Garden of Eatin'

My kids love when things in the garden start to produce. They've been enjoying the peas for the past couple of weeks and can be found every day sitting in the pea patch stuffing their faces. Today Jordyn picked her peas and then found a cool, shady, spot on the back of DJ's old car to enjoy her pickings. We just picked our first handful of beans and we ate some red potatoes for dinner last night. I can hardly wait for the zucchini and squash to come on!

Pioneer Day Celebration--Cokeville, WY

This past weekend we went to Cokeville for their 24th Pioneer Day Celebration. We had a packed day of fun that went something like this:

6:00 a.m.- DJ and I ran in a 5K that morning! Yes, I classify this as fun only because I beat DJ by 3 seconds (he he, he) Love you, honey!! I think we ran it in 24:07 and 24:10 and we were both dog tired. The first two miles weren't too bad but the last mile just about killed us off for some reason. Don't know if it was the altitude difference or the fried chicken I ate the night before. Anyhoo, I was glad to finish and most of all, it was just fun to do something I enjoy with my hubby!

10:00 a.m.- Went to the parade! The kids decided they wanted to ride on the primary float with their cousins so they begged me to catch candy for them. My cute niece, Tatum, agreed to be the candy collector and did a much better job than I did. I think her purse was full! I love this parade because they throw TONS of candy while they head down main street and then they turn around and do the whole thing again. My kids thought they were pretty cool getting to ride on the parade float and they loved passing out candy although I think Kaleb ate more than he actually threw.

11:30- Headed to the church for a program where we had the pleasure of listening to L.Tom Perry, and Quinton L. Cook speak to us. You should of seen the crowd of people gathered in the church building for the event!

12:30- Went to Grandma's to eat lunch and put the babies down for much needed naps.

1:00- Spent time out in the barnyard helping kids with 4-wheeler rides and visiting with family.

This is my sister-in-law, Ann, with her Grandson, Kayden! Morgan got hold of my camera and snapped a few photos of the cousins and one random one of she and her cousins feet.

3:00- Loaded everything in the van, left Regan and Morgan behind, and headed for Blackfoot for my 15 year High School Reunion!

All in all, it was a pretty hectic day but I felt lucky to have participated in so many fun activities and being with DJ's family is always a lot of fun!

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I guess I should mention a bit about my 15 year Class Reunion! YEP, I am that old! It's so hard to believe all that has transpired in the past 15 years but I couldn't be more grateful for my wonderful husband, my 6 beautiful kids, and my "easy" life that I enjoy. It was interesting to meet up with some of my old classmates and find out what has transpired in their lives the past 15 years. Some haven't changed a bit---still up to their old antics of drinking and living what I view to be the "hard" life. (they really are good people with good hearts, which makes it even more sad to see them making such bad decisions). Other's have made good decisions and as a result, life is pretty good, not w/out trials but they you can just tell they are truly happy. I'm sure this wasn't the most enjoyable night for DJ but he was a trooper and tagged along while I reminisced with everyone. I had to laugh because at one point during dinner, they had a "toasting" session and I was toasted for having the most kids! By the looks on every one's faces, I think they thought we were crazy! Anyway, I really enjoyed the evening and had a lot of fun catching up with a lot of my classmates!

Ross Park-ACA Annual Party

Each year on the 24th of July, we get to attend Grandpa Rose's work party which is held either at Ross Park or Heise Hot Springs. This year we all met at Ross Park where we first went to the zoo, then enjoyed a fabulous catered meal & lot's of games, and then on to the fun water park. Thanks to dad for inviting us and thanks to ACA for hosting such a great party. The kids loved every minute of it but the water balloon launching, swimming pool full of pop, & candy filled tables were their favorites for the morning activities. And of course, the water park was the over-all favorite by all of the kids. What made it even more fun was being there with Grandma and Grandpa Rose and Lor & Brad and their kids. Things are always more fun when you have cousin-buddies close in age to hang around with.

You can tell which of the twins is more adventurous?

The babies tried their hardest to take a swim in this ice cold water!

