All in a day's work...

So first of all, I have decided that maybe I should have just created a Flickr account instead of a blog since it is so obvious that I am full of profound things to say all the time. Secondly, I can't for the life of me get pictures to load in the order I want them on this darned thing...but hey, at least you get to see them. And about the bus pictures: a few days ago, Owen followed our cat under the table and got stuck inside of a chair while doing so. He thought this was pretty cool. Ever since then, he has been crawling under the chairs to play...today he took his bus with him. It's all really cute until he's done and wants to get out, at which time he starts throwing fits and screaming (more evidence of him reaching the early terrible twos.) Anyhow, these pics are a few I snapped from our day today. Does anybody else go through kicks of picture taking? Sometimes weeks will go by where I don't even touch my camera (evidenced by the lull in blogging for long periods) and then I will remember I own a camera and enjoy taking pictures of our little boy...and then I wind up with about 100 pictures every day that I have no idea what to do with. Maybe we just need to get a bigger hard drive.

Oh the joys of fall...

So Owen scribbled the mouth...the rest kind of just happened:

the boy LOVES his tractors...

I just realized that I don't think I have yet blogged about Owen's incredible love of tractors. There really has been nothing in his 17 months of life that has provided as much excitement for him as tractors. The first thing he says when he wakes up is "tractor." He then follows that by "bye bye" because he knows that he can't go out to drive them that early in the morning...but he also knows that he will get to drive them at least a few times later in the day, so he waits. He probably asks a good 20 times a day if he can drive tractors. He usually gets at least 2 or 3 chances throughout the day, but that never seems to be enough. And then, when he HAS made the rounds and gotten to drive every tractor that happens to be in the yard at the time, he proceeds to scream and arch his back when I tell him we're all done (yes, he is DEFINITELY turning in to a 2 year old). The point is...the boy LOVES tractors. He'd drive them all day if he could. I mean seriously...look at the picture at the top and it pretty much says it all. Have you seen a happier face on a kid?

Who doesn't love fall?

Owen and I spent the afternoon outside enjoying fall today, and let me just say that it was SO nice! We raked leaves, ran through leaves, threw leaves in the air, buried ourselves in leaves, and raked some more leaves. But the most exciting part (judging my the volume and extensiveness of Owen's jibber-jabber) was the dead snake he found. He was THRILLED about the thing. Funny how boys will be boys...he just picked that snake up without a stitch of fear or disgust and fisted it all afternoon. It was pretty much crumbled by the time he finally lost it at the bottom of the leaf pile, but it sure provided some great entertainment while it lasted! And let me just say that Owen is at such a fun age right now...it is so fun to watch him grow and learn about life. More fall pics in Picasaweb if you're interested.

Fun with the Howard clan...

Yesterday we made a trek to Tri-Cities to watch C.J.'s little brother play football. It was our first time taking Owen to a live sporting event...and let's just say I was a little nervous to have a 17 month old on bleachers for 2 hours. But, he did surprisingly well thanks to all of the attention he got from the family. It was really fun to see all of them! Keith played a stellar game...his team won by a mile, which apparently is nothing new! It's amazing to see how quickly Keith and Kylene are growing up. We had an awesome time visiting with all of the Howards, and I know Owen thoroughly enjoyed soaking up some good time with all of them...especially Grandpa!

P.S. C.J. was the official photographer of the day, so the credit goes to him for these!

Grandpa Howard

Kylene

Keith

Kyle and Owen

Keith hard at work:

Yesterday was full of treats...

Montreal...

C.J and I just got back from a week together in Montreal. Although we missed Owen more than you could ever imagine, it was REALLY nice to enjoy being husband and wife for a week! We watched a whole bunch of movies, shopped a ton, and just relaxed together. I must say, it was awfully nice being so lazy! And now that we are home and have had about a thousand snuggles from our little guy, I am thoroughly enjoying being home and soaking up the fall goodness. While Ceej was busy taking care of business in Montreal, I explored the city and tried my hand at photographing scenery. I quickly came to the conclusion that I take WAY better photos of kids...but hey, I had fun trying! There are more in Picasaweb...

Just because it's been a while, here are a few shots from our morning...

A baker in the making...

So here we have just a little bit of this and that from our household. The pic above: Owen helped me make zucchini bread today. By "helped" I mean he stuck his hand in the raw eggs, almost tipped the bowl over 7 times, ate some John Deere fruit snacks so that he wouldn't stick his hand in the bowl anymore, and licked every spoon or spatula that had been within 3 feet of the batter. And the picture below: He has decided lately that he loves to do somersaults. Only he gets stuck in the upside down position when he does them without the assistance of an adult. And then he just hangs out upside down. I love kids!

The Harrah Fall Festival...

Tucker

My beautiful sister-in-law and her boys

Grandpa and Owen

Today was the oh-so-exciting Harrah Fall festival and parade. Grandpa, Leah, and the boys came out to enjoy the festivities. Afterward, they came over to our house to play. It was a ton of fun to see them. I love it that Owen is old enough to play with the boys now. He doesn't fully keep up with them, but he certainly tries! There are more pictures in Picasaweb for those who want to see the cuteness of the Dahl boys!

Keith Howard helps the Kamiakin Braves beat West Valley

Keith Howard looking happy to go 2-0 on the season

A great evening for a football game

Well, I guess this would be my first post on the blog.  My lovely wife has done such a great job of updating all of you who visit this blog, on the going-ons in our life.  Last night I had the privilege of catching my brother Keith's second football game, which was held at West Valley H.S. in Yakima.  After not getting much playing time during the first game, Keith spent most of the game on the field, playing both offense and defence.  It was really awesome to see my little brother looking over to the coach on the sidelines, getting the play and calling it in the defensive huddle.  West Valley didn't put up much of a fight against the Kamiakin  Braves freshman football team of the Tri-Cities.  It looked like a shut out until the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.  The Braves had been so dominant the whole game and played with such hustle, that they looked a little tired and let one slip with 2:00 left.  However, the 34-7 romping of West Valley took the Braves to 2-0 on the season.  I got to say hi to Keith after the game was over, to congratulate  him on the victory.  Then it was off to Miner's Restaurant for the team, to enjoy those tasty burgers.  For those of you who know about Miner's, know that it's the spot for sports teams to go after games in Eastern Washington.

Great job Keith!  Keep up the good work.

C.J.

Happy Birthday Grandma Hake!

My beautiful Grandma

The birthday girl and Oliver

Cupcake goodness...

These pics are from the picnic we had today to celebrate my Grandma's birthday. She's a wonderful woman, that's for sure. We love Grandma Hake!

Kalaloch Round 2

We just got back from our second camping trip to the beach this summer....and it was AWESOME! Again, we owe a huge thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for all of their help with the kids. We certainly turn their relaxing beach days into chaos, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have it any other way. And I'm also pretty certain this is the first time in about 15 years I have actually set foot in the sand every single day of the trip. Gone are the days of playing Pinochle and taking naps all day. Instead, we chased babies around the campsite, wiped sand from their mouths about 128 times, threw a good 2,000 rocks into the water, ate lots of really unhealthy goodies, took several walks to the bright orange tree fungus for the wee ones to admire, and, well, you get the picture.....but...we enjoyed every minute of it. I took about 400 too many pictures and whiddled them down to 70-ish in case you are interested in seeing more from our adventure....they are in Picasaweb in case you couldn't guess. Oh yeah, and it's good to be home!