Eric got me some flowers for Valentine's Day.  He doesn't get me flowers very often, so I was totally surprised.  They are just beautiful!  Both roses and lilies, but the lilies had a few blossoms but mostly buds, and as one dies a new one opens.  I can smell them from several feet away as they are so fragrant.  Yesterday at church an instructor asked how we know God loves us.  There are so many ways I feel His love, but I think the beauty of things around me is the biggest way.  The faces of my children, the flowers and trees, a gentle breeze on an overcast, warm day.  

I've started collecting stamps.  I've wanted to for some time now; my dad sent me a bunch of old ones he had from the 50's, and an older lady at church, Kerry, was giving these Tongan stamps away so I snagged them.  They are from '64.  I need to grab myself a stamp book to get these all organized!  I'm not really sure where to go from here but for some strange reason I just love stamps.

Eric took Birch to Legoland for a sort of Dad getaway/early birthday trip.  Beckham was there too with Annie and Chance.  They spent a day in the park and a day at the beach with Danny, Shelby and their kids.  Even though B wasn't feeling great and his teeth hurt from his expanders, he had a great time.

I took the kids to the park that Saturday for a walk, and the night before to swim at the YMCA.  Its good for Aspen and Oakley to have alone time.  When B is around the boys just naturally stick together and Aspen often descends into the background.  I think they had a lot of fun together that weekend.  They have been getting along better overall and Eric and I couldn't be happier about it.

This is what Aspen did on her birthday.  All she needs to be happy is a warm vent, a good book, and some pajamas.

A few pics from skiing last Friday.  The kids didn't have school so we spent the day at Bogus.  It was amazing how quiet it was!  And we got some snow too; it was an awesome ski day.

These two hanging in the lodge ;)

 

 

Our dentist has been mentioning Birch needing expanders for some time.  Birch started to beg me over and over again to make an appointment with Aspen's orthodontist, so I finally got around to it.  He was so excited to get his own mouth appliance...I think because Aspen has braces.  I think it's funny, but hope the excitement lasts!  He's had the expanders in for a few days now, and has been pretty uncomfortable.  He was just dying to get them in though; I snapped some photos of him the morning we went to the orthodontist.  He's an entertaining boy.

In September I drove out to Utah.  Demri was staying with Mom for a week and I didn't want to miss out on any girl time!  And it was great.  We thrifted, walked, cooked, and went to Sasha's boys' soccer games on Saturday before I left for home.

I love my nephews, and it was so great to get to spend some time with them.

Mom as always was the best hostess and watched the boys for us one morning so we sisters could get some kid free time together.  

All of Sasha's boys had a game, and it was so fun to be able to see them in action.  Demri was THE best cheerleader (having played competitive soccer herself) and was yelling at the top of her lungs for each game, cheering them on.  Sasha and James said that Gideon had never run so much in his life!

Demri walked me to the parking lot as I was leaving, and lo and behold there was an orange Jeep Gladiator parked right next to me.  I sent Eric a photo.  I loved getting to see Demri twice this year 💚

Oakley and I ran the FitOne again this year; both of us signed up for the 10k.  Pete signed up as well so he and Oakley could run together.  The race ended up being virtual again this year, so one day while the kids were in school I took off toward Hero's Park, a few miles away.  There's a large loop around the park that I could run on without having to deal with traffic, so I knew I could push myself.  I've slowed down a bit from some hip problems, and knew not having other runners to push me would also slow me down, but I had my playlist and I was ready to go.  Once I got to the park I really pushed myself.  At one point I had to remove my long sleeve shirt somehow without slowing down, which was tricky.  But I gave it everything I had and when I finished I was really surprised with how fast I had gone.  I was really pleased and proud of myself.  Looking at my times from past years I realized my pace now is faster than my pace from 2017, 4 years ago!  I have to say though, I was exhausted the rest of the week.  Oakley and Pete ran it later together when I was in Utah.  

