We still have snow!

I think winter has finally hit. We have had snow off and on for the last week, they are calling for another 2-4" today and then another storm is supposed to move in on Wed. I don't mind it at all, everything is so pretty when it's white. Sam took Porter outside and he decided to try the snow to see how he liked it.....he didn't like it much, I think it was too cold on his hands.

The newest snow picture.....funny how the barrells keep getting more buried....

A picture of Drake out in the yard....

Another when he's ready to come in, never fails, he always has snow on the nose...

Porter and I've been busy finishing up our Christmas shopping for the past week, it's always "just one more thing" and then I get home and realize I forgot to buy tape for wrapping....

Sam had to work on Saturday, he drove up to Tygh Valley for his job up there, there was snow up there also so they were a little cold walking around the site. (the house is being framed) It's a 5 hour round trip so makes it a long day.

Porter and I went to a Christmas party for the moms group, he sat on Santa's lap again and didn't seem to mind it but wasn't too excited overall. He did get a candy cane which I let him suck on, he really liked that!

On Sunday, Sam did some grocery shopping to get ready for Christmas dinner. He's going to brine the turkey and then smoke it, I'm so excited to see how it turns out. He's gotten really good with the smoker so if it's anything like his ribs, we are in for a treat! And he had to get all his ingredients for his famous pasta salad he is going to make for his company Christmas party on Tuesday....I tell ya I really lucked out finding a man that likes to cook AND is good at it...LOL.

Lee and Sheri are coming over to our house for Christmas so we are very excited to have company at our house for the holidays, this is the 1st time.

That's about it for now. I'll leave off with a couple pictures of Porter of course...I thought this one turned out really cute, it's like he's posing "ok mom, how's this?"

(those picture frames behind him are my Christmas present, that's how Sam does his shopping - I saw I want this and he says "can you go pick it up?")

Same picture close up

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, lots of love!!!

We have snow!

It started snowing Friday night and we woke up to this on Saturday morning.

It pretty much snowed all weekend off and on, this was outside this morning....a little bit more than Saturday and it's been snowing all day.

It's a big whopping 5 degrees outside right now with a wind chill of -12. The low tonight is expected to be -2.....BRRR! I had to go for another ultrasound this morning as well as more blood work. Now that I'm 35 they do a lot more tests and such to check for down syndrome and any abnormalities. I wouldn't think a year would make that much of a difference but that's the way it is. Everything looked great on the ultrasound, yahoo! After that, we came home to a nice warm fire. We had more errands to do but it was just too darn cold to be taking Porter in and out of the cold.

On Friday, I finally got the tree all decorated. I bought some new ornaments last year and didn't realize they don't come with the hangy things (cheapskates!) So after numerous trips to the store for lights, hangy things and a tree topper we finally have a decorated tree. Here is Porter helping decorate....

And a picture of him with his new light antlers....he's going to hate me when he gets older...LOL

On Friday night, I went to a party and had a great time! My former boss Melinda has a ladies party every year around Christmas and we do a gift exchange, this year's theme was homemade. It was amazing the ideas the ladies came up with . Melinda of course made some delicious food, she does this salmon pastry puff that is to die for! Thanks for inviting me Melinda, I had a great time visiting and seeing a lot of ladies I used to work with.

On Saturday morning, Sam, Porter and I got up and took care of some more Christmas shopping. We came home and Sam made a big pot of homemade chili, it was wonderful! I think it's nice to have a nice hearty soup/stew/chili when it's cold outside.

On Sunday, Sam put my snow tires on for me (thanks honey!) then he worked on the boat for awhile. He got the electrical box hooked up so the boat now has lights, a horn and the pump hooked up. He has done a great job with the boat, I'll have to post some pictures.

That's it for now, staying in where it's nice and warm! Everyone have a great week!

Porter's picture with Santa

I was finally able to figure out how to work the scanner so I thought would share Porter's picture with Santa. His little onesie says "I love (heart) Santa" and he wore his new Christmas socks that Nana and Grandpa bought him.

We're having another baby!!!

Well, it's official, we have another baby on the way! Sam likes to say that I went and got myself knocked up (ya know, like he had nothing to do with it...LOL) I'm 12 weeks and my due date is June 25. The dr. did an ultrasound yesterday and everything looks great. I've been a lot sicker this time than with Porter and they say sometimes that means it's a girl.....only another 6-7 weeks and we'll know. It was quite a shocker to us to say the least, we weren't really "trying" but then again, we weren't "trying to prevent it either" We thought with it taking so long the 1st time that the 2nd time would be the same.....nope, not so much! We are very excited and I think it's good that they'll be close in age (15 months apart) And this way we'll be done sooner than expected. The whole pregnancy phase seems to just go so slow, you just want the baby already. Anyway, thought I would share the news.

