It snowed and snowed last night! We had a white knuckle drive home from the temple, but all is well. I hope it melts soon.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Mara's Birthday!
Happy birthday Mara! We celebrated for three days! This is the morning of the third day, Conference Sunday. Breakfast in bed! Looks like chocolate chip waffles and fresh peaches! We had birthday dinner too--artichokes, mashed potatoes, and meatloaf!
This is Saturday, the second day. Emily was home sick for a couple of days this week and spent one of them making a Garfield pinata for Mara. We had fun bashing it with a bat to get the candy.
On Friday, the first day of celebration, Mara had 9 friends come over for a pajama party! They know her well. She got Garfield, and Goldfish crackers, among other fun things and lots of money in gift cards!
Mara has fun friends. They had a good time playing games and eating pizza and cake.
We love our smiley, goofy, brilliant girl, Mara!!!I Love the Mountains!
I have a new favorite hobby. Hiking with friends! This has probably been the best thing about having all of the kids in school--and I've only done it twice! There are a few ladies in the ward who love to hike and have invited me along. So, I'm sorry if you are sick of my mountain pictures. I just can't help it!!!
Every where I turned was another breathtaking view!
Boot Rock.
My hiking buddies. I feel so blessed to live so close to this amazingly beautiful place!
This is Gem Lake. It is very low, but there is a sandy beach area. We have attempted this hike twice with the kids and never made it because they were smaller and more interested in climbing the big bouldered rocks on the trail than hiking it. But I think they would really enjoy wading in this little lake and I know I would love hanging out on the shore with a book. We are going to do it!!!
Every where I turned was another breathtaking view!
Boot Rock.
My hiking buddies. I feel so blessed to live so close to this amazingly beautiful place!
This is Gem Lake. It is very low, but there is a sandy beach area. We have attempted this hike twice with the kids and never made it because they were smaller and more interested in climbing the big bouldered rocks on the trail than hiking it. But I think they would really enjoy wading in this little lake and I know I would love hanging out on the shore with a book. We are going to do it!!!Rocky Mountain High!
The last Friday night of September we went camping in Rocky Mountain National Park. We have missed our family outings and the closeness we felt when we were in Washington DC, so we looked at the calendar and found a weekend where there weren't too many activities already scheduled. We had to miss a soccer game and some social plans had to be changed, but we were determined to camp one last time this year.
We had a couple of glitches. A major difficulty arose when Neil was cranking up the trailer top. A cable broke inside. It almost put an early end to our campout. But if you look closely you can see a yellow broomstick proping up the front right side of the trailer. Neil saved the night, but the trailer is in grave condition at a repair shop right now. We are hoping for the best.
Is an eight year old with a hatchet a good idea? Neil taught him how to do it safely and he started to get the hang of it. He was a bit miffed when Mara could do it better though. Hayley is an expert firestarter. She learned well at girls camp. One thing we love to do around the campfire--when it is just our family that is--is play "American Idol." I think Hayley took some pictures of that. Three of us are judges and the kids put on an act and pretend to be goofy singers. It is very fun.
Neil taught us a boy scout cooking trick. Scrambled eggs in a bag. Just drop the baggie into a pot of boiling water and you got it!
It is so beautiful this time of year. We went on a hike to Cub Lake. It is Elk mating season (the Rut) so the Elk were out and bugling. They make a loud, eerie, whiny, trumpety kind of sound. You just have to hear it in person.
It was such a beautiful, perfect day. Spoiled only slightly by the camper troubles and not being able to fish in the lake because of the lily pads.
We had a couple of glitches. A major difficulty arose when Neil was cranking up the trailer top. A cable broke inside. It almost put an early end to our campout. But if you look closely you can see a yellow broomstick proping up the front right side of the trailer. Neil saved the night, but the trailer is in grave condition at a repair shop right now. We are hoping for the best.
Is an eight year old with a hatchet a good idea? Neil taught him how to do it safely and he started to get the hang of it. He was a bit miffed when Mara could do it better though. Hayley is an expert firestarter. She learned well at girls camp. One thing we love to do around the campfire--when it is just our family that is--is play "American Idol." I think Hayley took some pictures of that. Three of us are judges and the kids put on an act and pretend to be goofy singers. It is very fun.
Neil taught us a boy scout cooking trick. Scrambled eggs in a bag. Just drop the baggie into a pot of boiling water and you got it!
It is so beautiful this time of year. We went on a hike to Cub Lake. It is Elk mating season (the Rut) so the Elk were out and bugling. They make a loud, eerie, whiny, trumpety kind of sound. You just have to hear it in person.
It was such a beautiful, perfect day. Spoiled only slightly by the camper troubles and not being able to fish in the lake because of the lily pads.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Odds and Ends
Just a few random pictures of our week:
These are Jennifer's activity day girls. We went for a nature walk that was fun and uneventful as a nature walk with 11 nine year old girls can be. . . . until the last 100 yards. Two girls got stung by yellow jackets. Sigh . . . .
Hayley had a party at our house. She's had parties before, but this one had a new twist. There were boys!!! It was a fun party. They are a nice bunch of kids.
Jeffrey had a soccer game on Saturday. He played pretty well, but got benched for a quarter when he got a bit rough with a player on the opposite team. He was mad that they scored a goal. :( We are going to have many talks about good sportsmanship. Sigh, again . . . .
The highlight of the week was Stake Conference with a visiting general authority, Bishop McMullin. This picture is us with the missionaries in the evening after the conference. Two things that Bishop McMullin said that stuck:
These are Jennifer's activity day girls. We went for a nature walk that was fun and uneventful as a nature walk with 11 nine year old girls can be. . . . until the last 100 yards. Two girls got stung by yellow jackets. Sigh . . . .
Hayley had a party at our house. She's had parties before, but this one had a new twist. There were boys!!! It was a fun party. They are a nice bunch of kids.
Jeffrey had a soccer game on Saturday. He played pretty well, but got benched for a quarter when he got a bit rough with a player on the opposite team. He was mad that they scored a goal. :( We are going to have many talks about good sportsmanship. Sigh, again . . . .
The highlight of the week was Stake Conference with a visiting general authority, Bishop McMullin. This picture is us with the missionaries in the evening after the conference. Two things that Bishop McMullin said that stuck:1) "You are in charge of your own world!"
Meaning, you don't have any excuses for your actions. You are responsible.
2) "We are all getting out of this alive!"
Meaning, this life isn't the end. This is only temporary. Jesus Christ has made it possible for us all to get out alive. :)
Sunday, September 13, 2009
New Beds!
We finally got the boys some new beds and dressers. They fit in the little room very nicely and as you can see, Mark and Jeff love them!
Mom's Day
I moped around a bit the first week my kids were at school. Emily stayed home sick one day and after watching me clean out cupboards she said, "Is this what you do all day? You should do something fun!" So I had the opportunity to do something really fun a few days ago. A friend asked me and some other gals in the ward if we wanted to go hiking. Yes! That is my idea of fun!
This is Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.
I could really get used to this kind of fun. I'd go hiking any day over shopping and cleaning. We are going to do it again. Soon I hope!
This is Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.
I could really get used to this kind of fun. I'd go hiking any day over shopping and cleaning. We are going to do it again. Soon I hope!
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