There and Back Again

We spent the first part of the week recovering from Idaho - sleeping, working in the yard, doing laundry and sleeping some more.  

Saturday afternoon - after the kids finally got their stuff cleaned up (and I finally got us packed up,) we headed up to the cabin.  We made a stop on the way at Tiny Town - the kids had a blast climbing, exploring, seeing, riding the train and goofing off!

We arrived at the cabin and just had time to start unloading the car when Mark, Julia and Doug arrived.  And then it started pouring.... The kids had fun playing with my cousins and goofing off - which was good since, it rained a large chunk of the time we were there and it was good they had people to play with and keep them entertained!  

 
The hard part for me was keeping them from getting soaked in the creek. But they love exploring and walking around the woods.

I had a lot of fun hanging out and chatting with Mark and Doug and Julia - and even more fun singing with them.  We spent a good chunk of every day around the piano or around the campfire with the guitar, singing and making harmony!

Sunday, I took the kids to church.  On the way back, we got to see some of the burro racers!

Then in the evening - Grandpa watched the kiddos while Doug, Mark, Julia and I went down to town to meet up with Frank and Tina and Frankie and Dan to see the Indigo Girls.  It was fun - but honestly - any thing is fun when I am with Dan.  :)   It was really nice to get to see him, even if it had only been a day and a half.  After - we headed back up to the cabin!

On the Road Again

The boys got haircuts early on this week - Dan really did a great job - they kept wiggling around and squirming away from the clippers - but he got it done - and they look so handsome!!  

Wednesday, bright and early, we headed out to Idaho.  We made a quick stop at Little America for lunch and heard about a huge accident blocking the road and so we were able to take a detour and avoid the traffic and get there not much later than we had expected.

The next morning, Olivia and Aunt Sarah watched the kids so Dan and I could go with Gene and Ann to the temple.  It was a wonderful morning!  After, I went with Gene and Ann to the quilting store to pick out the fabrics for James' quilt.

Then the rest of the family started arriving!  It quickly became rather crazy!!!  We had planned on going camping - but because of a lot of fires up in that area - the camping area was closed and so we had to just hang out at Grandma and Grandpa's house - but really - with that many people around, it's never boring!!

We had two recent birthdays to celebrate - so there was lots of cake and ice cream and dollar store gifts!

Saturday was a big day!!!  Things started out a little crazy - Anna's baptism was going to happen in the church building near Grandma and Grandpa's house - but the font was padlocked and no one could find a key - so we ended up holding the baptism at their community pool.  It was such a neat experience - the weather and the pool were just gorgeous and it was wonderful!  Certainly one Anna will never forget!

After, we headed to the church building for the confirmation and the program.  The cousins all sang a musical number and here Anna is with the priesthood members that were in the circle for her confirmation - so neat to have them all there!

That afternoon - we went to a park by the river and had lunch and made bows out of pvc pipe and arrows out of dowling.  The kids LOVED playing with their bows and arrows!

Then we headed to the river to play in the water - the water was FREEZING though - so only the kids were crazy enough to brave it (mostly)

Here's my little warrior princess.

Dan managed to get ahold of the camera for a minute - so there's a rare picture of me (proof that I exist!)

Sunday, we all  got dressed up for church and had a wonderful time.  Evie had fun getting her nails done by Grandma Jones

It was such a fun week - so many memories made and so much fun being with family!  There was tons of food, lots of singing and playing and goofing off.  We made s'mores over a charcoal stove since we had no fire pit, we had fun trying to match baby pictures to their subjects, learning middle names and watching the kids become best friends again.

Home Sweet Home

Bright and early Monday morning, we loaded up the car and headed back to Colorado.  The trip was nice and easy - the kids were great and we arrived back in good time.  

We've spent most of the week recovering.  We came back to an empty fridge and lots of dirty clothes and a yard in desperate need of attention.  So I spent Tuesday doing laundry and working in the yard.

Eileen and I decided to work on some crochet animals together - she has been working on a knit one with Grandma - but I'm not much good at knitting, so I'm not much help when she makes mistakes.  So I told her she could pick a crochet one to make and I'd make it with her and help her out.  So together we made these!  They sure came out cute!  Now we are working on penguins!

Friday, I told the kids that if the basement and school room were clean and they finished piano practicing, then we could go to the museum.  The kids have been very excited to check out the new Discovery Zone.  They had a blast - we stayed there the whole time - and the kids were still sorry to leave - lots of fun things to explore and learn with.

Saturday, Dan went to work pulling out a stump that he's been working on for a while.  I was a stubborn one with lots of roots from other trees around it.  He finally managed to get the stump out - and was too tired and sore to fill in the hole.  He came inside to get water and rest for a bit - a little while later, we peeked outside and found Aaron doing the job for him - Such a sweet helpful boy!  He stayed out there at least half an hour helping daddy fill in the hole!

Church today was awesome.  The ward choir sang today - and they did a great job!  There is so much talent in our ward!!  There were also some awesome talks - Our high council speaker talked about making Gratitude not just about being thankful for THINGS - but about having an attitude of gratitude.  Choosing to be grateful and happy - not just because you have things to be grateful for or happy about - but because it's a state of mind that we choose to always have.
Now we are trying to prepare to leave again - we are heading out to Idaho for the Jones Family reunion early Wednesday!

Just Keep Swimming

I did better this week - I brought and used my camera!  Monday, we took it easy and I spent most of the day getting laundry done.  

Tuesday, we headed out to the zoo.  The kids had a blast - but was hot, but not too miserable - in fact - the weather this year in Texas has been relatively mild.  The kids loved checking out the animals, climbing on everything, riding the merry-go-round, getting wet, and petting the animals.  

The only way to get a picture of myself is if my dad is taking pictures or like this - in the mirror on the merry-go-round.

This was James in the petting zoo - the kids all loved feeding and petting the animals.

Tuesday night, Dan arrived!  It's so good having Dan back with us - even if he has had to work some while he's been here.

Wednesday, we went out in the boat - weather was actually kinda cool and windy, so we just played around in the tube - neither Dan nor I really wanted to brave the choppy water on a wakeboard.  If you can't tell - this is me and Evie in the tube.... :)

We went out to open water and let the kids drive the boat a bit - I love how serious Eileen looks here.

Thursday morning, Jon and Sandi (and kids) came over for Anna's birthday party - we wanted to wait until Dan was here to celebrate - and since we did it in the morning because that was best for Jon and Sandi - it meant we had cake and ice cream for brunch.  :)

On Friday, the girls, and Sandi and Mom and I went to get our nails done - the kids had to wait until we were done and so they got rather bored....  In the afternoon, Jon's family came over and we all ate and swam and played.  The kids had fun playing with the other kids and getting thrown in the pool by daddy and grandpa!  

Saturday, the kids wanted to spend their entire last day in the pool.  They all had fun swimming, floating, paddling, motoring, and jumping in.  Grandpa pulled out the old inflatable row boat that we have been taking camping since we were kids - and the kids had fun playing in it - and learning how to row it.  The row boat was almost as big as the pool...

We went up to our old ward for church.  It was so nice to see old friends and so nice to go to Sunday School and Relief Society for once! After, Sandi and Jon and kids came over for one last dinner together.  Taz and Anna still get along as well as last year.  Taz calls Anna - Barbie Anna.  James and Taz have become buddies too - they have also become partners in crime - lol - they both encourage each other in getting into things!

Tomorrow we head home - I'll miss family, but it will be nice to get back to some normalcy!  And slow down a bit - at least for a week!