We Made it!

Well, we were somewhat worried about today. We left at 9am this morning, hoping that the extra hour would give the sun sometime to warm the roads and melt the snow. It kinda worked! Oregon was the worst part. Heading into La Grande was pretty icy, but managable, but heading out of La Grande just got worse. The Blues, or Meachum and dead man's pass, were very slick! and the 6% grade heading down into Pendleton was slippery as well. Chains were required for all semi-trucks, but not for us, thankfully, we had them and we were very prepared, overly, but are so thankful it wasnt bad enough to use them. Once we got past the blinding wind (which was blowing snow so hard! we could hardly see in some spots!) the drive turned out pretty great, Washington was the best part! Snoqualmie pass was dry mostly, but people were still nervous and went about 40 mph the whole way, so it still took us a good 10 hours to get here from Boise!

What a long day! were just so happy to be here! Abby is running around finding all the toys and Lilly is still nervous because of the other cats in the house... but she'll warm up soon. Brent is excited to go duck hunting some place new, and i'm just excited to see family and friends!

Blessings to everyone for a Merry Christmas and best wishes for a Happy New Year!!

Brent wanted me to show off his christmas present... since he wont be able to use them for another week, he put them under the tree, lol. Lilly doesnt quite know what to think of them yet.

Abby has been sniffing them, but they dont have a natural bird or water scent on them yet, so she's not very interested. She still didnt mind posing for a cute pic with them though.

a little update

Sorry it's been so long! Brent and I had a wonderful time in Sun Valley, forgetting our camera almost everywhere we went, I only have a few pictures on my phone, and havent quite figured out how to upload or send those to my computer yet. We stayed at this great little bed and breakfast, the Featherbed Inn, which we chose because they allow pets, no limit to size or weight. So we were fortunate enough to bring Abby, she loved it up there! Brent has done some work up in the area, so he took me on a tour of Ketchum, and Hailey, what a great area! We went on this great hike out past Ketchum, it had a beautiful view of the ski area, and Abby loved exploring a new trail. We had a couple picnics, enjoying our thankgiving leftovers as sandwiches, and taking in the breathtaking views around us on the mountain. I cant wait to take a ski trip up there, I just want to be a stronger skiier first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Below) The best present under the tree, Lilly. This is her new favorite spot to sleep... all day and all night... she's laying there still as I type this, lol.

Our Christmas Tree!

We have been getting into the christmas spirit around Boise. Last weekend both my mom and Brent's mom came to Boise to visit for 4 days! It was so great having them both here! Last year my mom came, and we did the downtown shopping thing, then also the Boise Christmas show, this is now officially an annual tradition. This year we kicked off the weekend by getting our Christmas tree! It's beautiful! Brent put the lights on, then we enjoyed hanging ornaments and decorating the rest of the house. The rest of the weekend was spent christmas shopping downtown, going to the christmas show, checking out the Botanical garden lights (beautiful!) and enjoying time with our family. This year also brought a special treat my mom had been hoping for... SNOW! Monday morning we woke up with the great white stuff floating down, and a light blanket on the ground. I woke my mom up at 6:30 to show her (I had to work for a couple hours and was up early) She was pretty excited... last year it snowed the day after she left, so we were really hoping she would get her white wish this year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the night we got a little bit of snow... about 3 inches in 24 hours! We took the opportunity of snow and made it an early white Christmas. Brent and I opened presents sunday morning, he really wanted his and was begging me to open it, when I finally gave in, he was very happy, 4 goose decoys, just what he had wanted, and some hunting magazines, and an adapter for his truck. He gave me some new sweat pants for winter, mine had a hole in the leg from getting too close to the fire while camping this summer, some waterproof gloves, some yummy smelling candles, and a beautiful jewelry box for all my earrings and necklaces. Thanks Hubby!

