Scrapbook Retreat

This past weekend my scrapbooking girlfriends and I held our own retreat. Rather than paying $150+ for a weekend we decided to have one for $30 at my friend, Anna's house. We all arrived at Anna's around noon on Friday including Stephanie, who came from Pocatello just for the event. We'll just say that our weekend started of with a bang. Just as we were all getting settled with our lunch we heard a frantic knock at the door and our friend Debbie burst in the door to let us know that the house across the street was on fire. We all ran to the door and this is what we saw. We could feel the heat from the fire and as Anna desperately tried to get a hold of her neighbor to notify her house was on fire. While we all stared in shock there was a huge explosion that we are guessing that it was from the car that was parked inside the garage. We were all so startled that I think we each stepped back from the door. Our next few hours rather than scrapbooking were filled with watching in shock as this family's home was destroyed. Thankfully all of the family got out safely and without injury. My heart is heavy and still swirling from all of the emotion that filled me through the event.
We did eventually have to move on with the weekend and as best we could and try to leave the chaos outside. After a couple of hours back in our "retreat" environment we were able to get into the groove of all of the scrapbooking fun. We had wonderful meals and more junk food soda than any of us really needed, but we needed the fuel to keep us going. I had so much fun with all of the girls and it was fun to have a weekend with out the hubbies and kids, even though I know they were all greatly missed. We had prizes and gave each other challenges to keep things going and interesting. We all took turns wearing the pipe-cleaner crown when we would finish pages. What a fun weekend filled with laughter, sleeplesness and lots of other emotion...definitely one that I will never forget.

Anna, Angie, Me, Stephanie, and Crystal
Angie proudly wearing the coveted crown
Anna with the OH So Yummy ice cream sundaes
Crystal kept herself going with her Pepsi
Stephanie always had a smile on her face.Lots of Yummy Food

Silver City

For the September Camp Out we went to Silver City. It is a really fun little town. It was a mining town in the 1800's and it doesn't look much different then it would of back then. Walking down the streets reminded me of the old western movies. While we where there we looked around at the building and visited the cemetery on the hill.

Rob, Brian and I were the leaders on this adventure. Sonny, Tyler, Nathan, David and Dallon came on the camp out. It pretty much rained all night and most of the morning. Around 10 in the morning it cleared up.

Saturday morning around 5 I heard some boys laughing and being boys. I decided well since they are up and I am up now they might as well get started on breakfast. They were getting started when it start raining again. We tried making breakfast in between rain storms and finally accomplished that task. After breakfast we had a fire building competition. We tied a rope 2 feet off the ground and the first one to burn it won. Due to the slight breeze it made for a interesting event. David took first, Sonny took second and Dallon took third. We also did a little bit of knot tying in preparation for our Rendezvous in October.

For Thy Bountious Blessings...

We give thee thanks Oh Lord.
It is sad to say that our garden didn't really take this year. But Matt's tomatoes always do well even this year when they didn't do as well as normal. We decided that despite the fact that we didn't get as much produce as usual that we were going to try out canning. We really haven't had an excuse not to can since Matt's mom let us have all of her canning stuff four years ago. We bought a bushel of peaches and canned sliced peaches and peach pie filling. Then we used the tomatoes from our garden and made spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes. We also went over to a friend of ours to pick some jalapenos and I hope to do salsa this week. I even did some strawberry jam too. We have been busy... I am glad that weather cooled of for the week of canning. The house sure gets hot with all of the boiling water. One of our Tomato Harvests
Bailee helping Mom with the peach pie filling.
Peaches and Spaghetti Sauce
Yummy Peach Pie Filling.

Bailee is 3!!

Wow! Where has the time gone? We can hardly believe that Bailee is 3 now. She had quite the birthday week. Her birthday was on Monday this year and we started it off with a birthday breakfast. I let her choose whatever she wanted to have... she of course chose pancakes. I decided that I would make it special by shaping them into 3's. It took me a few tries but I got the hang of it and she ate several of them. We let her have a friend party this year and so on her birthday she got to have 4 of her friends come over for a "Cars" party. I wanted to do a princess party but she chose "Cars". We started the party off by letting the girls decorate their own cardboard car. Then we went outside to play "red light green light" and have some races. They all had fun with that, even though I am not sure they quite understand the game.

Then it was back inside for gifts and cake. Bailee isn't a big cake eater, so I attempted to make my own ice cream cake. She loved it.

Then on Friday Matt's parents, Steph and Kelly came to town for Family pictures and to celebrate Bailee's birthday. So we had a little family party Saturday too. Bailee got EVERYTHING she wanted. It was like Christmas, she had so many gifts.

Bailee just started getting into the whole Disney princess thing. My mom gave her a set of princess dolls and this cute lunch box along with a few other fun toys and games.
Matt's parents got Bailee her own digital camera. Bailee has been quite the photographer for about a year now. So now she has her own and it is just like her friend Rylie's

(but it is her favorite color, orange) so she loves it.

She also got a scooter from us. Her friend Julianna has on like it and it has often been a fight over who gets to ride it. Bailee was so excited when we gave it to her. She didn't say anything, just got on it and started down the walkway.

We Love our little Bailee and are so glad that she was able to have such a fun birthday. Now it is time to get rid of some of the old toys... our house is overflowing.

