It just wouldn't be Idaho.

We didn't even make it to October...This picture was taken this morning from the hill in our backyard.

Painting pumpkins.

Isn't fall the best season?! Tonight the kids painted small pumpkins, and it was so funny to watch and listen to them as they tried to decide what to create. Such a big decision! Surprisingly, only Nicolas decided to do a "face" of somekind on his, the other kids all made shape designs.

The weather has been pretty warm the past couple of weeks, so it hasn't seemed much like fall yet, though the leaves are starting to change a little. But we do have a high of 45 degrees and possibility of SNOW for Wednesday...quite a difference a day can make.

Nursery Rhyme Program

Every year the 1st/2nd grade multi-age class puts on a program in which the children each choose and memorize a nursery rhyme to perform for all the parents. Here is Sophie with her rendition of Jack and Jill...

Island Park

When I found out a while ago that one of my good friends, a companion I had when I was on my mission, was going to be taking a trip with her family to Yellowstone, we agreed that we would try to work it out so we could get to see each other. They had their "base camp" in West Yellowstone, MT, which is only about 2 and a half hours from us, so we decided to take a camping trip to Island Park, ID (20 minutes from W. Yellowstone)and meet up with them for some fun family activities.
We had such a great time! The weather was beautiful, the fall colors are just beginning to make their appearance, and I was so happy to get to spend time with my friend and her sweet family. The last time we saw them, their now 5 year old twin girls were only 8 months old. I really wished we could have spent more time with them, as I was reminded why we got along so well as companions.
After we set up our camp at the Upper Coffee Pot campground in Island Park, we met up with them at a place called Big Springs, where the kids fed the fish, ducks and a couple of muskrats, then we went on a walk along a nature trail. Once the kids (and adults, let's be honest) were sufficiently tired of being out in the sun and getting hungry, we all headed back to our camp where the kids all had a blast running around and getting to know each other. Sophie was quite taken with the cute little twin girls, Audrey and Chloe, who were very quiet and shy. It took her some time to get them comfortable enough to come out of their shells a little, but once they did, she was in seventh heaven. She was crying for a good hour that night after they left our campground to head back to their cabin.
Anyway, after we let the kids play and get very dirty, we enjoyed a meal of "camp food", and then splurged on some dutch oven cobbler with ice cream, and later, of course, s'mores. We attempted to walk a trail along the river that evening, that leads from the campground to the Upper Coffee Pot rapids, and we made it a little ways before half of the group decided they wanted to head back to camp and play some more. So my friend's husband took those kids and headed back, while Chris, Lindsay and I continued on a little further with the remaining kids. It was really pretty, but it started to get dark before we could make it to the rapids.
So the next day, after tinfoil breakfasts on the campfire, we took our four kids and hiked the whole 4 miles (round trip) to see the falls. The kids did complain some, but did better than I expected. Later in the afternoon, we took a drive and saw some antelope and elk. The next day, after packing up, we started the drive home, taking a detour to spend some time at Harriman State Park. We took a 2 mile hike on one of the many paths, hoping to spot some elk or moose, but all we saw were some pelicans, and the beautiful scenery. I would love to go back there and spend more time exploring, maybe on horseback next time. The kids were pretty much done with the hiking by that point. Finally, we made one last stop at Mesa Falls before heading home. To see all the photos from our fun weekend, visit the Picasa web album:

islandparksept09

Doggy TP

These are the kinds of things I love to blog about the most, because when our family looks back years from now, these funny little things that the kids said and did will be the most fun to read.
The other day while the older kids were in school, Nick and I went to the grocery store. As we passed by a display for Cottonelle Bath Tissue, he said, in his cute little 3-year old talk: "Look, Momma! It's toilet paper for goggies! We get some for Zipper??"
It's so funny to me that this little guy took so long to start talking, and of course, now he never stops. Over the weekend the kids were watching some video footage of themselves made just back in March of this year, and in it Nicolas was still only saying about 5 words, and saying them weird. Now, there is never any quiet in the house, even when the other three are at school. That's okay, though. He's a complete sweetheart and my little buddy when the other kids are gone, and I'm so glad I get to be home with him all day. And anyway, what about TP for doggies...? ;)

I could write a book...

It's a good thing we have Sophie to keep us in stitches. Tonight she and Nick were trying to decide on a movie to watch together. It didn't seem they were going to agree on anything. Finally, I heard Sophie say: "Okay, fine! We'll watch Shrek 2, it's prophetic!" I just started laughing, and said: "You think so? Do you even know what that word means?" And she said: "Uh, no. I hope it means dumb."

