Best buds

Jalen and Rio have become quite the little buds. Every morning and night Jalen insists on including Rio in a family hug or kiss and always turns to Rio to give "knuckles." When we pull into the driveway, he yells "Riooooo!" Jalen loves to follow Rio around and include him in whatever he is doing. However, there are definitely times when Rio is in his way and boy will Jalen let him have it..."Rio-NO, NO!" Rio has been known to knock Jalen over, which he can typically take and even laughs a little. I always say they are like siblings - they LOVE being with each other, but definitely have to be separated sometimes. Here is a shot of Jalen using Rio as a chair while he watches an Oregon football game with Daddy.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a really fun and relaxing three-day weekend, including a trip to the Portland Zoo. Going to the zoo with Jalen is getting more and more fun each time! He can now name several animals and make their sound. He was fascinated with the elephant this time and of course loved the monkeys, fish, and birds. I will download a video soon of Jalen lifting his arm and copying the elephant as we watched him eat.

Mommy's Little Helper

Trader Joe's has little carts just for kids. I figured Jalen was big enough to push it a little and just crossed my fingers he wouldn't ram into someone's heels or knock a pile of apples over.
I was pleasantly surprised to see he pushed the cart around with ease, missing any collisions with people or objects, and even went through the isles picking out items and putting them in his cart. He'd pick out a few things, then push the cart like he knew what he was looking for next, put the next item in and move forward. Super cute!!

Party Time

We were very fortunate to be on vacation long enough to join my friend Kaycee's baby shower and to bring in the new year with our friends in McCall.

Driving on our way back to Boise to attend Kaycee's baby shower.

Brianna, Kaye, Kaycee, Courtney, Katie, Janai, Kate (with Ell), and Heather (mother of Ell). We are all SO excited for Kaycee and Travis to bring little Tommy into this world (due March 22). Congrats!!

Driving back from Boise to McCall - so beautiful!!


We had an awesome New Years with a group of friends and all of our children. We started out the evening at Toll Station for pizza and made our way to the Prince/Donaldson cabin for drinks and dessert. Thank you Stephanie for hosting us all and organizing a great evening!! On New Years Day we (Ivan, Stephanie, Ramsey, Kyle, Jason, Scott, and I) endured the freezing 6 degree temps and went skiing for the day. Although bitterly cold - it was a perfectly sunny day and full of fun skiing with friends!


Enjoying drinks and dessert, while watching the kids play.

Elliot and Jalen

Playing on the stairs.

Jalen devouring his cookie and licking his fingers clean - that's our boy!

Elliot and Jalen taking a stroll together - "Jalen let me show you around."

Mommy and Jalen warming up by the fire.

"Too Cute!!"