`tis the season . . .

  It seems as though we haven't slowed down much since Lone Pine is over. Jordan came back from hunting and for some reason if feels like we are constantly running around doing something. Our poor gas bill :( We have started the long process of building a house. For those that don't know, we are planning on building a house where we got married. It's a long 1/4 mile away but I think we can handle it. Ha ha. We just got our plans drawn up and now for the dreaded part, dealing with Lane County. I'm hoping we can use it as a learning experience and not get too disappointed or frustrated (don't count on it). Our plan is to start as early as the weather will permit us to, but really it will probably be as soon as the County and bank stuff get done. I am a very impatient person and like to have things planned out just right, so I'm making it my goal for this project to be very patient and just roll with the punches (we'll see how that works out). We are both so excited to finally start this chapter in our lives. Pray for a fast and smooth process.

  Jordan, I bet you can't guess!??, is still studying for his Engineers test. This is the last one before his big final test in November of 2012. He is doing very well in his program, and is feeling pretty confident about this last test too. He has begun to work as an Engineer when they are short at the fire station. It's called AIC (acting in capacity). He's loving it. I'm very proud of how dedicated he is to his work. You don't see too many people with that kind of passion about their careers.

  Austyn is doing pretty good. She has been battling ear infections, teething, and colds for a while now. It seems like months, but that's a little exaggerated. But when she feeling good, she is an absolute joy. She runs around the house jibber jabbering at everyone. It's getting more and more understandable as the days go by. She is into walking and crawling backwards lately and standing on her head. Her hair is getting so long. I love it! Time to decide if it's bangs or no bangs? She's getting a little better about the bumps and bruises. But when she gets them she goes all out. Poor little thing. She has started the stage of little fits, especially with me. Lucky mommy!! We always get special treats. But with a little stearn encouragement she settles down pretty quickly.

  And as for me: work is decent, my back is decent, so I'm a happy lady.

Here we are picking out the perfect tree

  I am so ready for the Holidays. I love this time of year!!!!!!!! I had a wonderful Birthday filled with family and friends. And of course wonderful presents. Jordan brought flowers to my work and took me out to lunch, then accompanied me to the craft store. What a man! He made me have the best Birthday ever. My mom made me a custom Birthday dinner of: Hula Burgers (grilled chicken, ham, swiss cheese, topped with pineapple), fried zucchini, corn on the cob, salad, avocado, BBQ pork, deviled eggs, cup cakes, and a peach cake. I think I'm spoiled :) Now I can't wait for Christmas. We have a few Christmas parties to go to, which will be very fun. We got our Christmas tree last weekend and to my surprise our little baby girl has not even attempted to get into it (knock on wood). I guess we do still have a few more weeks left. Our shopping is done, the gifts are wrapped, and now we can just enjoy enjoy enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Austyn loved running through the rows of trees

Before

After

I put the tree skirt around Austyn and she thought

it was so much fun

She was really enjoying helping us decorate the tree.

She picked up every ornament and ran it over

and handed it to me. Thanks Austyn!

  I hope everyone has the best Christmas and New Years ever. 2012 here we come! I have so many goals for the upcoming year. I'm excited to start crossing stuff of my list!

The return of The Mountain Man . . .

  I thought I would share with everyone what Jordan looked like when he came home from hunting after 8 days, but over a month of growing out his hair.

I wish I could get a hair cut and look

like I've lost 10 pounds too.

  Austyn and I did great while he was gone. We spent the whole time with my Mom. She had been working so much at Lone Pine the last 5 or 6 months that we hadn't really had any quality time with her. It was great! I think by Wednesday I was ready for Jordan to be home though, but there's nothing you can do but wait. They didn't get anything this year. Which is probably a good thing since we still have elk from last year and a whole freezer full of beef. I guess we should get to BBQing.

