Amid all the crazy this summer we managed to get some work done too.  I think John was ready to be done with me when I made him work 2 full Saturdays in a row.  He doesn't like physical work like I do :)  We painted shutters on the house, painted the porch swing, he fixed a lawn mower, did yard work, cleanded out kids bedrooms, fixed light fixtures, and (wait for it) I FINALLY go Owen's room painted.  When we moved into this house his room was a dark brown, and I hated it.  So I painted it a beige color.  I've hated it from the moment I put it on the wall.  And here we are 5 years later and Owen finally has a room that has decorations on the wall and decent paint on the walls.  I'm really happy with how it turned out. 

The non-green wall is really a grey color. but there is a slight blue tint to it....just not as much as these pictures make it look :)

 

And this is what Owen has haning on his door....

"If you come in my room you have to be my butler."

"No girls allowed.  Pay 10 dollars.  Owens room."

First Day of School 2012

The kids were up early and super excited for their first day of school...the were even ready early!  And here they are looking super cute.

Doing what they call their awkward sibling hug.  (Somehow I missed where they heard that one :)

 

 Everyone was happy until it was time to part ways.  Ains and Owen happily ran off to class....Emmie cried all morning.  It's hard being little!

At one point I even tried pretending to call the school to see if she could come. You know, try to put the blame on someone else.  Unfortunately I don't think that made her feel much better.

Island Park part 3 of 3 (It's nearly over!)

Our final day in island park we weren't as productive. We were lazy all morning. And then made the drive to see Johnny Sack's cabin.  A cabin made by hand and with no power tools in the fifties by a man only slightly taller than Ainsley.

It was impressive. But Emmie said she hated it.  I love that she brought her purse though.  Appropriate for such a formal outing.

While we were there this moose darted out of the forest and ran into this little river area.  Not only have I never seen a moose so close up, I've never seen a moose run.  It was crazy.  Dan got nervous (understandably) and tried to hurriedly gather his children.  And then I chuckled a little, because when the moose stopped running it was funny instead of scary.

The water there was the clearest river water I've ever seen.  It was actually the start of the river.  It was beautiful.  We fed the fish and watched ducks and otters and the moose.

That afternoon the guys went fishing again and the women folk took the kids to play in the river.  You can float down the river, and I wanted to, buy certain members of my family were being party poopers and so we didn't have time to float.  So instead we rented paddle boats.  The water looked calm and nice.  So we rented two.  I learned an important lesson that day.  Still water isn't necessarily calm water.  We paddled our hearts out and didn't move at all.  But the river was only thigh deep, so being the tough women that we are.  We (me, Kort, Mom, Ains, and Bria) walked the boats upstream.  It was tough. And it took a while.  And Kort was mad the whole time, and I laughed the whole time.  And after a lot of pushing and walking up a river we finally turned around and enjoyed our 2 minute ride back to the docks.  It was great.  Kort didn't think so and stormed into the office and complained.  It was hilarious.  But she got us half of our money back!

The rest of our trip was spent eating, laughing, making fun of each other, playing games, and watching TV. Just like you should do on family vacations.

Top 10 Moments of the trip 

(You will only find these little snippets enjoyable if you were with us on vacation or know my family well.  I just happen to have been with my family on vacation and know them quite well, so I will probably enjoy them more than most.)

Emmie saying “I hate this” about almost everything we did. 

Dan running in fear and grabbing his children when the moose ran by us.

My dad beating everyone at tennis and getting a bit head, and then getting sorely defeated.

Kort complaining to the people that rent paddle boats and insisting that they give her her money back, with the defense that she is in good shape.  That statement alone is laughable.

Playing 'Telestrations' and my dad drawing a nurse that looked that a Scottish warrior, and Syd drawing a soup kitchen drawing that was interpreted as blue man group.

Watching the kids try to catch a fish with a plastic baggie.

Our car not starting as we tried to leave…that’s always fun.

Hiking out to look at Elk and getting told over a loud speaker to get back in our cars.

Watching “Miranda”, and laughing until I cried.

Walking up a river pushing a boat, with people looking at us like we were weird…what’s weird about that!?

And not to be cheesy…but just hanging out with the family and having a great time!