As we prepare to take our Christmas vacation (9 days at home!) there will be lots to do around here, packing up all the stuff our moms bought that wouldnt fit onto the plane, lol, packing up our own gifts for family, figuring out the best way to travel with both pets... I'm just happy we get to bring them both, I always feel bad leaving Lilly behind. I cant wait to be home for the holidays, I do wish we could bring the snow with us, a white Christmas would be so fantastic, but that might have to wait until our family comes to Boise for Christmas.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful and thankful turkey day!!!

Brent and I had a great Thankgiving this year... it was sad to not be home with family, but we were so lucky to be able to spend it with some very dear friends, the Andersons! Josh and Marci were some of the first friends we met when we moved to Boise 2 years ago, and they have become more like family, they are such wonderful people! Brent woke up early and went hunting with Abby, while I loaded up the ham, sweet potatoes, pie, and stuffing and went over to their house early this morning. It was such a great day, very relaxing with lots of football, a great game of foosball, and lots of anxious turkey watching. We are so very thankful for all of our great friends here in Boise, but extra thankful for those friends that we share holidays with, this was our second thanksgiving with Josh and Marci, and we hope to keep this new tradition in years to come!

Brent and I are now off to Sun Valley for the rest of the holiday weekend, where we hope there will be snow, lots of dowtime, hiking, and good food at the bed and breakfast we will be visiting.
i'll post some pics when we get home. and were so excited to share that we will be home in just about 3 weeks for Christmas!!! Time is just going by way too fast!

Brrrr....

Fall is definately in full peak right now! I know this from the million leaves covering our backyard... and by the 7 bags of leaves we filled just in the front yard! The air finally has that all day crisp chill to it, you can see your breath until about 10am most days, and it's getting dark REALLY early! Brent calls this peak duck hunting season... I tend not to agree, but he's still getting his early morning hunts in, Abby just loves it too much :o) Holiday festivities are starting all around us. Earlier this week Brent and I went and saw the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, it was a great experience, the light show was intense, and a little hard on the eyes at some points, dont go if you have any sensitivity to light, Brent ended up feeling kinda sick from them, but the music was great, and it's something I had wanted to see for a few years now, so that was great.

We also went and saw the newest Warren Miller ski film last night. It was such a fun night! We met up with Brent's boss, Mike, and had a great time, he's a huge ski bum too, so we have fun in winter. The movie was great, a little more tame than past years, but still inspirational, and definately brings on the excitement for ski season! We are hoping to take several weekend trips this year, I need a lot more lessons still, but hope to take them on a weekly basis here in Boise, at Bogus Basin. It will take alot for me to get comfortable skiing with Brent, he's just so much more experienced, but I look forward to a great season.

Some ways to give back over the holidays

In my effort to go green and help our dying environment, I always am looking for new ways to cut energy use, drive less, shop online instead of heading to the mall, etc. In my latest effort I followed a list from my Glamour magazine, which has 31 days of giving (each day has a different website link that you can follow to help out our world and enviornment. So, after checking a few of them out, I thought I'd share my fav's :o)

www.terrapass.com/ This site is the best Green site i've found! you can calculate your carbon footprint, and they give you feedback on how to reduce your impact, you can also donate a calculated amount to sort of make up for your footprint, but making changes is a great way to start... I found out I owe $107... from all the round trip flights i've made this year!!! oops!

www.madebysurvivors.com What a great way to empower women! Jewelry and other things made by survivors of sex trafficking all around the world, they have christmas stuff and proceeds go to their rehabilitation and also teaches women new trades and helps them start over in life.

www.hopewine.com Winemakers out of California created this line, where 50% of proceeds go to support several causes, including Breast cancer research, Autism, AIDS, The Planet and our troops! buy a bottle or subscription for a great christmas gift!!

www.adoptaclassroom.org I love this one, and hope to help out as much as I can. Sign up in your community, then raise funds or ask your friends to help out with buying items that your classroom really needs. It helps out the students, but also the teachers, who so often buy much needed supplies out of their own pockets.

www.charitywater.org give donations to help a community get water in developing countries, $20 can give one person clean drinking water for 20 years!!!

