Day on the town.....

We went out to explore downtown Boise (now hipply nicknamed BoDo...don't know if that will catch on), for Grandma Mary's last day here. We went to Julia Davis park, a very large park that also houses the Boise Zoo. We could not go to the zoo today as that is a current bribe in play for Jake to sleep in his own bed. Once he makes it for five nights in a row, we can hit the zoo. If he sleeps in his own bed tonight, that will make......one night in a row (yes, the sarcasm is intended, we're having issues...).

We ventured into this pizza place, more due to location and pending nausea than a desire for cool pizza, but were very pleased with the results. Very good pizza, made right in front of you, in a very neat little restaurant. It is right across the street from the Qwest Arena, where the minor league hockey and basketball teams play, so I imagine that we will hit this place quite a few times. Jake liked both the chef and the pizza. He leaned over the table after a few bites and said, " Mommy, I have to tell you something. This pizza is DAMN good!". This of course prompted spitting of beverages and much laughter, as well as a cursory warning for yours truly to watch their damn language around the k-i-d-s. But the comment was taken in the spirit that it was intended.

It will be sad to see Mom leave tomorrow morning. She has been a lifesaver for the last month. Without her here, it is not hard to imagine the house still full of boxes, pictures not hung, kitchen not stocked and one or both children having been duct taped up and locked in a closet for at least an afternoon. She has allowed us to get through this move (oh yeah, and the pregnancy thing...) with our sanity intact, and even allowed us to enjoy the journey as well. Mom - you are and will always be the greatest, thanks for everything you did (and do). I love you and we'll see you AND AUNTIE SUE in September. - BRIAN

There's nothing like having a mother in law that is also a friend. I hope Mary has had as much fun being here as we have had having her here.- MARISA

Hot Days and Sleepless Nights

Full blown nausea and 24/7 exhaustion has kicked in. Oh, the joys of pregnancy. Thank god Mary is here. She has been such a huge help and a lot of fun to have around as we get used to our new town and explore. Brian and I told Jake about the new baby and his face lit up. He looked down at my tummy and asked if he was in there. When I said yes, he put his hand down on my tummy and rubbed gently. He was very clear that he wants another brother, not a sister. He has been a sweetheart while I am sick. He comes upstairs and asks me if I want him to rub my back, if I need some saltines or some water, etc...

We are calling this baby "Casey". If it is a boy he will be Casey Jameson Alan and if it's a girl she will be Kimberly Cate Alan (after my sister, of course) and we will call her KC (or Katie, as some have suggested). Although I had to shake on it, there is still wiggle room of course. (Brian says, "NO there's not!" as I type this!)

The above pictures were taken this morning at the tennis court down the street. Jake definitely has a talent for the game and he is so excited to play with Papa- the tennis pro- when he comes to visit next month. He and Brian hit balls back and forth and he gets them a lot of the time. A round of tennis is usually followed by a trip to the pool on the way home. (Do you think this lifestyle would get old after awhile?)

Speaking of visits, we had a great one with Kim, Bill, and the kids last weekend. Besides Mary, they are the first people to come see our new place. I think, despite the record breaking temperatures, that they could easily see why we decided to move here. We spent a lot of time at the pool and lake, trying to keep cool. It was great for the boys to spend time with their cousins. We miss them already.

Tanner is doing great . He is still working toward crawling. He is quite adept at scooting and can get places very quickly with his little army crawl. He also loves to hold onto Grandma's fingers and walk from one side of the room to the other. Food is his greatest pleasure, though, and he will happily stuff various types of fruits, vegetables, and crackers into his mouth for long stretches.

We have three weeks of vacation left together. It is going quickly, but we are definitely making the most of it. I have to admit that the pregnancy is slowing us down somewhat, as I tend to nap whenever I get a spare second, but we still have lots of adventures planned before this phase of our move is over. Next up is a much anticipated visit from Nikko and Shannon- which will hopefully include a day trip to the REAL Redfish Lake :)

Good News, a Funny Story, and a Warning...

