Surviving Survival School

One week down and still smiling. Clay has completed one week of his survival training- two more to go! He has come home with some pretty interesting facts! Laura's favorite was when he said that 1 lb. of bugs is more nutritious, healthy, and contains more protein than 1 lb. of meat(At least that's what the instructor said). Well, doesn't that just make you want to change your diet? What's for dinner honey? BUGS! Well, after this next week, Clay should be able to tell Laura if the BUGS are just as tasty as they are nutritious. UGHH.
Clay has been spending the last few nights packing this huge backpack...it weighs close to 60 lbs. We aren't sure how far is going to have to carry that thing.... goodness.

Downtown Spokane

Downtown Spokane not only consists of the traditional shops, restaurants, and parks, but there is a breath taking waterfall (Spokane Falls), Gondola rides over the waterfall, a carousel, ducks to feed, a bridge, and apparently there is a huge wagon slide that we failed to see... I guess we will have to take another trip downtown!
We had fun in the gondola trying to get a good family picture in front of the falls. We crouched on the floor, twisted, turned and well...we had fun.
CJ did a good job keeping that horse under control!

Halloween Lion and Ghost

We let CJ pick what he wanted to be for Halloween this year. He wanted to be a ghost! He was so excited to be a ghost - we practiced saying BOO, Trick or Treat, thank you, and Happy Halloween. He had it down to an art by the time Halloween arrived! CJ went trick or treating 3 times; we went to the ward trunk or treat, the hospital on base had a childrens trick or treat, and then of course around the neighborhood on Halloween night. 3 times still weren't enough, he still asks to go trick or treating daily.... so he goes trick or treating to Mom and Dad!
Preston was the lion! Not so much fierce and intimidating, but sure cute! Preston had many admirers on Halloween night from all the trick or treaters. Several of the teenage girls ooohh and awed over him as they came to the door. He's going to be a heart breaker with those big eyes and that cute smile... (Thanks again for the costume Christy!)

Fall is in the Air...so are the Leaves

Fall is sooo beautiful. The leaves are changing color and falling. CJ, Preston and the neighbor boys Harmen and Porter are having a great time playing in the leaves. They are keeping Clay busy.... Clay rakes them into piles and then the boys jump in it and throw the leaves around. Great fun for everyone!

Side note: Clay thinks that CJ's outfit is a little retro... his comment was..."What is he wearing? That is awful"....he wants to keep it for Halloween next year, then one of our boys can dress up as "Uncle Rico" from Napoleon Dynamite. Oh goodness. Laura thought it was cute...guess not. We had to change the outfit before we went out into public!

Preston's First Haircut

The other night after we gave CJ a haircut our eyes turned toward Preston. His long dark hair hanging over his ears and his "comb-over" told us he was due for his first haircut. Well, more hair came off then was planned. After the first stroke, Laura paniced....it's tooo short! But, what can you do at that point? Nothing, you have to keep going. Laura just about cried as she watched her baby get his first buzz. "He has less hair now, then the day he was born" (A Laura Quote from the experience). Now that it has been a couple of days, Laura is getting used to her new son.

Picking Perfect Pumpkins

Even before we moved to Spokane we heard about Greenbluff Farms. Now that we are here, all we hear about is Greenbluff Farms. So on Monday night for FHE, we decided to get some "real" pumpkins (straight off the vine), so head out to see the wonderful Greenbluff Farms. An hour or so later and after receiving not so great, okay, how about down right bad directions twice - we gave up on the whole farm experience and ended up at the "pumpkin patch" aka Albertsons parking lot. While picking out our pumpkins another couple came and joined us. We chatted and of course the infamous Greenbluff Farms came up - - they asked if we had taken our boys there yet...after telling us about homemade pies, hay ride, animals, pumpkins off the vine, etc. they convinced us to try again.
So, on Tuesday afternoon we headed off on our second attempt. We got to a farm in the Greenbluff area and found a huge pumpkin patch - must be it. We started looking at the pumpkins...asked about hayride - no, pumpkin shooting - no, homemade pies - no..hmm.. that is strange. Whatever... we were here and so we picked out some pumpkins. While checking out we asked about events calendar and such....we got a brochure. Come to find out... there are at least 20 farms in the Greenbluff area! Holy cow...we were under the impression it was one BIG farm. So, needless to say..each farm does a little something different.... we had stopped at the first farm ( no hayrides or pies...) but we got some great pumpkins right off the vine !

Time to share the Love

All who know Laura, know of her addiction and love for OREOS! Laura decided that it was time to introduce Preston into the Oreo Clan.... (NOTE: CJ gained admittance while Clay was gone this summer in Altus. CJ and Laura would have Oreo and milk dipping parties... Laura called them bonding moments, Clay calls it, Feeding the Addiction) but whatever the case may be...it is now Preston's turn to join and he LOVED it! You can witness for yourself from the pictures, that it was a messy, yet enjoyable moment for all! Preston went straight from the OREO to the tub!

