"Mommy School"

I wanted to take a minute to brag on our big boy Jake. Since Labor Day, Jake has been attending "Mommy School", as he likes to call it. Since we moved out here, we decided not to put Jake in preschool and let him explore with us. Brad and I opted to have preschool with him from home. He will be heading off to kindergarten next year so we wanted to spend this year with him.

I called upon "Mimi" for her teaching expertise. She consulted some of the preschool teachers she knew and gave me some guidelines to go by as well as sent Jake this awesome school supply package filled with everything from highlighters and colored paper to lesson plans that we use. Since we started, Jake has learned almost 30 words from the Dolce Site List. He is not only reading them, but writing them as well. We couldn't be more proud! We have been making it quite exciting too...we play Quiz Bowl (which we got from Wizards on Waverly Place) and Word Bingo (we use fruity Cheerios as our spacers)! He loves it. While we are in Kentucky, we plan to have a couple of educational days and go on some nature walks to compare the scenery with what we have here. He loves all the different leaves and trees and plants we have collected.

We have been reading a lot of books and Jake is picking out the words he knows. Grandmother and PopPop just sent he and Gray 2 new books and we have read them several times already. Mimi bought them several books while they were out here visiting and we have plowed thru those as well. We plan to hit one of the bookstores in Jackson tomorrow where I am certain we will find more books for our collection.

The snow has arrived!

It seems that summer is behind us! But what happened to Fall?!? One day it was a beautiful 75 degree day and the next there was snow on the ground. We woke up to a covering last week and these pictures were taken on the second day of the snow. It has been cold ever since. Gone are the days of hiking and picnics!

We haven't seen too much snow since last week, but we have pretty much had a dusting every day. Targhee has been covered up. People are skiing every day. Brad got his skis in the mail last week but still has to have the bindings mounted (which is on our Jackson agenda tomorrow) before he can head up there. I am still trying to get the best deal possible so I still don't have my boots or skis!

We had a great time with our first snow. While Gray was napping, Jake, Brad and I went out and had the biggest snowball fight ever. We had a blast! Jake has never seen snow like this before. He even gathered up a bucket full and we made snowcones!

As many of you know, we will be traveling to Kentucky in the next couple of weeks. We plan to stay for at least 2 weeks so we will get to see many of you while we are there. Please say a prayer that we have safe travels...and that we don't go nuts during our 25 hour drive!!!!

Lots of love,

Brad, Angel, Jake and Gray

Wild West Beauties

Sincere apologies for taking so long to update!!! The family was here for a week (Christy, Jeff, Charly, Mom and Dan) and we were really busy showing them the sites. It took a week to get the pictures uploaded, edited and well, just take a breather.

The photos here are some of our favorites from our visit over to "Lellowstone" as Jake calls it. In this group of shots you will see a beautiful sunset taken from our back glass door. I just couldn't resist it. I was sitting on the couch one evening getting ready to make dinner and grabbed the camera.

The next shot is a coyote we saw running across a meadow. There were several cars pulled over so of course we new something was out there but it took me a while to spot him. As Brad drove down the road, Papa opened the door to our rented travel van (thanks Papa...made for a nice trip :-)) and I got several shots. We need practice opening the door while moving...we about took out a few bystanders! Next is a nice size Elk we saw on a cliff side grabbing some grub with a lady friend. Brad got a great shot of this one.

This buffalo shot is my FAVORITE...he and I got up close and personal...probably more so than allowed by Yellowstone National Park laws. When he turned that big head and stared me down...well, let's just say that guy was HUGE! But he just meandered across the road at a leisurely pace and went to the next meadow.

This last photo was another favorite...most definitely our favorite animal encounter in Yellowstone. This very large male elk was herding his family. We even got to hear him bugling. I'll tell ya, he was a proud Papa.

Family Love

My dear son has truly molded to his surroundings. He wore this cowboy ensemble into The Victor Emporium one day to get a shake and drew a crowd. I edited them out in this shot, but there were about 5 people standing there taking his picture and of course he had to tell them all about his new guns!