  Not much new, Austyn had her first ear infection. She was such a good girl though. I wouldn't have even noticed unless we hadn't gone in for a regular check-up. They looked in her ears and said she had an ear infection. I guess now that I think about it all the signs were there. But I have heard horror stories about kids with ear infections and was expecting much worse. At least I'll know for next time. She is getting pretty chatty. I'm hoping some words start coming out soon.

  Hope all is well with everyone. And have a great Thanksgiving. I can't believe the Holiday season is here. I love this time of year.

Happy Halloween . . .

  I can't believe it's the end of October already. Fall is my favorite season and it always seems to go by so fast. We have been spending most of our time at Lone Pine lately. We love it there. It never gets old (for us anyways). It's awesome to have unlimited rides on the cow trains and the hay rides, and free ice cream when ever we want it. But Jordan and I were talking and thought it would be nice to have a place like Lone Pine for us to go visit as guests and not employees. So we went to Bauman's Farm just North of Salem. It was awesome. There was so much to do there and we both acted like all the people that come to Lone Pine that we make fun of. I guess we understand now!
  Jordan is now off for a little over three weeks. He's going to help finish up the season at Lone Pine and then go Elk Hunting for a week. He hasn't cut his hair for who knows how long and he is growing out his mustache and I'm sure he won't do too much shaving for the duration of his vacation. So he will look like a genuine mountain man when he comes home from hunting. He looks so scruffy.
  Austyn is now running around everywhere. We are in the stage of bumps and bruises. I hate it when she gets hurt, but I guess it's just part of the stage. She ran directly into a metal door the other day and it was so awful. There was a one inch bump and it turned black and blue immediately. She is one tough cookie though. She doesn't let it slow her down for very long. She is doing a lot more jibber jabber that is almost making sense. It's exciting to see her learning all the time. She is so much fun right now, and it's only getting better.
  I've had to start Physical Therapy back up for my back. I am having a little leg pain again, but nothing like before. It's just muscular though, so that's good. I need to do a few more stretches and exercises and I should be back on track. The therapist said I was just a little swollen on the left side of my incision, and we can get it worked out pretty easily. Work is still going great. My surgeon told me he wants to give me more responsibilities at work which was really exciting. Meaning he'll teach me how to suture and I'll be doing more things that he would normally do. When I got out of school my goal was to become a First Assist and that is basically what I'll be doing. I made it my five year career goal and it looks like it might happen.
  Here are a few recent pictures of us. Enjoy!

This is Austyn in her redneck outfit. Pink camo coat and

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation overalls.

Austyn and Grandpa

Here are our pumpkins this year. I tried

to make Austyn's have a pacifier.

Us in the pumpkin patch

Austyn is in one of those rides in the stores.

She thought that was so much fun.

Look at that cute little girl

Austyn had two Halloween costumes this year.

Since we were at Lone Pine I thought I'd dress her

up for a few different nights. It was so cute.

  I hope everyone had a great Halloween. We took Austyn to a few stops and then to Lone Pine for the last night. It sure is fun to have a cute little baby to parade around. Hope all is well with everyone. 

Happy 1st Birthday Austyn . . .

  We made it! One year old! I can't believe Austyn is one year old. It went by so fast. We celebrated her Birthday at Lone Pine Farms, which is a perfect spot for kids birthday parties. It was so much fun. We opened presents, ate cupcakes and ice cream, fed the goats, and rode on the cow trains. The weather ended up holding out pretty well. It was a great day had by all. And of course Austyn got completely spoiled by all her family and friends. Thank you so much to everyone that came. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives.

Great Grandma and Austyn on the cow trains

Enjoying her cupcake and ice cream

This present was really special. Jordan's Grandparents

made Jordan and his brothers and sister toy boxes

just like this (names differently of course) when they

were kids. So now Austyn has one to match Daddy.

Still enjoying her cupcake

Peek-a-Boo!!

                                      

Everyone enjoying the cow trains

And this was the beautiful bouquet Jordan

got me for our anniversary!

