Party Time

Ben had been talking about wanting to try to cook a whole steer, and it was coming up on our 10th anniversary (November 19) so we decided to have a party.  Since we'd be cooking outside and having a big group I decided we should do it early, so we set on September 20.  We decided to try cooking a pig instead of a steer (someday we'll try it!).  We bought a big pig at the fair, too big.  Then we got a littler guy closer to the day, and we got a "China Box" to cook him in.  Over 100 people joined us.  Sherry did the decorations and it was so much fun.  We had live music, food by Amy, and kids were just running around crazy all over the place.

We agreed we wouldn't do another party this big for at least ten years, but we will someday cook a whole steer!

Mumsy of course was the brave one who ate the tail.

Elliott with charcoal face paint

Ben and Al getting ready to dig in to the pig

The China Box gets lit

Flower arrangements by Sherry and Carrie and the kids.  Sherry rolled her car on the way up and we were so happy she was OK.  Her dad gathered wild sunflowers for us which combined with some roses and foliage from Carrie's turned out beautifully.

The deck was the stage.  

The piggy packed and ready to go.  It spent the night in the bathtub on ice!

The dance floor was set up a few days ahead and Alice danced and danced and danced.

A rare gathering of all three of us girls. 

We got a tent in case it was cold.  It was amazingly beautiful weather so it was great for shade.

Calf roping - kids also petted the calves and horses, played in the ditch, swang on the swings.  It was a wild night, and Charlie and Ben shut it down drinking whiskey at the campfire.

Aunt Catherine Day

This morning Clyde was putting a bag on his head after breakfast. When I asked him what he was doing, he said, "Mom, don't you remember? Today is Aunt Catherine Day." When I asked him what we do on that day, he responded, "All kinds of silly things like stick ourselves to the wall."

So we celebrated Aunt Catherine Day by being silly most of the day. It was a fun day. I'm already looking forward to the next Aunt Catherine Day.

Alice's Birthday and Family Reunion

We celebrated Alice's 2 years and got together for our annual family vacation/reunion last weekend. We used to do a big trip every year, but now all of the kids and pregnancies have made it easier to get together close to home. Alice, Clyde and Elliott shared a room and I think they had a lot of fun (I could hear them giggling for quite a while). Alice got an adorable red cowboy hat and outfit from Mumsy (procured in Jackson Hole). She also got the pretty dress with the blue flowers from Mumsy ("Alice Blue Gown" inspired). I made her a funny patchwork hippy purse. Janelle's family got her a great puzzle and Catherine got her two cute dresses. Ben and I had to go to Jen King's wedding, so we missed Saturday night which was a campfire and raspberry picking. There was also hiking/huckleberry foraging (not too successful), horseback riding, a ride in Gayle's houseboat, playing in the kids' playhouse, swimming in Mumsy's natural hot water hottub, Alice's birthday celebration, a dinner with Jock's family, and a lot of boisterous drum playing.

Springtime....

It's getting warmer outside and I get to go to the park a lot. I even go on the big twisty slide all by myself now:

My Aunt Catherine was here for a few weeks and it was fun to have her play with us.

I got to go to the ZOO!! Here I am looking at the "raffs"

And here I am riding a komodo dragon, but it didn't go anywhere....

My cousin Elliott has a baby now, just like me only he is tiny and they call him Harrison.

Fun and games...

There are so many fun things to do at our house. One day, I found some paper towels and boy did I have some fun! Mommy didn't think it was as fun as I did....



I really like hammers. I have three of them and sometimes I get to play with daddy's (but one time I got an owie on my forehead). Mommy likes this hammer. She said maybe someday I can have a bigger one and wear a robe, but I don't get it.



My Aunt Catherine visited because my grandpa Harry was in the hospital. Things got kind of crazy that week (mommy says that's why there's no Thanksgiving photos), but Catherine played with us too.


I really like to play after I take a bath. This is my cool ball:

I like to help my mommy with the broom. We have a red broom and a blue broom.

My sister is cute, but she's not very much fun. Sometimes she smiles, but mostly she just lays around.

My cousin Elliott is pretty fun, but not a great reader like Catherine...

Baths are one of my favorite things. It is so fun to splash and play. I can blow bubbles too!

But life's not all fun and games. Sometimes my parents say no, so I do this:

But it doesn't always work!

Home again!!

I was so happy to be home!! I walked around and all my stuff was right where I left it. It was kind of hard to balance at first because I couldn't move my arms, but I figured it out. One of my favorite things is hats. I really like this cowboy hat of my mom's. She even took me to a store and I got my own hat that fits better, but I like the big hat. I just point and say "hat" and they give it to me. I wear it everywhere. (Mommy and Daddy think that's a crazy first word, but hey I like hats!)


While I was at home getting better, my Aunt Catherine visited. She's fun. I got to wear her glasses and I think you'll agree that I look pretty cool.

My new friend Clara from Seattle visited me too. I got to take off my arm bands for this picture. It was so nice to bend my arms! Clara is cute, but she mostly just lays around.

It seemed like forever (Mommy says it was 3 weeks) and I went to the doctor and he said no more arm bands and that it was OK to eat real food (for that whole time I only got to drink milk and juices). We went to a party for one of Mommy's friends that night. She got married in a park. Everyone said I looked pretty cute.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Our house has been really busy. It sure smells good! Mom and Mumsy got me all dressed up so I knew something was going on.... Plus, mom had fixed the table up really fancy and someone came with flowers. It looked like this:


Aunt Catherine came. She is really funny. She was trying to steal a pie!


After smelling all that good food, all I got to eat was some mushy white stuff (potatoes). Yuck! They made me sick. Mom says that's no good for an Idaho boy! Maybe someday I'll like them.

My First Trips

I took my first trip when I was four days old. My cousin Elliott and I went to a barbecue at Big Willow where my Uncle J.G. lives. Daddy had been helping brand, but I wasn't big enough to help yet. It looks like fun because you get to be so dirty!


My Aunt Catherine rode in the back of the car with me and Elliott. My Aunt Janelle said that was because all the kids had to sit in the back. Catherine is fun. I think she understands me pretty well.

Here's my Mumsy's progeny. She got her first two grandkids (me and Elliott) within about six weeks. We're trying to keep her on her toes.


My first overnight trip was to visit Mumsy at Raspberry Ranch. Daddy and Uncle Josh got to play with concrete, but I had fun too. I got to see the playhouse Mumsy got for me and Elliott, but they wouldn't let me stay there yet. Mumsy gave me a bath. I was kind of cold, so I don't look like I'm having much fun.


Mumsy and I like to hang out and sometimes she helps feed me: