekend with fun... fun... and more fun! On Saturday we took Gina through Boise and then to the foothills to check out one of the trails we haven't been to yet...

We're not sure what it looks like in the summer, but the few trees around were beautiful in their fall colors.

Gina and Mom...

Sadie had a blast! She was so exhausted by the time we got home, she slept the rest of the day and the entire night!

I have grown so much that Mom said my feet aren't even close to fitting in the stirrups that used to hold my feet up. Dad is always glad to carry me now, and Mom said she's glad to let him! It's rare that she takes me to a trail where the stroller doesn't fit, she's says I'm just too big!

Mom found a butterfly that had died on a flower, she said it looked like a very peaceful way to die... for a butterfly! She said it must have died while it was sleeping. Why am I telling you this story you ask? Because that meant I got to hold a butterfly! I thought it beautiful!

One lonely little flower among all the desert like surroundings... we never saw one more during the whole 2 hrs we were walking!

The foothills are definitely like nothing we've ever seen before. Like most things beautiful in their own unique way. It was really neat to actually get down in them, you don't see this stuff from the outside.

We even got to see Life Flight flying over and landing to fly an injured mountain biker to the hospital. We're not really sure what happened but the helicopter was neat to see.

Then as we came closer to the trailhead there were a couple of rescue squads and an ambulance trying to help with the above situation. The 2 paramedics that had stayed behind thought I was pretty cute and they brought me a sticker and said that I am now a "Junior Paramedic!"

Then I got to walk the rest of the trail... Mom, Dad, and Gina said it went a lot slower but they were hoping I would get a little tired considering I had the easy route on Dad's back during the whole hike.

Just thought I'd show you my sticker again! Yep... I'm pretty proud to be a Junior Paramedic, I even slept with my new sticker during naptime... You never know when duty calls!

Then we had to get ready for the Harvest Festival that our church held this afternoon. We were supposed to wear our "Western Wear" but Mom and Dad said we own nothing like that and still haven't quite figured out all of the west coast! But I got to see lots of real cowboys and cowgirls! These Idahoans really know how to get Western! So Dad let Mom wear his migrant worker hat and Mom tied a bandana around my neck... you can see the finished product below!

Do you think we pulled it off?

I also forgot that Sadie got to dress up for the occasion too! Don't we look super cute!?!?!

Gina got to go to the Harvest Festival for a while too, and then she went back home to Bend. I sure hope she comes back soon! Mom says I don't have to worry, because she's going to move here one day... I sure hope so!

So below is pictures of all the fun I had and boy let me tell you... I had some good ole' fun!

Oh yes that's me twisted and upside down in the jump house! I am just a crazy girl who loves to have fun!

And you got it! That is me on a pony all by myself! No one told me I was going to get to ride a pony! I can't believe they would withhold such information!

I insisted that we get in line time and time again to ride the pony, but it wasn't hard for Mom and Dad to distract me with another activity! There were so many fun things to do!

I even got to ride a bull! I was a little hesitant at first...

But in no time I told Dad to let go of the reins and give me control! I was a girl who could take this bull! (Lucky for me... it didn't have any horns!)

I was even brave enough to have my face painted!

And I made some new friends... they didn't have much to say though!

The one thing that disappointed me was that I missed the hayrides while I was having so much fun... So mom let me pretend I was going on a hayride and play for a while.

And I loved the tractors!

And this is the prize I got when someone broke the pinata! A really nice girl gave me a sucker though, Mom wouldn't let me wrestle for any candy so I missed it all!

And this was the huge inflatable slide! I went down this over and over and over!

Mom says this was my best landing yet!

By the end of the Harvest Party I was exhausted! That is why I don't look so thrilled in this picture... But I have to say Harvest Party's are my favorite! I wish we could go everyday!

Fall fun

As we are in full swing of fall here in Nampa with winter approaching ever too quickly... We are reminded everyday on how quickly change occurs. Hannah is approaching 2 in less than a month. 2 years has flown by... but also feels like forever. It's hard to sit down and even imagine where we will be in 2 more years. Sometimes it seems as though time moves so quickly that you look back and wonder where yesterday went, last week, last month. I sometimes wonder what life would be like without measured time... I'm sure at times it could be a whole lot easier. (But since that is not reality we took advantage of the crisp fall weather today and spent it outside! )

Here is Hannah making sure we have plenty of seeds planted for the harvest... The harvest of dandelions that is! I think she may be listening closely to Pastor Steve, but taking his word a little too literally!


Hannah and Sadie just hanging out. Sadie desperate for the chunk of wood in Hannah's hand. If only Hannah knew how important that little chunk of wood was to Sadie!

Life has gotten a little easier now that Hannah can play fetch with Sadie! Now we can get a break every now and then!

Okay so this branch fell off one of our trees but I want you to use your imagination... Now look at the branch, imagine that all the leaves have fallen off... What do you see?

The perfect quadruple marshmallow roasting stick!

Hannah even helped put all of the magnets back on the van after John washed it. It's her favorite part!


I thought Hannah had finally gotten the hang of sidewalk chalk. It's been at least 2 months since she last ate any, but as I turned my back only for a moment she came to me saying "Eeeeeww Icky!" with yellow sidewalk chalk debri throughout her mouth. Oh Hannah...

This is going to be the first slope Hannah learns to board down this winter!

And last but not least here is Hannah with the childlike excitement that we all seem to forget as adults, pointing out the moon that she discovered on her own this evening. She loves to look at the moon and the stars on the occasions that we don't make it home until dark. She was completely shocked that the moon was out so early. We could definitely use a time change!

What to do on a cold day?

Be a warm ballarina! Mom is sure going to have to get creative this winter because I already have cabin fever!

Pumpkin Party

For days my pumpkin has been sitting in the entryway of the house. Yesterday we packed it up and took it to a party! Then dad started cutting into it with a knife... We had no idea what was inside?

To our amazement it was ooey, gooey, orange seeds and sludge!

Then Dave came to check it out... He wasn't very impressed!

I even squished it in between my toes!

Mom let me smell it and tried to pretend it was ice cream! I didn't fall for it though!

After it was all cleaned out I decided we should fill it back up!
Then mom let us try to get out the goop out...

Hannah Joy and I got bored with that though so mom had to clean it out all over again! We all had so much fun!


And here is some video with some of the finished products! You can see all of us behind the pumpkins in the random flashes from all of the cameras! I still have to carve my pumpkin. I didn't have enough patience to sit through the carving so mom said we can do it another night.

Here are all of the girls... It's me, Eva, and Hannah Joy. (David was out exploring the world when we took this picture.)

Eva is such a great friend that she let Hannah Joy and I sit in the chair until she spun us dizzy!

And of course one of my favorite animals..... cows!

They weren't even scared of Sadie! She was so focused on the ball that she didn't even realize the cow was so close!

And the trampoline was another one of my favorite things! I love to jump as high as I can, kick my feet out in front of me, and then land on my bottom!

Woooooooooooah!

Here's another shot of me flying through the air!