Fire and Ice Winter Festival.

http://www.lavahotsprings.org/event/fire_ice_winterfest.html

On the way home from Pocatello yesterday I noticed a big sign outside of Lava Hot Springs. It was a reminder that the Winter Festival was this weekend. Even though we missed most of the main events, we did make it to the Snowshoe and Nordic Ski Snowball Toss.

12:00PM to 2:30PM: We have a new event that will be fun and exciting for everyone: Snowshoe or Nordic Ski Snowball Toss at Baker Ranch 11716 S Dempsey Creek. Featuring a well-marked, 1-1/2 mile groomed trail with warming huts. Snowshoe the trails to each of the designated areas where you toss balls in buckets for points. Suggested donation of $10 includes hot beverages, snacks, and snowshoe rental.

We had such a great time! Eddie and I first stopped in Lava and found a great deal at the rental shop on used cross country skis and boots. Yes, we are now proud owners of our own cross country set up. (Which is great because there is a groomed nordic trail in Soda Springs, one of the few things this small town has.) After purchasing our gear we headed up to the ranch where we were welcomed by the ranch owner and his daughter. Once on the trail, William happily riding in the backpack, we made the short stretch to the warming hut with no trouble at all. It was gorgeous. Though a little windy the sun was shinning and it was warm for a winter day. At the warming hut we met some great people, ate chili, drank coffee and had cookies. We finished the ski loop, stopped at the hut again, and then when William made it abundantly clear with his screams that it was time for his nap we packed up and made our way back to the car. This was day two for me to cross country ski. And with my new gear I found a new sense of confidence. Things went much better and I found what balance I had (which is not saying much) and spent less time in the snow.
We would have loved to go soak in the hit springs, but decided William's nap time was priority for everyones sanity.
Overall, we had a great Saturday and if the weather holds we will be back out again tomorrow to try out the Soda Springs trails.

William Update.

William is almost 15 months old.
He has two new teeth. Molars. It was a tough couple of weeks. Unlike the other 8 teeth the process from start to finish was more rough but we seem to be close to the finish line and he is much more cheerful these days.
William has been a very busy boy. He loves to run and loves to fall even more. He has had two black eyes since we have moved. Hard wood floors are not his friend.
William can now speak three languages. Sign language, baby talk and English. He is very good and signing "please", "more", "all done", and blows kisses for "thank you". He loves making lots of noises with his tongue hanging out of his mouth and gives lots of slobbery kisses. He can now say "mom", "dad", "cheeze", "hot"(which is has to whisper), "Amen"(which sounds more like mmen) and the new word this week is "bath".
If you ask him how old he is he will smile big and hold up one finger.
I have him almost weaned off the bottle so feeding him is a full days job. He is learning to eat with a spoon but still loves to eat spaghetti with his fingers. And he could eat bananas and honey nut cheerios all day.
Lets see, William loves trying on shoes and loves his stuffed mouse toy. When he gets tired he starts rubbing his nose with the tail. I think it's cute.
He gave us a bit of a scare a few weeks back. He had a high fever for a few days, getting up to a 103 degrees at times! He also had a rash on his back and chest. We took him to the doctor and got him tested for strep. The test came back negative and a few days later everything cleared up and he was fine. Still have no idea what that was.
William is just like his dad. He loves to read. Most days if he is wandering around the house by himself and I sudden realize the silence I find him in the rocking chair with a book or two in his lap reading.
Bath time apart from story time is his favorite. He loves the water and likes it as deep as his shoulders when sitting down. He almost always cries when we take him out.
William is still a cheerful little kid. But lately a new side of him is showing. We have been dealing with tantrums. He now knows what he wants and will have nothing else. Pray for us! He is a stubborn little guy.
Since there is not much to do in Soda Springs, William and I's highlight over the week is going to the Story Time at the local library. William loves running around with the other kids and beams with happiness at the first kid who notices him and offers to play with him. He loves starring at the older kids. Whatever keeps him quiet and happy works for me.
The evening activity lately has been wrestling. Eddie and William run around the house attacking and scaring one another. Eddie lets William knock him over and that is the best thing in the world to William. He laughs and laughs and laughs. William has just started head butting Eddie in the chest. It is the funniest thing to watch. It makes Eddie laugh and laugh and laugh.

Overall William is growing fast and well. Eddie and I are trying to keep up with him and keep him well trained. We have had our ups and downs with that.
William misses all his cousins and grandparents and aunties. They all need to come visit soon!

cold.

The weather since we have moved has been far from balmy to say the least. But last week blew us away. We hit a record low of -32 degrees and lived to tell the tale.
And yes, the top picture is my front window frozen from the inside.

Cross Country Skiing

Eddie and I went cross country skiing today. My first time. It was harder than I thought, but it was a beautiful, sunny day so I had a great time.
William rode in the backpack and seemed to enjoy himself. Eddie as always just loved being outside doing something.
We might go again tomorrow.

Wyoming.

Eddie and I drove to Casper, Wy last weekend for a job interview at the mine there. Things went well. The 7 1/2hr drive was uneventful. I spent a lot of time looking out at a whole lot of nothing. But as soon as we got to Casper we were welcomed guests. Our whole trip was paid for by the company Eddie was interviewing with. Which is a first for us. Our hotel, our meals even our coffee. It was a free mini vacation to Wyoming! Our first evening there we were taken out to a nice restaurant by the Senior Geologist and a few other geologist employees from the mine. They were more then friendly and down to earth. And best of all, they all liked William. On Friday Eddie spent the day at the mine to have his official interview and get a tour of where he would be working. I was entertained by a wonderful gal from the mine that we met over dinner the night before. She took William and I out to lunch downtown and showed us a bit of the town. Eddie thought the interview went well so we celebrated by going out for sushi. Saturday it was sunny and warm. A high of 52 degrees which is the warmest we have felt in a long long time! We saw a lot of Casper that day. We visited the Tate Geological Museum at the college in town. Then drove the long 15 min drive up Casper Mountain to the local Ski Resort and Nordic Ski trails. Eddie was thrilled! As much as we would like to be closer to family ( any family would be great, I am trying to get him to find a job in the Pittsburgh area...we will see!)Casper seems like a great town. Big enough that they have not only large chain grocery stores but a Target and a Food Co-op! After being in Soda Springs for just a month I have come to miss and appreciate these simple things. The people were also very friendly and the downtown was well taken care of a cute. If we could find a good community there we think it would a nice place to live, for now.
Hopefully we will hear by next week whether Eddie got the job or not. Keep praying and we will let you know!

Just in case.

Just in case you were not aware. I have another blog that I post some of my finished projects on.

http://kilner-arainyday.blogspot.com/

This way you can see some of my poor sewing jobs Caroline :)