Out of Thin Air comes, The Wydaho Dahls

Oh where , Oh where have the Wydaho Dahls gone?

Soooooo, yeah, ummm, well, it has been a loooooong time since I posted anything and well, I am pretty sure that we don't have any readers anymore. Understandable.

There was a time when I had time to post weekly and now I think I am going to aim for posting yearly...just kidding, but I will try to be better! Between Cocoa Grove, Real Estate, two kiddos under two and all that comes with being a wife and mom, there just isn't time for my blog or my sanity. Not to mention, my 7 year old laptop took a nose dive off of a counter and fell four feet to it's death onto cement. Now I am using our 10 year old desk top that is slower than molasses in January.  SO, you will notice, that there are no photos...I had photoshop on my laptop, but not on my desktop and haven't been able to down load photos from my camera to my desktop...my memory card is full and as I type, I am downloading a 30 day free trial of Photoshop.

SO, to catch you up on things. Cocoa Grove is going great. There are SO many folks who just love the cocoa and come down from Targhee just for a cup after skiing! We are still figuring things out, but it is going really well. It is a ton of hard work and hopefully, someday soon, we will be able to pay ourselves a little bit of money ;)

We were home for Thanksgiving AND Christmas this year and had a great time. I say, we were home, but there wasn't much time actually spent at home. WE went Christmas tree hunting with 2 other families on Thanksgiving. If I remember correctly, there were 6 adults, 8 kids and 2 dogs...it was an interesting time. We found a 22+ footer that even Clark W. Griswald himself would have been extremely proud of! We then got together with those families, plus a couple more, at our new pastors house for dinner. No one went hungry, that is for sure!  On Christmas,  I made sure we were REALLY busy as Jon was working and I didn't want to be at home crying because I wasn't at home with my folks in Seattle. We went to friends house for Christmas breakfast and Jon was able to surprise us with a 45 minute visit! That night we went over to another friends house for dinner. It was a lovely Christmas, but I sure missed being back in Seattle!

Over the past few months Heiden has really been having fun. She has been skiing a few times and LOVES to go sledding. She still isn't a big fan of Ryker, so we are working on that. About the only time she can stand being in the same room as him is at bath time. She loves to play candy land, chutes and ladders, color, paint, dance, read, do art projects and watch TV.

Ryker is 22 lbs at 10 months! He has 4 teeth and is working on 3 more at the moment, poor guy. He walks around the furniture, crawls like the dickens and loves to torment his sister. He says mama, claps and loves his mama and bath time! He is wearing 12-18 months clothes already! It is so strange to have such a peanut in Heiden then a Tank with Ryker! Ryker is going to be taller than Heiden soon and she is REALLY going to be upset ;)

Jon is working up a storm and is doing "daddy daycare"  3 days a week. We did have a day up at Targhee, but with all of our new gear, it was a short day.  Jon is planning a hog hunting trip to Texas in February with the boys, so that gives him something to look forward to. I am really hoping that my mom will come out to help me with the kiddos.

We are 99% done with the fire. Just a few odds and ends to take care of at this point. Boy are we glad that is behind us. A new baby, a fire, a move, a rebuild, another move, and a new business, it was a year of ups and downs.

Well, let's hope 2010 is a little more even keeled...we could use it.

Cheers and Happy New Year!

Cocoa Grove

 

After years and years of dreaming about opening up a coffee shop, the day has  arrived. It was 8 years ago that my brother, Paul and I started planning Double Diamond espresso in Jackson, but we were never able to "pull the trigger"...fast forward 8 years and here is the story! My friend Hilary owned the local coffee shop called the Daily Buzz and I had told her a few times that if she ever wanted to sell her shop, to let me know. Hilary had mentioned a few times that she was thinking of selling, but I just didn’t know how I could make a go of it by myself. I really wanted to, but just didn’t have the “know how”, to make it happen.   It was late in August when my friend Molly  (who is also from Washington State), sent me a message on Face Book asking if I could help her find a piece of land in Alpine for a drive up coffee shop. Immediately I called her and told her about my takings with Hilary and well, 3 months of hard work later and we are opening up Cocoa Grove on Wednesday! Molly is an amazing pastry chef who makes wedding cakes for Jackson Hole Mountain resort and has worked at several 5 star restaurants in Jackson Hole! We are such a good pair as she has the know how and I have the want.