These are just a few of the many sites they have listed, i'll continue to check them out and update if I find some other good ones... I'm sure they are all good, but I cant list them all!... or can I???

What a BIG day!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAM!!!!

Today my little sister turns 23! WOW, I feel like I was just 23...and getting married... and living in Idaho... how time fly's! I am so proud of my little sis and the life she has started to build for herself. I cant wait to see what becomes of her and be there to support her as she acomplishes her many dreams and goals! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS!!!

YES WE CAN!

Tonight, November 4th, 2008, also marks another incredible milestone. Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States! Living in Boise, I felt strong as a supporter of the Obama/Biden campaign, knowing I am surrounded by McCain supporters might have helped my drive, but there is something about this town, the energy, the people are amazing, and I have truly felt connected to this election. After an amazing night at the Idaho Caucus this past summer, I had such a passion to get out there and support this campaign. My neighbors took notice of the signs in our window, sparking sincere conversations that might not ever have taken place, and I found new friends in fellow supporters that I would never have know otherwise. I am thankful for this election, because I believe in Change, I believe our country is finally on the right track with this elected president, and I cannot wait for our future and to see what Change can bring!

I cannot leave without a special note for a special little boy... Matt, one of the little boys I nanny for, turns 5 today! We had a special birthday with him on Sunday, Brent and I got him the greatest, most annoying present a 5 year old could ever wish for... a duck call. :o) He always loves to play with Brent's duck calls, walking around the house with them and playing outside with Abby, blowing them at the top of his lungs. I know his parents appreciate the added noise, just as much as I do during the day with them, but it was what he repeatedly asked for, and Brent loved the idea of encouraging him to hunt :o)

Sad news

We recieved word last night that Brent's long time family dog, Demi, went to live with God in Doggy heaven on Tuesday. She was 16 years old. We will greatly miss her.

A little update :o)

This past weekend (October 16th-19th) I was finally able to attend the Infant Massage Certification course I had been trying to attend for over a year! It was wonderful!! I flew into Seattle Wednesday night and class started Thursday morning. I met some wonderful people and made some special friends, and loved learning how to teach parents how to massage their infants. It was such a special and personal course, the connection between a parent and their child is amazing, and being able to teach parents this special technique is something I am humbled to do.
My first class starts this coming Monday, This will be my practicum class, so these are all technically volunteers for me to practice teaching and then they will evaluate the class and i'll be passed or not... hopefully passed :o) I'm working with several friends and their babies, and i'm so excited to be able to bring this to Boise! I also met a wonderful lady with twins on the plane ride home, who happened to evesdrop over my work I was doing and signed up immediately! :o) After the 5 week practicum class I'll send in my exam and all the evaluations from parents, and hopefully with about another 5 week turn around on exams, i'll get my certification to teach!!.... and get paid for it. :o) So far I am the only one in Boise that I know of, i've googled, looked in the phonebook, asked around, and cant seem to find anyone else that does this, so I'm really hoping i'm the first, and can get a successful business going. so I guess all I can say is... Wish me luck!!!

Update: Snow!!

Yes, your seeing correctly. It has currenty been snowing for just over an hour... and we have 2 inches!!! This is crazy!

Brent and Abby are loving it though! Abby didnt want to come inside!

We got home about an hour and a half ago, just before it started snowing hard... our cars are still warm... but that doesnt stop the snow from settling on them!

It really is beautiful isnt it

SNOW!!!!!

Well, It is officially freezing outside! literally, it's snowing! the drive home from work was filled with paniced drivers, thank goodness neither Brent or I have to go far, and we both got off work early... because Boise drivers are scary in the rain or snow! They didnt warn us of snow until this morning, and then they even said it would be tomorrow morning, so imagine the shock throughout the treasure valley that came with the white stuff this evening.

Abby is loving the show! she was covered when we got home, and what better way to show the snow than on her!

