Almost there!

We are very excited for Chad's Graduation coming up here very soon! He has this last week of his OB rotation and then he has completed Medical school, I am so proud of him and all of his hard work, and we look forward to the next step, South Dakota!

Here we all are on Easter Sunday!

Russell is having so much fun playing with new things outside, including Nana's flowers.

Autumn was very happy!

She is getting big fast!

We are going to bless Autumn on May first this next Sunday, we are very excited to see family and friends! My Mom made the dress, and we were trying it on to see how it fit. It fit perfectly, and she is too stinking cute in it!

Once there was a Snowman

We made our journey from Nevada to Idaho last week, mostly in one piece. We are so grateful for all the help that we received and continue to receive from family and friends. We also look forward to the new chapter we will be moving toward in the next couple of months. Already we are back into cold mode, not with alot of choice there, we were shocked to leave the 80+ temperatures to come to jackets and coats. We went down to see the huge amount of water pouring over the falls last weekend it was really amazing how much water they are letting over. Russell liked it but did not say much, he just was in awe.

Autumn even got to come, but she must not have thought much of it, she slept the whole time we were there.

This was Autumn at one point on Conference weekend.

And here is Russell, with a BLUE eye not black but blue! He was coloring and got upset and rubbed his eyes and he had marker on his hands. So he gave himself a blue eye.

We woke up yesterday to about 3 inches of snow! I had my AC on while we were in Nevada; but alas we are in Idaho, and it is time for making snowmen! Chad was good enough to take him outside before he had to go to work and he built him the little snowman that Russell just LOVED! As the snow melted and the snowman fell over, Russell said "snowman all gone!"

Russell kept eating the snow and saying "Yum, food."

Happy Birthday Russell!

Russell turned 2 years old last Monday. We didn't throw a huge party, but Russell had a good time with his Nana (Grandma Fowers) here and also I had some time off. In the morning he wanted to go for a hike, so I took him out to "hike to water" as requested by the birthday boy. Natalie and her mom stayed and enjoyed the company of little Autumn.

Another highlight of Russell's day was blowing out candles on his cake.
Here is his Tractor cake he requested from Nana. I tried to convince him to go with John Deere Green, but he really wanted blue. It tasted as great as it looks.
My folks got Russell this cool little track with motorized Jeeps that drive around. He thinks its awesome. We've already burnt through a pack of AA's in the little cars!
As I had hoped, Russell is a fan of Lightning McQueen and Mater. He has asked for this blanket several times when he's seen it at Walmart, Target and JoAnn's so we were hoping it would be just as spectacular at home. We weren't disappointed and he now sleeps with his Mater blanket every night.
Russell loves his balloons!
Russell being a Big Brother and holding Autumn at the hospital.
Autumn is cuddled up in one of her little blankets. And look at that head of hair. (Pretty impressive for a bald guy :-) This is the same outfit we had her in at the hospital because our little ones run small, and we only had one preemie outfit. This is a great view of what Autumn likes to do during the day -- see below for what she likes to do at night.
Here is our little angel with her eyes open. Russell tells me they're blue and black. (I've learned to just go with his colors, he's usually closer than I am.)

Our Baby Girl

She made it, and in one piece! Autumn was born yesterday and is a bundle of joy. She is very alert with wide eyes. She has curly brown hair, and already has more than her dad.

Evidently, our children tend to love to bite our noses. This is Autumn exhibiting her skills.
And here is Russell when he was just a few months old showing that he and Autumn are definitely brother and sister. :)
Here is our beautiful little girl getting some beauty rest. She's gorgeous!
And our family picture. We are very grateful to have a new member of our family!

Happy Valentines Day!

Here is my date for tonight, he is handsome don't you think? Chad has to work a late shift, so it is just me and the little man. He has been having too much fun lately tearing the house to pieces, and he will be found quite often with his sand bucket on his head, he calls it his helmet.He also has a fascination with Toy Stories Buzz and Woody, So Chad cut this box, so he could be Buzz, I am not sure that he understands, but it was fun for a minuet, and he sure was cute.
He even got to squeeze in the cheese face for the camera.
And here it is your one and only picture of me big, I will be 38 weeks tomorrow.

January Fun

Russell asked to go for a hike by water, so we went to the Arizona side and hiked down to the Colorado, it was such a beautiful day we had a blast!Russell and Chad enjoyed throwing rocks of all sizes in to the water and making "splashes"
Russell loves to ride in the backpack.
Lovely picture of us we were taking a break, Russell was having an asthma attack. So we took some silly shots. Then he wanted to see them. I had to hold him back because he wanted to hold the camera.
Oh the water was so enticing, but we got away with only wet shoes and socks, we should have taken his water boots. Next time.This is Chad's latest project it is a dresser for baby girl, who will be here in no time.
I painted the flowers on and after they were dry Russell wanted to have his turn, he goes up to it often and says, "draw draw."
I made these for the sisters that I visit teach it was one of the sisters birthday, they were fun to do, but I am afraid that the strawberries were not as ripe not being in season, and quite pricey, but like I said so much fun!
And this is a big BIG OOPS. Do you know what this is? Well I have been ironing Chads work pants and shirts for several years now, and I have never had a single problem, till this incident. I plugged the iron in and wanted to get ironing so I could get it over with, and it was only on for like 60 seconds, I didn't think that it would be warm enough, I just figured I could go over what needed more a second time, But I did not check the temp. It had gotten turned up to the highest setting.
Now Chad is one pair of pants short and my poor iron has a black stain. That wont come off.

Water

Last night as Russell and I were reading bed time stories, we got to a new one that I have never read before. It was a very touching story for a mother of a son.
Now that you know that, as I was reading I began to cry and then my voice started to crack, and I became very concerned at how almost two year old Russell would react to his Mom crying. As my voice cracked I looked down into his face as he looked up into mine, there was a moment of uncertainty, then my sweet child burst out laughing and then pointing up at my face saying, "Water ha ha Water, Water..."
To say the least I did not need to worry.