Look Who Turned 3!

It's a little monkeys birthday! Well, it was on the 5th of December anyway :)

Our little man turned 3!
We had a little party for him a week early because Grandpa & Grandma Hamilton were in town. He was still fighting a cold, but that didn't stop him from having his cake!

It's always fun to watch kids blow out their candles :) 

We enjoyed the great company of family. 

On December 5th ~ Isaac's actual birthday, I took cupcakes over to his preschool so his friends could help him celebrate. If you ask Isaac how old he is, he does this: 

Another year through..................

Thank you all friends & family for the gifts and for making his day special :) 

The Duck Hunt

We woke up in the wee hours of the morning (coffee in hand) and drove to Pruess Lake. John Reynolds joined us for the first hour or so. They placed the rest of the decoys in the water. It was so pretty with the stars twinkling in the dark sky.

We welcomed the warmth of the sun on this frozen morning........my toes especially. 

Zeek was deciding if the decoys were real or not. I think it kinda wigged him out...... lol

That particular day was unsuccessful. However, the following days Bryan and Ben brought home some ducks and a goose.

Great job you guys!

Duck Hunt Preparation

Ben brought all his hunting gear with him from Ohio. Bryan and him were anticipating some duck hunting trips for some time.
F.Y.I. The most I've ever been involved with hunting ducks is playing "Duck Hunt" on the first Nintendo ever made....... Haha :D
I was able to go along for the ride one night to help set up the scene for a hunt the next morning. Ben & Bryan had been there the day before hard at work building a blind out of willows. I was eager to see their product. We loaded half the gear on the canoe and floated across Pruess Lake to where the blind was erected. Ben dropped me off and then paddled back to the truck to get the rest of the gear. Meanwhile, Bryan walked around the lake to find a road to access from the west side. I hung out and took pictures :)

Here is their crafty handy work; pretty cool blind, huh?

Ducks flew high above.......

Ben returning with the rest of the gear........

The sun was setting fast as we placed the decoys in the sand and water.......

What a beautiful night it was. All preparations were in order. We would return for the hunt early in the morning.......

Thanksgiving with Grandpa & Grandma

Grandpa & Grandma drove all the way out here from Ohio to share Thanksgiving with us. Due to feeling "under the weather" (in fabulous weather, I might add!) we had to spend our days inside. Grandma kept Isaac and Ava busy ~ er, or maybe it was the other way around...... lol
Grandma brought finger paints:

Ava had a tea party with friends:

Lots of reading time: 

Numerous games of cards:

Other misc games...... like fishing  ;)

Grandma is able to keep up with Ava's energy. She is incredible.
My kids also tend to wear some energy by using Grandpa as their personal jungle gym...... lol

Turkey Trot

Nothing makes you more unmotivated than fighting a virus; which is my excuse for being absent on the blog. The first virus(s) have been slowing down my computer. It kept freezing and being obnoxiously uncooperative. Thankfully I have Bryan who helped me battle them with SuperAntiSpyware. It's helped tremendously!
The other virus that stopped us in our tracks was catching a nasty cold. Everyone I knew in the valley had the sniffles and cough. Isaac had it the worst. He acted like a different kid for a week. He was really disappointed that he couldn't go to school. Yep, we were literally couch potatoes for a week. We watched lots of TV and drank lots of tea. Haha
I'm still not feeling %100 percent; but I'm much better. So is Isaac.
"My get-up-and-go ~ got up and left!" 
LOL :D
We have managed to get into the Christmas spirit at our house. We've set up the most of the decorations, lights, and tree.......

But before all of this, there was the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day at EskDale. Audrey and I participated this year. We didn't run the whole way (I'm not a runner by any means).... but we did sprint, or trot, and walked. It was chilly, but fun :)

*Special thanks to my cousin, Sharon, for these photos! :)

Group Photo!

 Happy Turkey Day!