The good news first: Brian is officially employed! Starting August 15th he will be a supervisor at Farmers Insurance in Meridian. We got the call this morning and even though we were both fairly certain he would be offered the position, it was definitely a load off our minds. Now we know that we won't be trying to support THREE kids on a (private school) teacher's salary :)

Now for the bad news (this is where the warning comes in): Our phone numbers have changed once again. For those of you keeping track, that will make three new numbers in the same number of weeks. Let's just say that nextel stinks. After trying to make our phones work consistently for the last three weeks and spending countless hours on the phone with Nextel, the last straw occurred yesterday. With my phone still not accepting local calls- which we realized only after having potential employers, my new employer, and prospective daycares try to get ahold of us unsuccessfully- I made one last attempt to work with the tech guys at Nextel. I was given the run around. Finally I got a hold of someone that told me (and I quote) "Nextel cannot help you. You should find new cell phone service". He told me he would switch me to the cancellation department. The incredibly rude man there refused to stop service without charging us a 400 dollar "early termination fee" and when I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was told, "My supervisor WILL NOT come to the phone to speak with you." Period. Brian called back and was told the same thing. After going around in circles with the company for the better part of two hours, they told us the only recourse we had was to write a letter. So we did. And cc'd the FTC, FCC, and "our lawyer" (OK, so it was really just a made up name of a pretend lawyer in Berkeley, but still...). Anyway, to make a long and incredibly frustrating story short, we got new phone service, hence the new numbers which we will be sending out in an email shortly. WARNING: DO NOT USE NEXTEL FOR PHONE SERVICE UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE SCREWED OVER LIKE ALL THE PEOPLE ON THIS WEBSITE!

Ready for the funny story? As you know, we've been trying to explore Idaho while we try to settle in and unpack. So last Sunday we decided to take a drive to Redfish Lake- a lake resort I had heard great things about that was about an hour and a half away. We packed a big picnic, loaded the boys up, slathered on the sunscreen, and hit the road at about 8:30AM, preparing for
a fun day in the sun. We programmed the resort (Redfish Lake Lodge) into Brian's GPS and set off. We drove for about an hour and a half, thinking as we got closer and closer that it really didn't look anything like we expected it to and wasn't it strange that we were right on the freeway and the navigation system said we were going to arrive in 2 miles. Hmmmm. As we exited the freeway and approached our destination, we began to realize there may have been some mistake. We found ourselves in the middle of nowhere- in the middle of Jerome Idaho, to be exact, with no lake and no resort in sight. As the GPS announced "You have now arrived at your destination on the left" we had a sinking feeling that perhaps there were TWO Redfish Lake Resorts in Idaho. We looked out our car windows and instead of a pristine lake we saw rundown buildings, old gas stations, and steaming hot pavement. This was definitely not the right place. We pulled into the closest service station and got a map. Yep. We'd gone the wrong way. In fact, we had gone 100 miles south, when the real Redfish Lake was 90 miles Northeast. Trying to make lemonade out of lemons we asked the service attendant where we could hang out for the day and have a picnic and she pointed us toward Shoshone Falls (see the above picture). Luckily we were all in good spirits and laughed at the fact that this is the second time in a week that we have found ourselves somewhere we never intended to be, but enjoying it nonetheless.

Go Boise Hawks!!!!!!!

We took Jake to the Boise Hawks game the other night. The Hawks are the Cubs (not Angels like I thought) A- Ball franchise here in Boise. For those of you not familiar with the way the minors in baseball works, A-Ball is the lowest level of minor league ball, really just above high school, and in some way worse than some of the major college programs. For example; one of the Hawks players hit a single, stopped at first, realized that nobody was paying attention to him and just ran to second, while the ball was still in the infield . That makes the game much more fun to watch.

You don't have a rooting interest for any specfic player, and the teams try all sorts of bizarrre promotions to keep attendance up. One of the billboards in center field has a fishing net as part of the billboard, if a home run goes into the net, someone wins a trip. They have dizzy bat races, hot dog eating contests, bean bag tosses, etc. It's just a fun environment, and a lot different from a major league game.

