Lock and Load!

The day after Christmas was the first day in a few days that nobody was at our house. We have to admit that we were a little lonely. We slept in until almost 11:00 am (long night to Spokane) and when we woke u pto an empty house we decided to get Joe's gun (his Christmas present - a Ruger 10/22 rifle) and go shooting out behind Spring Valley. We got there and made our slow and scary way down a back road to get away from the whole worl and find a place to shoot! We found our usual little spot and got the gear out and began shooting. We found ourselves shooting giant snow piles on trees until they fell down! That possibly sounds lame, but it was REALLY FUN!! We plinked through about 550 rounds before heading home! We also brought some jugs to shoot and a paper target. I get so excited when I can see that I shot something! At one point I aimed for the lid of a jug and blew it clean off! I tend to do this little "hooray" boogie dance when I hit something, Joe loves it!! Joe still shows me up though, he seems to be the KING of hitting things. Tonight he unloaded 24 rounds unto a jug and we counted 23 holes! When I unload into a jug, I usually have like 5-10 holes in it! Except for light bulbs...I can blow them to smitherines in 25 rounds! Hehe..we really have a lot of fun with the gun, and it gives us yet another excuse to be outdoors and to have a blast!! Afterwards we went and got pizza and watched some movies! Overall, a great night, just us! xo

So I LIED!!!

Towards the end of my "Christmas" blog, I mentioned that April would get to see Chris the next day and that we were getting ready to dress down and relax - LAST MINUTE CHANGE OF PLANS....April was talking to Chris who was getting into Spokane at 11:00 pm on the 25th. We had arranged to have April's friend pick him up and we would bring April home first thing the next morning to see him. WELL, we decided it would be more fun to make him think her friend was picking him up and suprise him at the airport! So we loaded up the durango and off we went to the Spokane airport to meet Chris and give April the best Christmas present ever...HIM!!!! The drive wasnt the greatest but thats alright! We came across some miserable fog, slight snowfall, and fairly slick roads, but we took our time and eventually the airport was in sight! Once we circled the metered parking area 3 times in search of an opening we finally came across one and went inside. We waited at gate C for Chris to come out but they evetually closed the doorway and he was not there. We decided to go check out the bagage claim area where we split up looking for him. Then came a voice "April!" She turned around, saw Chris and ran to his arms! She was so happy she started to cry! Me, Joe and the kids decided to start walking back to the car and give them some time to say hello to eachother. We met back up at the car and drove them home.

THEN....

All was right in the worlds of April and Chris..BUT..we still had 2.5 hours (+) to get home. We slowly got out of Spokane and headed to Troy. The fog was 10 times worse,the snow a little harder in places, and the ice seemed to stretch longer parts of the road, but we made it home safe at about 2:30 am. We quickly got the kids out and into bed, ourselves into bed and were completely satisfied with the JOY we had given to April and Chris...sometimes it is as little as a ride that can bring happiness to someone! We hope that they have a great visit before he goes back to bootcamp! We love you guys! Have a great new year! xoxo

And what about L-O-V-E!!

Although nothing is greater than spending time with family and friends...Joe and I really got to take the time to appreciate and reflect upon our greatest blessing...eachother!

Winter Wonderland...

Of course this festive holiday brings many opportunities, like taking a TON of new pictures with our new digital camera (thanks mom and dad)!! We took many photos today, both inside and out. First is our front yard... then the view off of our back porch... and of course pictures with eachother...

A Dress for Cameron..

Early December Grandma Whitney called us up and explained how cousin Samantha wanted to buy her newest little cousin a dress for Christmas, so of course it was only fitting that Cameron be dolled up in her new dress. We put her in it and took some pictures. Cameron found herself completely intrigued by the beautiful lace that lined her dress. She looked so beautiful!

CHRISTMAS!!!

Well the entire year of waiting is over and Christmas morning has come and gone. Christmas eve was great, our family, my parents and sister, and neice April watched movies and carried on great conversation. Once Kaleb went to bed we unloaded the present under the tree and stuffed the stockings. Even as adults we all found ourselves anxious to sleep just to wake up! We went to bed and finally found ourselves waking up by the internal "christmas morning" clock at about 6:00 am. Joe got up and started a nice big fire and we woke Kaleb up! We all gathered around in the living room and watched Kaleb's face glow with anticipation as we stared in wonder at all the Christmas presents, but one in particular caught his eye - A GIANT BLUE 4-WHEELER!! He ran straight to it and hopped on. He quickly figured out how to go forward and backward and began bumping wall to wall in both directions! Then everyone found a comfortable place and me and Katie began handing out presents, people quickly had a pile to open in front of them! We all received many different gifts and really enjoyed the time together. Kaleb and Cameron struck gold! They got tons of toys, cars, trucks, clothes, blankets, etc....

