Aldhous & Hancock Lakes

One of the main reasons that we went on our camping trip to Kilgore was so that we could ride the trail to Aldhous Lake.

Correction: Dixie and the boys rode their mountain bikes to the lake. Josh RAN. 

Showoff!

Our first view of the tiny Aldous Lake

Jake and Lander ride over a little bridge

And then we hiked a little trail to Hancock Lake

Jake, Josh and Lander

 Jake, Dixie & Lander at Hancock Lake

Kilgore, Idaho

We decided to go on a little adventure near Kilgore, Idaho. 

 Dixie was freezing! So she stole borrowed Jake's jacket. It mostly fit.

  Josh is a whiz when it comes to backing a trailer.  

TIME OUT!

Time outs...Not just for "little" boys

It's Legit

What happens when...

...Lander finally deep cleans his room? You get this:

Piano Lessons

Jake wanted to learn a song on the piano so Lander helped him out. Mom tried to convince Jake that he should take up piano lessons again, but no luck!

"I believe in science"

Okay, so maybe quoting the line on paper doesn't have the same effect as hearing Josh's silly voice, but Jake sure did enjoy science this week. He took this picture of the frogs that they studied. 

Beaver Dick Park & the Menan Buttes

Lander loves going on scout campouts. Especially when his dad gets to come with him. This campout was really close to home, but a lot of fun.

Lander at the Snake River at Beaver Dick Park

Hiking down the Butte and looking over the beautiful Snake River plain

Lander stands at the top of the Menan Butte 

A New Job & "A" Parking Pass

Dixie applied for a job as an adjunct professor at BYU Idaho. And got it!

No interviews.

No questions.

Just a phone call one day saying "can you start in 4 days?"

Um, yep, think I can do that!

Dixie was given the coveted "A" parking pass as part of her BYU-Idaho employment 

I tossed and turned the night before my first day of work, worried that I would miss my (gasp) 3 a.m. wake up time. I awoke exhausted, but as soon as I looked into the mirror, all fatigue vanished. Everything screeched to a halt.

What. The. Freak??? 

I woke up with a bloody eye. Seriously....

Of all the luck!

Instead of fretting, I decided to go with it and turned myself into an object lesson on blood clotting. When in Rome, right? And then snapped a selfie to prove that I really am legit.

Slumber Party!

slumber party with dad

It doesn't get any better than this

Karate Tournament

Kara... say what...? I thought the boys do tae kwan do? 

They do.

But their do jang was invited to participate in a tournament in Rigby anyways. A few rules were different. For instance, karate-style sparring includes a lot of stopping (every time a point is awarded) vs tae kwan do that continues non-stop for the alotted time, oh and contact is very light. We struggled a bit with that part of it!...our bad....

A point is awarded to Jake as he and Lander spar

And forms were a bit different too. The karate folks did a lot of heavy breathing and arm motions. We were really glad that we don't have to sound like we are having a baby each time we do a tae kwan do form!

Jake earns a silver in sparring and forms, and demonstrates his form: tae geuk sam jang

Lander earns fourth place in sparring and forms, and demonstrates tae geuk sam jang

Master Laderman and some of the Idaho Martial Arts Academy team show off their medals:

Simple Pleasures

“Through all of living have much joy and laughter, life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.” 

― Gordon B. Hinckley

Jake climbs the aspen tree next to the kitchen in Driggs

Easter in Driggs

We celebrated Easter in Driggs. Lander and Grams pose by the fantastic cake that she made for the party.

It's become a bit of a tradition. And tradition dictates that we do an indoor (it's Idaho and cold outside - duh!) Easter egg hunt.

Minecraft Mother-Son Date

The middle school hosted a mother-son, Minecraft themed party. Lander and I decided to go all out, and made these super awesome (if I must say so myself) Minecraft t-shirts to wear. They were the talk of the party!

 We played all sorts of games and activities. Lander was in his glory.

Rasberries & the Dilemma

We had a bit of a dilemma....what to do with the enormous piles of old raspberry canes? In the past we had placed them in the garbage can, but Dixie wanted to try something different. Josh was sure that it would end in an epic failure, and melting of the fence. So we made a few smaller piles and Lander readied himself with the hose while we waited for a wind-free day. 

Our plan worked!

just a normal spring day in Idaho

Beautiful, isn't it?

Composting = Happy Wife

Good Hubby Award goes to Josh when he helps Dixie build a compost bin

Airsoft Wars

Spring and warmer weather means that little warriors emerge at our house

Lander D.A.R.E.'s you!

Lander graduated from the D.A.R.E. program, designed to help kids choose to stay away from drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. I "dare" you to find him in the crowd.

Sorry.

Couldn't help myself.

He's third row from the bottom, third kid from the right

 Lander and Kaiden Stowell, one of his best friends this year

J.J. Designs

 Josh has been busy coming up with more knife designs

a little friendly competition

Jake and Lander performed at the Friendship Open, a tae kwan do tournament and demonstration in West Jordan, Utah. They "competed" in two events, the demo team and a bow staff demonstration.

Lander and Jake perform the bow staff routine that they created

It was so much fun to watch them perform!

Lander jumps off of Master Laderman and breaks a board during the demo

 the demo team

 Jake & Lander show off the team trophy

 and their medals

shooting it up at Front Site

We spent a long weekend at Front Site, the gun training school in Puhrump, Nevada, known for it's brothel and shooting club. 

We do what we can to expose our children to the world, apparently.

And when that isn't enough, we head to Wal-Mart. 

The boys did a 4-day kids course. They hiked, learned survival techniques, and even experimented on ways to purify water. Jake refused to try the ropes course (it is pretty gynormous). Both boys got to shoot an oozi. 

Josh and Dixie spent those four days in the Defensive Handgun course. The normally pleasant weather was frigid, and wet.

Score!

Okay, maybe not a score, but the sun eventually came out, and the four layers of coats did too.

It took a day or two for Dixie to start to gain good trigger control (frozen fingers didn't help!), but she was *starting* to get the hang of it by the last day, enough that she earned "graduate". Too bad she wasn't good enough to win the competition at the end. 

Oh well.

Guess you win some, and you lose some, right?

BYU-Idaho Demonstration

Lander performs a nunchuck routine 

(he is on the left of Master Laderman who is wearing white)

Jake & Lander perform "tae geuk pal jang", a fairly technical form

(Jake is on left of Master Laderman, Lander is on the right)

Demo at BYU-Idaho

The boys had the opportunity to do a tae kwan do demonstration at BYU-Idaho during half time. The crowds were riveted. Mostly because it was 99% parents and family. But we didn't care. It was a great chance to learn how to perform in front of a crowd.

Master Laderman instructs the students

 Lining the kids up 

(Jake and Lander are in the far back, black uniforms)

Valentine Pig

Lander's class had to make their own boxes for their Valentine's Day cards. Lander wanted to make a pig. This is what we came up with. Cards and treats were placed in the pig's mouth.