"First run of the day, and my boy is skiing!!"

Connor went skiing for the first time today. For JF this was a moment he has been waiting for for a long time. JF called me from the ski hill, just bursting with pride. " It's the first run of the day, and my boy is skiing!!" According to JF, Connor is a natural born ski man. I was sad to miss it, but it sounds like there was some serious father-son bonding going on today!

Dancin' Around the Christmas Tree.....

It was a contest, so you are welcome to pick a winner! I think Connor wins on style and originality, while Ryan wins on degree of difficulty.

Trip to Salt Lake City

Road Trip!! We took the boys down to Salt Lake City this past weekend to do some Christmas shopping and other Holiday fun stuff! We even stayed in a hotel, which the boys think is really living it up!! We bundled up so nothing but our eyeballs showed, and then we, and thousands of other people tromped through the snow to check out the lights at Temple Square. We had a great time with Memo and Pompi.

Little Baby Girl

Can I just say that technology is truly amazing! We had a 3D ultrasound of the baby, and I can't believe the detail! We were also able to get the whole thing put on a DVD, and if I were more techno-savy, I would be able to upload that here so you could watch that too. Maybe JF can figure it out..... Anyways, it was so neat to be able to see her face and her little fingers. I really can't wait to have her here to snuggle.......

Trick or' Treat!!

Super Hero's and Star Wars were the theme this year. We had a muscle-man Spider Man and Jango Fett. It was pretty funny to watch the Star Wars meets comic book battles around the house. When it was finally time to get out and go knock some doors Jf took the boys around the neighborhood. The boys are the perfect age for Halloween, everything is such a great surprise for them. Plus,they still let mom pick out all her favorite candy from their loot!

Halloween Pumpkins

This year for Halloween JF and the boys went all out on the pumpkin carving. I think we were trying to make up for last year when JF was in Kuwait for Halloween. The boys loved the Mickey Vampire, and the Goofy Frankenstein.

Fun questionaire!

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I appologize to those of you that aren't fans of the Twilight Books. However, to those of you that are, this is fun!

What do you do with one of these?

It's officially a girl! I didn't think it was possible! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with her, but I'm really excited to have her! I'm a little worried about a name, because while JF and I have tons of boy names we both like, we can't seem to find a girl name we can agree on. Any suggestions?


Ryan had a preschool field trip to the the Pumpkin Patch. We had a blast even though it was FREEZING! He picked the smallest pumpkin he could find. JF came straight from work, so he was almost exciting for some of the boys because he was in uniform. " Look an Army Man!!"

Don't file a missing person report just yet....

I realize I have dropped off the face of the blogger planet lately, but don't give up on me ,I will usually come back....eventually.
Life has been busy lately for the McDaniel family. It's the kind of busy where time has just been flying by, and you can't really remember where it went! Connor and Ryan are both in school now, which does give me a little free time in the mornings. Ryan LOVES preschool, his teacher is constantly telling me what a "good boy" he is, but I'm sure one of these days he will pull a fast one on her. He is still in the "build up their trust" phase. JF has been working hard for the recruiters out at Gowen Field, although he seems to do alot more event planning that actual recruiting. JF went to North Bend Oregon a few weeks ago to interview with the Coast Guard, and that went really well. I knew they would want him, they just had to see what a super star he is in person! God's gift to aviation and all that. So anyways it will be awhile until we hear back from the Coast Guard as to where they might possibly want to send JF, but we are hoping West Coast! Here are some pictures from some of our recent shenanigans!!
Connor is playing soccer this fall, and he is not sure how he feels about that. If they would make the games 10 minutes long he would probably do better. He has hard time staying committed for the whole game. it's really cute to watch all the little guys play, it's a good game if we can just get them all to run in the same direction!!

A few weekends ago we drove out to Mountain Home to watch the air show. Aviation is kind of a big deal in this family. The boys, (and by that I mean ALL 3 of the boys!) had a great time!! It is amazing what some of those aircraft are capable of! It was fun and we got good and sun burnt!!

Ryan's Birthday was the 8Th of September. He is now 4 years old!! He got this Clone Trooper helmet for his birthday! If only his dad would take it off every once in awhile so he could play with it!! Ryan likes to cook, so he helped me make his cake, but then he wouldn't eat any of it.

