Best Christmas Tree Ever

We looked far and wide for our Christmas tree this year. This could be the best Christmas tree in the history of man.

 

With the remodel going on, we gave up on having a big tree this year. We will plant this tree at our cabin in the spring so we can continue to enjoy the best Christmas tree ever!

The Home Stretch

While our kitchen isn't complete, it is functional just in time for Christmas! We may still have holes in the ceiling, but tonight we washed dishes. In a dishwasher! I told Karen that I've never been so happy to mop a floor in my life.

FYI - The colors look a bit goofy in this picture because I took it at night. 

Christmas Dance Recital

Last week, Elena had a Christmas dance recital. I discovered that I have some things to learn about taking pictures of dance performances. Here is the only decent picture I got.

While my photography sucked, Elena had a great time. Apparently she's not old enough to get nervous, which was good.  Here is the best quality video I was able to get. Elena's dance partner sucked but you get the idea. She is the short one right of center. http://youtu.be/Lr6kGLMArtY

She did much better in this dance, but the video quality is horrible. Elena is the third white blob from the left. http://youtu.be/w3avrxqq06M

It Continues...

The kitchen remodel saga continues. On the way home from school, Elena asked me where we were going to eat tonight. When I replied "Home," she was shocked.  Our friends and family have been so great over the last month!

Today the cabinets were delivered. By this time next week our home should start to look liveable again. Here is the latest time-lapse video.

Eating at the Little Kids' Table

Around here, it's literal. It is the only relatively clean, elevated horizontal surface in our home right now. And probably for the next two weeks...

We're now over three weeks into the remodel saga. I never thought I would be so happy to see clumps of drywall mud all over the floor!

I'm working on a time-lapse video, but our internet service has been crap for over a week now and I'm psyched just to be able to post photos. They taped the drywall today. Our main living areas are the doorways on the left and center of the photo, so we've been tracking this mess all over the rest of the house. It's awesome!

Kitchen Remodel: Week 1

Most of you could probably care less about our kitchen remodel. Too bad! We use the blog as kind of a family diary, so if you don't like it, talk to management.

The remodel officially began on Monday. We spent most of the weekend packing and removing flooring and cabinets that we want to install in the cabin.

On Monday and Tuesday, they did most of the demolition. Tuesday morning our house was freezing because part of the ceiling was open. Poor Marcus could barely eat his breakfast because he was shivering so much. We have since installed more plastic so to keep it slightly warmer inside. The guys disconnected power to all of the kitchen and dining area (as well as our bedrooms and bathrooms for one night). Here is a picture of our lovely dinner under the construction lamps. One bonus of the construction lights is that the kids get to make shadow puppets. I don't think the kids have eaten many warm meals this week as they play with the shadows for a good 20 minutes every time we sit down for dinner.

I haven't been very good about documenting our remodel projects in the past, so I am making an effort to do better on this one. I have set up three photo points and take pictures daily.  The photo points aren't perfect because some of my reference points have disappeared and there are often tools, materials, or plastic in my way.  You can check out week 1 progress below. Note, the photo quality didn't come through very well on this video if you view it in full screen mode. I will figure that out in coming weeks.

Happy Halloween!

 Here is Jake (from Jake and the Never Land Pirates), or should we just call him Lady Killer?

This post has been slow coming, sorry. I took about 100 pictures of the kids together and this is the best I have. This is one of two in which Elena's mouth isn't open because she was really excited and couldn't stop talking about all the people we would visit and the candy she might collect. She is Izzy from the same show. Marcus has a serious Jake and the Never Land Pirates addiction.

We visited a few friends and family on our way to my parents' house for dinner. This was the first year both kids understood what Halloween was and had a great time. 

I Need a New Man Cave

I think pretty much every guy on the planet needs a hideout. I have been hiding in our shop for years. Like an idiot, I voluntarily set up a temporary kitchen in the shop to use during our remodel. Last night I went into the shop and was confronted with this:

Now, she claimed to be cooking dinner, but it was obvious to me that she was enjoying it WAY too much. Apparently her utility room kitchen (below) just isn't cozy enough to suit her.

 

 Our remodel kicked off today, and I can tell it's going to be a long six weeks!

One Year Cabin Anniversary

We visited the cabin a few weeks ago and celebrated our 1-year anniversary as cabin owners. So far we are still exploring the country, but are getting settled in.

I thought back to our first visit to the cabin. I took the kids while Karen stayed home with her sick grandpa. I arrived late at night with the kids, and heard an elk bugle while running back-and-forth trying to get them settled. I worked the next day to clean things up while watching the kids. Karen called to let me know that her grandpa Earl had died. I sat down on the stairs and explained to Elena (then 3) that her great grandpa was dead. We shared a few moments together and she (surprisingly) understood.

Moving on from that memory, we had a good time on this trip. I took this photo of a grouse from our deck. Yes, the season was open, but I couldn't bring myself to shoot this little girl.

We continued to explore the area hot springs over the last year, and this is one of our favorites. It's on the SF Salmon River.

 Here's a picture of Marcus enjoying our lunch spot nearby.

