Every year the fourth grade does a program at the end of the year. This program was called “Go West”. They have done it the last few years and the kids love it. Since Preston was a 4th grader this year he got to participate. He played Robert Fulton. It was fun to watch the kids. They did a good job with all of their parts and the music was great. I’m also a parent so I might be a little biased.
Preston as Robert Fulton
Our family likes to go on a small hike to kick off the camping/hiking season. In May we decided to hike the North Menan Butte. It’s about a mile up the butte. Over all we hiked about 3 miles. Sophia made it to the top and then Corey had to pack her around the rest of the way. She did pretty well for her first hike on foot. I have to say it was a little challenging, although it doesn’t look it, most times it felt like we were hiking straight up. It was a beautiful day to hike and once we reached the top we loved the view. At the top there are many different rock formations that the kids (and Corey) loved to climb around in and on.
The boys starting out up the butte
A nice little critter we saw along the trail
taking a rest
Beautiful spring flowers
Taking another rest
One of the many caves up the butte
Cute little hiker with her cute little backpack
Lunch time
The view from the rim
Corey climbing around on the rock formations. "I'm king of the Mountain"
Hiking back out of the caldera and then on down the butte
Corey and I recently celebrated our 13th anniversary. Corey told me he had a plan and it turns out it was a good one. We dropped Sophia off at a friends and during the middle of the day, while the boys were at school, we went on a bike ride. We biked from our home the short distance to the green belt. Then we took our time riding along the green belt. After about an hour we went to out to lunch to Pachangas a little Mexican restaurant in downtown Idaho Falls. After lunch we took our time making our way back around the green belt and then home again. I forgot that we had a hill to climb to get back to our neighbourhood. I’m sure I was a sight fighting with all my might to make it up the hill without stopping. We did it though and we have the sore bums to prove it. I can’t believe it’s been 13 years but it is also hard to believe that it’s been 17 years since our first date. Corey said something sweet the other day. He said “You were my girlfriend way before you ever knew it.” I sure do love that man of mine.
Today is my youngest 4th birthday. We had a small party in our backyard with a couple of her friends. It was so fun to listen to these kids. Half the time Corey and I were trying to understand their conversations and other times they were cracking us up. Oaklen couldn’t believe that my husband likes to melt marshmallows and put them on rice krispys. He just kept saying “Seriously”. I couldn’t stop laughing. Sophia had fun playing around with her friends and not having to share things with her older brothers. Tonight when the boys get home we will open family gifts so they can also join in the celebration. Sophia wanted a flower cake so I opted to go the cupcake route. I found a great idea with marshmallows on pintrest and the cupcakes turned out really cute.
Sophia and her goofy smile
Sweet Candice
Oaklen "seriously?!"
Oaklen's favorite thing to do
Candice on her way to the swings
Opening Presents
Flower cupcakes
Better light
When Sophia came into our lives she was three weeks early. She was the hardest pregnancy but the easiest to have. Once I got to the hospital she was here in a little less than an hour. Her and I have had a special bond ever since. I was worried about having a girl but I’m so thankful I have her in my life. She is such a sweetheart and I couldn’t imagine life with out her.
Me and my sweet baby girl. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIA!
A couple of weeks ago my mom came for a visit. She was here for about 7 days. While she was here we really kept busy. I dragged her everywhere. Of course I always forget to bring my camera with me to anything. I was hoping I would get a picture with just me and my mom but somehow that eluded us. One of the days she was here we took a trip to Rexburg. She went to school at Ricks College when my dad and her were first married. I knew she would want to see how much it changed. I also asked her to bring all of her genealogy with her. I love learning about my ancestors and her dad was raised in Salem Idaho. There are a lot of ancestors buried in the Rexburg cemetery. I had asked my mom to take me there and show me where their resting spot are. We made an afternoon of it and stopped by a local park and ate lunch with the kids. Then we headed over to the cemetery. My mom got her genealogy book out and handed me the life story of William Alva Judy( my Great Great Great Grandpa). We sat down by his grave and read his story to the kids. I find it is so interesting to hear about his life. I also feel it is so important for us to remember those who have gone on before us.
Whenever my mom comes here I try and take her to the Idaho Falls Temple. This is where her and my dad were married 38 years ago. I love to go here and experience the peace I feel here. I also love to share this experience with my mom. When I lived in Grants Pass, my mom and I used to spend almost every day together. We became really close. When she was visiting it reminded me of that time we had together. I miss it. I wished we still lived close. I love my mom and I hope she knows how much she means to me. I love you mom!
Eating lunch at a park
Reading William Alva Judy's life story
Well we finally did it. It only took us 8 years but we did it. We have lived here in Idaho Falls for 8 years and as most of you know it’s really close to Yellowstone. I’ve been there with my family a number of times but Corey had never been. We would always get this appalling look from people when we told them that Corey had never been. Our number one reason for not going was because of a certain little boy of ours who, you could say, is a runner. Levi is and has always been fearless. On the other hand I was full of fear. I was fearful that if we took him to Yellowstone he would take off and get lost. I was fearful that he would run off and jump into a hot pot or get eaten by a bear. We finally felt he was old enough not to run off and jump into the scalding water.
This particular week that we went was free national park week. So we didn’t even have to pay an entrance fee. We also heard that because it was spring we would probably get to see the bears out. We unfortunately didn’t see any bears but we did get to see plenty of buffalo and elk. We didn’t go to Lamar valley which is where the bears were being seen. Since this was Corey and the kid’s first time we ended up doing the hot pot loop. We saw Old Faithful and really cool mud pots and geysers. I love being in Nature and this was actually a nice and relaxing trip. It was a little chilly and it did snow on us some. Because it was chilly there really wasn’t a lot of people there. Now that we have gone I think there are more plans in the future for us to return. There is a lot to explore and we only touched the surface. I can’t wait to go again.