The kids always say a witch and cat aren't enough Halloween decorations for the yard, so this year I decided to make some headstones too.  I only had enough plywood for 4 stones, so let Eric and the kids each have one to "engrave."

Eric spent the most time engraving his.  His is the second one to the left.  Oakley's has his toy skeleton on it, and Aspen's is the one with the angel.  I thought they all turned out great, and they were a lot of fun to make.  Note for next year though; don't wait until the irrigation water is turned off to try and hammer these into the ground.  It's too tough when it's not being watered!

When Leslie and Amanda and I were in McCall Leslie suggested we get together and paddle board one day while the kids were in school.  We found a day we could all go (including Brandi, who wasn't able to join us in McCall), and headed to Quinn's Pond in Boise.   I had driven past it before but never actually been there.  It was early October/end of September and there was no one else there.  

The colors on the leaves were changing...it reminded me a bit of Walden Pond.

Brandi, Amanda and me

Brandi and Amanda

I never get together with friends on a school day...why?? It was so fun for each of us.  We went out to lunch afterward and it was just so therapeutic to have that time with my friends.  It always is.

Oakley decided to be a Hogwarts student for Halloween.  Kind of crazy that Aspen isn't a Harry Potter character while Oakley is.  She is our biggest Harry Potter fan, though Birch is catching up!

Here are some photos from our trip to Zion in early October.  We did the Emerald Pools hike, followed by the Narrows.  It was a quick trip.  We were in Zion on Friday and Saturday, and in Bryce on Sunday.  Then we drove all the way home on Monday since the kids didn't have school.

I've been to Zion before, but its hard to remember just how beautiful it is.  Those pretty trees against the red rock is really stunning!

Emerald Pools hike

We stopped in this pretty sandy alcove for lunch

These were the Emerald pools, and they were small because of the season, but really pretty

After the pools you reach some falls.  I was a bit disappointed because they were so sparse; I was expecting large, cascading falls but they were more like several trickles.  It would be fun to see it in the spring.

Feeding the deer near the lodge.  I tried to book us a room there but it was all full.

Our hotel was really nice though and had a fabulous continental breakfast, which is the kids' favorite thing, and perhaps their favorite part of travelling!

Before hiking the Narrows on Saturday we did a different, smaller hike to let the temperature warm up a bit.  We had heard the sunniest time to hike the Narrows was around noon.  The highs were around 65 degrees, so we didn't want to freeze when we were in the water.

We did get there around noon, and boy was it busy!! There were a good amount of people in the park, and the Narrows is one of the most popular hikes there, with good reason!  It's views are unbeatable, as you are hiking through a canyon.

I managed to take lots of photos without too many people in the background.

You hike through water almost the entire way.  It can be a very long hikd (18 miles), or you can just go as far as you want and turn around.  That first crossing was sooooo cold!  I think the water temp was in the 50s.  I didn't know if I'd be able to go very far, but it got easier and easier each time.

Aspen had the roughest time, she and Birch, but they kept going and we made it about a mile down the canyon.

Just when I thought the views couldn't get any better we'd make a turn and it would be even more beautiful than before.

It was a really neat experience to share with the kids.  We do a lot of Disneyland and for them to get to see something like this, something made by their Heavenly Father that is more stunning than anything at Disneyland was really special.

How beautiful is this!

It's cold but we're still having fun!  Yay!

We finished the hike, headed to the lodge, and had a delicious meal and warmed up before heading to the hotel that night.

The next day we said goodbye to Zion and headed to Bryce.

The drive between the two parks is really amazing, with all the rock formations you see.  The kids said, "It looks like the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!"  Eric and I told them the ride looked like Bryce, not the other way around ;)

We hiked the Navajo/Queen's garden loop.  Gorgeous!  I think (except for the Narrows) I was more impressed with Bryce.  

Eric and I had our engagement photos taken here back in 2005.  My dad and Lisa had come to Bryce with us and had taken this photo (above) on this same hike.  We didn't have the original photo with us but tried to recreate it anyway.

This was the Wall Street part of this hike.  It was actually like three hikes in one.

