Nesting

master bedroom before

master bedroom after

freshly painted main floor hallway aka "the gallery"

It has been brought to my attention by my live in handyman (Doug) that I have some serious nesting going on. I of course just feel this uncontrolable urge to update, organize and cleanout every square inch of our house. If that sounds like nesting...so be it. : )

This weekend we got lots done. Painted the master bedroom, hung curtains and repostioned some furniture. Also, we painted the den (not pictured, it's still a mess) and the main floor hallway. All our pictures are hung and I'm so happy with everything. Lucky me! Lucky Doug!

More ski pictures...

riding up the magic carpet...

headed down the hill...

looking for some jumps

As mentioned Will did have another opportunity this weekend to go skiing. He's quite confident and excited to learn as much as he can. However, he does keep saying once he's older he's going to start snowboarding. When asked why, he says you can jump higher on a snowboard!

Great Day for a Ski

showing off the skis

ready to go

on the move

Will went skiing for the first time today! Doug and Will headed up to Big Mountain this morning to check out the conditions (beautiful and sunny) and see what Will could do. Doug's favorite Will comment from the outing..."Dad, just let me go, let me go Dad!" Will really enjoyed testing things out and may even get up to the mountain a couple more times this weekend.

Swim!

Will & Jack getting ready for swim lessons

Jack swimming by himself!

Will working on his technique

Check out the boys! I know I've mentioned a few times that the boys were in swim class, but here's the proof! They are quite the little fishes. Jack is becoming more confident and interested in trying new things and doing them on his own. His favorite right now is manuvering around the pool while holding on to some sort of floatation device. He's kicking well and putting his entire face in the water. Will loves being underwater. It's kind of funny because you'll be talking to him and it's as if he cannot take anymore - he'll duck under water. At first when he would go face down it looked like he was struggling. Now I've learned if there are bubbles coming up he's just fine. He's even swimming a bit on his own.

Happy Monday

Here's a recent picture of Jack with "swim hair". No matter what I do, his hair always seems to have a mind of its own. Ususally he gets a look like this if he's been wearing a hat, as he had earlier in the day.

Peppmeier Update

Jason, Doug & Sara - enjoying Big Mountain

Whitefish Winter Carnival - getting ready for the parade

Jack, Doug and Will at the parade

It was a bit dark when this was taken, but the snow is up to their waists!

It's been a busy couple of weeks! The last weekend in January the Hunts came to visit (Sara and Jason). It was so nice to have them here. We enjoyed showing off our new hometown, Doug got them up to the mountain a couple of times (pictured) and we even made sure they had time to enjoy Whitefish's nightlife. The boys loved having their aunt and uncle here to play with.

The first weekend in February I made a very quick trip back to Oregon. Doug's been working a lot and with number three due in April I decided this was my only chance to get out of town (without children) and take a much needed break. Of course I got in some shopping and came home with quite a few amazing deals. I saw a few friends which was so nice, and was able to celebrate my Papa's 91st birthday with him and the rest of the McAuliffes. Doug was at home with the boys, but still managed to get in two amazing ski days, there was lots of powder! Also, the Winter Carnival was going on in Whitefish (a yearly, big time event, which we're still learning about) and Doug took the boys to the parade. Turns out it was pretty cold and snowing, but fun just the same. The boys especially enjoyed seeing the fire engine and told me all about it when I got home.

Now we're sort of back into our regular routine. The boys finish up swim lessons this week. Will is in school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Jack's scheduled to start (at Will's school) just before his third birthday, but he'll be in the Monday/Wednesday class. He's really looking forward to it and I love the school so I cannot wait for him to start. Doug has been working crazy hours trying to meet a big project deadline this coming Tuesday. So, we're looking forward to his return. Also, we've started the less than ten week countdown until the arrival of the "baby sister" as we refer to her around here. Doug and I have decided on a name, but in true Team Peppmeier fashion we're not sharing with anyone (including the boys - though if you ask Jack he wants to name his sister Tiger Woods). We have tons of house projects we are considering and baby prep we need to attend to, but overall we're not feeling too overwelmed and are very excited about the arrival of our daughter.

