Family Reunion {Fishing} Day 2

Kids loaded in SUV's ....

Muddy road full of deep holes and thick woods.....

Walk down steep, rocky trail ....

With lots of gear.....

Perfect spot secured....

Baitin up!

Fly rods out....

babies resting...

Notice all the kids around Cherish...that's cause she had the treats

Zingers, Red Vines, Nutter Butter Bites, she had the goods

Family fishing....

Silly little girls with giggles and smiles!

Loved watching them interact!

{Family Reunion} Day 3 ~Yellowstone~

Had to post the picture of the buffalo or as our family calls them... Butbelow.

When Ryan and I came here for our honeymoon, I wanted to see buffalo and we never did. Odd for yellowstone, so this time,right away, the first animal we saw was the big beast, right next to the road!

So cool!

First stop we saw a wolf.

Second stop- Firehole river-

the water was so high, we couldn't swim in the hole, but there was potties!

The crew at the paintpots!

Emma hitchin a ride on her favorite person!

DADDY!

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Pausin for a Posin!

Switchbacks down to the river at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone!

Amazing river! This was the highlight of the trip for me. The water falling so far was so cool!

The hike down was so fun!

Norris Hot Springs!

Walking the boardwalks

That's it folks!!!

See ya next time!

Good Things to Come

I saw this on my friends blog{www.crazyhappyhome.blogspot.com} and was totally touched. Her struggles seem so similar to mine. Being busy and knowing that the people that are so important are being neglected because of all the things taking up my time. I had vowed, before seeing this video, to not get so busy with life that I miss out on it. I have spent the last several days with my kids and have loved it. I have remembered what is important and when I saw this clip it was reaffirmed to me what truly is important. I love this clip...especially the part where he says...Don't you quit...you keep on going...There is happiness ahead...Some blessings come soon, some come late and some don't come until heaven....It will be alright...trust in God and trust in good things to come. I do trust in God...it's just that sometimes I need a reminder that I trust him. Funny how that works. We sometimes just need to be reminded about what it is we truly believe. I am so grateful for friends and family who help to center me when I get a little off balance. I do know it will be alright. I do put my trust in the one sure source of light and happiness, and I will keep going, I won't quit. Even though somedays it would be so much easier to, the end result I am seeking does not include quitting!

{Sleeping at Grandma and Grandpa's}

The kids were so excited to get to grandma and grandpa's house. Emma went running up to the door, determined to beat her brothers saying "no...me knock, me knock" I stopped her and said, "oh, Emma, Grandma and Grandpa aren't here they are on a mission." Her shoulders fell and her head dropped and she said "oh...misssson?" It was so sad! But we sure did have fun sleeping in their house. That would be Grey, Caleb and Noah all in one bed.

There are plenty of beds at grandma's house, but all the boys think they have to sleep in the same room.

After one night with Max in their bed though, the boys decided that snoring and getting kicked wasn't fun. So they ban Max to the port-a-crib. He was real sad about it, can't you tell.

{Mortified Beyond Imagination!}

We got invited to the Ericksen's pool when we were in Utah.

The kids were so excited.

We got there and took lots of pictures....You know cute ones with funny masks....

...and little girls with water squirters and cute smiles.

Ones with little boys in goggles going down slides.....

...and splashing into pools full of noodles...

...and brothers trying to dunk the other one instead of taking a nice photo...

and pictures of sweet innocent little girls who have been potty trained for over six months.

A specific little girl who has never pooped in the bathtub, and hasn't had an accident in a really long time...

When the camera was done taking pictures, a certain mother asked a certain little girl if she needed to go potty.

That certain little girl...let's just call her Emma...said she had to go and while her mother went to get her towel that little Emma just went in the pool. MOrtifYinG her mother and causing the fun swimming session to come to an end.

I don't think I will ever ever be more mOrtIfYed ever in my life. Seriously, can't even say anymore than that I am so embarrased!

