All the fun times

We LOVED having family here. It was definitely worth the stress of cleaning the house for them. Our lives seem boring without them here. On Thurs night our first group arrived from Seattle. I thought my kids were asleep because I had put them to bed 2.5 hours before company arrived. It must have been like Christmas, because neither of them were asleep. So we let them out of bed to play with their cousins. We got everyone settled in to their rooms and then went to bed.

The next day we went for a walk to the school playground. It was so hot that we called home for a ride. We were lucky to be picked up by Grandma & Grandpa Lyons who had just gotten off the plane. We then went home and waited for Grandma, Grandpa & KayKay. Then we ate lunch and headed to SPLASH MONTANA. This was one thing little miss really wanted to do with everyone. We spent lots of time on the slides and in the lazy river. It was so much fun. We came home, had a BBQ in the backyard, and then went to Big Dipper for some ice cream.

I already told you what we did on Sat. in the post below. Then on Sunday we took it easy, went to church, came home and ate some dinner, and then headed up Pattee Canyon to roast a few marshmallows. The kids had fun exploring the woods and seeing all the little bugs. We really enjoyed our time with our family, and were super sad to see everyone leave on Monday morning.

Feeding baby chocolate chips

Big Dipper Ice Cream 

Hanging on the porch

Cousins goofing off (I love that they played well)

A friendly dragonfly.... and some leftover smores 

We luckily had a couple guests linger a few more days. So on Monday afternoon we headed up to Glacier National Park. We stopped in Big Fork on the way to Kalispell. Checked into our hotel, and the headed up to Whitefish. We went to the lake and played in the water for a bit, then went to a few local shops, and the to MacKenzie River Pizza. YUM! The next morning, we woke up and headed to the park. We did the going to the sun road, and hike up by the Logan's Pass Visitor center. The hike was covered in snow, and was a little tricky since we had on tennis shoes. We were able to see some mountain goats on the trail. Little Man and I headed back halfway through the trail, and the rest finished the hike. Then we regrouped, ate some lunch/dinner, and went back down the sun road. We were all tired out. The next morning, we got up again, and headed to the park. We did a few easier trails, hung out by Lake McDonald, and wandered around the village. We then headed back home in the evening.

The next day we were so tired out that we didn't do much. We went to the movie theather, the mall, and the carousel. We just hung out that night, and enjoyed the last few hours we had with family. The next morning they woke up and left on the airplane. We didn't have any more family here to hang out with.

We were so tired from late nights, and so many activities with family, that we did NOTHING the whole weekend. And just today, are getting back into our normal rountine of things.

Whitefish Lake

Train Station in Whitefish

View from the Going-to-the-Sun-Road

Traffic Jam, so it was a perfect photo-op

The Weeping Wall (a highlight for sure! where else do you get to drive through a waterfall?)

Hiking in the snow up to Hidden Lake

Hidden Lake

Jackson Glacier overlook

Silly Faces on the Trail of the Cedars

  

All of us crammed in a tree stump

Hanging out at Lake McDonald

We love family, and feel blessed to have such a big family, and so many wonderful examples. We love spending time with each and eveyone. We also were excited that we were able to go on a mini trip up to Glacier and see the beauty up there. We LOVE that place, and are so excited when we have a chance to go up there.

Baptism

I always thought it was cool that Kenny was baptized on his birthday. So months ago when we were getting ready for the little miss to be baptized, we worked it out for her to be baptized on her actual birthday. It was a neat experience:)

 We started out the day opening presents. Then we went to the farmer's market (where she had to get a drink and sit in the shade because it was too hot). We then got dressed and ready for the event. We went to the church house and discovered the men's toilet to be overflowing. (YUCK!) This delayed the program by 15 minutes, but in the end, it was just fine. It was such a sweet program, with Aunt Sari playing the piano, Grandma Lyons leading the music, and saying a prayer, and Grandma Lexie giving a great talk. We also had the Grandpas as witnesses when she was baptized, and also confirmed, along wtih Uncle Travis. It was a spiritual program, and I loved seeing how happy she was to be baptized. I was greatful that Kenny was worthy to baptize her as well.

After our princess was baptized, her and I were in the bathroom getting her dressed. A little girl was there to see her cousin be baptized, but had to use the potty real quick. She came up to our little miss and hugged her for a good minute. She wouldn't let go. After the program, her mom told me that this little girl thought my daughter was an angel. All through the program she kept saying she wanted to go sit by the angel and would point towards our little miss' direction. I thought it was so sweet.  I truly feel this little girl could feel the spirit and also little miss' sweet spirit and her purity at that moment.

After the baptism, we went to favorite local restaurant. We've always been seated quickly, but when you have a group of 13, and are there on a Sat night at prime time for dinner, you are required to wait an hour. But the food was delicious and worth the wait. We headed home for some ice cream sundaes and hanging out on the porch with the beautiful montana summer evening. It was a good day!

