Jackson Hole

Just a few fun pictures. We drove out to Wyoming over President's Day and took a sleigh ride through the elk with the rest of Mike's family. We had a great time, but Charlie couldn't keep his eyes open.

Naming Baby Boy

Last year, I was talking to my Grandpa who said that he always gets inspiration for what his grandkids names are supposed to be, but no one ever uses the names he picks. Because Mike and I are totally clueless when it comes to what to name this baby, I told him I would seriously consider his pick and to let me know what it is as soon as he figures it out. He said he'd probably be dead by then and I told him he better come to me in a dream and let me know what it is. Well, my grandpa died in December, and as sad as it is, I'm a little mad at him for not coming back in my dreams to tell me what to name my child.

Last weekend, Charlie and I drove down to Utah and spent some time at my grandparents house. My mom came across a list of names in my Grandpa's handwriting. Evidently he had made a list of all the boys he knew growing up- three and a half pages worth. Here's a little taste of what he had:

Orrin

Weston

Hershell

Franklin

Gordan

Theodore

Conway

Peter

Maurice

Dean

Ferral

Stuart

Nathan

Glenn

Waldo

Warren

Edward

Edwin

Leland

Lamont

Simon

Thaine & Wayne (twins)

Seymore

Leo

Lee

Golden

Lawrence

Dyke

Myron

Reed

Max

Moses

Hatch

Reynold

Thomas

Soloman

Hatch

Ned

What do you think? I like Waldo . . . just kidding. That's not even 1/4 of the names, but do you think any of them have any potential? We thought of just going with my grandpa's name, but then we'd have Charlie and Chet (Chester) and that's more than a little too "matchy" for me. Mike and I are realizing that this baby is coming in about a month, and we don't even have a narrowed down list of names. Boy names are hard!

So . . . any ideas?

The Brilliance of the American Driver

Because the weather has been so awful in this area, the workers who have been hired to man road blocks are getting over-used. The Idaho Transportation Department has asked some of their other employees (like Mike the new Engineer) to fill in here and there. So Mike has spent a number of nights in the past month sitting in a truck watching movies on his laptop while getting to observe first hand the stupidity around him. He has many many stories, and I'll admit that some of the people I feel sorry for. Like all the high school kids who couldn't get to their ACTs in Rexburg, or the guy who promised his wife that if he went to work, he'd be back in time for her brother's wedding and waited all night hoping for a plow truck that ended up getting stuck itself.

But then there is the DHL driver who tried to talk Mike into letting him through the road block. Mike explained that there were five foot snow drifts and he would not make it. This man proceeded to turn around and take a back road around the barricade. Not two miles later, he found himself of course trapped in a five foot snow drift. He got out of his car and started walking, finding an abandoned house where he called the police asking for help. So at the road block where Mike is sitting, a police car comes up and asks Mike if he can pass to go rescue this guy. Mike gives the same answer . . . "You will not make it." They had to call a plow truck off of one of the major highways to help and eventually did find the guy's car, but it took them quite a while longer to find him. He got a hefty fine and had to call a tow truck to get his car out of the drift. His escapades ended up costing him over $500. I wonder how much money he made while working that night . . .

So Mike and I have created a list of hints for dealing with road closures:

• Don't ever assume that you can make it through just because you have four-wheel drive. Often it takes three plows just to clear the snow and make the road drivable. (and sometimes, even they get stuck and have to call a bigger plow)


• If there is a road closure and huge line of cars waiting, don't assume that they have been told there is a plow truck on the way to escort you. The state workers are advised not to leave their trucks for safety reasons, and often no one has bothered to ask and there really is no plow truck coming. Get out of your car, go ask and make sure that you know what is going on.


• When a road has been closed at night for a week straight, don't promise your wife that it will be open for you to make it back for something as important as a wedding. You are going to be in the doghouse anyway, don't make it worse.


• Don't ever try to go around the barricade or just speed past the road block. You will get stuck and feel really dumb (rightfully so) when someone has to drag you back past the guy who told you so.

Charlie's Birthday

This is what happens when you leave Grandma and Grandpa in charge while you go to find something to light the candles with. Sorry it's sideways . . . I can't figure out how to turn it right side up. This one is from my mom's camera. I have one on mine, but for some reason it just won't transfer . . .

Yesterday was Charlie's birthday and although we didn't throw a huge party, we tried to make the family party special. He got all sorts of presents- a Woody doll (from Toy Story), balls, and a huge TeePee that I stayed up all night finishing for him (actually it's not quite done, but it's close). All those things and what did he play with all night? The helium balloons we got for decoration. This morning he has been dragging them around the house. What can we say? He's definitely easy to please.

Toddler Days

Charlie is driving me crazy today! He broke his CD player, played with the oven until it got stuck on lock, pulled the windowsill off the ledge, and somehow smeared poop on his bedroom floor. I don't know how he does it, but isn't it weird how toddlers can make you want to throw your own tantrum? And still I don't have any idea what I would do without him. And even on days like this, I can't wait to see what kind of trouble TWO little boys are going to get into . . . hmmm.

Anyway, here are some pictures of our house. You'll notice I haven't done any decorating yet, but a number of people have wanted to see, so here you go. (The picture of the front of the house was taken before our mountain of snow, just FYI)

The living room . . .

A couple pictures of the kitchen/dining room . . .

And last, the family room. But I couldn't figure out how to take a good picture of so it's a video. And watching the video, I realize how spoiled Charlie is with all those toys.

Internet Access at Last!

Joy of joys! I am finally reconnected! Now I should have spent the last two hours (while Charlie is napping) unpacking boxes and getting organized. But what fun is that when I can be catching up on all of your blogs that I have missed for the last three weeks. Such fun reading!


So we are now the proud new owners of a mortgage payment. Things have been slow moving in because we've all had horrible terrible colds, but now that we are feeling better (three boxes of Kleenex later) we are finally getting settled. Here are our favorite things about being homeowners (In no particular order):

Having enough space to store all my junk! (While I work to decide what junk I should keep and what needs to go)

Cupboard Space

Our Yard: Granted, we haven't even set foot in it yet because of all the snow, but now that we are all feeling better, we might just brave it. I wonder if Charlie will even be able to see above the mass of white.

Having a garage . . . the joys of not having to scrape windows.

Our office/craft room- I love having a place I can get creative and then shut the door so that Charlie can't get into my "works-in-progress."

Our willow tree. I'll admit that it is one of the reasons I fell in love with this house. I can't wait to see it get all its leaves this Spring.

Now if we could just figure out a way to fit our couch into the basement . . .



On another note, I here are some pictures from our trip to New Orleans in December.

Charlie looking at the Mississippi River

Trying to climb into the pirana tank . . . why Mike lifted him up to look at the water I'll never know

Charlie with his favorite girl cousin, Elsa

The Laura Plantation

Mike, Jimmy and Amy at an authentic southern BBQ . . . at least we are assuming it was authentic . . .

Mike and I exploring the famous (and definitely adult rated) Bourbon Street

To be honest, we spent most of the trip at the hotel, playing games (Hand and Foot), eating way too much food, and enjoying spending time together. My brother and his family live in Florida, so we don't get to see them very often. This trip was an excuse to get together and play.