Temporary House

Well, we actually made it to Spokane and then left again...but before we left, we managed to get a temporary house. This is our temporary duplex. We are waiting for a 3 bedroom place to open up, but in the mean time we are going to be calling this home. We are sooo excited that our stuff arrives on the moving truck this Wednesday, Oct. 24! We have had a lot of fun with family, gone to 2 weddings, mission homecoming, Red fish lake, but we are ready to get a place of our own again. CJ keeps asking when he is going to see his toys.... needless to say after 3 months...we are done with the homeless bit.

2 Tough Boys

The boys have been holding up so well through all the chaios. They are still smiling and having fun...what troopers! They are both growing up so fast, we can hardly believe it. CJ is two and a half and Preston is already 6 months. Where does the time go?

Red Fish Lake...calm before the storm

We decided to stop at Red Fish Lake on our way to Spokane. We had a great time on the paddle boats, dining at the lodge, staying in our own Authentic cabin, walking along the lake, and just enjoying being together. The weather was beautiful and sunny....nothing could have been better. We are sure glad that we had such a great time at Red Fish, because the route from RedFish Lake up to Spokane was full of adventure... We had tow dolly problems that delayed us a day, but we met the nicest people in the world in Challis, Idaho. Well, they saved our bacon, but had a foul mouth so we call them Angels with a dirty tougue.
When we finally made it to Spokane, we were met with the news that there isn't any 3 bedroom houses available and no time line as to when one would be available. Then, Clay's water survival got pushed back a month....aghhh... so a bunch of bad news, but we are still smiling and know that everything will turn out ok - eventually.

Cows

It's like a "Where's Waldo" book. Everytime you turn the page, we're in a different place....Oklahoma, Washington, Idaho, Florida....where will the next page take us?

It's been a fun time in Idaho. CJ's was able to get his fill of cows, sugarbeets, giant corn fields, and 4 wheelers. But I think the most fun was being so close to the cousins.

Cousins!

CJ and Preston were so glad to see kids again! Ever since we left Enid, CJ has been asking where are the little boys to play with? As Nana and Papa Smith only have big kids at home, CJ missed kids his size. However, at Grandma and Papa Ward's house there are plenty of kids to play with and more! They all had so much fun playing together. When Clay arrived, he added to the fun by putting up a tire swing for the kids (of all ages - Yes, Laura and Clay took a ride too!) to enjoy. We had fun riding 4 wheelers, scooters, jumping on the trampoline, playing with toys and sharing. They shared everything from toys to the stomach flu. Yep, we all got it - Grandma on down... all I can say is YUCK. It was awful. All I am going to say is.... the walk of shame is not a fun experience.

Janie's Wedding Day....Memories

After being a part for several weeks, we were finally reunited for Janie's (Clay's sister) wedding. Laura and the boys came from Washington, Clay from Oklahoma, and they met in Idaho! Now that we are together for a weekend...smooth sailing right? Not quite... there is always an adventure in the Ward Clan! Janie's wedding was a wonderful, yet crazy for us. It started out with a nose bleed...but not just a small nose bleed - 3 or 4 GUSHING nose bleeds. (The picture is one of the last of the nose bleeds and minor....all the blood had already come out. Laura finally had the sense and idea that we needed to capture this "funny" moment on camera so we could remember and laugh about it later! It might be funny then!) So...as an explanation - CJ got his first nose bleed right when we showed up to take pictures and we were really good at containing the blood and not getting it on his white shirt and suit. However, we were not as successful with the subsequent 2 nose bleeds. CJ was tired and crying which didn't help the liquidity of the blood...so the next few episodes were disasterous. Red blood all over his white shirt...and I mean all over... Sleeves, collar, front, everything. What are we going to do? He can't be shirtless for the wedding and pictures... so we dug around in the diaper bag and luckily we had packed an extra shirt for Preston.... yeah, a good sized 2 1/2 year old fitting into a 4 1/2 month old shirt- it was a bit snug and showed quite a bit of mid-drift, but his vest covered him, so we went with it. If CJ's shirt looks alittle snug and doesn't fit with the outfit in the pictures...it's because it doesn't! What can you do? But, all in all, it was a gorgeous day. Janie, Clay's sister and bride, looked Beautiful- the weather was perfect, we were all together as a family and extended family, so...yeah we had a little excitment among the day - who cares? Memories........
Clay and CJ watching the Bride and Groom.

At least Laura and Grand-Dad were ready!

Horses, Slides and Roller Coasters

We had a fun time at the Gunderson Family Picnic - a child's dream place. CJ had a great time riding a pony, seeing a REALLY TALL MAN, and riding his first roller coaster. CJ loved all the rides and asked to go on them time and time again - however we could never get the kid to smile while on the rides (I guess he was concentrating on holding on for dear life!)