They are now saying It will snow until 8pm tonight, then freeze, then snow the rest of the weekend :o) yay. Brent also happens to be taking me duck hunting tomorrow morning... i'll let you know how that goes.

Happy Belated Birthday Hubby!!!

We were so busy with the yard this past weekend I didnt have a chance to post about Brent's Birthday! He turned 26 on Sunday the 5th! It was great having his parents here to celebrate with us! We went out to dinner at the Bittercreek alehouse and I baked a cake to enjoy. We worked hard on the yard, but I think he still had a good birthday. Thanks for all the well wishes and cards he recieved, he truly appreciated it!

Boise's First Frost!!!

BRRRRRRR!!!! We woke up to a 32 degree morning! we were fairly warned by the news, but still it doesnt seem like it will happen until it does!!

It was our first big fall frost! I spent a good 8 minutes scraping my windows and heating up the car before I left for work. I'm not sure if you'll be able to see the frost on the ground, but it's frozen solid! I'm really nervous now because of the trees and bushes we just planted! I hope they survive!

This shows a little better the frost on the grass (or clovers in our case)

I think this shows it the best, and this was taken at 9:30 am, I think the roof above the garage is dry because that is where we had the new insulation installed... not sure, but it was interesting. Now we just have to figure out if we'll be able to lay sod this weekend or not!!

Kinda After...

Our little tree! We saved this tree from being consumed by the nasty pond that once filled our back yard, we were not sure it would make it, but Beth pruned it back alot and made it look like a tree again, while I layed the rocks and made a nice raised bed for it to live in. Hopefully it will survive!

These are our biggest trees, they were right off the back of the deck, one is a crabapple tree, and I'm not sure what the other is, but it has alot of leaves! We connected their beds so we can plant some things between them, and we'll make a little path off the new deck in the spring.

Deck clutter :o) and the right side of the yard, finally graded, ready for gravel

This is our new bush! It's a burning bush, which will turn bright red every fall. I'm so excited to have color and plants in our back yard!

We lined the rocks all the way around to the deck, we made it wrap around in a light curve to form flower beds and a garden area for my veggies next spring.

We are so excited to have a back yard we can use! Hopefully this weekend we'll be able to lay sod, Brent figured out our back yard is roughly 2000 sqft, or at least the part were going to lay sod, this is going to be one huge project!

Before...

2 weeks ago Brent and I spent the weekend ripping out our lower deck in preperation for our huge back yard renovation project! It was a long weekend, with lots of screws to remove (by hand!) and lots of rotten wood, but we got it done, and were able to move onto the next project!

(Below) the final boards of the lower deck... almost done! They were sooo rotten! Brent kicked on board and it crumbled, their used to be a pond off to the left of the pic (where the dog pool is) that was so disgusting, it decayed the deck, thank god that is gone!

Brent's parents helping move the massive amount of river rock we had in our yard, we had over 2,000 i'm sure!

A view of the whole back yard, under construction. See the skid-steer! It was a blast to drive! we moved so much dirt it's unreal! but we couldnt have done it without Brents parents help! Thanks Beth and Jim!!

Our wonderful rented skid-steer, we could not have done anything this big without it! and see all the rocks??? we picked through every single one to get the dirt out, and organized them around the yard.

Beth and Jim hard at work organizing rocks

Starting our down-slope from the house, we had to bring the dirt level down 6 inches, cause it was sitting against the house too high and could corrode the foundation... Brent's an engineer, when he says to do something, I listen :o)

Our side fence (the right side of the yard) which is leaning if you can see it, this area (about 10-12 feet from the fence line) will be filled with gravel for quad parking and i'm sure eventually a boat or something...

Another angle of the right side of the yard being graded down to the back

We are so excited to have a yard that actually looks like a back yard! Summer was so difficult without a real yard! I cant wait to host a real bbq next summer and have actual grass to enjoy!

Fall is finally here!!

