Bear Lake Vacation

We just got back from the funnest vacation!  My parents rented a big ol' house, and the whole family headed over to Bear Lake for 4 days. 

   The first day we headed to the lake.  Headed there with 2 jet skis, 2 paddle boards, rafts, tubes, buckets, shovels, and 11 kids in tow.  Oh did we have fun!

Oh yeah, I also got our van stuck in the sand. Luckily nice strangers from Wyoming helped push me out!

Lake hair, don't care

After the lake half of us wanted to go to Minnetonka cave.  It wasn't until we were almost there that we realized that the tour would be 90 minutes.  And the cave would be 40 degrees. And we were in flip flops. And wet swim suits. This realization gave my parents and I pause. But not Derek and 8 kids.  In they went. And 90 minutes later they came out as happy little Popsicles!  

Derek sweet talked the lady into letting them borrow their hoodies!

Inside the cave!
 Derek said they looked like a day care with their one leader, 8 kids, and matching shirts. 

The next day we relaxed at the house - did I mention this house had an awesome indoor pool?  It was so nice not have to worry about sunburns!  The kids swam and swam and swam some more. 

The top picture was supposed to be nice, and the bottom picture was silly.  Someone thinks nice means silly, and silly means punky.  

Since we stayed in Preston, Napoleon Dynamite's hometown, we dedicated some time to honoring this classic.  First we watched the movie, then we headed out on a self-guided Napoleon tour. 

How many people can fit in a selfie?

After our movie showing, we were off to explore Napoleon's old haunts - we saw Trish's house, Kings, DI, Pedro's house, and Preston High School. 

Pedro's house had a Vote for Pedro sign in the window!   And this movie is 12 years old people!

And of course we had to see Napoleon's house!

This sign was in the front yard saying, "heck yeah this us Napoleon's house!  Gosh yes you can take a picture!"

I love the people who live here.  And welcome gawkers year after year to their front yard.  

Emily and Hannah are acting out Lyle shooting the cow in front of the bus. 

Happy hands club

Uncle Rico getting his head shots from Deb. 

Around the house ... And yes, it had a phone booth!  But what's a phone booth mom??

We stopped at the Whitney cemetery to see President Ezra Taft Benson's

grave. 

We celebrated Tyler's 15th birthday!

 

Cousin line up!

Love.  Them.   All.

I love being a 'yes' mom ... A mom who says yes to the million of requests a day. But more than I want, I'm a 'no' mom.  No you can't eat that right before dinner.  No you can't watch ANOTHER movie.  No you can't stay up 30 minutes more.  But on vacations like this I get to be a 'yes' mom.  Yes you can swim after breakfast. Yes you can stay up as late as you want. Yes you can eat all that junk grandma brought.  I love being a 'yes' mom.   Just another bonus ion this vacation.  

   We had such a great time!  Made memories and strengthened relationships.  Thanks mom and dad for treating us to such a fun week!

 

 

 

 

 

4th of July Fun!

Another fun 4th of July is in the books!  We went to John and Sandy's, meeting Angey's, Megan's, and Rainie's families there.  What a fun 3 days!  

At the parade

Lunch after the parade

Waiting for fireworks 

The next day Derek, Sandy, and I took these cute kids to do baptisms at the Rexburg temple. What great kids!!

We needed lunch afterwards, and Mill Hollow is a Rexburg tradition!

We might have played a game or 2.  

Or a million.  

Notice headless Lance - he didn't want the picture to be "Lance's Ladies"

  It was a great week of fireworks, food, games, cousin sleepovers, and laugh after laugh!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Tyler went and turned 15 ... I don't know how, or when, but he did it.  

He woke up to this arty creation on his door.  Bailey spent 3 days on it. And yes, she's been watching Cake Wars lately - so there's a definite Cake Wars look to it. 

Notice: Happy Birthday is in Spanish, because he takes that in school, the golf ball and club, the white Resee's (his fave), the car and key since he has his permit, a June calendar, NBA 2k16 (his favorite video game) and on and on.  She put all his favorites on there!

Tyler wanted to go a nearby cave - so down we all went!

Down a creepy 50 foot ladder!

For dinner we went to his favorite pizza joint, with Grandma and Grandpa joining us. Afterwards it was back to our house for a how-much-peanut-butter-can-you-cram-in-one-pan cake. 

Happy birthday to this smart, creative, thoughtful, never-met-a-game-he-didn't-like teenager!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cabin Fun!

