And she walks!

So close...

Not quite yet...

Nearly there...

And she does it! One small step...

Nearly Non-existent Fall

Seems Idaho doesn't get a fall. We're into winter for sure! It's snowing as I write this. It went from 70 degree weather to COLD. Thought I'd take some time (since there is no longer much to do outside) to update the blog. We've had some wonderful visits lately!

Good friends from California came to visit, and my folks just left today. Evelyn will be missing all her playmates! Here's what she's been up to lately. (Sorry I didn't fix the sideways ones...under a time constraint.)

Some pics from my folks visit. It's getting very hard to get a good picture of this busy little girl!!

Standing unassisted!

In her new Amish made high chair from Aunty Lotty!

Here are the friendly cow neighbors. I rather like scene outside my kitchen window.

Here's Jon digging our root cellar! I think it's great fun to watch him operate heavy equipment.

I call this one "Awe."

"I'm ready for my close up!"

And here's one to show off her new standing skills...

Well, that should get ya'll up to date! Thanks for hanging in there. :)

Life that slips by...

...when I'm not blogging. There sure is a lot of it!

...not only is Evie crawling, but she is now also taking steps while I hold her hands.

...she also pulls herself up on things.

...she's finally enjoying "real" food! She scarfed down zucchini and sweet potato the other day like they were going out of style!

...she's been known to say "Da!" intentionally.

...we found out she really likes music. She was bouncing her little bottom to the music on the Lawrence Welk show that my Grandpa watches every Saturday night...since the beginning of time, I'm pretty sure. :)

...Jon and I decided to move to Idaho! (ok, that sentence just makes me laugh...didn't we decide that months ago?!) Not only have we decided, but our stuff in actually in transit! By the busload! ;)

...Jon has taken 3 trips over there already...to our happy little 10 acre plot with house, BIG garden, and unbelievable view!

...I've been getting good experience using the "spoils" (bad word choice...) of the garden here on the Farm, so hopefully, I'll be able to handle "putting up" the food from out garden in Idaho. I believe this includes but IS NOT limited to the following: lettuce, beets, blueberries, apples, squash, corn, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots....in LARGE quantities! W

hat a treat to be taking over a garden at harvest time! I feel a little like I'm cheating...I didn't do the sowing, and I get to reap? Wow. Hopefully, I'll remember what a blessing it is when I'm in the midst of canning veggies up to my ears!

Ok, enough stalling...here are some pics of the new place!

Here's the house. Only 1 or 2 years old and in really nice shape. I've had such fun picking out paint colors for the inside.

Here's our garden! The solid fencing apparently keeps out deer and elk, because they don't like to jump over anything they can't see through.

Part of our view and a handy little storage shed.

Pictures just don't do it justice.

I realized that this will probably be the first place that Evie remembers. I'm thinking we will make some wonderful memories here. :)

Motoring!

Found it!

Now it's time for a catch-up slideshow!

Starting with...

Our Father's Day Hike! We hiked in the Columbia Gorge, following a river bed. It was beautiful!

Here's father & daughter on the hike. She's working hard! 

Here's the pug with the fear of water:

Evie & my mom. Such a good grandma!

Evie blew so many raspberries that she got a spit mustache! 

Our attempt at a couple photo. Not so great, but proof that I was there!

Father & Daughter!

It's always nice when there's a reward view at the end of a hike.

Soon after our hike, we headed up to Washington to a Log Home Building class with our good friends from California. AND I forgot to take pictures the WHOLE time. So sad! Such cute children! And immediately following that adventure, we headed down to my sister's cabin for a much needed week of vacation. That may sound silly to some who know that Jon has been out of "traditional" work for some time. It was more like a week of calm and and dreaming. I affectionately named it the "Calm before the Storm Week." Calm, because we have been SO busy moving around the countryside lately, and dreaming, because we have lots of adventures ahead of us. It's fun to talk about them all! During our week, the MORE good friends came to visit us! It was a delight to spend quality time with such old & true friends. 

While 90% of the time was spent reading, drinking Earl Gray tea, taking bubble baths, and visiting with one another, there were a few outings. My good friend since 4th grade came to visit us! We went to the zoo! It just so happens that my amazingly talented sister led her team in designing the children's section of the zoo. So, I took some pics to brag about her. :) It's hard to capture how great it is on "film."

I also couldn't resist some animal photo-ops. They were just asking to have their pictures taken...

Crummy picture....BIG bear!

