Snow!

It has begun. Winter is here. After a few days

First snow of the year!

of spitting corn snow, we had our first “real” snow yesterday. Big fluffy flakes with enough accumulation for the neighbor kids to make a 2 foot tall, half brown snowman. We went out after breakfast to snap a quick picture of Sam in the snow and saw all the kids out playing so we came back in, put Sam in his snowsuit, and let him play too. The teacher who took over for me when I had Sam has 4 kids and her oldest daughter loves Sam...and he loves her too. Between her family, and our neighbors who have 2 kids, Sam can be quite entertained by all the excitement. Sam of course is the youngest, and then they go from 2 years to 13 years old. Not quite anyone Sam's age, and the 2 year old doesn't like to share toys. But Sam is content just watching all the kids run around.

Sam playing in the snow with the neighbor kids.

Our totes from Anchorage came in the mail yesterday, so Sam's been having a ball with the new toys we bought in town. Actually he loved the empty totes the most, but the toys were cool once I put the totes in the back room. His two bottom teeth came in this week, so he hasn't been eating very well. He only wants to nurse or have a bottle. I guess the spoon hurts too much. But i'll take a suppressed appetite over the fever and fussiness that a lot of parents have to suffer through. As soon as they are all the way up and I can snap a picture I'll post it. 

Sam is learning new things every day.  He likes to sit back and watch mama do things and then a few

Playing underneath the exersaucer

hours later he'll give it a try.  He likes to click his tongue now (check out the video) and hammer with his little wooden hammer.  He figured out that he can get behind the recliner, so that's his new favorite spot.  He'll sit back there and peak around the sides until you acknowledge him.  I'll put a little toy back there, or something new he's never seen and he gets very excited when he discovers it.  He says "dada" now, his first word.  And when I ask him where dada is, he'll crawl to the front door and start banging on it.  He loves when dada comes home for lunch or for the evening.  Pretty darn cute.  And of course Joe just loves it too.

Such a handsome boy!

Joe went out with our neighbor Mike yesterday to set a net in the river.  They road down river on Mike's four-wheeler and met up with Matt to check his net.  They found 5 salmon and 7 whitefish.  Matt wanted the whitefish, but said the salmon were up for grabs.  It's really late in the season for salmon, so a couple weren't any good.  But Joe brought a few back home which he later gave to our neighbors.  After checking Matt's net, they set Mike's by tying it out 10-15 yards in the river and using buoys.  They'll leave it out for a few days a check it later this week.  Joe was out for about 3 hours, and the moment he got home, Matt called and asked Joe to go moose hunting with him.  So Joe put all of his gear back on, scarfed down a corn dog, grabbed his rifle, and left for another 5 hours.  They went about 70 miles down river in Matthew's boat.  The hills are covered in snow, and it was about 33 degrees.  Joe was dressed warm, but said by the end of the trip that he was getting chilly.  They saw a cow moose that Joe could have killed pretty easily, but Joe was out for a bull.  He wants to go out this winter to hunt cows with Mike.  They went to the same clearing that Joe got his moose in last year.  Joe was amazed to see that it's completely water covered now.  You would never have guessed that it was the

Love that smile.

same place.  It looked like a big pond.  Joe  had a good time, but said he won't go out again until this winter.  Boating is so expensive.  Since gas is almost $7 a gallon here, Joe spent $80 to go on this 5 hour trip.  Snow machining will be a lot cheaper.

Nap time is about over, so I'm off!  Until next week...

Our house....we are the furthest to the right.