Halloween 2007

For Halloween this year, Austin wanted to be a monkey. Not just any monkey though, we had to find one with a banana! He had many choices that we thought he would go for-a dog, or a tool man, or a fireman, but he chose to be a monkey! It was his first year REALLY experiencing Halloween complete with a trip to the church trunk-or-treat, carving pumpkins, and of course, trick-or-treating. We practiced rehearsing what he would do Halloween night-knocking on doors, saying "Trick or Treat", and then "Thank you" after getting some candy. It was hysterical watching him run door-to-door overly excited and wanting to do it all night long. There were only a couple of doors that were "kinda scary" (as he likes to say) that he wouldn't go up by himself, the rest, he would eagerly bounce up to the door, ring the doorbell, and say the magic words. Everyone got a kick out of his costume, and wanted to give him extra candy (which of course, moms really appreciate!) because he was so cute and charismatic. His favorite houses were the ones with dogs, of course, at which point, he didn't care about the candy anymore! We even trick-or-treated Toby's house (Austin's pal, the bull dog), who was also dressed up for the occassion! I have to admit though, the highlight was when Austin was walking along the sidewalk, ran up to a complete stranger (a parent of a kid) said "Trick or Treat" and then reached into his candy bucket! It was hysterical!

"I'm just a boy!"

Lately, Austin loves to remind everyone that he is a boy. Not a big boy, not a cute or handsome boy, not a little monkey, not even a dude, JUST A BOY! For example, I will say to him, "Austin, you're such a big boy now!", and he will say, "No, I'm just a boy!" One night eating dinner, we asked him who else was a boy besides himself. We named Daddy and Uncle Matt (which he agreed were boys), but when we asked him about Grandpa, his comeback, was, "No, he's not a boy, he's a DUDE." It was soooo funny and unexpected, all of us laughed so hard. What a little firecracker!

WE'RE MOVING TO BOISE!!!!

BOISE, HERE WE COME!!!!! After several stressful weeks of interviewing, job offers, and negoatiating, Eric has finally accepted a position as a full-time Physical Therapist at a privately-owned company called Rehab Authority, which operates several outpatient clinics in Boise, ID and the surrounding area. We are extremely pleased and excited about this offer and believe that it will provide Eric a tremendous amount of learning and career growth right out of graduate school. It was a tough decision with so many offers on the table, but ultimately, it came down to long-term opportunity (which for us is 3-5 years now) within the company, work environment, and a big factor was the affordability of the city. As much as we both loved Portland and Seattle, the housing market was so expensive (esp for a new grad!) and we weren't totally sold on the weather! Another pull to Boise is the fact that we will only be a 4-5 hour drive away from family!

Eric will be leaving this weekend to start work next week, while at the same time, studying hard for the National Board exams (to become a licensed PT). Me and Austin, on the other hand, will stay in CA until around Thanksgiving, so we can save a little more moula, and try to find a place to live in the meantime! We are extremely excited aoout living in Boise, as another adventure awaits us!

Pumpkin Patch

Since Austin is 2 1/2 yrs old now and understands the concept of Halloween, we decided to take him to the Pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins to carve. The place we took him is like a carnival- equipped with rides, treats, wagons, etc. Austin was most interested in the train ride, which he called Thomas the Train (he thinks every train is Thomas) and wanted to ride it over and over again. Of course, he had to sit in the front every time and be the "conductor", ringing the bell and pushing all the buttons. Luckily, there weren't too many other kids there at that hour, so he didn't have to fight for the front seat! He also loved this dinky little tow truck, that he called "Mater", and he had his first experience playing in the balls (which he loved!). We are excited about carving some pumpkins with him and taking him Trick-or-Treating for the first time! Stay tuned to see what Austin dresses up as!

McEvoy Reunion in Utah

Last week we took the long drive from CA to UT to see family and Eric's youngest brother, Alan, who just returned home from his mission. It was so fun to be with everyone for a week, and Austin loved every minute playing with all of his cousins! There are now 15 grandkids (4 more on the way!) and 18 adults, and amazingly enough, Austin learned just about everyone's names! The best part of the trip was the 3 days we spent holed up in an enormous cabin in Bear Lake with the whole family! This place was amazing- it slept 34 people (in beds!), had several sofas and TV's, a large grassy backyard, and a basement filled with games and a theatre room. Most of the time we stayed inside playing games, like the Wii (so much fun!), enjoying good food, and laughing hysterically at each other (esp playing Mad Gab)! It was hard to leave everyone again, but hopefully we'll see them soon for the holidays!

Camping at Lake Don Pedro

This past weekend we spent a couple days at Lake Don Pedro, a 2 hr drive southeast, to camp and waterski with my family. It was Austin's first time camping and sleeping in a tent (needless to say, he was very excited!) and building a campfire. It was a little brisk waterskiing in late September, but it was well worth the scenic lake and "glassy water". Eric is getting quite good on a solomn ski now (after all summer long) and I'm slowly figuring out to jump the wake and land (most of the time crashing gracefully!). The best part was spending time with my family for one last hoorah before we move out later in Oct. Oh, and watching Austin's excitement and enthusiasm for being in the outdoors! We will definitley do more camping in the next place!