Happy Halloween!

Eva and I started the festivities off with decorating her pumpkin. Some of you may think I'm I bad mom but I really didn't want to have to clean up the big mess that I new Eva would make if I carved the pumpkin with her so we just colored it. We made it into a cat and she had lots of fun drawing all over it


Once Greg got home we got Eva dressed up in her fairy costume and headed to our ward's trunk or treat and carnival. And yes that is the same costume she wore last Halloween. She was so fat last year I had to buy her a 2T. This year it still fits, it's just a little shorter. I guess another reason I may be considered a bad mom. Well maybe not a bad mom but just lazy. In my defense I am pregnant and very tired. Anyways Eva can be something new next year.


Greg and I walked around with Eva so she could get some candy. It was really cute watching her say "trick or treat" and "thank you" to everyone. She also had to wear her sun glasses because Daddy was wearing his.



This is Eva and her little friend Rachel. Don't they look so cute together? I was a little bummed because Eva is starting her terrible twos a couple months early and had a few tantrums before we even left the house so her hair isn't as cute as I wanted it to be. At least she was happy for this picture. Probably because she got to start in on her candy.

After the trunk or treat we went inside to the carnival. Eva was a little young for all the games so we didn't stay too long.


Before we left the sugar started to kick in and Eva was having fun dancing. She got a little shy when she noticed some people watching her and ran or danced her way over to the comfort of Daddy.



Halloween is so much fun again now that we have a child to celebrate it with. I just can't wait until next year. I'm sure it's just going to get better and better.

The Hunt

I know that I have been home for a month now, sorry this is late. So this is Alaska. We weren't up in the mountains too far and those were the closest trees. Firewood was a lot of work to gather. The best way to describe the terrain in the tundra is by imagining a field scattered with basketballs no more than a foot apart. Now cover those basketballs with wet, slimy grass, moss and blue berries. If you weren't in the trees or on the mountains you were in this "musk egg" and it was very difficult walking.

Wow Dad, that is a big moose you got a hold of there! Sorry, Pop did not shoot this. Some other hunters got it and we ran into them on the tarmack waiting to leave Kotzebue.

This is my caribou. I swear it was bigger when I shot it. Everyone else had shot theirs on the first day. So I was hunting by myself on the second day and shot this little guy. I needed someone there to tell me to wait for a bigger one. I thought he was huge. I watched his group come in from a mile or so away. The whole time I was watching him and I was sure he was bigger than anyone elses in camp. It turned out that it was not the case. But I am happy with him, it was a very fun and rewarding hunt.

This is Blair's trophy. A bunch of camp robbers were looting us of our bounty so mighty Blair protected the camp from the unruly intruders. At least he was able to shoot something with his bow. Blair also shot a ptarmigan with my rifle on the way back to camp one night. He is quite the hunter. He is also quite the taxidermist. Blair was the only one in camp who knew how to cape the hides for mounting. We would have made royal messes if he wouldn't have been there.

Brent, Bryant, Dad, Me, Blair. Now mine looks even smaller. Everyone else shot very nice caribou. They were the biggest that we had seen come out. The dehydrated food that we packed in was not nearly as good as the caribou we ate every night. One night we had caribou, ptarmigan, mashed potatoes, and gravy for dinner.

Since we had killed our caribou within the first two days we resorted to other recreational activities. Blair and I went out fishing on our fourth day and caught a bunch of greyling. This was the biggest one we caught. We thought we were going to be nice and we brought a bunch back to camp to eat for dinner. They tasted like crap, so Blair used them as bait for the camp robbers. The next day Pop was sad that he had not caught a fish, so we took him to a couple of good holes and he caught a couple of greyling. Later I hooked a big char and broke our pole, that meant it was time to go back to camp and catch our plane back to Kotzebue. I had a great time. I am so lucky to have gone to Alaska with my dad and brother. Next time Reagan will have to go so all the boys can get together. I also am very lucky to such a nice wife that is always home alone but still was happy for me to go. Thanks baby, I love you!

And the Nominees are....

I want to say thank you for all of your great ideas for middle names. Greg and I have narrowed it down to our favorites so now we just have to pick one. Greg's pick is Layla Grace. I like that one but I also like Layla Marie, Layla Rose and Layla Rachel. So thanks again for all of the great names and we'll let you know the winner when we decide.

I need some ideas

So Greg and I pretty sure that we are going to name this next baby Layla. The problem is that I can't think of a middle name to go with it. I want something pretty that flows well like Eva's. (for all of you who don't know it's Eva Sophia) So I'm reaching out to all of my friends and family for some ideas. I have looked in my baby name book and on the internet and I just can't find anything. So if any of you have any ideas please, please let me know.

