Labor Day Weekend

Busy, but fun.

Friday night, we drove up to Rexburg. Shad and the boys slept outside under the stars.

Drake, sporting his thermals, and excited to sleep outside with Dad.



Because this picture is with the cell phone, there wasn't a flash, but if you can see them, it's the three boys lined up in their sleeping bags on a tarp.



The next day, we test drove a mini van, then Shad went canoeing with his dad and a friend.

While they were off having fun, Drake and Graham were having fun with their second cousins (Dawn's kids). Later that night we went to dinner with the whole crew, and got to meet Dawn's fiancé Brandon, which was really nice. We also test drove another mini van.





Drake also had a good time helping 'Nana' make applesauce.



On Monday, we went on our first hike of the season (now that summer's almost over) to a place called Cherry Springs.


Excited as all get out to go on a hike.



The girls.



The boys.



Graham didn't really hike so much as he just "rode" in Shad's arms.



Drake was our little navigator. He had a compass that he'd pull out of his backpack whenever we came to a spot that presented two paths, and he'd pick which way to go. He loved the hike.



That evening, we went to the East Idaho State Fair. We had to try some of the food, of course.



Drake decided that he really wanted to listen to this group. So he did.



An exercise bike bubble blower.



I like fairs. I could've stayed longer, looking at the photography exhibits, but it was late, and we do have kids, and Shad was getting up early the next morning to go to Rexburg.

So Tuesday, Shad went to Rexburg, and we bought a mini van. Yup, that's right, a mini van. Growing up, I swore I'd never own a mini van. Guess I was wrong. I do have to say though, it's really nice, and much easier than squishing three kids in the back of our little 4-door. Someday, I may actually take a picture of the outside of it.



The rest of that day, Shad hung out with my brother Matt. The next morning, the two of them, along with four of Matt's buddies, left to go backpacking in central Idaho, in the Sawtooths. Shad loved it.







Shad also got our digital camera back while in Rexburg (thanks again Matt for bringing it up for us). So he got to use that while backpacking instead of our cell phone.

Good times.

Provo

In August, we took a trip down to Provo, Utah to attend the graduation ceremonies of my brother Nathan and his wife Adrienne. It was nice to get away from our home projects for a weekend and to spend that time hanging out with family.


'Grammie' and Avery in the Marriot Center... yes, she loves her thumb.



The August/December graduates.



Shad, Graham, and a happy graduate.



Adrienne and Nathan - a wonderful couple!



One of the days there, both families went to Kiwanis Park for lunch and fun. It brought back memories for Shad and I because it was where we had part of our very first date (the rest of the date was spent in the back of a Winder Dairy truck).

Here's Landon after retrieving a frisbee off of the pavilion roof.



And here's his sweet landing.



'Grandpa' with Avery. Does she still have that thumb in her mouth?



Saturday, Adrienne's family threw a baby shower for her---she's due next month! This is a shot of the pretty food (was I supposed to take pictures of the people?). And it was at this event that I left our camera...



While the girls were at the baby shower, the boys went on a hike to Stewart Falls.



We stopped by Shad's grandparents' place on our way home, but because I left my camera in Provo, we had to take pictures with our cell phone--I'm glad we at least had that!


Grandpa and Avery



Grandma and Avery



And from there, we drove home.



It was a busy, tiring (for Drake anyway), fun weekend!

Bannock County Fair

Last month, I took the kids to the Bannock County Fair while Shad was at work. I love community events. This was the first time I'd been to this particular fair, and although it wasn't the most exciting fair, I think the kids still had a good time.


Drake loved the candy drop. He got to ride up in the cherry picker of a fire truck...



...and then throw candy over the edge to all the kids still on the ground.



Drake spent a while throwing leis on this hula "person".



The boys could have watched this model train all morning.



Drake showing off his foam hat that he covered with stickers.



Graham lagging behind, with his awesome foam hat. You can see from the surroundings how popular this fair was with other people...



Sipping lemonade while waiting to see our neighbors' granddaughter do barrel racing.

Getting ready to go on a wagon ride
(I stayed behind with Avery, who was asleep in a stroller. Thanks Angie for watching them!)



Returning from the ride.



Graham after a long day at the fair.

Good times.

the fruits and veggies of our labors

We've been lucky this year to have a good garden. Drake and Graham love picking whatever is ripe---and Drake is quick to make sure you know whether something is ripe or not!


Drake loves to pick tomatoes.

Graham loves to be like Drake.

Graham loves to eat tomatoes like he eats apples. Unfortunately, he had a sore on his lip, and it wasn't until he'd almost finished a whole tomato when the acid finally hit the sore.

Drake eating a peach from our peach tree.

Shad holding Avery in front of our corn---8 feet tall maybe? And this shot was taken a month ago. The pretty plants in front are our green beans.

Drake ate two whole ears of corn the other night. Graham finished one.

Shad made a little garden spot for Drake, who has been collecting seeds to plant since the beginning of the year (from apples, watermelon, etc. that he ate). It was a little late for anything to really grow by the time we planted Drake's seeds, but Drake just thought it was fun to plant something.

Drake and Graham helping in Drake's "garden".

View of the sunset from our garden.

Summer is ending all too soon.

our yard/field/dirt area

I still don't have our digital camera back from when we left it in Provo, so I'm gonna put up some pictures that were already on the computer, as well as some that I've been "forced" to take with my film camera (which I love, but it just costs more).

With as much time as Shad has spent inside, you'd think we might have neglected the outside. Well, we have. But not completely. Amazingly enough, we've been able to just barely keep up with our yard and our garden. I say "we", but I mean mostly Shad. I have helped out some, but usually the kids are louder than the yard. So here are some of the outside projects...


Drake and Graham, each with their own tools, love to help Shad. You can see all the tall weeds... those covered about half of our "future" backyard. The field grass/weeds out further, by the pasture, were taller than me.



This is Shad and Russell Johnson hauling a big pile of junk and dirt out of our backyard and into a dumpster, using Russell's tractor. Him and Joan were wonderful to help us out so much.



Their daughter, Holly, hanging out with the boys. Avery was asleep behind her in the swing. Because Holly was there to keep an eye on the kids, I was actually able to go weed in the garden for a while.



This is a 15-yard roll-off container, which I didn't think we'd fill. I was wrong. I guess we had a lot more junk back there than I realized, sadly enough.



This is Shad cutting down our weed field with our neighbor's trimmer. He's excited.



We're trying to trick our kids into thinking work is fun...



...it might be working.



Here's the used-to-be-overgrown part of our backyard after all the weeds were cut down.



Next summer we plan on doing more outdoors, since our basement soaked up our time this summer. Thanks again my sweet Shad!