How cute is my niece Brylee?!? I tell ya, I miss her more than my heart can stand. I can't wait to get back to KY in a few weeks to watch her play soccer. They won their first game!!! GO RED TEAM!!! They got to go to Dee's for ice cream. You Louisa followers will appreciate that! Do you remember riding down main street in the back of a pickup with your team and the parents all honking behind you? Whether you won or lost, you always got to go for ice cream or frozen cokes! Anyway, Brylee...Auntie Ang and Uncle Brad can't wait to see you Baby Girl! Oh and to all who don't know, my dear sister-in-law called me a couple of weeks ago to let me in on some big news...she and Bri are having another BABY!!!! Kel, you made my day, month...year even! I am SOOO EXCITED! Now I just have to move somewhere close enough to see all my nieces...and maybe nephew!

I absolutely love this picture of Brad and Jake. We hiked to a new spot for us this week. We went to Taggart Lake in Grand Teton National Park. A beautiful hike with another spectacular view of the lake and mountains. I couldn't resist this shot. Jake and Brad having a moment! They were perched up on this boulder in the water. Oh yeah, right after I snapped this I looked down in the water to see not one...but at least two snakes. One was swimming and the other was sunbathing. We came home and researched what they were...Wandering Garter...non poisonous. My Aunt Loretta, the snake lover in the family, probably would have reached down to pet one!!! This week alone we have seen 5 snakes...all garters. While walking on a bike path day before yesterday, Brad and I were looking over this bridge to see if there were any fish. I looked to my left and saw what I thought was one snake (gray with 2 yellow stripes) but when I showed Brad he told me to look closer...there were 3! They were all laying on top of each other sunning. They didn't even bother slithering away!!! When we came back thru there was only left and he headed down to the water when Brad stepped closer to get Jake a good look. We did however, manage to get a nice snakeskin for Jake's nature collection we started.

And last is a picture of Mom, Chris and me at the lower falls in Yellowstone.

Fun with the Family

These are just some of the random shots we got throughout the week. The top two are all of us dancing around in the house. The babies just loved it. Charly actually kind of has a look as if to say "I can't believe you are my Auntie! I hope no one from my daycare sees this!" Oh well, we had fun anyway. The other two shots are just some love shots of Sissy and Gray and Jake and Noodle. Noodle hoisted Jake on his shoulder to get a better view of Old Faithful.

What's with your finger in my mouth?!?

Here are more family fun shots of our week with everyone. Charly is such an Uncle Brad's girl...or at least she can flirt with him like nobody's business. Here they are all loved up in the parking lot waiting on everyone else to get back from the visitor center in Moose, WY.

In the next picture, Mimi and Charly are taking in the views of the lake in Yellowstone from this beautiful old tree that was decaying. Papa also got a great shot with Charly while at Old Faithful. She is such a Papa's girl!!! She and Gray both learned to say Papa while they were here. I think Papa's head was swelling with pride...as it should be...we couldn't have a better Papa. Our boys have the two best Grandfathers in the world.

This next picture is just funny...all week Gray would stick his finger in Charly's mouth...we have no idea why!!! The last picture is of Charly and me at the airport when they first got in. I was soooo excited to see them Jake and I were running through the front doors to the find them! Actually, we were running a little behind schedule because we had dinner with some friends here and Jake didn't want to leave little Miss Arielle. It was his first dinner date. They went dutch at The Mangy Moose.

Smile for the camera

And...more family photos!

Charly's first hike

I honestly would have never thought by dear niece Charly would love hiking so much. Look at the laugh she has here...that's priceless! I had the honor of taking her on her first hike. In this picture, she and I are all snuggled up in the front pack carrier while hiking at Targhee. Jake rode the lift up with Mimi, Papa and Sissy to the top. (Noodle stayed back at our house to work on Fantasy Football ). Apparently, it was quite cold at the top because they had to have blankets. Brad and I took the two babies on a hike.

In the next picture you can see the love between Sissy and Jake. They have been tight since day 1. There is no separating those two!

The Curnutte Family posed for a nice picture in downtown Jackson in front of the Antler Arches. We were waiting to head up to the Gondola to meet our friends and let the kids play. Mimi and Papa also got to get a quick photo with their grandbabies in front of the antlers.

Our Gray is 1...another party!

This is our Gray...lovable, beautiful, smart, extremely active, curious, funny, talkative, a true outdoorsman, adventurous soul...these are just a few adjectives to describe this one year old. He has had the pleasure of having not one, but two first birthday parties. We had one the week Grandmother and PopPop were here...for the actual day and then another while my gang was here. Word on the street is that Momma O'Brien plans to have a little gathering when we come home as well...wow, what a lucky fella.

