Val Dowland

Hey girlies,
Well, I know that we haven't posted for the last couple months, but you can always check our blog if you're dying to know what's been going on in our life. :) http://dowlandfam.blogspot.com. So, August - - what a busy month! We were on vacation for 2 weeks and that was a blast. We went to McCall, ID and Island Park, ID. We had so much fun! But after two weeks back to back vacation, it was good to be home. On the way to McCall we stopped in Rupert, ID to see my friend and former roomie Mary. She and her husband live on a dairy farm, so Emmie got to feed the goats peanuts, and the baby cows bottles. We went to the Minidoka County fair, which was fantastic. You haven't lived until you see a wild cow ride - - hilarious! In McCall we rented waverunners and played on the lake a lot and we made model boats to race down the river. It was a lot of fun! Island Park was a giant reunion on my Dad's side. We rafted down a river during the rain, I was freezing, played a lot of volleyball, four wheeled, and went to a rodeo. It's been a wonderful month!
Jared has started school. He's decided that he is going into Construction Management. He's going to be super busy taking 25 credits this semester. He just wants to get done, but for the first time in his life he enjoys going to class! Which makes a big difference. :) He is working for my Dad as a Loan Officer/Account Executive. The sno shack is closed down for the cold weather - - but Jared has it set up in the garage so if you're ever hankering for a sno cone, don't hesitate to ask.
Emmie turned 1 1/2 on August 11th and I can't believe how big she is getting. She is now going to nursery, and I'm starting to wonder if it is as wonderful as it sounds. She picks up a lot of bad habits from the other kids, 'Mine' and hitting and being very possessive of things. She makes Jared and I laugh everyday and we just look at eachother and wonder what we ever did without her. She is talking a lot. She'll mimic pretty much anything you say to her. We've started potty training, and I'm hoping to be a little more successful at it now that we're actually home. She does pretty well at telling me she needs to go potty. My goal is just to get her potty trained by the time the next one comes along.
Which bring us to the exciting news that we found out that we are having a little boy! Yay! We decided on his name when we were first married. Jared's middle name is James, and he was named after his great uncle, James Carter. So, we liked that name so much that we decided our first son's name will be James Carter. And, since I am a nick name person, we'll call him Jimmy. Of course inspired by Jen's wonderful husband! But, there is no relation to Jimmy Carter the president. It has nothing to do with that. So, we're busy getting everything prepared for another little baby around the house, and I'm not sure that Emmie is going to adjust all that well. Hopefully she'll be fine!
I think that about sums things up for us. I keep busy going to the park and the library with Emmie, spending time with my sisters and Mom, and cooking up new Rachael Ray recipes, while using a lot of stop from our prospering garden. Young Women's keeps me pretty busy as well. We look forward to seeing all of you whenever we can and miss you when you're not around!

-Val