End of Summer..Beginning of School

In mid-August we had a family reunion at a place called Meadow Lake. It was a really pretty lake, that was stocked with fish...so it was perfect for kids to go fishing. We ended up leaving early, though, due to cold and rainy weather.

Mike and Uncle Marc manning the boat with six kids aboard!

Aunt Jill had a fun craft project for the kids...painting little star ornaments!

This summer I've done a little bit of canning....more than I had the opportunity to do in Montana. My parents' garden was plentiful (as always!) so we helped with the harvest.

My mom and I spent a day making/canning applesauce. MMMMM! The best applesauce is after it is freshly made and still warm....Brooke is sampling some. We did the canning outside to keep the heat and the mess outdoors.

Finished product (times about 24)! I also helped a friend can some applesauce later and we did another 30 jars!



Brooke has been counting down the days until she goes to school for nearly a year! Finally the day has come!

Brooke loves school. She wakes herself up nearly every morning and is excited to go to school and she has a smile on her face every time she gets off the bus!

On Labor Day, we went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair. We joined forces with my parents and sisters and their families.

Emily loves horses and they had lots of horses to see...BIG ones and little ones and all in between!

Brooke watching the sheep judging. Do I need to remind you that the fair is a high light for Brooke every year?

To Brooke: Fair= Pigs + Ferris wheel ride

This was Emily's first year to ride the rides at the fair. At first she cried after every ride was over because she wanted to go again. Eventually she figured out she could go on another ride (until tickets ran out)! But by then, she'd had her fill of rides and quickly fell asleep! (Emily is on the left in this picture and her cousin Brielle is on the right)


Well that about sums us up for the end of the summer. Hope everyone enjoys their Fall!

House Guests...

Mike and I had the privilege of housing two Taiwan dancers during the International Folk Dance Festival here in Rexburg. We had two twelve-year-old dancers, Ivy and Tina (their western names). I LOVED having them...and I miss them terribly. I got to be their host mom for 10 days and I enjoyed every minute of it, even the late, late, late nights. When they left, Ivy and Tina cried and I was so sad to see them leave...I felt (and still do) like something was missing. I told them to check my blog to keep updated, and I really hope they do...so if you are reading this...I miss you guys and hope you had fun in Disneyland!

Here are some pictures of their time with us.

Opening Ceremonies

Mesa Falls--Ivy is standing by me and Tina is next to her.

Street Festival--There is a parade where the dancers perform down the street. Then countries perform a dance or two. Then it turns into an open street dance...it was cold this night...while the girls were dancing it started to hail and rain and it was super windy, too.

Trip to McDonalds...

After their big performance in the Hart Auditorium/Gymnasium on BYU-I campus. Ivy and Tina are in the red costumes.

At the end of the week we had a team party and this was a picture of Ivy on my right and Tina on my left. Love you guys!

July Happenings...

The month of July progressively got busier as the month went by. I couldn't post everything we've done, nor do I even want to try, so here's our month in a nutshell.


Brooke turned 5-years-old! She was super excited for her birthday this year. And who would have thought my little loves-pigs (and continally asks for one)-farms-dogs-cows-any kind of animal- girl would ask for a princess party?

We did a split birthday part between Brooke and her cousin Adam. Mmm, licking off the candles...the best part of blowing out the candles!

For the Fourth of July weekend, Mike and Josh (Jill's husband) planned a trip to Driggs/Victor, ID, to see the hot air balloon race/launch (and wouldn't you know I forgot my camera that morning!). After the launches, we went to the parade in Victor.

Brooke started soccer this summer. This picture isn't the greatest, and it is kind of deceiving. Brooke doesn't quite get the concept of soccer, yet. She just knows you are suppose to kick the ball, but she doesn't know which direction or where to kick, she just kicks! But it was still fun to go to her games. She has only one game left!

Brooke has also been taking swimming lessons. This picture is of safety day, when they were wearing life jackets. She is pulling her cousin Adam through the water...Brooke told me they were pretending to be a train.

Brooke finally decided she COULD ride a bike! Mike and I have tried to work with her a little bit and have tried to convince her that she could do it. So yesterday we went for a walk and she just took off!

Just a shout of thanks out to those who helped me with the girls the last couple of weeks...I couldn't have made it to everything without your help!


Check out the following post for pictures from our trip to Colorado in June.

Trip to Colorado...

Back in mid-June, we took a very LONG OVERDUE trip to Colorado. We stopped at my brother Jaren's house for a couple of days to visit and then headed to Mike's family reunion.The girls, Ashley (Mike's grand-niece), Emily, Brooke, Coral (Jaren's youngest girl) looking at otters swimming at the Denver Zoo.

Family picture in front of the gates at the Denver Zoo.

Mike's Aunt Josephine. I loved this picture of Brooke and Aunt Jo together. It was great seeing Mike's family again.

We went to an aquatic center while at the reunion. The girls and Mike had lots of fun playing in the water!

While we were in Alamosa, CO (where Mike's family lives) we helped re-shingle part of Mike's parents' home.

Emily, Brooke, and Jamie (cousin) having fun while we travel to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

Checking out the dunes and info at the tourist center.

A small river runs at the bottom of the dunes, making for a grand time for the girls. They loved to play in the water and the mud.

Here is a great shot of the dunes up close. I can't remember how high the tallest dune was, but it was huge! If you look closely you can see little specks of people climbing to the top. Mike, Jamie, and I decided we would try to tackle this beast as well.

After 2 1/2 hours of battling hot, hot, HOT sand uphill, we finally made it. We only had flip-flop sandals on our feet and the sand burned our feet (the tourist center said the sand could get up to 140 degrees), so we'd have to climb for a bit, and then dig down to the cooler sand to let our feet cool off. It wasn't so fun at times, but made for a great adventure and fond memories!

Mike helping the girls build a sand castle and then built a canal to fill the mote around the castle. Hmmm, who's the water engineer? The kids had a lot of fun and some boy ended up joining the fun as well.


Mike's dad celebrated his birthday while we were visiting. Since Brooke's birthday was only a week away, she joined in the celebration, too!