The first week of fall has brought on falling leaves, all over our back yard, and the crisp morning chill that we wait all summer for. This past week Brent and I both battled severe cold, Mine which is still lingering around in my lungs, and Brent's which has come and gone. This weekend we took advantage of the beautiful weather we're still having to get some things done around the house. We've been debating on when to start our huge back yard project, and we'll, what better time than now? So, we spent the day tearing out our back deck! just the lower half, were going to keep the upper half until spring, when we'll hopefully replace the whole thing. Next weekend Brent's parents will be here (for his birthday!) to help out with the destruction of the rest of the yard. Were renting a bobcat and planning on scraping the top layers of gravel, rock, clay, and plastic, grading the yard, and bringing in top soil to prep for a new back yard! We do hope to lay a sprinkler system, maybe not this fall but in the spring, and after a winter of mud, hopefully we'll have beautiful new grass to enjoy next summer! I'll post some pics soon.

Family visit!

We have been busy with guests this past week! Brent's brother Dane was in town hunting last weekend, and ended up coming home with Brent Tuesday night. It was great hanging out, if only for a night (he went home early Wednesday morning).

Then, Friday evening we had the pleasure of Brent's parents, Beth and Jim, and their close friends, Nick and Sharon Wells. Nick and Sharon had never visited before, it was Sharons first time in Boise ever, so it was neat to give them the tour of downtown Boise and the surrounding area. We took them to our favorite summer eatery, Lucky 13, located in Harris Ranch (east of downtown Boise), for some yummy homemade pizza and salads and drinks. We always like to sit on the outside patio, which we did this time as well, but we were threatened the whole night by rain. Now, growing up in Seattle, we are all very used to rain, but since living in Boise, it's a rare occurance! Well it just so happens that the night they get into town, a massive thunderstorm rolled on into the Treasure Valley, what are the odds! I swear, people from Seattle bring the rain with them :o)

The rain did hold off through dinner, we only felt a couple drops, but that night it poured! and it hasnt stopped since! Yesterday morning we enjoyed breakfast at our favorite place, Rembrant's, in Eagle. It's an old church that has been converted into a really neat coffee house. They support the arts, and there are paintings and sculptures all over the building, all of which are available for sale. It was so busy when we got there, Beth and I scoped out a table while the others waited to order, we finally spotted two gentleman leaving their tip on the table, and we jumped at the opportunity, scoring a perfect table for 6! It was great getting a little more time in with them before they left, even if it was pouring outside, it just reminded us more of home!

Last night we hung out with some friends and watched the BSU/Oregon game, Unfortunately BSU won, it was a sad game, but we had fun ribbing our BSU loving buddies, and getting ribbed back when they won, lol. It was great catching up with them, it's been awhile since we've had a get together. and with the rain we really couldnt do much else! Today we attempted to finish the trim on the inside of the windows... didnt really happen, Brent got 2 pieces up, then took a 4 hour break to watch the big game. I hung up the remaining 3 floating shelves in the living room, they look great! except I measured the bottom one wrong and had to re-do it, other than that they look great :o) Hopefully the rest of our windows will be trimmed out before the new year... but we'll see :o)

End of Summer RE-Cap

August went by in such a rush! I cant believe it's almost October! We had a few end of the summer camping trips, the last one being up to Deadwood Reservoir, or the surrounding area more like it. Fall was definately starting to show up there, at nearly 7000 feet, it was chilly most of the weekend. Our camping trip was really more of a scouting trip. Yes, it's that time of year again. Elk season has started, so every morning Brent would head out in search of any sign he could find that animals might be near. Unfortunately, he didnt find much. We would also scope the hills in the evenings and didnt see anything then either. It took him 2 more trips up, the following weekends, to realize there really were no animals up there. I guess you could call it time well wasted.

