Photo Shoot while on Vacation in McCall, Idaho

While we were in McCall, Idaho, attending our niece's wedding, we took a drive in the country and I snapped some photos of the gorgeous scenery. Please enjoy.

This one is my favorite - of course, because of the horses. This is what I imagine a Christmas card of Idaho would look like!

Snow-covered country road


This is what we found as we drove up the country road


At the base of the mountain range


Just a simple but lovely tree

Thanksgiving Highlights

We were fortunate to have friends and family join us this Thanksgiving holiday. Some of my mom friends and their families joined us as well as my mom and in-laws. It was a very laid-back buffet style dinner with lots of really yummy food!

New Families on Thanksgiving


Joseph having fun after dinner


With one of my mom friends - she is having her baby within the next few weeks.


T Rex with his Grandparents on Thanksgiving.

Thanks everyone who joined us. The day was made even more special since you were able to join us.

Reality Setting In...

This was the last time T Rex was in his rear facing car seat. It was not until I turned his seat around that I felt the reality of Thomas' passing age set in.








I guess he really is a big boy now.

Then and Now...

New Family

Happy Family

I cannot believe how fast the past year has gone. T Rex has grown into the most wonderful little guy. Every moment with him is just a treasure. I have much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.

On a side note: I met a goal. I weighed myself this morning and I am back to my pre-T Rex weight. However, there has been some definite shifting so I don't fit back into all my clothes and since I have not had time to work out the past 2 months with T Rex's bad asthma issues, there is still a long way to go. But at least I hit my goal with something to work toward in 2009.

Brisingr on the Road

Today I was in the car for a little over four hours driving to see all my customers. During my last long road trip I started the book (on CD, of course) Brisingr. It is the third in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. I had already read the first two books, Eragon and Eldest, so I was very excited to read this third one. I have the hardback here at home and read it when I am not in the car. It is over 700 pages so it's no wonder it took a while to finish it, even listening to it also.

If you like fantasy or The Lord of the Rings books/movies, you would love this.

Eragon is the last of the Dragon Riders. He was chosen by his hatchling dragon to become the rider who has to rid the land of Galbatorix's evil tyranny. Eragon's dragon, Saphinra, is a character in and of herself.

It really is a complex and exciting soap opera set in a fantasy world where there are dragons, elves, dwarves, humans, and urgals.

I really loved this third book but I thought of it kind of like "Empire Strikes Back" - it ended right before the good stuff was going to happen. When my sister went to see "Empire" she went to the bathroom right after Han Solo was put into carbonite and taken away to Jaba's palace thinking there was more to come. When she got back, the movie was over. This book kind of ended like that, blink, and you miss the end. I guess the author meant for it to be the last but because it ended up so long he split it into two books. Thank goodness! I don't know what I would do if I had to get through 1400 pages instead of 700!

Although, the author can tell an amazing story. There is one chapter where Eragon, our dragon rider hero, goes to an elf to have her cast a sword for him. The entire chapter is about the casting of the sword. I have no such interest in these types of things, however, I was still revited to the story because it was so well written.

Another cool part was where the author told the story from the viewpoint of Saphira, the dragon. I found it pretty cool to view the world through her thoughts!

A very good, albeit, long read. Highly recommended!!! You will be entranced...

Top Ten Toys for Beginning Toddlers...

So, I get updates periodically from the "What to expect..." website. Last year it was "What to expect when your expecting..." Now it's "What to expect the first year..." Today's article was Nine Best Types of Toys for New Toddlers. You can click on the name if you'd like to view the actual article.

However, I put together a top ten list of my own. I call it Top Ten Toys for Beginning Toddlers. T Rex is pretty much a toddler but just barely hit that phase. Hence the designation of "beginning". So without further ado, here it is...

T Rex play area

Top Ten Toys for Beginning Toddlers

10. Old containers (bins, boxes, etc.) - cottage cheese containers, Tupperware, Oatmeal cylinder (that's T Rex's favorite!), water bottles (we even make some special water bottle toys too!)

