The Babbling Brooks

The Mr. Bear Series

When Legend was born, John and I bought him a stuffed bear. We have been taking photos of him and the bear for growth comparison (and fun :) since the beginning...first weekly, then monthly, then quarterly. It is hard for Shayla to get them done with her camera and we are not always there at the right time. So this time we took him to a digital studio and had them taken. They turned out cute and this is a place that Shayla will be able to take him to get them done for me. We are going to start taking them bi-annually now so the next time will be at the end of May at 4 1/2 years old, then again in November around his birthday. We also had a shot taken with Daddy :)

A Snowy, Productive Day

We had a snowy ride to Eureka this morning! It was starting to snow as we left and by the time we got there we had big flakes. We went out to Gateway Village so John could work with Paul on the neighbor's house. There was a lot of activity going on when we arrived and we couldn't believe the progress that had been made in the 2 weeks we were gone. When we left there were 2 walls standing and here it is now!

John helped stain the fascia boards (which Paul wants up before the roofing goes on) and then worked on some wiring. While he was doing that I was taking care of some items that need to get done.

• Get the mail, 2 weeks worth...which necessitated going to the desk cause it sure doesn't all fit in one PO box.
• Trying to figure out how to get Montana drivers licenses and register our cars using our new street address which technically doesn't exist yet.
• Trying to find a way to prove we are residents of Montana when we don't have a rent receipt, a mortgage, a utility bill, an electric hook-up order, or an auto policy that shows our street address (PEMCO will not list our garaging address as being in Montana cause they are not licensed here and can not get a rate quote for us unless we use a Washington addy...Thanks, Corki...we still "live" at your address. Pemco can only insure us through this policy period, so we'll be shopping for new insurance soon.) That proof is needed to do the above. Hmmmm...maybe if we can't register our cars and get Montana drivers licenses, we don't have to pay state income tax yet!
• Visiting Lincoln Electric to activate our application and start a new one for getting power to the hangar. This will give us the electric hook-up order (above), but maybe not before the tabs run out on the truck. Hmmmm, ok...a little talking to the engineer got me new copy of our hook-up estimate with our street address instead of the legal description of the property. I'm hoping that will satisfy the licensing people at the county annex so we can get this done!
• Getting the paperwork and information to get the electric permits for both the house and the hangar. This is the only permit needed here. None for building, septic, etc. This is a great place :) Turns out we can do the paperwork and pay the $ online, then print our own permits. All done! Just need to get them back to Lincoln Electric and they can turn the power on.
• Visiting Gary, the granite guy! I am still unsure about granite. I just haven't seen much that I like that well. When we visited the St. George Parade of Homes we saw several solid counter tops we liked. What I found out today when looking through his shop is that what we were seeing was marble, not granite. He will do marble, but doesn't recommend it for kitchens as it is softer and will scratch and stain more easily than granite. Anyone have any experience with this??? I did find a couple of granite pieces I liked, although not in the color wave we want. And of course, they are not the "mid-range" priced stone, either! I had my stain sample board (for the cherry cabinets) with me and found a good match with those granites I liked. I now have a hunk of granite sitting on my desk to live with for awhile and see how I like it. I'll get some pictures and post those later. We also talked a little about soapstone, so I may consider that.

So, we got a lot done today. It snowed most of the day and by the time we left town about 6:00 it was coming down hard. We decided to stop in Trego at Molly Brown's Pub & Eatery for dinner. Another great place with good food and friendly people! By then, I'd decided that I'd had enough winter driving practice for the day and let John take over to Whitefish.Here's a little peak at downtown Eureka this afternoon. Don't you wish you were here???!!!