We had the funnest weekend at my parents' cabin!  We enjoyed hiking, 4-wheeling, and playing in the river.  

Emmy on her way to the river -

Notice the goggles hanging from her wrist. 

Emmy - all smiles!

Bailey - not so much. 

At one point we see Tyler just float by us. 

Not a care in the world.

He quickly got the nickname Baloo.  

After we'd played in the river for a while, Derek and the kids decided it would be fun to float down a ways, and have us pick them up.  So we decided on a take out spot 3 miles down river. We thought it would take about an hour. So off they went ... No sunscreen, no shoes, no water, no snacks, not a plan in sight.  

An hour goes by and my dad and are sitting at the take out spot.  And we sit.  And sit.  And sit.  30 minutes.... 60 minutes ... 90 minutes. Finally our tubers come around the bend. And did they have a tale of woe to tell.  They were hungry, scraped,  bruised, sunburned, and tired.  

Here are some gems from the recap:

Me:  Logan!!  How was it??

Logan:  The worst!   I hated it!!

Emmy:  So you want to know who cried? Well me to start with.  And Bailey.  And Logan.  Logan a lot. 

Derek:  And I cried inside.  

Grandpa:  Just think about it, it will be great memories!

Logan:  Quit talking about it.  I'm trying to forget it.  

Derek:  Two different rafters offered me adult beverages.  My resolve grew weaker the longer it went.  

Logan to Derek:  I need to know how long until we're done.  In minutes.   

The weekend was super fun.  Horrible, hope we forget, memories and all!

 

 

 

Father's Day 2016

  We just celebrated the funnest Father's Day.  We started off the morning with NO Bishopric meetings!  Now right there you know it's a good day.  Derek got his favorite strawberries/Nutella crepes for breakfast.

  After church we headed to Jen's house for a Father's Day dinner.  All of my siblings for dinner ... that equals a rockin' good time.  After dinner the kids ambushed the dads with 200 water balloons.  Payback was swift. Payback was certain.  In between water balloons, guns, squirters, buckets and the endless supply of the hose everyone was quickly drenched.  Poor Sam had to "take your medicine, son" by being pinned down by Toby and Paul while Derek unloaded a bucket full of water on the poor guy ... while Jen was yelling, "Don't water board my son!"
   While everyone dried off we played a fun Newlywed type game with my dad and his 4 kids to see which of us knows him the best .... turns out none of us really know him! The questions and answers were so funny - enjoy!
He is sitting in front of the TV.  What is he watching?
Me:  Discovery Channel
Al:  He's not watching anything, he's just seeing what ELSE is on (he's famous for his channel surfing)
Dad:  Alone on the History Channel

You are out to eat, what does he order?
Me:  hamburger
Dad:  kung pow chicken

What is a food he hates?
Me:  olives
Dad:  olives

You are out to eat, what kind of dressing does he order?
Me (and all of the kids):  bleu cheese
Dad:  honey mustard

What is his favorite kind of music?
Me:  country western
Dad:  cowboy

If he could collect one thing what would it be?
Me:  fly ties
Dad:  an old canoe (just the one, just the one canoe collection)
This sparked a lively debate on whether one thing could be called a collection.  Jury's still out.

What would he eat every day if he could?
Me:  eggs and toast
Dad:  fried egg, hash browns and sausage patty

What is he favorite cereal?
In unison:  Wheaties!
Dad:  Wheaties, followed by Mom's granola

What would he never wear?  Best question of the night:
Al:  Hammer pants
Robb:  tank top
Jen:  Skinny jeans and bare feet
Me:  Speedo
Dad:  jump suit

What is his favorite sports team?
Me:  BYU
Dad:  BYU

You bake him a cake for his birthday, what kind of cake do you make?
Me:  ice cream log
Dad:  yellow cake

Favorite sport to watch:

Me: NASCAR (I swear he watched it growing up!)

Dad: downhill skiing

What could he spend all day doing?
Me:  fishing
Dad:  fishing

All in all, super funny game!

Happy Father's Day!

 

ACE Academy

Tyler and Sam just got to have the funnest week!   Three full days of all things aviation (or Space Camp as Jen calls it!). They got to tour the airport, control tower, Warhawk Museum, and an airline hangar.  They learned about drones and hot air balloons.  They also got spoiled along the way - 6 catered meals, and a mini drone as a thank you for coming!  