You were surrounded by rock; in a slot canyon

We felt like we were on the set of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Then the trail wound its way up to this view

On our way back to the lodge it started to rain, and then downpour.  Thankfully we were inside before it got too bad.  We stayed at a cute little cabin at Bryce; wish I had gotten a photo of it.  The next day we made the 8 hour trip home, but stopped at Ikea along the way so it wasn't so bad!

Oakley is turning 11 in a few weeks, which means that in January he will get the priesthood and be able to go to the temple to do baptisms.  He and the other boys at church his age got to go and work on the temple grounds.  One of his leaders sent me these photos and I love them!

He wasn't too thrilled to work outside but came home telling us all about the fun he'd had.

B and his buddy Isaac's last soccer game.  BYU was playing that day so Isaac came over later to watch it with us.  He brought over his Halloween costume so B put his on too.  Isaac is Harry and Birch is Draco (he slicked his own hair back ;)

Eric took a trip to Utah with a few buddies the same weekend to watch the BYU game live.  They were playing BSU in Provo; one of the biggest BYU games of the season.  Eric's parents actually took Oakley out there too for an early birthday present; they saw each other during the game for a bit but otherwise were doing their own thing.  

Saturday before the game there was a 1 mile race for kids ages 10-12, and Oakley decided to run it.  He got a time of 8:18, and was 7th place out of 26 people.  I was really proud of him!

BYU has something called a Cougar Tail; its a humongous donut bar that Eric has told the kids about several times.  Eric's parents were sure to grab one so O could try one.  

It rained a bit during the game

Meeting up at half time

Eric's parents showed Oakley such a great time!  They went to a huge tailgate party beforehand, and Oakley got to high five many of the players and even the head coach just before heading onto the field.  He even got to meet Cosmo the mascot.

He also ran into his buddy Ryker, who was there with his dad, which was a fun surprise!

While Eric and Oakley were gone I took Aspen and Birch to a pumpkin patch called Linder Farms.  

We grabbed a few pumpkins, played some of the games, (B rode a bucking bull but the operator had it go so slow that it was hilarious), went through a sunflower maze, and saw some amazingly cute little piglets for sale that we wanted to take home with us!

It was fun; we had heard Linder Farms had closed, so we were excited to go there when we found out it is still open.  We also took a hayride to the pumpkins, but it was probably 3 minutes long because there wasn't a pumpkin patch, just a bunch of prepicked pumpkins next to all the activities.  I was thinking we would be on the hayride for a good 20 minutes but after we started we realized we would be off in no time and Aspen laughed at me.

Our annual Halloween dinner with the Ritter family.  I made a veggie tray skeleton and a jello brain (that I won't make again...since nobody wanted to eat it!).

The boys wanted to dress up again for school pictures this year.  O needed a haircut; otherwise I thought these turned out really well.

At a McCall high school football game.  We did this last year when we went up for Eric's birthday weekend and it was a lot of fun.  Its such a small town that everyone really gets into the games; our friend Lee is head coach.

Boulder Lake hike

Aspen's braid; Eric needs a haircut and was a good sport to let her braid his hair ;)

I saw these trees and thought they were so sweet the way their roots were caressing each other.

This was supposed to be our Christmas card.  I haven't received much inspiration about what to do for a card this year, but thought we could take a photo of us each doing things we love.  Unfortunately it was too dark when we started and our photos were too blurry! 😞

I don't know if you can tell but Roo is wearing a Spiderman shirt; she is a huge Avengers fan, and all her friends are too.  I'm sure the actors have nothing to do with it ;)

Aspen's first chair at the Galileo orchestra; she was so excited when this concert was over so they could start practicing Christmas songs for their December concert!

I came out from the gym one morning and this was my view.  It was a perfect overcast, breezy fall morning.  I just stood there for a minute and soaked it up.

Annie and Chance got tickets to Disneyland through Scentsy and asked if we wanted to make the trip as well.  Even though we've been travelling so much this year, Eric just couldn't say no, and eventually talked me into it.  It was a short trip though, just one day in each park.  