  AUSTYN IS OFFICIALLY WALKING!!!!! On her 366th day of life she decided it was time. She walks like a little mummy with her hands straight out in front of her. It's adorable. She still can't get from sitting to standing, but soon enough. She had her one year check up and everything was perfect. She weighs 23 lbs., is 29 3/4 in. tall, and her head is still enormous at 18 11/16 in. She's a big girl. Hope all is well with everyone.

Life with the Petersen's . . .

  Well it's definitely been awhile. Since July we have been a little more eventful it seems. We got to go to a wedding over in Warm Springs at the resort Kah-nee-ta. It was a blast. I went over with my parents on Friday and Jordan joined us Saturday after he got off work. The most eventful thing besides the wedding was the wildfire that started right before the wedding. The resort is in a valley and the hill right in front of us caught fire and took off so fast. We watched helicopters and planes dumping water on it for hours. The wedding was delayed and everything was ashy and smokey. It was pretty exciting. Unfortunately I forgot my cameras, but it looked amazing at night. All the embers burning on the hill looked like a little city. And the weird thing is that Jordan almost got called out from his fire station to go help with another wildfire in the same area just a few days ago. It's that time a year I guess. Becareful and remember what Smokey says . . .

  We have a few new addition to the family. A few weeks ago we came across a 1 year old mini donkey named Jack-Jack. Our friends were down sizing their animals and of course we took him off their hands. At first we had him in with our goats, but he was really aggressive with them so we had to separate them. Our next new family members are two miniature African Pygmy goats. They are so cute! Their names are Ziggy and Farly (one day we will get an animal unnamed). Unfortunately Jack-Jack attacked one of the little goats and we were forced to get rid of him. Oh well, we might try it again when we have more area to separate them.

They are brothers and have opposite

marking on their sides

Jack-Jack eating a stick. Isn't he cute?!

This was where we were camping.

It was so beautiful.

Austyn and Daddy

This is also Austyn and Daddy, with an

unhappy Mommy :(

Sometimes I wonder what goes through his mind!

  September for us is the start of a very busy Fall. We went camping over Labor Day with Jordan's work at the coast in Charleston. It's a big crab trip and they rent a huge open field in a campground and everyone just hangs out and has a great time. This was our first time going and we had so much fun. It was one of my favorite camping trips. A few weekends later, guess what......... little baby Austyn turns #1. Can you believe it? It blows my mind to think it's already been a year. You throw our 2 year anniversary and Jordan's third test in the mix and I'd call it a full month. Just to start off October with the Corn Maze at Lone Pine. Jordan is taking an entire month off to help my parents out, and then he's off to Elk Hunting for a week. So mid November we can slow down and catch our breath a little. But we don't mind. We like it busy, we all do better that way :)

  Austyn has slowed down in the growing department finally. But has definitely gained speed in the movement department. She goes from the second she wakes up until the second her head hits the mattress. She is taking one or two steps by herself, she stands alone, talks (babbles) your ear off, goes 100 m.p.h., and has learned to give kisses. She pretty much mocks anything and everything. Things she hates: cottage cheese, getting her hair done, and trimming her nails. Things she loves: food (this girl can put the food away. Most of the time she eats more than I do at dinner), bathes, playing at Grandma and Grandpa Garner's house, being outside with mommy and daddy, and being on anything that burns gas (that goes, goes, goes!). She has her 1 year check-up on September 22, we are all kind of excited. It's always fun to see how much she's grown, and it's nice to have a complete stranger tell us how perfect she is (even though that's their job and they says it to every baby. It's still nice to hear).

  Jordan is busy as ever. He just took his third test and did amazing, 91% Woop Woop!!!! He says the Fourth test isn't as bad. He went golfing with his work last weekend and had a ball. Although I think he may be better a Wii golf, he still had fun. I'm not sure if it is the golf cart or the golf game that keeps him going back.

