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

Aug 10 2013

Girls getaway

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Karin

Every year my husband puts together a guys hike and they take an overnight hiking trip into the woods. Finally it’s my turn. We have been talking a long time about going on a camping trip just us girls and we have finally made it happen. We went up to coffee pot campground and kayaked part of the Henry’s fork river. This was my first time kayaking. As you can see I’m the only one wearing a life jacket. Most of these women have been down this stretch of the river and swore I wasn’t going to need one. I’m a little nervous around rivers especially since Corey joined the local search and rescue team. There have been too many stories of people drowning and their life jackets were on the boat but not on them. Well it turns out that most of the river is very shallow. We even had to walk our boats in some areas. It took us about 2 hours to get down the river. The best part is we could kayak right up to our camp site. The next day after breakfast we went on a hike. We hiked farther down the river where there were class 4 rapids. Not something I’m going to tackle any time soon. There were lots of huckleberries along the way. Andrea was always hanging back to pick a handful at a time. When we got back to camp we packed up and squeezed one more trip down the river. This time I did it without a life jacket! We had a great trip and I couldn’t think of a better butch of friends to experience this with. Thanks guys I had a great time. We need to start planning for next year.

Setting up camp

View from our camp

Taking a short break before hitting the water.

Getting ready to get in.

On the water

Walking our kayaks through the shallows.

Melanie

Andrea chillin with her peanuts

View from Debbie’s Kayak (photographer of the water venture)

Andrea and Jennifer

our camp is in sight

back at camp

Oh Deer!

Rapids

picking huckleberries

The hiking trail

A wonderful bunch of Ladies.
Andrea, Jennifer, Me, Debbie, and Melanie

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.

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.

Apr 4 2013

Easter

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Karin

Right before church. Looking pretty all dressed up.

We had a great Easter Sunday last week. We did our traditional Easter egg dyeing on Saturday evening. After church on Sunday we had the kids look for eggs in the backyard. This has become a tradition of ours this is the 7th or 8th year that we have been doing this. We prefer doing the egg hunt in our back yard rather than fight the crowds of people at the public hunts. This year felt a little different than most. I think next year we aren’t going to focus so much on the Easter bunny but rather what Easter is all about our Saviour. I think we might have been missing that a little this year. Corey and I did enjoy singing with the choir at church and when I asked the kids at dinner what they thought Easter was they did tell me all they learned about Jesus Christ. So it wasn’t totally missed. Maybe it was just me but next time we are going to remember a little better.

Dyeing Easter eggs

Preston really getting into the hunt

Levi looking for his eggs

Eggs in a nest. (Corey made the nest for Sophia)

Aren’t they just so cute?

Jan 28 2013

Snow Day!

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Karin

Preston, Levi, & Sophie enjoying the snow.

This morning around 7:24 am my boys are all ready to head out the door for school. Teeth are brushed, hair is combed, and lunches are made. We hear from their dad school is cancelled it’s a snow day! Immediately you hear a mighty cheer come from the boys at the same time you hear a mighty groan come from their mom. Don’t get me wrong I do enjoy having the boys around but I also enjoy the peace and quiet when they are off to school. So we have made this day a productive day. After the kids did their chores which include cleaning their rooms, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, and picking up all the toys around the house we made this day a true snow day.

It snowed around 6 inches last night and around 3 inches the day before. We also have about 12 inches that was already accumulated from before.When we shovel the driveway we always shovel to one side. We do this because we live in the great state of Idaho where the wind never stops blowing. If we shovel to the other side of the driveway we are back out there shovelling the drifts. That means we have quite the mound on the one side of our drive. So much so I have to chuck the shovel of snow over my head.

I decided the kids would have a lot of fun with a few caves and tunnels. It was a lot of hard work but the kids really did have fun making the tunnels. This is a great memory to go down in the books. They spent so much energy on making the tunnels that they haven’t even had a chance to play in them yet. We came in for hot cocoa and we are letting their snow stuff dry. Hopefully later in the day I can send them back out to play.

Preston in his cave/tunnel.

Sophia in her cave/tunnel. It connects to Preston’s.

Levi working hard on his cave. He put the most effort in.

Preston’s and Sophia’s cave.

