Monday, August 26, 2013

Kindergarten

Molly started kindergarten today! She has been SO Excited to get started. She had a "surprise" she could open from her teacher the night before kindergarten. I can't find it or I would have taken a picture. Anyway, it was a cute little poem about how it can be a bit scary starting kindergarten but inside was a pouch with some confetti that she was to put under her pillow so she wouldn't be nervous.

She is in the afternoon class and about 4 other neighbor boys are in her same class! We are each taking a day to carpool one day a week. Then some other neighbors offered to pick her up every day when they get their kids since they had an extra spot! I have it totally made :) My neighbors are awesome.

 We picked out a fun hairstyle and had some sprinkle pancakes for breakfast.

Ignore the ariel tatoo on her shoulder :) Her teacher is Ms. Stookey.

I love this face because it shows how excited she is!! We love you Molly and are so excited for you to have a fun year at kindergarten!

Friday, August 16, 2013

Island Park, ID

Get ready for picture overload! Last week we went to our family cabin in Island Park, ID. I left Wednesday morning with the kids. Justin had to stay and work, so we missed him, although I think he kind of enjoyed living the bachelor lifestyle with his brother Brad while we were gone.

The drive only took us about 4 1/2 hours. I was nervous for the drive but it was actually much better than I anticipated. Yay! 2 of the 3 slept in the morning, then we stopped and had lunch in Pocatello, then they were happy and entertained each other for the last 2 hours or so until we got there.

My parents went up on Monday, so they were already there when we arrived at about 4:30 on Wednesday. The pictures are all out of order, so I will just write as I go.

Big Springs. We came around lunchtime one day to feed the fish, but they were full by then and hiding under the bridge. Boo.

We still had fun though. We hiked to the Johnny Sack cabin (on the left in the background although it's kind of hard to see) and I swear this is the first time I've ever been in! (That's saying a lot since we came up like every summer growing up.)

Here's the cabin! It was my dad's parents and now it belongs to their 4 sons. They came up and stayed every summer long ago. My grandma passed away when I was in 8th grade I think, but many memories I have of her were being up at the cabin. She was a fantastic cook and she fed us well when we came.

It was fun seeing the different wild flowers around.

We went into Yellowstone Park one day. This is an example of what NOT to do. Thank you Grandpa for being the bad example!! Yes, they do have signs. Not a great idea to touch the water by geysers!

Me and the kids with grandpa Bruce at the geysers.

Unfortunately we don't have more pictures of Yellowstone because our trip was cut short. We did see a big herd of elk (about 20) while driving, some geese and 1 buffalo. Not the greatest showing of animals, but that's ok.

We had a picnic lunch and got back in the car but Jackson was sick. He was just crying and in pain. I ended up holding him in the back of the car, trying to calm him in any way I could. We left the park and stopped at a pharmacy in West Yellowstone. We got him some gas drops. We were told it was probably that or acid reflux. The poor boy. I felt so bad for him. We went straight back to the cabin after he got the medicine. I put him down for a nap when we got to the cabin and when he woke up, he was fine. Luckily it was a quick thing, but he sure was miserable for about an hour and a half.

Henry's Fork.


You won't be able to spot it, but dead center in the bushes, just above the water is a moose with her calf. My dad walked with the kids down here to the river while my mom and I were finishing up cleaning the cabin before we left. My dad called and told me to hurry and I could see a moose.

Jackson loved being outside. We found an old soccer ball and he played with it whenever we went out.

Dirt+ball=happy boy!

He loved sliding down this ramp out back. He thought it was a slide.

Here's Molly walking on the fence at Big Springs.

Checking out the tall plant/weed.

My cousin built this super cool playhouse for the kids last summer. We found a couple of kids chairs in the shed and found a table and made a tablecloth with a pillowcase.

Molly even picked some flowers to put in her "vase".

And we had lemonade.

Here's the playhouse. Isn't it awesome?!

Here's the shed out back.

And of course we had to have s'mores while we were there!


It wouldn't be a complete trip without roasting s'mores at the cabin.

The girls approved.


We went to a nearby resort and swam in their indoor pool one day. We told the girls we would swim at Firehole in Yellowstone, but that obviously didn't happen. We figured it would be much quicker and easier to go here. Plus, it didn't make any difference to the girls! Or Jackson for that matter :)



Ali loved the swing out back.

Ali looks like an orphan because she does this crazy thing where she wipes her whole face in one up and downward motion. Not sure where she picked it up, but it's become a habit and so what do you expect being outside?! Little orphan Ali.

Walking with grandpa. The girls had so much fun getting his full attention for a few days.

It was a fun trip. I'm glad my parents let us come join them even though we are with them every day at home! The weather was great. It did rain a bit one night into the next morning, but it didn't ruin any of our plans. It was around 80 in the daytime and that was a nice break from the high 90s and 100s here at home.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Summer Lovin

We had a lot of fun while Emily, Elise and baby James were here in town for 2 1/2 weeks at the end of July into August. We also had my sister Natalie's kids over for a few days while she and her husband were out of town. Here's a bit of what we did!

We rode the carousel at the mall and played in the play place there.

We went to Cherry Hill one night.

We went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point.

The girls got to play in the sand and water. Ali only lasted a minute since she can't have dirty hands :)

Here's Molly and Emery digging for fossils.

Jackson is all over dirt and sand, which is why I wanted to keep him out. But then I saw this handicapped spot and figured it would be perfect for him!

We fed the ducks at Wheeler Farm one day.


Justin got out the kawasaki while Mitt and Major were here. Jackson got a ride too.

We saw some of the animals at the farm.

And had the playground all to ourselves!

We went to our cabin in Provo canyon. Molly was a big fan of baby James. 2 months old. He is the best baby ever. As long as he was full and had a clean diaper, he was perfect! Such a cutie pie. Molly loved being a mommy to him.

Molly and Elise. The girls had a little teddy bear picnic at the cabin with grandma.

We got lots of use of the new swing set in the backyard.

And we went to the zoo before my pass expired! Elise loves animals, so it was fun having her with us to be so excited about seeing everything.

We packed in a lot of fun! Emily and kids left a week ago now, but we look forward to seeing them again, probably at Christmas! Lucky for us we get to see Nat and her fam a bit more often :)