Wild Raspberries!

Backtrack

Cannon left for another fire today and he'll be at Mt. Hood for 14 days. I'm jealous that he gets to fly into Portland and make the beautiful drive up there. I really loved Oregon. *Sigh* But I love it here too and I'm so happy to be back. We sure had a memorable time with friends and family while we were down there! I missed Alaska while we were in Idaho and I think we could live here for the rest of our lives and be totally happy. Here's a little slide show from our trip!

Phelps just won his 8th GOLD MEDAL...

...and I've still got to unpack. Why don't I get a medal for that?! Who can do housework and unpack when the Olympics are on all day? The Games have taken over my life and there have been so many amazing, history making moments --absolutely incredible. I'm so proud to be an American, but I wouldn't want to be an Olympian because winning or "losing" (heaven forbid that it's a SILVER) by 1/100th of a second would drive me crazy...it drives us crazy just to watch. The pressure on these athletes is so intense and yet they perform with firece competition and perfection. And speaking of perfection, Cannon has a great idea...the Doping Olympics. Can you imagine how awesome it would be to group all the doping athletes together and let them compete? We hope everyone is enjoying the Games as much as we are! I think this is one Games that I will own on DVD.

For Cannon

Hey sweetie, per your request, I was able to pull a couple pics of Caleb--he got a haircut and we got to swing at dusk on the porch swing. We sure miss you and love you. Of course, after our brief conversation, he said "nigh, nigh" to you after the call dropped. Hope the fire ends soon! Miss youuuuu!

Caleb at the Cabin

My sis-in-law took some pics of Caleb down at the river this morning. He squealed and gasped when we dipped his toes in the river, then he growled, like a boy should. He got a little braver once his toes got used to the cold, then grabbed handfuls of rocks and mud from the banks and he threw it as far as he could. He is having a great time here with his cousins as they teach him how to catch minnows and share toys.

Caleb the Cub

We are in Idaho and Caleb has spent a week with his great grandparents (Stoddard). He has learned to say "knock, knock" while tapping the door. He can give a "high five" and he is starting to run-walk when he gets excited...so I had better put my running shoes on because with his powerful little legs, I'm sure he'll really be moving. He got a chance to play with some second cousins on the Stoddard side and had a blast! It was great to see Cherie/Dave and Stephanie! Cannon is on a fire in Redding, CA and is more bored than he expected to be, but he is enjoying himself and making good money, so he'll deal with the boredom! We hope you are having a great week!

S'mores n' such

With our mac on the fritz, I can't email or blog or download pics regularly(I'm using Cannon's work laptop at the moment). So I'll give a recap of our week, if any of you are interested. It has been overcast all week. Fortunately, a new wild flower blooms each day. For instance, 2 days ago, we noticed wild daisies all over the neighborhoods and town. Honeysuckle, lilac and other blossom trees are in full bloom too. The rich greens that carpet the lawns, trees and mountains make up for the gray days. I checked out the one and only mall a few days ago. It is not a bright, airy mall like the ones in Phoenix. But it has decent shopping. I've been enjoying my daily jogging adventures--no moose sightings this week. We made s'mores one night in the backyard in our new fire pit. Caleb was more interested in the grahams than the chocolate or marshmellows. We rented "National Treasure II" and we are spending a lot of time in the backyard. Cannon has been working on getting rain gutters up and has done a better than professional job. Caleb has figured out how to open the DVD player, open the dishwasher, open the french doors. He loves reading and being read to. He loves to climb up on us and sit on our heads and babble. He can say "night, night", "hi", "bye", "mom", "dad" and he can sign "more". If you catch him opening the dishwasher and you say "No, no!!" firmly, he will crinkle his nose at you and say "na, na, na!!" loudly. And he absolutely loves playing peek-a-boo! He's mister independent a lot of the time. He's cute as a button. We hope you all are having a good summer!

Mac Mahem

Our mac crashed this week and life as we know it almost ceased...but somehow we've improvised, adapted and overcome (IAO). We don't know how long we'll be IAO'ing it. But if Cannon doesn't fix this problem fast, my blogging withdrawl will get the best of me...and that wouldn't be pretty.

A day in the life