Dad's birthday celebration!

My daddio had a birthday not too long ago and to celebrate, most of the family came up to Idaho!

We had lots of fun all weekend.

Friday morning, we started the day doing a temple session with some family names my mom had.  Then in the afternoon we headed down to the zoo.  The weather wasn't the greatest but it didn't stop us from having fun anyways.

These lions were a definite favorite. The kids enjoyed having roaring contests with them. 

We got to the monkeys just in time for them to get their dinner which was fun to watch them jumping all over the place fighting for some food!  

Later that evening after everyone arrived, we went bowling.

Usually I am a terrible bowler but for some reason I was awesome.  I even got two strikes in a row on the last frame!  Pretty proud of myself.

Brayden loved playing with the balls as they came out of the shoot.

The next day, Mitch and I headed back over to the temple to help participate in our ward temple day.

After lunch, we packed up and headed up to Jackson. We dropped Mitch off at the Bar J to save us a place in line and then the rest of us went into down to wander around the shops.  Once again it was rainy and a little chilly but there wasn't too much complaining.  

Around 5:00 we headed back to the Bar J so we could be there for the fresh biscuits! 

Then we put Mitch on the carriage with all the kids and the rest of us just walked the path.

Brayden did not enjoy the ride so I got him off and let him just walk around.

He was in heaven!

Yeah, we barely survived the bear attack.  Good thing my sisters are brave and fought him off!

It was such a fun weekend which went by much too quickly.  Other highlights were Mitch's famous and delicious crepes, grandma teaching the kids how to make stick boats to float down the river and grandpa paying for his own birthday weekend!  I have been so blessed with such an amazing family! We just missed Tyler and Karson since they had to stay back and work.  Maybe next time the weather will be just a little more sunny and we can head to the lake!

Birthday Time

Oh you've had a birthday shout Horray!

It was a pretty low-key birthday since he'd just started his new job a few weeks before and couldn't take any time off.  We did however still have cake and presents!

Finding his presents that Addy had hid.

Making sure I didn't spend too much!

This was me saying, "please at least act excited about your presents"
and he did!

The requested cake was and angel food cake with cool whip snickers frosting. Apparently his mom used to make it when they were younger. I also made a cute little birthday banner for the top but didn't get a good picture of that.

Yellowstone

To celebrate several family birthdays, we decided to head up to Yellowstone.  We always say we should go there more often since we aren't that far away but for some reason it just always gets passed over. Addy turned five and this is the first time she has ever been.  We headed up on Friday and spent the night in West and had fun swimming with cousins and then headed into the park on Saturday.  To bad we chose a weekend with horribly cold and rainy weather. It was still fun to drive around looking for animals and the kids loved playing in the backseat. We just didn't get out and walk around as much as I would've liked.

Not long after we entered the park we came across a herd of elk.  I wasn't quick on getting to the camera which is a bummer because one of the bulls was huge. Oh well.

We did get out at Norris to see and smell all the hot springs.

Shortly after our stop, we drove passed this random buffalo.  We easily could've reached out the window to pet it.

see the baby eagle in the nest

I believe this was Tower Falls.  This is what happens when I get four months behind in my posting, I forget too many of the details. I do remember that this little lady was super grumpy and cold.

We finally got a smile after aunt trish bribed her with a treat.

Taking a lunch break in the rain before heading to see Old Faithful. The kids loved dragging sticks and making a path around the picnic area.  I think they were finally bored from being in the car all day so the cold and rain didn't bother them as much.

We had the best timing with Old Faithful. Seriously we walked up and within minutes it erupted.  Which was a blessing because we had some pretty cold kids who would not have enjoyed waiting much longer than that. It wasn't quite as impressive with all the cloud coverage. It sort of just blended into the background.

After a whole day of adventure these two crashed while waiting for everyone at the visitor center!

Hopefully we will make it back up next spring when it is warmer and to see all the baby animals!

Birthday Time

Well, we know have a grown up five year old at our house.  I just have to say that so far this fifth year has started out great!  The other day I asked her to do something for me and she said, "I know mom, I'm five so I can do it."  WOW...big change and one I am grateful for!  

The best part of the day was she was looking in the bathroom mirror and said, "I don't look 5, I still look the same."  So I asked her what she thought would be different and she thought she would be lots taller.
The saddest part of the day was when she thought she would be starting kindergarten soon because she was now five.  That was a hard blow when I explained she wouldn't start till next year.

 The night before when I went into her room to give goodnight kisses, she asked me if I was going to decorate the house like last year.  She even remembered the streamers that she'd walked through.  Apparently, this is now a yearly tradition!

The day or two before her birthday, she asked me to get her glow sticks, a treat and something else that I can't remember.  I figured I could follow through with two of the three items.

We let her open one present before dad goes to work so she has something to play with during the day. It was her very first tea set.  Right away she wanted to have a tea party so I told her she could invite a couple friends over. She spent the morning making invitations, deciding who she wanted to come over, and planning what food to eat. Seriously it was quite the ordeal.

And then the tea party began!

And these girls were so silly and fun.  They had me cracking up a few times.

Kissing their spoons...they thought they were hilarious!

Then Addy asked if we could play freeze dance.

She got some new lip gloss from one of her friends and they decided to cover the little man with it.

Then they decorated cupcakes.  A quick last minute decision since I still hadn't finished the birthday cake.

As soon as Mitch got home from work, she begged to open the rest of her presents.

New shirts.

Church shoes...with a heal!  She was in heaven with these.

And a big barbie...which is now her Marabelle doll.

Then we sacrificed and took her to McDonalds.

Followed by cake (which I hurried to finish) and ice cream.

We are so glad to have this little lady in our family!  She is so full of energy and I find myself truly exhausted most nights but we wouldn't have it any other way! 

I hope you enjoy your 5th year of life! We love you!