We went pumpkin hunting today here are a few videos from papa's new iPhone

One more tonight, then I swear I am going to bed! These are from last weekend. The snow is finally falling here, and it had me re-invigorated to be in the mountains again. So Joe and I went on a little hike (we didn't quite make it to the snow line). He made it 2 miles on his own. The photos are from the early part of the hike when the trail was relatively easy. As the trail progresses it gets increasingly more difficult. But Joe stayed resolute to do it on his own, which meant NOT! I repeat NOT! holding Papa's hand, until he at least tried each section on his own. It certainly meant running down every slightly declined section. This of course meant I put the camera away and spent my time "hovering" (something with which I am not very astute).

As we approached the trail head this time he started freaking out, in a good way, in the car seat. He then realized why I had put his "go shoes", that's what I call his running shoes, on and started shouting "SHOES' YEAH! SHOES, YEAH! SHOES!" Definitely in my top five for favorite papa moments, others in the list being, his determination to go to bed with his skis a week ago Sunday, and our morning sessions watching ski videos.

Enjoy!

My apologies, it's been a while since a post here. For those that don't know, I got a job. That sucks, the job is great, but I hate being away from Joe so much. Of course that means when I am home I do not take much time to do this sort of thing. So here are some shots from this summer. Joe loves the sprinkler, even though his face doesn't neccessarily show it the whole time! He also loves motor cycles (much to papa's chagrin he loves most things with motors).

This one is a little funky, something went wrong with the download, but this is all I am going to do with video tonight so it will work for now. Perhaps tomorrow I will spend a little time making it better. Lately Joe has really gotten into playing with the dogs, especially Denver, as you can see from this video....also, he loves playing in the rain, pants or no pants.

Lindsey got new skis! They are the Karhu Jill's for those who care....she also got some Bombshell bindings by 22 designs, that's the lady hammerhead.... anyways, the day the skis came Joe was anxious to get them out and see what they were made of, seriously, he played with them most of the day.

A little more dancing by Joe! Notice the chips.....Papa's favorite! Tim's Jalepeno.

Spring is certainly here in Cache Valley. With the spring of course it means our snow is starting to sneak into the higher elevations. I have not given up completely on the skiing, but it is getting pretty marginal. Anyways, Green Canyon (right out side Logan) is clear of snow for the first couple of miles, so we went on a little hike last Sunday. We did not take the backpack this time. Joe got to do about a 1.5 mile hike all by himself. He did not stop smiling the entire time, with the exception of one good digger when he got to running, but even that was short lived, he was having too much fun. Of course the dogs were out, so he loved watching them run. Good times.

Video barrage here. I may post some more later, depending on how the evening goes, but for now it's just these two. There is quite a bit of footage on the camera that I need to edit down. Heads up on this one, there is some baby nudity, but only in the bath, not in the dancing. I did not edit these either, so especially the bath one will be a little long, oh and watch out for the booger!

Once again.....it's been a while. We are good, it's been a good winter, lots of skiing, not so much powder, but that's okay. Joe is still a happy boy, pretty sure he's stepped it up to about 101mph, but that just makes life really fun. It's been really warm here, so the bikes came back out this week. Much to Joe's delight, he loves riding in the trailer. We have also been spending most of the day outside just exploring, prepping growing beds etc.

My baby sister, Bethany, arrived in town today to hang with us during her spring break, so we will most likely get a couple of more days of skiing in. But not before we catch a pre-season Real Salt Lake soccer game. Anyways, enjoy the video below, it's Joe and the dogs playing with a ball in the backyard.

More from the Beav.

We usually take the dogs up there with us, and in between every few runs we ski to the car and let them out to play. These pics are from the end of the day during the last high pressure system we had. Currently we are experiencing a bunch of fresh snow, a welcome change, but I don't think Joe is as into the face shots. Yesterday we went out, and since it was a little colder I may have over bundled him. He got really upset on the chair, and once we were going he was fine, until the snow went over our head on a turn. I think he may have inhaled some, that is a strange feeling and probably is what triggered the final frustration. We went inside, and with the exception of his cheeks he was toasty. In fact he felt almost too warm, pretty sure that was the problem. I know how he feels though, too often i am way too warm rather than cold. Lesson learned.


