Everybody look at the camera AND smile... at the same time.

We got to hang out with some great friends from far away last weekend. It was such fun! There was a surprise party for Timothy's birthday, TONS of snow, wonderful food, skeet shooting, and lots of funny banter. Cannon loved all the excitement, people, and attention. And even though the photo below makes it look that way, we did not let him go shooting. :)

Shotgun in one hand, baby in the other. Nice.

....

P.S. I really will post some house photos soon. We're mostly settled in and had it pretty clean and organized... and then the pipes froze and burst when it was -20 on Sunday night. Timothy has been working an Outward Bound course all week (read: not home at all) and I know nothing about plumbing, so they're not fixed yet. That means we haven't washed a single dish or done a lick of laundry in four days! The kitchen isn't lookin' so nice right now. :) On the upside, the lack of shower facilities at home forced Cannon and I to finally take a trip to the local pool. He loved it! He loved jumping off the side (without going under), riding on top of two kick boards while I kicked some laps, and just swirling around in the water. Most of all I think he liked watching the big kids play ball and make big splashes.

Flyin'

Cannon is SO CLOSE to crawling. I know we've been saying that for what seems like forever, but it's true! He just can't quite figure out how to move his legs correctly once he's on his hands and knees. He spends lots of time in the plank position to see if that will work... I'm sure his ab strength is amazing because of this. And always after he scootches and sways back and forth on his hands and knees, he drops back down to the floor, puts arms and feet in the air, and tries to fly. I love that--wouldn't we all love to fly instead of walk or crawl? Maybe that's what he'll do. :)

A new toy (Dad's AT ski bindings) and a new shirt. He's lookin' good. :)

Precious, precious, precious.

Pie, Pie, and More Pie

Getting ready to make pie...

It adds to the flavor if you throw the pumpkin on the floor before you roast it for pie.

It also helps if your new dining room is the same color as the pie.

When are they gonna feed me some pie?!!



Please!

I mean, seriously.

Aah, finally...washing it down. (Just kidding--we did not really give him beer, and we're keeping a close eye on Uncle Griff!! :)

We had such a fun Thanksgiving holiday! Our friend Katey came for a long visit and graciously helped us clean (and clean again and again) and move while on her vacation. We had an elk roast (and pumpkin pie) that she brought from Montana for dinner with some Outward Bound friends on Thanksgiving night, and spent our first night in the new house that night! On Saturday night we had a bunch of friends over for a slightly more traditional feast (and there was more pumpkin pie). It snowed all day so they couldn't go home... good deal for us! Cannon loved Thanksgiving. He loves people and attention, and he loves to sit with the grown-ups to eat dinner. More than once in the last week he has consumed a full baby food meal, then another meal while he sits with us to eat our meal. He loves sweet potatoes and beets, pumpkin (whether it has hardly any spices because I intended it for him or it has tons of spices and sugar because I intended it for pie), real whipped cream (who doesn't?!), mashed potatoes, pears, mangoes, banana, even Balsamic Vinaigrette! So far the only thing he's not into is peas (can you blame him?)

P.S. Updated house photos coming soon... as soon as the mess from moving is cleaned up!

Bring It On, Mother Nature!

Ol' Mama sent us low temps and a bit of snow last week... and the word is that it's going to start snowing tonight (it already has, actually) and not stop for a week. Thankfully, Cannon has a new hat and a bit of baby fat so he's ready. Timothy has some new skis and the possibility of an awesome winter job, so he's ready too. I was about to write, "but I'm not ready!", but the truth is I think I am. I also have new skis (although with the little guy around I probably won't use them much until next season), I found my old Yak Trax (little metal studs you attach to the bottom of your shoes to go running in the winter) that I was looking for all last winter, and I have the knitting/sewing fever that I get every year at this time....

We were lucky to get to travel to Melina and Steve's wedding last weekend. Here is Cannon sleeping in Grandma Haley's arms while we were there. This is the only picture we have of the entire weekend!

Cannon isn't really into eating solid food anymore (I think he thought it was a game in the first place--not a way to make his tummy stop growling or to gain nourishment). He just likes to take the spoon full of food and chew on it, schmear it around, etc.

I took this sunset photo on our way to the new house (from our current cabin) the other day. This is the view from almost anywhere in the town we live in.

Trim! Lots and lots of trim.... and it's stained a beautiful dark color, which tones down the bright wall colors.

We have two new doors--the others are old and cool and original, with great ornate hardware.

Remember our green bathroom (if not, scroll down and see)? It's not green anymore.

But Cannon's room is very green.

And I told you the kitchen was going to be "grape vineyard".

I have to say, though, that if your screen is like mine, these colors look like they belong in a childrens' museum, not a house.... trust me when I tell you that they're bright without being crazy, and that the dark trim really is going to tone things down....

Actually, don't trust me. Come visit and see for yourself!!

This was the first baby gift we received--a hat a bootie set bought on a trip to Mozambique. The hat might be getting a little small, but it's definitely the season for some rainbow booties. Thanks, Katey!

Orange You Glad?

Really, aren't you glad you'll get to sit in this warm, bright dining room when you come visit? It's called "sweet carrot" and it looks a bit brighter on my screen than it does in the house, but you get the idea. It was a little scary when we opened the can, but we think we like it. :)

We thought we were well into the final phases of this project (well, the final pre-move-in phases...there will still be lots of big and little projects when we're in). We weren't planning to do anything except paint the kitchen and the bathroom. I mean, look at this room! It's perfectly functional, albeit a little outdated. If you're my size your knees don't even touch the vanity when you sit on the toilet!

But we found some unexpected things in that bathroom, and this is what it looks like now.

Before

and after.








We'll give you a good deal on these if you'll pick them up.

The front door. I'm going to go ahead and say it's not the original 1888 model. And yes, that is wood-grained contact paper covering the windows--tacky (in more ways than one).

The beadboard on the bottom of the kitchen will be one of the 18,000 hues of white that the paint companies allow you to choose from. The top will be purple("grapevine"). Yes, we are nervous about this.