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.

Catch of the day

Today was free fishing day and like the outdoorsy family that we try to be, we headed out to fish. -E- and -L- complained about getting up early (truly, they are my daughters). The said they didn't want to go and complained almost the whole way there. We went to a pond near a fish hatchery that is only open on this day. It is open for kids ages 5-14 only. When we got there, we asked if -K- could fish. They said "sorry, she has to be 5 years old". You should have seen her face! She stuck out her bottom lip, and started to cry! She was so sad that she couldn't fish. We let the other three fish. -E- caught the first fish, a trout about 12 inches long.That got everyone excited! -L- caught the next fish, a trout about 16 inches! She had lots of fun reeling it in! I think this is the first fish she has ever caught. Then she would not touch it! She made me hold it for a picture.She finally decided to hold it when it was totally dead and not moving. -N- caught the next fish. It was about 9 inches. He was disappointed to catch the smallest trout. He is definately the fisherman in our family. He loves fishing. Anyway, we left the pond and headed to another that -K- could fish in. She was so happy to be fishing. She even wanted to bait the hook! We didn't catch anymore fish, but had a great time anyway. Spalding came home and cleaned and cooked up the fish for dinner. He made a Mauritian dish with it: fish vindaille. -N- loved it, the girls wouldn't touch eat. They like to catch, but not eat fish. We told them if they don't eat the fish, they will have to adopt my sister's (Kelly) motto: "World Peace, Catch and Release."