How about a few pictures while you're waiting for the main event...

 Some where around June...

Yes, being up high and seeing people on their level IS quite hilarious. I guess. One sure way to bring on the giggles is to follow her when she's being carried.

 Not sure where her mouth has been. Face down in a pie patch perhaps?

 Elder Waldo

 Life on the colony (I'm pretty sure Lyle was gone by this time).

 July brought piglet tails.

 Storm clouds, smoke and a sunset. The whole valley is burning up this summer, piece by piece.

 Notice the petite sunflowers. Of course, they might be easier to see if there were a little flower to go with the sun. They're just to the left of center if you're still looking. More on that later.

 Learned how to climb up on the couch. Suuuuuuuuper pleased with herself.

Her new favorite thing is stairs. All of the ups and downs and tears that go with them.

 Nine foot tall sunflowers- still all sun and no flower. More on that later.

August-ish
 Carrots, lettuce, corn, zucchini, yellow squash, beans, peas, sunflowers, pumpkins and weeds.

 New neighbor. Wilson. Yep, nice and easy. "Scout Wilson, get out of that flower bed!" He has some people that live with him but I can't remember their names right now. It is nice to have someone living next door again because their yard is getting some much needed help. But, we'd gotten used to being alone. Guess we'll have to go back to wearing clothes.

 From here on out it's pictures of our time in Boise. We're waiting oh so patiently for a baby to come. The plan was to have it at a birthing center here. Her plan was to try to come early. So, plan 15A:  finish out the last bit of bed rest in Boise and then hope the kidlet shows her face before I have to return to school. That would be next Monday- so get a move on ___________.

 Hanging on for dear life or having the time of her life?

 Queen of the slide. Not the swings. Nope, not a fan of the swings. Climbing up the twisty slide and falling on her face? Sure. Yes please, may I have another? Sitting just off the ground in a very secure baby swing? Are you kidding? Get me out of here! (Yes Emma, I'm aware there are separate holes for your legs. Four of them in fact. And two legs. Confusing. With all due respect you had a slot for each leg and a leg for half of the slots before you attempted to squirm your way out.)

 Life on the colony.

 Pretty sure her mouth had gotten into the blue berries that time.

 Rooster tails, and any other do you do to her hair, all end up the same:

a mass of blond curls!
Sunflower update: twelve feet tall when I left a week ago and finally getting some flowers!

To: Grandpa Dave,

much love,

Grandpa Gordon 

Mayhem in Twin

The following rant probably isn't pertinent to your life. Feel free to skip to the pictures.

I'd be surprised if the gentlemen and/or ladies who originally laid out Twin Falls died of natural causes. It's more likely that they ended swinging in tall trees from the ends of ropes. You see, the entire county is laid out in a convenient grid: north, south, east, west. Boring, but efficient. Great. Except downtown Twin is rotated 45 degrees. This means that when you're traveling SE on 2nd Ave N, once you cross the dividing road you're traveling SE on 2nd Ave E. There is, of course, a Main St that divides the numbered streets into N, S, E, & W. Therefore, 2nd Ave N/2nd Ave E has a fraternal twin on the other side of Main, 2nd Ave S/2nd Ave W. Like all good towns, there is only one Main St. In this case it's divided into Main St N and Main St E. Today, my wife sent me on an errand to an establishment whose address is 222 Main St SOUTH. I entered downtown from the normal part of town on the main drag and was a touch confused to see the sign that said Main St E/Main St N. I circled around and approached it from a different angle. Main St N. I made a larger circle and tried a different approach. Main St E. I pulled over and tried to look it up on my phone. 222 Main St S. Since I couldn't get the map to come up on my little screen, I made an even bigger circle. This time I found an intersection that was labeled Main St E to my left and Main St S to my right. Cheering my good fortune I turned right, only to find I was in the 300 block and the numbers were getting larger. No dice. At the next intersection, Main St S had ceased to exist. The sign read Main St E. Now I was just mad. I called Shauna and she said she'd never bothered with the address. Smart woman. Not sure why I thought an address would be helpful. She guided me in with 'rights' and 'lefts'. And yes, I had driven by the building once already. In my defense, it's shielded by a row of thick trees and situated in such a way so as to suggest that they'd rather you didn't find them even if you know where they are! I completed my errand and decided to get to the bottom of this whole mess. I circled around once again and started from the beginning. I followed Main St E in a southeasterly direction, past 222 Main St ?, taking note that it was clearly labeled Main St E at the corners either direction from the building. A block later I discovered the error of my ways. Suddenly Main St SOUTH signs began springing up on my right while Main St EAST signs continued to be on my left. Ah yes. Of course. Main St is not one. It is two. One sidewalk is Main St E, the opposite sidewalk is Main St S.