Joe tells the dogs it's time to go.....amazingly enough they continued digging!

Throwing snow over the ledge!

Snow Sumo

Uneven snow is tough to walk on....but who cares when you have good gear.

Snow in the face is not so cool, but it goes away quickly! Especially when it is 40 degrees F.

Lately Joe has really been enjoying listening to music and making it too. When I pull the guitar out to play he wants to play. Usually I just give him a pick and let him go, the other day he was determined to wear the guitar, so I obliged him.

With things finally calmed down after the holidays Papa decided it was time to get Joe out to the ski hill. It was unclear how much he would like it, but Papa was hopeful. Joe LOVED IT! Both being on skis himself and riding in the pack. We started his first day with Joe on his skis. That went well, lots of laughter but he started to get tired so we switched to him riding in the pack. That was a huge hit, but on the way up for the second run he fell a sleep on the chair. He slept the entire run down, so we went into the lodge and he slept in the pack for an hour or so. After the nap we headed back out for some more runs.

Since then we have been out 3 other times, each one he gets more excited with the process of gearing up to go, which I can only assume means he really enjoys the activity. The last time out he was actually closing the flap on by boots before I could get them buckled. The reverse is also true, when we load up to leave he now pitches a fit! I am not complaining at all. One of the first rules of youth sport is to finish the activity with them still wanting more, that has not been a problem yet skiing. Here's to that trend continuing.

On our third straight day there one of the mountain personnel asked if he could snap Joe's photo, we said yes and you can see it here.

We got a little new snow the morning after everyone left. Joe of course took it upon himself to do some snow removal. Later that day Papa decided to see what Joe thought of the helmet, apparently he liked it because he decided to do some vacuuming with it on.

So, we left G and G Shirley's house to go meet up with the rest of the Shirley clan in Idylwild, CA. Of course Papa left the camera at G and G's house. So there are no photos of that stop. On the way home we spent a night in Las Vegas and got to see some old friends from Moscow, Rick and Lindsay, who recently had a baby.

A day after getting home Lindsey's Aunt Beth from Chicago came with her husband Tom and their two kids, Ethan and Sophia. In addition Lindsey's grandma Chaldy came in from Cinncinati. Also here were G and G Litchfield, and Uncle Charlie. A day later Lindsey's G and G Pearson flew in from Iowa. They all stayed with us until Jan 30 (one of those nights was spent in Salt Lake City) A few of the days were spent skiing with one of the days spent sledding. Again my camera was still in California so there are very few pictures.

We had a really good visit with family and they all (with the exception of Charlie) left on Dec 30. The next evening some of our friends from Moscow rolled into town to spend New Years with us. Simba, Koi, Guitari, and Makena showed up first. Later that evening Avi, Moran, Ophek and Lakota rolled in. It was so great having them here and the kids had a really good time. While they were here another old friend from Moscow, Joy, who now lives in Salt Lake came up too along with her dog Everest.

My camera showed up the last day everyone was here so there are a few pics from their time here. First is Koi with Makena and Ophek. The others are all of Everest with Makena, Joey, and Ophek playing on him.

While at G and G Shirley's house we celebrated Christmas with a little family gift exchange. Of course Joe got a tractor from Grandpa, and yes, it was green only the finest for this boy.....it even says John Deere.

Joe really got into opening gifts for the first time, so much so he helped everyone open their gifts. Grandma also helped him play the piano.

The next stop was Grandpa and Grandma Shirley's house in Southern California. We spent 10 days with them. It was a really nice time with family. Aunt Joellen, Aunt Bethany, and Uncle Micheal were there as well. We got to see all of Papa's aunts and uncles, as well as Papa's grandparents. In fact we saw all of Papa's cousins with the exception of Tim, who was just married this summer and has had to start juggling the family holidays.....

Of course one of the first things to happen at Grandma Shirley's house was for Joe to dig into her kitchen. They always have plenty of toys for him, but none can rival the tupperware container typically used for chex mix.

I realized as I went through our pics I really do not have any of Avi, Moran, or Lakota so here is a link to their page. Lots of photos there both from our visit there, and thier's here.

Here are some of our photos from the hike in Sedona.