The shop was a coffee shop/deli, called the Daily Buzz, but we decided to change the name to Cocoa Grove and will be more of a coffee shop/bakery! We will specialize in organic coffee drinks, gourmet cocoa and decadent pastries. Our goal is to start staying open late on Friday and Saturday nights with jazz nights, poetry nights and artist receptions while serving scrumptious, home made desserts (who am I kidding, MOLLY made desserts). 

I just can't believe how much my life has changed since I moved here 8 years ago and how extremely bless I am. God has truly blessed me with the most amazing, loving and patient husband and 2 beautiful children who absolutely love life and have added such joy to our lives. Our home in the Tetons has become a haven/retreat from the world and the laughter of our children and each other is more than I could have ever asked for. THEN, to top it off, now I get to realize a dream by opening a coffee shop in a ski town at the base of the Tetons. Wow, I feel guilty for being so happy when there are so many people who are struggling so badly. We are so blessed. Life is SO good.

Home, Oh So Sweet Home

It has been so long since I posted, but life has been insanely crazy to say the least. After 3 months, we are FINALLY so happy to be back in our house after the fire! The saying absence makes the heart grow fonder is SO right on. It is beyond wonderful to be back in our home, our space and our family routine. We are working on unpacking and putting the house back together on a daily basis and I have learned that I have too many clothes, if that is possible ;) 

It was a very hard summer, with a baby and a 2 year old in a house that was definitely NOT family friendly, but we were blessed to have a house to live in that was so close to ours. Thank you so much to all of our friends and family that reached out to us during our little bump in the road. We love you so much and are grateful to you all.  The fire is past us, we are still dealing with a few odds and ends and we are moving on. Thank goodness we are home as the snow is flying!  Here is the fire story in photos.

Summer trip to the Dahl Farm

SURPRISE!We headed to the farm and surprised Jons sister, Jamie, with a 40th birthday party. All of Jons siblings and tons of family showed up for the party and the family totally pulled it off,  Jamie was truly surprised!! It was an absolutely wonderful trip filled with parties, shopping trips, runs, bike rides, 4 wheeler rides, a trip to the pool, cousin time, late night cards, Mooma and Poopa (this is what Heiden has named her grandma and grandpa) time and Ryker got to meet his great grandma for the first time also. Heiden LOVED the cows, just loved them. When she would feed them corn, she would say "Hi cows, corn dogs?" over and over and over again.  Our trip to the pool didn't go so well =( There was a big "mushroom" shaped waterfall that scared the life out of Heiden and as soon as that sucker came on, she wanted NOTHING to do with the pool. On a side note, we have been to the pool since and she loved it, thank goodness! We stayed with Jons brother and sister in law who live in town and right on the bike path, so we took advantage of that with runs thru the corn fields, along the river and with the deer! Molly and I even took time out to take a sunset bike ride one evening which was absolutely wonderful. We did have a scare when Landon (Jake and Mollys son) was hurt on the trampoline and had to be rushed to the hospital. In the end, he was alright, but it was scary for all.  We will miss the farm at "Thanksmas", but I have a new love for Rushford and loved my first trip in the summer! XOXO

Our trip to the Emerald City

We spent a week out in the Seattle area and as usual, it was action packed. I tried to make the trip a little more relaxing, but between a wedding, baby shower, Mariners game, dinner parties with friends, a family dinner, a luncheon with moms friends, shopping, hiking, Heidens first haircut, a day at the zoo, the children's museum and a trip out to visit my dad at the beach, time just F-L-E-W by! Mom was pretty excited to show off her newest grandson to her friends and I was able to see some of moms friends when she hosted a luncheon at her house. Beebop, Heiden and Java spent some serious quality time down by the river throwing rocks that Beebop had collected and put into a bucket for easy rock throwing. I can't tell you just how much Heiden loved that, but the smiles in the photos should give you a good idea.  We also spent a day out in Poulsbo where my dad got to meet his first grandson! It was a  bit chilly, but there was some good rock throwin' time at the beach also.  While Meemaw, Beebop, Jon, Ryker and myself went to the Mariners game (they beat the Red Sox), Heiden went to the zoo with my good friend Melissa, her niece and sister. It was just wonderful for Heiden to see all these animals she reads about in books in real life.  If you want to hear more stories, Ryker would love to tell you with all of his "talking". If you speak "goo and coo", you would get an ear full.

