It's ANOTHER BOY!!

Week 20

We had an ultrasound today for baby no. 2 and were ecstatic to find out that we are expecting another healthy baby boy! He tried to be a pain and not let us see his boy parts, but when we did...it was obvious. Jon is excited to have two boys to wrestle with eachother! Brynne is excited because she has had so much fun with Cade, and she gets to do another boy nursery!
Here is a 4-D picture of his little face and hand

This one is hard to see, but it's a white arrow pointing to his little boy parts!

We can't believe it is already half over! We feel so blessed.

We also completed another year of the elephant ear booth at the North Idaho Fair! It was rainy half the time, but busy through the weekend. During the week we had the first annual cousins camp for the kids with whatever moms weren't working at the booth doing activities with the kids. Some of the activities were: a movie at the theatre, picnic lunch, relay races, obstacle courses, crafts, making pizzas, etc. It was fun having Brynne's sister Cassie and family here for the first time in six years for it all. It was fun to have their newest baby, Beckett, blessed here as well. (Below: Cade @ cousins camp, Beckett's blessing circle and Cade kissing Beckett)

As a little family we enjoyed the fair's rodeo and hypnotist with Jon's brother Brandon and sister Kelly and their families who were in town, and grandpa Bruce. We also saw the animals (which Cade LOVED...even though a big HUGE sheep baaa'd right in his face a scared him to death) and a bit of the demolition derby. It's always a good time seeing family and friends at the fair while raising money for boys to go on missions. Next year we'll get pictures!

Busy, Busy Bees

This weekend was a crazy, busy one! So busy we forgot our camera. But we did some memorable things. Friday Jon, Cade, and I met up with Brett and Mikin's families and our niece, Hayliann (who's visiting from Utah) and spent the whole day at Silverwood Theme Park! We spent the very hot part of the day at the water park in the wave pool, on scary slides and group tubing, and then had a picnic and spent the evening on the rides! Cade enjoyed the kids rides with his cousins while us adults enjoyed the big stuff...including the new roller coaster that just opened up called AFTERSHOCK. It was scary! Your feet hang and they hold you completely vertical!

That night, Jon and Brynne both woke up in the night SICK with bad colds. But in the morning, we still had to wake up so Brynne could do the 1/2 mile swim in the Hayden triathlon (teaming up with her sis-in-law Lizzy). Even sick, she still beat all the boys out of the water. :)

Immediatly after, Jon went to play in the NIC 3 on 3 basketball tournament (sick also). They played 2 tough games Saturday and won both---but Jon sprained his ankle in the first game, taped it, then hurt his back in the second game! It's still really bad, but we'll have to see if he needs it checked out. Poor guy! Street ball... ::sigh::
That day we also had the Gatten Family barbecue with extended family. It is always good to see those you don't see very often! We ate, played volleyball, and Cade swam for probably 3 hours. Little fishy!
Sunday (today) Cassie and Andrew's baby, Beckett, was blessed here in the Dalton Ward. It was so fun to be there for such a special occasion. He is such a cutie! Then this evening we had a relaxing dinner on the lake with Jon's parents. We napped, watched olympics, and played games.
Like we said, we had a crazy, busy weekend!
(Also a sidenote, A.J. is home from Portland and injured waiting for a settlement. We have had a chance to spend some time with him and we love him so much!)

Coeur d'Alene Triathlon '08!

1 mile swim*26 mile bike*6 mile run

I (Brynne) had the chance to do the CDA olympic tri once again this weekend and it was such a blast! My brother Brett and father-in-law did it as well. Although I undertrained, I did okay! I finished 4th in my division and I never had to stop (except to pee). We got to swim in the rain (32 min) and bike on wet roads (1 hr. 38 min) on a VERY challenging course, but it had very beautiful views overlooking CDA Lake and I counted about 20 flat tires that I saw so I was glad I made it through without anything to slow me down even more than the baby I was carrying!

On the right passing a guy...

Here I am getting ready to cross the finish line after the run (1 hr. 11 min)! Let me tell ya...my loose hips were crying to be done right here and I was running slower than I thought. Oh well.

Cade crossed the finish line with me (3 hr. 30 min total). Jon was out of town setting up elk camp. :)

Thanks to Angie and kids, my mom, and A.J. for coming to support me, watch Cade and take these pictures! I love you guys!

