I miss summer!

We had so many places we wanted to go this summer! This was from our first camping trip of the year. We went to Bruneau Sand Dunes with our good friends the Knoxes and The Settles. It was a super short trip but he had so much fun! We climbed up a giant sand dune and this is our family sitting at the top!

Finally....Here are the pics from the first day of school

So far behind!

I'm so far behind in blogland and am just now getting around to scrappig Lindsay's birthday pictures. She is so excited to be 10 years old. It's the best yet for her. We had a wonderful day with Grandma Judy and Papa Wade and Tao. We went to lunch at Fuddrucker's (Lindsay's choice) and then we went to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. We even had a visit from Phil & Jo. Lindsay's favorite part of the day was simply "Everything". What a goof!

Yikes...A Crime in the Hood!

Yikes....Look at what happened in my neighbors driveway! (And we thought that they were good, church-going people)

The suspected ring-leader of this evil band of french fry-eaters!

Evidence of a ghastly crime! Oh the horror!

Some suspects were apprehended (er...went home) after the crime scene was taped off.

(Their identities are kept hidden until proven guilty....if ever!)

Looks like this guy got it bad.....poor guy.....Do you smell french fries???

This victim was running in an attempt to get herself some fries to go with that ketchup.

Lock your doors and hide your potatoes...the world is a cruel, cruel place, even in this small town!

First Day of School

Wow!  The summer went by so quickly this year and it's already the first day of school.  Lindsay was very excited to start but Sage was a little reluctant.  She is, however, excited to see her friends.

 

Last night we went to the open house at the school and we found out that they switched her teacher yesterday so she is going to be in a different class than we planned but I think it's for the best.  Her best friend is in her class and her teacher is a bit more strict, which is exactly what Sage needs.  I think it will be a good year!  I took half the day off today so that I can be there with them after school.  I can't wait to hear how their days went.  :)  I love being a mom.

 

This morning they both decided that they didn't want me to walk them to their classrooms, which is a first.  They just hopped out of the car and Lindsay ran to the building.  I think she is excited to see Sierra.  I didn't cry, which is also a first.  I guess I'm slowly coming to grips with the fact that my babies will grow up and move on and have their own lives no matter how hard I resist.

 

Since I dropped them off a bit early (planning to walk them to their classes) I had extra time before I had to be to work.  I spent about 15 minutes in my car in the SL parking lot reading my scriptures.  It was so peaceful and quiet and I learned a lot in such a short time.  Maybe I should do that every day!

 

We should also have news about Milo today.  He has a bowel obstruction and we have been trying all of the non-surgical recommendations for clearing it.  We just cannot afford the surgery so this is our last ditch effort.  He improved yesterday but we are still waiting.  I should know more this morning.

 

 

Last night Lindsay and I had a spur of the moment Mommy-Daughter date to the movies to see G Force. Save your money and wait until it comes to the dollar theater or even to video. I hate it when I spend full price for a crummy movie. The previews made it look really funny and there were a few good parts but mostly it was a typical, predictable kid movie. Darn it!

I had a great time with Lindsay though. We sat almost to the top of the theater, not because it was full my any means, but because then we had a full view of the whole room. I think that Lindsay was a bit bored too because she kept leaning over to tell me little things that had nothing to do with the movie, like that Jaede'en's glasses broke, that they had a lot of speakers in the room, that she had to go to the bathroom, etc.

On the way home she fell asleep in the car and I, being a nice mom, carried her into the house. I don't know how much longer I can carry her. She weighs 72 pounds. When did my little babies get so big?

Camping near Featherville, ID with the Browers

This picture cracks me up. No, Justin is not sending a text, he's taking a picture.

Lindsay and Bailey were prefectly content riding around and around and around the campground on the 4-wheelers.

Dennis and Rachel (hiding behind Aubrey)

Tyler was dying to be one of th big kids and really wanted to ride the motorcycle. It was a little big for him and Dennis was a bit worried that he was a bit young but in less than 5 minutes he had it down and rode all over the place. What a go-getter!

The Browers had rigged up this bathroom with a tarp and an old bedside commode. This is Justin using the facilities with the door (aka tarp) open.

And he emerges with his riding gear still on!

JJ taught Lindsay how to drive the 4-wheeler and she loved every second of it!

The kids and I were walking down the their "beach" to see what they'd been up to and as we got closer we realized that the sheep hearders in the area had tied up their horses right at the spot where you can get to the river. The horses were tied up but the donkeys were not. When we got closer to them the donkeys came up the bank and stood like this on the trail. I thought it was interesting how they stood blocking the road. I guess that must be part of their job.

Looking across the river you can see some of the ga-zillion sheep that had.

Sage, Savannah and Paige were practically inseparable the whole weekend.

The kids spent lots of time catching these teeny tiny fish out of the creek.

My Sagie

It was so hot and the water was the perfect temperature to cool off in. Looking back it was a little dumb to walk in the river with our camera but I got some cool pictures. Too bad we didn't remember our fishing poles or we would have spent a lot more time playing in the water. When we got home JJ put them in the trailer so we wouldn't forget!

My girls are just so darling...especially when Lindsay's in a funk.

My girls...Take 2. We only got a partial smile out of LouLou.

The sheep fought their way to the water.

This was only a small portion of them. There were TONS!!

I think that one was looking at me!

My darling Sage and her favorite pose

Our campfire

The girls were roasting marshmallows and Starbursts.

Savannah packed away more marshmallows that I ever thought humanly possible. On Friday night she ate a whole bag and on Saturday she stopped at 21.

My hunky.

Me and Bug (notice I'm not even wearing scrubs...Go Mom!)

Dennis, Aubrey and Justin (wearing his mama's shirt)

We had a really great time even though it was so hot. It was nice to get away from town for a while and we all enjoyed riding on the Brower's 4-wheelers, especially Lindsay. That would be a very fun investment. JJ and I went on quite the ride with Dennis and Rachel. We probably road about 20 miles but the view was awesome. I forgot to take my camera but Rachel took a picture of JJ and I overlooking a really beautiful valley. When she sends it to me I'll post it too!

I have a really cool video of the sheep actually crossing the river but I'm having a hard time getting it to upload (it's a big file). I'll keep working on it and hopefully I can get it to work.

This was our first trip away in the tent trailer and even though I thought we'd never make it driving between Boise and Mt. Home on the freeway we had a great time. I learned how to drive with a trailer, which is something I've never done, and I even drove the whole way home. JJ was very patient with me even though I probably drove him completely batty. I am very neurotic when it comes to freeway driving without a trailer, so you can imagine how nervous I was with, but he didn't say a word and was very patient with me. It was good training for next weekend when we head to our family reunion in Eastern Idaho.