Once all the presents were opened, Joe went out and snow blowed the driveway while mom cooked and everyone else watched some tv, got dressed, and really "woke up"!! After a little while, we found out our landlord (who lives downstairs) was still at home due to weather, so we invited him up for a Christmas dinner. We had a great time! We ate spiral ham, potatoe casserole, green beans, and dinner roles. It was DELICIOUS!

Once we all finished eating, we spent a little while talking and started preparing for "good byes"...First Doc (our landlord) thanked us for the dinner and went home. Then my parents packed it up and left in order to get home before dark. Now its us and April - she will be leaving tomorrow morning to finally get to see her boyfriend Chris. (He has been trying to get here from bootcamp since the 18th or 19th but has had airport delays and cancellations due to weather!) Poor April was pretty sad he wouldnt be here for Christmas, but he is finally getting here now and she is SUPER excited!!

Now Christmas "mode" is over and we are all getting ready to dress down and watch a movie. We are going to build another fire, relax with the kids, and maybe snack a bit before bed! It was a great Christmas! I truly could not have asked for a better time with family, friends, and just a warm and inviting spirit within our home. We had a great time. I hope everyone that was here had just as good of a time as I did! We love you all and hope everyone had a great Christmas! xoxo

Thanksgiving...

I thought I better get some of the Thanksgiving pictures up before I started putting up Christmas ones! So it started kind of like this, me slaving away in the kitchen all day to prepare a meal for me, Joe, Mom, Dad, Katie, and Kaleb. I literally spent from 8 in the morning to 3 pm in the kitchen trying to get it done!!

Ok, so maybe not. Maybe my mom did! Not only did she cook everything, she let kaleb help with everything. He had so much fun cooking with Grandma! As for me, I made homemade biscuits (the red lobster kind) and dad managed to snap a picture during my 5 minutes in the kitchen!I have to admit, mom does all the cooking for all events! But she is such a good cook and has perfected the art of holiday cooking that I dont want to mess up...I dont even want to talk about the deviled eggs I made once!!! Im still perfecting Macaroni and Cheese!! hehe... We had a great meal though: turkey, green bean cassarole, hand mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, deviled eggs, and snacks up the wazzoo! Oh! And stuffing too (of course)....Well, very untraditionally we ate in the living room because my parents house has a small dining room and we would not have fit! So I dont have a lot of pictures of us all eating (which is probably a good thing!)...But I did get one of Katie, who chose not to stray far from the food!!

We had a really great time, we had good conversation, good snacks, Joe and dad went out shooting and had a blast. Me and Katie watched girly movies while the guys were gone, and Mom and Kaleb cooked. Cameron enjoyed her swing the nice warm living room. We all really enjoyed the time together.

I would throw up a few picture more pictures of Joe and Dad, but I cant find any! I know we have some, so if I get them I will throw them on here later!! Well, thats about it! We hope every one else had a great Thanksgiving 2008!

Christmas Time...

So I am about as unorganized as it gets...I haven't even put up the Thanksgiving photos or anything but I was super excited to talk about our Christmas tree!! Joe and I made way through the clutter and mess in the garage (roof high) to finally get out the christmas decor and began decorating. I havent taken pictures yet but I will get them up soon. I am sooo excited for Christmas this year, Kaleb is finally old enough to understand that Santa is coming down our chimney and leaving us presents! In fact, we saw Santa at Wal Mart today and he thought it was just about the coolest thing ever! Anywho Christmas tree is up, Christmas carols are playing, and once again the feeling is in the air and like a 5 year old kid all over again - I am anxious and excited for Christmas to be here NOW!! Enough jibber jabber I will get pictures up soon! love you!

Moose Central!

Before we moved to Troy, I never once had seen a moose in the wild. Now I have seen several and have since then decided that Troy Idaho is moose central! It started last winter when a baby moose made our front yard into his home. It was really beautiful and amazing to see, but knowing how dangerous they can be, it was also really SCARY!

THEN...

April (Joe's neice) came to stay a night with us and as we loaded her car up she and I heard a noise in the woods...It was a VERY LOUD stomping!! Then all of the sudden we both saw something big and brown in the trees (20 yards from where we were standing). We are pretty sure it was a full grown GIANT moose. Now I am scared to walk from the house to the car! I make poor Joe walk right next to me both ways!

AND TO MAKE IT WORSE...

We were on our way home from Lewiston and on the few mile stretch of road between Moscow and Troy, I was texting my sister and not paying attention to the road at all (Joe was driving!) Next thing I know, Joe's hand flies over my chest and we are swerving into the other lane! I look up and there is a giant animal in the road! We couldnt tell for sure whether it was an elk or a moose (it was late and very dark). It scared me to death!

