Happy 2 B in Boise

He really is a happy little guy as long as he is not hungry and gets lots of attention (which he got last Sunday).  Here he is being cute the other day.

On to Idaho

We arrived in Idaho last Saturday for the blessing of our latest grandson on Sunday.  Although it is a bit warmer here than Indiana, we have had loads of fun with our family here.  Here are some photos of the big day last Sunday.

 Smiley boy.

 He really doesn't have big eyes, but he can sure open them wide.

 A finger and a nap - what more could you ask for?

 2 old guys.

 A quiet moment with great grandpa.

 The photo shoot.

 What the guest of honor thought of the photo shoot.

 It was really nice to have Wes and Lisa with us.  We had a lot of fun.

 Big sister.

Looking east down I-84 from the Five Mile Road overpass.  There are some pretty huge fires burning off to the east of Boise, and when we drove into town on Saturday we were met with this view of a lot of smoke and some fire-spawned weather floating above it.  It was a pretty incredible sight.

Missing Indiana

We had so much fun in Indiana and now we really miss our family out there.  We can't wait to go back and enjoy the good food and the great company.  Although these photos don't near justice to all the fun we had, they may give a flavor.

 First day of First Grade.  This is one sharp little cookie who reads a few grades ahead of where she is, and was continually disappointed when they failed to have science class at school.

 She comes by it honestly.  When I was a lad I had the nick name of "dickey bird", at least partially because of a tendency I had to perch on things.  Looks like it got passed on, giving this a whole new definition to the term breakfast nook.

 Playing manaquin at Old Navy.  She is a natural, don't you think?

 No way to get on the horse, so she settled for standing in front of it.

 Two beauties!

 The two of us did a lot of walking around, and on one of our hikes we found this disposed exoskeleton of a bug that had obviously split out the back and made an escape.  She wanted to hold it while I took the photo.

Another "walk around" we did while her mom and my wife were shopping.  We ran into a lot of these and she got to play in them, always maintaining character suitable to the vehicle.  Later on this trip we found a Rocky Mtn. Chocolate Factory and shared a Peanut Butter Bucket (think dark chocolate Reeses peanut butter cup, but huge, like the size of the palm of my hand).  Forever after that became "the day we got the peanut butter bucket".

No photos of the girls' folks, but we had a great time hanging out with them as well, and appreciate their hospitality.

Indiana State Fair

One of the great things about visiting Indiana in August is attending the State Fair and having fun with our family there . . . not to mention all of the good food.  A week ago yesterday we went to the Fair with our daughter and granddaughter.  Here are a few photos of the fun we had.

 In front of the Pork Tent and by some of the corn planted all over the fairgrounds.  It was "the year of popcorn" and there was lots of corn planted everywhere - and plenty of popcorn, free and for sale.

 Making pork crackles in the old fashioned village.  Much to our dismay, we forgot to go back and get some when they were done.

 Entering the swine shrine.  After all, pork is king.

 And here is the big daddy himself - the biggest boar.

 There was a great looking dinosaur that walked around and gave photo shoots to folks who could pursuade their kids to get near it.

There were also lots of farm equipment, old and new.  I always like to watch the demonstration of how the old equipment was used.  The tractor did it all.  As you can see there is a belt attached to a tractor in the background.  As I walked by it was attached to a buzz saw and they were cutting boards.  It was fun to watch, but not as fun as eating all the good food: corn dogs, giant Amish donuts, snow cones, ice cream, cinnamon almonds, and popcorn, popcorn and more popcorn.  And what a joy to hang out with our family.