Halloween Fun

We had such a fun time around Halloween. Our adopted grandparents(we have many)came and carved pumpkins with us. When it came to trick or treating Hattie was so hilarious. Once she caught on to what happened at each house she ran every step of the way giggling and squealing. (Wells was a good sport to wear a costume he wore years ago. He decided it was better to go trick-or-treat-ing than to keep trying to find lost pieces of his much anticipated power ranger costume and miss the evening.)

Tall Ships

As part of an educational tour the kids and I went and toured the "Tall Ships" which was in our port for a few days. This is the ship some of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed on. We learned about sailing and how not fun it would be to have been a ship mate back in the day.

We are alive!

Dearest family and friends! sorry for completely dropping the blogging ball! Here a few pictures of random events

We had several visitors this summer which we really love!!! Ellie and cousin Eli were a good match for a chess game.
Ellie helping me feed Hats.
Harrison and Lucy doing what girls do best. :)

one more of Hats.

My effort to have no one in diapers. :) Harrison volunteered to show Hattie how. She wasn't that impressed by the experience. bummer...any ideas on how to toilet train a young one?

For my girl Becky!

Hattie is queen at our home! She runs the show and all of us will do almost anything for her when she flashes us the smile or gives us a kiss. She is miss personality plus and although she is just starting to talk she has always been a great communicator. Her tantrums when she is put off or offended are such a show that we all sit around and laugh.(is that harmful to a child's psyche?) I wonder what this house would be like without her. What fun kids are. They are all so different it is amazing they are being "nurtured" the same.



She woke up from a nap with one pig tail going up and one pointing down. It is indicative of her personality.

a few snap shots

A few shots of kids to refresh the blog. Lately it hasn't been fun to post. I think it is a combination of a few things. Life is busy and full and at the end of the day I am too tired perhaps more mentally than not to want to document the business. The other reason is that I am lousy at remembering my camera. I find it frustrating to get to swim lessons having finally remembered the camera and then take one picture before the battery dies. So I will be posting just because the golden rule states that if you like it when others post what they are doing then they might like it when you post what your doing. :)
My little angels...

Ride'em Cowboy.

Nate took me on a ride to look for stray cattle the other day. It was great experiencing some feelings from my single care free days. I love the smell of exhaust for one. It reminds me of water skiing at 6 am on Hebgan Lake because the water is "glass" then; or the excitement of snowmobiling, driving just under the edge of too fast. And it reminded me of some great motorcycle rides during my single dating years, I love motorcycles! My motorcycle skills were stretched on this ride because I am a trail rider so when Nate took me "off roading" I was just on the edge of "yikes!" I did make it and it was super fun and beautiful.

Nate is one amazing motorcyclist which fact I knew but it was fun to watch him in his element.
Nate has been riding on this terrain since he was 11. Before that it was the good ole horse. I can see why horses were a thing of the past, however dodging sage brush, riding through sand, watching for rocks, drop offs, holes and other natural surroundings is only for the skilled professional. I fell twice going uphill on sandy "ravines." (the ones I went up weren't worthy of being called ravines...but so they were to me) I was impressed with myself.
I had fun watching Nate in his element.

Nate asked me if I was thirsty during the ride. So he takes me to the water tank and said you just climb up there and get a drink from the overflow. It's just a 25' tall water tank you have to scale to get your drink. (documentation of Nate's world)

Wish I could hand you some!

Or you could go to your local farmers market. Our local farmer's market comes to us! We have an amazing neighbor who brings us everything. We also have lots of cherry tree's around here!

Paul's interview.

Wow, I have been a consistent blogger trying to let a few family members know about Paul's experience. I guess blogging isn't that important for me but I happily do it for you!

Here is a link of a tv interview that covered a portion of his story.

Paul's coming home...

Miriam is on her way home with Paul today. They are releasing him because Miriam is a nurse and can change his bandages. He won't be returning to work anytime soon but he is happy to leave the sterile white walls of the hospital. He is still hurting she said but thank heaven for pain meds.... Miriam said she has some picks she'll email but if they are totally gross I might just email them to those who want them.(if you aren't bothered by the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly that is)

Yellowstone- part 2 Grizzly attack

After the reunion we went up to my grandpa's cabin in West Yellowstone. We got there about 12:30 am and stepping out of the car was such a nostalgic experience. Warm light rain with the sweet smell of sage brush and wild flowers, as the waft of the wood burning fire place absolutely felt like a blanket of memories! Wow, if you could only capture that smell in a bottle...
Well in the morning it was snowing! and for two days the weather cycled from sunshine, rain, hail, light snow, and sunshine. We stacked wood and did a few fix it jobs, ate well as always, went to West Yellowstone for the traditional ice cream and to acquire more rocks for our colorful rock collection. Nate took me on a drive around part of Hebgan Lake and we saw at least 20 Elk in three different spots along the road. Two mother buffalo and their calves were trapped along the fence line until I got the camera and we headed to get close to them, at which point a car scared them and they ran away through the fence. (I should have pics to document all of this but alas...I never think of taking my camera! But I enjoy the blogs of those who do!)