**It's been snowing a ton here, check out the picture of the boys in the back yard!

Greetings from Big Mountain

Here are a couple of pictures of Doug skiing from this past weekend. We continue to get lots of new snow every couple of days. Doug's been getting in some great ski time, he usually goes over the weekends. Best part about living so close to the resort is the flexibility of going skiing whenever you want, plus, if it's not a great day you can head home.

Does this look enticing? If so pack up your winter gear and come for a visit - we'd love to have you!

Our Future Daredevil

All the sledding, huge mountains of snow at our house and the new trampoline have given us a peek at what may lay ahead for Will. He loves to test boundries. It's funny because we assumed Jack would be the more extreme type where as he's not as into the sledding and is usually complaining that he's "freezing" (his words) and is ready to go inside. Will has yet to make it to the ski hill, but he's patiently waiting for a chance.

Ringing in the New Year

Will - hiking up the sledding hill behind our house

Aunt Erin giving Will his first facial

Happy 2008! Is anyone having as much trouble as I am not writing 2007? The week between Christmas and New Years was so much fun! My sister Erin came to visit us the day after Christmas and stayed for five days. It was nice to see her. She was very helpful and the boys loved having her here. Our friend Sarah Spindle stayed with us as well, the boys loved helping her get ready to go out, they especially liked giving make-up advice. Also, Eleanore and her boyfriend Leif make it into town for a couple of days. It was great to have everyone here. There was lots of eating (some also drank), relaxing and catching up. Erin gave all of us facials, which was so nice. Even Will and Jack got in on the pampering (Doug didn't like hearing his boys asking for facials, but they're my boys too, so it's really not that surprising).

New Years Eve we spent at the Great Northern. We had a "reserved" table (it's great knowing the owners) and Sarah made us girls amazing crowns knitted out of paper-mache. I'll have to post a picture just so you can see how fantastic they were. The band was great and everyone in our group was well behaved. I made it well past midnight which I'm very proud of. I'm looking forward to this new year, we have so much to be excited about, we are truly blessed.

Extreme Sledding

Look for the little black dot, that's Will

Will and Tim

Will - the power sledder

Jack, Cannon & Will

Doug and the boys started out their new year with some extreme sledding with our friends Tim and Cannon. Tim had located a "serious" sledding hill near Columbia Falls. The dads packed up the boys and made a day of it. I'm so glad Doug took pictures, otherwise I would not have believed how big the hill was!

Christmas Pictures

Waiting for Santa

Christmas morning, playing with the toys Santa brought

Will showing off his new book

Jack taking a call on his Spider-Man phone

Checking out the new toys

This was our first Christmas (and major holiday) in Montana. It was definately different being away from all our family, but we all still enjoyed the day. Christmas Eve we celebrated with our friends Stef and Scott Larkin's families, which was really nice and fun. Christmas day we hunkered down and spent most of the day opening gifts, playing with gifts, lounging around and taking a short drive. Overall it was a great day. Next year we may even ski - it could be a Christmas tradition. Thank you to all our family and friends for the wonderful gifts!

Merry Christmas!

Another Christmas card option...enjoy!

Winter Fun

A few more Montana firsts - Doug and Will built the perfect snowman and thanks to the McAuliffe family for the fun snowman kit. It was put to good use. Also, ever tried to ride a trike in the snow? Here's Jack, trying pretty hard.

Check out the Loot!

Will received so many nice gifts and really enjoyed opening all his presents. Thanks again to everyone for making his day so special!

