Easter Weekend

We were able to start off the weekend with a quick stop at the Rexburg temple on our way to my parents'.  It was windy and cold but oh so beautiful.

Our Easter egg hunt.  Briggs was so concerned about making sure Anderson found things that he forgot to keep getting anything for himself.  It was so sweet.

Playing our new cards games during the Priesthood session.  Old Maid was intense.

How we do conference.  They don't hear everything, but it encourages a little extra listening.

Briggs and Grandpa.  Briggs had to switch chairs and go sit by him, we thought it was so sweet.  Then he started eating Grandpa's chips.  He is smart.

Madelyn and I on the 4-wheeler.

Anderson thinks he can just drive, especially if we are going to slow.  He enjoyed some cheetos at our cookout right before this.

Haha it was a little windy.  His hair was awesome.

Sitting on Kelsi's lap, listening to Jordan tell him the 3 Little Pigs on the phone.  Made his day.

Maddie almost fell asleep cuddling with Michael before we left.

The car was all packed up to go and Molly took a nap while she waited.

My mountains.

On our way home we stopped at Jared's parents' house for a few minutes for the Easter egg hunt they set up for our kids.  Then we went home and crashed.  We were all exhausted from having such a fun weekend!

Ringing in the New Year

This New Year's Eve we did a progressive dinner with Jared's family. There were 28 of us! We did appetizers at his grandma's, salad at our house, main course at his parent's. We put the kids in pajamas and rang in the New Year at 9. We got them settled down with a movie and then headed to Jared's brother's house for desserts and games. It was fun!

Tis the season

We decorated a little bit last night. We put up the symbol ornaments and read the book. Then we re-watched the video He Is the Gift that the church made. It is beautiful. We then all wrote down what our gift to the Savior will be this year. I am going to focus on slowing down and being intentional. I am also studying more about Christ and trying to be more like Him. I am learning that studying his teachings and life makes acting more like Him come more naturally.

Jared secured the tree with fishing line, and of course the kids took turn "fishing" before we put the fishing rod away.

This picture doesn't do this justice, but this is the view out my kitchen window.  A neighbor on the hill above us.  They must have known that we would feel like these are just for us!

Pumpkin Carving

Christmas Day 2009

Christmas Day Emma went around and woke everyone up at 7:30ish. She was just so excited! Ok, it was me, but Emma did the talking. :)

Emma hanging out with my Dad before we started opening presents.


Going through her stocking. Anytime she pulled out something fun she would turn and hold it up for my mom and dad to see.


Opening her first present. She did pretty well ripping the paper and pulling out the things that were in there. Socks and shirts will probably never be so exciting again!

Christmas Eve 2009

This year we spent Christmas in Howe with my family. Christmas Eve day my sister Kelsi, Jared and I all did our hair. Kelsi dyed her hair darker, I put in lowlights, and Jared got a much needed trim. Cute, huh? And you will just have to assume the after pictures are cuter than the during pictures, because I completely forgot to take some!




Every Christmas Eve, my family acts out the nativity. We find sheets, bathrobes, coats, etc. that work as costumes so it is always interesting to see how we all look. I remembered to take a few pictures this year...
Emma was Baby Jesus. This is her in her "manger". She isn't actually sleeping, I must have caught her with her eyes closed in this picture. Oh, and she is wearing her pajamas that she got to open and wear Christmas Eve.

The three wise men- Kelsi, Clint and Jared.

My dad narrating the Christmas story from the scriptures.

Emma receiving her gifts from the wise men.

Memorial Weekend

I am really behind on blogging, but I think this is the last one of the day! For Memorial Weekend, we went with Jared's family to Yellowstone/Island Park. We all loaded up in his grandparents' motorhome. It was fun because all 15 of us were able to be in one vehicle together and could talk, eat and play games. A friend of the family has an amazing cabin in Island Park that they let us borrow. It was beautiful, and included a couple of big screen TVs, a jacuzzi, places for 24 people to sleep, a fully-stocked, gorgeous kitchen complete with stainless steel appliances, and much more. So our weekend of "camping" was pretty rough. We spent the weekend driving the park, seeing the animals and the sights. We also went on a hike to Fairy Falls that was a little over 5 miles up and back. The kids were troopers on this hike, I was very impressed. We had a couple of close encounters with some buffalo that were on the trail to Fairy Falls and narrowly escaped with our lives.;) We saw 3 bears and stopped to see a fourth but it was hidden in the trees so we didn't ever get a good look at it. There were a ton of buffalo, baby buffalo and elk. The weather was perfect for this trip, and I think that was why we saw so many animals, especially the bears. Here are a couple of pictures that Connie took on the trip that she let me steal from her! Thanks, Connie!

Paige and Emma

Emma and Grandma

Bear #1

Bear #2

Bear #3