The move is done...sort of
We own only one house now, and it is not in Moscow.
I have contacted some but not all of you with our new numbers/address
E-mail me if you would like those things, I do not want to post them here.

Pics are coming soon.
Long story short, Joe can walk but won't believe it.
The new house is almost as big as our new garage...so come visit PLEASE! This much space is embarrassing with out having people stay here!
The scenery here is impressive, and the people we have met are nice....still feel like life is in a holding pattern of sorts...

Just a photo update. We are in the middle of packing and closing up life in Moscow. Lindsey's folks have made some trips up to help out, and Uncle Charlie came up once too. So here are a couple of shots of Joey's favorite thing to do with Uncle Charlie. The third picture is what happens when papa lets you eat crackers out of the box. They are much easier to eat off of the floor. And it's a lot easier to share them with the dogs this way. They can eat out of your hand and off the floor, at the same time, it's really pretty funny, at least Joey thought so. The last two are of Joey being silly with mama's sunglasses.

Just had to post this link to Dad Gear, I really like the idea behind of the diaper vest, especially since half the time it's already what I do. Of course that was with winter jackets, I am a little concerned what I will do when it get's nicer out.....the vest is the perfect answer. It's a little hookie I know, but I did get to thinking about the advantages it would have as a backcountry ski vest! Having the side pockets for a small water bottle, would help keep your h20 from freezing, the pouch for the changing pad would make a great ventalation gap when skinning, and the large pockets in the front are great places for your trail bacon and snickers not to mention some extra wax or your digital camera!! of course no backcountry trip is complete with out a good diaper wipe dispenser. you laugh, but that's one of the biggest ways being a dad has impacted my packing for the backcountry, those things are life savers on a 4 day trip, where you are sweating in gore-tex and wool.....well that's as graphic as I need to get.

My how time flies. Here's the executive summary. Lindsey accepted a position at Utah State University, I have decided to discontinue my PhD, I had hernia surgery on May 5, and Joey got his first tooth.

Is that all? No, we close on our new house in Logan, Utah June 4, we have two offers on our house right now, the first offer, should everything go through will close on June 14. So for 10 days you can come visit us at our summer home (we'll be those people with two homes). We still don't know when we will be moving, but it will not be before June 4 and most likely not after June 14.

Why leave Moscow? I find myself saying the same thing from time to time, however, as I was leaving for what in all reality was my last ski day of the year last Saturday (that's right May 3) It struck me that next year I will only be driving 27 miles to the ski hill, not 2.7 hours! But alas that is not a good enough reason to leave a place like Moscow. This is a beautiful town, and in the next couple of weeks it will only get better. The students are leaving, the tulips are out, the sun is shinning, the trees are leafing out, and it's nearly paradise. The people here are great, we have really gotten into the community here and have come to appreciate the diversity that a small college town in the middle of wheat fields actually has to offer. So why leave? Simple answer, the University of Idaho. It's not a bad place, aside from being another U of I (beat the Hawks), but as a faculty member Lindsey is not entirely sure it is a place she should be building her career. Of course it's less of what she is "running" from, and more of what she is "sprinting" to.

Utah State University is in Logan, Utah, a town somewhat similar to Ames, Iowa (where we did our undergrad). They are both about 50,000 people, they both have land grant institutions, and both are in the middle of ag land. However, that's where the similarities start to drift apart and rapidly depart ways from there. The ag land in Logan goes only as far as the mountains that boarder the Cache valley (name of the region) . The valley itself is a fairly rich dairy region, but the Wellsvilles (west) and Wasatch (east) quickly shut down the farming operations. There are rumors that abound about the powder skiing to be found in the Wasatch, both in area and back country. And I am hopeful about the mountain biking scene.

That said, the program Lindsey is going to a very strong. In addition, the position is a 70/30 teaching/extension (as opposed to her 100% teaching at the U of I).

As to the PhD, I've come to the realization that it takes a certain person with the right kind of drive and motivation to achieve such things, as well as a person at the right point in their life. The events of the past year (Joe) have changed me in a pretty signifcant way, such that I am no longer that person who has those qualities demanded of a PhD. It was a difficult decision, but all in all I think it is one I will value for a long time to come. I am really looking forward to the next year of helping Lindsey settle into a new position, house, town, etc and taking the time to be a full time papa.