Buffalo
hot pot walk
hot pot
The family by Old Faithful
Old Faithful
kids participated in the wildlife Olympics and received a junior ranger badge
Sophia got too tired to walk. Poor Corey had to carry her everywhere.
Sophia and I having fun while it snows
I can’t believe that my little Preston is now 10! His birthday was April 23rd. I’m just so slow on getting things posted. I have so many things I want to blog about but can’t seem to get them on here fast enough. This year he wanted to go bowling. The Saturday before his birthday we had a bowling party for him. This was one of the easiest parties I’ve done so far. He invited 5 friends and we had a blast. Preston wanted a Tardis birthday cake. You may ask “what is a Tardis?” If you’re a fan of Doctor Who you’ll know what we are referring to. Otherwise it’s a time travelling machine. So Corey made the cake. I was actually surprised how many kids that he invited knew what a Tardis was. Along with cake the kids loved bowling. To make it more interesting they had to draw out of a hat and do what the paper said. For example bowl blindfolded. bowl laying down, do a silly dance, or bowl backwards. For Preston’s actual birthday we opened presents from family. This was a really special birthday for Preston because his grandma Tiffany was able to be here for it. We don’t get to see grandma very often so he was so excited to have her join us. I love Preston he is such a sweet and silly boy. I was watching him walk away and go to class the other day and for a small moment I was able to picture him as that small 2 year old that was my little buddy. It’s tough for me to believe that he is growing. He is still my buddy just not little anymore. He is always there to try and cheer me up when I’m sad or help out when I need it. I think the Lord really knew exactly what I needed when he sent this blessing to me. I’m so grateful for him and I’m excited to see where the future takes him. Now, If only I had a Tardis.
Getting ready for cake
Blowing out candles
Tardis Cake
Preston Bowling
Opening presents at home
Family picture after church
Okay, I know Easter was over a week ago, but I’m finally getting caught up on blogging. Next week is Preston’s birthday and I have to get caught up before then, right?!
I’m always forgetting to snap pictures so I only have a few of Easter. On Saturday we colored eggs and had them for breakfast on Easter morning. We have early church (9:00am) so after breakfast it was straight to church. After church we took a little family photo of us all pretty. Then we did our traditional Easter egg hunt in the back yard. Corey always does such a good job of hiding all the eggs. The kids were still finding some the next day. In the picture with the three kids Levi doesn’t look very happy. That’s because he thought his brother was finding all the eggs and he wasn’t getting any. Next year I think we’ll have to make up some rules so the boys don’t fight over the eggs.
Sophia finding eggs
The kids with their baskets
Sophia being silly
I love this time of year. It’s a great time to reflect on the Savior’s love for us. He sacrificed so much for each one of us. I’m so grateful for his atoning sacrifice. I love the Savior Jesus Christ with all my heart. I know it was for us that he suffered. I know that he did suffer for us so that we may someday return to him and be like him. What a great blessing to have him in our lives today.
Cool park we went to
Day 4 was technically the last day of our vacation. Day 5 was spent all day in the car on the way home and nothing exciting to write about. On this day we decided to take it easier than the others. We had a slow morning where the kids just played with old toys and us adults recouped from the previous day. After lunch we went to a park. You can see from the pictures that the play set was shaped as a barn. The kids liked that. We took some good pictures of the kids playing. We spent at least an hour there if not more.
This was Sophia's favorite. A rocking chicken.
All of the kids loved this. They called it the twirling toilet.
I think he is getting a little big for this
Corey even got in on the action
Corey and his cool ride
Kids just hanging on
Mmmm... ice cream
Sophia enjoying her cone
Coloring with Nammi
Things have been really busy and I’ve gotten so behind on blogging. Well the second part of day three for our spring break in Colorado started with lunch. There is a park between the museum and the zoo. We had packed a lunch and decided to eat at the park. It’s still early in the season so there were no picnic benches. Preston wasn’t keen about sitting on the ground. He had determined that the ground was covered in goose poo. Luckily Nammi had brought a table cloth and had the kids sit on that. There was a sprinkler on next to us that sometimes seemed to creep up on us. We ended up moving a few feet so we wouldn’t end up with a shower. There were, however, some kids playing in the sprinkler. I was proud my kids resisted the urge to run through it.
After Lunch we walked over to the Denver Zoo. It’s a lot bigger then our own zoo here in Idaho Falls. There are so many pictures but I think I’ll have to cut it down to just a few to show you. We got there around 1:00 in the afternoon. Just in time for it to really heat up. I was really thankful I brought the kids some water. Corey carried Sophia just about the whole time. When there was a big crowd Levi had the best seat in the house on top of Nampa’s head. We spent about 5 1/2 hours at the zoo. By the end we were all tuckered out. We ended our day with a dinner out at some fancy Italian restaurant. Needless to say on our way home we had 3 sleeping kids.
One of my favorite exhibits. The giraffes.
The kids liked th sea lions.
One of the many exotic fish exhibits. Levi taking a seat where ever he can.
The Kamodo Dragon
For Corey, the red panda or the real "firefox"
Our tour guide. This peacock lead us through a good section of the park.
One of the many exotic bird exhibits.
One of the many, many benches that let us park our derrières.
Walking through the zoo. Getting to the end.