Other than there being no animals, we had a great time, Abby loves the mountains, and she hiked so much that weekend she couldnt get into the truck by herself by the last day, we had to lift her in so she could lay down and fall back to sleep. I think it took her almost 3 days to recover and get her energy back, she was one tired puppy! We'll miss the mountains during the winter, we'll just have to get ready for skiing a little bit early this year I think, the snow is already on it's way!

Me with our great catch! 2 kokanee which were bright pink! (above)

pretending to kiss the fishies :o)

Brent out playing on the flats surrounding the lake with Abby

Abby and I at Deadwood Reservoir

I think she had just finished the rest of my sandwich, the wind got ahold of my plate and dumped it on the ground. Abby was sure excited about that!

I also took a last minute trip to Seattle last weekend. Brent was hunting and I had 3 days off, so I flew in and proceeded to drive to the coast with my parents to see their property. It needed some TLC, so we mowed, weed-whacked, and sawed our way around the property until it was in tip-top shape. Saturday started out nice, then this weird fog rolled in off the ocean, it covered all of Ocean Shores. We couldnt see anything that night, which made it interesting at dinner sitting next to the huge windows, usually we would walk down the beach, but we could find the beach! The next morning we woke up to the beautiful blue skies i'm used to, but I wasnt used to the chill, it was only about 50 degrees! we walked the beach, enjoyed a yummy breakfast, then hit the road to beat the weekend traffic.

I was lucky enough to spend Sunday night with my sister, Pam. A little update on her: as of 2 weeks ago, she is now an Assistant Manager at the downtown Nordstroms! I think she's in Studio, i'll double check. but She also moved to downtown. She had been talking about moving if she got the job there, but we didnt know if it would work out so quickly! She moved in with another assistant manager from the downtown store, Amanda, and her dog Louis (he's adorable!). Their apartment is fantastic! It's in the queen ann area, and overlooks elliot bay! They lucked out with this space, it's great, and fits them so perfectly! it's cut her travel time down from over an hour on the bus each day, to less than 15 minutes to the store! She's doing well, and it was great to see her and spend some time catching up with her life. So if you need some new clothes, go see Pam in Studio :o)

She's graduated!

So I know this happened back in June... I'm a little late. I finally got the pictures from my grandparents (our camera battery died... always happens!) last week and am now finally able to acknowledge the fact that my beloved little sister is done with College! Pam graduated from Central Washington University on June 7th, 2008! We drove over to Ellensburg for the weekend and were so happy to be there to celebrate with her! Brent's parents and brother also made the trek over to celebrate with our family. It was so great having everyone there, and Pam was so excited to be done with College!

Pam and her roommate Jen, Who also enjoyed the end of college that day! Oh, and the wind blown look is courtesy of the Ellensburg Climate, Wind with a touch of sun... They couldnt even throw their caps without them blowing away!

my proud parents and the graduate!

Roomies and best friends celebrating with a toast!

I am so proud of her! and Jen :o)

Both Pam and Jen were fashion merchandising majors with minors in business. Jen had these sweatshirts made just for them, with their majors on the back. It was so fitting and they were so adorable.

CONGRATULATIONS PAM AND JEN!!!

We Love Visitors!

A couple weekends ago I had a great long time friend of mine, Nicole, stay with us for the weekend. She lives in Colorado, and we dont get to see each other much. So when she called and told me she would be driving through Boise on her way to Washington, to pick up her new puppy, Duke, I was very excited! Duke was just about 10 weeks here, he was a great houseguest! Abby loved having a new friend for the weekend. They had such a great time playing and chasing, we went on a big walk, which was alot for such a little guy, and even Lilly didnt seem to mind having another puppy in the house.

below: Abby and Duke checking each other out

Duke loved to jump on Abby to get her to play rough back, they were so cute!

Lilly hung out on top of the dog house most of the evening, just observing the new pup that was invading her home.

just another playing picture, they were having so much fun!

Hopefully we'll be able to meet up with Duke again sometime either camping or on our own trip to Colorado to visit, I'm sure Abby would love to see him again, and i'm sure he'd love to play when he gets to be more her size!