Well there was lots of wild life around and at the end of the trip my brother in law had a bear sighting which was too up close and personal. Paul loves to take walks up behind the cabin; sometimes we go with him but he does much of his exploring on his own. So last Tuesday he was hiking alone with his bear spray, gun, and walking sticks. As he was walking he came around a corner and there, ten feet in front of him, was a grizzly and her cub. He didn't have time to take the top off the bear spray before she was on him. The bear mauled him for a time and then left with her cub. Some how he had the strength to walk how ever far (he said he was way up on his 4-5 mile loop when he was attacked) down to where he could see people and start yelling for help. He had major blood loss, broken bones, and scratches all over. Help was called and he was loaded in an ambulance and taken to the nearest hospital (1 1/2 hours away by speed limit) in Rexburg. He is still there now and is slowly recovering. The bear bit him on the arm breaking his Homerus right below the ball/joint and one break lower down the same bone (from the bear biting into the bone.)I guess it is a hard break to repair. He also got bit on the opposite side which broke two ribs and the bears tooth touched the lung but didn't rupture it. He has a bite on the back of his head but not the neck.(He curled into the fetal position and protected his neck. He has scratches from claws on his chest and the inside of the leg but thankfully not on his face. He could use some prayers and I am giving a bit of description so family can know what happened and not have to call Miriam or Mom at present. ( I just talked to mom and newspapers and tv's want to come get the story but I think they are writing up a statement to give to them. Paul left his walking sticks up where he was attacked and the officials didn't find the sticks but they found tracks and an Elk that was killed and buried in the area. They tracked the bear leaving the area and everyone including Paul understands the bear was just protecting her cub and territory. Paul has been so blessed to be alive and he did all the right things so the bear would walk away. He was prepared for how to handle a bear attack which was a blessing.).

Happy pictures of our trip....
Snow...in June...Yellowstone is naturally tempermental! Nate took a picture just after I missed his head with a snowball.


Chattin with Grandma Great! We so loved spending time with grandma and grandpa.

Wells and the bon fire. He got himself some snowmobile goggles "to keep his eyes from getting hot."




They found a large rock chuck and her babies in the middle of the wood pile. They just worked around the "den."

Paul with little helper Abby.

20th reunion- part 1

A few pics of my 20 year high school reunion. I really loved seeing everyone and felt older than I have in a while seeing classmates with teenage kids. I hang out with the younger crowd due to my young kids so it was crazy to see the kids so grown up. I was really glad a few of my high school crowd made the effort to come.

A Tea Party!

I found my camera just in time to get a few photos of our super fun afternoon "tea time." My sister in law found an advertisement in the paper for a Mother's Day tea time and it was so much fun. A darling lady from Botswana? (can't remember where for sure) whose parents were British started this tea shop. It has all kinds of tea sets, tea's, lemon curds, and etc. The "Tea Room" is overloaded with antique dolls, more specialty tea sets and numerous romantic girly things. Super fun experience we had with Christina and Ann. Thanks

Ellie's 1st china tea set. She is laying down the rules with the siblings.





I found my camera just in time to get a few photo's of our super fun afternoon tea time. My sister in law found an advertisement in the paper for a Mother's Day tea time and it was so much fun. A darling lady from Nigeria? can't remember whose parents were British started this tea shop. It has all kinds of tea sets, tea's, lemon curds, and etc. The "Tea Room" is overloaded with antique dolls, more specialty tea sets and numerous romantic girly things. Super fun experience we had with Christina and Ann. Thanks

Stages

Ellie has always been interested in anatomy and we have had multiple lessons on where babies incubate. (She has asked more questions about birds and bees, which I have skirted, feeling she was a little young to grasp the concept.)
I came home from doing a few errands Sat. morning and Ellie was in such a giggly mood. Nate, doing scriptures with the kids, was answering Ellie's questions about "fruit of the loins" and she was so giddy I knew what conversation was being had. Nate was explaining about cattle (the way he learned what was what) and asked if she noticed when bulls jumped up on the cows. Ellie started laughing her head off and said, "So daddy jumps on mommies shoulders?" She was laughing so hard I wish I had had the where-with-all to grab the video camera. I was thinking "I'm not ready to explain this one." Ellie is way to inquisitive and our bedrooms are way too close together. Nate dodged the rest of the conversation by telling her "Mommy will take you on a date and have a good girl chat with you." Yikes...a seven year old...really? I'm not sure I can do it with a straight face!

A few minutes ago Ellie asked a little friend as they were playing with two cow figurines, "Do you know how to tell the difference between a boy cow and a girl cow?" "A boy cow has nut sacks(Nathan's terminology)." That is about as technical as we get around here. Anatomy lessons are different but I am not a mom who likes to hear the word penis, scrotum and etc mixed into the daily chatter. I know plenty of moms that don't mind which is fine with me. You see the reluctance.:)

updating....

I have put the blog on the back burner...of a stove kept in storage. I'm a lousy blogger...but I'm a great mom and a decent lover.:)

Life has slowed to manageable speed this week but I still am longing for a break in the near future!. I missed my girls get-away in March and I felt the loss deeply. We did have a great trip to Utah on conference weekend and we got to see so many friends and family. That is the funnest part about traveling for me.

Travel Log-
We went climbing and met up with Chelsea, Jen, Sarah, Lora and our climbing guru Jeff. I of course didn't get pics of us all because we were too busy talking and belaying kids to think of it. I do wish I were better at taking pics. We went to Temple Square on Sunday morning and walked around with Nate's brother Mike. I love the spring flowers there!(should have taken pics...) We then spent the afternoon with the Brown clan and it was so great to see them all. We saw my new nephew Christian and stayed the night with Nate's good friend Dan in Oregon.








This past week I prepared a Passover dinner Sat., taught a lesson on Sunday, Pulled together (with help) Ellie's informal pizza party on Tuesday and on Friday fixed a dinner for our couple's book group.(with help) My mom and dad helped so much and it was sad to see them go today. It was fun to have a house full of family this weekend with my parents and brother Barrett and co. staying with us. I have loved all my company and the parties. I am however ready to dive into a good book get lost in the someone elses life. Any suggestions...for a get lost in book.

add on- so I am reading Twilight now but I can't get into like I have heard I should. Thanks for the suggestions.