Levi’s cave

Another entrance to Levi’s cave

Nov 24 2012

Temple Square

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Karin

Corey and I have been wanting to take the kids to Temple Square in Salt Lake to see the Christmas lights for a long time. The last time Corey and I saw the lights was December 1998. That’s before we were married. There is a lot that has changed on Temple Square since the last time we were there. We knew the kids would enjoy the beautiful lights. The day after Thanksgiving was the best time that worked for our schedules. Although I don’t know if we would go at that time again. Apparently as soon as it gets dark people come out of no where. We spent most of the day exploring the buildings and all around temple square with very little congestion. As soon as the lights came on we were shoulder to shoulder with all the people. It got a little crazy trying to navigate through the crowds. By the end of the evening we were tired and sore from walking. On the way home we stopped at In-N-Out Burger and had dinner. It wasn’t long after we got back on the road that the kids all fell asleep. We really wore them out.

Inside model of the Salt Lake Temple.
Found in the South Gate visitor center.

Preston viewing a video of the different rooms in the temple

The kids on the temple steps

The family in front of the temple

The old tabernacle

Levi in the Church history museum.

Kids in front of a life size model of the angel Moroni that is found on top of most LDS temples.

The nativity just outside the Tabernacle

Temple square before dark. Taken from the conference center.

Temple with the lights on

Temple with Christmas lights on.

A blue tree that Preston really liked

Nov 24 2012

Thanksgiving 2012

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Karin

We don’t have any family that lives close so sometimes Thanksgiving can be a hassle or a little depressing. Not this year. We have a couple of friends who also don’t have any family near. We combined forces and had a big Thanksgiving feast. We did this last year and thought that it turned out so well that we would do it again. It turned out well with only one hitch. I had a band-aid on before I started pulling the meat off the turkey but not after (eeewww). I was freaking out that someone would find it in their food. Reminded me of that friends episode when Monica looses a finger nail. Anyway, we did find it later while cleaning up and it wasn’t in the food (yay). We did have a good laugh over it. What a great night. Always so much better to spend the holiday with a large group of people. There was 21 in all. Thanks Jennifer and Andrea for saving our Thanksgiving.

Carving the Turkey with Jennifer

Sitting around the table

Kid table

Little kid table.

We had quite the spread

Dessert. We had 6 yummy pies.

Nov 1 2012

Halloween 2012

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Karin

The pumpkin bunch

Hey! Look at this I’m actually up to date on my post. Anyway I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. This year we, as a family, decided to do a family costume theme. So here is the story.

There are these two criminals at large. Very dangerous. They are wanted for grand theft, larceny, leaving the toilet seat up, and crimes against a pizza. Their recent heist was stealing a giant bag full of money. Anyone who had information about these two are asked to contact the FBI.

FBI finally got the bad guys.

We had so much fun with this. The boys were chased by numerous people trying to receive the reward. We also had a lot of kids pretending that they were thrown in jail. Harry Potter was a frequent guest in our jail along with “the Hulk”, a gangster, and the money bag herself. Halloween is such a fun holiday. It’s a time to step out of your shell and be who ever you want to be. After the trunk or treat Preston went with his friends to trick or treat and came home with over 5 lbs of candy. Sophia and Levi went with their dad around the block and got just about as much. I hope this year will be a year they all remember. We really had a great time.

Sophia and her daddy trick or treating (at our house.)

The super awesome FBI agents

A better view of the jail and Sophia being Sophia.

Oct 26 2012

Meadow Lake 2012

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Karin

Our campsite

After posting about the snow the other day it occurred to me that I haven’t posted for a long time. So I decided that it was time for me to share our camping trip we had at Meadow Lake this year. We went the first weekend of October. It has become a tradition for us. This is our third year. This year was extremely cold. As soon as the sun went behind the mountain until it rose up at 9:45 we huddled inside our sleeping bags in the trailer. Once the sun was up we were able to move around and play. Preston liked to go to the Lake and fish. We spent a day in the ghost town of Gilmore. Gilmore is an old mining town and we even found an old mine that was safe to explore. On another expedition we hiked up the mountain and found a pond that was frozen over. The boys tried to break the ice with rocks. Yes, and when I say boys that means Corey too. Even though we were freezing at night we had a lot of fun and created a bunch of memories.

Preston fishing by the lake

A fort Corey and I built for the kids

exploring the mining cave. It was so dark in there.

An old stove in one of the many run down mining houses.

part of the ghost town of Gilmore

The “boys” trying to break the ice

The Edwards Meadow Lake 2012

In A Nutshell

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

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