This weekend we were able to get together with our great group of friends! We try to get together often, but it was extra special this weekend because Angie was down visiting! I had the kids fair this weekend, so Ang, Marci and Annie helped me with the booth all day, what a great group of friends! After the show Jannette was amazing and made us all dinner at the Mascorro's house! Then it was off to the Bullshead pub in Eagle to watch the Dualing Pianos! it was louder than I expected, and crowded! but we had a great time! I'll post those pics a little bit later.

(below) at the Mascorro's house for dinner

(below) at the kids fair

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Brent was a wonderful husband, as always, and brought me flowers on Friday! They are so beautiful! and they have all opened up and smell so good!

On Saturday we went out to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel... we'd never been there before, and Brent had really wanted to go, so we tried it out, and it wasnt bad! it was very southern, more than we realized, with deer heads above the giant fireplace, and a fully stocked counrty store, with some pretty neat things, we'll definately go back.

That evening we decided that instead of one of us cooking a fancy dinner for the other, we would cook a fancy meal together! We actually had alot of fun! Usually our kitchen is too small for the two of us to be in together, but we made it work, and had a fantastic dinner of Penne with roasted bell peppers and pancetta in a sweet vermouth reduction. and since we had the vermouth, we practiced making martini's, Brent was a great bar tender, and had a whole mixing station set up on the counter, the drinks werent half bad either!

It feels like Winter is almost at it's end! We're half way through February already and I cant believe how fast this year is already flying by! I've been working alot lately, and finally have some time off to blog and post some updates! Every week I try to get the kids out at least once or twice for a playdate with friends. This ends up being just Maggie and I, now that Josh is in school full time, and Matt goes 3 days a week (without any crying now!). Last week we were invited to do something new and very fun, Bowling!! It went well for the first few rounds, we split the kids up onto two lanes, so they wouldnt get impatient waiting, put down the bumpers, and let them roll! Maggie was just barely big enough to hold the ball, but she insisted on carrying it down and rolling it herself! I helped give it a little push sometimes, cause it would go too slow and set off the fowl buzzer, but she still had a great time doing her bowling ball dance to make it go faster down the lane. I think we'll have to do this again soon, we really had a fun time.

(Below) Maggie getting a hug from her friend Roman, and Colton looks like he wants one too!

(Below) Ellie and I waiting for the ball to come back

This morning we woke up to beautiful sunshine and bright blue skies! It has been weeks since we've seen blue skies, in Boise, there is this thing called the "Inversion". now, I didnt believe in this so called "Inversion" when we first moved here, back in Seattle we called it fog. So after living here for over 2 years now, this is the first year I have truly believed in the Inversion. It's this weird fog, and it is a fog, but since we are set in this wide valley, this fog just bumps off the mountains over and over again, getting thicker, and darker, and nastier, until some big wind (which we had yesterday!) comes in and has enough force to blow it over the mountains. This Inversion also hurts our air quality, we've been at a yellow(?) for some time now I believe, and it's because the dust particles and icky stuff that gets stuck in this thick fog, keeps swirling around and just gets worse for us to breath. I've been wheezy and had a terrible cough for a couple of months now, and the last few weeks were some of the worst, so hopefully now that this gunk is gone, we can finally get some clean air and good breathes in!
Yesterday was also my first day off in nearly 2 weeks! Call weeks with the family are killer, and I just feel like nothing gets done at my own home. So, Brent and I kicked it into high gear yesterday and cleaned the whole house! He finished sanding the windows and preping them to be primed today (by me) so that we can finally finish them. Next weekend we hope to hang the new blinds and curtains and just be done with this huge project that has lasted way too long! Also next weekend, were hoping to finish painting the other half of the kitchen :o) this is something I did one weekend after we first moved in here, while Brent was away hunting. I took apart all the cabinets and cleaned, sanded, and painted them white. Well, that was almost 2 years ago... so hopefully, I'll get the other side of the kitchen done and matching soon.
It's great to finally be getting things acomplished again around here, it's so cold were sticking to our indoor projects, but we have so many we just dont know where to start! I'll update with pics when I get them soon.

Welcome 2009!

It's hard to believe a new year is here already. 2008 seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. On the 1st, Brent and I took some time to talk about some of the acomplishments we had this year, here is a little re-cap of our favorites,

• Celebrating our first anniversary in March, what a wonderful first year it was!
• Completing several big projects around the house, new windows, siding, a new dishwasher (which is great!!), ripping out the old deck in preparation for the new deck, tearing up the backyard with the skidsteer, all of the rocks and pavers we put in the back yard, finishing lining the driveway with gravel, installing new fans throughout the house (critical for summer!)... just to name a few :o)
• Taking the trip of a lifetime with the Norris/Anderson family to Kauai, Hawaii
• Brent taking his first big buck in an early season draw hunt, he is still very excited about the horns beinging in full velvet.
• My taking the Infant Massage course and starting my own Infant Massage Instruction business, Gentle Touch Infant Massage.
• Abby got her 100th retrieve, Brent is very proud of that, so am I :o)

What a wonderful year it was! Brent and I are so thankful for everything that happened this last year, and are excited and hopeful that 2009 will be even better!