Calf-A...Dell, Montana

A few years ago my sister (Corki) told me about a little hole-in-the-wall cafe where they'd eaten while on a trip with their motorcycle club. She raved about the food and swore if they were ever that way they'd stop in again. It was real down home food, like you use to have at Grandma's. Fast forward to last fall when John and I were going to St. George...we were flying down Interstate 15 in southwest Montana when we went through the town of Dell (Well, you don't really go through Dell. You go by it and wouldn't know it was there if the sign on the freeway didn't tell you.) Corki had told me about this place often enough that I recognized that this was it! We'd already had lunch so we didn't stop. We didn't come back that way as we left for Hawaii from Los Angeles and then traveled to Washington when we came back. We didn't stop on the way down to St. George this time, either. I'd forgotten all about it coming back and we'd planned to stop in Dubois, Idaho to eat lunch. Well, that didn't work out. The only place in town with food was the deep fried items at the gas station. We got a package of peanuts and some string cheese and continued on our way. I checked the map and 90 miles ahead was Dell! We decided to pull into town and see if the cafe was there. Yep, there it was straight ahead. The Calf-A is in the old one room schoolhouse. The old chalk boards and library shelves are still on the walls and are decorated with the alphabets posters that us old folks learned with as kids. The school was closed in 1963 when they consolidated with the nearby hamlet of Lima. It was turned into a cafe and still operates today. They have been written up in several newspapers and have visitors from all over. After Corki told me about them, I saw an article about the restaurant in my favorite travel magazine Discoveries (which unfortunately quit publishing a few months ago). Well, she was right. The food was unbelievably good and there was plenty of it. It did remind me of the "dinners" my Grandma Lizzie use to feed us at lunch time. We both had the special...hot beef sandwiches! The meat was juicy, the potatoes were real, and the gravy was definitely not from a can. It was seasoned perfectly, no need for the salt shaker :) They served the last piece of blackberry pie just before we were ready for desert, so John ordered apple. It was yummy, perfect crust and not too sweet. I ordered a piece of peach pie and we shared that at the Starbucks in Missoula later in the day. So, we now have a new favorite place to stop for eats! Thanks, Corki!

We have arrived safely back in Whitefish. It's a warm 27 degrees up here at Big Mountain. We had some rain and snow near Missoula and then snow from the south end of Flathead Lake to Kalispell. We noticed that much of the snow has melted in Kalispell and Whitefish and the ice has thinned since we left 2 weeks ago. There is still plenty of it up here at the condo and John's truck will need to be dug out in the morning, so there was some fresh snowfall while we were gone. The Champ was left at Big Fork for some work while we were gone. John is hoping to fly it back to the Eureka airport tomorrow, as it looks like the best chance for good weather this week. Although I miss my little guy, it's good to be home!

Coin Tricks

Papa taught Legend some coin tricks while sitting at Starbucks. Yesterday they had fun spinning the dollar coins and foreign coins I have in my computer bag. Legend got pretty good at it and he loved guessing heads or tails :) Yes, that is his Superman costume. He loves to wear it anywhere you'll let him. Of course, people always smile and talk to him. Papa taught him to give them the Superman salute. They always comment how cute he is :)

This morning we picked up breakfast at McDonald's and took it with us to Starbucks. We visited for a bit over our coffee and cocoa before John and I left for the journey home. Shayla and Legend headed out to the bike trail where he was going to ride his bike while she ran and they planned to see a movie after that. John and I encountered rain just north of St. George and the snow started at Cedar City. Shayla said they'd just gotten back to their car when the rains started there. We had snow and slush till almost Orem and clear roads after that. Tonight we are in Idaho Falls and have an appointment in the morning to have the windshield replaced (see earlier post about the crack!). I am missing my little guy so much already. It is always hard to say goodbye. Hope to see him again around the end of May or first part of June.

Bye Daddy, Superman Survives, and the Parade of Homes

Brad left on schedule Thursday night, sans ID. Don't panic if you ever get to the airport without your ID. Brad's proven twice now that they don't send you home, they just stamp your boarding pass for secondary security and send you on your way. Shayla had Thursday off so was able to go to Las Vegas with us. We rented an SUV, there was no way 5 of us were going to fit in the Beetle :) We left after school and the parent-teacher's conference and arrived in Las Vegas in the afternoon. We did a little shopping which included a stop at the Build-A-Bear store at the Fashion Show mall. We were guessing they would have a Superman costume for Legend's bear and we were right. Of course, he picked that one out right away!

After shopping we ventured over to the Adventure Dome at Circus Circus for the kiddie rides. Legend had loads of fun riding the airplanes, the roller coaster, and bowling.

