Snow!

This weekend we welcomed our first snow in Brightwood. It was only a couple inches but super wet and perfect for playing in.

Here is G and papa with the snowman we built (that sprained papa's back!):

Wet snow is HEAVY!

Nick had some welding to do and the snow inspired him to get some work done on the cross country sled he has been dreaming up.

His assistant at the ready:


Some general shenanigans:

Damn daddies are fun!

And the frame is done:



Now he just needs to get the frame secured to the skis and we will be ready to hit the tails. I can't wait!

Free For All

We have been super blessed lately by friends looking to offload items for FREE. It all began when the neighbors got new living room furniture so we inherited a love seat and pull out sofa. We put the love seat in the living room and the couch downstairs in the tv room. They are wonderful.

Then we got a call that some friends were going to be getting rid of the oil heater from their home. It was free so long as we took their pair of runner ducks too. Done deal!

Then it got super crazy when anther friend had purchased a new fifth wheel and decided she just wanted the old one gone. Ta dahh we now own a fifth wheel. she was super sweet and hooked us up with the in bed truck hitch and everything. To top it off, the neighbor across the street got so sick of looking at it in our driveway )remember it is a FREE fifth wheel) that he brought his tractor over and grated our side driveway so we have "rv parking". Call the realtor, let's sell this puppy!

Our most recent gift is this beautiful leather overstuffed chair:


As you can see it is a hit with kids and cats alike.

Now who wants our free dishwasher? Pay it forward!

At least for now...

The boy LOVES JIF!

Straight from the jar.

And there he goes. Gotta RUN!

Tricks and Treats

I once again dusted off the old chicken suit for Halloween this year. I totally lucked out and found a little zip up chicken suit at Goodwill so he was my "chicken nugget". A friend hosted a get together so we got to hand out and even hit up a few houses for some candy.

G did a great job of taking candy and putting it in his bucket, but then he would take it out of his bucket and put it into other kids' buckets. Too cute!

Here we are together:


Playing with come of the kiddos:

Nothing like other people's toys!

Flirting with two of his favorite girls:


What, you never seen a chicken touch up her lipstick before?

Catch Up -Tractor Time!

Gunnar has been on a no nap kick which of course means no blog posts. I tell myself I sill do it once he is in bed but that never seems to happen. He is blessing me with a few minutes right now so let's see how much I can catch ya'll up!

After all the flack G received from riding in the Barbie Jeep in Tulsa I was super stoked to find a John Deere ride on for him on Craigslist a few weeks ago. It was a super deal! When I first emailed about it the woman told me someone else had already called but she would let me know if they flaked out. Bummer! However, after the library that weekend I had a missed 503 call on my cell phone. When I called back it was the tractor lady. The original buyer didn't want to drive that far. So G and I loaded up, drove the 3 hour round trip and are now the proud owners of a pint sized tractor.

He is still a bit big for him but that is good since he is growing like a weed. A few shots of it in the house:

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Living on Tulsa Time

The whole family packed up and headed to the midwest this past week. It was a wonderful trip with of course not enough time. Some of the highlights:

Waiting for the bus to PDX:


Entertaining ourselves during the layover in Denver:


G's first time on a boat. Thanks Pop Roy!
Leaning over the edge is always the best view:

Of course you have got to drive:


And fish:

The Fraziers came to town and we got to play in the kiddie pool at their hotel. Cousin Carter was a pro:

My girlfriend Virgina was kind enough to open up her home for a high school reunion of sorts. It was soooo much fun!
Here is G and V's daughter Meira playing in the deer corn:

The ladies love that corn! Gunnar and Keira:

Taking full advantage of the Gleason girls' Jeep when it was free:

On Friday night we had dinner at Chimi's with our old high school friends sans kids:

It was very touching for so many to take time out of their busy lives to say hi.
The purpose of the trip was to see family and there was a ton. My eldest brother Doug and his amazing wife Wendy were kind enough to open up their home for a family gathering. Here are some of us:

G and his great grandma Bess:

Gunnar and Bess went for a ride around her nursing home and it was a hit for all involved. Check on the frenchie on G's shirt from his grandma!

Gunnar and his 2nd cousin Tristan:

Tristan knows all the fun places to play.


We love you Tulsa friends and family. Now come visit!

Pumpkin Patch!

A couple weekends ago G and I took advantage of a nice weekend day to hit the pumpkin patch. I have never done a northwest pumpkin patch before and was blown away by the extravagance. And we didn't even go to one of the "biggies". We went to Liepold farm and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We went on the hay ride:

Gunnar's favorite part was that he got to sit next to a doggy on the wagon.

They had those cutouts you can take your picture with and since it was just the two of us, this is how it went:


Hilarious! I think in that last shot you can really tell that his eyes are trying to change to hazel.

Obligatory pumpkin shot: