September Means...School Starts!!!

It's been a crazy week for the Lochheads, as Jeff and I returned to the responsibilities of the working class. Jeff got out the door before I was ready with the camera, so he avoided his first day of school picture...

... but here is Gracie, all ready for her first day of daycare! She had a great day--with her big-girl bottles and binky in tote--and her mom only cried a little when she dropped her off. Miss Debra already had Grace's name on the door with the rest of the babies' nameplates, and above her crib in the nursery--they were ready for her! I have found that my new favorite part of the work day is picking her up at the end of the day!

Happy Birthday, Megan!!

Our sweet niece, Megan is lucky enough to have an August birthday. Each year she has fabulous summer parties--with water games, swimsuits, and popsicles. (Jeff and I envy all summer birthday-ers, as we both have winter birthdays, never celebrated in swimsuits). This year we celebrated in style with DORA THE EXPLORER. I wanted to show up in BOOTS, but Jeff thought that would be too cheesy. (Boots is Dora's monkey, folks). We had "Dora cups, and Dora plates, and Dora cake..."

Megan is so cute that she even pulls Papa Greg away from his combine for the afternoon--she's also lucky enough to have a birthday right in the middle of harvest! :) She is Papa's girl, through-and-through.

Aunt Ellie: "How old are you, Megan?" Megan: "I'm this many." My favorite is when she says that on the phone--and after she says this I ask her, "Are you turning three?" and then she says, "NO, I'm THIS MANY."

Gracie loves her cousins! Abby is so good at holding her...and changing her, and kissing her... In fact, when Gracie is fussing, Abby (age 4) says, "Give her to me, I know how to calm her down."

Ha! And the next minute...Daddy's furrowed brow shows itself. Darn genetics.

Happy Birthday, Miss Megan! We love you and are so proud of you!!!

Full Circle...

It was the summer of nineteen-nine-seven on a car ride with my good friend Brock up to Priest Lake that I allowed myself to be inundated with Dave Matthews Band. I have enjoyed their music ever since. Yet, this past weekend marks the first time I have experienced DAVE in person, and it just seemed fitting that it was with Brock. It was an evening of fine music spent with a great friend.

Harvest at the Moser Farm

Jeff was driving combine with my family last week--he's become quite the farmer! The Palouse is such a gorgeous place (and very busy!) during August. We got to see (and work with) lots of family--Katie and Brady and their girls stayed at Mom and Dad's to help out, so we had lots of quality time. We also got to spend an afternoon at G'ma Caroline's house and an afternoon with G'ma Trudy and Papa LeRoy.


Mom took over my role as truck driver this year (add it to her list of jobs including lunch and dinner maker!). She's quite the farmer in her own right! :) I didn't get pics of my dad and the rest of the crew. Gracie and I took these pics with our zoom lens from the back yard. Next year we'll have to get little Grace to poke her head out of the combine window for a picture.

Grace and I weren't exactly eating bon-bons during harvest...we played with cousins Abby and Megan and we did laundry...which led to a photo shoot in the backyard...

Auntie Sooz Visits!!

My good friend Susannah came to meet Grace in the middle of last week. Harvest is late this year, so Jeff was at the farm driving combine, so that meant...GIRL TIME!!! We had so much fun doing all sorts of girl things...went out to eat, stayed in our PJ's until 11, watched movies, shopped at The Rack, cooked out of the new cookbook that Sooz made for us, and Sooz got a lot of Gracie snuggle time. In fact, the afternoon she got here, Grace slept on her chest for 2 hours while I slept on the couch! :) We had such a good time.

These are the Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Shells that we made...delicious! Our extra pan in the freezer is already gone! Jeff loved them. :)
Gracie loved snuggling with Auntie Sooz!
I had to get the cookbook in a picture! AND...to all of you Hits House girls...I'm sure that's Regis and Kelly on in the background... :) Good times! Thanks, Sooz, for coming to spend time with us! :)

Getting Ready For School...

As August approached, we realized it was time for Grace to get used to drinking from a bottle, since she'd be at "school" 2-3 days a week. We were excited to see if she would take it. She seemed a bit confused when DADDY was holding her during eating time...but not too many seconds passed before she started devouring the couple of ounces we had for her...
...in fact, she downed the two ounces so quickly that I had to get another bottle warmed for her. This is her requesting seconds from the couch...

Cousin Anthony

Grace's cousin Anthony was born exactly two months after Gracie's birth day--July 27th. We got to visit him this week and we realized that Gracie isn't as little as we still think she is! She looks so big compared to her newborn cousin. He's a little tired in this pic--aren't his little yawning lips so cute?!?

PS--Grace looks like me (LE) in this picture! This is a first! We've always thought she looked like Jeff, but here...I think she may be my kid!

Just a Cute Girl in a Sunhat...

Gracie Caroline--10 weeks old!

All because we forgot the Salt & Vinegar chips...

Yes, the annual trip to Glacier, our favorite national park, may go down in history as the craziest Lochhead trip thus far. We're pretty sure it was because we grabbed Salt & PEPPER chips instead of our fave Salt & VINEGAR chips...threw the whole chemistry off, you know. These pictures record all the fun things that happened--surprisingly I didn't take a picture of Jeff's migraine or of me laying awake in the cold tent, wondering if our 2-month-old was warm enough... But we'll be back next year to re-claim our "family"hood! :)


Before the first leg of our trip: At this point we didn't know we'd grabbed the wrong chips...


Our outdoor girl: Grace loves being out in nature...Here she is taking a snooze on the picnic table that served as a great baby seat!!


Our campsite: Jeff and I played a few rounds of Ticket to Ride, our new favorite board game, after camp was set up.


Bowman Lake: We drove to the north part of the park so Jeff could do some fly-fishing--we'd never seen this part of the park before. It was gorgeous!



Gracie Rest-Stop #6: On the way TO the park she slept four of the five hours. On the way home, we STOPPED every hour! :) This is Jeff consoling a tired baby...

And The Verdict Is???

After waiting for 8 days (they claimed less than 5) and sending them a friendly email reminder, Priceline and the hotel from hell have offered to refund us the two days we choose not to stay at the hotel. They, however, would not refund us for our two days of living in filth. I guess something is better than nothing. Maybe this will cause you to think before using Priceline in the future...We sure will!!

NOTE: I hope all this complaining doesn't allude to the idea that we didn't enjoy our time in Alaska...Nothing could be further from the truth. The state of ALASKA is a gem, and our time with family and friends could not have been better!!