Morning Run 

July 3, 2012

While I was getting ready to go running this morning, Kaylee knocked on my door and let me know that Emma was throwing up. After I took care of her, she went back to bed. I decided it was o.k. to still go running, and went on one of my most favorite routes, up to Dry Creek Canyon trailhead. When I got there, I saw the most amazing view - that's why I love this run so much! - the view is always amazing! But this time, there were hot air balloons filling the sky in the valley below. I stayed up there to enjoy the view just long enough to realize that I wanted the kids to see this too. So I ran home as fast as I could - it helped that it was all down hill.

When I got home, Kaylee was up and out on the couch, but the other three were still asleep. Not for long! I called for all of them to wake up and pile in the van. They got up pretty quick, pulled on shoes, and climbed into their seats. Emma had a bucket in her hands, but was happy to get out, and now Kaylee had a bucket as well. Just as we were about to back out, Kaylee threw up in her bucket. I took care of that, gave her a clean bucket, and we left. By the time we got up there, only a few balloons were still up, but the kids enjoyed seeing them and the whole morning view of the valley. Emma noticed the lake and Kaylee pointed out a few buildings and fields that she recognized, Tyler and Jacob were trying to find our house. We all watched the balloons slowly move to their landing locations. Then we looked up the canyon and discussed when we should come back and go on a hike and which path we should take.

We live in such a beautiful place!

I love the 4th of July, and the festivities that go with it! I am so grateful to live in this beautiful country and enjoy the freedoms that we have been given because of the brave men and women who have fought to make and keep our country free.

We am so blessed!

My New Scooter

For my birthday, Brian gave me an adult size kick scooter. Love it! So, when I go out to run a quick errand, I can hop on my scooter and wheel my way there. Wow, my errands just got so much more exciting!

The greatest gifts I've been given are my incredible husband, Brian, and these four wonderful children! They are miracles! How did I end up with the best husband ever?! It took a lot of patience and guidance from a very loving Heavenly Father. And the fact that our four children were even born is a miracle x 4! Watching them grow is another miracle in action. Time flies by so quickly! I wish I could hold onto this moment of having them all together at home. And yet, watching them learn and grow, and become... What will they become? I don't know, but they just seem to get better and more amazing each day.  This is Heaven on Earth!

Jacob's hairdo...by Emma

Love Sundays! The moments we can all relax together as a family. I was so relaxed that I went to bed at the same time as the kids - 8:30pm.

After that good night's rest, I'm ready for a new day, and a new week!

Homeward Bound

June 22, 2012

After a wonderful vacation, we started the five hour drive home. We had only been on the road for an hour when our tire pressure light went off. Sure enough, when we got out to check, we found another flat tire. These tires were supposedly 80,000 mile tires, and we had maybe gone 20,000 on them! Thank goodness we were in a little town, Ashton. There are long stretches of no man's land for most of the drive, so we were really grateful for the timing.  There was a tire place just around the corner from where we stopped with great people who replaced the tire with a used one for a good price. We just needed something to get us home so that we could take the van back to the place where we had gotten these defected tires.

While we waited for the van to get fix, we walked down the street and found this old fashioned Soda Fountain. Everyone got a dish of ice cream, and by the time we were done, the van was ready to go. It turned out to be a fun stop!

When we got home, Brian took the car to Discount Tires and they replaced all four tires with a better brand tire for no cost, and refunded some of our tire expenses from the trip. They were very nice to work with. Hopefully we're good to go for a while! From now on, we'll be better at getting the car serviced and tires checked before any vacations!(o:

After getting the tire fixed in Ashton, we drove on to Rigby, and stopped by Tara and Ryan's house to visit with them and see their new baby, who is only a few days old. Kylee is beautiful!! Tara and Ryan seemed to be doing great, especially after just having a baby and getting new carpet, both practically at the same time!

They showed us their new carpet in the basement, and Abby showed us her new room with her princess bed. She's all princess!
Jackson had made a booby trap by tying a rope to the bathroom door and holding it shut when someone tried to get out. He's pretty creative - I'm sure he keeps things exciting around there!
It was so fun to see them!

Yellowstone Park Adventures

June 19 and 21

It's kind of hard to see, but there are two cubs and a mama bear in the picture above. It was pretty cool and fun to watch the cubs playing with each other, and then both the cubs climbed way up into that tree where they stayed. We left before they came back down. Mama Bear sat at the bottom of the tree and looked like she was taking a nap.