I think that moose are absolutely beautiful, but scary and I hope that we wont be seeing too many of them too close this year! I dont like the idea of "death by trample"!

Well, thats all...

We hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

We're Coo Coo for Camping!!

I just came across so pictures from our camping trips this summer. Thought I would mention them real quick! We camp A LOT! We arranged a family camping trip for the 4th of July and ended up having our daughter on June 30th! So that we didnt disappoint our family and skip out on the very camping trip we planned, we brought our 4 day old baby camping and to watch the awesome fireworks show in Clarkston, WA! It was a ton of fun, we kept her bundled up and she was fine. At two weeks old, she was headed out on her 2nd camping trip! By 2 months old, we had gone camping 4 -5 times! She did so well. Kaleb loved every minute of it! It gave up the perfect opportunity to please both children...Kaleb could be a little boy and get dirty in the mud and the rivers. Cameron could nuzzle up to me on a blanket in the warm sun and let it help her jaundice. Perfect! It was a blast.

However, our camping has another agenda. Although we love to camp in a tent, sleep on the ground, fish, and eat around a camp fire...there was more! GOLD MINING!!! We had invested in a couple items to help us gold mine areas where we camped. We didnt make it rich this summer, but we do have a little vial of gold. AWESOME! We plan to invest in a dredge (c'mon dad hurry up and buy it!!) and hit our hot spot (sorry we cant tell you where it is!!) but the river is LOADED with gold and an awesome place to camp. It doesnt get much more beautiful than that! Gold mining is a hard hobby, it is time consuming, money consuming, and physically exhausting. But it brought our family together, outdoors, close, and we had a blast! We even got my sister to go with us!!

I cant wait for next summer. To load up the Jeep, the gear, the kids, and hit the road! I'm ready for dirt, trees, fires, s'mores, and good old fashioned family fun!!

Addison Lydia Rutledge

For being a woman who had convinced herself that because she wanted to be a mom so badly she probably couldnt have kids - she sure did make a beautiful baby girl. Our best friends Alicia and Ron just had their first baby, a beautiful healthy daughter (11/6/08 at 8:09 am). She was 7 pounds, 1 ounce. 18 inches long, and perfectly small. A bundle of joy!

I was very happy to be able to make the trip to Walla Walla, WA and get to hold their little tiny! She was so small, I couldn't believe Cameron weighed less, even though it was only 4 months ago, I feel like Cameron was never that small!

Well, to Ron and Alicia - You guys did awesome! She is so beautiful and I wish the very best for you and your new family. What a blessing it is! I know you will both love and cherish all the moments that little girl is going to give you! I am very happy for you both! I love you!

SPIDER BITE...

CAUTION: kind of gross!!

Recently my dad pulled out his old boat to take steelhead fishing. It had been tucked away all summer and was full of random spiders. From Black Widows to the Agressive House Spider, they slowly came out of their hiding spot while he was on the river. Though he tried to kill off most of the pesty insects, one managed to get down his pants and bite him good! We do not know what kind of spider it was, but it did some damage. It started out no more than what irritation comes from a mesquito bite. Then it seemed to grow larger. The bigger it got the more sore it got and the hotter it got. You could feel the heat radiating off of him just standing next to him.

Eventually it got too bad and we finally went to the doctors. After a round of antibiotics he was much better. Then a scab formed over the center and began to bother him again. My mother decided to pick at the scab and try to see why it was bothering him so much. She tweezed it and slowly started pulling out what looked like a large intact sac of poison/puss. Once that was removed, he had a very deep dark hole in his leg but it healed quickly after that with no signs of scaring! He was lucky, if he had waited much longer for antibiotics he could have formed a major staph infection. Everyone beware of spiders this winter and try your best not to let the little ones get bitten...it is NOT pleasant or pretty.

Time Change!

WOW! I spent all week telling myself to remember that it was time to "fall back" this weekend and sure enough...I FORGOT.

Joe had to work this morning at 8:00 am and I wake him up freaking out that he is late. He jumps out of bed, throws on clothes, then grabs his phone to call his boss. He looks down at his phone and I think for a split second we may have wanted to throw it at me!! hehe....

He then tells me that its only 7:00 am and that I freaked him out for nothing! But in all fairness to me, he forgot too! Then he finished getting ready and went to work (not late!) and I rolled over and went back to bed. 30 minutes later I hear "mommy, mom, mama, I sleep good!" So I get up and get Kaleb up. GAHH!! I almost got to sleep in! Almost...

Kaleb's Fishing Trip

Our family recently went camping out on the Grande Ronde. We had the most perfect spot, right on the water, but flat and comfy. Me (pregnant), Joe, Kaleb, Grandma & Grandpa Smith, and Aunt Katie all went. It was so much fun to see Kaleb and Grandpa and daddy all bond together as "men" united by fishing poles!