  Not much to say about me. I'm just trying to enjoy the good stuff in life. Things seem to be in warp speed most of the time. And it's sure easy to get caught up in the little stuff that doesn't matter rather than appreciate and cherish the important things. I've made it my personal goal to try and live day to day. You never know what tomorrow may bring.

  Hope all is well with everyone. Enjoy the last part of summer. Fall is almost here!!! Yeehaa!! That means it's almost Christmas and my Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Am I too old for that? Neah :)

  I'll post a blog after Ausytn's Birthday.

 

Lake Shasta . . .

  Jordan, Austyn, and I were able to go on a houseboat from the 10th through the 15th on Lake Shasta. We went with Jordan's entire family and it was so much fun. Jordan was telling me the last time his whole family had been together for more than a day or so was back when his oldest brother was in high school (late 90's). Our trip down was pretty eventful in itself. Two blown tires later and we barely made it in time to board the boat. Once we got unpacked and settled in it was just fine. We had 9 adults, 3 kids, and 2 babies on board. It sounds like a lot, but the houseboat was so big that there was plenty of room for everyone. I was pretty nervous about the safety features for babies on board, but it was set up perfect. I never had to worry about Austyn. The weather was gorgeous. It didn't get too hot during the day, and it cooled off nicely at night. I can't believe how big that lake is. We could have spent days cruising around and still not have seen everything. The trip was so relaxing. I'm used to going a million mph on vacations, but this one was completely different. We didn't do too much of anything. I only tubed once, and a few people wake boarded and skied and that was about it. Jordan and I were the whitest two on the boat and we left the whitest two. We didn't get sunburned, so that was a plus. Austyn did great as usual. It's so nice having a baby that adapts well to anything. It was so fun to have Austyn's cousin that's 4 months older than her on the boat. It really pushed Austyn to do more things. She  learned how to pull up while we were there. It was really exciting. Everyone got along really well and all the kids did great. I know Jordan really enjoyed spending time with his whole family. It was pretty sad when we all got into our cars and went different directions. At least it was fun while it lasted. Hopefully we can do it again next year.

This is in our bathtub. All three cuties! Austyn, Cole, and Kate

Jordan enjoying the warm weather

She loved driving the boat (we were actually driving)

The water was so warm (in most spots)

Grandma Lisa and Austyn

There were a ton of Eagles around the lake.

I was able to get some pretty cool shots of

an Eagle on the shore and then flying off.

Jordan's sister took this picture. It is so cool.

I'm using it as her now 10 month picture. She

has refused to let me take her 9 month picture so

this is what she gets. And I'll tell her she was a brat

and this was the only one she'd take. :)

Austyn and Kate in matching bathing suits

Our family picture

This was our boat. It even had a hot tub on the top.

Daddy and baby

This is Jordan slalom skiing. It was weird to think that

Jordan and I have been together for 9 years and

I have never seen him do this. He was really good.

What a funny guy!

  That's been our biggest adventure since my last post. We did get to go to the Rodeo for the 4th of July (thanks mom for watching Austyn). It was so much fun. I can't remember the last time I have actually sat and watched the whole rodeo performance. Jordan had a few days off around the 4th of July so we got to get a lot done around the house and just hang out and do whatever we wanted. It was so nice. We usually try and do trips when he's off, but we decided to just stay around here. It was a good decision. We went to the Harrisburg Parade  in the morning, then hung out with friends and family all day, then went to a BBQ at my Aunt's house, and watched the Harrisburg fireworks at night. Fun had by all.

  Jordan is starting to study again for his next test in September. Man, that month he takes off in between tests sure goes fast :( Our garden is slowly getting bigger. We might have veggies by the end of the season. Ha Ha! Austyn is getting bigger and learning more daily. And I am doing fine. Our next trip is to Kah-nee-ta for a wedding in a month. Should be fun. Hope everyone is doing fine.