Christmas is Coming

Our little town starts the Holiday Season with a community celebration. Everyone comes together at the Town Hall for a nice dinner and Christmas music. A group from the Methodist church played the bells and then the school choir sang for us.

They sang Away in a Manger with chimes, Silent Night with sign language, and a few more Christmas songs. The choir also taught the audience how to do a Russian dance to a song from the Nutcracker. It was a very entertaining performance!

The kids did a great job! The choir director was wonderful and made singing fun.

Now we're ready for Christmas!

So Thankful!

We were so blessed this Thanksgiving! Brittany and Levi got to come home and Scott actually had the day off. It was great to be together as a family!

We had a wonderful feast with the best turkey EVER. We had a super yummy pomegranate salad, real mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and pumpkin pie, cherry pie, and Butterfinger pie for dessert. I was too busy cooking and filling my belly to take pictures. It was a glorious day!

 Yes, that is my dessert plate. Brittany managed to snap a picture before I gobbled it all up. It's a good thing Thanksgiving only comes once a year.

Friday, we needed something to do that did not involve any stores. Lucky for us, the Museum of Idaho was open. As we drove in to town, Zane kept saying we were going to the Museum of Natural History. Not quiet that far of a drive.

We spent a few hours looking at the guitar display, learning and exploring the history of the guitar, as well as some local Idaho history. The kids had a great time and are anxious to go back. Maybe at Christmas time...

There was a fun room where the kids got to climb a mountain to look in the eagles nest, crawl through the beaver dam, sit inside a teepee, and make a meal in a real log cabin. They loved exploring and playing. I love that the museum has many hands on displays. It was good for my HANDS ON kids.

It's so wonderful to pause and think about all that we have to be thankful for.

We are so blessed!

Singing for the Veterans

Zane came home from school with a sign-up sheet to join the school choir. He was adamant that he wanted to join. I asked him several times, just to be sure. 

He was sure. 

He has been staying after school, twice a week to practice for the big Veterans Day program. They sang the Star Spangled Banner, with actions, and a few other patriotic songs. It was a frigid morning but they sang their hearts out in front of the school. 

Thank you to all our Veterans and those who serve now to preserve our freedoms! 

God bless America!

Happy Halloween!

The pumpkins from our garden did not grow very big. (I guess that's what happens when you plant so late.) Luckily, our neighbor's pumpkins grew big and they had lots of them. Thank you for sharing!

Zane wanted his to look like an alien villain that Superman might destroy. (Dad helped him carve that up.) Morgan wanted hers to be winking and have a stitched mouth. We did our best to create their visions.

 We have a Spiderman costume and a Batman costume. What did Zane want to dress up as? Superman, of course. Stores were selling out fast but we managed to snag one. He looked so tough! Morgan struggled to decide on what she wanted to be. She finally said she wanted to be a minion, from Despicable Me, but it had to be a girl. We found some stuff at home that worked to create her costume. And the thrift store had a long sleeve yellow shirt and a pair of safety goggles that were easy to paint. She looked so cute!

We let the kids choose - trunk-or-treat a the town hall or go knock on doors. They both said they liked knocking on doors better. Since it's a school night, we only went to a few neighborhoods. They didn't bring home as much candy as last year and I'm okay with that.

AND... We made monster cookies using some cool monster eye candies. I think Zane ate them as fast as he frosted them. I finished my burlap wreath and hung it on the back door. It looks so pretty against the red. And as the temperatures begin to drop, I had to cut a few of my flowers and bring them inside to enjoy a little longer. However, I think summer is officially over.

Maize Adventures

Brittany and Levi were excited for us to come enjoy some of the fall celebrations in Logan. They had a full schedule planned and we managed to do most of it. That meant dinner was at 9:00 on Saturday night but we had SO much fun.

We went to the American West Heritage Center and found many things to do. There was a huge slide on the hill, ponies to ride, animals to pet, a fun little train, a dark straw maze, and the HUGE corn maze. The big boys wandered around in the corn, made a few new paths, and found their way out. Brittany and I actually followed the map and found our way. I was impressed with her mapping skills!

