Hooray for Patty!

We were so excited for Patty to come visit!  Now that most of the boxes were out of the house, it was time to decorate!  Patty immediately put her skills to work and helped us get this house looking good.  Many of our pictures are on the walls, the living room is very livable, and all of our Dr. Seuss friends welcome you with open arms as you enter our playroom.
We did manage to take a break while she was here to take her up to Tahoe and see the gorgeous views of Emerald Bay.

Patty, thank you for all of your help, and we can't wait to see you and Rooty next time!!

Our first Nevada snow

It was just a dusting, but enough to make a snow angel.  Gunnar had a blast in it, but Levi wouldn't keep his mittens on and couldn't walk in his boots, so he just screamed.

Happy Halloween!

The weekend before Halloween, we were invited to a party at one of Erik's coworker's houses.  Levi was originally going to go as a Chick Magnet, but he quickly pulled his chicks off.

 So he quickly became a lion.

The next day, we all took a trip to the Corley Ranch for some fun on the farm.  A corn maze, petting zoo, putt-putt, and of course the pig races.

Halloween night, we toted the boys around in our awesome wagon.  Levi kept getting a bit swallowed up in his lion.  But both boys had a blast and managed to fill their buckets.

Fun with Grammy and Pop-Pop

As Erik was settling into his new work life at the office, Grammy and Pop-Pop took the boys on some adventures so that I could do some unpacking.
The railroad museum was a big hit.

And back to Taylor's Creek so that Grammy and Pop-Pop could see the salmon.

Grammy gave Gunnar his first sewing lesson as they made a cape for his Superman pajamas.

And everyone had fun goofing off as we were starting to get delirious over boxes.

Happy Nevada Day!

We arrived just in time to celebrate Nevada's statehood, which is an official holiday, which meant that Erik got a day off of work and we got to play!
The celebration started with a 20+ hot air balloon send-off from the main street in Carson City.

It was followed by a fun parade that went on for so long that we didn't last to the end.

Kokanee Salmon spawning

After several exhausting days of moving in, Grammy and Pop-Pop took off for a trip to Yosemite, and we spent an afternoon up at Tahoe to see the salmon spawning.  A short, beautiful hike led us to Taylor's Creek, where the bright red salmon had taken over.  The pictures don't do it justice - the salmon were there by the thousands, laying their eggs.  The ducks were enjoying a nice meal, but we didn't see any bears this time (though they usually make daily fishing trips to this area).

 We got to take a peek under the water...

And had fun on our nature walk.

 

Welcome to Nevada!

And, yes, the proper way to say it (if you don't want to sound like a tourist) is with the "a" sounding like it does in the word "ad."
Home Sweet Home!
Gunnar wanted to be the first to ring the doorbell...

I never thought I'd have to move to the desert to have the best lawn I've ever owned.

 Our first visitors...

The best sandbox ever (playset to be added later)...

Our view of the mountains (also pictured is the back of our house)...

We were so thankful to have Grammy and Pop-Pop here to help as we moved in.  We celebrated with a gourmet meal (BYO furniture).

Welcome Frank, Mark, and Charma!  The were happy to see that we were moving in to a ranch!  (And I still think it's a little funny to see all of our belongings on a truck.)

Bring on the boxes!!