Well, we celebrated our 4 year anniversary and my 30 something birthday last week. Time sure flies by when you get married, build a house, get a new job, and have 2 kids in 4 years! Hmmm, I wonder what fun yhe NEXT four years will bring?!?

A 2 year old peanut...

Meeska, Mooska,  Mickey Mouse, we have a 2 year old in the house!  Our little cherub turned 2 years old last Thursday!!! At her 2 year check up she was 23 lbs and 33 inches tall, which is only the 10th % for weight and 23rd% for height. She is a good eater and will eat most anything, but she goes and goes all day so we just can't keep any weight on her. She had a BLAST at her Mickey Mouse themed birthday party this past Saturday. She had so much fun playing with her friends and definitely knew what to do with the presents and the cup cakes. Now almost every day she asks for presents, oh how I hate to disappoint her. I guess bubbles on a daily basis will have to do ; )  I had never thrown a children's birthday party before, but mission accomplished, everyone had a great time. 

On Earth day, we were outside playing and Heiden ran up to the apple tree and said "Tree! Hug!" and hug she did. I had nothing to do with it, it was just out of the blue...we have a beautiful, wonderful, special little girl on our hands. I hardly remember our lives before Heiden and could never have dreamed that we would have such a wonderful daughter. We love her so much and she has brought so much joy and happiness into our lives. There is NOTHING like walking in the door and having our beautiful little one come running up to ussaying "MOMMY or DADDY" and jump up into your arms to give you a kiss and a hug. Nope, nothing like it.  Happy Birthday Heiden, we love you so much and are honored to call you our little cherub, or love bug, or booger bear, or bugs, or little shaver, or muffin, or bubs, or peanut, baby girl or, bubba goo or....

 

Springtime FUN

We had such a WONDERFUL Easter this year! Our friends/neighbors invited us over for an Easter egg hunt at their house and we had another one after church.  Heiden had so much fun collecting, then throwing the eggs. She would put the eggs in her basket, take them out then say "throw" as she threw them as far as she could. It was pretty cute. We still have some snow around so, both of the egg hunts were a bit chilly, but it was a gorgeous sunny day. 

Heiden is starting to put words together now. She has been talking for a long time, but now she is saying things like "Aubris house" (our neighbor and her babysitter) and "Mickey Mouse" (it was just Mickey). She is also going to be 2 on Thursday and well, she is definitely starting to say "NO" like a 2 year old. Look out, Hurricane Heiden is starting to experiment with Independence, including picking out her outfits, which you will see in the photos. She puts together some pretty crazy getups.

I started following Baby Wise, which is a book based sleep technique, about a week ago and it has been wonderful. Ryker slept 3 hours in a row one night, then 4 hours the next, then 5 the next and last night, he slept 6 hours IN A ROW!!! JOY, OH JOY! Let's hope he does it again tonight (please God, let him do it again tonight). He is smiling and watching me from his bouncy chair, still spitting up ALL THE TIME, grunting, tooting and burping like a true boy.  I have a new understanding for men. It is totally nature, they just can't help it! If only someone had told me this years ago =) 

One month already?!

As they say, time flies when you are having fun, so we must be having more fun than a barrel of monkeys! As the sun shines,the snow melts and the mud takes over Teton Valley, we are getting into the swing of things here in Wydaho.  Jon has started working days and it is so wonderful having him home at night for dinner and the kids "night night" routine.  Heiden is really turning into quite the amazing little one and her vocabulary continues to amaze us. The other day, she busted out with "awesome" and "yo"... it is pretty funny to hear a 2 year old say "awesome, yo". Pretty stinkin' funny. She has earned the nickname "hurricane" as it is amazing the mess that she leaves in her wake.