Speaking of Marcus, he has learned a new skill: undoing zippers. If you dress him in pajamas with zippers they will be taken off immediately in his crib. All of his winter pajamas we had at the cabin had zippers.  Enter Elena's old PJ's. They are pink. Here he is pointing at the camera, desperately trying to get the paparazzi to leave.

 "Look, Dad, they are taking pictures of me!"

 I MUST conceal my identity!!!!!

While we still feel like we need to spend some more time exploring the surrounding area, we have (mostly) enjoyed our experience thus far. And yes,, Marcus successfully wore girls PJ's!

Goodbye Kitchen

When we bought this house over 12 years ago, we made great plans for remodeling. We have remodeled every room in the house except the kitchen. Until now. Demolition starts Nov. 10th. Here are some 'before' pictures. I'm sure I will post later once it's finished (hopefully around Christmas). The hallway/doorway kitchen will soon be a thing of the past.

 

 

Our next kitchen will be built here:

Does that look like our shop? Yes. It's much warmer than the house, so we're going to live there from now on... I plan to move most of the appliances to the shop and set up a kitchen to get us by. In case you're wondering, we are shamelessly soliciting dinner invitations from anyone and everyone for the months of November and December. We can provide raw goods. Whatever it takes. Give me some dates people!

Sooo Close

We are notoriously stingy when it comes to heating or cooling our house. We try really hard every year to make it to November before we turn the heat on. This morning when I got up I took a picture of the thermostat.

Marcus is normally happy when he wakes up and keeps himself occupied in his crib playing with his toys until you come get him. Not this morning. He screeched. I went into his room and he begged for his coat while I changed his diaper. I turned the furnace on and gave him his favorite treat: a pear. No dice.

I went outside to feed the animals and noticed fire in the shop fireplace had burned all night. Maybe we should camp out there next year so that we can make it until November before the furnace starts.

Karen is usually up by the time I leave for work, and I was running late today. She was still in bed. I went into the room and asked her if she was feeling ok. She said, "Yes, just cold. Waiting for the furnace to warm things up!"

Disney on Ice

Last Spring Lisa invited us to attend Disney on Ice when it came to town. I don't typically like this type of thing, but thought Sprout would enjoy it. Here we are getting ready to head out. 

 We used Luis's BSU parking pass to get some great parking. I packed what Sprout calls "picnic lunches" for the girls to eat prior to the show. There also happened to be a bottle of wine for the adults. Luis was surprised that Disney on Ice required tailgating; I thought he knew us better than that.

After we got seated, I got the girls snow cones in a Disney souvenir cup. I had to draw the line at the $15 cotton candy and $25 show light.

 Then we sat through 1.5 hours of Disney.

 It was worth it to see this- one really happy girl that loved the show. The best part was how she would site at the edge of her seat, smile, and clap. She's already talking about next time.

Canyon County Classic

Elena made her fun run debut last week. It was a one mile participation run sponsored by the Caldwell Y. The clincher in signing up was the yellow owl shirt she saw on display. Despite my broken toe, I decided to run with her. (read- Barry wasn't having any part of this). 

 Prior to the run, there was a warm up and stretches.

There was a minimal amount of whining until the domino collision, when cousin Katie fell and took Sprout with her. I think we must have looked a sight with two kids bleeding from their knees, one of whom was crying quite audibly.

All was made well when Lisa treated all of us to ice cream.

I have a video of the recap in Sprout's words, but blogger hates me and my video and isn't cooperating.

The Hunting Gods Hate Me

I finally drew my first controlled hunt bull elk tag in Idaho. After waiting 25 years for this to happen, I was really psyched. I decided to spend a few days scouting at the end of August prior to the archery season.

I was so excited about the hunt that I decided to hire a pilot to show me around. He told me to call him when I was headed his way and we would make a plan. I called him Thursday afternoon and he said it had been too foggy in the mornings to fly. I thought to myself, "Fog? In August? This guy is high!" He wasn't high. We were never able to fly.

I tried to camp in a spot we stayed in while moose hunting about a decade ago, but almost got stuck. It was getting close to dark. I drove down the road a bit and found a pullout where I could glass an area I knew held elk. Within seconds of sitting down I spotted a herd with a small bull. Only one herd and the bull was small. Not what I expected to see. The next morning I went to a better vantage point and confirmed that the big boys weren't hanging out there.

It poured all night long. I took a shortcut to the next spot and experienced one of the most harrowing drives of my life. At the next spot I tried to pull off of the road a bit, but it wasn't happening. This is what the main road looked like near where I parked.

I took off on my ATV in search of elk. After hiking for a while I bumped a couple of bulls and saw a few more. Finally, some success! Then it started pouring again. I headed back to the truck and found my trailer sticking way out into the road. There was a guy parked on the other side of the road, and he explained that he tried to pull off the road as I had and nearly slid into my trailer so he had to move it over and couldn't get it back in place. I guess I wasn't the only idiot out there that weekend! Here is a view from the top.