We returned to the mall for dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen and then headed for the airport. Legend was very sad that Daddy had to leave (and had been all day). He has gotten old enough to realize that it will be awhile before he sees him again. They had some big hugs and kisses. Legend fought back some crocodile tears and a quivering lip as he watched Daddy head down the aisle. (I have pictures, but they are on film.)

The St. George Parade of Homes 2007 started on Friday. We have visited several over the last 2 days. It's quite a bargain compared to the Street of Dreams in Seattle. Ten dollars gets you into 25 homes that are all over the area. Legend loved the house with the tree houses in the kid's rooms and the spiral slide in the wall that goes to the basement. He'd get tired and antsy after awhile so sometimes John would stay in the car with him. They waited while I went into one by myself Friday night (Shayla was at work). He was on the passenger seat when he saw me coming up the sidewalk and got so excited that he bounced up off the seat and hit his head on the windshield. I was still quite a ways away and heard the loud pop when the windshield cracked! He wasn't hurt and said he didn't even have a headache. He had his Superman costume on, so we are surmising that his Superman powers saved him (or maybe that's why the glass cracked ???) We couldn't find anyone in St. George that could repair it on Saturday, so we have an appointment in Idaho Falls on Tuesday morning for a new windshield.

The homes we've visited range in price from $898,000 to $6,300,000. Here's the $6 million view looking into Snow Canyon (which possibly may belong to Robin Williams or Celine Dion according to rumor)! The rest of the photos were also taken at this house, except for the pool ball mirror. It was just one of my favorite things I saw :) John and I got some good ideas and some good direction for colors for our house, which was the point of us doing the tours.

 

We'll be leaving early tomorrow morning for Idaho Falls, early in case of bad weather (snow) which was in the forecast for Salt Lake City. We hope to arrive home late Tuesday night, but since we have to wait for the windshield repair we may have to spend the night somewhere along the way on Tuesday. And yes.... 75 degrees is nice, but we are missing the snow! Later!

Happy Valentine's Day and More

We've been having fun and enjoying our little guy the last few days. Photos from swimming, Red Lobster, and Starbucks below....Legend has gotten quite good at playing the video games Brad brought. He loves playing in the car and while drinking his cocoa at Starbucks. At Red Lobster, he ordered snow crab and loved it. Of course, he wasn't able to do all the cracking to get the meat so Brad had to do that. He discovered the crab claws and was soon using them to eat his dinner and have claw fights :)

 

Yesterday we took Legend to the Sears portrait studio and had photos done for the Bear Album series. They were all adorable and I had a hard time choosing. I picked 6 poses, including one with Daddy. Since I don't have a scanner with me I'll have to wait to share.

Today was Legend's Valentine Party at pre-school. This is the first time he's exchanged valentines and he had lots of fun with it. He chose Superman valentines with tattoos and was excited to give them to all his friends. He had a good time going through his big red heart envelope when we got home and looking at the Valentines and seeing all the candy. I helped him get his name on his cards last night. He wrote about 10 of them himself before deciding Grandma should do the rest :) Brad and I went in for the last hour of school today. Legend was finished making his Valentine for Mom and was playing doctor. He was so cute in his doctor clothes! We watched while the teacher read a story and gave out stickers for behavior charts (Legend got 2 today). (Yesterday he had filled up a chart and got to pick a prize, he was so happy about that.) They did the chicken dance and the itsy bitsy spider and then we all had lunch before going home. It was fun for Brad and I to get to visit.

Brad will be flying home to Seattle late tomorrow night. We'll be leaving for Las Vegas to spend the afternoon there, then we'll have dinner and drop Daddy at the airport. John and I are planning to stay in St. George till Monday morning. We'll be checking out of the WorldMark resort and staying at Shayla's. The St. George Parade of Homes starts Friday with 25 homes on display. We're planning to visit as many as we can with an eye toward design ideas! Hope everyone had a happy day with their Valentine!

Snow Tubing!

