"So this is.......snow?" She was not so impressed later on when a few flakes fell upon her precious little head. Her daddy caught her deep in thought, looking out the window of our condo at Tahoe. 

The highlight of the Tahoe trip for Jackson....building Frosty the Snowman. Although Jackson took off his gloves every 1 1/2 minutes and cried because snow got in them and they wouldn't stay absolutey inside his coat sleeves, when asked about his favorite part of the trip he replied, "Building Frosty." There you have it - the inner workings of a 3 year old's thought process. 

First cousins Nate and Kevin with their sons at Lake Tahoe. Also cold for the desert dwellers. Kevin's family lives in CO, note the light shell of a fleece and jeans - the desert Cooks wore thermals under about 30 layers of more warm stuff. 

Picking apples in the mountains for Nate's birthday. It was very, very cold for the desert dwellers. 

Nate wears his birthday crown (courtesy of Jackson Cook Designs) and celebrates another birthday that keeps him older than Jen. 

Halloween! The Princess and the Ladybug

Elinor shared her beautiful flower with everyone, while Jackson kept the neighborhood aphid-free! 

Halloween! Glow Stick in the Bath!

After a full night, Jackson got to take a special bath in the dark with only his glow stick to light the way!

With the bubbles, it looked very cool.

This was a long exposure, so you can see where Jackson had been before he moved. 

Halloween! Our little pum'kin

Delaney in her usual position, strapped down in a seat of some kind.

You can't see it in this photo, but the bottoms of her feet say, "Boo!" 

Halloween! Goooeeeey!

Jackson digging into the guts of his pumpkin.

Funny story, there. So we leave in July for 6 weeks. When we left, the backyard was in okay shape.

When we return, a lot of things have grown up including an 8 foot tall sunflower and a HUGE pumpkin patch! We had months earlier cut back something that looked like a squash of some kind. And now it looks like we'll be harvesting pumpkins well into the winter! We already have cut 5 or 6, and there are still blooms on the plant.

Apparently, with a modicum of top soil and regular watering (thanks to an automatic sprinkler system), ANYTHING will grow in the desert. 

Halloween! Pumpkin' it old school

Jackson said, "I want a *scaaaarrrry* pumpkin, Daddy!" Judge for yourself. This pumpkin hails back to the original reason for jack o' lanterns...scaring the sheet off a ghost! 

Halloween! It's the Giant Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Jackson "Ladybug" Cook, poses with his mom, "Farmer Jen", with the mythical creature mid-way through his first Trick-or-Treat adventure! (Or as Jackson would say, "Chick-or-Creet!") 

Halloween! Bear says "Lick or Treat!" hehuhuhehuh

One of bear's two modes, the other is sleep. 

Halloween! More Glow Stick in the Bath

In this one, you can see Jackson's typical activity level highlighted by the glow stick. :) If you look carefully, you can see Jackson in the middle of all the frenzy