Once I got settled in, I started a nice hot dinner. I promptly ran out of propane. Since I forgot my rain pants most of my clothes were soaked and I no longer had a way to dry them out. Awesome! It rained all night, again.

The next morning I set out to check another spot. Everything was great until I got to a stretch of road which had just been re-graded. It had about a 2 degree slope, but I was stuck.

I learned many valuable lessons from my dad. One of them was to get a set of chains for your truck and never, ever, EVER take them out of your truck. Even if it's August. I bought a brand new set of chains for the truck when we bought it in 2004. I pulled them out for the first time. In August. I chained up and was able to get out a little after daylight. Since the morning scout was shot, I went to town, got some propane, ate a burger at Rulon Gardner's restaurant (the olympic gold wrestler) and headed back up. I hiked up into some beautiful country and sat down to wait for the elk to emerge. While waiting, I noticed the temperature dropped about 10 degrees minutes before I heard the first crack of thunder. I was sitting on a bare ridge about 1 mile from the nearest safe spot. I ran most of that mile, then trudged the remainder through the rain and mud, thinking all the way about the hot shower that awaited me at the camper. Once there, the water heater wouldn't start.
I had one more spot to check, so I drove back to the moose hunting area. I put a couple of beers into the ATV bag and headed out. Once I got settled in to glass, I quickly found 6-7 bulls scatted across the drainage. I set up my spotting scope to get a better look and the fog immediately set in. Disgusted, I picked up the unopened beers and headed back to camp.

My plan was to return in the morning to get a better look at those bulls. Then it rained all night, again. It was still pouring in the morning, so I called it quits and headed home.

When Karen and I were younger, she always joined me on my scouting trips. I just don't understand why she quit going!

Staining the Play Set

Our play set was in need of staining, so I took it upon myself to work on it the other day. Sprout wanted to help. Karen encouraged her to join me, mostly so she would be out of Karen's hair for a few hours.

First we removed much of the hardware. Sprout carefully placed all of the parts in a bucket for me. Once it was time to stain, she demanded her own brush. Surprisingly, she was pretty good help. She hasn't quite grasped the idea of staining close to the source (paint can), but she certainly made the process quicker and more entertaining. Here are a couple pictures of her in action.

Dance Class

Elena recently started taking dance and tumbling lessons. Here is a picture of her awaiting her first lesson.

Elena's dance instructor has very strict rules. You line up at the door, drop your kid off promptly at the appropriate time, and get the hell out of there. Parents are an unwelcome distraction during class. I have to wear a hat every time I pick Elena up so that Miss Laura will recognize me and release my child. Fortunately, Cleo the cat is  always hanging around to entertain the girls while they wait for class to start. She goes from one girl to the next getting petted and methodically untying their ballet shoes.

While waiting for class to start, I met Justin, the only other dad dropping his daughter. He smiled and said something about how our wives shopped at the same store. Our girls could have been twins!

Laura may have strict rules for parents, but she is great with kids from what little I have seen. I was able to snap a quick photo of their first exercise before dashing out of the studio.

So far Elena loves dance class. She seems to be learning a bunch and can't wait for Thursday to arrive.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for Elena, who is in pre-kindergarten (Note, I started this post a while back and never published it.) Marcus still has another year before he starts preschool.

I needed to leave early for work, so the photos didn't turn out very well.

Elena refused to wear the sweater that looked cute with her dress. I can't blame her as it was cold this morning and I was dressed similarly in a camo sweatshirt. Marcus wanted his Batman jacket but it was AWOL.

After I picked them up, I asked Elena how she liked school. "It was fun."
Me: What did you talk about?
E: Rules.
Me: What are the rules?
E: I don't remember.

It's going to be a long year.

Zoo days

 

For his birthday, my parents gifted Marcus with a day at the zoo. We put this towards a family pass to use throughout the year. The kids love the prairie dog exhibit, mostly running through the tunnels pretending to be animals. 

 The next favorite exhibit is the "farm section". There are goats, sheep, and llamas to feed treats and pet. Sprout brings money from her piggy bank for this purpose.

 The zoo has added a few dinos spaced throughout and the kids couldn't turn down the opportunity to pose with this one.

 We always love giraffes. And monkeys, but it's hard to get pictures of them.

 This big bird is about four feet tall and decided to chase after Sprout. This was warranted as she thought it would be nice to offer a flower to him through the chain link fence. It's impressive how fast this guy can run. Good thing he's caged.

We've all been enjoying the zoo this fall and hope to make it a few more times before the weather cools off.

Play date

The kids have been enjoying time at Oma and Grampy's house. Marcus likes looking through the books. More accurately, he likes pulling them all off the bookshelf and making a mess.

Sprout really enjoys coloring and cocktails. She's really excited about the new hello kitty coloring book with stickers.

They are also fond of swinging through the branches of the willow tress. There have been a few Tarzan like maneuvers along with a sword fight or two.

 

For Sprout, the highlight was when she got to have a special play date at Oma's house. They spent the day making strawberry jam, painting nails, coloring, and reading books. Oh by the way, the jam is awesome. We are on the last jar. Time for another play date.