Parade of Lights

 Evie loves parades and living in Montrose has been treating her well.  For a small town we have an abnormal amount of parades.  Probably about 6-7 per year maybe more.  Next year I'll have to count.

The first Saturday of December is always the Parade of Lights.  This year it was a lot longer than last year and since there was no snow it wasn't nearly as cold.  Here are a few of the highlights.

 

 

 

Halloween

I was excited for Halloween this year because Evie was finally old enough to really get it.  I knew she would be more fun this year and she didn't disappoint.  She caught on to saying "trick or treat" pretty quick and wasn't shy at all when she got to choose from a big bowl of candy.  We went to our stake Trunk or Treat and had our own trunk this year for the first time.  It was tons of fun.  Evie was Princess Leia; people got a kick out of her outfit and I had a fun time designing and making it!

 

 

 

 

Milestones

As a family we have hit some big milestones lately.  Evelyn turned two on October 8th and graduated from her crib to a big girl bed.  We built our first blanket fort and Jesse put together his first bike.  He wasn't too keen on my documenting it, but as you can see he cooperated nicely.

Evie LOVES the movie Cars and her favorite character is Mater, hence the cake.  I didn't tell her that was what I was making and she was so excited when she saw it!

 

 

We had some of our friends over to celebrate with us: the Crims and the Dixons.  Evie loves them all so much and is constantly asking where they are when they aren't around.

 

 

Our friends Tony and Elisabeth came to visit the weekend after her birthday and couldn't resist getting her something too!

Here she is on her big girl bed.  She has been a champ and transitioned quite nicely.  She is really excited to be sleeping in a big girl bed like mommy and daddy!  Each night after we tuck her in and say good night she tells us "and don't get out of bed Evie". She even said it when she saw me putting up this post.

 

 

And finally the fort and one stinking cute girl!!

 

Playing Catch Up

It has been too long...I have been waiting for more pictures of our summer adventure to Idaho and have decided it's old news and it's definitely well past time to move on.

So here's a few highlights of what I should have posted over the last few months...

We got our family pictures taken at the end of May and finally got them hanging a few months later...I've been behind on just about everything...Evelyn was a crazy woman and wouldn't hold still.  It made getting an 18 month picture quite difficult. But despite her best efforts we were able to get a few good shots!

 

 

 

 

Evelyn is still as crazy as always.  This is her showing off her meat thermometer.  Her favorite of my kitchen tools.  She's also a snazzy dresser!  She insisted on wearing this dress over her pj's.

Another camping excursion.  This was at Silver Jack Resivor. It's a beautiful little area about an hour from our house.  As you can see Evelyn is just as enamored with fire as her father.  She talks daily about building fires and even tried to stack the sticks I was using for a craft today.

We took a short family vacation to Mesa Verde National Park over Labor Day weekend.  It was really amazing!  The people who lived in these cliff dwellings only accessed them from climbing in and out with hand and foot holds to the mesa above.  It's pretty amazing when you think about the number of people living in them and the supplies that had to be gathered and lowered into the dwellings from above. 

This is the largest of the dwellings known as Cliff Palace.  We were able to go on a ranger guided tour and learned many neat facts about the people who lived here and how they came to do so.  We saw lots of wildlife while we were there including white tail deer, coyotes, and a black bear which was only about 3 feet from my rolled up passenger side window! It's a great place to visit if you have a few days and you can stop by to see us on your way there and back!

Fall in Colorado is an amazing thing.  The changing of the colors is always a big deal and this year didn't disappoint.  Jesse, Evelyn, and I went to the Crested Butte area at the beginning of October for a drive and hike through the mountains. The colors were breath taking and a breeze blew falling leaves into this picture just as I snapped it.

 

The best part of a long hike is the quiet on the way home.  She didn't last 10 minutes!

Of course our most exciting change has been finding out we are expecting a little boy in March!  Evelyn carries her copy of the ultrasound picture around talking about her "tiny baby brother".  I don't know if she really gets it yet, but it's cute none the less!

Summer Vacation Part One: Southeastern Idaho

Evelyn and I spent the month of July roaming Idaho and Oregon to visit family.  I think I'll break up the post into parts so that it's not a mile long.

Our trip started the evening of June 29th when Jesse got off work.  We jumped in the car and headed to Pocatello to visit his family.

The Keenans (Jesse's sister Kandace's family) came to visit us our first day in Pocatello.

Grandpas tractor was a little too enticing for this little miss.  Every time she saw it she wanted to sit on it and move the levers.

 A few days later we went to visit the Keenans in Firth . Evie loved their chickens!

On July 3rd we all went to Rigby to see the Webster's (Jesse's sister Heidi's family) for lunch and swimming at Rigby Lake.  We had a great time splashing in the water, playing in the sand and enjoying the sun.

 That night we all went back to Pocatello, slept on Grandpa's lawn and woke up to a pancake breakfast. (When I say "we" I mean Jesse.  Evie and I slept upstairs in a bed)

 

After breakfast we headed to town to watch the 4th of July Parade.

 

 

 The Goodwins (Debbie's sister Rachel's family) came down to watch with us.

 

 Zac, Jenny and their boys came up too!

After lunch Zac made this great slip'n slide in Grandpa's pasture.  It was a hit! Even the adults took it for a spin!

 

  

After all that fun on the slide we cleaned  off with a waterballoon fight.  THe dirtiest of us also had to use the hose and some shampoo. 

We wrapped up the day with the fireworks show in Pocatello.  It was a wonderful way to spend our Independence Day.  Surrounded by family, enjoying each others company and our country's freedom!

On the morning of the 6th Evelyn and I hitched a ride with my brother Brian to Fruitland to spend some time with my family. Jesse and his family headed to the cabin in Driggs to clean and do some landscaping. 

On Saturday they all went to Upper and Lower Mesa Falls.

Jesse stayed until Sunday morning, then headed back here to Montrose so he could work on Monday.

It was great to get to see family that we have missed dearly since we've moved.  We were a little spoiled living in Boise so close to everyone for a year.