Flowers

A few months ago my little man found a random seed, and asked if he could plant it in the dirt. I said sure, what was the harm in that. Well he planted it near a bush that shortly after started to bloom. So he thought it was his bush. I chuckled and went along with it. Then he noticed that on the other side of our sidewalk, the same sort of plant was sprouting. He got so excited. He thought his seed was blooming on one side, and had carried it's roots under the sidewalk and was now blooming out the other side. I thought this was so cute that he believed that. Well that bush started blooming last week and it's a beautiful peony busy.

On Friday, my friend needed help decorating for our ward party/fundraiser. So I thought I would cut a few flowers off the bush (since they are so heavy and leaning towards the ground anyways). Well I brought them through the house and my little man FLIPPED OUT!!!! I had no idea why, and finally after 15 minutes we were able to sort out the problem. He felt that it was his bush, and had not given me permission to cut the flowers. I felt bad, but also told him that we needed to share the beauty of them with others. He finally agreed because I promised to collect all the flowers at the end of the party and bring them back home. He then asked me, "but how will you get them back onto the bush?" ..... good question!

I wanted to share this story so I wouldn't forget his sweet personality. I love that he is so sensitive (although it drives me crazy at times too), but he is a sweet boy, and I appreciate that about him. I also thought it was cute how innocent he is.

8th Birthday party

I'm going to be working backwards to get updated, so keep scrolling down just to make sure you don't miss anything :)
The Little Miss had her 8th birthday party last night. We figured since she's a summer birthday, we would try to squeeze it in before school got out. She invited lots of girls, so we planned to do it outside. But the weather wasn't looking to promising. Luckily, we were blessed and got the ONLY nice day this week. So we were able to host outside. Towards the end of the party I thought it might sprinkle on us, but it didn't.

She had a horse themed party, and we did a craft, played games, ate hot dogs, cake and ice cream, and had a pinata. It was a huge success.

*** I'm so excited because Kenny got an iphone and has been able to take so many pictures with it. It's nice not having to lug around my camera everywhere, AND not have the responsibilty of all the pictures :)

Eating some yummy food

 The pinata that would NOT break

The yummy cake

the group shot... how cute are they? 

School Happenings

End of the school year brings lots of fun times. Little Miss had a Star Presentation to give at school, which basically was standing in front of the class for 15 minutes talking about any subject she chose. Well she decided to demonstrate how to make Oreo Truffles and of course it was a success, because those things are amazing and everyone loves them. She made lots at home last night before her presentation so we could practice, and then she was able to serve one out to each of her classmates.

Also today she had a 3 mile run to participate in. She did a great job!!!

Surprises

After we spent time with family in Big Bear, California, Daddy decided we were so close that we should venture to the coast. We didn't tell the kids about this part of our trip. So they were super excited when we surprised them with a hotel, and then the beach. It was a perfect day at the beach. Warm weather, warm water, and the kids had so much fun playing in the ocean.

 

Then next morning we woke up bright and early to get ready to go home. But first, the kids wanted to ride the Disneyland Shuttle to the park and look around, since we were so close.

We got to the front gates and then told them our surprise.....

Haha.... like Little Man's reaction?

And here are some pictures from the day.

 Giving thanks right after they found out about their surprise

One of the family's favorite rides

 Driving the Autopia car

 Sporting some "Mater" teeth

On Winnie The Pooh

Messy face after eating an ice cream treat

"It's a small world after all"

These next 2 pictures are a little blurry and poor quality, but I wanted to show the difference in their energy levels.  So at the begining of the day everyone was super excited about our days adventures.....

And since we stayed from 8am-midnight the kids were EXHAUSTED. I asked them to look at me and smile, and they couldn't even crack a smile. Daddy's not really pooped like them, he just did it for a fun picture. Several times throughout the day Little Man asked to go back to the hotel and rest. But then we would remind him of the next ride we were going on and he would perk back up and start skipping to the next place. They had a blast, and walked the whole day!

Recap of January 2012

In the beginning of the month, Little Miss celebrated her 7.5 birthday. She got a yummy  hot breakfast made by daddy. Then we went exploring in the mountains, found a nearby ski resort, got hot chocolate from the gas station, and had donuts to celebrate.

We love the little guy's preschool this year. His teacher is phenomenal! She's very patient with him and always has fun projects. He's learned so much from school this year. In Janurary, his class went on a field trip to a gymnastic center. He loved running around for an hour. His most favorite part was jumping into the giant foam pit!

We got a HUGE snowstorm! They closed school for a couple days...which is big here. We got 15-18 inches, and guess who got to shovel it all from the sidewalk and driveway.... ME! It was a big time workout. I also got stuck in the neighbors driveway which was funny. Oh the adventures of snow. The kids had so much fun with the white fluffy stuff. The only thing is they were both sick while we were getting the big storm. But a couple days later, they were better, and it wasn't snowing anymore... so we played outside a ton. We even went sledding one day with Daddy.

This little girly is having trouble getting her bottom teeth to come out. So we had to go to the dentist and get 2 more teeth pulled. She's such a trooper. This time though her lip was sore for a few days, I think he may have pulled just a little too hard. She sure is rich from the tooth fairy though.

So i'm gonna try to blog again, but not daily. Just occasionally. My life's too hectic to snap a picture every day. But I still want to remember the things we do as a family. And since my memory is poor, this is a great way to look back and reflect on the good times.