Of course the full time papa stuff needs to wait a while, as I just had hernia surgery last Monday. They tell me no lifting 20 lbs or more for minimum 4 weeks. Joey is easily over 20 (more like 23) and is more wiggly every day. His first tooth came in on Tuesday and his first steps are a couple weeks away. Lindsey has been great through out it, she was able to take some sick leave to stay home with me, and her brother came up to help out for a couple of days as well. The worst part is not holding the little man. I got to lay with him on the couch for a short time last night, but then he decided to practice his finishing shot in his sleep and kicked me in my stitches, that was over fast.

So sorry for the long post, it's been a while, and thought we should bring you up to speed. There have been plenty of pics, and I even have a video I have been working on, but that will come at a later date.

For now enjoy these few that Uncle Charlie took.

It's that time of year again. That time when we teach young girls how to push addictive compounds. By this I mean girl scout cookie time. My personal favorite are thin mints, probably a consequence of being my father's son, but we'll save that for another post, or perhaps for when my dad writes his own memoirs, complete with references to the 1,051 times he has made the cemetery joke (if you don't know the joke I'm sure you will one day)... Anyways, we were sitting around the table with my mom, enjoying said cookies, when wouldn't you know it, Joey decided he needed to participate in the cookie eating tradition. He also thought the box was worth a try, but in the end the cookie proved to be where the value was, however, a lot of the cookie wound up on his face, or improving on the appearance of his Gap designed clothes (it's only appropriate that clothes made by children, and worn by children, should be re-designed by children).

No real story on the straw hat photos. That is papa's river hat, for some reason it was sitting out while I was cleaning up the house and Joey reached up for it, so I put it on his head. The cool thing about this hat is the mesh area right at his eye level when the hat falls down on his head. Also it has a string, one of the three coolest things in the world. For the record those three things are: 1. Straps/strings of any kind 2. Cardboard boxes 3. Food!

The last two photos are evidence of the consequences of crawling backwards.... He had started out playing with the dogs over near the dining room table, he wound up 20 feet away under the couch. He really is trying to crawl forward but he can not get the transmission out of "R". Being stuck under the couch was funny for a brief time, but eventually once he realized all I was doing was taking photos, and not pulling him out he got pissed, don't worry he was only there for at most 2 more seconds after that last photo......

Those who are parents will probably appreciate this, but it will be old news to you, however for me this has been outstanding! In the last week Joey has really started mimicking our behavior when ever he can. Of course he has been doing some of this through out, things like smiling etc, but now it is becoming fairly ubiquitous in his behavior. Most notably it happens with food. I was trying to teach him to drink water out of a sippy cup, he wanted nothing to do with it until I tried it first, he then giggled, reached for it, and did exactly as I had just done. When feeding him sometimes there are other more interesting things around, that is until I put the spoon in my mouth, then he can't stop eating whatever it is. On top of this, when he mimics he gets extremely proud and satisfied with himself. Typically in the morning once he has eaten and gotten dressed I let him chase the dogs around and pull the laundry out in the walker. During that time I make my coffee and get some toast. The last few mornings he has started walking up to me while I am eating and screaming with his arms out. While not the traditional baby sign for "toast" it has become very clear to me what he is wanting, I always try to give him the "food" "please" signs, but he finds scream/reach more effective. Anyways, as soon as I rip off a piece of toast he goes nuts and makes these great "yum yum" noises as he shoves it in, he then proceeds to stand next to me until he is finished with his piece, and either takes off on another adventure (first to the dogs to give them the leftovers) or "signs" for more toast, again scream/reach. These pics are intended to demonstrate the pure pleasure/pride/satisfaction he has when he mimics our behavior.

One more post today. This happened this afternoon. Joey has really gotten into scooting himself along the floor, albeit backwards, but hey, it's locomotion with not assistance. Anyways, we were hanging out near the kitchen, we'd been wrestling and kicking the soccer ball (i kick it, he heads it), when he decided to back up to the dog's water bowl. He was pretty proud of himself, and happy playing in the spilled water for quite sometime, until if finally leaked all the way through his overalls and I think he got a little uncomfortable. The dogs were less than impressed with the whole situation.

