Halloween at CCI

This year, we decided to be the gang from Scooby Doo. I think we did a pretty great job! All of our patients enjoyed it and we had our annual chili lunch with corn bread muffins.

BSU Game

October 26th-
Kelly and Nick invited us to the BSU vs. La Tech game on Tuesday. The weather has just started getting colder and we had to bundle up. It was supposed to be an "orange out" so we did the best we could. I had 5 layers on top and stayed pretty warm. Jonathan got hot chocolate and pizza and I got my favorite...nachos. We left during the fourth quarter when it was pretty evident that we wouldn't lose!

New Furniture

Jonathan scored us a great deal on some new furniture!!! We got a beautiful cabinet for the kitchen to display all of our glasses. It matches our table perfectly and looks great!!

We also found this TV stand for the game room. The picture isn't the greatest, but I moved all of our X-box and Wii stuff into the cabinet and it cleared off the desk. It looks really nice and now everything is organized.

McCall Updates and Parties

**Long post warning**

Oct 17-18

Jonathan and I headed up on Saturday with a big load of stuff. We were packed down with lots of wood, tools, and of course...a pool table. We had a nice drive up and got right to work. I started staining the front and back rails while Jonathan got to work on the stairs. We got a lot accomplished, but it got dark, so we met up with Cam and Joan for dinner and to catch the rest of the BSU game. This was the beginning of their week long stay in McCall. On Sunday Cam and Jonathan worked on the stairs while Joan and I finished up the staining. Before we left for the week, Cam and Jonathan put together the pool table while I read the instructions. It went up amazingly quick and it looks great! Hopefully, next time we will have more time to play!

Oct 22-24-

Jonathan and Chief came up on Tuesday so that he could finish the stairs. Joan and Cam came over to help and they did a great job. It is going to be so much easier to let the boys out now! It is kind of a disaster to get them outside in the morning because we have to go all the way downstairs and I can't make it fast enough without Barney sneezing.

I got up Friday evening with Barney and Tucker. Just in time to celebrate Jonathan's 32nd birthday. Joan, Cam, Emily, Monica, Brylee, and Zayden came over with soup and cake. Jonathan had two great helpers to blow out the candles and luckily Brylee remembered the party hats!!

Later that evening, Kelly and Nick joined us along with some of Jonathan's McCall friends. Us girls sat around talking while the boys tried out the new pool table!

Saturday morning, Emily, Kelly, Nick, Jonathan, and I had a late breakfast and then played "Ticket to Ride." (although, Emily's ride got there just in time and she got out of the game). We had fun and I ended up ahead at the end. Nick lost....and not by just a couple. In Jonathan's words "that is the most I've ever seen anybody lose by!" But we still had fun and everyone was a good sport. After that Nick and Kelly headed back to Boise and Jonathan got to work on the stair gates. I cleaned up the dishes and did laundry and made some food for later that night.

Around 4:00 we cleaned up and headed to Joan and Cam's place for a re-acquainting party. The place looked so great with all the furniture and we had lots of great appetizers and soup. It was fun to get to meet some of Jonathan's elementary teachers and get to know some McCall people. However, I did spend a part of the night in "Brylee's House." (which was a cardboard box). Eventually, Emily came in to check on us and she got suckered into playing too. We were fine until Jonathan came and encouraged Brylee to put all of her thing in the house with us! Believe it or not even Brylee was in their, too!! It was a full house, but we all had fun!

Sunday morning we woke up to rain! It ended up raining the entire day. Luckily most of Jonathan's gate work was on the covered porch, but it was still wet. The gates turned out amazing and I'm so excited to come up again and get to really use them! Another awesome job, Jonathan!!

I had driven myself up so we had two cars and plenty of room. Lucky for the dogs because they got to ride home in a warm dry car, instead of the back of the truck. I drew the short straw and had to take Chief (he is a whiner and nothing you do makes him stop...not treats, or petting, nothing!!) Barney also came with me and Tucker rode with Jonathan (which sounded like a pretty cush ride since he got Cheetos and pretzels!) But Barney and I managed just fine with Chief. He whined non-stop until Cascade and then finally fell asleep before we reached the canyon. It rained the entire way home, but it was a quite drive!

And, when we were packing the cars to leave, we saw 5 deer cross the rode to the empty lot by our house. It is fun to see wildlife up there!