Hang 'em high in a tree and let 'em swing.

On to the pictures...

 Goon.

Camping!!

 Emma enjoyed getting filthy, Scout enjoyed running wild.

She's super pleased with her ability to stand on her own.

We enjoyed the great weather last week. Now it's blowing and hailing off and on. I hope the bad weather continues for another week and a half. I've got tests and finals to study for and I can't seem to keep myself inside when the weather's nice!

Here's a link to some pictures of a little girl that looks like a little girl we know, only more angelic.

You can't plumb the house through a frost-free bib

any more than you can roller skate in a buffalo herd. 

No, we're not watering our yard with the laundry room sink. That's way too redneck. We're actually watering the house through the laundry room sink. If you think that sounds backwards, you're ok. It is. We were going to plumb things through the hose spigot but it's a frost free kind and water just shoots out everywhere when you try to put water through the wrong way.
Maybe a few steps in reverse would be helpful... I came home Thursday and headed to the sink to cool my parched palette only to find that our trusty water source had dried up. Not even a drop. Here's the Reader's Digest version: pressure switch has been replaced, pressure tank is fine, there are no leaks under the house, and the pump is fine. I know the pump is fine because I pulled it out and took it down to our neighbors (the one whose house we envy) and had him test it. Quite convenient that his career was fixing pumps! But, I make this sound easier than it is! The pump is, thank goodness, not down inside the well. It's in a cozy little covered hole in the ground. Just pop the top and climb in. Not so easy again. Someone thought it a good idea to build a stout dog house on top of the pump house- framed, insulated, sheetrocked and with about two feet of clearance. Into the dog house, stand on your head, lower yourself into the hole. Then, get said pump with pipes protruding at odd angles out of said maze. If the pressure tank ever has to be replaced ye old dog house will have to be removed. Brilliant. Until I can get back down there and check on the back-flow valve, we're using the yard pump to push water through the laundry room sink and into the rest of the house. (The yard pump is on its own well. We happen to have four wells on our half acre- someone was OCD about wells)

Did I mention Bonnie was spending the night again when this all fell apart? And Shauna's been having shows so I've been enjoying some parenting opportunities. But that means that I can't be down a well hole. So, we'll be enjoying lawn water for a wee bit longer.

Ok, enough rattling on.

Here's Emma.

Checking out her reflection in the window.

 Trying on a new vest.

 Trying to stand up.

Typical. The left sock is off. It's probably in her mouth. She likes it that way.

SPRING BREAK!!

Oh glory day! Projects and homework and a test the first day back. Oh my. All of that can wait 'til next Sunday evening. I'm a free man!
Now, on to the honey-do list.

A brief overview of life here. Mostly about Emma, of course.

 Not so sure about the new addition to her hair.

 A lovely afternoon walk.

 Bud's mule pulling a neighborhood watch shift.

 Mammasan and Emmasan. Thanks, mom, for coming over to help while Shauna was in TX!

 Our peacefully slumbering pretzel.

Bonnie's over for the night and Emma's on her best behavior.

For the most part.

She's off

I told you all you'd be the first to know. 

Emma is officially mobile. Her motivation for one of her first long distance treks was Scout's pillow. Gross.

Daddy had to do a lot of convincing later on to get her to crawl to him. 

Scout's pillow or daddy. 

Scout's pillow or daddy. 

Yep, pillow.

Time to start proofing the house.

We'll see how far I get with this

I have Emma on my lap because it's the only place she's content enough to be quiet enough so mommy can get a nap. Sorry about the typemanship- I'm having to do it one-handed (my other three are holding a wiggly baby).

We had a Pampered Chef party here the other night. Even got a few of the husbands to venture out. I guess it's ok to brag on my wife a wee bit. As long as she doesn't start doing it to herself! She earned/won nearly all of this stuff. Some of it came in her initial kit but the rest has been gratis. Every month they list all of the recruits in the nation who finished their first ninety days and rank them by sales. Our busy little bee was on the top of the list of consultants in her group!

 The spice and sauce display. Looks a tad bit like a workers' picture.

Let's see, the sisters are a bit sweet and jellyish, the brothers are dry and flaky. There- I'll be in trouble forevermore but you know that I know that you were thinking it!

 A very nice carving set.

We have another busy little bee in the house.

She can crawl in little bits here and there. Hasn't quite managed to put it all together into a long sequence of hand-knee coordination yet.