a video ... to begin

taken this morning of stella + alasdair:
(photos + stories of the holiday times to come)

nature's in our living room

thank you, tree, for being in our home, for sacrificing your life for our lights and for filling our air with your scent. ben went out and found the perfect tree this evening. photos of pre-decorating, and post:


perty.

on the road ...

... not alasdair's favorite place to be. ben, alasdair, morley and i made a quick trip to boise last weekend. ben's mama + mark were in town from far, far yonder near the southeast side of things, so we just had to get back home (is it home?) to see them. while there we were also able to visit with marci, george + miriam, alasdair's adopted grandparents, and great-grandma-ma. photos:
the boy + grandma marci:

below, the boy + the riddle clan, plus sweet ben:

and, photos of alasdair and his cousin, stella + grandma:

a + stella:

a, stella + grandma:

and, papa holding back an eager alasdair (he wanted to kiss, kiss, grab, poke and kiss sweet stella so badly):

happenings at home

I've been posting lots of photos. good work. now I need to post some words. 'going ons' around the mclenna household: miren + luke + brandon arrived last friday. m + l left sunday, brandon will take the greyhound home tomorrow. his first bus ride. slc to boise via the greyhound makes for a long trip. seems people just have to stop for those smoke breaks ...
it's been a delight to have friends here. friday we celebrated miren and luke's trip to thailand (they leave in a week) with a thai soup. my dad recently gave me a killer recipe. one of which i dream of in my sleep. nearly. saturday we had intentions of lunch in park city with lorrine + others, but the snow was crazy. it dumped 36 inches on friday night and didn't slow down throughout the whole day on saturday. it was beautiful. is beautiful. getting the snowmobiles out and down to the car was quite the affair. I'm so happy we had people here to help ben out. on saturday we did realize that we don't have a sled. bad, bad, bad deal. we'll have to make something with the old snowmobile skis downstairs. now the sun is shining. the snow glistening. and I think it's about time for some outside time. to watch morley in the snow is a treat. if he's breaking trail, he disappears for a moment---then his head pops out again.
lots of snow.
other happenings in alasdair's world: I think he's working on teeth. he's been a little ornery the past few days. I don't blame him. experiencing the pain of a sharp bit busting through layers must be a terribly painful affair. we have offered him more banana. he plays with it. attempts to pull it to his mouth, though most times it becomes morley's treat on the floor. alasdair is talking more and more. playing games with ben. hide and seek seems to be his particular favorite at the moment. he's taught himself to place a rag over his head, then pull down---he's learned that upon doing that he receives oohs and excitement from his audience. he's also elongating. his hair is growing. he is growing, in general. ah, and he's loving morley. very interested in tugging on his nose and ears. not so interested in morley's licks, however.
so, our house is doing well. inhabitants of this house are doing well. we're hoping to make a trip to boise next weekend, weather permitting. ben's mom + mark will be in town. we'll do what we have to in order to get there.
then, my mama + sister + family arrive in a week and a half for the holidays.
very exciting, good times.
I'll attempt to update this here blog in a more exciting, inviting fashion.

i asked for it

the snow, that is.

my snow, man

just got back from town. sweet, snowy papa.

the homemade bit

we are finally experiencing snow in the mountains.
the snow that dumps uninhibitedly. is that a word? the snow that doesn't have much concern for your need to get places. more important is its need to fall and blanket your surroundings. beautiful, beautiful snow.
while it's snowing, alasdair and i stay indoors. for now, at least. we need snowshoes. then, we'll walk in it. on it. with it. and such.
so, while inside---as previously mentioned---we sew.
here are yesterday's creations: an apron for mama and pants (from scraps of ben's pants that he cut into shorts) for the boy.

cloth dipes, good looks

traditions are born of habit, so it seems.
a few new bits for us: we give alasdair a bath every night (water only, mind, just feels good), read to him each night, cuddle and play in the morning, then head out to the kitchen/living/dining/computer/library room (yes, it's all-in-one) to prepare coffee and breakfast. it's a daily routine, really, but tradition too--kind of.
more than that, on sunday we listen to a particular cd: the mission soundtrack. i find myself itching to listen to it throughout the week, in the evenings, upon waking up----but i do not, for it is now dubbed our sunday cd, and we only listen to it on sunday. every sunday. when i travel, i will bring it.
alasdair got some fuzzy mail. ah yes, cloth diapers. the goods. it's becoming an obsession... this cloth diapering business. he has little g dipes, but they don't rock like the bum genius and fuzzi bunz. here's the little man in the fuzzi bunz (hanging to his knees):

we've also been sewing. well, we: i sew, alasdair is my inspiration. sewing: babylegs. faux babylegs, i should say. he's my little 80s-inspired child.


they serve a double purpose, too ... they're also arm warmers for me (just need to cut thumb holes).

the daily update. there it was.

it's snowing, finally

... and we're getting dumped on.
hooray. hoopla. this is great. ben is out on snowmobile, working with some other gracious mountain man to move the truck down.
it's nutty snow up here, though word is Salt Lake has even accumlated 8 inches. we have feet, and love it.
alasdair isn't such a huge fan of the snowmobile, not yet at least.
In celebration of snow, I decided to post our recent (and final) walks on dry land.

ben + the boy:



red, the silly cat, can be seen following us. on the way home he cried and cried. poor guy didn't realize it would be a long, circular walk. i think his lazy body would have stayed home.



alasdair, sweet little man, bundled:



and, the boy, swinging. ON HIS OWN, no less:



from here on out, we will be on snowmobile.
yippy.
i'll admit: i'm a little scared.

photos to tell the story

i know, i know ... I've been terrible at updating this site.
So, here are photos because I know that's what any viewer wants to see.
Ben's papa, Jeri, Jason + kids were here just before Thanksgiving.
Good times.
I'll write a bit ...in a bit.







Now a few shots of the boy getting WAY too big.
He sits in his faux highchair and thrashes a sippy cup about.
and check him out... the boy wants food.