First Haircut

My baby, who is 4, finally got her first haircut. I have never wanted to cut her hair. She still lets me brush it (most of the time) and put braids and pony tails in. It is so long and beautiful. She did cut a chunk out about a year ago, but it wasn't too obvious.

I told -K- that only her Auntie Kelly could cut her hair for her, so she has been waiting for Kelly to visit us.

She sat so still, I was amazed. Kelly cut about 4 inches off the bottom.

All smiles when she was done.

No rest for Kelly when she visits us, She also cut Spalding's hair, trimmed -L-'s bangs, trimmed -E-'s hair, and colored mine. Thank you, Kelly!

The kids are elved!

We had lots of fun making the kids into elves. We hope you enjoy it!

So it's not more than 2 months

Sorry blogland, yes, today marks two months since my last post. So sorry. We have been a little busy, I have not forgotten about you, but have been selfishly reading all your posts and not writing any.  So a little run down of two months worth of our lives.
We had some friends come over for a dutch oven dinner in late September. They came to the US from Mauritius for their son's wedding. Our family dressed up in Indian clothes. The girls love to wear these outfits.

Spud harvest came and went in October. We went to my parents house. It was a relaxing break. We had our Church Super Saturday craft activity. I was in charge of three crafts. It was a busy Saturday, but lots of fun. I finally made my "Pay it Forward" gift, so Crystal, Megan, and Monica go one of these cute photo cubes. It was one of the projects we did.

We also celebrated a birthday. My baby turned 4! What would I do without her?

The kids had a fun Halloween. I told -N- he is too big to Trick or treat, dressing up is fine-no more begging for candy. He took the news just fine, only a few friends teased him about it and his sisters were generous in sharing their spoils of the night.

November went by too quickly. Another birthday. Can't believe -L- is 7! She brings lots of laughter to our house with her sense of humor.

 I took pictures of the kiddos. They are growing up way too quickly. Sorry to tell the rest of you this, but I have the most beautiful kids.

My parents made a special trip to our house. Spalding was made a High Priest in our church ward and my dad was able to ordain him. It was a quick trip and lots of driving for them, but we appreciate them for coming. My cousin also stopped by on her way to her sister's house. It was fun to see them. It snowed the entire time we were at church so we got to play in the snow, and it hasn't melted yet.

Thanksgiving was great. We went to our friends' house. We enjoyed their company and the food was wonderful. It has been a long time since I wasn't the cook, so it was very relaxing for me.

Spalding went shopping in the wee a.m. hours on Black Friday. He picked up a few items we were looking at. I slept in. I have done most of my Christmas shopping online this year. It has been awesome! No lines, great deals, and most of the time I have got free shipping right to my house. That afternoon, we put our Christmas lights up around the house.

We went and got our Christmas tree. It is lots of fun to go in the mountains and hunt for the "perfect tree".

 I was amazed once more at how wonderful my kids are. They worked together, had fun, and it was a terrific day. Spalding was quite proud of the tree.

On the way home we stopped here:

We ordered a Big Jud burger. It's a one pound hamburger, the size of your plate. If you eat the whole thing, they put your picture on their wall. Four of us split one. None of us are daring enough to try to eat the whole thing. -K- bragged that she ate her whole "big Jud" burger from her kids meal and we didn't.

Now our tree is up and Christmas is coming quickly.

I still think it should be summer, but this morning at 7 am the thermometer said -4.  BRRRR! Definately December!

Church colors?

-K- started preschool last week. She is having a blast. She really loves it. She loves to learn and have interaction with other kids. The first day of school, they were learning colors. She had little circles of all the colors and was telling me all the names. She held up the yellow and asked, "Mom, is this a church color?" I couldn't figure out what she was talking about. Then I realized.......A Primary color. I said "Yellow is a primary color.  She said "Yeah, a church color." (At our church, the classes the children attend are called Primary classes).

A "Getting Old" moment-Spirit Week

Last week was the Homecoming football game. The Middle School and Jr. High were included in the Spirit Week activites and had dress up days. Ok, I feel old because my High School Spirit week doesn't seem like it should be years ago! My kids really enjoyed dressing up and going to the Football game. (even though our team lost). It was fun to see them get into it.

-E- wore her volleyball socks that have pawprints on them.

-N- and his buddies, sprayed thier hair red and white.

They also spray painted some shoes to match.

Fun days for them brings back fun memories for me.

Yellowstone Camping

It has been our annual tradition to go camping in Yellowstone each year. We always meet somewhere in the park with Audra and her family. We always go the Friday after Labor Day. This way we miss most of the tourist crowd. We try to hike a different trail every year. This year was by far, the best weather we have ever had. The nights and early mornings were cold, but the day was wonderful. We hiked to Fairy Falls. It was a very easy, flat 2.5 miles to the falls. We went an addition .7 miles to Imperial Geyser, making the whole hike 6.4 miles. I had the backpack just in case -K- decided she didn't want to walk. She was a real hiker! We saved a spot by the campfire for Crystal, since she was the only sister to be left out. (A first time experience for her). We roasted marshmallows, laughed, and had a great time. We love this time we spend together as a family. And what would a trip to Yellowstone be without a picture of the Buffalo!

Fairy Falls

Imperial Geyser

Spalding resting by the falls

-K- with a stick she found

Kelly and -N- hike the trail

Audra and Megan with kids in packs

Cousins having fun together

-E- burns her mallow. OOPS!

