Scout Mountain

We spent Pioneer Day in pioneer spirit...we camped on Scout Mountain! The kids had a great time, and we did too.

What does a little dirt and camping make for? Some happy boys!!

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails,
That's what little boys are made of.

Scout Mountain overlook. As we were getting ready to leave this morning, the POW/MIA bike rally came through camp. We sat and watched 100 Harleys ride by. The boys especially thought it was cool!

July Festivities

We started out with a family dinner at our home on July 12 with Rob's mom, Aunt, and lots of family.
This is the tent trailer we bought for camping excursions. It will be tons of fun. It was built in 1960. We'll take it camping this next weekend.

July 17th was Roaring Rapids day in Boise. This was a family get together with Rob's dad. The kids really had a good time. Like last year, Isaac just loved the "ring around the roises" slide as he called it.

Cosette's butterfly from the Pioneer Day festivities.

We walked...and ran...in the parade here in Pocatello. The kids were great, even in the heat. Ethan sat in the cart the whole time. Isaac rode most of the way. The one time I tried letting him throw candy from the road, we ended up a whole parade entry behind. When he realized he was actually sitting on the candy and could throw it from the handcart, he was excited.

Cosette did a great job in the parade. She walked for 3/4 of it throwing candy out of her basket she just had to have. Before we left in the morning, we picked some wildflowers to put in her basket (she'd seen a picture of pioneer kids and the little girl had flowers in her basket)

In all, it's been quite a fun couple of weeks.

July 24th Parade

The LDS church celebrates the 24th of July as a commemoration of the day the Saints arrived by wagon and handcart in the Salt Lake Valley. Emma, Robert, and the kids will be pulling a handcart in the Parade this year in Pocatello. We will be dressed in costumes as we walk and walk and walk. Come support us at the parade on July 18 starting at 10am at Holt Arena and going down Center St. Following the parade the festivities will continue at the fairgrounds all day.

Boys

I don't have a picture for this, but I had to share the story anyway.

Isaac has really been turning on the "little boy scientist" attitude lately (Thanks for the phrase Gina). While normally I can work in the kitchen and things will be fine around the house, I really have to pay attention to the silence now. I've even had to take to locking my bedroom door because that's where all the experiments seem to take place.

Monday I found the boys with toothpaste all over their mouths, my bathroom floor, and the scale painted with the peppermint-flavored blue stuff.

Thursday, I'm trying to get the house ready for visitors and the kids packed to stay the night at Aunt Janet's in Idaho Falls. Again, it was too quiet. This time, I find Isaac and Ethan washing their faces in the toilet. It was a full on two-hand dip, face scrubbing experience (think the dwarves from Snow White...). Isaac took off running (I guess he's seen my temper before :-/) But Ethan wanted more of the wet stuff.

The only consolation I took was that Rob had cleaned the toilet the night before.

Other "experiments" Isaac has taken pleasure in include: studying the ants out back, digging in my garden, helping me "weed", and filling up holes in the concrete with water from the house (fill up a cup, spill half of it on the way outside, dump it in the hole, repeat).

Kids

Isaac still likes to dress-up every now and then...this time he and Cosette were playing "Cinderella" and mopping the floor.

I couldn't pass up this great picture of brothers who really do love each other. Isaac might push Ethan around a little, but Ethan bounces right back up and wants to do everything his big brother does.

Mary, Mary quite contrary...

How does your garden grow?

These two pictures were taken June 14, 2009.

These two pictures were taken July 5, 2009. Just over two weeks and a TON of rain later, it's amazing how fast it has grown. We've already harvested all our lettuce, and will be ready to harvest some more in about a week.

Sunshine

Here is our sunshine...the kids love their pictures taken.

What a stunning sunset.

the firepit

Here's our completed firepit area...the only problem is the sun doesn't go down until 9:30pm...so to enjoy the fire, it's really late at night.