A Sea of Blue Goo

This story comes courtesy of Jack...
We've had a couple of days to reflect on the mess and what a pain it was to clean up, so I think I'm ready to tell this story with a smile on my face. Jack is mischievous, more so than his older brother which means I need to watch him like a hawk. The other day Will and I were both upstairs and Jack had gone downstairs to play. I was cleaning, but I would still hear Jack on the monitor and it sounded like he was playing in Will's big bucket of toys. I swear I heard him dump them all out. Then I hear Jack say "I've made a big mess. I'm cleaning it up." Of course I thought he was referring to the toys. Then I hear him say again, "I'm cleaning it up, with a towel." Of course there is no reason to clean up toys with a towel so I ran downstairs to see what kind of damage had been done.
Jack had poured an entire container of liquid (blue) laundry detergent all over the laundry room floor. Because there was so much a lot of it had traveled into the boys bath and of course under the washer and dryer. What a mess!! I cleaned everything I could reach. When Doug walked in the door the first thing he said was, "it smells good in here," I promptly escorted him to the mess and he went to work moving and cleaning under the washer and dryer. Between the two of us it took over an hour to clean up all the blue goo.
I've read dozens of stories/emails about the "creative" and sometimes naughty things boys do. So here's number one on the Peppmeier list. Hope you enjoyed the tale and will always make sure your soap is WAY-out-of-reach of little hands.

Will Turns Four!

What a fun day we've had! The table was loaded with gifts (as you can see) and Will was a great sport waiting until Doug got home from work to start opening them. Jack was at school today so Will and I baked and decorated cupcakes. We watched the movie Elf and started decorating the Christmas tree.

As the person who probably spends the most time with Will, I really shouldn't be surprised that four years have flown by. Wow, so this is what four looks like. I'm seeing glimpses of a sweet little boy who loves to help out and on occassion has great manners. Three has been a year of learning, developing independence and the daily temper tanturm. Right now Will loves going to school and asks everyday if he can go (he only goes two days a week, half day). His creative play is pretty amazing. There are a lot of trips via train, plane and auto. Will's interaction with Jack is great and even though they fight they play together really well and are good friends. The snow has created another fun form of entertainment - Will loves using the snow shovel, climbing through piles and making snow angels. He keeps asking Doug when he gets to go skiing. I'm pretty sure he'll get to try out the mountain at least once this year.

We are so thankful and blessed to have such a healthy, smart and fun child. Thank you to all our family and friends for making Will's birthday so special. We missed celebrating with you in person!

Our First Snow Storm

Don't worry we'll get a grip soon enough and stop all the postings about snow. We're still getting used to it. All weekend it snowed! From Friday night to Saturday it snowed 5 inches (per the measurement we took, first picture) and continued snowing through late Sunday night. The first two times Doug went out to shovel the driveway he came back and exclaimed "I LOVE it here!" Last night when he came in from shoveling the driveway he told me he needed a snow blower...that didn't take long : )

Also, Will is much more into the snow than Jack. Jack ususally is telling us he's "freezing" even before he gets outside. The snow is beautiful - Jack mentioned the other day that the "snow was too white" not sure what that means, but he's right it's very white. Also, it's very light and powdery unlike the snow in Oregon. That makes it pretty easy to shovel.

Somehow this picture was left out of our last post. A picture of the four of us tends to be rare so I wanted to make sure and post it. While visiting for Thanksgiving we spent some time at my mom's house. Friday night we walked over to see the lighting of the Christmas tree. It was so cold we decided we didn't need to see it after all!

Thanksgiving 2007

Chis & Mick's beautiful "cabin" in Prineville where we celebrated Thanksgiving

Will & Jack helping Grandma stuff the turkey

Marcus, Gus, Molly & Penny - who all behaved perfectly during dinner


The entire Peppmeier family
Sara, Jason, Chris, Kelly, Steve, Stacey, Matt, Mick, (the back of) Will, Caleb & (the back of) Jack
(Doug took the picture)



The grandkids (including Sara and Jason's "babies")

Let It Snow!

Our first snow of the year! Our drive home from Oregon was nice and clear, even sunny at times. We arrived in Whitefish Saturday and it snowed Monday night. It was very exciting for all of us. I even shoveled part of the driveway (Doug shoveled the other part). School (for both boys) now requires a whole other set of clothing for outdoor time - snow pants, boots, hat, gloves and of course a "weather appropriate" coat. Snow with small children requires some extra planning each time we leave the house, we're getting the hang of it.

Check out the clown - just like dad, don't you think?