Hogle Zoo!!

After our Retreat that we attended, we went to get the kids from Heidi and Rumels (thank you so much for watching them guys!!) to take them to the Hogle Zoo. I hadn't been there since I was in grade school, so I was excited to go again =). Plus, I was real excited for the kids to experience it. They had a good time too =)

Here is Jax and Harlee and Heidi on the Carousel.
Jax was excited to ride the Tiger and Harlee was on a Gorilla

Here is Bodie and Heidi. He was pretty excited to find a tiger also, he got a little nervous with the up and down motion combined with the spinning carousel, but he pulled through okay. Thanks to Heidi for the help keeping the boys on their animals.

We saw lots of animals, but I only took a pic of a couple. Here are the penguins. The kids thought they were So cute.

There was a little craft booth and Harlee made this fun little head band.
This drinking fountain was fun :)

The kids were amazed by the giraffes. This one measured close to 12 feet tall. I think the one next to it that you can't see was close to 14 or 15 feet. I don't remember, but it was tall.

This little train was the highlight of the whole zoo for Jax. We decided to do it last on our way out the gate. Anytime Jax got sad or crabby we would use the Train as a bargaining tool. "Okay, be happy so we can go ride the train." It worked okay, he was still a little crabby. I think he had a heck of a party night with Heidi and Rumel. Anyway, so here we are on the train. Jax LOVED it and "choo-chooed" every minute or so. It was cute and fun!

You can barely see the small guys head. He wanted to sit by his daddy. He is Travis' little buddy. Much to the delight and dismay (depending on the circumstances, I am sure you all can relate) of Travis.

I love doing family things! It was such a fabulous weekend!

Mawiage.....Mawiage is what bwings us togever today......

This Last weekend we had the opportunity to attend a Marriage Retreat put together by Joy and Gary Lundberg. Gary is a family and marriage therapist and Joy is an LDS songwriter and Poet. She has done a lot of works with Janis Kapp Perry. The have borth co-authored a few marriage and relationship books too. The whole weekend was centered on going back to the beginning and remembering why you fell in love and then they went over how to keep it just as passionate as it was in the beginning. It was so awesome and spiritual. Travis and I attended this same thing about 6 years ago. It was just as good then as it was this last weekend. It's like church, depending on the stage of life you are in, or circumstances at the time, the same doctrine will apply differently. Gary and Joy are my Mom's aunt and uncle. It was great to see them and catch up some. They are wonderful people.

This is all of us after the last seminar. I forgot to mention that it was a family thing. We were all able to go together except for Clark and his wife, who had to work. Tiffani and Nathan ran back to there rooms, and so they are not pictured, but they were there. We had two wonderful meals there and swam in the pool and then there were two different seminars with activities, it was real inspiring and a good reminder of the important things. Loved Loved Loved it!

This one is for the Tiffany(i)'s in my life

A couple of weeks ago, my sis in law, Tiffany, asked to use my scrapbook stuff to doctor up a project she was doing. Shamefully, I lead her to my craft closet where I keep my stuff. It was a awful mess and I was embarrassed at the mess I had let it become. Tiffany is a very organized person and so seeing my closet in the condition it was in, must have been a nightmare to her. In addition to that experience, my sister, Tiffani, asked if she could use my craft closet while she stays with me in a couple of weeks. So here it is. Proof to Tiffany that I can clean and organize the mess she saw and Proof to Tiffani that the space she will need is ready for her!

And to think it only took about 20 minutes to clean and organize. I am so lazy when it comes to this closet because I can close the doors and not see it. But it is so much more inviting when it is clean and organized. Maybe now I can finish a few projects that need attention ( and mess it all up again. vicious cycle!).

The Big Ride!

Saturday we went up to Wolverine for a little ride. It is the first time we have just taken a day and gone for a ride as a family. It was pretty fun. We parked at the entrance to the canyon and then rode up to 40 horse cave. We took a pit stop and Travis tried to climb a hill and the kids threw rocks in the creek.

Then we started the steep hike up to the cave

Little Jax-Man was a real trooper

The kids thought it was great and wished that there was more to climb. After reading the graffiti, we went back down to the 4-wheeler/motorcycle to start our trek up the "W"

Here is the top of the "W." Travis tried to get Jax to ride with him, but the boys both love my 4wheeler.

Harlee was so awesome on her little 4wheeler. She did so good, shifting and keeping speed. She said that her thumb got a little sore and her head was all itchy from her helmet, but she did great!

It was so fun to go on a day with the family. I hope we will do this more often!

Ranch Hands

Saturday Travis had a big project for us all to be involved with. We have a forest of trees down in our pasture in front of our house. They are pretty trees, but in desperate need of trimming. So last week Travis spent every spare moment trimming and then, come Saturday, it was time to clean up. The kids were hard workers and we loaded up the trailer with branches and now we have a big pile waiting for a good day to burn and have a bonfire.

Staple in the Head.....