We had a really good time. Jake was waaayyy into the game. We were sure he was going to annoy everybody in our section with his, "GO BOISE HAWKS" cheer. He has a little bit of actual baseball knowledge, and it is important that he show everybody what he knows. He knows, for example, that the batter who is next up is known as being "on deck". EVERY batter that came up to bat; he would find the on deck circle and announce, "Daddy, that man is on-deck, he is up next".

I am pretty sure that we did not help the situation by keeping him up way past his bedtime (the game didn't start until 7:30) and hyping him up with the Idaho State dessert, the Hawaiian Icee. Which is ice and sugar, combined with artificial colors and flavors.

We had a very good time, and a very tired boy when we left in the fifth inning. We bought $75.00 worth of souveniers and the Hawks have some very dedicated new fans.

GO BOISE HAWKS!!!!!!

Umm....okay...right, now...umm.....wow....okay.....

So, at this point I firmly believe that the powers that be in the universe (he/she/they/it....but after today I am leaning towards she...) LIKE it when our lives are out-of-control-crazy. I mean really, just as we get the last few boxes unpacked, get some pictures up on the wall, and start to see some light at the end of the tunnel....WHAM...... Express Train!

So if you can't tell from the out of focus picture (best I could do while suffering a nervous breakdown, sorry), or the above analogy, we are pregnant again. So at this point Jake and Tanner will be sharing a room and we should get a little bit more serious about figuring out our health care picture for down the road....WOW! Marisa puts this event firmly under the "Man plans, God laughs"
category.

Those of you that haven't made plans to visit to see the new house, now will need to visit to see the new baby sometime next March (and the new house, which is one bedroom too small again!)

On a serious note, both Marisa and I are thrilled (and terrified!) by this unexpected news. We are so happy and....I guess entertained is the right word-everyday by Jake and Tanner, that one more should just add to the fun. Everybody should hope and pray that this one is a girl though for Marisa's sake, otherwise she may just move out once the boy army gets organized! Jake and I already gang up on her, once Tanner and the new boy (if it is a boy!) get in on the action, she won't stand a chance.

All Work and No Play...

(This picture was taken on a morning hike outside our house last Friday)

Well, I can't say that we've been entirely dedicated to getting this house unpacked. We spent Saturday morning at the Boise Farmers Market. There was lots of produce (of course) and an array of prepared foods for sale, too. In addition, they had a craft and art section and free children's lessons in art. Jake participated in a watercolor lesson. I love outdoor markets and this one was a lot of fun. It was a beautiful morning and we found a little coffee house downtown for breakfast that makes their own pastries, oatmeal, granola, etc... Even Brian, a non coffee drinking heathen- had to admit it was a pretty great place. We will definitely be back! Downtown Boise is filled with restaurants, parks, museums, and shopping and since it is only a 15-20 minute drive I figure we will utilize it often.

Then, instead of making up for lost time on Sunday and getting something done, we decided to head to McCall for the day. It was a beautiful two hour drive along the Payette River. The town itself was a "beach town" in a way. It was quaint, on the shores of Payette Lake where there were lots of waterskiers and other boating types. We had lunch at the marina out on the deck and swam/waded in the lake, played baseball on the shore, and just generally "wasted the day away". We all had such a nice day- it didn't matter at all that our walls were still just as blank when we got home as when we left or that each room still had a minimum of one unpacked box in it and at least one hefty bag full of garbage or goodwill stuff :) Both weekend trips had the same effect: they made us realize once again what a great choice this move was for our family.

The boys are doing well. TJ is trying so hard to crawl and is sitting on his own with much more regularity now. He continues to grace us with many smiles and giggles, especially when given free reign with a smooshed banana, yogurt, or diced mac and cheese. Jake is excited about starting preschool, loving the pool, and has been starting each day with the question, "So, what's the plan for today, guys?" Wonder where he got that from, huh?

