Pumpkin Carving

Saturday night was pumpkin carving night.  We decided that a happy pumpkin was in order this year; we can try for scary later.  Not sure if we have the skills to pull off scary.  Paul was pretty pleased to make curves that were somewhat smooth!  Lotty watched from her high chair, which wheels around nicely between the dining room and the kitchen.  She then inspected the finished product on the front porch.  Look at those chubby cheeks!

After the mess of carving the pumpkin, it was bath time.  Actually, Lotty didn't get all that messy, but it was time for a bath anyway.  She enjoys bath time and we usually get some good smiles with her in the tub.

Paul is working on a set of smile pictures to come out soon.

Mountain Retreat (Belated)

As some of you may know, we took a little vacation to the mountains when Lotty was 2 months old.  (Actually right after she got her shots, which worked out better than it could have.)  If you have been keeping track, she is now over 3 months old.  So yes, it has been a while.  Our excuse is that we have all been working on Elizabeth's new CD, In Her Honor, Vol. 1.  That is now off to the presses and I thought I had better post something here.


As I mentioned, we went up to the mountains and rented a cabin not far from Index, WA.  Our trusty old Subaru was pretty full with stuff for the baby and the dog.  You can see the front door of the cabin as well as the view we had from the riverbank on the other side of the cabin.  The cabin had some nice large windows that looked out over the river, too.

We were joined for part of the time by Oma and Grandpa Derksen, giving us some help with watching Lotty and letting us have a dinner out in the happening town of Gold Bar.  You can see Oma with Lotty in front of the big picture windows overlooking the river.  It may have been the shots, but Lotty spent time by the wood stove happily napping.

The whole Smith Derksen Family also made it up during the day on Saturday.  They brought their dog, Camello for Max to use as a chew toy.

We did get to do some hikes as well.  Lotty didn't hike very much, but she was happy to be carried.  Most of the hiking time she slept, but she did look around for a little bit while we were in the forest.  You can see we made it up to the waterfall, which was very nice.  Max definitely enjoyed getting out more.  You can see Lotty with Paul in the carrier.

Don't worry.  More recent pictures of Lotty and stories about what she has been up to will be coming soon.