Island Park Part 2

Our second day in Island park we got up early and headed off to Yellowstone.  And by early I mean 9:30, which is pretty early in my mind when a crowd is involved!  But we made good use of our time and spent an entire day in Yellowstone.  I probably could have spent a second day.  And we found some places that we want to hit for sure if we ever go again.  The number one spot being the Fire Hole where there is a slow spot in the river and a little swimming hole.  I was jealous of the people jumping in!

The places we did get to were great. 

We saw elk...

Waterfalls

Stinky hotpots (I'm guessing Owen and Bria were really bothered by the stink...why else would they look so miserable!)

 

We saw Old Faithful....

 

Luckily we were able to see it twice.  I'll take a moment to share a little story with you.  See the people on the side of this ^ picture?  I was sitting directly in front of them.  They were actually very nice.  We chatted while we were sitting waiting for Old Faithful to do it's thing.  Then they asked Cy if he would take their picture while the geyser erupted because they had seen it the day before and this time they wanted a picture, standing directly in front of the geyser while it was erupting.  So when the water started spraying they hopped right up, right in front of me and Cy started snapping.  Then they told Syd and Cy to stand up so they could return the favor.  Then the california couple hopped back up for another shot, you know, just for good measure.  I missed the whole thing.  This was a little ironic.  This was my third time at Old Faithful.  My previous 2 visits I somehow managed to barely miss the eruption.  Both times.  What are the chances of that?  And this time this nice couple tried to ruin it for me again.  But in the end, after the eruption that I missed, we walked around, ate ice cream and then walked the path behind Old Faithful.  And it erupted again.  And it was an even better view.  And I even saw the whole thing.  So there couple from California....I won in the end :)

 

We also saw lots of hot pools.  I'm not sure why but I thought they  were beautiful.  Something about the teal crystal clear water is just mesmerizing to me.

We made it to Yellowstone Lake also.  The water was so clear.  It was beautiful.

 Owen was also taken by the beauty.

Our last stop of the day was the "grand canyon of yellowstone"  I'm sure it has an official name, but I don't know it.  It was gorgeous.  And the waterfall that fell into it was huge.  I could have spent a lot of time there.  Especially since we had to do a steep hike in and out, and I was wearing flip flops.  

 We also saw plenty of buffalo.

A trip to Yellowstone wouldn't be complete with out lots of buffalo.  We left the park around 9 that night.  Emmie was thoroughly disappointed because she hadn't been able to pet a bear while we were there.  But we went into West Yellowstone after that for pizza and she found a large bear statue to pet.  So life was good again.

Island Park Part 1

Several months ago I decided that my family needed to go on a vacation together.  We haven't in a while and we've grown by two in laws this year.  What better way to welcome them to the family than by making them vacation and spend days with you on end?  Unfortunately, Michael was sick and so he and Rachelle ditched us.  And Syd and Cy were only able to be there for part of the time. But don't worry, I'll make them pay for that for years to come.  The trip was still really fun....so I'm going to write more than anyone wants to know about it, you know, for posterity!

We started out on a Wednesday morning.  Our first destination was at a Frost Top in Ashton Idaho.  It was all we dreamed of.  There's no better way to start a vacation than with a greasy burger and fries.  It was delicious!

Then we headed to our second destination.  Mesa Falls.  It was pretty impressive...as was the face Emmie insisted on making in all of the pictures we took of her.

 We got to our cabin in Island Park that night and got settled in.  We stayed at my friend Brooke's families cabin.  John and I were there with the kids in March for Spring break.  At that time there was still several feet of snow on the ground and the roads were lined with about 10 feet of snow.  So this time Island Park could have been a completely different town....it looked totally different. 

 

We were up early the next morning and headed off to a fishing pond.  After several hours every kid was able to catch a fish.  My dad and  John however were not, they were the losers of the day.  Sorry guys.

You can tell from this shot how intense we are when we are fishing. 

After fishing we ended up having an impromptu tennis tournament.  There were no pictures taken, so I could lie and say that John and I were good.  But we weren't.  We were the biggest losers.  Kort and Dan however finally defeated my dad, it was a pretty intense afternoon.  Oh, and now Owen wants to take tennis lessons.  It had a big impact on him :)

Owen's 6th

Owen recently had a momentous occasion in his life....he turned 6!  He chose the greatest birthday ever.  Swimming at grandmas, McDonalds for dinner, and ice cream cake.  It was a piece of cake to pull off, and a fun day....even if I'm finally writing about this weeks late!