Double dose of post today. Joey is really getting into eating solid foods. He is pretty pasionate about it too. As these photos demonstrate. The screaming face was perpetrated by my taking too long to scoop the next spoonful, seriously it was maybe a 15 second pause between bites and he let me know it was too long. Of course his attitude swings the exact opposite direction as soon as he gets that next bite. All those worries we had about him not gaining weight the first two months have long since past....some days I think I can see him getting bigger, or at least feel him getting heavier while he sits in the backpack.

Spring break for the University was last week. This meant Lindsey took some time off to recuperate, and I took some time off to ski. It did mean we were apart for a short time. Lindsey and Joey flew to Boise to hang with her folks for a couple of days. Diesel and I headed into the Wallowas in Northeast Oregon to do a backcountry ski trip. Denver stayed home with our friend Chambers and took full advantage of sitting on the couch and on Chambers. We were all back together again by Wednesday. I was able to get a bunch of work done on my project at the end of the week, and Lindsey did a lot of things around the house she had been wanting to do. The picks with this post are first of Diesel and I on a ridge called Lookout ridge, just before sunset of our first day, and the second is of Diesel and I on the last day with the Aneroid basin in the background.

The last two pics are of Joey demonstrating the new skills Papa Ken taught him while in Boise.

As I posted before, Joey loves his walker. Here is a video of him getting around. He is really enjoying the freedom, but still prefers to interact with us while he is in it.

Joey just wants to say happy birthday grandma, and we will see you in a couple of weeks! For now enjoy these photos of him playing in his walker, dressed in his engineer's get-up.



Sometimes Joey forgets the walker is not the jumper.



That's when it's time to move!....

To the jumper, he loves hanging on this while in the walker.

A few new pics. Joey has really taken an interest in Diesel and Denver. Diesel is starting to warm up a little bit, he sat close enough to Joey to be pet by him for about 2 min. the other day. Denver is really starting to appreciate that Joey now knows how to pet him.

Below is a video of the little man enjoying his jump up and talking to the dogs. This is by far one of his favorite activities, especially if someone sits in front of him and talk to him....or jumps along side him, of course this often gets the dogs wound up, so we try to do this when Lindsey isn't home.

This is the last post in my catch up series. After Christmas we went to McCall, Idaho and spend 5 days skiing and hanging with family. Lindsey's Grandma Chaldy , parents, Grandpa and Grandma Pearson, Aunt Beth (along with her husband and two kids) Charlie (Lindsey's brother), and my immediate family (minus Joellen) all met up there for 5 days of non stop snow. It snowed at least 5 inches every day, and 9 inches a couple of days. It was a great time, and we are hoping to do a similar thing next year.

For some reason I was not shooting many pictures then, but I did take some yesterday of Joey in his new ISU gear that great G and G Pearson gave him.

After the trip to California we were home for about 3 weeks. During that time we tried to get caught up on things we had missed. I had some good work going in the lab, and Lindsey was finishing up her classes for the semester. Of course the snow came and so began the ski season. We were home until about Dec 20. At that point Lindsey and Joey flew to Boise, to go be with Lindsey's mom for her birthday.

I stayed behind and got a little more lab work done, then headed over to the Wallowas to do some work on the back country yurts in there. On the second day in there Trevor, Diesel, Denver, and I were hiking up a ridge to take a look around and ski the 2-3 feet of fresh snow when some snow sluffed under me, and released a slide that took Diesel and I about 150 feet down slope. We stopped unhurt and with all of our gear. It was sobering experience and an exciting way to start the back county season.

Eventually we made it out, and I drove on to Boise to spend Christmas with Lindsey's family and await our trip to McCall.

The photos with this post are of our few days at home. One is Diesel keeping watch over a sleeping Joey. Another is Tobin (our friend Pete and Anna's youngest) showing Joey how to stand. Then there is a series of him in his Christmas gear.

The next set of photos is from the ski trip. Denver typically does not get to go on these trips, but since I was headed to Boise from there he was forced to join us. He had a good time, but was a little tired at the end of the days. It snowed on us most of the way into the yurts, that's the shot of diesel covered in snow. There are two shots of the slide. One taken from where Diesel and I stopped, and one taken after we hiked back up to the crown to dig a pit to look at which layer was responsible. Finally there is a shot of Trevor and I with the dogs outside of the yurt.