Cress Creek Hike

Day 2 of our adventures with cousins =  hiking Cress Creek, a trail just a few miles from home

Jake, Lander, Sam, Grace all holding their buckets for rocks & treasures.

sneaky Lander, very sneaky 

 Sam & Jake trying to catch a lizard

 ...he got away...

 but the kids still had fun

Tautphaus Park Zoo

More cousins in town. Isn't it great?!? This time it was Eric & Beth who stopped in for a fun visit. While the dads played, the moms took the big kids to the zoo.

Grace, Lander, Sam, Jake

 Poor tiger!

Jake, Grace, Beth, Lander, Sam, Dixie

 This peacock had flown into the penguin exhibit. 

The penguins were ganging up on it, pecking at its feathers and traumatizing it. 

It made for an impressive display, though!

 Sometimes I wonder if the kids were on the wrong side of the cage......

 Okay, so these birds stink. I don't think that I could ever be a zoo keeper, but the kids loved it!

 This is the brand new baby zebra that had just been born a few days earlier.

Fort Couch

I love how kids can take something so simple, in this case, the old couch in the basement, and turn it into such an adventure. The boys had so much fun playing in the fort that they built in the couch. 

It's the simple treasures like these that makes life so great.

meet Mo-Minion

I'd like you to meet Lander's new best friend, Mo-Minion. 

more from Kelsey's trip

I was so happy to have Kelsey come up for a visit. It was really nice getting to spend time with her & our little buddy, Tristan. Here are a few highlights from the trip.

Lander, Kels, Jake & Tristan at Nature Park

 Kelsey & Tristan

 Jake's find in the cache by the race track 

 Tristan literally fell asleep at the table. He was so exhausted from all the fun!

  Kels said that he's never done this before.

 Jake loves playing with Tristan. 

That's probably one of the main reasons he fell asleep at the table. 

 If you look closely, you can see the lady bug that had Tristan mesmerized.

 Kelsey, Tristan & Lander looking over the cache found at BYU-I

Intro to Geocaching

Kelsey & Tristan came to visit and introduced us to the fun of geocaching. 

We were surprised to learn that there was a cache on the hill right above our house!

Lander, Kelsey & Tristan

 Jake & Lander using GPS to find the way

 Josh found it first (of course). He's hinting to the boys where to find the treasure.

 Jake found it!

 I love my boys!!!!

Basketball Hoop

We decided to try an experiment over the past school year. Rather than pay someone to teach the boys piano lessons, Dixie taught them (sub-standard lessons, I'm sure) and we put the money we saved towards fun family things. We were able to buy bikes for the boys last fall and then this spring we were able to get a basketball hoop. The boys were ecstatic. Jake worked really hard helping Dixie dig the hole for the post. 

15th Anniversary

15 years strong. Hard to believe we've been married this long. This year we opted for low key, while still getting away from the kids. Grams watched the boys overnight while we went to Salt Lake. We took in temple square, shopped for Highland trinkets at a little Scottish store downtown and spent a day at Lagoon. It was really nice to get away. I love you, Babe!

Ha, ha! I have a hard time not laughing at rose petals on a bed. Seems so cliche. 

 Our room service breakfast. It was y-u-m-m-y!!!

 The spring flowers were in full swing. Nice change from Rexburg.

Lagoon (in one of Dixie's non-green moments)

My Hero

Gramps (aka Pee Paw) holding Grace, Grams holding Kylie and Drew

Jake, Lander, Jayden, Samantha

By: Jake Jamison, 4th grade

When I watch people help other people, I think about my grandpa Pee Paw. My grandpa is my hero because he is so helpful and I look up to him because he helps a lot. One day when my dad was working on the roof Pee Paw goes and helps like if my dad needs a hammer, he gives him a hammer so he can put the wires on the roof so the snow will fall off. Pee Paw is caring for us. When we are going to bed, he doesn't yell at us to try to get us asleep. He just says goodnight with a caring voice. He helped our country by serving in the army. I really don't know much about it, but what I do know is this. He has pictures and badges, and that is proof. That is why he is my hero and why I look up to him.

(Josh and Gramps working on the roof during the summer of 2005. I think that this is what Jake was referring to in his paper.)

Cool Cats

Cool Cats
By: Lander

Cats are animals that I wanted to learn more about and I found some great information. I will tell you what my animal looks like, where it lives, what it eats, and some interesting facts. Cats look interesting. Cats have red eyes and black tongues. Cats have black, white, gray, and brown fur. They can have blue eyes. My animal lives in mom's garage. It has the cat house we built. It can live in my house, in the basement. My cats can live in my room. My animal eats moles, fish, rats, birds, mice, and meat. Also a little ant! Some interesting facts about my animal are cats can jump up to 4 feet high. Cool cats can be 2 feet big. You can see a cat claw kill. That is a cats way to hunt. Cats are nice to people.

(This was for a 2nd grade report)

Bye, bye Old Grey!!

Old Grey wouldn't fall out, so our dentist intervened today. Lander had his first shot in the mouth--he didn't like it much, not that I can blame him. Here's a picture of Lander with Old Grey:

 ...many attempts later.....

if you look closely you can see Old Grey aka Snaggletooth. It is his top front baby tooth that Lander dislodged when he was two years old after tripping on the kitchen floor. It gradually turned grey as the years have gone on, but stubbornly refused to fall out. It was turning into an eyesore. 

 And this was taken after we got home from the dentist. Lander's only complaint was that his mouth "tickled".

John Deere Green

Spring has started teasing us, and the grass was looking a bit shaggy. Jake volunteered/hounded me for a new chore--mowing the lawn--and what can I say?  He did a great job and had a lot of fun. How could he not? Everybody loves a Deere!

He's already asking when we can mow the lawn again. Josh may have to do a little paper-rock-scissors if he wants a turn.

mommy pay day

This is a note that I found on Lander's white board in his room. It was so sweet that I wanted to share it.

Mom, do you have a time to let me prepare the family home evening?
P.S. I will be happy to do it

It was completely out of the blue. Talk about a mommy pay day!!!!

(Lander with Josh showing off his newly constructed
birthday present from Papa. Nov. 2010)



thank you...

...Jake for making me cry.

I treasure every second that I was able to listen to your sweet testimony today.

I love you!

(Jake & Josh Targhee National Forest, July 2004)

the Surgery Club

Jake officially joined the surgery club yesterday after he had a lymph node removed from his armpit. What's the surgery club? It means that after you have surgery you get to have pizza and ice cream. Chocolate makes everything better, right?

It was kind of fun, in a weird sort of way. I got to go back to the OR and start him on his anesthesia. There was something profoundly satisfying as I squashed the face mask onto his face and watched his eyes roll back as he fell to sleep. What?!? I'm only being honest here! :)

Here is Jake just after he woke up, cuddling "Fluffy" the stuffed animal given to him in pre-op. Make sure you notice the IV in his hand. He made sure that the picture showed it. Somehow that was more exciting that having a tube shoved down his throat and his armpit cut open.

Here's his incision. It's a little more than an inch. Internal stitches and a little glue to hold it together.

Not too bad.

The surgeon was ahead of schedule and he recovered really well in PACU so from start to finish, we only had to stay at the hospital for a little more than 2 hours. Jake was a real trooper. Two hours and two thousand dollars (that is what I am expecting our portion of the expense will be), talk about a bargain!

No I am not high. That was sarcasm for those of you wondering if I am stealing his pain meds.

another DATE NIGHT!!

It was 2 months in the making but we finally got a date night. WOO WOO!

Josh hates this pic, but I needed to have proof that the date actually happened.

Mountain River Ranch

December 2010

Brotherly Love