We also found out that we are going to have another baby!!!! We are due March 15Th. The Boys are excited, and they ask me all the time how much longer we have to wait. We are trying to "think pink" this time, but if I had another boy I wouldn't mind at all. we will find out what we are having in a few weeks, so I'll let you know!

Reflections of Christ slideshow

http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/2008/03/reflections-sli.html

A friend sent me this link to a beautful slide show about Christ. Please check it out!

Twilight... the movie!!

Kindegarten?? That came out of nowhere!!

Connor started Kindergarten this past week. He is now an official member of the public school system. we had an argument that first morning on whether or not he should ride the bus the first day, or let his Mommy drive him.(Jeese, why don't you just move out while you're at it!!.) He finally gave in and let me drive him as long as I agreed to let him ride the bus home. (Sniff...) He has already made lots of friends, and everyday he comes home with a stamp on his hand because he was such a good boy in class. Maybe if I buy some really neat stamps he might want to stay home with me.......

Floating the Boise River

One of the benefits of living in Boise is one minute you can be downtown enjoying city life, and five minutes later you can feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, enjoying nature. Yesterday we decided to take part in a popular Boise past time and float the Boise River. I was a little nervous that the boys might be too little, but I forgot what little adrenaline junkies they are. They were so excited whenever the water got a little "bumpy". We did go over a couple tiny waterfalls, but for the most part it was very tame. Connor did manage to fall out of the float tube we had tied to our raft, but that was only because he lost his balance. I love doing this kinda stuff as a family, I want my boys to have great memories of their times with mom and dad.

Muscle Men!!

We have an agreement in this house. If you cooperate while getting your haircut you get a tattoo. I'm not sure how this started, but dad was making them work those tat's for this picture!!

Seven years!!!

Sunday the 20th was JF and my 7th wedding anniversary. In true redneck fashion we decided to load the boys and the dogs up and go camping for the weekend to celebrate. We drove up to Stanley Lake, about 3 hours from Boise. We had a great time, and we realized this was the first time that we have been camping with just our little family. JF was such a good sport about loading ALL of our camping gear up there, and then again when it was time to come home. The boys had such a great time, I don't think Ryan has ever been so dirty in his entire life. We went swimming, fishing and did alot of exploring. I'm lucky to have found this guy I'm married too!

Who stuck their head in the wall?

Crash!!! WAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH! As a mom, you know this is a bad sound combination. Yesterday Ryan was doing who knows what in the living room, and these pictures are the end result. Somehow he managed to use his HEAD to put a whole in the wall! That kid is going to kill me....

Update on all things McDaniel......

Busy, busy, busy!! Busy playing that is!!! Since JF came home we have spent all of June and this first part of July playing hard!! I remember when JF first came home and told me he had payed vacation until the 10Th of July I could not think of what we were going to do with all that free time together, but we have definitely figured it out! We have spent most of our time swimming at every pool, reservoir, and river within a 100 mile radius, plus LOTS of fishing. We have also ate way more fast food than our bank account and waistlines will allow!! It's all been so great though, A couple weeks ago JF, me and the boys were sitting at a restaurant we love, when JF told me he felt happy again for the first time in a long time. I'm so glad he is home!! We had an awesome finish to our super-long vacation this past weekend celebrating the 4Th of July. We went boating with A wonderful family, the Taylor's, who were nice enough to let us tag along in their boat. We went to Anderson Ranch reservoir, which is out near Mountain Home, and we spent the whole day riding the tube behind the boat, having lunch, and even a little fishing! When we came home that night, we managed to get ourselves together and drive downtown to watch the fireworks at Ann Morison park. I had my little family with me, all of us laying on a blanket watching the beautiful fireworks. It was such a great feeling. Now JF heads back to work tomorrow, however I have a feeling we still have some playing left to do this summer.....

Our awesome 4th of July!!!

Our week with Pompy

This past week JF's Dad came and stayed with us. The boys love him so much, they call him Pompy instead of Grandpa. He brought his boat, and we spent the whole week fishing and playing in the water. The boys caught their very first fish this week. We Love our Pompy very much!!!