NO-MAN!!!

Blake saw a snowman quite a few weeks ago. Lauren explained to her that when we got enough snow we could go make a snowman. It started snowing pretty good here around mid-November, but it was SO flippin' cold that the snow was super powdery and the wind chills were in the negatives. Almost everytime Blake would see that it was snowing out, she would run to our sliding glass door and yell, "NO-MAN!!!" Thankfully, it was warm enough today that we were able to head out and get Blake's "no-man" built. Here's our little girly getting all geared up to head outside.
Copa getting in on a photo op. Yeah, we're thinking it's probably time to ditch the sun flowers and scarecrow decorations by the front door, too ;)
Our happy little girl and her snowman. Amazingly enough, we didn't have a scarf anywhere around the house, so Lauren just used a beach towel. It'll probably be quite a while before we need those again anyway. No top hats either, so Lauren found yet another use for Blake's witch's hat from Halloween :)
It's a Blake-sized "no-man"
What a goofy girl?! Lauren should probably work on centering the subject in the frame before shooting such pics, but we got a good smile anyway.
Hanging out on the front porch.
Grandma & Grampy were also nice enough to help us put up the tree and some decorations while they were here. Here's our tree...
...and the stockings
Happpy holidays to all!!!

Let It Snow!

Winter has begun. Here's a picture from November 18th when it all began.
Unfortunately, it hasn't really stopped snowing or being flat out cold ever since. On a brighter note, Grandma & Grampy came to visit for Thanksgiving! They probably weren't too impressed with the -12 degree weather in Billings when their flight landed and probably less impressed that it didn't really warm up much while they were here. We had a great Thanksgiving feast and a wonderful visit with them both. In fact, we had so much fun that Lauren didn't really take any pics. Here is the lone picture that we got of Blake in her new snowman jammies.

Grampy was kind enough to stay an extra couple days to watch Blake while Lauren & Bob took a quick trip over to Minot, ND for some business meetings for Bob and a little quiet time for Lauren. THANKS Grampy!!!

Well, it did finally get above 32 degrees today, so maybe it'll warm up a little bit around here. This is what our front yard looks like right at the moment.


Hope the snow at least leaves you in the holiday spirit...if you weren't already ;)

Worland Weekend

Blake & Lauren headed down to Worland over the weekend to visit one of Lauren's college roommates, Jess, while Bob is out hunting. Blake and Beckett had tons of fun playing together and with Natalie. Beckett is only a month younger than Blake. We didn't get too many pictures, but here are a few. Beckett saying, "CHEESE" for the camera.
Blake giving her CHEESE!
Blake playing in a toy stroller/cart of some sort.
Lauren & Jess set up tables at a local craft fair in Worland and spent most of Saturday without kiddos. A VERY special thank you to Kyle, Guy & Jill for taking shifts watching the three kids - it was very much appreciated! It was a wonderful visit and we had some spectacular homemade nachos for dinner Saturday night - YUM!!! It was the perfect fix for the spicy cravings Lauren's been having with this pregnancy. Hopefully everyone else had an equally wonderful weekend.

Rainy Trick or Treating

Lauren got all the final touches finished up on Blake's costume last night. Here's the final product.
We finally gutted our pumpkins this morning. Blake was such a big helper.
Mom & Blake working on the pumpkins.
Lauren decided to go super simple on the pumpkins this year since we were sort of tight on time. Here's Mickey and a ghost.
And, the "B" is for Blake pumpkin.
our little witch
sweeping with the broom
We headed over to Columbus to trick or treat with Claire and Gracie again this year. Claire was a spider and Gracie was a lady bug.

Blake
Gracie & Claire
It started sprinkling pretty much right away, so we sort of cut the trick or treating short. Lauren wasn't too pumped about walking around in 45 degree weather wet, and Blake was starting to get cold. Here's our little cutie all warm and snug on the couch with some candy :)
HOPE EVERYONE HAD A WONDERFUL (AND WARMER/DRYER) HALLOWEEN!

Pumpkins!