Evelyn's favorite part was the aquarium. It's hard to tell here, but she is LOVING watching the fish and sharks go by! Plus, it was a 90 degree day, and the aquarium was the one cool place. It was packed!

Here's my beautiful friend! 

The next day at the beach was Independence Day! Hooray for Liberty! Thank you, Lord, for our Freedoms. You can see just how excited Evie was...

So there's this tradition down on Salmon Beach dubbed the "Bathtub Race" a.k.a. the Rowboat Race. I assume at some point some adventurous soul entered a bathtub in the race! Actually not surprising with the crowd down there! Unique is an understatement. Anyway, they all gather at one end of the beach by Cabin 101 at noon on the 4th, and with GREAT enthusiasm, race toward Cabin 1. And I DO mean enthusiasm! A motor boat runs up and down the beach during the race full of crazy folks blowing on a trumpet and banging on drums to encourage the racers. The racers are all decked out in various patriotic garb...though I'm not sure how some of it counts as patriotic...pink tutu? The view from my sister's deck can't be beat! We had a front row seat to the race of the year!

There they all are gathering at Cabin 101. Hard to tell how many there are...

Some of the racers below...Can you see the giant liberty bell? It slowed them down quite a bit. There was also a guy who entered with a piece of floating Styrofoam. He came in last, but seemed to enjoy himself thoroughly.

Tutu, top hat, coconut bra, and fairy wings. He wasn't very fast either. 

Isn't she a cutie! I'd say that's one of the best views a girl could have from her bouncer. (Not the fairy winged racer....the water and the mountains!)

Alas, our week of escape did end. We're back at my Grandpa's. The other day, we headed up to see Jon's parents and (for the first time) Evie's Great Granny. Got a few cute shots. Check out those feet!

She got to discover ice cubes! Great restaurant activity! Minimal mess and tons of fun!

Floor time. 

She's getting so close! Video to come. 

She holds no grudges

And boy am I thankful! Yesterday, Evie rolled off the bed for the first time. :( I was literally at the bedside, just turned around to fold laundry...and two seconds later, "thump....WAAAAAAAA!" So sad! Sure makes me feel like a horrible momma when she cries like that! But about a minute later, she was all better, with a very minor scratch on her arm. Her first injury! Probably not the last, as she is VERY close to starting to crawl. 

Thankfully, though I might have been traumatized, she seems totally over it. :) No grudges. 

I have been very lax with pictures lately...mostly because I can't remember where the camera-to-computer cord is. We're still down at my Grandpa's, living on the farm. The blueberries and raspberries are ripe, so we're spoiled! There is talk of Idaho every day. Seems like I am in a constant state of "how can I pack this more efficiently? What do I need to keep out for the in-between time? Does this need to go in a mice-proof container?" Jon is working EVERY day to try and get us one step closer to moving. He's got a lot on his plate, but he's pushing forward. 

We're excited for our next adventure and enjoying the current one!

the BOUNCER!!

It deserves a title in all caps! She LOVES it! She pretty much thinks the whole world is her bouncer, but when we got her a real bouncer, she was thrilled! *Note: craigslist is a fabulous place for used baby gear!*

It's so much more fun when it's video... Also, Frank Sinatra was playing in the background, and I swear she was bouncing to the beat! She's got some good taste in music!

Moving On

Also known as "fun with boxes!" I thought moving and packing with an infant would be tricky, but it turned out that she was just at that perfect "sitting in boxes" age. Maybe I'm the only one who has discovered this age, but I doubt it. She would sit and play in a box for over an hour while I packed. Such a good girl! And sometimes she would even stand! (with a little help...)

On our front steps on our last full day in the house. 

She would also sit for hours in her bathtub. It worked great to keep her from toppling over!

These two are my favorite. 

And here's our mobile storage unit, all packed up and ready to drive away! 

Sitting Pretty

First sit up with no help (and no falling over!).

And here's my little advertisement for the Ergo. I love mine! The "on the hip" position is my favorite. It's just how I carry her around the house anyway, but it's hands free! And she loves it, cause she can be right in the action. (Sometimes TOO much! We had a lesson today about how NOT to grab dishes and dump the contents in Mommy's lap.)

It seems that I forget to take pictures of the house we're living in until we get ready to move! These are taken in front of our home...the one we will be moving from in a few days. Off to start another summer adventure! Last summer, we traveled all over and saw many friends before we settled down for the fall & winter. There were some challenges, but looking back, we made some great memories. I'm looking forward to seeing what adventures we'll have this summer!