Fire

The same weekend as Casen's birthday, a bad fire came thru this area. It was acutally 5-8 small fires that all blew together and made one nasty fire. It was just across the river from us and actually jumped the river just down from us. In total I think it burned somthing like 500,000 acres. Fire crews from all over the western states are still camped out in town. The whole valley was coverd in smoke and ash and it is still blowing around. It was pretty scary for quite a few folks and some ranchers lost all their grazing and hay. I was able to snap a few good pics of the sunset...along with my new gray mare and her filly.

Casen's 1st Birthday

I realize I completely missed the summer, but I will update when I have the laptop with all the pictures. Last weekend our lil' boy turned 1..yikes! He is such a fun boy and changing each day. His newest thing is to dance to any music, radio, cell-phone or even in church. During the musical number yesterday, he stood up and with one had he led the music and danced, all while singing in his sweet babbly voice. Then proceeded to clap, I'm not sure if it was for the girl singing or for himself...either way he gets the attention :) I love him and he makes me laugh every day. Back to his birthday. We made a cake and he was very excited about it. He shared to nicely with everyone, even if you didn't want the leftover frosting on his fingers. He found out where his Grandma had the ice cream and scoop, and we spoiled him. The last picture is when he bit into the ice cream, he thought it was cake. My sister came over as well, with her new daughter Kylee. It was such a fun day. I just can't believe how quickly this year went by. I am blessed to be home with him each day and love this life.

A visit to times past

Well, yet again I find myself needing to update...where does the time go? We are busy as usual. Brandon has just started his Master's with BSU and will be done in about a year :) I am keeping busy by coaching. I have enjoyed this month so far with the Varsity Basketball team. Being the assistant coach will be fun! Then when school starts, I will take over the junior high volleyball and basketball teams :) Until then, Casen and I are enjoying this summer, and since he is now crawling, we are very active! I haven't put up the most recent pictures, but here are some to fill the gap.
In April, we went to the Horse Expo in Nampa to see my grandparents, but this time we brought along Brandon's grandpa as well. So Casen was able to hang out with 2 great-grandpas! He had a blast!

He even got to sit on a miniature horse, who was also 8 months old :) He is such a fun boy and it was very special to have him with both grandpas



Here are just some more pics of Casen being...well Casen.

Casen's crib, made with love

Brandon had always wanted to make a crib for our baby, so he did. The wood he used is blue pine and it is from my Grandpa's property. It is beautiful! My Dad and him plained the wood, sanded it, cut it and pieced it all during Christmas break, so when we came home all he had to do was finish sanding it, and put a finish on it. I am so impressed with what Brandon can do. It is a beautiful crib and Casen sleeps great in it.

Catching up

Casen was able to meet one of his cousins from Virginia for the first time earlier this month. Brandon's cousin, Nelson and his wife Suzanne were visiting Utah and flew up to Twin to come visit. Colton is 3 months older. It was a wonderful day and very special for Casen's great-grandpa Mac to be able to hold 2 of his great-grandsons, both with middle names of Mac.




Casen is just in love with our new dog Taz. Anytime he seems him, he will laugh or smile and squeal. Taz has been a great puppy for us and is so patient with him. He will just lay there and let him pull on him.

Casen is 6 months!

Wow, I can not believe that Casen is already 6 months old...it seems like we are just getting the hang of being parents and now so much is changing. He is sitting up, rolling over and eating vegetables? When did all this happen? He has been such an amazingly happy baby. Seriously, I am so grateful for his lil guy. He wakes up smiling, he goes to sleep smiling and yesterday during his vaccinations, just after he got poked, I picked him up and he smiled at the nurse! We love his laugh and fun personality.



Just after his appointment yesterday we went and got some 1st foods for him to try. I wasn't sure how it would go, but he loved it! We tried carrots first and he is qutie a fan. And a quick learner...only after a few times of us feeding him, he wanted the spoon to do it himself. Things got a little messy, but nothing a fun bath couldn't fix.