The Puffy Coat Dance

Last weekend our friend, and Eric's high school buddy Heath came to town with his friend, Sara. We took them to McCall and did some cross country skiing there. Eric, being the handyman that he is, constructed the perfect little sled to pull Eva behind in. He gathered some foam pads and camp pillows and made the most comfy little seat. Well, she only lasted a few minutes being pulled behind in the sled. I don't know if it was because of the monotonous way the sled jerked back and forth or if she simply wanted to run around and eat snow. Since I was enjoying myself on the skis, Eric kindly took Eva to watch a special olympics race that was going on while the rest of us skiied on the trail for a while. As you can see, she liked the excitement of the race much better than the lame trail. There was music to dance to and "kids" and people to watch her dance moves.

Come September...

This little person will be coming to our family! We are so excited to have a tiny baby again. Eva has been kissing my tummy so I think this baby will get lots of good kisses from big sister.

Happy 2nd Birthday Eva Joy!

We had a busy couple of weekends around Eva's birthday that made it fun to celebrate. The weekend before we went to Island Park with the Ballous where we enjoyed snowmobiling, sledding and as always, eating and hanging out in the lovely cabin. Eva got to have a chocolate birthday cake with the fam!

The next week, we flew out on her birthday to Scottsdale, AZ where Eric had another dental conference. We took her along this time and had fun in the sun. She and I hung around the hotel most of the time chasing bunnies and swimming. She would say, "Bunny, come 'ere." Then she couldn't understand why they would run away. There were a lot of little wild rabbits running around. A highlight of the trip was seeing our good friend from dental school, Kathryn and her two girls, who met us to go swimming. Thank you Kathryn for coming! The night of Eva's birthday we went out to dinner with some other dental folk and Eva did great, especially when they brought out a little chocolate surprise with a candle for her!

We were excited to get home because Eva could test out her new birthday prize: a bike! I think she looks pretty cute riding it. She has just now learned to pedal but we are working on the steering part still...

She was happier than she looks, I promise!

We love you Eva. You brighten every day with your smile, dancing, your little voice, and your friendly nature.

Say goodbye to your dance floor, Eva...

This is what we have been doing a lot of since we moved in October: sitting on the floor in our kitchen and living room. We don't have a good excuse since we have perfectly fine furniture. We just decided it would be best upstairs in our bonus/ guest room....Oh and I guess we do have a couch in our bedroom which is kind of wierd. So I'm not saying, "poor us" by any means. I'm just thrilled for our new open living room and kitchen and for some furniture to make it cozy! We wanted a more open feel in our kitchen and living area and there was an unnecessary wall in between them. So Travis came and did the demo. He did a beautiful job as you can see the pretty white trim and new wall. It was really fun having him, Emily and the boys here too. Thanks Trav! And thank you Emily, Brenner and Clark for driving here and keeping us company.

Uncle Chuck, you're the best.

My sweet uncle Chuck and aunt Bonnie gave us a tremendous deal on furniture through Ashley Furniture and then they actually drove it up to us from Salt Lake. Wow! I'm glad Eric was able to do some work on their teeth. We had a fun time catching up with them and showing them around our town. Thanks you guys. We love you!

Oh, and I have to thank myself for getting the perfect color of pillows. The red orange ones.

Eva doesn't seem to sad that her dance floor just got covered. If furniture never came we had a plan B thanks to Dad. It was going to be Eva's roller skating rink slash dance floor. I think this is better though.

Okay, this one doesn't really go with the story, but I had to add it. It is my little artist that I am so proud of. She asks to color all of the time and I think it is so cute. We have Grandpa Ballou's awesome old desk and call this room "the art room." You can see my eisel in the corner. I actually got to use it during Christmas time for a couple of paintings! More to come I hope...

A Little Valentine's Message with a Hug

Yes, she can be up to mischief a lot of the time, but doesn't that just melt your heart? I had to video it before she can actually say love instead of wub. Then it won't be as cute.

We've had some ups and downs the last couple of days. I have been laid up with the flu and Eva has been quite patient with me. I was in the bathroom yesterday and I could hear her rummaging around in the pantry. Then she came in with a box of Captain Crunch about as tall as she is with her whole arm drowning in the box. She pulled it out with a handful of the crunch and carefully placed them on my leg. "Here, Mommy, this will help you feel better", she must have thought. And it did. Not because I was craving Captain Crunch at that moment, but because she wanted to do something for her poor sick mama. What a sweetie.

We had a good day despite the bug. We made it to the "animal store." That's Cabella's. Thank you Emily, Brenner and Clark for giving us this glorious idea of fun in the winter time. We saw "ewk, zebas and bayas". The day was complete when we watched the Little Mermaid on my bed and Tiny fell asleep. Now when I should be sleeping, I'm typing away...

Happy Valentines Day!

We wub you

Tiny Dancer

If you think you're a good dancer, you better watch out 'cause this little girl is gonna show you up!

Baby Dolls are Better

Just so I don't freak anyone else out, I have to tell you that the mini motorcycle isn't for real. Eva can barely run straight and without falling down so it's terrifying to think of her riding something motorized. I suppose she is like her mother in that way. I was scared to drive even our wimpy scooter we used to have. We were just in the KTM dealership to get Eric's bike fixed and they had about 20 of these little motorcycles so we thought it would be a fun trick to play on the grandmas...

Instead, Santa brought Eva 2 baby dolls. I love to watch her hug her baby because she holds it ever so carefully in between her shoulder and cheek and carries it around. Then she plops it in the stroller and pushes it while running at top speed around our empty living room. She says, "botto." And then after she takes a fake sip, she shoves the toy bottle in the dolls face. It's so sweet. Much sweeter than a motorcycle.