Frog O'Fair and S'mores

We have been playing around here a lot, in between trying to get settled. We have been putting cupcake up our nose...

And relaxing on our new sofa! WAHOO. Yes, we are in sweatshirts--it's COLD at night and in the morning--50 degrees! YAY!

We also went to the annual Frog O'Fair at the Riverside park. We had a fun time. They have booths for all kinds of things. Some of the dozens that we did were: facepainting, pottery, balloons, food, performers, necklace making, fish prints, card making, kite making, woodworking, and a talking tree...

Dora got a butterfly to match her sweatshirt, but Eli was a little afraid of the facepainting...

He did like the balloon (until he let it go...) He also loved his kite!

We also got to meet.... THE FROG PRINCE!! WOW! He doesn't look it, but Eli was pretty excited.

Here he is making fish prints. (Weird...)

When we got home, Dora helped me sweep the back porch.

And Eli rode around the obstacle course, Dora and I being the obstacles. He should go pro on that trike.

Oh, did I mention Eli made a "ducky-duck" and eggs at the pottery part? Wow.

And then tonight, we made s'mores...over our gas stove! Hahah. Pathetic. Try to ignore that I look like a cancer patient. I think I didn't get my eye makeup from yesterday off or something. ?? Whit wanted to see my new hair-do...more blonde! I did most of the marshmellow toasting--and Megan mocked my efforts, until she caught hers on fire, that is. Meh, hah ha. Mocking always comes back around.

Dora loved hers, but she discovered that fingering it constantly turns s'mores into GLUE.

Obviously Eli was a fan.

YUM.

FOXY LADY! I love her new haircut! Also, I gave her some new clothes today! So, it's like going shopping, but free.

Happy Father's Day Whitney T!!!

YOUR WIFE AND KIDS MISS YOU SO MUCH! We are literally counting down the days until you come home. We can't wait to show you the new house, and start playing with you out here in Grants Pass!!!!! You are the best husband I could ever imagine and the best dad I have ever known. (And you're smokin' hot, too!)

WE LOVE YOU! Thanks for being so patient, kind, so hard working, so dedicated, and teaching us to love God and serve him. LOVE YOU!!

(SEE? HOT!!)

And how much do your kids love you?? So much that DORA says DADA every time she sees a phone! She also carries my phone around saying Dada into it even when it's not on a call! You play with the kids so well, it amazes me. I love you. MOSTING!

Our new fence!!

Before we get to the new backyard--Eli asked to make cupcakes today, so we made some. The kids had fun with them, and I tried something new--ice-cream cone cupcakes. They came out cute and Eli liked his. Dora is just eating a regular one...

Here's an ice-cream cone one. You just make them like normal and put a cone upside down on top of them. They bake into it. Then frost the top! They are cute and easy!

Sheesh, what a mess!
We got our carpets all cleaned today (yay!) and they sealed the pavement so it's okay now--in case you can't tell, it's stamped and stained! I love it! Eli is a pro on that trike!

Here's the yard on the back left (looking from the front). Oooh, pretty new fence!

Here's Eli showing off the new stairs.

Same side, from the second retaining wall level.

Photo of the rest of the yard from the same spot...

See how much fun paved space to drive around the kids have now? Dora is standing at the line between the old and new.

Here's the other side, with the sandbox! The kids love that wall--but Eli is breaking the rules here--no walking on the stone part of the wall! When Whit gets here I am having him put up a small fence along that line to keep anyone from going over the edge.

Sidewalk chalk, oooh. Also, note the basketball hoop. Fun!

Megan and I both got our hair done. I think hers looks great with her face shape! What a pretty young lady!

Backyards...

So we live right on a mountain and our backyard backs to BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. There are lots of deer. We have seen them all over. I took some photos the first time we saw them--and again today because this time they were babies and they were right down on our porch--and then they went around to the front yard! Here are some deer from the first time we saw them.

Here are the kiddies and I eating ice-cream outside, which is the kids' favorite thing to do. That's actually saying a lot now that we have a sand box and toys outside. Today we had the other 1/2 of the length of the house (under the master bedroom deck) paved. We also had stairs built up to the first retaining wall (the one that's flat). Yay! It looks great. I will post photos of that tomorrow when we get it sealed. The fence is also going up tomorrow (they did posts today).

Here are my cute kiddos...

Last night we went over to some new friends' house--the Halls. Jenny will be working with Whitney in the ER here. Eli LOVED their backyard--they are on the river, and they have a TON of paved area to ride around. They also have two dogs, and Eli kept petitioning to bring the little one home. (The little one was the young lab)... Eli found this helmet and put it on himself! (Can you tell!?)

Here's Dora--ketchup and watermelon, YUM!

Jenny and Dave have two boys (cute boys!) Gabriel and Sam (CUTE NAMES! Incidentally, they are both names we have considered for our next boy if we have one.) Sam is 2 and he kept pushing Dora in the big wheel... she loved it. What a cute kid.

Dora loves her ice-cream. She was scared of the dogs at first but she warmed up and really liked them by the end of the night. She was so messy with her ice-cream that they loved her too, trailing her around and licking up the drops...

Then they got a little closer...

And a LOT closer! Hahah. (She had dribbles all down the front of her, so Darby was really just helping me clean her up.)

Oh and here are the deer right outside our breakfast room window!

And in the front yard!

We love our new house! I will take some backyard photos tomorrow afternoon with the new fence!

Moving!! and catch-up...

We have been in Grants Pass for a week as of last night... YAY! Before we left, we went to my Uncle Dan's (my dad's twin--who is really like another dad, it's neat.) Anyhow, we had a great time seeing cousins and the kids had a great time too. Here are some photos.

Me and Helen and Danny...

My kids sure miss my mom now... She left Saturday.. *sniff, sniff* She was a huge help. My house is not totally done yet but I unpacked the last box today!! (Just hanging up things on the wall to do left..)

Here's my Uncle Dan and my grandma.

And Uncle Tick (Clint!)
Dora will miss Oooh Lala, this cupcake place by Clint's house.

Right before we left, Eli rolled off a hammock and hurt his lip and tooth. Poor guy--look at his face!!

Dora is happy... This is the dress Angela gave her.

Poor Eli!
Here we are in Tuscon at a hotel... they were happy. Every time Eli is nice to Dora now he asks me to take a photo. It's kinda funny.

Here we are, seeing our house in person for the first time! (That guy is our long-suffering Realtor--he's awesome.)

The first day we got the kids some ice-cream cones and my mom made them sit on these flagstones. Now they go eat them there whenever they get one! Hahah. They are the ice-cream rocks!

Super Eli!

We are all happy to be in our new house (and the kids' game room is a BIG hit!) Now we just need a chair for Dora--right now Eli makes her sit in the BYU bear's chair!