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

Zion National Park

We hiked the Emerald Pools with the cousins over Thanksgiving break.

This is a view from the road.

 View from the Lower Emerald Pool

 Eric & Beth with Josh, Mark (standing backwards) & Todd in background

 Samantha, Lander & Jake at the Upper Emerald Pool

 Todd, Mark, Josh, Eric

 Grace, Samantha, Jake, Lander

:)

date night

For Josh's birthday, we went on a much needed date night,

mountain biking on Shark Tooth, a trail in the Big Hole mountains surrounding Driggs.

This was my first time on a real trail in several years.

 Gotta love the self portraits

 See the wooden "bridge"? It reminds me a lot of the wooden sidewalk we had when we were kids. It went on forever! I just worried that I would fall off. I didn't. But Josh did, right into a little ravine!

Snake River Fishing

Jake & Lander fishing with Josh

...one of their favorite things to do with their dad...

Lander gets baptized

November 27, 2010

St. George, Utah

Lander was able to be baptized in St. George with all of his grandparents and many of his cousins in attendance. It was a wonderful day.

This is to help Lander remember the day...

Pianist: Grandma Nala F

Music Leader:  Aunt Dayna J

Opening Song:  I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus

Opening Prayer: Uncle Jarrod J

Talk on Baptism: Grams Knight

Baptismal Ordinance: Daddy
Witnesses:  Uncles Todd J & Alan F

Talk on Holy Ghost: Mommy
Confirmation: Grandpa Lane

Closing Song: I Am a Child of God by the cousins

 Devin B, Brianna B, Samantha J, Grace J, Jayden J,

Drew J, Travis F, Jake, Lander, Kylie J, Tre J

Closing Prayer: Grandma Nana J

Jake turns 10!!

Jake turned 10 in October and we all saved to buy him his first mountain bike. We wanted to give it to him in Driggs at a little party with Grams, but weren't sure how to get it there without him seeing it. This was our solution, and (surprisingly) it worked, even  with the close call in Teton, a little town along the way that has some buildings with huge glass fronts that like to reflect everything.

 

And what would a party be without birthday spankings?  

 

Jake & Grams

Harriman State Park

I took the boy'os on a wagon ride at Harriman State Park (Island Park, Idaho) in September. As usual, their energy level was something to admire...or be annoyed at, depending on your views of life and the level of tranquility desired.

hiking to the caves

Here are some pictures from Randy & Keri's visit in October.

Look at the shorts & green grass.....sigh...

Lander & Sydney love each other. Thank goodness they don't say that they

are going to get married any longer now that Syd insists it's illegal to marry her cousin.

 

 Lander & Jenna Bo Benna peeking out of the little cave

 This is the "cave", a little hole in the rocks on the bluff overlooking our house.
Doesn't Jakey look so cute??

 Jake & Mom
Look how big he's getting!?!

Canoeing the Teton

We took the boys canoeing on the Teton River. The views were AMAZING!

(maybe life in the Arctic isn't so bad, eh??)

-Josh, Jake, Todd, Lander-

It was freezing, but the boys did venture in for a dip.

Not me! I stayed nice and dry!!

Family Time!

fun memories with Josh's parents....

Lander and Nana

Golfing with Papa at the Muni

Jakey Boy

Lander makes breakfast

Lander decided to make us all breakfast one Sunday morning.

It was YUMMY!!

Jake in a Box

We found this one night when we peeked in on the boys

who were supposed to be sleeping:

And this was what was inside:

I guess Jake decided to obey afterall!

Yellowstone

Jake asked all summer if we could go see Old Faithful and we finally made the hour and a half drive (pathetic, I know) to visit Yellowstone. It was the boys first time. (Don't ask how long we've lived in Idaho!) Jake loved it. In fact, he liked it so much that we had to watch it erupt twice. It erupts roughly every 92 minutes. Here are the excited boy-o's as they eagerly awaited the first eruption.

Old Faithful

Josh and Lander near mud pots

Dixie and little boys in front of the original Old Faithful Lodge