Pics of the day.

The other day, Chris brought home some Skittles for the kids and gave them each a small bowl. A few minutes later, Nicolas came into the room where Chris and I were and asked: "Me have mo' giggles, eeze??" It was so cute that we both started cracking up, but apparently he didn't think it was very funny. He ran over to the couch and started sulking; I guess we probably shouldn't laugh at his attempts to say new words, but it was so funny.
This is a picture of Sophie getting ready to go on her vacation. I'm not sure where she is going, she said she will ask "them" where she is going when she gets to the airport. Sounds good to me! :)
Tonight Zipper decided to join Noah in his nightly reading. It was funny because he kept pushing, ever so slightly, closer to him. I guess he wanted to read Noah's book, too. It reminded me of this funny YouTube video, check it out for a good laugh. (Make sure you watch until the end, my kids think this is hilarious, but then again, they'll laugh at anything.)

Boys playing dress up?

Okay!

Lucky kids.

I just wanted to take a minute to give kudos to (i.e. embarrass) my husband...and since this blog is a record for our family, I thought I should put into writing something for our children to read in the future about their father.
Yesterday morning the kids were getting ready to head out the door to go to school, when Chris asked them if they wanted him to come have lunch with them. He has done this on occasion with all of the kids, starting back when Noah was in Kindergarten. Sophie and Sam immediately said "yes", and for the next few minutes as they put their shoes on, etc., we could hear Sophie singing a little song to herself: "I can't wait 'til lunchtime, I can't wait 'til lunchtime..."
When Chris arrived at the cafeteria, Sophie's teacher came up and told him that she was happy to see him come, as Sophie had been talking about how her daddy was coming to have lunch with her all morning long! The teacher said she asked her: "Are you sure he's not coming to have lunch with Sammy?", to which Sophie replied: "No way! He loves me the most in the family." Of course, Chris spent some time with both Sam and Sophie (Noah is in a different lunch block, so he missed out on this one!), and he even went bearing gifts - ice cream sandwiches! The kids were so happy.
When Chris relayed this little story to me, my heart melted as I realized the confidence Sophie has in her daddy's affection for her. It got me thinking about how lucky our kids are to have such a great dad, and all the other recent examples of his love for those four flooded my mind.
Some of you may remember my post a while back about the Daddy/Daughter date that Chris took Sophie on to see the Hannah Montana Movie. He had promised her at the time, because they both liked it so much, that when it was released on DVD he would buy it for her. Well, a few weeks ago when the DVD came out, I actually picked it up at Wal-Mart because Chris was away for training. He told me he was disappointed he wasn't there to take her to the store to buy it, but she was just happy to get the movie. As an added bonus for us, though, this movie has seemed to be the resolution to our previous issues with Sophie focusing on death and not wanting to sleep alone in her room. Since getting the movie, she watches it for a little bit before bed and then goes right to sleep in her own room! I asked her why watching that particular movie has helped her not be afraid, and she said: "It's only the BEST movie ever, and dad got it for me!" She is such a sweetheart.
Chris is such a great father, everything he thinks about revolves around his kids. He let them stay up a little late one night last weekend so he could take them outside to look through the telescope, as he explained everything he knew about the current night skies. They were so enthralled, and they couldn't wait to tell their friends about how they got to see four of Jupiter's moons! Last night we were having dinner at a restaurant, and while we waited for the food to come, Chris kept the kids entertained by quizzing them on their math facts. It was great, even Nick got in on the action by showing off his counting skills.
Chris has really been enjoying being done with school, and it has been so different for us to be able to go to the store and run other errands (that I used to do alone) together, because he has the time. The only problem is, he wants to buy so many little things for the kids, something fun for them to come home from school to, a pack of Pokemon cards, or a treat of some kind. He's always thinking about them.
Anyway, I could go one, but I guess that's enough "bragging" for one day, and I'm sure I've made some of you gag! ;) I'm just so grateful for our family.

A very cool surprise!

I just wanted to send a shout-out to the UHEAA (Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority)! Today we received a letter in the mail from them telling us that the balance on our student loan (almost $800) is being forgiven as a "Thank You" for our diligence in taking care of our loan obligation. I've never heard of such a thing, but hey, we're not complaining!

SHEEP!

This afternoon Chris and I took Nick and went on a drive in the mountains. Every few miles we kept seeing these sheepherder "outfits", with a camp set up and horses mulling around, but we never saw any sheep. Weird, we thought. Then we suddenly came up over a hill and were surrounded by them! It was actually kind of creepy, to see so many of them laying around on the ground beneath the trees, so I had to snap a picture of it.