Meet "Blue", Our New Puppers

Well, we finally have our new little bundle of fur. He's actually sleeping at my feet right now. Let's hope I don't roll over him with my swivel chair.

On Saturday we drove 5.5 hours north to pick him up from the breeder (in Orofino, ID). Luckily, he was a little trooper for the winding drive home. He didn't cry, didn't get sick, and didn't have any accidents.

My family completely spoiled me and the pup. My mom came over to take me out to lunch at Rembrandt's, allegedly for just the 2 of us, and my sister and sisters-in-law just "coincidentally" happened to be there. Those goof balls surprised me with a "Puppy Shower".

Beautiful view behind out hotel (a Best Western believe it or not)

Big Eddy's Marina

Dworshak Reservoir

Never too old for the swings.

Deer everywhere! These 3 were just hanging out in a parking lot in the middle of town...not the least bit bothered by us.

Dworshak

I can tell he misses his brothers and sisters.

Blue!

Already getting into mischief

Braden (my nephew, left) says he really likes him. "I felt a connection."
Cooper (nephew, right) didn't understand why we named him Blue rather than White.

Our little polar bear

Already planking at such a young age

He loves those belly rubs. (look at his paws...so cute)

Come over anytime to see him - especially if you need a good snuggle.

Cool DIY

I don't know what it is, but I have a fondness for glazed white porcelain. In fact, some may find this odd, but one of my favorite decorative pieces in our house is a porcelain pitcher like the one pictured below. (Ok, so it was a little spendy for a pitcher, but I paid for most of it with a gift card. AND, it's not just a pitcher to me)

From Pottery Barn

So it probably comes as no surprise that I was pretty stoked about this easy/affordable little DIY project I came across on Pinterest. This lady had the brilliant idea to re-create that elegant glazed white look with white high gloss spray paint. (Click here for her blog post)

Since it's fall, I decided to try an owl I found at Kohl's (with my $10 off coupon, it was next to nothing). I wasn't particularly fond of the bronze/brown speckled look so I thought he was a perfect candidate for my little experiment.

Pretty cool!

Boy's Weekend +

Eric had a couple of good friends visit from out of town this weekend. Hulse from Utah & Darby from San Fran. They went camping @ Redfish Lake, which is a really gorgeous spot about 3 hours away. Eric, of course, didn't take the camera, but this is Redfish below...

While Eric and the boys were out doing manly things, I spent the day with my friend Kristin. We went out to lunch downtown, hit the dog park with her German Shorthair Pointer, did a little shopping & then went to a movie at the cheap theater (only $4 for a movie, drink and popcorn!)

The boys did let me join them for some entertaining frisbee golf, however.

These boys, of course can't compete without a wager of some sort.  Unfortunately, Hulse was on the losing end of this bet so he had to swallow a live fish whole. Unfortunately, it wasn't your typical slides-right-down-your-throat goldfish variety. He was an aggressive, "spiney" little guy. See video below. 

Lagoon!

My brother Jason & his fam were kind enough to invite me to join them for a quick weekend trip to Utah. Friday, I got to hang out with my good friend, Heather & her fam, and Saturday we spent the entire day @ Lagoon. At first, I doubted whether I would be able to "hang" for that long...literally, from open to close, but it was actually a lot of fun. This also happened to be the day of Boise State's big season opener v. SEC power house, Georgia. Jason and I were both pretty excited about it so we took drastic measures to not allow anyone to leak the score to us (there were several BSU fans at the park sporting their gear). After a full day at the park, Jason, Braden & I all watched the game (thank goodness for DVR). We didn't get to bed until about 4am, but what a game! Totally worth it.

Check out Braden & Cooper's shirts :)

Sis-in-law Sheri & niece Tals

I think these were my favorite rides below:

Samurai

Colossus

Jet Star II

Rocket (Blast Off & Re-entry)

The white roller coaster

The Spider

Wicked

August

August was a fun, busy month. Nelson reunion, new baby niece is born (Ella May), new calling (YW Pres.), visitors, 8-yr anniversary, my 2nd oldest niece, Cami, goes to college, the Seattle Honns visit & football season begins!

I'm one of Braden's biggest fans! This was his first game in pads...and on the smurf turf!

My cute nephews are growing up. Alex, Michael & Ethan. We don't get to see the twins as much as we'd like b/c they're in Seattle, but I love these kids! So sweet, so talented & such gentlemen.

Michael is an awesome musician! Plays piano, guitar & drums (mostly by ear)

Family day @ Black Canyon Dam.

Look at that air. And, no, it wasn't a soft landing at all, but Cooper still loved it.

Sand V-ball

My nieces Faith & Talia

My oldest brother Scott with his son, Michael - Ice blocking

They're 15 y/o & 6'3"! (I have wedges on in the picture)

Photos (thanks Del)

Karen and Del Benson (friends from Saipan) stopped in to visit us in the middle of their travels. Del is a fantastic photographer, and he offered to take some pictures of us here in our home. He's a talented man...

The man himself, Mr. Del Benson - up close & personal.