Sunday, May 04, 2008

May 2008

I'm excited that my dear friend Sara is finally up and running with her job share. This means we get to meet up and gossip a bit more...I mean let the kids play. Meredith likes to practice her big-sister skills out on Sam once in a while.


Congrats to:

The Reinhard Family on the arrival of their baby girl Veda Pearl!

The Dahlberg Family on the arrival of their baby boy Keaton!

And to Heather and Ryan Skene who are adding another GIRL to the bunch!



Sunset Magazine agrees....McCall is Awesome!

Read the article here, they even mention Jesse's favorite hangout Lardos. I think one more rough night there and he's not going to be welcome back. At least not with Jeremy or Ryan.





The 8th Wonder of the World. The "Rooster Tail" hasn't appeared since 2006. We battled half of Boise and pelting rain to see this. Meredith kept wanting to se more of the "Chicken Tail".


Slowly but surely the snow pile is receeding. Not quick enough I say! We headed up to McCall for a work weekend. Since I can't nest at home really, I took on the closets and garage at the cabin. Low and behold I found my missing box of Christmas presents from two years ago!
Not quite summer yet...
We didn't see another soul on the beach the whole weekend.
Back in town on Sunday the Bordners hosted a fun BBQ. The kids are outnumbering the parents which is scary! Here are some lovely ladies and Ryder testing out the new couch...
So the adults could eat in peace we tried to get all the kids to watch a movie. This lasted approx. 3 minutes. From left to right:
Morgan (3.5), Ryder (3), Aiden (1), Margo (2), Meredith (2), Alex (3)
Not pictured are Elanore (4mo) and Fiona (7mo)




We just finished up a nice four day visit from Grandma KK, or Karan as most people like to call my mom. What a great time we had, it's always nice for Meredith to see her Grandparents. Jesse helped John take his raft on it's maiden voyage down the Main Payette this weekend. Looks cold and dirty to me, but they claim it was great.




No dry suit for this guy, he's too tough.
On Saturday the Kearneys had a fun BBQ. The 95 degree weather did not stop the kids from bouncing. Meredith wouldn't get out. She only got out once to ask for water, I thought she might pass out!
Jeremy offered her some beer, but my smart little girl knows not to accept drinks from strange men.
Meredith and Aiden taking a breather. Look at those red cheeks, it was a scorcher.
Grandma KK and Meredith test out the new double jogger/trailer. I'm not sure how Meredith is going to feel about sharing her new ride with her sister.
Pre-bedtime melt down on the porch.
Speaking of bellies...this Sunday at church there was another pregnant woman sitting behind us. Meredith looked at her, then looked at me and said "My Mom has the biggest belly I've ever seen!". She might be right...





Happy Mothers Day to all you moms out there. We spent the weekend in McCall with Jesses mom and her husband Mike. I need to get the pictures she took! In the meantime, here I am at 27 weeks - officially in my 3rd trimester. Meredith and I look a little worse for the wear after a long day...






She still has that blonde hair!
I think I'm bigger this time around.
We had a nice dinner at Papa Gene and Grandma Danas house on Sunday. We snuck across the street to check out our new house. We're still waiting on some huge beam to be delivered so the front porch can be framed. And that darn bay window needs to fixed...
Stairs going up, from the dining room.
Our crazy geo-thermal heating. We'll have radiant floor heat on all three levels heated by the hot water from the Warm Springs area.
The framing for the fireplace and built-ins in the living room.
My kitchen, across the hall from the living room.




Looking at the living room from the kitchen.
Going up to the second story.
View from the upstairs front bedroom, you can see our old house right across the stree! The kids are going to have the best views. I think I'll be able to watch them walk to school from the second floor.
Back of the house, we'll have a covered patio out there. The little window is a pass through from the kitchen. The 2 windows on the left are in our master bath.
Side of the house, we'll have a big patio/grass area here.





I've never been in the alley before! The garage has yet to be framed. We are adding a second story for storage.
Big doors off the living room onto the patio.
The basement will house the laundry room, playroom, living room, guest bedroom and bathroom. And at Jesse's insistence, a little wet bar.
That's all for now, hopefully it will all make more sense when they get the sheet rock hung. Porch this week - windows next week!








Finally a nice weekend in Boise! A good way to start out the month of May. How is it May already? Only 14 (at the latest) weeks to go until we meet our new baby girl. Meredith felt the baby kick for the first time this week and thought it was the funniest thing ever. Our 1st baby girl is busy doing big girl things, like walking along the ledge in front of our house and watering the flowers. Meredith is sporting the latest in bubble skirts (thanks Aunt Kortney!).