Morgan wanted to go back for the "Haunted Hollow" when it got dark. Instead, we went to the Pumpkin Walk. We rode the shuttle bus to the park where the displays were and that was half the fun. It was getting cold and the line into the park was LONG. But the displays were amazing this year!

We had a wonderful weekend!

Successful Hunter

For Scott, one of the best things about being back in Idaho is being able to hunt so close to home. He got his bow tag this year and would run out for an evening hunt after work or a quick morning hunt on his day off. 

 

Morgan and Zane each got a turn hunting with Dad as well. Zane came home bummed that they didn't get a deer. He confirmed my suspicion, "Dad is like a mountain goat. He climbs straight up the side of the mountain!" So, it's not just me who feels that way. Morgan came home with her eyes bugging out, "We didn't see a deer but we saw a moose! Right there! In front of us!" Scott said the moose were so close he had to make some noise to scare the gigantic animals away. Morgan was very impressed though and ready to go out again.

Since bow season didn't bring success, Scott was anxious for rifle season to start. He'd gone out a few times and hadn't seen much but decided to give his area one last try. He drove to his spot and parked. Leaving his lunch in the truck, he set out, thinking he would circle around and be back at his truck for lunch.

He went up and over the mountain and was starting to circle back around when, there he was... a nice looking buck. He dropped the buck with one shot. He decided he didn't want to drag it up the hill so he started to go down and around. By now, it was late in the afternoon, he had eaten his last granola bar and was just finishing his last drink of water. He wasn't sure he would make it to the road. 

He finally reached the road, tired and hungry, and found a place to hide his buck. He then hiked up the road to get his pickup. He drove down and found his hiding spot but still had to get the FAT buck loaded.

Meanwhile, we finished our dinner and read stories. Dad still wasn't home. I wasn't sure when I should start worrying. The kids were getting on their pajamas when I finally got a text. Dad was on his way with his prize. Yay!

Scott was worn out! He had left just after breakfast and had only taken a couple granola bars and his sandwich. But there was no time to rest or eat now. He managed to get the buck out of his truck, drug it into the shop, and skinned it. As he tried to hang the animal though, he found that he had very little strength left. He came in and asked me to help him.

The kids were told to stay in bed while I went out to help. Now it wasalmost 11:00 and this buck was heavy. Did I mention FAT?! Scott was yelling pull and I was yelling push... it was not the finest moment in our marriage but, we all survived. We managed to get it a few inches off the ground and Scott decided that was close enough. I told him he really needs to find a hunting buddy.

Scott went to bed exhausted but full of pride at his successful hunt.

Flag Football

Zane decided he wanted to try football this year. I was not too thrilled but dad was excited. We had some cool evening practices before we got to watch him play on even colder Saturday afternoons. I think he only had one game where it was warm enough to wear shorts. Most of the games were played with a sweatshirt under his jersey and a few he wore his hat.

Zane had a great time! He caught several passes, made a few touchdowns, and pulled a lot of flags. I think his team lost more games than they won, but the boys had so much fun.

They ended the season with a double header and actually won both games. When the coach handed him his medal, Zane exclaimed, "This is better than a t-ball medal!" His coach smiled proudly.

We may even play again next year.

Conference Time

We have been counting down the days until General Conference! I found quotes from previous conferences and we read one each day. The kids helped me draw or color a picture to go with each quote. They had so much fun and having been looking forward to our conference weekend.

I filled up our conference bags with treats and activities and the kids pitched their tent. We are ready to listen to our prophet and apostles speak to us.

Field of Pumpkins

Zane's class went to a local pumpkin patch to learn about how pumpkins grow. The kids loved exploring the pumpkin fields! There were pumpkins of all sizes, shapes, and colors, even blue and pink. The white ones were everyone's favorite. They had a fancy name but we called them ghost pumpkins.

The straw bale maze was a big hit too. Our group was lucky enough to get to eat lunch there. I think the kids did more climbing than they did eating.

Then they each got to pick out a pumpkin from the large bins to take home. These were sweet, baking pumpkins, the kind you want for pumpkin pie. I teased Zane on the bus ride home about how yummy his pumpkin would taste. He made me promise I wouldn't cook it until after Halloween. It's hard to wait!

