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!!

Priceline...Or...The Worst Hotel Experience of Our Lives!!

*DISCLAIMER-The Long Version of the Story*

As we approached our departure date for Anchorage, Ellie & I had yet to make hotel reservations. We had been procrastinating because of the outrageous hotel prices in Anchorage. After spending a few days of internet surfing looking at different deals, hotel recommendations, and calling for availability we finally made the choice to use Priceline. We have had a few friends use Priceline and have been very happy with their experience so we thought we would give it a try. After we put in a really low bid at the STAR level we desired, our request came back denied and in order to place another bid we had to change our STAR level. We changed our level from 2.5 stars to 2 stars. This decision could have been our downfall. They accepted our offer and put us at the BEST VALUE INN EXECUTIVE SUITES. Immediately, I checked TripAdvisor and discovered that our hotel was less than desirable. BUT, we were locked in!! (Once Again...Thanks Priceline)!!

When we arrived at the hotel, the late night check-in team offered us a lower rate for our room only to find out that they couldn't because we had purchased our stay through Priceline...It turns out our bid was actually higher than the hotel room was worth!! (Our bid was at least $50 less than any hotel room price we had found on the internet)!! When we got to our room, not only were we amazed at how hot and muggy it was, but the realization that it didn't have a AC Unit floored us. The room smelled and was not clean. I wouldn't even take my socks off to walk around. Due to the smell and the heat I slept maybe 2 hours and woke with a migraine headache. When I went to the counter to let them know we would be checking out, they informed us that they could not refund us and that we would have to take up our complaint with Priceline.

After twenty minutes ROAMING on my cell phone, Priceline informed us that they could not refund us our money because the hotel would not release our funds. The hotel would offer us a new room to stay in however. I got off the phone and went to speak with the manager, who informed us that we could move to a different room with AC. I reluctantly said I would agree to these terms. When we returned to our new room after a long day of sight seeing (10 pm), I pulled back the sheets only to find dirt and pubic hair. I am not kidding...I can't make up stories this good!! When I told the front desk, they said they would have someone bring us new sheets. There was a knock on the door and new sheets were handed to us. There was no offer to make the bed or take the dirty sheets. Then as Ellie and I were getting ready for bed it became clear that our bathroom hadn't been cleaned either. The floor was sticky, stained and smelled strongly of urine. Because it was so late and we were both so tired, we took the towels and spread them out on the floor. In the morning we packed our belongings, went to the front desk, told our complaints, and checked-out two days early.

After many phone calls, emails, and disgruntled conversations with hotel employees we still have yet to receive a verdict back from Priceline as to whether they will refund us our money!! The moral of this story...NEVER USE PRICELINE OR STAY AT THE BEST VALUE INN EXECUTIVE SUITES IN ANCHORAGE!!

Alaskan Initiation...Thanks, Matt!!

This video shows what can happen when you are a bit gullible and way too excited about catching your first salmon. What I have come to learn is never trust an Alaskan on old fisherman folklore and initaition, especially an Alaskan named Matt VanSickle!!

Mac & Cheese Cook-off

My husband seems to think he makes better macaroni & cheese than I do. I know this sounds silly--with cooking directions on the side of each box, how can the outcome be that different? This is what I think, anyway. So what if mine comes out a little runnier than his (it's m & c soup!) and who cares if the butter doesn't fully dissolve before the delicious cheese powder is stirred in? But then, when I taste his version of our staple food, I realize that he DOES have the corner on making this meal. (Okay, he was right to convince me that Kraft really DOES have the best brand...I can admit when I'm wrong!) All the same, today when I make it for dinner (Jeff's rocking Grace in the other room...but he has given me strict instructions on how much butter to use) I plan to switch up the ingredients to see if he can figure out what I did to it. It's a fun little game we play at the Lochhead house...

*Sooz--don't worry, we know mac and cheese is not the healthiest of meals, so we're balancing it out with some delicious TURKEY dogs...yummmmm...