The beginning of May is always fun - it's Jesses birthday on the 5th! The Bordners had us over for dinner and I used the birthday as an excuse to make a yummy chocolate cake.
Four pregnant ladies enjoying some non-alcoholic beer. Marjorie is due in November 5th, Kirstin the day after me, and Heather October 5th (left to right). Lots of designated drivers this summer. So far there are 2 girls being born in August, we'll see if Marjorie and Heather can even things out by the fall!

No candles, so we resorted to using a looong match. Happy Birthday Jesse!
The rest of the weekend was spent at various plumbing supply stores. I now have the entire Kholer catalog memorized and can chat with anyone about the horse-power in standard garbage disposals. Meredith calls it "horse-powder".

Saturday, April 05, 2008

April 2008

The photos are a little out of order, but that's okay. Last Thursday we got to spend the whole day with Sam Richins. It was quite an event which Meredith looked forward too all week long. She loves Sam. She especially likes when he comes to visit because we get out all her old baby toys. Poor Sam had to endure the flower hat for a bit.

The both love jumping!

Meredith tried to show Sam the finer points of drinking from a sippy cup. We had a great day with Sam, he is such a good kid.

Another fun weekend in McCall, this time Jack and Kristen joined us. They are getting married in Sun Valley in September, we are very excited for them. The snow is starting to melt pretty quickly, but that didn't stop the skiing! Brudage will be open in May, the first time in their history. This is not good for those of us dying for some beach time.


Mmmm, beer sounds so good when you can't have any.

This is how to ski with a toddler, set up a base camp at the bunny hill.

Meredith made lots of runs with Jesse. She likes the chair lift and going fast.

She also likes picnics on the mountain!
Last year on Mothers Day we ate lunch on our deck. I don't think we'll be doing that this year.

Gold Fork Hot Springs! Meredith likes the "sandy" pool.
I sat this one out, too hot for the baby!

25 weeks and growing by the minute.

A funny Meredith story. She came with me to my last Dr. appointment where I had to give a urine sample. Last night in the tub she peed in a little cup and told us it was for the Baby Dr. She cracks us up with her great memory! Maybe we're the only ones that think that is funny not gross?
House Update:
Finally, finally construction has resumed!






Meredith really likes to make videos, here is another one.




















Harmonicas and Underpants


























House Update: The Historic District re-approved our house project today. BUT a nasty neighbor (Sharron Page we know where you live!) sent an objection letter (she actually proposed that they make us tear down what is already built) so now we are on hold for ten more days. After the appeal period we should be back on track. Does anyone have a place the Hamiltons can live in for a few months? We might be homeless this summer!












In better news we made it up to McCall for the weekend. Jesse got his way and Meredith got to hit the slopes. She really liked the chair lift but wasn't too sure about the actual skiing. She loved it when Jesse took her down on his shoulders (note the helmet, don't worry). She did great until a rouge snowboarder took her out at the knees. Next year she'll be ready to go for sure!











Maybe next year I'll be back in my skis!





Meredith liked hanging out at the bottom of the bunny hill directing the older kids to the top.









Not my best angle, 23 weeks and counting. They don't make maternity snow gear so Jesse's pants had to do.






Brian: Here is "the pile" as of April 12th.









I wonder if we'll ever see the water again?





Adam, Sara and Sam Richins were in New Meadows for the weekend so we got had dinner together. Meredith is a BIG fan of the Richins. HUGE fan of Adam. Sara and I have been friends since 4th grade, it's so fun to see our kids play together!










Back in March Jesse and a group of guys went cat skiing at Brundage. Apparently it was the "best skiing ever" according to most. My brother took some great pictures. You can check them out here.
















Meredith and I just returned from a wonderful mini-holiday in Phoenix. Every year my extended family (Meredith side) rents a house for spring break. We went a few years ago when Meredith was 8 weeks old, I think she enjoyed it a bit more this time! Swim lessons have paid off, I couldn't keep her out of the water. She swam for hours every day. It was so nice to see the sun and lots of family!
















Goggles are hard to get on straight.









It's very hard work to swim all day long. By the end of the week Meredith thought she could swim all by herself and would start swimming the opposite direction of me.









We visited my favorite outdoor mall in Scottsdale. I like the shopping, Meredith likes the fountain.

















And the ice cream!

















Shopping with Uncle Dave, Aunt Cathy, Papa Jim and Grandma KK.









We ventured out to the Phoenix Zoo. The lookout over the giraffe enclosure was a hit with Meredith.








Taking a break with moms cousins Brett and Ashley. I must be getting old, I had no idea teenagers texted each other so much. Ashley claims to have sent 2000+ texts last month. What on earth will happen when we have TWO girls?

















Back to the pool, this time with a tube.









Forget the tube, I can swim "like a big girl" Meredith says. She got really brave and started jumping.







Swimming is hard work, time for a siesta.















I just don't know how another baby is going to be THIS cute?!
Thanks Merediths and Boeses for a wonderful vacation!