Roasting Marshmallows

The temperatures are dropping. Summer is quickly coming to an end. But there was time for one last marshmallow roast. Brittany came to spend the weekend with us while Levi was off hunting.

As the sun slowly sank on the horizon, we huddled close to the fire and enjoyed one last, golden, gooey marshmallow.

Random Days of Summer

Summer went by way too fast! There was just too much to do!

 We found parks to play at . . . 

Learned to roller blade, went swimming with friends . . .

 And sometimes, we just took silly pictures at Walmart.

 And for the grand finale . . . we went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair.

"Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have 

it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night."
~Hal Borland~

Back-to-School

Morgan and Zane were so excited to wait until September to start school this year. It still feels like summer though so it's hard to think about school.

Zane is excited to be in 1st grade and is looking forward to a full day of school. Morgan is glad to be in 5th grade but would prefer to stay home. (School is not her favorite thing.)

Today, they got to ride the bus home.

Celebrate!

August is birthday month at our house. 

We start celebrating early and party all month long!

Brittany & Levi and Rick & Sharon came early in the month. We had a fun party weekend with them which included a day of shopping and two yummy cakes.

Zane wanted cupcakes, Spiderman cupcakes, on his birthday. The neighbor kids joined us for cake and presents. He was in heaven!

Morgan was thankful to celebrate her birthday this year before school started. She wanted watermelon for her birthday so I tried to turn it into a cake. She loved it! And since she is now double digits she got one candle. She thought that was pretty silly. (I actually couldn't find any more candles in the house. Too many parties!)

We also celebrated another weekend with Brit & Levi. (I told you it was a month long celebration.) The kids had so much fun at the farm in Arbon!

And it just wouldn't be a celebration with out some shooting practice. The kids had to show off their skills for Rick & Sharon.

Happy Birthday!

Gold Medal Gymnast

Morgan has wanted to do gymnastics since she was about 5 years old. Finally, we live close to an awesome gym with great coaches! So, we decided to try it out this summer.

She had some friends in Nebraska who had shown her a few things on recess so she was able to jump right in and do a cartwheel. A month later she is learning how to do a round-off back handspring. She's landed on her head a few times but absolutely loves her class.

We also discovered that her lower leg muscles are extremely tight. She struggles to point her toes and has to do lots of extra stretches to loosen up the muscles. 

And what does Zane do during gymnastics?

  He hangs out with me in the loft.

Morgan has a new goal - gold medal gymnast.

Joy of Learning

My approach to Summer School is different this year. Instead of “let’s see how much learning we can do while having fun” I’m trying “let’s see how much fun we can have while learning.” Instead of announcing it’s time to do school activities I simply pull out a game and they don’t even know they are learning to count money. 

Our first project was an autobiography. We learned the difference between a biography and an autobiography by looking at two books about Helen Keller. (Morgan loved Helen's example of determination and perseverance.) Then the kids worked on writing their own. It amazes me how different my two learners are.

 Morgan worked carefully. She thought about what to write and wrote slow and cautious. She drew her pictures with great detail. Zane quickly wrote a few sentences and wanted to draw his hand for every picture. He had two pages done and Morgan was still working on her first.

We've done a few "boring" worksheets as well but tried to focus more on reading. Fortunately, both of my kids LOVE to read. We've had some great conversations about the books we've read!

I saw this cute idea for an "I am" poster. I can't find the website now but it's somewhere out there.

Morgan helped me create a list of words that describe her and then I printed them in different fonts. Then we created a face that looks like her, with a flower in her hair.
 

 
We cut everything out and glued it all on pink cardstock to create her own "I am" poster so she can remember how amazingly wonderful she is.

The best part about Summer School... learning in your swimsuit. Yes!

How do you stay cool?

It's been hot! Not quite Nebraska hot, but still HOT. We're thankful that it does at least cool down in the evening but during the day...

 

We find ways to stay cool!

The kids have had so much fun on the Slippin' Slide!

One day we made sponge balls and had a great water fight!

