Winter Fun

This winter we have been getting mounds and mounds of snow. This has given us a lot of grief, driving on bad roads. But also a lot of fun spending time with Alma outside. Once we get her completely bundled up, she enjoys going on long walks in the snow. Sometimes in a sled, sometimes she rides with Daddy in the pack. Doesn't matter, she is an adventurous little baby.

She really wants to get as close to Daddy as possible . . .

Thanksgiving 2010

This year we had a very low key Thanksgiving. We spent the day at Dan's grandparents house with a few relatives. It was a nice, relaxing holiday, and the first year that Alma got to eat Turkey Dinner. She absolutely loved it! She had Turkey, mashed potatos and gravy, green beans, and some of Grandma Pat's homemade flax-seed rolls. Delicious!

Halloween Fun!

This year we did all kinds of fun things for Halloween. Alma dressed up as Princess Leia, and Neil went as Yoda, which was extremely adorable. We only took her trick-or-treating to a couple of houses before returning home.

We each carved our own pumpkin - well, actually, Dan carved three pumpkins!

We had to buy Alma a Halloween outfit to wear to her day-care party. She also wore this outfit to Shriners one day and got all kinds of compliments. I made this cute bow one afternoon with my little sister.

At Shriners this week Alma got her very first pair of colored casts - bright orange for Halloween.

Alma had a little Halloween party for some of her friends. We frosted Halloween shaped cookies, made spooky masks, and played "Monster" games.

Apple Mash 2010

After weeks of working on his cider press and picking apples, we were finally ready to press apple cider. We invited all of our friends and spent the afternoon in the yard. Even the rain couldn't keep us away! At the end of the day everybody took home about a gallon of fresh cider, and we ended up with two full carboys of juice that Dan plans to make into hard apple cider.

Applesauce!

We have apples coming out of our ears! We have baked pies, cakes, tarts, strudels, and made apple butter, apple sauce, and eaten at least ten pounds of just plain apples. Next year, we are going to invite people to come and pick their fill!

Adventures in Food

Alma is almost completely done with baby food. She is really into eating blueberry bagels, pesto rolls from the co-op, and french toast is her absolute favorite! She is also starting to drink out of mom's cup. It doesn't matter what I am drinking, whatever I have she wants to drink. She is growing up so fast!

Cider Press

One of the biggest reasons Dan loves our new house is the Orchard. With five fruit bearing Apple tree's it has been apple-mania at our house. We have made applesauce, apple dumplings, apple cakes, apple pies, and now we are going to make Apple Cider. Dan did a lot of research on cider presses - but the ones he wanted were all over a thousand dollars. So, what's an Engineer to do? Build his own, of course! Dan designed and built this bad boy for under $200. That doesn't include his time - which is very valuable, so really I think his cider press is invaluable. He did a really beautiful job, and we can't wait to get it working!

Harvest Time!

Our new house has an amazing orchard. We have four apple trees, a pear tree, and a plum tree. They are all very developed and mature, but they do need to be cut back and sprayed next year. We have been very much enjoying harvesting our crop and Dan has been working very hard on his cider press. In a few weeks we are planning a big party to make apple cider, but this weekend we did a trial run and made some pear cider. The Jarolimeks and the Terry's joined us, so we had a total of seven kiddos totting/running around! Everybody got a turn so it was lots of fun.

Alma is starting to discover solid foods - and this was her first s'more. It was a very messy endeavor, but she was very happy about it.

My first attempt at Pear Honey. A little thicker than I wanted it, but divine.

Our Plum harvest!

Harvesting apples! Tons, and tons, and tons of apples!

Why yes, it IS a boy!

Roadside Pit Stop

Over Labor Day weekend we decided to head down South to visit my family. We stopped at the beach in McCall to stretch our legs and take a break. Dan and Alma ended up going for a brief swim in the Lake. We all had an excellent time!

A Mini Getaway

These pictures are kind of old, but still very fun. This summer we had a very early morning appointment in Spokane so we went up the night before and got a hotel. We stayed right on the river and were able to walk to River Front Park. We enjoyed walking in the park, eating out, and taking Alma on her first Merry-Go-Round.

VACATION!

Last weekend we took a few extra days off and went to Mazama, WA with the Jarolimeks. Gretta found us a lovely cabin for rent right out in the woods. The resort had a private lake, a swimming pool, and an awesome hot tub. Mazama is near Winthrop WA which is a western themed town that was lots of fun. We had homemade peach ice cream, lots of fresh fruit (we were in fruit country!) went on hikes, bike rides, and had all kinds of fun. We also got to celebrate Dan's 30th birthday! Here are a few fun photos.

A Bun in the Oven

Dan and I are very excited to announce that we are expecting a new baby! Starting in March we will have two little bundles of baby to love. This is the photo that I sent my mom to see if she would figure it out. It only took her a second, but my sister on the other hand, she didn't get it :) It's true what they say about baby # 2 - your belly pops out three times as fast! I didn't have a belly like this with Alma until 5 1/2 months along.