Everyone keep your fingers crossed too, we're supposed to get a big snowfall this weekend, yahoo! The low's are expected to be in the single digits too. I don't mind, I love winter.
Everyone take care and have a great weekend.

Dada video

So Porter's new favorite word is "dada" Anytime I say "Porter, say mama" he says "dada" and I caught it on video on our way home from cutting our Christmas tree. I think he says it because it's easier....LOL. I apologize the video cuts off abruptly, my camera battery goes dead.

We have a tree!

I'm so excited, we went and cut our Christmas tree on Sunday! We went out past Sisters and found one. It was Porter's 1st Christmas tree cutting experience, here are some pictures of him hitching a ride with daddy......

We realized after about 10 minutes of carrying him that we were in dire need of a pack or something to carry him in. Especially after cutting the tree, Sam carried the tree on his back and I carried Porter on one arm and the sawzall with the other.....I thought my arm was going to fall off.

A picture of our tree...

Here's Sam carrying the tree (notice only the legs....LOL)

Once we were headed home, I guess Porter didn't want Drake to go anywhere so he's hanging onto him....Drake's pretty good about putting up with him.....most of the time. :-)

We survived and made it home, only to realize the tree was WAY big. Not too bad though all in all. Then I start getting out my decorations only to realize I did not have a tree topper or lights, I don't know how that happened so I had to go by some new ones today.

While we were out and about today, Porter got his picture taken with Santa. He was not as freaked out as I thought he would be, he was a little timid at 1st and wouldn't smile for the camera but while we were waiting for the pictures and other kids came and went, Porter would just look at Santa and laugh....he thought he was pretty darn funny after while. Our scanner isn't working so I'll try to post it again tomorrow.

That's about it for now. I will post a video in a little bit of Porter .....his new favorite word is "dada" and that's all he says all day long.

Hope everyone has a great week!

I've been a slacker.....

I know, I know....I've been a real slacker when it comes to the blog lately. We had a GREAT Thanksgiving with lots of great food and family to share it with. We headed to Roseburg on Wednesday and that night we had dinner with Jared, Brooke and Layton (I'm so excited I finally got to meet him, he is 4 months old now) Gram and Papa came over too, and my brother was able to come down from Seattle so we had the whole family including my mom, sister, Zoey and Lee.

Here is a picture of Layton Thomas

One of my gram, Porter and Layton

Other than these pictures, I did not take any other pictures..... I don't know what was wrong with me, I usually have a TON to share but I guess I was out of it. Oh well, we always have Christmas....

Friday morning my mom and sister got up and was at JC Penney at 4am!!! Then they shopped until like 11 o'clock. Crazy women, I slept in instead.....Sam and I went to Sears but that is all the shopping we did, it was still crazy at noon. Friday afternoon, my sister Zoey and I headed down to Riddle and spent some time with Melissa, Ella, Neal, Bernice and Rick. It was such a beautiful day we headed across the street to the elementary school to play on the playground, here are some pictures that Melissa took:

Zoey and Ella by the dugout.....Zoey's pants and boots are all wet since she found the only little mud puddle and stomped through it....LOL. (If there is puddle within a 1 mile radius, she will find it to stomp through it)

one of Porter

Me and Porter swinging....

We headed home on Saturday and just relaxed the rest of the weekend. Sam has been super busy at work this week and has been working long hours.

Other than that, not much else going on. I'm headed out today to try and start on my Christmas shopping and hopefully get a few errands done.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Porter is 8 months old!

I can't believe how time flies, Porter is already 8 months old! Crazy, crazy....he will be a year old before we know it. He is almost crawling, he gets up and rocks but no forward movement yet. He does push himself backwards too. Today I think he waved bye-bye for the 1st time too! Sam was going out the door saying "Bye-bye Porter" and he held his hand up and moved his fingers like he was waving bye, his hand was backwards but I guess that is how they see it from their point of view. Anyway, we were very excited. He also has been sleeping thru the night for the most part. I have been letting him "fuss" a little bit when he wakes instead of rushing in there and he will fuss for a minute or two and then he's back asleep. He only woke up once last night, fussed a little and then went back to sleep. So he went to bed at 7:30pm and slept until 7:15am. It's very nice to be getting more sleep, that's for sure.

Not much going on this weekend. Sam's been working out in his shop today, rotating his tires on his pick-up. He has a fire going out there so that makes it nice in the winter. I think the high today is only 46. We haven't gotten any snow yet but the temps are definitely dropping.

I am FINALLY able to post some pictures so here they are:

Porter in the bathtub, he has started making faces when I take his picture and I thought this one was very funny....