Morgan discovered that if she sprayed blocks of wood with water and then drew on them with wet chalk, it's kind of like paint. And it looks so pretty! Zane helped out by spraying water.

 

This summer, we have eaten our weight in popsicles and spent a few hours laying under the ceiling fan. Sometimes, we turn on Christmas movies and pretend it's cold.

How do you stay cool?

4th of July

Our little town put on a great 4th of July celebration! Scott went to work early so he could be home by 10am. Then, we went to the church park where they had LOTS of booths set up. We walked around for 20 minutes trying to decide what to eat for lunch. 

And then there were games to play and faces to get painted. 

Morgan wanted a butterfly...

and Zane wanted a bat.

Zane even won a bottle of soda in the ring toss game!

Then there were scones to eat and snow cones for the ride home.

We had a few friends over for a barbeque dinner of shish kabobs and patriotic fruit pizza. Yummy!
Brittany and Levi showed up just in time for sparklers.

It was hard to stay up until 10:00 for the big fireworks but we did it. We were so glad we were able to walk down the driveway and watch them from home.


We skipped the 4th of July parade because it was in the afternoon. Who does a parade in the afternoon?! A couple of weeks earlier, we went to the Rigby Rodeo. We watched the parade in the morning and went back for the rodeo action that night. The kids thought that was the best day ever.

It's much better to watch a parade wearing jackets!

When I asked the kids what they liked best about the parade, other than the candy, they both agreed that the fireman band was cool. Zane said he liked them because they played "manpipes"... Ummm... Do you mean bagpipes? Yep! That's it.

Morgan loved all the horses and especially the Rodeo Queens. It is now her goal to someday be a Rodeo Queen, and wear a hat with a tiara on it, and a sparkly shirt. A girl can dream!

Bear Lake

When we drove from Nebraska to Logan we would often drive past Bear Lake and go through Logan Canyon. We always thought it looked like a fun place but were too anxious to get to Brittany & Levi's house so, we never stopped. Now that we live close, we had to see if it was as fun as it looked.

We drove around to the south end where there weren't as many people. As we carried everything down to the beach, we wondered if we had picked a good day to come. The sky was overcast and it was a little chilly. We spread out the blanket on the sand and sat and watched a thunder storm roll over the other side of the lake.

Soon, the sun was shining bright and it was time to put the canoe in the water. 

We played for a few hours and grilled some hot dogs for lunch. We fed the seagulls our leftovers and then it was time to pack up and head home. But first, we had to stop and get a famous raspberry milkshake. It was a long line but worth the wait. As we wound our way through the canyon back to Logan, Morgan and Zane both fell asleep. I had to finish Morgan's milkshake for her. Bummer.

This was the BEST DAY EVER!

Adventures in Oregon

 We packed up and headed to Oregon...

We drove across Idaho and then through the Blue Mountains...

 And we found Grandma and Grandpa's house! The kids love playing with their cousins and all of Grandma's fun toys! Lloyd's boys showed us some funny video clips and iphone games. But most entertaining was playing with Jack and Jill, the new kittens. 

Zane and Morgan love Grandpa's fun tree house! They figured out how to climb from the playhouse into the actual tree. The first time, Zane couldn't get back down. Morgan came in the house but forgot to tell me he was stuck. He finally came in wiping his eyes and that's when I found out he had been stuck out there. He said he was really scared but then he prayed and was finally able to climb down. He was so happy that his prayer was answered that he wasn't even mad at Morgan for leaving him stranded.

 We had a great time with Scott's family, without him. Cousin Zack graduated from college and is headed to Idaho to teach 5th grade. Woot! Cousin Ali just graduated from high school and is headed to Idaho for college. She is amazing! We're so proud of them both!

Brittany and Levi were able to come over for a few days and it was fun to hang out with them too.

We even managed a visit to Great Grandma!

 While we were there, Scott had flowers delivered to me at my parents house. 

Happy Anniversary!

(It looks like the dalmatian is eating my head. Hummm...)

We also found time to have a picnic at the park with more family and swim with Melinda's kids. Wish we could have stayed longer but so glad we could go. 

Next time, we take Dad with us.