Annie, Chance and Becks were there the first day we were, but had arrived earlier and took off for home the following day.  So we hung out the day we were in California Adventure.

Aspen was really excited to see the new Avengers campus and hopefully to spot Spiderman!

Eric, Oakley, Chance and I in the back row one Guardians of the Galaxy.

In addition to Spiderman we saw Ironman, Loki and Thor

The park is operating at 60% capacity, so there are no fast passes right now.  We would go on a ride and then check to see which line was shortest and then head to that ride.  I loved it because we just went with the flow.  We only went on each ride once and took things at a slower pace than normal.  It was great!

Chance and I got drenched on Grizzly Rapids.  I'm sitting in the middle next time.

Birch did the Incredicoaster for the first time.  I wasn't sure if he'd like it but he said he really did.  I won't go on the fast rollercoasters; they give me a headache.  I'm grateful Eric likes them!

Aspen really likes Coco and there's a fun area in part of the park that's all Coco with displays, a restaurant and crafts.  The two of us spent some time there together and chatted while we colored.  I love that she loves Coco.  I think besides the story she appreciates the colors, music and culture of it.

The boys went on the ferris wheel while we were gone.  Annie and Chance took Beckham to a different ride.

Eating dinner at Flo's Cafe.  I was eating gluten free and also trying to stay off dairy, which wasn't easy to do, though it was possible!  I was grateful for that.  I had a lot of buns (sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs) and they were all hard as a rock on one end.  I finally ate my last burger without the bun.  We'd never eaten at Flo's before and it was fun to do some different things.  We did this whole trip differently because it was so last minute.

We decided to do single riders for Radiator Springs since the ride had such a long wait, which the kids didn't love, but it beat waiting!

Eric, O and Chance on Guardians again

That night we hung out with Annie and Chance in our hotel room while the boys hung out in theirs, watching a movie.  Aspen had HGTV on so we just talked and laughed while we watched.  The park had closed at 6:00 and we were beat so just went to the hotel to put our feet up.  That evening we said our goodbyes as they were heading home the next day.

We were in Disneyland when it opened and headed to Indiana Jones first.  B hadn't done it yet.  We got on a few rides pretty quickly, which was great.  B didn't love the jerkiness of the Indiana ride, but later that evening decided he wanted to do it again and then liked it better, once he knew what to expect.

Rise of the Resistance is THE coolest ride.  We had to get tickets for it; we were anticipating it all morning.  It's just fabulous.

We saw Chewy after doing Smuggler's Run and hung out in Star Wars land for a bit.

Aspen always wants to ride on Splash Mountain, but then afterward we wonder why, because she and I always get so wet!  It was starting to cool off outside and she got pretty chilly.  But they're changing the ride so that may have been the last time we do the original ride.

On the riverboat; Aspen hugging a smokestack for warmth ;)

At the end of the evening we still hadn't gone on Space Mountain, but it was 11:00 and Aspen, Birch and I were exhausted.  So Eric took Oakley to the ride while the rest of us enjoyed our exit down main street.

The wait was supposed to be an hour but Oakley says they got through in 35 mins. They ended up making it back around 11:45.  Its crazy to think that we only rode Pirates once, and and pretty much all the other rides just once with it being such a short trip.  But I personally was ready to sleep in on the 3rd day and liked doing a shorter trip.  We didn't feel like we had to do rides more than once, and we just enjoyed being there.

The next day we went out for breakfast at Mimi's Cafe.  It was delicious and you'd have thought we hadn't had anything to eat the 2 days before!  After a drive through Beverly Hills we headed to the airport for home.

Pumpkins before....

(this one is an atlantic giant that B wanted us to grow.  I didn't start it indoors so it didn't grow as large as it could have, but after trying to carve it, that is a good thing!)

and after.  (Oakley, Birch, Aspen). Eric always works hard to find just the right templates for the kids and helps them carve while I roast the seeds.

artwork by Aspen...a mountain and sky.