Camping at Granite Lake

This summer our family camping trip was to Granite Lake. We left on Thursday morning and came home on Saturday afternoon.
Thursday : We set up camp and then went down to the lake to see the sights and let Bailee play in the water. We didn't actually think that she would get in though. It was breezy and the weather had been fairly cool all week, so we were pretty sure that the water would be cold. But that didn't stop Bailee. After a week in California swimming at Uncle Dale and Aunt Pam's she jumped right in! It was short lived, I think that the cold water took her breath away and she got out only to jump back in minutes later. While we were at the lake we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and Bailee had fun throwing rocks in to make a big splash. After that we headed back to camp for dinner and bed time. We borrowed my mom's space heater for the tent and we were sure glad that we did because it was cold at night.
Friday: We made breakfast and lunch and then headed out on a hike. There wasn't a great trail so we had to go across country for part of the way. We had to trust that the GPS was taking us in the right direction. We made it to the lake (it was nameless) and stopped for lunch. Bailee was eager to do some fishing so we let her practice casting. Then we headed back. On our way around the lake we found some frogs we caught 3 and put them in a water bottle and took them back to camp. Once we got back on the jeep trail Bailee ran most of the way back. She is so funny. The res t of the day we hung out around camp and at Granite Lake. While we were on a walk we saw a Doe not to far from our campsite. Each night we played Memory in the tent before we got into bed. With the heater it was a good way to keep warm and keep Bailee occupied.
Saturday: We had breakfast and then cleaned up camp. Bailee and I went to let the frogs go at the lake while Matt loaded up the car. It seems to be our tradition when we come up to these mountains that we need a jump at some time on the trip. Matt discovered that the car wouldn't start and had to go find someone to give us a jump. It is unfortunate, but I think we are starting to find it humorous. After we got the car started we finished packing up and then headed out. We stopped a beautiful little meadow and did a little more frog hunting. We caught two or three big frogs while we were there and then continued on our trip home. We stopped in Cascade for lunch at a cute little restaurant, we had some yummy food and ate way to much.
We always have a great time on our camping trips. We love spending time together as a family away from all of the day to day
.

Baking Bread

I was so excited to get my Bosch Mixer a few months ago and I am so proud that I have not purchased any bread since I got my mixer. (other than hoagies, hamburger and hot dog buns) It has been a fun experience for me to see the fruits of my labor each time I pull the loaves out of the oven. We have been loving the homemade bread, but I think that we have been eating more bread since I started making it, at least it is whole wheat and preservative free.

Saying Goodbye

Our friends Jake and Debbie are leaving us for a new adventure in Houston, TX. Debbie is the first counselor in our Primary presidency and so the four of our families got together for a goodbye dinner and some fun watching the Olympics. We had a great time. Their family will surely be missed form our ward and neighborhood. We wish them the best of luck. Debbie, Lori, Melanie, and Me

Jake & Debbie, Jared & Lori, Kenneth & Melanie, Matt and I

Fun with the Washington Thompsons

Julie, Brandon and their kids came through town and stopped for a few days on their way home from Brandon's family reunion. We went to Settlers Park to let the kids play while Matt and my Mom were at work and then later that night we went to El Gallo Giro for a yummy Mexican dinner. We had so much fun with them. It is always fun when we get to spend time with family. It is even more fun when Matt and Brandon are together because they are so much alike, we just laugh and laugh. We love the Thompsons and hope that we get to see them again soon. Bailee and Rylan playing at the park, they were having so much fun.

Us at El Gallo Giro... YUM YUM YUM!!!

Brandon Julie and Rylan

Me. Mom and Kayla

Owen having his first taste of a Lime.

I'm so glad when daddy comes home

One evening after work I went out to mow the lawn. This spring Bailee would walk behind the mower with me. I think she decide that wasn't much fun getting grass in her face. This time she went in the garage and grabbed a chair. As I was mowing I could see her clapping every once in a while. I stopped the mower to see what she was up too. She was singing " I'm so glad when daddy comes home, glad as I can be. Clap my hands and shout for joy . . . " She is such a sweetheart. She loves to be with daddy.

Water Skiing with Bailee

One evening I took Bailee out to the lake with my friend Matt. I did a little slalom skiing and some surfing. Bailee played in the water and rode in the boat. We have a lot of fun when we go out just the two of us.

Water Sports Merit Badge

The scouts went waterskiing and wakeboarding. For many of them it was there first time on a wakeboard or skis. They had a great time jumping off the dock and ski/wakeboarding. My friend Matt pulled the boys behind his boat in a lake near Caldwell. The water was in the 80's it was perfect.

Owen starting to crawl

Today during dinner Owen crawled all the way from the edge of the chair to the kitchen. He pushes himself around with his feet. When he spots something he wants he goes for it. He is still easy to keep track of but before we know it he will be into everything.

Anderson Lake Backpacking Trip

In July we went on a wilderness survival backpacking trip. We hiked 4 miles into Anderson Lake near McCall, ID. Alec, Alex, Brady, Sonny, Dallon, Caleb, Adam, Brandon, and David all went. We didn't take tents and the boys had to build shelters when we got to the lake. The weather was great but the mosquitos where something else. We did a little fishing, exploring, firebulding and even took a dip in Boulder lake.