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.)