Dec 12 2013

Thanksgiving 2013

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Karin

Thanksgiving this year was great! Corey needed to go down to Denver for work and so we made a family trip out of it. Since his parents live in Greeley Thanksgiving was the prefect time to plan the trip. He had to work for a couple of days in Denver so the kids and I hung out in Denver during that time. On the last day we had 5 hours to kill after checking out of the hotel. We spent three of them at Chuck E Cheese. This was a first time for my kids and they absolutely loved it. Then we spent and hour in IKEA. It takes an hour just walking through the store. By the end my kids were afraid that we were lost and never going to make it out. After IKEA we went to Toys R Us. This was a good time for me to pay attention so I could get some good Christmas Ideas.

After that we headed back to Greeley and spent our Thanksgiving holiday with Nammy and Nampa. We had some really yummy food and the kids love playing with all the vintage toys that Nammy has. We also made it to the festival of trees there in Greeley. The kids had the chance to see Santa and write their list. It was a really fun week there in Colorado. We really didn’t want it to end. I’m so grateful we were able to spend time with Nammy and Nampa.

Chuck E Cheese! We are ready to have some fun.

Sophia loved the slide.

Roller Coaster Ride

Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner. Even the Guys are in the Kitchen

Ready to eat the feast.

Writing Santa letters

Deep in Thought

Two of our favorite people. Nammi and Nampa.

Two of our favorite people. Nammy and Nampa.

Sophia on Santa’s lap

Levi on Santa’s Lap. Preston didn’t want to sit on Santa’s lap this year.

Nov 5 2013

Catch up

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Karin

Okay it’s been too long since I posted anything. So this is one big catch up post. I’ll post a bunch of pictures with a short description of the event. Hopefully that will get me caught up for the holidays. I like to keep record of all the stuff that happens in our lives and this is sort of a family journal. Not only is it good for me to have a record so I can remember all those great moments but also so we can share it with our friends and family who don’t get to see us often.

First we have to go all the way back to September. YES I said September. That is where I left off. After school started and things start to get crazy canning season starts. This has been great for my family’s food storage but also very time consuming. Corey and I love our garden and we get a lot of produce out of it. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my mom? Well I do A LOT. She came up for a week and a half, despite not feeling well, and helped me can. I put her right to work canning green beans. Everyday we did something new. The biggest thing we canned was apple sauce. We had the apples from my tree and some apples that a friend let me pick. In the end we canned 48 quarts of apples. I really did have a lot of fun with my mom and really do miss her when she is gone.

You’re seeing right that is a 5 gallon bucket of applesauce.

Mom and I with all the applesauce ready to process.

On to the next event. Our camping trip to Craters of the Moon National park. We are fortunate to live in an area where we don’t have to travel far to get to some great camping spots. We said goodbye to our tent trailer and got ourselves a new trailer. We had to try it out the weekend we got it. We joined some friends up at Craters and had a blast. We explored caves and lava fields. This was the first time I’ve been to Caters. I’ve driven past and wasn’t very impressed but once we explored I was amazed. We’ll come back again.

Our new home away from home.

Kids climbing rocks

Walking through the giant tunnel

Exploring caves

Well paved walking trails.

Even here pretty things grow

Group Picture

We have made it to October! This was the first weekend in October. We decided to take the trailer out one more time before we had to store it for the winter. We ended up going to Palisades Reservoir. Again I feel the need to express how blessed we are to live in close proximity to these wonderful places. When we arrived it was snowing. It was a pretty cold night and we only lasted one night before deciding to pack up and head home. It was beautiful. So many fall colors mixed in with the snow.

Our very snowy campsite.

All the wildlife we saw. He didn’t like Corey.

View of the Lake

Family photo

Fall Colors

Being silly on a rock wall.

Next there was a free ice skating lesson at the hockey shelter. We signed the kids up and they had fun skating on the ice. Did you know ice is slippery? It was fun to watch them skate around.

Last on the list and then I’m all caught up. HALLOWEEN! We had a blast this year at our ward’s trunk or treat. Corey and I dressed as Bert and Mary from Mary Poppins. Sophia was a ghost, Levi a zombie, and Preston a nerd. The trunk or treat was the Tuesday before Halloween. That was good because on Halloween it rained and was very chilly. Sophia and Levi went trick or treating but Preston just wanted to hang out with his friends playing games down in our basement. I guess he is growing up. If anyone knows a cure for that please let me know.

