My Cup Runneth Over...

Moments like this one, when I see Gordon and Grayson together, melt my heart. We are so blessed! Here they are, cooling off after running around outside, enjoying an episode of "Word World" on PBS. They built a "nest" out of Gary's and my pillows, in which they're cuddling together. They make me so proud and fill my heart with joy!

Handy Man

Gordon LOVES his Sesame Street tools, carting them around in a Rubbermaid "toolbox." Yesterday he 'fixed' the phone for me. Apparently, he ran into a few problems and had to call a plumber to answer his questions. Holding his toy cell phone up to his ear, his conversation with the plumber went like this: "oh. Oh, okay. Alright--thank you. Love you! B'bye!" ("Love you! B'bye" is how he ends all of his real phone calls, to Grammy, Papa, Auntie Nenny, Auntie Lassa, Daddy, etc....) The look on his face in this photo is his look of intense concentration and problem-solving. Very serious business. We love our little handy man!

Lawnmower!!

Looks like we have TWO kiddos, obsessed with lawnmowers now. :) Grayson perked up this morning while we were outside when he heard the sound of a lawnmower nearby. "oooh, oooh!" he said, mouth shaped like a little 'o' and his eyes darting around to see it.... I knew we'd have to go inside to see the lawnmower from the toy room. Here he is, enjoying the magical view of -- a lawnmower.

Potty Training Progress Report

Gordon has earned several coins, stickers, and phone calls this week, getting closer to mastering potty training. He gets to choose one of the above incentives anytime he successfully makes it to the bathroom. On Tuesday, he chose to call Grammy & Papa to share his great news. Grammy sang her trademark song, "I'm Proud of You," a Mr. Rogers original, to Gordon over the phone. Gordy held the receiver, smiling as she sang to him, then replied to her, "Oh, that's cute. That is cute!" :)

So potty training is going well.... (Poopy training is another story; a real character building experience for Mommy). Oh well -- all in due time.... :)

Stukkars!

I'm not sure how to spell it correctly, but there's a Norwegian word which my 100% Norwegian Mom uses often: Stukkars! It's used when something unfortunate happens, kind of like "oh, you poor thing." Well, Grayson is really prone to such incidents lately; I hope it's just a brief phase. This morning he was simply walking toward the backyard on the patio and he tripped. Being about 10 feet behind him, I saw the whole thing in slow motion, powerless to save him from a crash landing. Well, here's a photo of the result to his tumble. A little red bump on his forehead and a skinned, red nose -- STUKKARS! Just so you know, he only cried briefly, and was back to smiling and playing within moments, after being cuddled and kissed by Mommy.

Fountain of FUN!

We rode our bikes downtown on Saturday to enjoy croquetas, music, dancing, and more -- at the annual Basque Festival. To cool off, we strolled over to the Boise Centre on the Grove for some splashing around in the fountain and caught the end of the Farmers' Market. Before biking home, we enjoyed snow cones at the Basque Block and a little more music and fun....

Good Clean FUN!

Summertime + Little Boys + Dirt = Bath Time!

To save my 37-year old back, I've taken to bathing our little guys in the kitchen sink, as we're averaging at least one bath per child each day...sometimes more. After this splash session with Grayson, our kitchen floor got a bonus wash too.

And now...Gordon's turn! (He's a bit camera-shy lately).

Awww...so sweet!

Grayson Elliott, relaxing on the loveseat on a summer day...ready for story time.

Looking back at a few of my recent slide shows, Grayson wasn't as present in the photos (either he was napping or I just didn't capture a good snapshot of him) so here are some really endearing glimpses of our baby boy. He is such a cuddle bug and so sweet!

Weekend at the Cabins

Gordon's 3 Year Old Portraits

Though we've spent most of the past month up in the mountains, Gordon and I ventured home to Boise for a day on June 30th for his 3-year old well-child visit to our pediatrician, as well as his 3-year old portraits at Sears.

His pediatric appointment went very well (no shots) and he did a wonderful job at his portrait shoot also, much to my surprise. The promise of getting to sit in the studio's red car worked wonders. :) Here are some of my favorite proofs:

Fishing 101

Catching Up

For nearly three weeks, we've been up in the mountains with family, having a wonderful time. Mom and Dad drove out from Minnesota and were here June 19th through July 7th. Dave joined us from June 21st to the 28th, and Jen flew in from Portland July 3rd through 6th. Joey drove up from Boise on the weekends. We sure miss them all now, and really wish that Melissa and Josh could have joined us as well, but they were unable to get time off from work. Personally, I'm going through "helping hands" withdrawal this week; it sure was nice to have additional eyes and ears on the boys, especially with our little dare-devil, Grayson.

While away, we celebrated all the June birthdays: Gary's 36th on June 23rd, Gordon's 3rd on the 25th, and Dad's 61st on the 28th.

The progress on our cabins has been incredible, with Gary, Dad, and David putting in an amazing stone patio between the two cabins. With a little "help" from Gordon, my Mom and Gary beautified with some much-needed exterior painting, covering that hideous seafoam green color that, until recently, welcomed us at the entrances of each cabin. I'll post pictures later...you won't believe how nice the place looks now. On our return trip from the county dump to rid ourselves of "junk," Gary and I spotted a yard sale -- an ironic opportunity to pick up some new "junk." :) We acquired a free organ (think musical instrument, not kidney), another jogging stroller for $5 (now Gordy can ride it instead of the wheelbarrow on long hikes), a hairdryer to keep at the cabins, and Mom snagged a bunch of VHS videos -- including a 2-tape set of instructional line dancing videos. Next time you see us, we might all be doing "the electric slide" at Idaho City's Western Fest. ;)

Mom had a blast at the Placerville auction on the 4th of July, with her winning bids scoring us a new pillow-top mattress and box spring (only $25!), a toy semi-truck for the boys, and a basket of cute picnic dishes. We all enjoyed the day in town, perusing the fascinating history in the museums, the auction -- along with the great people-watching it provided, and a most beautiful sunny day. The notorious Placerville fireworks that night did not let us down either. Once again, it was a fabulous display of pyromania--though Dad's hair did not catch on fire this year, thankfully.

Fishing in the creek, the perilous Placerville fireworks, picnics at "Whale Rock" and in the stream (yes, right in the stream), campfires & s'mores atop Hawley Ridge while overlooking more fireworks in the valley, bike rides, hikes, and running on the trails, panning for gold, digging for historic mining artifacts, watching the sun set from a mountain peak, and many other fun-filled adventures have been among our activities together.

I can assure you, there will be many photos shared from the past few weeks in my upcoming posts, but for now, I'll just add a few pictures and wrap this up. Hope you're all enjoying a safe and fun-filled summer too!

Precious photos from a fishing trip to the stream -- It's rare to capture both boys in the frame together, so these are some new favorites.