-L- and Uncle Casey

Gibson looks like an Oompa Loompa, but is warm.

We missed you, Crystal!

Home, home, on the range.

First Day of School

The first day of school went well for all the kids. It was a little hectic, but what would the first morning be without chaos? This year, all three kids are in different schools and catch different buses at different times.

My 8th grader. He looks so much like his Dad, and recently got braces.

My 6th grader. She is growing up.

My 1st grader. She loves having lunch at school and having two recesses.

So now, it is just me and -K- at home. She seemed to miss her siblings the first day, but has since enjoyed the time alone with me. We're hoping for a great year!

Summer's last week

This past week was the last full week of summer vacation. I am sad to see it go. It has been a busy and fun summer. This week's happenings: Happy Birthday to my awesome hubby.  I won't tell you how old he is. :)  Anyway, I always try to fix what the birthday boy wants for dinner. Usually it is something with fish. Since I am allergic to fish, I don't cook it. Why cook something you can't eat, right? His request was fish vindaille. It is a mauritian dish. He said it turned out really good, and he and -N- (our other fish lover) ate it up. For his birthday cake, I thought I would try to make Trifle. Spalding served his mission in England and that was his favorite thing to eat there. It was yummy!

We canned more green beans and more pickled beets. We pulled the peas out of the garden, and are giving away a lot of zucchini!

We spent an afternoon swimming at the lake. I could have used a few more of those days this summer-soaking up the sun, playing in the water with the kids. It was great.

School registration was this week.  This year, we have 3 kids in 3 schools. We paid fees and bought school supplies. I think the kids are finally getting excited about going back to school.

 We also went to the Playmill theater and saw Footloose. I loved it! It was really fun. They did a great job of transitioning between scenes on their small stage.

Oh, one more thing. I got a new calling at church. I am now a Personal, Home, and Family Enrichment Leader. I guess I didn't go to Enrichment meetings often enough so now I get to help plan them. Any good ideas out there?

Visitors from Outer Space-oops-Out of State

-K- thought I said "outer space", when I said "out of state".

Over the last month we have had lots of friends and family visit. We love having everyone come visit us. Our first visitors were our friends, The Spotts, come from Colorado. The kids got along great, and it was like we had never moved away. We went swimming at the lake, and we went to the Drive In Theatre. I haven't stayed out that late for a long time. Only -K- fell asleep. We had a great time with them.

Our next visitors were the Schafers, from Canada. We haven't seen them for about 10 years. Spalding and Norm were good friends at BYUH. Again, a great visit. Their family has been travelling across Canada and the US for the past two months in their RV. Norm is in the travel business and was doing this trip to promote travel on a budget in Canada. They stopped for an evening, and talked us into camping a night with them. So we loaded up our tent trailer, and headed to Island Park the next day. We floated the North Fork together. It was a blast. All our kids got along really well. They swam together, and played lots of games around the campfire while we parents got to catch up.

Our last set of visitors was for a family reunion. My Mom's siblings all came. Aunts and Uncles, stayed in hotels, while my parents and sisters all stayed at our house. We had lots of fun visiting. Everyone came on Friday for BBQ dinner and Root Beer Floats. Saturday was a busy day filled with a climbing wall and a birthday party for my cousin, John. That night a few of us went to the Dance Festival. Sunday was breakfast and time to go home. My aunt Fay, and cousin Jolene stayed one more night. We cooked some Indian food for them, which they really liked. -L- was excited because her cousin got to stay the night at our house and sleep in the tent trailer with her in the yard.

Here are a few picts from the family reunion. We had a blast on the climbing wall.

Here I am on my way to the top. Yep, I made it and rang the buzzer! My younger sisters wouldn't let me show them up, so up they all climbed, too. Even my Mom, Aunts and Uncles took a try! -K- enjoyed playing at the playground with her cousins. These cousins are all within 4months of age. -E- smiles on her way up. My nieces show how strong they are! -N- climbed all four areas of the wall. -L- climbed up the wall at least 12 times. She was like a monkey! She also climbed up all the areas. High Fives all around for making it to the top! All the family who came to the reunion.

Our Trip to Oregon

The last 10 days, we have spent many hours in the car. But, it was all worth it. Get ready for lots of picts. Here is quick run-down of what we did:

Family Picts: I took my sisters' families picts and one of them took ours. They turned out pretty well.

Went to OMSI (science museum) and Chuck E. Cheese's the night before my sister's wedding. The kids loved it.

Attended Kelly and Casey's wedding. Welcome to the family, Casey.

Took a leisurely drive back to my parents house. We stopped at Multnoma falls. We hiked to the top of the falls. Then we stopped at the fish hatchery to feed the fish and see Herman the sturgeon.
Spalding went back home on Sunday, he had to be back to work. The kids and I went to Washington and attended my Aunt's funeral. She passed away after a battle with cancer. We then spent the night at my cousin's house. Its always fun when I get together with Angie, even when its for a short while.

We celebrated -N-'s 13th birthday! AHHH! I have a teenager. He was very excited about his presents,a ripstick and backpacking lantern. Hopefully he stays as mellow as he is now.

-N- and my dad went fishing. They loved it. They caught some big trout. The biggest was caught by my dad, a 17 inch, 3 lb. brook trout.

We went horse riding. Yep, that's me in a pair of boots and spurs. Sometimes Bud needs a little extra prodding.

Last were the wedding receptions. Lots of decorating. Lots of people and food. Everything turned out great.

We had a great visit and love spending time with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandma and grandpa.