The yellow awning is from the brand new fancy shmancy backpack carrier we got Gray for his birthday. As you know, we picked up our first one earlier this summer at Victor Outdoor Seconds, where we shopped side by side with Laurie Metcalf, the sister from the show Roseanne. See, even the famous and wealthy like a bargain! She has a ranch here. Anyway, we didn't want to invest a great deal in one just in case he didn't like it. Well, hiking is his favorite activity. Just ask the folks...they couldn't believe how much he loved it. We also thank Grandmother and PopPop and Aunt Cathy for some birthday money which we put toward the carrier.

I won't even comment on the hat picture...there really are no words!

The little blue outfit shot was his party. We had a cookout in the back yard. Jake and Arielle rode the 4-wheeler and Jeep while Gray, Charly and Alena played with...well everything. In this picture, Gray is picking up rocks. This is a hobby of his...he also enjoys trying to eat them. He hasn't had any success with this, YET! It is only time before we have another moth episode on our hands. That's right...he ate a moth...a LIVE one at that! He was so proud too. He opened that beautiful mouth of his to show me what he had and, bam, if the darn thing's wings weren't going to town in his mouth. Brad and I tried to get it out...too late though...he was already chewing and swallowed. I guess if you live in grizzly country, you should eat like one!

These last two pictures are Jake and Arielle having a big time. Jake is so proud to escort her on his 4 wheeler. The next picture is of the two of them being Wildcats. He let her wear one of his jerseys and she cheered while he played football. There was also a little tackling going on too...she can hold her own. Jake taught her C-A-T-S...CATS, CATS, CATS! Speaking of...how bout those CATS! We have been watching them on our DISH. We had early morning tailgates here at the house for both games and plan to have pork or something yummy on the BIG GREEN EGG for Saturday's games against Florida. We will be in soon so we can actually watch a game LIVE at home!

The little adventurous ones!

Doesn't Charly look like a doll baby here? She is sporting her floppy flower sun hat with her green fall jacket to ward off those cool winds from the fall breeze at the lake. This lake was in Yellowstone.

Jake decided to take the plunge at Phelp's Lake. We love this hike and have done it several times. We took the folks. They all loved the views and Jake loved getting in the water. Around his neck you will see a compass. Mimi bought this for him...so he can always find his way home! Notice too, he is wearing a Lawrence County baseball hat...thanks to Aunt Bev who gave it to him after last season.

Here is my Gray...positively loving this lake in Yellowstone. He couldn't get enough. Mimi would twirl him around near the water and he would cackle. I love this shot...she took him to the top of the little hill and would run down with him. As you can see, he loved every minute of it...well, until we had to leave that is. But who could blame him, I wanted to cry too. I love that lake. It reminds me of a remote beach somewhere.

The last picture is the three cousins in front of the Tetons. So precious!!!

These are some pictures from our trip to "Lellowstone" as Jake calls it. This first picture is of Upper Falls. It was a 300 foot waterfall with amazing views. While there I snapped a couple of shots of the boys with Brad. These are a couple of my favorites. You will also see a picture of Mr. Buffalo. This is one of the biggest buffalos we have seen. He was a DANDY! We got to see many on this trip. The picture of Gray is classic. We were at Tony's Pizza in Drigg's...one of Jake's favorite places in town. Of course Gray has a big cheesy grin on his face...he was getting pizza and cinnamon rolls! This boy can EAT!!!

These pictures are great! I love the first one. We stopped in Yellowstone to get some pictures of the buffalo. I took Jake down the hill to get a closer shot. I love his face in this shot. The next two pictures are of the mighty explorers. This was such a beautiful hike. This one was at Teton Canyon. While there, a young boy fell while trying to cross over some rocks to a waterfall. We actually saw the rescue team and the helicopter and helped the family back to their car. Thank God everyone turned out ok. The last couple of shots were taken while riding the gondola at the village. We decided to ride it up and sit on the deck at the restaurant there. It was beautiful! The scenery is priceless and the mushrooms were quite tasty. We were also quite excited to see a Mama bear and her cub while riding up. Talk about a view. To see the bear and cub from a bird's eye view...pretty spectacular!