Happiness

Well, the kids are all back to school! Except Declan. Who now wants to go to "Mommy School". We do it a few times a week for 10-15 minutes at a time. A craft, a short lesson, a snack. Today we are learning about rocks- and using a kit with sand and gems we got from my Grandpa. He's such a big kid- he even stopped using his binky yesterday! *I told him he was a big boy and handed him a sippy cup full of water instead of the binky and he was fine with it. We'll see how he does at nap time today!  The boys have had a hard time adjusting from 6th to 7th grade but they will get it! I start teaching piano lessons next week so hopefully we'll be in a routine by then! Back to school we are!

            Panning for gold! I've been wanting to see my Grandpa in Shoup, Idaho ever since my Grandma passed away a year and a half ago. I lived with him for a year when I was six and my kids- all except Elizabeth- hadn't been up to Shoup to see it. My Grandpa owns an old, abandoned Gold Mine near the Snake River in Northern Idaho. He takes pictures of white water rafters for a living (still shooting his camera from his truck at the age of 90). He used to give tours of the mine and still does to Boy Scouts. His home is an hour away from the nearest town (church, schools, stores). We made the drive up last week and were so glad we did!  Shoup is beautiful- the weather was hot but it was nice to cool off in the mine. We planned for gold and went hiking across the river (and saw a rattlesnake). We shot potato guns and bb guns and had a weenie roast.  We stayed in a cute bed and breakfast my Grandpa's friend owns which was nice since my Grandpa has ...

Summer went by way too fast! Ethan and Jonah started Seventh Grade today. It was their first time riding a bus and they were nervous- well, nervous about the whole Jr High thing and having eight classes and eight teachers (four one day and for another). I have to admit it's a little intimidating to even me! I didn't have A and B days growing up. Elizabeth will go on Monday and they will all go on Tuesday. They get two first day breakfasts and after school treats. Lucky kids!

The other night for date night we drove 40 minutes south to Payson for their 62nd annual Payson Salmon Supper Bake. We had read about it in a magazine I picked up on our way home from our anniversary camping trip.  We left later than we had planned so we arrived around 6:30- right during the dinner hour rush. The local firemen were cooking fresh slabs of salmon shipped from Alaska over the high heat of fruit wood trees. The line arched and swerved and found it's way all the around the park. Josh and I had never been in a line so long before- together. We had fun and enjoyed talking and listening to other conversations (well, mostly me and one was anti-Mormon but that's okay- we still love them!). It had just finished raining and the rain from the leaves of the tall, old trees dripped down our necks. Josh and I split a plate. The Salmon was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. I'm going to describe it as that. Heaven. No wonder why people were wrapping up their left...

Happy 15th Anniversary, Babe! For our 15th wedding anniversary we celebrated a week early since Elizabeth- our resident babysitter- is at Girl's Camp today. We packed up a tent, a cooler full of food, our camp chairs, left the kids with their cousins and headed out. We drove an hour from Kaysville to the Monte Cristo Campsite. It was beautiful! Lots of trees and shade and the stars out at night were gorgeous! We cooked hamburgers and had martinellis to celebrate. It was a perfect date! Happy 15th, Babe! Here's to 15 million more!

This summer has gone by way too fast! We haven't had a chance to do a lot of what we like to do in the summer.  We spent some time playing the game Pie in Your Face. Pretty fun! Declan is scared of it though. We spent a lot of time watching this little guy while his Mom took care of twin little brothers. He's fun and has a ton of energy so it took all four kids to help watch him. I don't know how his Mom does it! We went to several yard sales and D got a super cool garbage truck for only a dollar. He played with it for a week straight! We went shopping at IKEA. Twice. And shopping at Sams Club with Pizza for lunch at the end. We made strawberry freezer jam- well, mostly I made it and the kids ate it. We soaked an egg in vinegar for a week and did several hypothesis. Asher thought it would explode.  After several days it's membrane dissolved. Pretty cool! We got a sand box, A baby swing, Made sugar cookies and Got Hawaiian shaved ice (seriously good and they even have su...