High Desert

These are from a while back, probably the last decent shots before our good camera stopped cooperating with us.

Special Guests

Brendan, Mr. McKenna and JJ came down for the Carrier Classic:

Random catch-up!

We've been off the blog for a long time. First James was born and then Facebook took over. For the Facebook holdouts, we will try to keep this alive...

We went up to SF not too long ago. Caught up with the Carters and McKennas:














And the Wicks's:














Batboy and Blueface Ghost on Halloween:














We found a tarantula on a recent hike. As you can see, it is coming at us about to attack.














Nanny retired and came out and worked the whole time! She helped us put in garden boxes, among many other projects:

Just a Tease

A Harse Named Johnny

We've added another member to the family. "Johnny" the horse, or harse as Etta says, joined us on Sunday. This cowgirl wants to take him everywhere we go, and loves to sing songs to and about him.
She's great about feeding him and sharing her water. He started in the driveway, heading to the backyard we thought.
Then he had a stop in the living room, which doesn't bother me if it means she leaves her brother alone while he is in his swing. Now he's in her room. I had to sing him a lullaby tonight.
She didn't bother to come say good morning to me today. Instead I heard the sound of his springs. Not bad for $35...

Need to put this out there

We did not name this beautiful child James because we are huge Etta James fans. James is Brent's middle name, and Clark was the middle name of one of my great-grandfathers on Nannie's side. There- I feel better now.

Month One

We've been a family of 4 for a month now, and things are going well, some of the time anyway... Nannie was in town to help for about 2.5 weeks- which was awesome. Dean came out towards the end of her trip and had a great time teasing Etta. Here are some pics from the first month.

Hanging out with Nannie. Nannie didn't get much of a chance to rest while she was here. Between requests for Nannie pancakes she played, did laundry, held crying kids, and whatever else was needed at the time. She truly is the best.
We brought in a bag of toys for James. Etta decided he needed to play with all of them at one time. She has since put the 5 finger discount on the big fish...
She loves to cuddle and kiss her brother. This usually means that I am wiping his face once she is finished.
Dean and Etta at the zoo in the helicopter at the polar bear exhibit. I wouldn't fly with these two.
Nannie seems to have lost her sucker...
We're slowly getting the hang of things since my parents left. Some days are harder than others, but we'll get there!