Fishing in the Fall

Well Danielle has been giving me a hard time to post a blog from my recent fishing trip to Yellowstone NP. So, in an effort to offer proof that you can have 11 month old twin rambling-wrecks and still have your own social life, well kinda, please partake in a few pictures of the Park and fish. I was there the last week in October. It was as beautiful as ever, the only difference was there was nobody around. We (myself and two fishing buddies Ryan Morris and Laren Bailey) had the park, the elk, the buffalo, the grizzly, and of course the trout all too ourselves. A couple of these fish are some of the biggest Yellowstone cutthroat I've ever seen or caught. I'd like to tell you where but I was sworn to secrecy.

This is how the bouncy seat works Keaton

I couldn't resist. This video is a couple of weeks old, but so funny. Kessler decided to show our friends son Keaton how to use his bouncy seat. As soon as Keaton was strapped in, Kessler climed on and gave a demonstration.
We're all doing well. I had a stockholder retreat for work in Sun Valley a couple of weeks ago. It was cold, but the scenery was beautiful. Mat is getting ready for his annual 'boys' weekend fishing trip this upcoming weekend. The boys and I plan to go to Boo at the Zoo. I'm sure pictures will follow.

Twins

Until recently I have been so focused on taking care of two babies at once, I hadn't really thought about what it means to the boys to be a twin. Of course Mat and I have no first hand experience ourselves, so we have looked to friends who have twin siblings and books. However, nothing you read can compare to the actual connection between twins. Now at nine months we are starting to see that "connection" emerge. For instance, the boys have begun to play a sort of version of "chase", which we find very amusing. Typically, Caulder takes off crawling as fast as he can for 10 feet or so, stops, turns back to Kessler, jabbers, then takes off again. Kessler will then take off after Caulder, and chase him around the house. Caulder will stop every so often and wait for Kessler to catch up since he is a little slower at crawling. The most amusing part of their game, is that they are smiling and laughing the entire time.

They are very aware of each other, and like to stick together. I can't help but smile every time Kessler lights up whenever he sees Caulder, or when Caulder is placed in his high chair before Kessler and frowns at Kessler's empty chair. Typically, if one cries (for a reason), the other cries (for no reason). And, of course, if one has a toy, the other immediately wants it (in his mouth). We have so much fun watching them interact, and it gives us much comfort knowing that they will always have each other.

The following video is of Caulder walking (9 mo.).

First Steps!

The boys had their 9 month check-up almost two weeks ago, and everything looks great. We have been so fortunate that neither of the boys have been sick. Both boys are still in the 25% for weight, but up to the 50% for height. Kessler weighed 19lbs 10oz (27-1/2"), and Caulder weighed 19lbs 3 oz (28-1/2"). Caulder has also taken his first steps! It started with 2-3 steps before falling down, but now he can go almost 10 steps. Kessler is perfectly happy on hands and knees.

We met my mom and dad for a weekend in Yellowstone over my Birthday. It was a beautiful fall weekend. We saw lots of Buffalo and elk, but unfortunately no bears or wolves. I've actually been to Yellowstone at lest 20 times, and have never seen a bear in the park, but Mat assures me that Yellowstone is the best place to view them. The boys had a great time with their Grandparents. We did some hiking, biking, fishing, and sight seeing. The photos are from our trip.

Summertime camping

We took the boys on their fourth and most likely final camping trip for the summer. We met our Friends Kevin and Ruth outside of Sun Valley. We had lots of fun barbequeing (even the meatless hotdogs) and hiking in the beautiful nearby mountains.

As usual the dirt and bugs were a hit with the boys. The attached photos are from our trip.

The boys are so active now! They are both crawling all over the place, standing up holding onto furniture and cruising around, and letting go for a solo stand. They have yet to take a step, but we suspect it's comming soon. They also have two teeth. Their 9 mo. appt. is on Friday, and we're excited to see how they've grown.

Thanks, Ruthie for taking the photos!

The Weaver Family Vacation.......Part two

Well, we're a little behind in updating our blog for the second half of our family vacation, which is due in part to the exciting Olympics. We also had a visit from Mat's aunt Sue and cousin Kerry last weekend, who drove from Portland for a short visit. We had fun touring around Boise, and visiting the Birds of Prey Center.

Now on to the Second half of our vacation..........

After leaving the Small Farm we headed down to Bozeman. This was one of the longer legs of our trip, and we had to make a few stops along the way to let the boys out of their car seats. Our drive was pretty uneventful, and we arrived in Bozeman to a warm welcome from Mat's dad, his wife Rachael, and Grandmother Martha. The next few days were pretty relaxing. We spent lots of time visiting, and watching the boys cruise around the house. We were very impressed with the organic garden Richard and Rachael have been working on all summer. We also checked out the new library, and went on a fun hike up to the Trout Lakes. After a great breakfast in the beautiful Gallatin Canyon, we headed home. We decided last minute to drive through both Yellowstone and Teton National Parks. We arrived in Boise late and exhausted, but excited about our fun week.

Since our vacation, Kessler has learned to crawl. Both boys have also cut two teeth. I continue to be busy with the renovation of the Idaho State Capitol, and Mat has been traveling some to Eastern Idaho to work with local communities on water rights.

The Weaver Family Vacation - Part One

We took the boys on our first big family vacation last week and had tons of fun! In fact we had so much fun, and visited so many people, we are updating our blog in two parts. The boys were great travelers despite the 1800 miles we drove over the week. So here is part #1....

Our vacation took us up North to Montana to first visit friends, and then family. Unfortunately, our trip started out somewhat a disaster (which of course now we can laugh about!). After a brief stop at Craters of the Moon National Park, we headed to Salmon, Idaho. On the way we managed to get two flat tires; spend 5 hours stranded in the middle of nowhere in the blazing heat without cell service; ride in a sheriffs car where the babies enjoyed playing with the straps of various ceiling mounted guns; hit a deer; loose a hotel reservation; and spend $650 on new (10 ply) tires (because we were in rural Idaho). We seemed to get the kinks out of our vacation right away, and woke up the next day to beautiful weather which followed us all the way up to Whitefish, Montana. We had a great time in Whitefish visiting our good friends the Peppmeiers (Doug, Kelly, Will, Jack, and sweet Annmarie), and the Larkins (Scott and Stefanie) who are expecting their first baby this winter (Congratulations!). The boys particularly enjoyed watching Will and Jack zip around the house, and chasing Gus (the Jack Russel Terrier) around the living room. I actually think Bridger was a little jealous of all the attention he was getting.

Caulder has become very good (quick) at crawling, and is even pulling himself up on the furniture to cruise around. Kessler is just testing the waters in the crawling department, but has dove full throttle into the jabbering department. Both boys practiced their skills endlessly at the P. house.

We next headed to Glacier National Park. It was spectacular as usual. We managed to do two hikes, and view lots of wildlife. We particularly enjoyed the Mountain Goats on our seven mile hike up the Hanging Garden trail. The boys bounced along on our backs in their packs, which they seem to really enjoy.

After a noisy stay in West Glacier (trains consistently sped by all night long and garbage trucks took hours to empty dumpsters at 6:00 am), we headed down to Columbia Falls to visit the Small Farm. We enjoyed visiting with Mat's Grandma Glenna and her many children and Grandchildren who just happened to be visiting last week. The farm was beautiful, and Mat had fun catching up with relatives he had not seen for many years. Unfortunately, we could only stay for a few hours since we were headed down to Bozeman that night.

Phew.... that takes us through half our week.....more to come.