Jordy's balloon popped right in her face and drenched her--she was not pleased, to say the least!

I think my nephew, Todd, has the right idea. He launched some pretty good ones!

Zoo pictures! The animals weren't too exciting except for the black bear! It walked right down in front and gave us all a good show.


Pool pics! Todd & Regan, Morgan & Kate, spent much of their time on the waterslide. Jordy, Kaleb, Jack, & the babies loved the playground in the water!

Thanks to my sister for taking pictures, my camera battery died half way through the fun!

If I can't see you, you can't see me...right?

This is Kaleb thinking he's being really sneaky when he's supposed to be fast asleep in his bed.

Yep, that's me with my hand on my hip ready to give him the big, "get to bed, now," lecture. But, I couldn't do it, all I could do was laugh!

Who likes grapes?

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Tickling my funny bone!

I get the biggest kick out of my kids sometimes. Tonight for bedtime I read one of the funniest children's books there is (my opinion) called "Nosey Mrs. Rat." Anyone read it it??? It's seriously one of my kids favorites, including my 3 year old, Kaleb. Tonight was no exception, I actually couldn't get through the book because Kaleb had the giggles so bad and kept making me laugh just listening to him giggle uncontrollably. I don't know if he actually gets what is going on but something about the illustrations just tickles his funny bone. If you want a funny book for bedtime, grab a copy!

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Morgan made me giggle tonight as well. Jordyn has been stuffing herself with choke cherries from our bushes and apparently she's swallowed a few seeds. Morgan says quietly to me, "now if she swallows a little dirt & rocks, she'll be able to grow her own little tree"

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The babies don't have to do much to make me giggle. Sometimes I just look at them and their cute little bodies and just smile at the miracle they both are. Now that Porter is walking, I love to see them follow one another around everywhere and copy cat one another. Tonight they were eating dirt clods. YUMMY!

Little Orphan's! I can't stop giggling looking at Kamryn's mud beard!

I love this picture of Kaleb feeding Porter--he looks pleased as pie! He truly loves "his babies."

You've got to see this pic close up, the look on Regan's face cracks me up. It seems as if she's saying, "mom, please take care of YOUR babies!" Actually, I think she said something like, "please take them, mom, I'm going to drop them." I think she forgot momentarily that they can both walk! Could that be what I look like when I carry them??

Porter loves this drawer, especially unloading it but the latest trick is loading himself in it. He knows he's not supposed to be in it so when we catch him, he just grins his irresistible grin!

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Boating with Aunt Ann

We ended music camp week with a fun boating trip with Aunt Ann in Burley! I will be honest, the kids have not been looking forward to this part at all, except for Morgan. A few "tramatic" experiences last year left them a bit gun shy but with much coaxing and a little forcing (okay, ALOT), we got them all on the tube and just as I thought, they all had a great time and all are anxious to go again next year. I've never believed much in forcing your kids to do things but I do make exceptions to that rule, especially since I have a few "chicken livers" that would never try anything if they had their way. Soooo, call me mean, but hey, they survived and found out that it wasn't as bad as what they thought it would be!

All of the kids got to ride with their older cousins which, I'm sure, helped calm them a bit. I got a chance to water ski this year, thankfully no photos were taken of this event but it was nice to be in the water again. This time last year, the babies were a month old and I had a severe case of Mastitis so I spent my time wrapped up in a blanket in 100 degree weather shivering until my teeth chattered while the kids boated. My sweet sister, Lori, even came over and sat with the babies so I could sleep a bit. I will never forget that day!

This was the best place to be, good food, good conversation, & shade!

I got sick of chasing the babies so I decided to cage them for a while. I bet you can guess how thrilled they were about this idea. Actually, Regan entertained them with pick-a-boo for quite a while which helped tremendously. Kamryn's favorite spot was right under the snack table, she and Porter almost tipped it over a few times which I'm sure was what they had in mind. Who can resist starbursts and Keebler cookies? Anyway, thanks, Ann, for a fun filled day!