Sophia the Ghost

Bert and Mary

Zombie, Ghost, and Nerd

carving pumpkins

scraping out guts

finished product

Monkey see, Monkey do.

All lit up.

Sep 4 2013

Last summer Hurrah

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Karin

Family Photo at Harriman State Park

For the Labor day we went for a hike at Harriman State Park. This is the last fun thing we got to do before school started the next day. It was beautiful. My friend told me that I was pretty much guaranteed a moose sighting. Well she was wrong we didn’t see any moose. We did however see a lot of moose scat but no moose. We did enjoy the water fowl that we saw. There were a lot of geese, a few swans, a pelican and a couple of cranes. We did the golden lake loop which was a very easy hike. We hiked in total 4.5 miles. The only person who seemed tired of walking was the littlest. It’s the longest she has hiked without having to ride on daddy’s shoulders. It drizzled on us off and on throughout the day. It was never enough to soak us through but enough to keep us cool. This area is also one of our favorite spots to cross country ski. They groom the trails in the winter and it is so beautiful covered in snow.

The trail through the meadow

Stopping to look into a pond.

One of the winter warming huts.

Taking a break.

A Couple of swans.

Our destination Golden Lake

Sep 3 2013

School Days!

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Karin

We survived the first day of school! This morning when I woke up at 6:30 am to get the kids ready for school we found that they were already awake and dressed. This is a monumental year. My youngest started kindergarten! I thought I might get teary eyed as I dropped her off at the school but actually I didn’t leave the school. Yep, I stayed to help the PTO pass out teacher gifts. I went home and only had about an hour before Sophia came home. I now have a kindergartner, a 3rd grader, and a 6th grader all going to the same elementary school. I have a feeling that this is going to be a busy school year.

Preston 6th grade 2013

Levi 3rd Grade 2013

Sophia Kindergarten 2013

So excited to go to school!

Sophia and her good friend waiting in line.

First bus ride. She loves the bus.

Jul 9 2013

Levi’s baptism

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Karin

Baptism day

What a wonderful weekend with friends and family. This was a very special day for our family. Levi turned 8 last week and was baptised this weekend Saturday July 6th. He said he was excited but a little nervous. Such a special little guy. We had both grandparents there. Grandma and Grandpa Tiffany and Nami and Nampa Edwards. He also had a few friends come and support him. After the baptism we went back to our house and had a bar-b-que. Corey had smoked a pork shoulder the day before and we had pulled pork sammies, hamburgers, and hot dogs. We had good food and were surrounded by great friends and family. Wow, I’m feeling really blessed. Thanks to everyone who took time to come and support Levi in his wonderful decision.

Levi and his dad in front of the font.

Levi and his family

Levi with Nami and Nampa

Preston also received a plaque that Grandpa Tiffany made for scouts. He went above and beyond and completed all 20 requirements to receive his arrow of light. To get the arrow of light you don’t have to complete all 20 but Grandpa has been making these special awards for around 30 years to boys that go above and beyond. Preston really loves his plaque and he’s very grateful for the work his grandpa put into it.

Levi with Grandma and Grandpa Tiffany

Preston getting his plaque from Grandpa

The arrow of Light plaque

Jul 9 2013

4th of July 2013

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Karin

Wow we have had quite some weekend! We start with the 4th. It was jammed packed with fun stuff. We woke up at 5:30 am and went with Corey to help road block for the 5K firecracker run here in Idaho Falls. The kids had fun watching the runners go by and seeing some fun costumes people had on. Then straight from the race we went to the parade. We didn’t get a nice shady spot this year so it got pretty hot. Luckily we were well covered in sunblock. Then it was off to Gem Lake to hang out with our friends and play in the sand. We stayed there for a good 4 hours. Unfortunately some of us did get sunburned after 4 hours. Mainly it’s because they forgot to reapply on their shoulders. Later we were lucky to have Nami and Nampa Edwards join us for the fireworks. The show was an hour late because a 27 year old kid decided he wanted to swim to the island in the middle of the Snake river and drowned. They had to search the river and postpone the fireworks for an hour. So sad, it kind of put a damper on the festivities. By the time we got home we were beat. Sophia fell asleep in the bike trailer before the fireworks even started so she missed the whole thing. I guess it will be a year we never forget.

waiting for the parade

Corey and Sophia walking on the sandbar

Preston and his little buddy Seth playing in the water.

