In the Nick of Time

As some of you may know, we have been refinishing a crib the last few months. It is the crib that Jess used as a baby. Jess' parents offered it to us and we thought it would be a fun project as well as save us a little money.

Covered in 20 years of dust from the barn.

After hours and hours of sanding.

Isn't she cute?

Priming and avoiding breathing in the cloud of primer so as not to hurt the baby.

On Saturday November 20th, eight days before Jess' due date, I decided I'd better put the crib together in the baby's room. Good thing I did, because that night Jess woke up with contractions! Twelve or so hours later, he was here!

It really is much more white than these pictures portray.

The coming-home outfit

Reunionized

The first weekend in August is traditionally when the Bruderer Family Reunion is held. The last few years, including this one, it has been held in Kendall Canyon, in the mountains between Idaho and Wyoming. Here are a few shots from the weekend.

We saw this moose and her little one downriver from the Palisades Dam.

The directions we received were sketchy at best. They sent us up this little road that was no more than a 4-wheeler path. When we got to the top, this is what we found, it dead-ended in this clearing, with cliffs all around.

A shot of Kendall Canyon.

This shot was taken during the retiring of the colors ceremony. Uncles Ed, Raymond and Delbert(?), as well as G&G B, among others.

Darin & Naiya during the treasure hunt. Of course Miss Naiya had a melt-down when she received her prize, because it wasn't "pretty". Funny girl.

Calin, Kate & Uncle Ray. Calin received a prize that could be considered "pretty" which he promptly gave to Naiya. What a great big brother!

Looking for his prize.

Naiya riding the "Bruderer Express"

The elusive huckleberry! Jess and Darin picked quite a bit for us!

A little archery action. Naiya didn't seem to enjoy it quite as much as Calin. Go figure.

I think Kate enjoyed it. Here she is just after release.

The real question is, were here eyes open when she shot?!? (Clearly a different arrow, as you will notice the guy in the background is in two different places).

Jess even got in on the action.

Frankly, Calin frightened me a little. He would draw the string back and try to aim, but as he went to release, he would always begin to drop his arm (as evidenced by the many "burst mode" pictures I took, which I won't be posting).

These were our targets. Ping-pong balls with air pushing them up so that they were hovering/floating.

Darin hit his and knocked it off.

I managed to stick mine! Only one other person accomplished that!

My trophy!

Jess and I were happy to support G&G B by camping Friday night. Kate, Darin & co. joined us early Saturday morning. We were surprised when Alaina and Emilee came later that afternoon.

Shooting Grandpa B's crossbow. Darin definitely bested me at that. I ripped one of my customary ankle-socks, and this was the only other pair I had. You love the look!

Announcing...

For those of you who don't know, Jess and I are pregnant! We're just shy of 15 weeks along. After several BAD days, which included two trips to the doctor for IV's to get her fluid levels up, she's feeling fine. Some mornings were tough for her to be to work by 8am, even when she wasn't feeling sick, because she has been SO tired! For those of you who know Jess, you know that she LOVES to sleep! The first few weeks it was common for her to come home from work and take a two hour nap, have dinner, then nap some more before bed! She is excited that she is now done with school for the year though. Our expected due date is November 28th, so we'll be adding another name to the long list of November birthdays in our family. But, we're excited for our Thanksgiving baby.

Our little Gummy Bear

Party Time! Excellent!

We had a party this weekend to celebrate my graduation. For my graduation present, Jess got me a new camera. It's a DSLR, which is different than a regular digital camera. I haven't had a chance to play with all of the settings yet, but here are just a few of the nearly 300 pictures I took this weekend.

The Ivans.

G&G B.

Classic Kate.

Daronius.

Kinda bright, but a good shot.

Being Silly.

Look at the glee in her face after hitting a child (Trin?) with a Frisbee!

Reach for it, Curtisius.

She's cute, huh?

Brynlee had fun playing with Naiya and Trin.

Here they are turning Naiya into a mermaid.

Nice snag, BJ.

Wayne and Heather came, they're our only non-family friends.

Sometimes Calin's throws were a little crazy, imagine that.

Yes, Kate threw that Frisbee at me!

But I got this one!

Hey look, someone else has the camera!

Nice grab!

Kate was my least objectionable subject this weekend.

Yes, an ear may double in size when struck by a Frisbee.

And even bleed!

I'm not sure that's exactly the best way to eat watermelon.

Caught in the cupboard!

Darin being Darin.

Kate being Kate.

Ivan being Ivan.

Naiya and Trin were hiding from me, this is Naiya's face when she realized I found them.

Naiya being Naiya.

Being silly with Curtis.

Mmm...Ice cream sundaes!

Playin' catch.

Kate learned to play catch!

Testing the close-up.

Ivan kept missing the slide as he backed up to sit down.