The Good 'ol Salmon @ Riggins & McCall Tri

About every other year or so we head to the Salmon River in Southern Idaho (or as Steve calls it: "the Maui of Idaho") to raft and enjoy the sandy, white beaches! This is actually where Brynne got baptized as well! It was a small group this year which made it all the better for us! Our little family had Nana and Papa to ourselves! Jon's dad, Bruce, came rafting one day and stayed two nights. Brynne's Uncle, Scott Davis, was also there with a group of scouts that kind of tagged along Saturday, which worked out because Jon was gone Saturday doing the McCall Olympic Triathlon with his Dad. So, having only had Steve and Brynne left to raft, we picked up two scouts for the run. The triathlon was hard, they said but they did great.

Here is a view of the canyon up above where we raft.

LtoR: Bruce, Jon, Steve, ScottHere's one of the two bigger "holes"...we call it toilet bowl because it's like getting flushed down a toilet! We lost everyone but Jon on this one...even Zoey did her fair share of getting sucked under and around!
Saturyday we only did one run with the scouts (above getting the speach with Zoey as the captains "right hand man") then went to the Salmon fish hatchery. It was a great time! The Hatchery had everything from incubated eggs to HUGE adult Salmon who return from the ocean to this exact spot to spawn. Pretty amazing!Shooting: Steve and Jonny with their 22 and 44 pistols
Brynne shooting a 22 pistol
22 rifle
We camped on Short's bar (big beach) next to an elk farm...pumped the boys up for early bow!
Cade had tons of fun hanging out with Nana while we rafted. He swam...

Played in the dirt and sand...

hung out with the boys, and zoey (giving her kisses below)and had his first encounter with a HUGE cricket in the trailor and a big toad (no pic). It was so funny to watch his reaction!

Sunday we went to the tiny branch there for church and stayed all 3 hours and they had a linger-longer lunch afterward of roasted elk and pork with homemade bread, desserts, and salad! Can't beat that! We had so much fun and it was such a relaxing trip for our little family.

Cade's "Big Boy" Room

With no. 2 on the way, Brynne has been trying to get the guest room looking like a boy's room before she has to work on a nursery! We found this dresser at a garage sale and wish you could have seen it before she started sanding. So ugly!

We were going for the antiqued, cabin look...here's how it turned out!

Here's a little more of the room so far
We will add a few more "little kid" animal decorations... and of course a bed rail on the not-wall side and a step stool to the bed. Our computer is in this room also and it will soon be an armoire that we can close up and put the child locks on!

New Obsession...

Okay, okay, so I know I am always the skeptical one when people make a HUGE deal out of things like books, but I am finally going to admit it. I am one of them. ::shudder::

I, after much persuading, started the book Twlight (the first of the series of 3 soon to be 4 books) and finished the first 3 books in a week! They had me hooked from page 1. Stephenie Meyer is an amazing author who packs in the action, suspense and romance! I guess it is good to force me to have a break to actually clean my house, run errands, and stop neglecting my child... but I cannot wait for the 4th book, Breaking Dawn, to come out in 5 days!! :) I never thought I would catch the bug like this. But, now I have persuaded a couple people to read them and they are just as addicted as I am, so I don't feel so bad. I highly recommend it! Jon's even thinking about reading them because I loved them so much... and maybe that would be good! ;) Edward could teach every guy a few things! ;)

-Brynne

18 months...into 18 years!

Our little Cade turned exactly 1 1/2 this week. He has been changing, learning and growing like wild fire lately. I just thought I would post a few things that he loves right now.

Helping: With putting clothes in the dryer, getting his own diaper, unloading the dishwasher, or whatever it may be! He's digging in.

Singing/Dancing: If any type of tune passes his ears, he is moving! He loves to sing (and do motions if there are any) when others are singing as well.

Reading: He many times in a day will ask for us to get him a book and he is very intent. He will also sit and "read" them on his own (or flip thru the pages and babble).

Playing outside: He must be Jon and Brynne's kid because he will play with the dog or in the dirt in the back yard up to 45 min. by himself.

Pointing out body parts: He can do most all of them!

Copying words: If we ever say one word, he tries to copy it. We have learned to watch what we say!

Swimming: He has always been a fish. We put on his wing floaties and he will kick, kick, kick! He's good and holding his breath and spitting out water that gets into his mouth in a perfect stream.

Throwing, Catching and Hitting a ball (or rocks, or othermisc. items) : His right arm is a rocket! He catches sometimes, tries very hard, and hit the ball with his bat off of Dad's hand.

Last but not least, DAD: Major Daddy's boy.

This little guy has brightened or lives. We love you, Taters!