Since Owen didn't get to have a friend party this year I let him choose a friend to spend the day with us.  He chose his friend Jaren.  These two get along great and could play for hours.  On this particular day they played together for 8 hours.

The most important moment of the day for Owen involved his gifts.  He got spoiled.  The only 2 things Owen asked for for his birthday were Pokemon cards and money.  He got no Pokemon cards....but quite a bit of money.  What can I say, the kid is very money driven. 

I decided to ask Owen about a few of his favorites so we could always remember him as a 6 year old.  This is what he told me....

Favorite Food: Ice Cream

Favorite TV show:  Christmas Shows

Favorite Movie: Avengers

Favorite Book: Magic Tree House

What do you want to be when you grow up: Japanese Steakhouse Cooker

Favorite Color: Teal

Favorite thing to play: With Friends

Favorite Song: "Happy Birthday to you, You're a hundred and three, you're still stuck in preschool, and you want your mommy."\

Favorite Primary Song:  I Love to See the Temple

Favorite thing about school:Eating lunch because I don't have to make it.

Favorite things about summer: Swimming

Favorite thing to do with your family:  Read books

Friends:  Matthew, Nathan Galloway, Dallan Galloway, Dallan, Jaren, Bria, Bailey, Brighton, Ava, Robert, Aspen, Seth, Trevor, Lauren.

Favorite Phrases

Emmie has a habit of making me laugh.  So here are some of my current favorite things she says!

Whatcha doin?
(Said in her best Phineas and Pherb voice)

I pay you back!
(This started when Owen was begging for gum at the store and I told him no.  He then begged telling me he would pay me back.  So now when Emmie is wanting something and gets told no she begs again saying, "I pay you back!")

Oh, dang it.
(This one is my fault.  Maybe I shouldn't think it's cute, but I do.)

I not.
(Instead of "no" we get this a lot. For example, we might say, "Emmie, get dressed." And she'll very politely reply, "I not.)

You No Look at my bumm!
(This is always said while smiling...and usually while running around naked.)

And her most frequently used phrases.

I hunwy.
(This is often said when food is in front of her.  Unfortunately I'm annoyed most of the time I hear this one!)

Owen!
(No explanation needed :)

I watch a show?

We went camping!

There was a lot of dirt....

A lot of games...

A lot of eating yummy food....

More eating of yummy food....

Some hiking...

Okay, a lot of hiking.  We set out to hike around the reservoir we were camping at and it ended up being a little longer than we expected.  Over 4 miles. But the trail was pretty level, so it was more like a walk.  It was actually a lot of fun.  I think John griped about it more than anyone else :)

But, lucky for us it was huckleberry season.  So we ate huckleberries practically the whole way.  Literally!  It was an awesome little nature provided snack....especially since we only brought a little water and no snacks for the kids!

It didn't take long for the kids to have water bottles full of huckleberries.

We played in the water.  On our second day there we spent hours on a little beachy (and I use that term lightly because it was quite muddy) area.  The kids thought it was great.  There was much swimming, rafting, and paddling going on.  Owen and his friend Jaren even swam about half way across the reservoir.  It made me a little a lot nervous.  But he's alive, so maybe I need to learn to relax a little.

Did I mention there was eating?  John shot this picture of his favorite meal being prepared.  Chicken Hash.  It's delicious.  And only to be eaten while camping.  The Baumgartners (whom we camped with) have perfected their little self created recipe. It is delicious. 

There were also fires, four wheeling, and scootering.  None of which we have pictures of.  But here is Owen trying to fix Ainsley's scooter, that he left in the road of our campground to stop and pick some huckleberries, and then it got run over by a car.  He's not looking forward to buying Ainsley a new one. 

It was a great little trip.  Even though before we left I think all of the adults were tired and didn't feel up to it.  Once we got up there though it turned out to be a great time.  Plus, camping with the Baumgartners is easy for me because they have a trailer and what appears to be an infinite supply of camping supplies.  So I really just have to worry about food and my families luggage.  Which helps.  Although camping in a tent is still not my favorite.  But at least we didn't see any bears this time!!!