Blake's Halloween festivities began on Friday at school. The kids got to decorate their own trick or treat bags and go trick or treating throughout the school. She was pretty pumped about it. She also got to pick a pumpkin out of the pumpkin patch they had setup at school. They also had tons of cool little activities outside for the kiddos. Blake didn't actually pick her pumpkin out, though. An older boy picked one out for her ;) He was very nice to pick one out especially for her that was way up high on a hay bale where Blake couldn't reach. She said, "thanks!" Daddy better start watching out for those boys! When we got home from school, she got to eat some of her candy.
Here she is posing with the trick or treat bag that she decorated and her pumpkin. Everytime she shows us the pumpkin she says, "Blake's pumpkin...boy give me".
We've been travelling, sick and just flat out busy the last month, so we just made it out to the pumpkin patch today. The field was really picked over, but we still had fun hunting for one. Blake liked riding in the wagon.
Pumpkin huntin' with Dad

Blake posing with the pumkin that we found.
A somewhat staged pumpkin patch photo
the BIG pumpkins
Blake with our loot. They had several pumpkins already picked that were pretty nice. Most of the ones out in the field were pretty bad.
Well now that we have pumpkins, it's time to gut them and decide what type of designs we are going to carve into them. So we'll have more pics to post soon - stay tuned!

Blake is really excited about getting to wear her costume and go trick or treating tomorrow - more pics to come on that, too! HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE HALLOWEEN!!!

An OK Visit

Lauren and Blake recently got a chance to go see Grandma, Grampy, Uncle Chris, Aunt Katie and Cousin Collier in Oklahoma. Great-grandma Kramer was visiting Ponca, so we got to see her too. We flew into OKC and spent the night at Chris & Katie's beautiful new house. We even got to experience an earthquake! HA...HA...we didn't actually feel it, but I guess people who were on a second story or higher did. Grampy even felt it at his office! The next day Lauren drove Blake & Collier to Ponca to see the rest of the fam while Chris & Katie took an anniversary trip to Vegas. The girls played well together and had tons of fun. It was hard to get pictures of the two standing still, but here are some of the better shots we got.

Collier standing still...momentarily anyway ;)
Blake giving a big cheese on the trike at Grandma & Grampy's
Blake & Collier sizing each other up. THANKS Grandma & Grampy for the cute matching shirts!
Blake loading up the back of the trike for Collier
Blake & Collier were VERY big helpers when it came to watering. Well, they had more fun putting rocks in the canisters and shaking them.
Collier watering
Collier with Grampy's famous bubble machine
Blake chasing bubbles
Collier in action
Blake with the bubble machine
Both kiddos attacking the bubbles
Blake and Great-grandma Kramer
Needless to say, it was a great visit. It always seems short, but it was so nice to get to share a pedicure/lunch date with Great-grandma Kramer while Grandma watched the girls - THANKS! And as always, it was a joy to get to hang with little Collier even though Blake's new phrase is, "don't touch Blake, please". Collier was pretty good at invading Blake's personal space on a regular basis :) Like father, like daughter - there were several times during the week that Lauren had flashbacks to when her and Chris were little. I guess the apples really don't fall too far from the tree.

In other news, Bob is getting geared up for a hunting trip/vacation back home, and Lauren is planning on setting up a booth at her very first craft fair. Lauren has a friend from college that sells jewelry, so her and Blake are going to go hang with Jess and the kiddos and try to sell some stuff. It should be a fun weekend! Lauren is also having a MUCH easier go with this pregnancy and baby boy DeCoteau has been moving like crazy, so things seem to be going well on that front. We're also expecting a visit from Grandma & Grampy in late November - can't wait! Hope everyone is having a wonderful fall.

ND & Mickey Mouse!

We finally got the pictures from our visit to Garrison, ND developed. Here's Blake hanging out with Grandpa DeCoteau. Blake with Aunt Joyce Great-grandma DeCoteau and Blake Blake with Aunt JoAnn Playing with the cool toys at Gene & JoAnn's house Hangin' with Uncle Gene Driving her truck around the yard fun on the trampoline "JUMP HIGH!" as Blake would say Blake also has a new found love for Mickey Mouse. She freaks out when she sees him on TV - it's hilarious! Here's a little video of her in very mild freak out mode (of course she didn't completely freak out when we busted out the camera...O WELL)