To those who check in on us via the blog... SORRY! With Facebook and Shutterfly, I've been neglecting it. Here is a rather recent pic of Oskar from a few weeks ago on his first fishing excursion with Daddy. He had a great time and we enjoyed some trout for dinner.

The rest of the house.

The front. : )

Cozy front porch.

The garage. We will eventually be able to fit both cars in here, hopefully. 

The side yard. Pretty big. We're thinking some raised beds for gardens and a couple of little fruit trees.

 This is Yakima after all! (That brown grass... we tackled the underground sprinkler system today. Should have it greened up someday... when we're ready to dig it out for gardening.)

Looks like we'll be here for awhile. Here are a few shots of OUR new house. We don't live in the country anymore and will miss strolling through the apple trees, but I'm grateful for neighbors (with kids!), sidewalks, and a grocery store 1/2 mile away! We feel very blessed to have found such a wonderful little spot to settle into.
For our family and friends who can't come visit yet... here are a few pics for now. Still no pictures hung, and I've moved a few things since snapping these. Oddly enough, I still haven't taken a picture of the front and side yards (where we'll plant our garden next spring). Still to come (maybe once we've managed to green up the lawn and get it mowed...)

Living Room. I'm standing with the front door to my immediate left.

Bedroom hallway. To the right as you come in the front door.

View from the front door through dining area to kitchen. (Nowhere to hide the dirty dishes now!)

Kitchen as seen from the family room, or what has become Oskar's play room because we had no other furniture for it. He LOVES it, and so do we actually.

Oskar's play room. Door to backpatio on right, to the left (just past dresser, is the door to garage/laundry room).

The view from the kitchen back through the dining area to the front.

Back patio and yard.

Visitors expected! : )

For the few blog readers still remaining, a brief picture recap of the last 5 months. (Our long absence from this blogworld was due to an unreliable computer whose memory was so full I couldn't send an email.)

A few pictures of our busy, busy boy. I'm so grateful that he enjoys cuddling up with books throughout the day to give us both a break once in awhile.

Here is Oskar gleefully unpacking a Christmas package that I was preparing to send.

We continue to enjoy hiking with our little man, but at 30 pounds it is no longer a walk in the park.

Oskar loves a good mess. Here he is splashing around in Kooper's water bowl.

Cutie patutie.
Visitors from Chicago! Oskar enjoyed meeting his great-uncle Doug and cousin Daniel back in March.

When Mark took the train back to North Dakota for his grandmother's funeral, Oskar and I headed to Portland where we enjoyed our first visit to the zoo. Oskar was more interested in all the kids on field trips than the animals, but I did catch a picture where he is at least pretending to be interested in the mountain goat. Oh well.

Oskar catching up on the news with Aunt Jenny.

Mormor visited us in April for two weeks while gramps was in Haiti.

This kids loves a good book.

The book Numbers gets two thumbs up!

Wow am I ever behind on this thing.
Oskar is 10 months old. 23 + pounds. 29.5 + inches.
Rolling over easily. Sitting up strong. Not a crawler (still prefers not to be on his stomach). Loves to stand. Just began taking steps when you hold his hands or around his tummy.

Some pictures for your enjoyment...

Hiking can be exhausting for all of us.

Oskar's First Thanksgiving

Uncle Lars and Aunt Jenny

Oskar after enjoying some Swedish meatballs at the Sons of Norway Lutefisk supper.
He ate some lutefisk too, but his face was cuter after meatballs. Wonder why?

Takin' a break at the Tieton Arts and Crafts Bazaar.

Walking to church from our house. 8:00 AM

A few straggling pears.
Apples waiting to be picked.

Apple boxes for transporting to the packing houses.


Adventures in Grapes, at home after Oskar's bedtime.
Homemade grape juice. Yum.
45 pounds of grapes.
Prepping grapes for raisins and grape juice.


At the park- because a post just isn't complete without Oskar.

More of Oskar James, Summer 2009.
In reverse chronological order.

Daddy home for lunch with us today.

Oskar sportin' some new pants I sewed for him today out of an old sweater of Mark's.
Cozy for fall!

Oskar and Grandpa Nystrom in Yakima just a couple weeks ago.

Oskar and Mormor.


Thanks for the overalls Heidi! I love them!!


This tummy time stuff is hard work, and not much fun!


Sitting all by myself, on the otherhand, is GREAT fun.
Future Viking?


Cleaning up the cob after daddy ate most of it.


No words needed.


So precious.


Grandma and Grandpa Swanson at the Minneapolis Airport.


Oskar sitting in daddy's old rocking chair.


Mormor, Grandpa, and Oskar in Decorah.