Spring Meadow Lake State Park Adventure

Hannah was being silly between errands and picking Richard up from school and created a new outfit. (We had attended a baby shower earlier in the day so I was miraculously asked to do her hair.)

When we picked Richard up from school we headed out for an adventure at Spring Meadow Lake. There is a trail that goes all the way around the lake with jut-offs to the lake. We were able to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather, nature, and I got some terrific pictures of the scenery and my amazing models. These two LOVE being in front of the camera and will pose creatively for me. They always make me laugh during these "photo sessions". Their facial expression are always the best part.

We discovered many signs of deer...tracks, droppings, and this area covered with beds.

It was exciting to find this frozen portion of the lake.

Richard discovered this spot while I was taking pictures of Hannah by the tree. He has quite the male model stare.

Hannah came up with the idea that this is the mean witch's home and that we had to freeze where we were so she would not get us. Finally, we made it to safety but encountered trolls, goblins, and unicorns on the way to the good witch's castle. We got to practice our kick boxing skills all the way to the good witch's castle.

Finally we arrived to the castle and the kids took a much deserved rest.

We had so much fun and will be going back soon. Maybe even today.

St. Patty's Celebrations

This year the kids were so excited about St. Patrick's Day. I normally only do the wearing green thing but since they were so excited I did a few other things throughout the day. Friday night they put little "pots" (salsa dishes) of Lucky Charms out and wrote letters for the leprechauns to leave them gold.

Instead of gold they got candies wrapped in money wrappers. I think that they were just excited that a leprechaun came.

For a late breakfast we enjoyed cucumbers, green apples, and green pancakes which had a little surprise of green muddy footprints, a bite taken out of their food, and another money candy.

Then we played Lucky Charms green bingo.

Chris had taken the kids shopping with him in the evening so I went to the kitchen for a labor-intensive meal. I grilled some chicken and covered it with apple-cranberry chutney. Then I attempted true risotto and cut up grilled asparagus to mix in it. And I sauteed some kale in garlic oil. It all turned out pretty good but it took FOREVER!!! to make it all. It didn't help that I also made chili sauce during this whole process. But I had a lot of fun and we got to eat some yummy food. I was really happy that Richard loved the kale!

Earlier in the day I had put on Celtic music for the kids to experience some new culture and make it an Irish day. When I entered the room again this is what I found...


Here is another video from later in the day. This is pretty funny.

I love my kids. We have a lot of fun together and they truly make me laugh. This was a special for all of us.

Bountiful Baskets & Crafts

It seems that since Thanksgiving I have had a hard time getting on top of ordering Bountiful Baskets and preserving some produce. Between the holidays, Richard's birthday, and going to Utah twice our money has been otherwise tied up, as well as my time. But now I am committed to building up our food storage again. This week I ordered two baskets of produce and ended up with these awesome items:

2 bags of carrots, 2 bags of potatoes, 2 bags of green apples, 2 heads of romaine lettuce, 2 heads of green cabbage, 2+ bunches of bananas (there were some extra looses bananas),  3 bunches of green onions, 2 melopens, 3 kale, 15 oranges, 4 English cucumbers, 15 tomatoes, and a partridge in a pear tree. All for $30.00!

Hannah assisted in displaying our loot.

Also, in my attempt to be more self-sufficient and domestic, I created these adorable doll clothes as a gift for a little girl in our ward. The kids have been invited to her birthday and I thought this would be fun for her. I made a reversible dress, a bib, and two diapers. I sure hope that she enjoys them!

I have seen so many darling ideas for coasters on Pinterest and really wanted to try some. Besides, I found out that one I have that is similar to these, only with cute paper rather than photos, had been broken by one of my children and then scotch taped together so I would not find out.

I love them so much that I just kept making them. The kids got to pick photos of themselves for their own, I'll post pictures later, and now I have so many that I need to figure out what to do with them. Maybe I can start selling them on Etsy? Or I'll keep making them and sell some at the farmer's market this year. I'll have to figure something out because we do not need this many coasters. LOL!