Hope all is well with you- so many of you are on your own adventures right now- Thailand, the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, Connecticut, etc.. We think about you often. Please respond and let us know how you are.

Happy 4th of July!

Here are some photos that show what we were looking for when we decided to move here. This is the 4th of July parade in Hidden Springs. Led by the Hidden Springs Fire Department and the Ada County Sherriffs; the parade then becomes a mass of kids on scooters, bikes, wagons, motorized cars, strollers, home made floats, and parents trying to keep up and direct traffic. It was so great to see all of the kids in the neighborhood spending the morning decorating their bikes etc. for the parade.

The parade starts and finishes at the park just outside our front door, so Grandma Mary had a front row seat for all the festivities. Jake had a great time " making new friends " (AKA running around screaming and attempting neck-breaking headstands with about 20 other kids). Tanner napped in his room, but was great guns for the picnic afterwards. There was a really great band in the park, games, the FD cookout; it was really a great set-up. The band had played about 5 songs, which had all of the smaller kids running around and jumping in-front of the stage, when, yep, you guessed it, ...the rain came down; followed by wind, lightning and thunder and everybody high-tailing it for home. Our 4th BBQ of hot dogs and hamburgers followed by fire works has become; frozen pizza and pasta and "Toy Story 2" with popcorn.....oh well, what can you do. All you can do (and this is the major life lesson that we have learned during this whole move with two young boys)...is adjust!

Recent Pictures

Well, here it is: photographic proof of our new state of residence! I finally got the new pictures downloaded.I threw in a few new ones of my Hawaiian boys hanging out on the shores of Tahoe Donner, too, just for good measure.

IMPORTANT UPDATE:
None of our phones are currently working. To get a hold of us, please use our email addresses that were listed on our cards. We will email everyone with new contact info once we get the phone fiasco figured out. Hopefully that time will be very soon.

Everything here continues to go well- minus a few mishaps with the phone company and a malfunctioning BBQ. We are swimming a lot, frequenting the parks in walking distance, and gearing up for the big 4th of July party here. The boys will be part of the local parade- Jake on his scooter sporting his red, white, and blue cowboy hat and TJ in the stroller, holding onto (or sucking on more likely) a plastic flag. A band will play out on the village green and we will attend the neighborhood picnic in the evening. For fireworks we plan on driving to McCall (1.5 hours away) to watch two barges of explosives to be set off on the lake. We are not entirely sure if this idea is a really good one or a really stupid one. Time will tell.... and we will keep you posted!

So Far So Good

I love it here! The house is beautiful and the neighborhood is gorgeous. There are kids everywhere and is definitely the kind of place where Jake and TJ will be able to run around, ride bikes, walk to the pool, etc... with their friends when they get older. We have met some nice people at the pool and are heading to the farmers market at the barn later this morning. We have walked on some of the trails and done some exploring around our house and are excited to get downtown one of these days. The weather is cooling off a bit, which is nice.

Mary arrived yesterday and Jake is in HEAVEN- a playmate that doesn't have the pressure of hundreds of boxes to unpack, break down, and throw away! He is going to wear her out for sure.
I signed him up for an art camp held at the community barn. I am hoping he will meet some friends. He seems a little homesick- he keeps mentioning his friends Cody and Ian and saying how he will never see them again. When I put him to sleep the first night in his bed (the first time he had been in it for 40 days!) he put his arms around me and said, "Everythings getting back to normal now, Mommy." Bless his heart. All of these changes must be confusing for him, but he is a champ and I am so proud of him. Milo is also finally getting settled. He wouldn't eat for the first four days and had a difficult time convincing himself that the stairs were safe. He would stand at the bottom and whine instead of coming up to join the family. Tanner is oblivious, I think, to the changes and slept for 12 hours last night without waking- a first for him. He is so close to crawling and is happiest when he is sitting in his high chair with a big pile of cheerios in front of him! That boy can eat :)

Please email us and keep us posted on your summer. I miss my friends and would love to get some updates. I will post pictures just as soon as I can find the camera connector :)