This is not a picture of Caleb, or of the handprints all over the inside of my suburban window. It's a picture of a SNAIL.

When we left the Ericksen's house, the boys found snails and put them on top of the suburban. When we were about home Mara yelled "There's the snail" and sure enough right there on our window was our snail.

All I can say is "BOYS...." that pretty much sums it up!

{White Sulpher Springs}

We had to get out of Great Falls...unless you live here, you wouldn't understand the need to just vacate for a while, but believe me it is a need. The ccoped up feeling is real and we were so feeling it. So off we headed to White Sulpher Springs.

I think these two look the most alike of all my kids!
I love how the boys act towards Emma. She certainly is spoiled.

Noodle Noah

What a good looking crew.

White Sulpher Springs is a natural hot springs that they fill a pool up with.

Each night they drain it and clean the pool and then add the water with no chemicals.

It is so warm and your skin feel so soft afterwards. We loved it!

It is only a two-hour drive from our house and in Montana...that's not so far!

This is the mural on the wall. I guess the Indians used to view this hot springs as a place of healing.

I can believe it...but then again I believe a lot of those things...What I wouldn't give to have seen it how it once was.

So many cool wonders of nature. I love it all!

Mara and Emma tried out floatys for the first time and they did really well.

Emma is definately more brave than Mara.

The best part was that it started snowing while we were in the pool.

We would get out and get cold and then jump back in.

Caleb and Max kept going underwater when I was trying to take their pictures!

They are nuts. I love these two active, rambuktious, hooligans!

Bubble blowing!

{Bath Bombs!}

For Mother's day, we made fizzy bath bombs for the grandmas.It was so much fun I thought I would share the recipe with you.

You can add food coloring, but it has to be bathtub safe, and I just didn't mess with it, but it would be really cool with lots of diffrent colors. First you have to have really cute kids that love to do projects and relish in any moment that you spend with them.

Well, I guess that is not a requirement, but it helps a lot to get you motivated

Click here for the recipie http://www.teachsoap.com/bombs.html

The kids loved to mold them. Sometimes they weren't compacted enough, but you just dump them back in and try again.

Even Max and Mara (6 and 4) finally mastered pushing them into the molds hard enough that they stayed compacted.

It was so fun to make and the kids had a blast with them in the bath tub!

Try it, you'll love it!

I was standing at the kitchen sink lamenting the fact that our basement had flooded yet again and the rain was still coming down. Ryan came up to kiss me and Sam was in the kitchen. Ryan said, hey let's see if we can make Sam leave. So he started kissing me. In the middle of his kiss, Ryan said "Sam one day your going to want to mac on a woman like me." Looking really confused Sam said..."did you just say one day I'll mac on a woman like you. Are you saying your a woman..." My day just got 100 times better. I love laughter!!!

Um, oops!

Got to the baseball game and was thrilled that there was a spot right by the field since I had two sleeing girls to carry. I specifically thought I will stay back away from the field so in case there is a foul ball, I won't get hit. After all they are only 6-8 year olds, how hard can they hit a ball? Well, this is how hard. One foul ball and $165 dollars latter, this girl has learned a valuable lesson. Got a love it! Some people, like Ryan, are just naturally smart about things like this, other people like me, get to learn the rock solid way. Just think, I will never need to wonder if it would be alright to park behind home plate. I KNOW now what happens...even if they are just little.

The kid who hit the ball was as small as Max. Who knew!

Happy Farmers!

We finally got all the garden in. We are attempting walls of water around the tomatoes and little white green houses over the pumpkins, squash and melons. It just doesn't stay warm enough for long enough up here, so hopefully it will help.
The girls absolutely love to be in the garden. And the boys love to build tunnels and dams in the rows of water. We literally spent all day; from 8-4 out in the garden. We love it. And it got in just in time for the rain! Now please don't hard freeze.

Garden girlies