She may look sweet and cute here but…

she covered herself in sand. It was everywhere.

waiting for the fireworks

Sophia and her good friend Candice. Her mom made cute outfits for them.

Jul 9 2013

Camping

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Karin

Our family loves to camp but unfortunately we haven’t had too many opportunities this year. Corey got a new job in May and he has been travelling a lot. He’ll leave Monday morning and not get back until Friday evening. This makes planning a camping trip difficult. We decided to let the kids have some fun and camp in the yard. The boys thought that camping in the backyard was awesome. Sophia tried to follow them out there with her pillow and blanket but, to her disappointment, we didn’t think she was old enough to stay out there. So we set up a tent in the living room for her. She lasted about 10 minutes before she ended up in her own bedroom on the floor. The living room was too scary for her. I’m sure that if the living room was too scary than the backyard would’ve been too much for her.

Boy’s in the backyard

Sleeping in the living room.

Jun 28 2013

End of Birthday Season

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Karin

Whew.. it’s been a great birthday season and it’s nice to be done. All of our birthdays happen between march and June. Levi’s is the last on our list. This one was a big one. He turned 8!!! He wanted to have a bowling party like his brother did last year. He invited some friends and they had a great time bowling and hanging out. The rest of the day he spent it with us and playing with his birthday gifts. At the end of the day I asked him what his favorite part of the day was and he said “spending time with my friends and family”. How cute is that? He is such a sweet boy. Next week is another big week for him. He is going to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He is really excited and can’t wait to see his grandparents. Boy we really lucked out having this little guy in our life. Love him so much.

Levi and his Friends

Watching his ball hit the pins.

Opening presents

Goofing off and eating cupcakes and ice cream.

Jun 23 2013

A hiking we will go

Posted on June 23, 2013 by Karin

We have gone on a couple of hikes this season. We did Hell’s half acre again but this time we hiked a little further along the red line. Sophia walked about 2 miles but Corey had to carry her for a mile in between. It was a fun first hike.

What a cute group of people

Eating lunch

Family Photo

Corey Hiking with Sophia

Preston Shooting his new BB gun

Another hike that we went on was Palisades creek trail. It is actually a pretty easy hike just really long. In total we hiked about 5 miles (Sophia 4 miles). If you went about 1.5 miles more then we would have made it to the lake. The kids kept complaining all the way hiking in but on the way out they were just fine. On the way back we sang songs to take their minds off of hiking. I wish I had thought of that on the way in. Corey and I are hoping that we can make it to the lake next time. It was a very pretty hike.

The creek that goes along the trail.

Pretty wild flowers

Hiking the trail

More traill

More wild flowers

Corey’s sneeky bouquet. He put flowers in my backpack while I was hiking.

Mid point over look.

Jun 22 2013

Recitals

Posted on June 22, 2013 by Karin

I’m playing catch up again. So much has happened in the last month. Right before school ended we had to recitals to go to. We actually would have had three but Preston’s violin recital was the same night as his piano recital so he had to pick which one to participate in. Since he just had a performance in Orchestra a couple of months before he decided to participate in his piano recital. He did a very good job and loves playing the piano. This is his first year and he has picked it up pretty quickly. I have a recording of one of the songs he did with his dad for his recital but I can’t figure out how to download it. So maybe if I can figure it out I’ll share.

Preston’s Solo

Duet with dad.

All the students and there teacher Mrs. Smith.

Another recital we had was for Sophia. She has participated in the Let’s play music program. This program teaches the basics of music theory through songs and play. This is a program that gets the little kids a head start on playing the piano. It’s a three year program and Sophia just completed her first year. She had a lot of fun with this and she can’t wait to start again in the fall.

Teacher with all the students

Cute kids

Getting her certificate

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3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30

In A Nutshell

Take time to listen, to laugh, and to play together– Elder M. Russell Ballard

Tag Archives: Children

Thanksgiving 2013

Catch up

Last summer Hurrah

School Days!

Levi’s baptism

4th of July 2013

Camping

End of Birthday Season

A hiking we will go

Recitals