Em's Field Day

 

Today I had the fun experience of helping with the Lincoln Elementary Field Day.  The theme was "boot camp".  After a last-minute trip to DI for some camouflage pants, we were ready for the day.  The kids had 10 stations to go to.  My job was basically the "pack horse".  I carried around various jackets, backpacks, water bottles, lunches, hats, scarves, etc.... and tried to keep up with the kids.  Occasionally I applied sunscreen or escorted kids to the "latrines".  It was nice to spend the day outside and get to know some of Emily's new friends.  

Working in Montana

I made a very quick, spur of the moment trip back to Hamilton to do some work on our house. We've been praying and praying that it will sell soon. Tony and I decided that in order for us to try and hurry things along, a few jobs needed to be done. Thanks to the help of my parents, I got a lot done in a short time. My parents scraped the old paint off the inside front porch, and the outside back steps before I got there. Then, we scraped a bit more, primed, caulked, and started painting on Tuesday night. On Wednesday we got up early and did the rest of the painting. After a quick lunch at Perkins, we ran to Missoula for some vinyl tile. Then hurried back and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening laying it down. I think it looks 100% better than it used to. I just hope the time and money will be worth it, and that someone will buy my house soon!!!!!! It was a fun couple days...... THANKS MOM & DAD!!!!!

Current Events

We've been fighting with Emily for the past months about the scraggly state of her hair. It was a battle every morning to get it combed, and she would never wear a pony tail or anything to help keep it neat. She finally made the decision to get it cut, so I immediately called the beauty college and made an appointment. We had about 8-10 inches cut off, and she looks cute with her new bob. The girl that cut her hair was really excited when Emily said that she could keep her hair and use it for a "coloring" experiment.










Last weekend we worked on the boys' hiking merit badge. They have to do 5 ten-mile hikes, and one 20-mile hike! This was their 3rd 10-miler. We started at our apartment, and did a "exploring Rexburg" tour. Emily got tired after about 4 miles, so she and I walked about another mile back to our home while the guys kept hiking. The weather was beautiful and we all had a good time. Erik got a giant blister on the bottom of one foot, but other than a few other small blisters, that was the only mishap on the trip.











My sister invited us over for Easter dinner. We had a delicious meal, then a big egg hunt for the kids. To make it fair, the kids all divided up the eggs so that they each got the same amount... they are such good kids!!! Then we played a fun word game we made up using Scrabble tiles. I especially enjoyed it because I won!!!

Conference Weekend

 

Emily took this while playing with my cell phone.  

We had the opportunity to go to Salt Lake for General Conference.  Tony was in a choir that sang during the Priesthood session on Saturday night.  My Mom and Dad came down for the weekend, and Dad was able to take my boys (and my brother) to the Priesthood session.  It sounded like they had a good time!  Meanwhile the ladies went shopping at the big IKEA store, and went out for dinner.  On Sunday morning, I got to go to conference with my parents and my sister-in-law.  It was a wonderful experience!!!    My brother was good enough to let us all stay at his home, and we had a good time visiting with his family also.  It was a good weekend!

Current Events

Erik singing in his first choir concert in Rexburg.


My boys are "very close". This is how they play on the gameboy! It makes me laugh when I see their heads glued together like this!



Tony is helping Em climb a mountain of snow and ice. She made it to the top!!! Tony didn't.



Here's our St. Pat's day dinner. We had corned beef cabbage rolls, Irish soda bread, green salad, green grapes, and blarney stone bars for dessert!
It was pretty good, but I'm not a big fan of corned beef.








That's a few photos of what we've been up to lately... not much exciting... just life!!

Happy Birthday to Em

Well, my baby is now 9 years old.  She didn't have a big party... only the family.... but it was fun.  We took "broken glass jello" to her school for a treat, ate dinner at McDonalds, and went bowling. 

Broken Glass Jello (recipe on my sister's blog at http://www.anticipatingthebest.blogspot.com/)

She wanted a Webkinz cake.  My decorating tools are stored in a box in a storage unit, so I was limited to using a butter knife, toothpicks, and a ziplock bag.  We came up with a "Wheel of Wow" cake, that she liked. 

Birthday cake with chocolate coins and polly pocket items as the prizes. 

I hope she had a fun birthday.  Love you Em!!!!

Presidents Day Fun

On Monday, everyone had the day off, so we went to explore.  This is one of the many beautiful views we saw.  We drove on the back farm roads, and just poked around.  At one point, a big truck came zooming up behind us, so we scooted over to let them past.  We got into the mushy snow, and it pulled us off the road into a snowbank.  Then we had to wave the fast truck down, to turn around and come pull us out.  We both laughed at how we slowed him down, by trying to let him speed up.  We also drove to the Teton dam site, and went to the Teton Flood Museum.