Yellowstone 2018 Part II

I had no idea there were so many waterfalls there.  The most amazing was in the mini grand canyon.  That was quite a walk, but totally worth it.  This picture was on the Firehole river.  

My favorite part was probably the Grand Prismatic Springs.   Pictures don't capture how cool this area was.  

This place almost doesn't look earthly.  It was just strange, but beautiful.  

The kids really liked this area too.  The water was just slightly bubbling, like it was not quite hot enough to boil.  It's funny how just a few feet away, this hot water joins regular looking forest river.  

 We had an easy lunch, crackers turkey and provolone cheese.  And of course a pepsi for me. :)

I love this photobomb of Kyle!

We got so lucky with the weather.  It rained while we were driving, but usually cleared up when it was time to get out.

Overall, it was an amazing trip.  Can't wait to go again!

Yellowstone 2018

 We made it to Yellowstone this summer!  It was amazing.  We live so close, but have never taken the kids before.  What a great vacation it was.
We went with Aunt Dixie, who provided the trailer that we all slept in.  We were right by West Yellowstone, only a few minutes away from the park entrance.

What a beautiful place.  The rivers are so beautiful.

The kids have been reading all about Forrest Fenn.   He set a treasure somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, and we think it is in Yellowstone somewhere.  So we kept an eye out for a bunch of gold coins.  

Aunt Dixie!  It was so fun to go with her.  We always make good memories together.  

Kids are always happy by the water.  She mostly just got her hands and feet sandy.  Good thing everything is washable.  

Since the park itself only allows fly fishing (for the most part), we did a little fishing outside the park with the kids.  Didn't catch anything, but it was still fun.   There's probably a reason everyone fly fishes.  We were just using a spinner and had no bites.

Concrete

We got so lucky that we were able to put handprints in our new home. From the beginning, our project manager asked if there was anything special we wanted done, and this is what I told him. Handprints in the concrete.  But right when they were pouring concrete, we were in Yellowstone!  I was really sad that we were going to miss it.  But they held our driveway till this morning.  We woke up early and headed over.  

Look! Kyle and Blake's hands are bigger than mine!  Ha!

Smores

The kids have been begging for smores.  Not just any smores, but smores made with reeses peanut butter cups.  Well, I can't say no that.  After a dinner of hot dogs and bratwurst, we had dessert by the fire too.  

Does it get better than this?  Melty.  I put the peanut butter cups just close enough to the fire to be warm while the marshmallow roasted.  Wow.  Dallin agreed!  

Julia is 4

Julia turned four years old already!  I sure love this lady.

 She wanted pink sprinkles with more sprinkles on her cake. Look at that pink wrapping paper! So fun having a girl.

 Big brother went to WalMart with me the night before to pick up her balloons. Look how sweet he is!

I can’t believe how tall she is! Julia is growing so fast. She says the funniest stuff! She loves her brothers and likes to be around lots of people. She  loves the color pink, transformers, Jimmy Johns, spaghetti noodles, painting and play doh. She loves to play dolls with me, picking “dandee lines,” and playing with my phone. I’m lucky to have this little lady in my life. Happy birthday Jewels!  

Chimichangas

The other day, Julia kept begging me for “chimichangas.” She got super frustrated with me because I didn’t know what she meant. Even though I love Mexican food, I’ve never fed her chimichangas. A few days later, I took her with me to lunch at Jimmy Johns. She got super excited and started saying “chimichangas.” I finally realized that chimichangas is actually Jimmy Johns! 

I had to get her this cookie that is the size of her whole face 💜❤️ I love her expression here. She was so happy to eat “chimichangas!”   She ate half of my sandwich 😆 plus this cookie! She’s a pretty fun lunch date. I love that instead of being a princess, sometimes she is a transformer. She actually asks to watch the transformers cartoon.  I love hanging out with Jewels!

Dance

Blake and Dallin had their elementary school dance program last month.  I love it. 

This is the first year for Dallin, and he smiled the whole way through it!  It was awesome.  His class did 5 little monkeys :)

Love my Dallin. 

Blake's class did Shake it Off, which came out super cute.  In 1st grade, Blake was one of the better dancers.  He was up on the stand, and he was really into it.  But this year I have seen a change in him.  He was shy about it.  So that was a little sad to see him growing up a bit.

They both did so good!

Blake's Birthday

It has been forever since I updated my blog.  I figured to start with Blake's 9th bday!

He chose chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting.  :) 

He got some new skylanders for his game, his favorite present.
Here is dad trying it out for him ;)

 He chose to have a friend party at the fun park, where we did laser tag, games and had pizza.  It was pretty fun!

Blake is such a good kid.  He genuinely cares for others and is very loving.  He is super tall for his age, and still loves soccer. 

I love you Blakers!

Quarantine

We have been so sick here!  Lame.  It hit Julia and Blake both pretty hard. 

Oh, this picture makes me so sad!  :(

It really has been awful.  3 weeks straight, someone in my house has had something.  For a second I wished we had got the flu shot, but then I realized, Julia DID have the flu shot.  Still, she and Blake got it twice in those 3 weeks.  And Blake really freaked me out.  He was delirious, full on delirious.  I couldn't get him to make sense.  He was fevering and we ended up in the ER because he wouldn't come round.  It all ended up ok, just gave me a pretty good scare.  Sure made me thankful too that my kids are usually so healthy.

I slept upright with Julia in my arms for several nights.  For some reason, it didn't bother me much to have such little sleep.  Maybe I appreciate it more.  I just enjoyed having her sleep on me.  Time really does go by fast, and pretty soon your babies aren't babies anymore.  Just trying to enjoy each phase a little more.  Pretty soon, there won't be a one year old who needs me in the middle of the night.

Anyway, I think we are all on the mend finally; Everyone slept good last night, and I actually slept in my own bed.  So here is to Spring and sunshine!

Cousin Sledding Party

We had a fun weekend with the cousins.  First we went to the jump zone, and then gathered at the park by my house for sledding. 

Everyone had fun and it wasn't too cold. 

Kids just love being outside!

 I can't believe how big everyone is getting, this is Kyle and Jake below.  Dang near as tall as me.  I feel sad just a little. 

 

 I love that they all take care of each other :)

It was a fun party!