   But the highlight was the last morning where they got to fly in a single engine plane. They landed at 2 different back country landing strips. Tyler's pilot must have been quite a trickster because his trip was full of sharp turns, highs and lows, and "we're landing, we're just about to touch down .. Just Kidding!" - pull up as hard as the pilot can, kind of tricks.

What a fun week!

 All credit goes to this gal!

 

Island Park/Yellowstone

  A few months ago, our fabulous friends, Brady and Andrea, invited us to go to Island Park and Yellowstone with them this summer.  We have been so looking forward to this trip!   Not only would Derek and I get to see Brady and Andrea, Bailey would get to see Brynlee (the world's biggest BFF pair), but we would get to meet Cooper!   Andrea and Brady adopted 4 year old Cooper from China in March and we hadn't met him yet!  We couldn't wait for our Cooper Meet and Greet!  Finally it came!

Beautiful Island Park

  They rented a great cabin, we moved in, and settled in for a great week. 

Brady took the kids and Derek fishing

Andrea and I went for a run 

- just like old times!
 

Sometimes you have to fit 12 

people in a van!

  Andrea and I took the 4 big kids to West Yellowstone Playmill theater.  We saw the funnest Singing In the Rain production!  The talent was so great!  Singing, dancing, acting .... They were fantastic!

Tyler, Emily, Brynlee, Bailey, and Andrea

 We got to spend a full day at Yellowstone. We saw deer, buffalo, big horn sheep, wolves' den, and a grizzly bear (a few lucky ones caught a glimpse!).  We hiked the Storm Point trail (a new, but quickly a family favorite), saw Old Faithful (always faithful!), Artist Point, mud pots, and gorgeous scenery all around. We had a fun picnic for lunch and ate dinner in the Yellowstone lodge.  

Nash, Brynlee, and Bailey 

Tyler sneaking in the picture in the back

Tyler, Cooper, Nash, Emily, Logan (trying to avoid the sulfur smell) and Ridge

Our hikers!

Emily, Bailey, Brynlee, Ridge, 

Tyler, and Logan

Storm Point Trail - an awesome 2 mile loop along part of Yellowstone lake.  Ours included several bison on the trail!

Cute kiddos eating dinner

Old Faithful - always impressive!

  Day 3 we were able to squeeze in a little more fun!   We headed to Mack's Inn, rented canoes and were able to canoe Big Springs. Such a great float trip!  Along with the clearest water (a bit on the icy side though!), we were able to see a moose as we canoed past.  

Tyler steered our boat

  We also drove to Quake Lake - a 6 mile long lake that was formed in 1959 when a giant earthquake hit, causing a huge landslide, that instantly dammed the Madison River.  

   We ended our last night roasting marshmallows and eating s'mores. Very fitting, because we all left wanting S'MORE of this vacation!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's SUMMER!

Hooray!   It's summer!! We made it!  Another year of alarm clocks, homework, finals, early morning seminary, 20 minutes of reading EVERY DAY (to an adult unfortunately), making lunches, bedtime, homework folders, permission slips, field trips, volunteering, field days, and projects is in the books.  We made it.  And by the way ... alarm clocks.  My family is so over alarm clocks.  Also, I've identified my least favorite day of the school year.  The second to the last day, where all of the supplies come home.  What am I supposed to do with 40 more crayons?  I'm already buried in crayons people.  And what am I going to do with pocket folders that are gently used?  My kids won't use them next year ("But Mom, it's all beat up!  I can't use this!").  I genuinely hate school supplies coming home.  I'd be happier if they didn't come home with anything.  So yes, I say ... Summer?  Yes please!

  Since we're super hot this week, in the 90's, I thought it would be fun to invite all the kids from our bus stop to our house for water balloon fight.  Yes, the bike gang came straight from the bus stop to our house. 

That's the funnest sight.
 

  120 water balloons and 2 minutes later and the fight was over. Good thing buckets, bowls, sprinklers and Derek came out to make our party a little longer.  

Notice how they're all chasing Derek. Haha

After everyone was drenched, I gave them an ice cream sandwich to eat while they dried off.  It was the funnest way to kick off summer!

   We ended the day by cooling off at the water park.  

Happy summer to all!