Friday morning, the day after my WONDERFUL birthday, I was just getting started with my days work when Jax fell of the stool in the kitchen for the millionth time. I know it sounds like I am exaggerating, but I am sure it really was the millionth time. This time it turned out to be a little bit more traumatic then normal (because falling off the stool in the kitchen IS normal in this house). Harlee brought him in to me cause he wouldn't stop crying and I noticed blood. I found what looked like a tiny gash on the back of his head. After 10 minutes of bleeding and several tissues later, I decided that it might be a little bit more serious then what cuddling and rocking can cure. We ended up at urgent care and Jax had to get stapled. Poor little man. He was SO brave. The nurse had me hold some numbing gel on his head, which I had to keep there for 10 minutes. Ever try to hold something against a 2 year olds head for 10 straight minutes?? Not easy! We settled for a makeshift struggling body lock and to calm him I asked him if he wanted me to sing to him:
Me: "Jax, do you want Mommy to sing to you?"
Jax: sobbing "ya" more sobbing
Me: "What song do you want?"
Jax: sobbing "the God song" more sobbing..
It was so cute. So I sang him "I am a child of God" Later while we were waiting for the doctor, the nurse came in and gave him 2 suckers and 2 stickers, which also helped keep him distracted. As we were going to leave, Jax said, sniff, sniff" Mommy, I wanna taco" sniff... Well, who could deny the precious little thing a taco. He got his staple out yesterday and he was so brave. He didn't even flinch. The dr. was so impressed. He even let Jax keep the staple. Yeah :).

I know it is blurry, but he wouldn't hold still. You get the idea though.

Happy Birthday to ME!!

I tried to write this the other day and got it all typed out and ready to post and I hit something and it erased the whole thing. So here I am typing it all again....On my birthday I planned ahead and got a babysitter to come for most of the day. I was able to go to lunch with my sis-in-law, Tiffany (thanks Tiff for lunch!!), and my little sis, Laney. We went to Costa Vida in Pocatello and it was super yum! We were able to get in some light shopping and the we headed home and was greeted with this:

Travis had written this all out and then Harlee and Bodie filled it all in. I can still see it today.
That evening we went to a ward BBQ for dinner and then afterwards I was surprised with family at the house for a little party. Travis planned it all out so that I would still have a bday party on my day. It always seem to land that we celebrate both our birthdays on his day, and then I don't really get a celebration, but Travis planned this little party and it was so sweet that he did. He bought me balloons, flowers and plants for my gardens and then our parents came over. It was great!!

He even got this banner to decorate with

And he bought me this crown. I SO wish that he would have given it to me that morning cause anyone who knows me, knows I would have totally worn it the whole day and LOVED it! He said he knew that and he didn't want me embarrassing him at the ward bbq. After all these years and you think that he would be okay being embarrassed by me. hmph...

Jax, of coarse wanted to help me blow the candles out. He was super cute! No, I did not turn 5, but once you hit a certain age, the candles shouldn't over power the cake, and mine definitely would have :)

Thanks to all who made my day special. It was fabulous!! I always love my birthday!!

Happy BirthdaysTo Travis!!

Well, Travis' birthday was last Wednesday and we had a big bash for him. Everyone who is Anyone showed up :) The Phelps Clan, The Gregersen Clan, We had some friends come too! It was fun, we had homemade Cheesecake and Cherry pie, his favorites.

Travis and his friend Matt even got to take there turn on the swing set.

T-Ball Season!

Here he is Mr Star Tball player. Okay, so maybe not. This is the first year we have put Bodie in something and he was all excited, until we got there. As soon as we got his jersey and hat he started to cry. He is definitely the shy kid in the family. His coaches were so nice and patient with him. He got comfortable and then had a ton of fun. His team is The Rockies.

Here he is being the catcher. It wasn't until the end of the hour that he really started to get the hang of things. He was a good sport and ended up having a great time.

Of coarse Jax wanted to be involved.....funny kid!

Rain, Hail, and Snow....

Well, just like I warned ya. Pictures from camping. We went up past Idaho Falls this year. Near Spencer Idaho. It was fun and pretty and cold. Well, Friday and Saturday it rained near all day, but then Sunday and Monday it cleared up and was quite nice. Well, normal for Memorial Day weekend anyway.

Here is Jax-man enjoying the great outdoors. He loved being outside and riding the 4-wheelers! He had a blast! One of the families we went with had a little wagon that they hooked up to the 4wheeler and rode the little kids around. The cute little girl riding around with Jax is Payton, For those of you from here, it is Casey Polatis' baby. So cute!

Here is Zoey and Harlee Sue. The rode and rode and rode their 4wheelers. I am almost positive they had SO much fun the entire time!

Harley-Man and Bodie with their stick guns. They were constantly exploring and getting super wet in the rain and the little creek nearby. Bodie went through a lot of socks that weekend!

Here they are making the loop through camp. This is what they did every spare minute that they could.

It was so much fun and even though it rains every year, we always go and we always have a blast! It is So much fun taking the family camping. I love it!!

Graduation of a baby girl!

Last Thursday I attended my baby sisters graduation. The Last graduation I have to attend for about 10 years. There she is in the distance, I forgot my camera and had to use my phone. It doesn't have a zoom. Laney is the white blur in the front:)

Her she is..isn't she cute...I mean so mature!

Laney tried to save us seats all together, but it didn't work. So I sat by Chad and Laina and Clark and Kristy and Mom and Dad sat across the gym.