I made these eggs for the kids as Easter decorations. Actually, I fully intended on making them for myself but Hannah thought they were so cool that she selected her own thread colors (bottom picture). I was fine doing 3 for her and 3 for me, or "the house". Then Richard came home from school and begged for me to make some for him which left me with none. I am actually OK with that because they were a little complicated on the ends and very time consuming. But I love how they turned out and the kids have custom colors.



Utah March 2012

We got to spend a week in Utah with family and friends. I took these diapers, bibs, and reversible dress for Chloe's dolls. I had a lot of fun making them and am so happy that she is enjoying them.

The night we drove into town we dropped the kids off to Grandma and Grandpa's and Chris and I went to Riley's play-off basketball game. I got some great pictures then realized I had my camera on the wrong setting. By the time I adjusted it Riley sprained his ankle and had difficulty playing the rest of the game :( but it was so good to see him and the other kids.

I do LOVE this photo! He is so handsome and athletic.

Here is cute Bryce playing on the court during a time-out.

Wednesday was Chris's birthday. He chose Tepenyaki for dinner so we went with the kids and Chris's parents. It was a lot of fun. The kids enjoy watching them cook in front of us.

Friday night Chris and I got to have a date night, thank you Bryce and Donnell!!! Chris and I checked into our hotel then met up with some great friends for a wonderful Mexican meal. The night was filled with laughing so hard that I developed a headache, totally worth it, too! After dinner and conversation Chris and I had a peaceful and quite evening and even took a dip in the hot tub at the hotel. It was a perfect evening and some mommy/daddy time that we really needed.

The next night we had family time with the Williams family. Here is Richard playing swords with a neighbor boy.

Richard, Hunter, and the neighbor posing for a picture.

The girls got to play Wii for a little bit. Alli loves having her picture taken so she snuck in. :)

Here are the crazy couples. We had so much fun with them both nights. The adult time Friday was awesome, but family time and having the men cook for us on Saturday was excellent, too.

Definately something we will keep doing together! (Jeremy, Alli, Chris, and Jaime)

Alli was my trainer in the mission. We had a great time together and she taught me so much. I am so thankful to have her still in my life. And even better, our husbands get along so well. They are a lot alike and we laugh so much together!

Jeremy enjoys cooking and learning new recipes and techniques, this works perfectly well for Chris as he is a chef and enjoys teaching. Aren't they so cute!

By this point we had had several full days of activities, Hannah was exhausted and shy so Chris had to point her face toward the camera. Richard is hiding behind me and if you look closely you can see his head between my leg and Chris's.

Sunday was Mom's turn. Paul and his kids, Grandma T., my Uncle Scott and Aunt Jennifer were all there for yummy food and great company. I kept forgetting to pull out my camera throughout the trip so this is all I got of my family. (I borrowed some of the above photos from Alli, thanks to FB)

Here are Rocky, Hannah, Richard, Riley, and his girlfriend Janna). Look how Richard adores Riley. Richard even asked if Riley can live with us!

Bo tried really hard not to get his picture taken, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve! Ha, ha. I have such handsome nephews and beautiful nieces!

On the drive home we opted to detour in Black Foot, ID. We figured the kids would enjoy seeing the giant potato outside of the Potato Museum. The museum was interesting but I am not sure it was worth the $7 we paid for admission. The kids got to choose a Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head from the gift shop on the way out so they were happy.

Someone donated this impressive Potato Head collection. It was fun seeing all of the types of Potato Heads.

Oh! I almost forgot. My awesome and handsome husband decided to trade in my wedding rings for a new set. I love them so much and picking out rings together, again and 8 years later, we have a renewed sense of newly wed love. He is the greatest! (Please ignore the dry hands)

 We had such a great time with friends and family. We love you all and missed seeing those that we could not get to.

I'm gonna miss this

These are some of my favorite images from last spring. I am really going to miss the Arkansas flowers and blossoms. It is still very cold here in Montana and I was thinking of these beautiful images from last year just reflecting on the changes which have taken place in the past year. But we have fun things to discover here and I look forward to warmer weather so we can get out to the mountains.