Catching up on the blog...we don't have high speed internet access in our unit at the St. George WorldMark so it's been a few days! We are settled in and having fun. Brad arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday just 40 minutes late after a canceled Horizon flight in Seattle. He got the last seat on the next flight to Portland and Alaska Airlines held their flight to accommodate those going to Las Vegas. Legend was so happy to see Daddy! He could hardly stand it waiting outside of security watching the people go by and looking for Dad. He has been wanting to take Daddy to the Nascar Cafe, so we went over to the Sahara where it's located and had dinner before leaving town. By the time we got back to St. George they were both asleep in the back seat. Daddy and Papa took Legend to school Thursday morning and Brad got to meet his teacher.

We'd promised to take Legend to play in the snow. He was disappointed that he doesn't get to come to Montana where we have all that white stuff. (We can't take him out of school for the trip as he will lose his place to someone on the waiting list if he misses too much.) So, today we took him up to Brian Head, northeast of Cedar City (no school on Fridays). It was a fun resort with skiing and a tubing area. Legend sat in his tube and showed no fear of heading down the runs. After the first run with snow flying in his face, though, he got Daddy's sunglasses :) The runs were very fast! Adults were required to lay on their stomachs and drag their feet to avoid hitting the net and barrier at the end. A ticket allows admission to a 2-hour session of tubing and we were there for all of it. This was much easier on us old folks than tubing at Paradise at Mt. Rainier. We were pulled up the hill by a tow rope which the attendant attached your tube to, no pulling your arms out of the sockets here! After tubing we played in the snow....made a snowman, a snow angel, threw snowballs, and Legend liked sinking in the deep snow :) We're thinking about possibly going back next week and getting him take a ski lesson. He saw the other kids his size and wanted to do it. We'll see how our week goes!

Legend Photos!

We arrived in St. George around 4:30pm after an uneventful drive, good weather and not much ice on the road anywhere. Legend looked out about 30 seconds after we got here to check to see if we were here. He came running out at full speed as usual with his hugs and kisses. Shayla left for work shortly after. We played for a bit, then headed for the car wash. The weather may have been good, but the snow and slush really cake the car with dirt. We ate at Iggy's (where Shayla now works) and made a stop at the grocery store. Here's some updated photos of our little guy! It's hard to believe how much taller and smarter he gets in 3 months!

Idaho Falls: A Blast From the Past!

When I was a kid we took a car trip every summer, 16 glorious days on the road. Anytime we were within 200 miles of Idaho Falls, my Dad found a way to put the town on our itinerary. Why? Because he loved to eat at the North Hiway Cafe. John and I spent the night in Idaho Falls last night on our way to St. George. This morning we headed to the nearest Starbucks. The road made a slight turn to the right, we dipped under a railroad bridge..hmmm, this seemed familiar. Why? There it was! The North Hiway Cafe...still there, still chock full of customers after all these years. Yes, on our next trip through we'll stop to eat :)

Whitefish Winter Carnival!

There have been all kinds of winter events going on in the last couple of weeks for the Whitefish Winter Carnival. Today was the big parade downtown. John and I braved 27 degrees and stood on the corner for over 2 hours. It was a lot of fun...colorful and crazy with everything from cowboys and Indians to Dorothy and Toto. If you'd like to see more photos, check it out here...Parade Photos!

 

Winter in Whitefish

We are still lovin' it here in the snow. A couple of days ago we decided to go for an exercise walk, it had warmed up to 17 degrees. We headed out on foot here in Ptarmigan Village where we are staying. It is beautiful here and every few days we get another few inches of snow.

I've seen more sunshine here in the last 4 weeks than there is in an entire western Washington winter. I do not miss the gray skies. I do not miss the rain. Give me cold, dry snow and sunshine!

Today we went to the Whitefish Winter Carnival parade. It was a blast and much bigger and longer than we expected. I took lots of photos and am uploading them to Smugmug. I'll be uploading a few to the blog and you'll be able to see the rest over on Smugmug if you're interested in seeing more.

We'll be off bright and early for St. George. We can hardly wait to see our little Legend and his Mom. Brad will be flying to Las Vegas on Wednesday and we'll pick him up there. Legend is so excited that we are coming and can't wait to see Daddy! Brad is staying till the 15th. John and I will probably stay till President's Day and then head back to Montana. Later!