Old Faithful

Last week we went camping at Island Park. We all had tons of fun and actually none of us were ready to go home! We floated the river, went to West Yellowstone for ice cream and went to Yellowstone and saw Old Faithful and the geyser pools. One morning I went off on my own on a bike ride and went down a off road and wasn't paying attention and came right up on a moose. I was freaked out and peddled away as fast as I could. Another morning Minnie got in a fight with a male Mastiff (who was actually bigger than she was). Luckily Jesse had her on the chain and not me so everyone escaped without injury. Other than that it was a pretty relaxing trip!

The kids weren't as excited as I hoped they'd be. They were tired and hungry.

We were pretty lucky, Old Faithful erupted two minutes after we walked up. She explodes approximately every 90 minutes.

This is called Heart Geyser. It was very deep...you couldn't see the bottom.

Camping at Powerhouse

We went camping last weekend at the Malad Summit. It's nice because it's only a 45 min drive and it's a fun camping spot. It was the first time this year we've taken out the trailer. The kids had a lot of fun. We took Minnie with us and surprisingly she was very well behaved. I took her with me on a run up the canyon in the morning and while I was standing there enjoying the view I heard a rustle in the trees and a deer ran up the hill. Minnie came running over and hid behind me. I don't think she understood she was almost the same size as the deer. She's such a whimp. The only downfall was that there were TONS OF BUGS!!

Jess has to relearn how to set up the trailer every year! Isn't he cute?

Kaden and Ellie took advantage of the bug situation and caught butterflies. Ellie spent the whole day chasing butterflies around camp!

Our beautiful camp spot!

This is an illustration of how big Minnie is getting. The kids totally love her. When she took a nap in the shade they put rocks in her mouth. She's so laid back!

A day at Grandmas

Yesterday I went up to Idaho Falls with my brother and his five kids to my parents house for the day. My grandparents are in town from Arizona. It was nice to see them and visit for the day. We went to the Tautphaus Park Zoo. I love this zoo because it's shaded and it's not too big. After the zoo the kids played in the backyard for hours. My kids love their backyard.

This is Addie, Kaden, Sarah, Ellie and Ryan--they love the swing!

This chicken was at the zoo. Ellie loved it.

The kids were eating strawberries from the garden and getting drinks from the hose. Kaden of course took upon himself to be the waterboy.

This is Kaden and Ellie's great grandma Hinchcliff. She lives in Idaho Falls. They were eating radishes. Yum! :0)

And of course, Kaden spent the majority of his time with the lawnmower. He takes it out into the yard everytime he goes to grandma's. He pushes it around checks the gas level. The first thing he noticed when he woke up this morning was that Jess mowed the front lawn without him last night.
Jess couldn't come with us-he had to stay at home and do baptism interviews. He was called to be the second counselor in the bishopric on Sunday. He'll do a great job. He serves in the church very selflessly. I'll be released from my calling within a week or two. We'll have to get used to sitting by ourselves in sacrament meeting!

Fourth of July!

We had an awesome 4th. We went to the parade in the morning...the kids got bored after a while and went to play on the playground toys. Then we went back home and swam in the backyard pool with cousins. We had a full house-my sister came from Logan with her husband and two girls, my brother and his wife and five kids, my parents came from Idaho Falls and my grandparents are in town from Arizona. We all had a BBQ at our house for dinner. Jesse went to Fort Hall and got a bunch of "illegal" fireworks for all the kids. The black cats were way loud and the kids all screamed. Ellie didn't like the fireworks...she hid on the side of the house for most of them. Then we went to "The Biggest Show in Idaho" which is Pocatello's firework show. We had up front seats so the kids loved it (except for Ellie). Then we had an hour in the car fighting traffic to get home. We had a great day!

Ellie's 2nd Birthday Video

A 6 minute video of Ellie's birthday is posted on the website. Click on the website link above, click 'Ellie', 'home videos', and it is the only link on the page. It does require a quicktime install if you are running on a Windows machine. Generally, it will tell you what you need and download it for you.

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Ellie turned two yesterday, the 23rd. Time flies! She's still our Ellie baby though. Even Kaden still calls her that, it's cute. The kids had a fun day. We decorated the house with balloons and My Little Pony stuff because Ellie's into horses lately. We went out to eat at Senor Iguanos where Ellie ate lots of chips ("bips"), olives and chocolate milk which are some of her favorite foods. Then we went to McKee's Petting Zoo to see some real horses. The kids loved it --the puppies were their favorite. Then we had cake and presents at the house. Ellie liked all of her presents and even let Kaden open some. We got her the tricycle and helmet. She's been asking for one for a while because she was just using Kaden's old one and Minnie chewed one of the handles off. Here's some Ellie 101: Her favorite color is pink, she always wants the pink one. She has to wear bows in her hair everyday. Her best friend is Kaden and she does whatever he does all day. She has a BIG sweet tooth (like mom) and is not afraid to try anything. She still sucks her index finger to fall asleep and loves to share--even her chocolate milk with dad! She has huge brown eyes that melt dad's heart and has everyone wrapped around her finger. It takes quite a bit to make her laugh and she never smiles for the camera. Her nicknames are Ellie Baby and Ellie Belly. We are so glad that she is in our family and love her sweet and sassy ways! We love you Ellie!