Thanksgiving 2016

This year for the Thanksgiving season I thought it would be fun to write down what we are thankful for each day onto some colorful leaves that we hung on a garland across our bar in the kitchen. It reached all the way across and was full of colorful thankful leaves. I think it made the holiday a little more meaningful. I can say that each one of us is thankful for our family. Each member of our family was mentioned like 5 times. I eventually had to encourage the kids to think of something different. But I am so glad that they love each other! Here is what made it up onto our thankful garland.

1. Sam
2. Mom
3. Vacations with no sickness
4. Mae's smiles
5. Mom's cooking
6. Dad's cooking
7. Jesus
8. Sleep
9. Fish
10. Heaven
11. Life
12. Clothes
13. Grandma Connie
14. Chickens
15. Mountains
16. Dad
17. Kate
18. Love
19. Health
20. Claire
21. Waterfalls
22. Grandpa Dale
23. Sunrises
24. Adelaide (Kate's friend)
25. Mae
26. Grandpa Judy
27. Grandma Judy
28. Family Home Evening
29. Animals
30. Friends
31. Family
32. House
33. Mom
34. Freedom
35. Temple
36. Church
37. Food
38. Earth

Dallin had to work on Thanksgiving so we stayed home again this year. He got off work at 6 pm so we had our big dinner then. The past few years the kids have not wanted to turkey so we cooked ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, green beans, stuffing, and apple pie. During the day we watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the dog show and went on a scavenger hunt and visited Dad at work. It was a good day. Over the weekend we got to feed some animals for a family in our ward while they were away visiting family. The kids loved it! They have a lot of animals! They have fish, 3 cats, 7 bunnies, two chicken coops full of chickens, a goose, 3 ponies, 1 horse, and a partridge in a pear tree.

4th of July 2016

Sadly, I had to work on the 4th of July but Dallin and the kids still carried out the tradition of going to watch the fireworks with a big ole bowl of popcorn.

They clearly had fun even though I wasn't there. 

Attempt To Get Caught Up #5

Claire got this dinosaur replica from a book order

 Good little buddies

 Claire learning to ski at Kelly Canyon

Tying a fly

The last snowman of the season. The kids named her Rosie.

 The kids playing in flour.

Easter egg hunt at Grandma Connie's

We set our tent up in the living room so the kids could watch General Conference. I told them they were like King Benjamin and his people. Pointing their tent door towards the prophet.

 This is when we hiked to Goldbug hot springs. The kids did so much better then I thought they would. They probably had more endurance than their mother.

 Kate was in the play, Pinocchio. She was a little toy soldier.

Cutest little toy soldier ever!

Attempt to Get Caught Up #1

4th of July--getting ready to go watch fireworks.

So, one of my new year's resolutions is to get caught up on the blog and stay caught up the entire year. It seems so daunting and time consuming to dedicate each incident to one blog post so I am going to be posting as many pictures as I can into one blog post before I get interrupted. Hopefully I can get caught up more quickly this way.

Our wonderful Sacajawea Center has an event called Heritage Days or Sacajawea Days...not sure which one. But, they have so many fun activities for the kiddos. We were able to walk into this huge fish and hear a story about the lifecycle of Salmon, the journey they make to the ocean and back again. They kids dressed up in costumes before they went inside the fish.

Day at the park

Twin Falls Temple-summer 2015

Twin Falls Temple

We got to go on a carriage ride at the Sac center

Beautiful kids in the beautiful Salmon River

One of the activities at the Sac Center was the kids got to take different molds of paw and hoof prints and press them into the wet sand to see tracks.

Twin Falls Temple

Claire and Kate got new hair cuts!

At the Twin Falls temple

A lady that Dallin works with let us come pick apricots. She has a beautiful yard and garden. The kids had fun picking apricots and climbing the tree.

Claire lost her front tooth!

Family reunion in Burley ID--summer of 2015

Horse rides at the Sac Center

Claire rock climbing at the fair

One of my favorite pictures of Claire and Mae

4th of July

We were so blessed to have Lisa, Charles, and Colten come visit us once a month during the summer. Colten loved little Mae Mae.

We made farms out of popsicle sticks, oats, and grass. This one is Claire's.

Sam's Farm

Kate's farm

While Lisa and Charles were here Dallin and I got away with Mae and went golfing. My first time golfing. It was Mae's first time also. She fit perfectly on that golf cart. I loved golfing but was terrible at it.

Huckleberry picking.

While we were picking huckleberries there were these butterflies everywhere! The kids were thrilled they could catch them and hold them.

This is how Mae picks huckleberries

The girls went even shorter!!

At the Sac center the kids painted these rubber molds and then pressed them onto paper

Twin Falls Temple

Kate's costume--a butterfly
She wore this into the big fish at the Sac Center

4th of July

Grumpy Mae 

Sleepin' by the pool on a hot summer day

Such a smiley girl!

We love our Mae Mae!

Love these mountains!

Right before going into the big fish at the sac center. Claire was a fish!

This was art in the park. Sam enjoyed watching the forest service saw the logs so the kids could paint them.

New cuts!

Sam loves his little sister!

This was the family reunion in Burley. Grandma Connie got all the grandkids squirt guns. Sam loved filling them up in the river.

Sam enjoying the flowers at the Twin Falls temple.

Sam going for a horse ride at the Sac Center

Sam painting his frog at the Sac Center

4th of July

Fishing at Wallace Lake. The kids had fun catching minnows in the barf bags. :)

Camping at Wallace Lake

Wallace Lake

King of the hill at Wallace Lake