Ryker is 5 weeks old and believe it or not, he is lifting up his head. He lifts his head up, looks around, then it starts to wobble like a bobble head! Seriously, see for your self in the photos!  At his 1 month check up he was 11 lbs, 8 oz and 22 inches long. This little guy loves his food and burps, grunts, and toots with the best of em'. He is all boy, I tell you, all boy...ALREADY! 

   

He is waking up every couple of hours in the night to eat, so mommy is still a walking zombie, but it is amazing how productive one can be on very little sleep. I definitely have "baby brain" and make many comments that would make Jessica Simpson proud, but I manage =)

As we sit in the sun, on the front porch, watching Heiden, Java and the cats play and the tulips poke their heads out of the snow, it reminds us of the wonder of Spring and how truly blessed we are. Happy Easter!

Gone are the days of posting weekly! So sorry that it has been 2 weeks since my last post. Time is just flying by every day so quickly. Since my last post, which I think was actually from the hospital, so much has happened. Jons mom, his brothers (Jake) wife and her 1 1/2 year old son came for a very productive, but short visit.  It never ceases to amaze me how Joyce and Molly are as sycronized in the kitchen as a gold medal winning sycnronized swimming pair! Molly made the daily meals as Joyce spent her time making meals to fill our freezer and my mom had Ryker holding duty. I can't believe how blessed we are to have such amazing family come to our rescue. My step dad then jumped in the motor home and made his journey out also. SO, needless to say, it was a busy house, but a house full of love.   Grandma, Bee-bop (my mom and step dad) and auntie Molly, brought out some pretty amazing pressies for big sister Heiden. You will see from the photos that Heiden has a new bouncy horse and trike. They certainly don't make trikes like they used to...this thing rocks. Bee-bop (as Heiden calls Jack) even made custom foot pedals so Heiden can reach the pedals.

Now, for the Ryker report:  At 3 weeks old Ryker is 10lbs and 22 inches! I can't believe how much this guy eats, but with as much as he has grown, it makes sense.  Ryker has been rolling over! Yes, rolling over. At first Jon and I just didn't believe it, but then we saw it with our own eyes. He is also lifting up his head and is really strong.   Heiden could still care less about her little brother, but she is starting to pay a little more attention to him. She gives him his binkey, tries to share her juice with him and says "baby" when he cries. 

We had so many visitors and are so grateful for all of the meals and love sent our way. We didn't have to cook for weeks! With Jon working so much over time we are still trying to figure out our routine, but it is getting better every day and the meals have been so helpful.

Well, I had better ge off the computer and back to the little ones as I am being summoned!

Love from the Tetons

Introducing Mr. Ryker Allyn Dahl

We did it! We have a new little man in our lives as of 11:10 p.m. on March 2nd.  Ryker Allyn (Ryker is Danish for strong and Allyn is my dad and moms names squished together) just couldn't wait to come into the world and was one day early (already an over achiever). I felt different on Monday morning when I went into the Dr. office at 10:00 for my weekly check and as it turns out I was in early labor. Theresa, my midwife, had me come back at 1:00 to check things out. At that point I was having contractions every 4-5 minutes so it was decided that I needed to check into the hospital at 5:00 p.m.  Jon and I ran my mom and Heiden back home,  then headed back over to Jackson to check in.  I will leave out the details, but just 6 hours of quick labor later, we have a very healthy baby boy. As I type, Ryker is in the "tanning bed" as he, like his big sister get to start life with Jaundice.  They caught the Jaundice early and his critically high levels have luckily come down quickly and hopefully we will get to go home tomorrow.  Grandma Lynn and Heiden came for a visit to the hospital yesterday and Heiden met her baby brother for the first time. She pointed to his nose and gave him a pat on the head, other than that, it was business as usual, getting into everything and wanting to color. 

Ryker has a little bit of brown hair, grey eyes,  and the Benson long fingers and long feet.  He definitely has his daddies easy going disposition so far (let's hope that keeps up) and is just a mellow guy. He is a very good eater and loves the paci.  It is just wonderful to know that our family is complete. Bristol (our first kitty), Simon (our second kitty), Java (our only dog), Heiden and Ryker...we are complete. It is amazing how blessed we are and we are grateful for every loving moment. Thank you to all for your phone calls, emails, texts, balloons and flowers... the love has been overwhelming.

The photos of the elk are right out the windows of the hospital!