Finger food only, please!

Maren has reached a phase where she will only eat food that she can pick up and put in her mouth...and she definitely will not eat anything fed to her on a spoon! It makes figuring out what to feed her challenging, but it is also kind of nice that she can be a little bit independent at mealtimes!

Here she has just finished eating carrot and chicken raviolis and is now eating some chunks of papaya. She's pretty happy with herself and the mess she's made!

Just some cute pictures...

We just love this little jacket on Maren...she looks like such a grown up little girl!It has been cooler at night, so both kids get to wear their cozy footie jammies.
Today we went to a little carnival/market and Joel got to go in this bouncy house with a slide.
Maren just chillin' out in her stroller.

Demo Day

The house across the street got completely torn down yesterday. We spent over an hour watching the back hoe outside, and then checked on the progress throughout the day from our window. Joel LOVES big construction machinery, so this was pretty exciting for him!

10 months old...

I can't believe it, but Maren is already 10 months old! Pretty soon she will turn one and will be walking and talking! We had her 9 month check up last week (a little bit late!) and she's 17lbs, 27 3/4 inches! She has 6 teeth (one more on the way), crawls really fast and "cruises" holding onto furniture. She also loves to be chased around and walk holding onto our hands. She will dance a little bit, give mommy a "kiss", is starting to learn to clap and most of all, she laughs and smiles ALL the time. She is such a joy!

Family Day

On Monday (Greg had the day off) we went to the nature center to see the fish and walk in the beautiful park. It was really fun to get out together and do something fun. After we went through the nature trail we went out on the greenbelt and had a picnic next to the river. Then we let Joel play at a playground for a little while before going home to take naps!It's fun to see Maren start to be aware of animals...she liked looking at the fish through the glass! Obligatory pose...
It's hard to tell, but I am on the bridge with the kids, looking down at all the fish in the water!

Pushing over a rock, or posing next to the cool petroglyphics?!

Boise State Fair

My Cousin Carolyn invited me and the kids to go to the fair last week. We had fun at the petting "zoo" and looking at the farm equipment. Joel got to feed baby goats out of his hand, and pet the animals. There was also an old fashioned water pump that Joel spent about 10 minutes pumping and trying to figure out how it works! It was a fun day...thanks Carolyn!

Silly Kids

Grandma & Grandpa Nealon Visit

We were so happy that Dave and Joan made the drive from Reno to see our new place and spend a long weekend with us. It was nice to have them here, and we did some fun Boise things...Saturday Market, the rose gardens, and of course walking on the green belt! Here are a couple of pictures from their visit.

Visiting the McCutchens

The highlight of our road trip, for me, was that we got to see Brian and Emily and their brand new little girl, Violet (she was 4 days old when we got there). They live about an hour from where the wedding was, so we stayed on the Mission Springs camp property, where Brian is director of Fronteer Ranch. We got to see them a lot over the weekend, and had so much fun spending time with them. They were very close friends of ours in Chicago, we missed them so much over the last three months.

The new family of three all dressed up for a camp banquet.

Brian is so natural holding violet...it's like she was always meant to be in his arms!
Joel wanted to hold Violet, too, but she wasn't quite sure about that...
Emily and I got a lot of time to just sit and talk, and we even got to go out for coffee one morning with no kids! I loved the time we got to spend together.This is Joel's first time at the ocean. Greg and Brian also went surfing one morning.He loved playing in the sand.

Greg's first Wedding

Last weekend we drove to California, stopping in Reno on the way there and back, so that Greg could perform his first wedding! The kids did great in the car and it was great to spend some time together as a family.
The wedding was for a friend of his, Kevin, that he grew up with and his bride, Jen. The wedding was beautiful and Greg did a GREAT job. He got compliments from everyone and it was so fun to see him up there being a pastor!
We were there about two hours before the wedding started, so it was my job to keep the kids in line, feed them dinner, and keep their clothes clean! It was a challenge to do this, but I think we managed to stay looking presentable through the wedding.

My two cuties all dressed up.