Tagged Again

I was tagged to post the 4th picture I have on my computer. I was scared that it was going to be some scary picture of me and Eva when she was born, but I lucked out. The first digital pictures we got on this computer were from my older sister Amber who had her son Nathan about 8 months before I had Eva. This is a sweet picture of Amber's husband Cameron and their son Nathan. He is now 2 years old. Time sure does fly doesn't it? Still what a nice little trip down memory lane. I love this picture it is so innocent. Cameron what a sweet daddy you are.

I tag Amber, Michelle, Rachel and Mom.

Mr. Fix It.

Since all I did was complain in my last post I decide I should write about good things in my life. Like my husband. I am soooo thankful for him. I feel very lucky to have him in my life, he is such a good father and partner. Maybe one of the reasons we get along so well is because he is gone so much? So then when he is home we really appreciate each other. Absents does make the heart grow fonder. We rarely ever fight and can always make each other laugh. He really is my best friend. OK I can just see some of you sticking you fingers down your throat and making the gag me face so I'll stop with all the mushy stuff.

I really wanted to right about how Greg is so handy. Anything that needs to be fixed he is always ready and willing to do it himself. Which ends up always saving us money. For example 3 different windows on the jeep have broken at one time or another. Well not the actual window but the motor that makes them roll up and down. One broke while he was gone last summer and I think it was around $600 to get fixed. When the other 2 broke Greg just took the door apart and fixed it himself. Then it only cost $260 for the part which is still a lot but better than $600 right? He has fixed other things but the most resent was our dryer. Just last week it stopped drying the clothes. The washer and dryer are like 14 years old so I wasn't too surprised that one broke down but we are not ready to buy new ones so I asked Greg to take a look at it. He just totally amazed me. He took out the heating element (how he knew where or what that was I have no idea) and replaced it with a new one and to quote Eva "TaDa" it was fixed. Now the dryer works better now then it did before. I was just so thankful that Greg was able to fix it and it only cost $25.00! You just can't beat that. I am just really lucky to have a husband that is so handy.
Greg got to work from home for a few days so here is a picture of him on the computer with Eva coloring next to him. She wanted to be like Daddy and sit at the table. They were both just so busy.

One of those days

Yes, it's one of those days when nothing seems to go right and you keep asking yourself, "why me?" It all started with Eva waking up at 6:30. I turn on the t.v. and the satellite wasn't working but it's not searching for a good signal it's just not working at all. Anyone else who has early risers knows how important those morning cartoons are. Now I'm irritated and Greg is gone at drill so he can't help. I decide to put on a video for Eva and as she closes the glass door on our new DVD case the whole door shatters into thousands and thousands of pieces!
Exhibit A.

It took me an hour and a half to clean up all the glass and I sliced my knee in the process. I picked most of the glass up by hand because we have central vac and I wasn't sure what all that glass would do to the hose. To be honest all I know about the central vac is you plug the hose into a cool hole in the wall and like magic it sucks everything up, but where it all goes.....I have no idea. So anyways that's why it took so long to clean up.

Then as I'm getting ready and talking to Michelle on the phone Eva breaks the lid of one of my glass jars that I keep q-tips in. I about lost it. Plus she broke the matching jar that held the cotton balls just the other day. If your wondering how she was in reach of the glass jars I let her stand on a chair and play in the sink while I'm getting ready. She liked to pull all the q-tips out and play with them. Exhibit B.
Q-tips in ears +
Q-tips in nose =
more broken glass

After she broke the first jar I haven't let her play with them but of course today she was faster than me and broke that lid before I could move it.

For lunch I took Eva to McDonald's and on the way home we almost got into an accident. We were stopped in the road with a few cars in front of us and I just happen to glance in my rear view mirror. Here comes a red truck about to hit us! I looked in the turn lane, saw that it's clear, turn my wheel and gunned it to get out of the way. Just then the guy in the truck slams on his brakes and stops before slamming into the car that was in front of me. I have to say that my heart was pounding I mean the thought of getting into an accident with Eva and in the new car makes me sick. I was proud of myself for thinking quickly and getting out of the way. It's amazing all the thoughts that can run through you head in a matter of seconds.

The rest of the day turned out pretty good. I guess it was more of a bad morning than an entire bad day. Thankfully Greg got home early and he played with Eva so I could recover. Exhibit C.


I also thought that since I'm 6 months pregnant that I should post a new picture. I was debating whether or not to even put this picture on. It might be the last bare belly shot. We'll see how I feel next month.