In his cute onesie that says "My Mom Rocks" LOL

Some of him snacking on his cereal bars (which he LOVES!!)

some of him at the park swinging....

And one of him and Sam...

I think that's about it for now. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Not much going on...

Hello! Not much going on here since the last post. The days have just flown by, just catching up on some laundry, unpacked the suitcases and so on, I know, lots of fun. I did play Bunco last Wed. night with my Mom's group but didn't win anything, darn it!


On Saturday, we raked pine needles and leaves and Sam took made a dump trip. Then we washed the car and truck and while Sam waxed his truck, I took Porter and Drake and walked the butte.


On Sunday, Lee and Sheri came over for dinner before they left. They headed out on Wed. morning for Montana. We wish you a safe trip to see Clint, Tanya and Dane. Dane you better get ready for your Nana and Grandpa, they are excited to see you!!!



The weather has been very nice here, in the high 60's over the weekend and was 69 on Monday. Now it's supposed to be in the mid 50's the rest of the week.



I want to wish Sam a Happy Birthday!! His birthday was 11/19, he is not much of a birthday person so I just have to keep mentioning it! Love you honey! Also, some other b-days for November: Rhonda's was on 11/15, her husband Jason on 11/17 and Miss Lisa Rogers on 11/20!! (Lisa is the oldest out of all of them....LOL, love ya Lis!)

And of course I have some pictures from the last week......but blogger apparently is having some trouble so I will have to try later.

We're home!

Porter and I made it back safe and sound from Arizona on Friday afternoon. We had a great visit and the weather was wonderful, in the 90's the 1st couple of days and then mid 70's the rest of the time. We flew out on Friday afternoon so of course Porter had to wear his "Baby's 1st Halloween" bib for lunch before we left. (thanks Mom!)

We got to Rhonda's about 4:30 so after dropping off our luggage, we headed out to her friend Julie's house to trick or treat. Julie and her family started a tradition a few years ago where her husband grills up hot dogs for all the trick-or-treaters but they were unable to do so this year due to their son's football game. So a few of their friends stepped up and said they would take over. Amazing how many people remember their house and look forward to the hot dogs (they usually hand out beer too but not this year, we had a lot of disappointed people) The neighborhood was so festive, almost every house was decked out for Halloween and people just sit in their driveway to hand out candy all night and there were a LOT of trick-or-treaters.

Rhonda had an old puppy costume that she said Porter could wear.....and he looked so darn cute!

Porter the puppy dog....

We didn't keep it on very long cuz it was a little hot, I think it was 85 at 8:00pm. We went trick or treating around the neighborhood, it was past Porter's bedtime so he lasted about 5 minutes in the stroller. Here is Zane the spider Noah the monsterWe went to the Phoeniz Zoo one day which was lots of fun and we saw a lot of different animals. Zane and Porter ready for the zoo....

We took the kids to a park up the street one day and Porter had a great time. He loved the swings and he loved to play in the sand. He would pick up big handfuls and then just let it sift out through his fingers and he would dig his feet in and then of course had to taste it....LOL.

Porter having a great time swinging....

Playing in the sand

and had to taste it too, notice the granules on his face.....LOL

We went to the train park in Scottsdale one day also. They have a little train that takes you around the grounds and they have an actual train on display you can walk through and look at the living quarters and such. It was pretty cool. They also have a park so we took Porter over to the swing again.....(notice the 2nd little tooth in there)

Here is the old train you walk through....

Zane wasn't quite sure if he liked Porter or not. He did not like it when his mom or dad held Porter, he was very jealous. Noah was so cute with Porter. Every time we got out the camera he wanted a picture with Porter and to give him kisses...

Porter, Noah and Zane hanging out on the couch
Here is "my boy" Dominic.....when I met Rhonda, he was 3 months old. Dominic is now 14 and a little lady killer. He is such a litle hottie, all the girls go crazy for him. Thank you Dom for giving up your bed while we were there.

Porter with his auntie Rhonda....

And last but not least, a picture of me and Rhonda...

All in all, we had a GREAT time and we want to thank Rhonda, Jason, Dominic, Noah and Zane for having us. We miss you already.

That's probably enough pictures for now....LOL. I will post the slideshow of our zoo trip later.

Sam also had a good time on his trip to the coast, despite the rain. He didn't catch any fish but he came home with about 30 crabs. He's glad to have us back, he missed his son and his wife / cook/housekeeper....LOL. Love you honey!

That's about it for now, just trying to finish up unpacking and the mountains of laundry. Porter's been running a slight fever yesterday and today and has a runny nose, I hope he's not coming down with something. Hopefully he'll feel better soon.

Take care everyone, I'm looking forward to catching up on everyone's blog!