Boating

We've been fortunate to have friends invite us boating these past few months. We made it out on the water several times this summer and have had a blast.  

Sorry, many of these pictures were taken with Sean's cell phone when it had a scratched lens. 

Surfing

Why aren't there any pictures of me surfing? Well, it might be due to the fact that I only made it up for a whole five seconds... but hey, I am proud of those five seconds!

Our baby chipmunk

Jackson LOVES the tube. He and Dax were brave and took a few rides (despite the picture, an adult was always on the tube with them, I promise!)

The boats lulled Bode to sleep every time.

 Luke and Jackson checking out the sunset

 Keisha, I stole this off of your blog :)

Pumpkins and fall

I am happy to report after the great pumpkin massacre last year, our pumpkins escaped unharmed this year :) 

All summer we thought we only had one pumpkin growing. It is the biggest pumpkin we've had so far and was completely orange at the end of July! Overachiever I guess ;) 

A few weeks ago my friend Kristol found a second pumpkin from our plant that we had overlooked. It was growing in her garden spot on the back fence... literally on the fence.

It didn't turn fully orange until last week, so we must have just missed it since it blended in with everything else. I thought it was so funny that is where it ended up!

Two pumpkins for two little boys :)

Here are a few pictures from one of our recent trips up the canyon. The colors were so pretty! 

We stopped at Silver Lake Flat. Jackson was in heaven throwing rocks into the water with his dad.

Gorgeous.

 I love fall!

Results are in

He PASSED!!!

Hooray!!! I am not surprised, but I am happy it is official and Sean feels like he can really celebrate now! Anyone will tell you passing the bar is no small feat. The weeks of waiting for results are over and celebration is in order!

So congratulations to you, babe! All of your hard work for the last several years got you here and it is truly such a HUGE accomplishment. 

We couldn't be more proud of you.

Labor Day weekend

We decided to head back up to "God's country" (as my dad calls it) for more time at the cabin. 

My parents, brother Todd and his family, and uncle Karl were also there and we had a great weekend.

These two were quite enamored with the four wheelers and probably would have slept on them if allowed.

My dad, Karl, and Sean took out the drift boat to fly fish one afternoon. They didn't end up making it home until pretty late, but it sounds like they had a good time. 

We took a small hike near my dad's family's property near Hebgen Lake to a little pond we used to hike to as kids. It is one of my favorite places on earth and it was really cool taking my own kids there. 

My little brother and I once saw two bear cubs here. All I remember was being scared to death and running down the mountain as fast as we could. I think Thomas had made it to the bottom before I had even made it down the first hill...

Well hello, Bode!

 Hard to see, but the pond is in front of the guys. My dad and his siblings used to hike to this same pond when they were kids.

 It is a beautiful place and I have fond memories here. I used to think of it as my own version of a secret garden.

Todd's cute family

Chillin'

S'mores

Someone ate like 10 marshmallows... and yes, this picture was taken on the toilet.

 See?

 Hahaha! I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help it.

Hoping we make another trip soon.

Saturdays with dad

Jackson and Sean have a Saturday morning tradition-- and no girls allowed!

First:

Grab "monkey money"

It's Jackson's little toy that he likes to keep coins in. He steals change out of the jar we have on our desk.

Second:

Move car seat to the "zoom-zoom car" and get strapped in

Third:

Cruise around and look for garage sales (and stop at a gas station to buy a sucker)

Fourth:

Come home and show off the cool stuff they find

This was what they bought a few weeks ago. They got all 19 of these books for $4!

They got a big Disney set (hard cover) and two other really cute ones called "Rotten Ralph" and "Flawed Dogs." Sean also bought a copy of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and a book called "Starman Jones" that he saw selling for $50 on eBay.

I'd say the majority of our children's books are ones they've picked up from their garage sale adventures. We have several Dr. Suess board books and entire hardback collections of classic fairytales, etc. A few weeks ago they brought home a copy of "Miss Nelson is Missing" and I about died because I remember loving that book when I was a kid.

I love that Jackson and Sean have this tradition together. Jackson looks up to his dad so much and he is always so excited on Friday night for the next morning :)

Just for fun

I love him.

Glory Hallelujah!

This, my friends, is Jackson's potty chart. Notice, it is complete!!! After more than a month and a half since beginning this fun little journey, I dare say our little man is potty trained! Cue the choir....

Not going to lie, it was rocky. We are definitely not one of those "I trained my son in two days" phenomenons. I had no intention to start potty training until he was closer to 3, but Jackson decided he was ready, so I jumped on board.

Things were going well until we ran into the problem of him refusing to poop. I know there are all sorts of reasons and theories for this. Poor kid. All I know is after a month, my patience was gone and I am sure he was just as frustrated and sick of the whole thing as we were. I was ready to put him back in diapers. Problem was, he loved his new big boy undies and refused.

A few weeks ago he decided he was ready for #2. Sean and I had pretty much promised him the moon if he'd go, so when he did, we had to pay up in the form of a new Spiderman toy, lunch at Arctic Circle, ice cream, and a shaved ice. I think I would have bought him a new car if he'd asked.

We had a few hiccups after that, but last week (after we bought a new package of super hero undies) it all of the sudden just seemed to "click." No accidents for several days now and he is pretty excited about the whole thing. He is quite proud of himself, as am I!

And... he looks pretty darn cute in his undies :)