This is only the second year that we've seen bears in Yellowstone Park. Apparently, June is the time to see them on the stretch between Tower and Mammoth. That's where we've seen them both times. We saw a black bear wandering along very near to the road as well. There were plenty of bison and elk out. A deer ran across the road right in front of us while we were driving in the afternoon. 

Jacob and the girls were all over checking off animals that we saw in the park both days we were there. I think we saw everything but the marmot, coyote, and wolf this time. That's pretty good! There's lots of animals on that list!

One new adventure in the park was getting a flat tire. Brian said that something didn't feel right and we pulled over at the nearest pull out. I should have realized that we weren't driving on the wake up strip along the side of the road - I don't even think there were any. Sure enough, when we got out to see what was wrong, our tire was completely flat. It was a great opportunity for us to learn how to put the spare on. Thank goodness there is a service station at Canyon and they weren't busy when we pulled in, so they immediately took care of us. After two new tires (another tire was almost as bad as the one that went flat), lunch on a big log next to the service station, and browsing through the Canyon gift shop while we waited, we were good to go again.

Mammoth Hot Springs is so beautiful! There are lots of fun wooden paths and stairs to go on and explore the place. Jacob loves going on the pathways, and by the time we were done wandering around these hot springs, he was happy to be done for the day. Emma and I were counting stairs, and we reached over 500 before we got back to the car.

On Thursday, we drove to Old Faithful. We walked around the pathways, and saw lots of geyser activity. This picture shows the distant view of Old Faithful going off. The kids were energized and wanting to walk all the wooden pathways again. In fact, we didn't walk enough of them before we had to head out of the park to make it to the Playmill Theatre for the 7:30pm play, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels".

On our way back to West Yellowstone, we stopped at this pretty place for a dinner picnic.

Back at West Yellowstone, we had a little time to browse the gift stores before the show started. This was a funny hat moment.

Beautiful Island Park!

June 17-22, 2012

Big Springs is one of the most peaceful and beautiful places on earth! Sunday afternoon, we drove over to the bridge to feed the fish. We only saw one of the many big fish that we usually see there. Hopefully they were just hiding under the bridge, and they're still there. But there were plenty of sea gulls and a muskrat who ate all of our bread.

Usually, we'll take a walk on the path along the river to the boat loading area that's maybe a mile down. It is so pretty, and sometimes we'll see a moose along the way.

We ended up skipping the walk this year because we forgot to bring the mosquito spray with us. Mosquitos love me. If we had gone, I probably would have protected everyone else, because all the mosquitos would be attracted to me, and leave the others alone. I wasn't willing to make that sacrifice. As it was, by the time we got back to the van, I was covered in bites, especially my ankles and neck, and I don't think anyone else even had one bite!

Another favorite activity at Island Park is fishing. This is the first year that all four of our children fished and enjoyed it. And, to top it off, they each caught at least one fish!

Our fishing spots continually change, and this seemed to be the best spot this year. It was my first time really fishing off a bridge. We caught a lot of frying pan size fish - 25 total. So we were able to have a fish and potato dinner, and bring fish home for a couple more dinners. It's so fun to hear their excitement when they've caught one! It's also fun to hear the wild life around us while we are out there. A woodpecker at work, other birds singing, we heard and saw an osprey dive into the water and come out with a fish. He flew above us, carrying the fish away with him.

You never know what you're going to see or hear out there!

Happy Father's Day!

June 17, 2012

We arrived at Island Park on Fathers Day, and got to have a nice relaxing day with Brian. Each child gave Brian something: Emma made him some binoculars out of a fruit snack box for all our sightseeing moments that we would have on our vacation. We accidently left Kaylee's gift at home (ingredients for Smores), so she gave hime a more meaningful gift, a nice big hug. Jacob gave him some fishing lures, and Tyler picked out a jacket for him. We are all so grateful for Brian and for the good father that he is! He is a great example to all of us; he's patient, kind, fun, and loves to spend time with his family. We couldn't ask for a better husband and father than that!

A special treat this Father's Day was to have Brian's parents there to spend some of the day with us. When Brian and I were dating, I was so impressed with how kind, good, and patient he was, and when I met Brian's parents, I saw where he got that from.

I am so thankful for Brian's Dad and my Dad who have taught me so much, and who have helped me learn some important lessons through easy and tough moments.

We have the best family on earth!

Happy Fathers Day to these wonderful, amazing Fathers who have influenced me and so many others for good! I love you!