9. Paper/plastic cups

8. Measuring cups/spoons or spatulas

7. "Bins" filled with things - so he can empty and refill

6. Toothbrush

5. Cabinet and/or drawer in kitchen and bathroom with "toys" in it

4. Pushing/riding toys

3. Blocks for building and demolishing (the domino blocks Grandpa made)

2. Books (especially those with textures or flaps, any Eric Carl books, and the picture book for his photos)

1. Balls - anything that bounces and rolls

In summary, anything that's safe and NOT a toy.

Comfort Foods...

Since the week started out rough with T Rex's asthma exacerbation as well as struggling with colds of our own, here's what been on the dinner menu as of late:

Chicken noodle soup made with Fred Meyer roasted chicken left overs, carrots, peas, and egg noodles.


Tea!!! Most definitely a comfort drink as well as a healing one - lots and lots of mint, lemon, and honey.

Veggie beef stew - peas, carrots, red potatoes, and stew meat.

The good news - there is plenty of left overs for the rest of the week and for freezing for the next time!!!

Happy Veterans Day!!!

Veterans Day holds a very special place in my heart - for a variety of reasons.

First, a shout of thanks to all of you who have served this country.

Thank you!

However, there are other reasons this day is of importance to me.

Skip and I were engaged on Veterans Day in 2000.

And secondly, T Rex's actual due date was on 11-11-07 - although he was not actually born on that date. But I counted down to this date for 9 months! Here is a photo of me on 11-11-07 - we went to dinner to celebrate our friend's birthday since we were not having a baby.

Once again, Happy Veterans Day! And thanks to all our soldiers active and retired. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!

Engagement Anniversary

Peeking into the Board Room, a special one table room, where Skip proposed 8 years ago on Veteran's Day.

Eight years ago, my wonderful husband knealt on one knee and asked me to be his wife. It was one of the most spectacular moments of my life. Every year we go back to the restaurant where he proposed and sit at the same table and order the same food.

It is a wonderful fondu restaurant called Mona Lisa - very romantic with candles and piano music. They have this special tradition where you write a message and they place it in a bottle for you to read the next time you come into the restaurant. We read our messages from last year. They were especially poignant because when we wrote them, T Rex had not yet been born.

On our way there we saw this cool car.


We dropped T Rex off a little early and stopped at one of our favorite book shops in the historic downtown district.


Then off to a wonderful dinner. Here we are after dinner - you can just see a bit of our bottle with our special notes for next year's dinner!


My Darling Husband, looking forward to many more anniversary dinners with you at our special place!

Moms, Babies, and Grandmas - Oh My!

Today I only worked half a day so I could prepare to host the moms and babies here at my home. It was a special gathering because we were going to have a small baby shower for one of the ladies. She wanted a very casual gathering - nothing fancy. I did my best to resist going crazy but I did have to do a few fun things.

Congratulations and best wishes to the expectant mom!!!


Expectant mom opening gift from Caitlin - a very cool, handmade texture blanket.



A few fun things from me - cupcake tower, diaper cake, and gift basket for baby.



Expectant mom opening gift from another mom friend - cool little newborn baby girl clothes! Most of us have boys so we were all in awe with the cuteness of the clothes as well as how tiny they were - were our babies ever that little?!?


More gift opening - here's my chance to give the expectant mom a hard time - she HATES pink! We went out of our way to made sure the baby stuff did not have too much pink. But wait, she's wearing a pink shirt! Hehehehe - We love you, C.


Expectant mom and Expectant Oma

Thanks for letting me do this for you, C. And thanks for all the support you gave me during the early Thomas days. And also for all the "loaners" - I knew you would need them back someday!!!

It doesn't get much better than this...

So, in my book, it really does not get much better than this! My two guys reunited after a long day of work and daycare school!

Someone really loves his dad. And someone really loves his "little guy".

Election Day 2008

(I took this shot of the two of us - hence we are looking at the camera in the mirror - still a decent shot!)

Well, I am uncertain as to what the results from today's elections will show. Regardless, I am trying to teach my son the importance of voting, even from such a tiny age. I gave him my "I Voted!" sticker when I got home. He has proudly been wearing it since.

I hope the rest of you cast your ballots and are also proudly wearing your stickers!

Go Vote!!!

Tomorrow is Election Day. Make sure you take some time to get out and vote!