Lazy Weekend

October 8-10

Friday evening we went over to Joan and Cam's for dinner with the family. I played all night with Brylee under the table. It was our lair since we were crocodiles...naturally! We had a great dinner and it was nice to just sit around. Zayden finally warmed up to me, just as they were leaving! After the Gabby's left, we played an intense game of "Ticket to Ride." I was the dealer so I didn't actually play, but it was a fun game to watch. Definitely filled with drama once Zac blocked Emily and Jonathan's route...it was very fun to watch it all play out, especially when Joan accidentally blocked Emily's other route (she did undo it). Jonathan ended up winning the game with Zac in a close second.

Saturday we hung around the house until the BSU vs. Toledo game. We were invited over to Rob and Steph's house (our old neighbors). They now live in Star and I hadn't seen there big beautiful house yet. It was just as amazing as I imagined! They have a 2 year old and a brand new baby so I stayed entertained and I even watched part of the game. No surprise...BSU won.

Sunday we did yard work. It was a beautiful fall day, perfect for being outside. I pulled weeds while Jonathan mowed and fertilized. The boys and I went for a walk and they were pretty exhausted by the time we got home. We finished out the evening with dinner with my parents. My dad and Jonathan talked football while my mom and I talked about everything else. It was a fun night.
On a side note....Joel and Lindsay did great in the Portland marathon!!

Cabin Trip

October 2-3

Jonathan and I went to the cabin for a quick, but still relaxing weekend. We got up there late in the afternoon on Saturday. I cleaned the cabin and did laundry while Jonathan raced the sun to try and hook up the satellite. But, he didn't have any luck. We watched shows from our DVR and hung up a housewarming gift from my mom before we headed to bed.

It's a windchime, but I wanted to hang it inside since it goes with our decor.

Sunday morning Jonathan went golfing at Tamarak with some friends. It was a beautiful day and the boys and I enjoyed some quite time at the cabin. We did some more cleaning and a little organizing, but mainly just relaxed. We took a walk through the neighborhood and hung out outside. The leaves are turning colors and starting to fall off the trees. I love listening to the aspens in the breeze. We were supposed to pick up Jonathan in Donnelly, but the truck wouldn't start and no neighbors were around so he had to come back and jump the truck. It put us a little behind schedule but we still had a great weekend.

See Spot Walk 2010

October 2-

This was our biggest year yet!!! And the hottest...we were all sweating by the time we crossed the finish line. We had some newcomers this year; Drake and Alyssa, Colleen and her trio, Taryn and family, and Joel and Lindsay. And we lost some from last year...Emily and Zac with the Airedales and Jane. Hopefully, next year we can get everyone for an even bigger group.
It is fun to see all the different kinds of dogs and it always amazes me how many people come out to support the Idaho Humane Society.
All the dogs did great! Tucker barked the first half of the walk...I think he was just too excited, but we didn't have any accidents and no one stepped in dog poop. Tucker and Drake even made it into the online-edition of the Idaho Statesman....well, at least Drake's bottom made it in.
It was so much fun and I'm already gearing up for next year!!! Thanks everyone who made it out for the walk!

(Audrianna, Kelly, and Nick) (Joel, Duke, and Lindsay)

(Alyssa and Drake) (Anna, Jonathan, Tucker, Barney, and Chief)

(Sami and Audrianna) (Anna and Tucker)

(Niederklein girls...Anna, mom, and Lidnsay)

Colleen with her 3 boston terriers, Lindsay with Duke, Anna with Tucker, Joel, Joyce and Audrianna with Sami, Alyssa with Drake, Kelly, Nick with Barney, Jonathan with Chief

Colton turns 4!!

October 1-

We already had plans to go to McCall for the weekend so I wasn't able to celebrate with Colton. Although, I somehow still got talked into making cupcakes (Joy is really hard to say "no" to!)
This year, Jonathan helped me with the Super Mario Brothers theme . He is quite artistic and did a great job cutting out all the little shapes that I asked for. Thanks, Jonathan!
I went over to Joy's house early to drop off my present and cupcakes. Colton was very excited to see me (perhaps with a little coaching before hand from mom, but it doesn't matter, it still makes you feel good). And they didn't want me to feel left out, so I got to wear a Princess Peach crown and Colton had on his Mario mustache. It was fun!!! I helped blow up balloons with gold coins inside...the kids are sure going to enjoy themselves on Saturday!!
I can't believe how fast kids grow up. It doesn't feel like 4 years since I was bringing candy corn and peaches to the hospital to visit Joy.
Anyways, happy birthday Colton!!!