 

Bus Stop Bike Gang

This spring most of the kids, Bailey and Logan included, who go to our bus stop have started riding their bikes.  They ride to the bus stop, lock their bike to a random tree, go to school, get off the bus and ride home.  It's a hilarious sight to see.  All these bikes parked there all day, and then once the bus drops the kids off, they hop onto their bikes and race home like it's the Indy 500!   It's hilarious to see!   I couldn't love it more!

 

Last day of Seminary!

Last day of early seminary!

  This cute young man rode off this morning to his last day of early morning seminary. He has done so great with seminary this year.  Never once has he complained about going at 6:30 every day.  Never once has he felt sorry for himself that all of his friends in our ward get to go to release time at the traditional high school.  Never once.  And this boy likes his sleep!

  He has learned the Old Testament, memorized 25 scripture masteries, and taken seminary assessments like a boss. I couldn't be prouder! 

Way to go Ty!!

 

Field Trip Fun

Beautiful day for a field trip!

I got to join Logan's class to go to the Nature Center, learn a whole bunch about beavers, make a rain gutter dam, see 3 deer, and have a picnic at the park.  We had a great time!

As I was getting ready this morning, I realized my field trips are numbered.  As in, I think I'll go to 6 more field trips.  Six. Now that kind of realization 

will ruin your day.  

But today's was fun and perfect!

Awesome Packed Day!

Today has just been action packed for this fam!   It started right off with attending an assembly where Logan was awarded with the Student of the Month award. At our old school, 4-5 kids from every class got this award every month, and by May every kid had been given the award.  But at our new school - that's not the case.  One kid from every class gets it each month.  So only 8 kids get it a year.  And it's definitely earned, not given.  This year, my boys both earned it, but neither of my girls. These kinds of things are a BIG deal to Logan, so it was fun to see him get it.

A very serious student of the month!

   Our next awesomeness was attending Emily's musical.  She has been in the musical elective for a semester, and has loved every second of it. They performed the musical Pirates of Penzance, and she was the pirate Tom (things like that happen when you have 20 girls and 3 boys in the class). She had to audition for the part, learn her lines, songs, and dances. She has had the most fun!  Tonight we got to go see her perform!   She did so great - it was a blast to watch. 

She had quite the fan club come - Grandma, Grandpa, Jen, Hannah, and Paisley
 (Nice photo bomb Logan)

The next piece of awesomeness came from Tyler.  Today was his last day of Drivers Ed!  That's super crazy!  And how they do Drivers Ed these days is also crazy!  When I was a teenager - it wasn't much more than, "Happy birthday!  Have a liscense!"  But that is not the case any more.  The state requires 30 hours of in class instruction (this can also be done online - but I think 30 hours of online would drag out to 8 months or so at our house), 6 hours of driving with a an instructor, and 6 hours of observation.  The whole 42 hours is then crammed in to 2 weeks.  It's an intense way to go.  Tyler had class time Monday - Friday for 2 weeks from 6:00-9:00 every night, and then he would have drive days from 3:00-6:00.  He lucked out with his schedule - 1 40of his drives fell on a Monday, and he gets out of school at 1:00, so he was able to get a break in between.  One of his drives was on a Saturday, and one was on a Friday where he didn't have school that day.  So only one of his drives fell on a regular school day - but that day started at 6:30 with early morning seminary, straight to school until 2:40, straight to driving until 6:00, and then straight to class until 9;00.  That was a long day!

  But with 2 crazy weeks behind us, Tyler has his drivers permit!!  Watch out people!  With his permit, he has to drive for 6 months and drive 50 hours, 10 of them at night.  He has to have someone over the age of 21 in the passenger seat.  After he completes those, he has to take a driving test and a written test.  After he passes those, he can get a license!  There are still some limitations there - he can only drive at night with an adult in the car, and he can only have 1 friend in the car (siblings are allowed).  Those restrictions are in place for another 6 months.  It's quite a baby step process, but this moma likes it!

First drive with his permit!

  With a day so full of awesomeness, we definitely needed to celebrate.  Cheesecake Factory definitely fit the bill!  

Biggest desserts ever!

What a day - good job team!!






 

 

Butterflies and Logan

Logan had caterpillars this spring in his class.  They went through the whole  caterpillar/butterfly transformation, and set those babies free a few weeks ago.  Today he came home with a whole book he'd made about the butterflies.  My favorite part was when he was asked to compare himself to a butterfly:

I have 0 antennas.

Love it.  

 

Newest Member!

Check out Emily - National Junior Honors Society newest member!

At her induction ceremony 

Congratulations Emily!

Way to go!