Farm Country

 Pretty little Annalise loves seeing the animals.

The kids all "moo"ing for the camera in front of the cow picture.  

 Adelyn is a pro at riding horses. 

Annalise chose the biggest horse they had even though she was the smallest kid in the group. It made me nervous to have her so high off the ground, but she did great.

 Cowboy up!

 Preston enjoying the wagon ride around the farm.

Thank goodness for sisters.

First Day of School

Adelyn started second grade on August 21. She is super excited and loves her new teacher. Unfortunately, her two front teeth will not be joining her at school. She lost them over the summer and hasn't found them yet. :)

Preston started kindergarten on August 28. He is just barely five, but as smart as a whip.

He was so happy that his friend Noah was in his class. On the first day, they marched into class holding hands for moral support. As you can see, Noah is tall for his age and Preston is a little short.

Annalise started Joy School this year too. Three of my friends and I take turns hosting the kids at our houses. It is going to be a great year.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Adelyn's Favorites at Seven (and a half)

Favorite breakfast: Fruit-filled Frosted Mini-wheats
Favorite lunch: chicken nuggets and fries
Favorite dinner: egg rolls and ham fried rice
Favorite drink: chocolate milk
Favorite treats: candy canes, gum, Starburst jellybeans
Favorite colors: red, white, blue
Favorite hobbies: gymnastics, piano, art projects, Barbies
Favorite holiday: Christmas
Favorite movie: My Little Pony
Favorite TV show: Doc McStuffins
Favorite book series: Magic Treehouse
What she wants to be when she grows up: Mom and face painter
Best friends: Emma, Jenna, Leah
Favorite vacation: Sea World
Favorite game: Monopoly
Favorite animals: tiger, hummingbird, horse

Preston's Favorites at Five

Favorite breakfast: pancakes and Fruit Loops cereal
Favorite lunch: chicken nuggets
Favorite dinner: ravioli
Favorite drink: apple juice
Favorite treats: candy canes, lollipops, gum
Favorite colors: orange, green, blue
Favorite hobbies: play with friends, do crafts, slip-n-slide
Favorite holiday: Halloween
Favorite movie: How to Train Your Dragon
Favorite TV show: Jake and the Neverland Pirates
Favorite book: Thomas the Train
What he wants to be when he grows up: Dad, face painter
Best friends: Stanley, Jacob, Kade, Noah
Favorite vacation: Disneyland
Favorite game: Jake computer games
Favorite animals: snake, jaguar, leopard, cougar

Annalise's Favorite's at Three

Favorite breakfast: oatmeal and cereal
Favorite lunch: hamburger and fries
Favorite dinner: pizza
Favorite drink: chocolate milk
Favorite treats: candy canes, sour stars
Favorite colors: purple and orange
Favorite hobbies: dress-ups, gymnastics, coloring
Favorite holiday: her birthday
Favorite movie: Tangled
Favorite TV show: Jake and the Neverland Pirates
Favorite book: Dinosaur Encyclopedia 
What she wants to be when she grows up: Mommy
Best friends: Adelyn, Preston, and Katie
Favorite vacation: Hogle Zoo
Favorite game: play-dough
Favorite animals: monkeys, giraffe, hippos, rhinos

Annalise is Three!

Annalise wanted a "zoo birfday" this year, so we were more than willing to oblige. We started the day with a trip to Hogle Zoo.  

We loved the new "Rocky Shores" exhibit with the polar bear and grizzlies. This polar bear put on quite a show for us in the water. I am quite certain he was a member of a synchronized swimming team at his last zoo, probably the captain.

These grizzlies must be brothers because they were wrestling for a good half-hour. We just sat and watched while we ate our lunch. It was fun to see them so active.

I am always amazed by the size of the tigers. These are Siberian, also known as Amur, tigers which are the biggest "cats" living today.

All the kids by the gorilla exhibit. It appears that Annalise is the size of a juvenile. That explains a lot of the drama at my house. :)

Then we had a little family party that evening. Annalise was very excited to open her presents! 

She has wanted this "Princess Yoshi" backpack for a long time. She carried it around every time we went to Hobby Lobby and would say "please, for my birfday?" before she could part with it.

 Annalise loves ponies. 

 And drawing.

Here's the darling zoo cake Ryan made for her, complete with her three favorite animals: penguins, zebras and monkeys. She was pretty excited about it.

Happy Birthday, Annalise! You are the sweetest little 3-year old ever!

Preston's Pirate Party

For the last few months, Preston has been obsessed with Disney's "Jake and the Neverland Pirates." So, we decided to make his birthday party pirate-themed. Thanks to Hobby Lobby, it was quite an easy task.

I love doing streamers and this banner was too cute to pass up.

You can't tell, but the cupcake liners have pirate stuff on them. This "red" frosting took an entire bottle of red food coloring (and over and hour of stirring, or at least it felt like it) and it still looked a little mauve to me. But thankfully no complaints from the kids. Phew.

We started the games off with "walk the plank." They had to walk across this wood beam and try not to fall into the "ocean" that was full of hungry sea creatures. The first time, there was no blind fold, but it was way too easy. So of course we had to kick it up a notch! We also had the boys pretend they were sharks while their friends walked across. I think it really scared one of the kids. Oops.

Next we did a pinata. The boys beat it up pretty good. It had lots of candy inside and the first clue to the next activity: the pirate treasure hunt.

Here's our treasure map.  The boys found swords in the battleground, the hats in the scary forest (our one tree out front), and the final clue in the graveyard (the sandbox). 

They found the pirate treasure in Jake's hideout (Preston's room).

"Ahoy mateys!" Here's the pirate friends: Jaron, Adelyn, Annalise, Kade, Noah, Teagan, Tayson, Preston, and Stanley.

Preston was very grateful to get a few new toys.

And he got more that night during his party with the family.

It's great to be five!!

Heber Valley Camp 2012

Another year at Heber Valley Camp....

This year we went in July instead of May and it was much warmer. It was a great contrast from last year's snow and having to dig out our fire pit.

This HUGE sandbox is probably Preston's favorite part about the camp-out every year.

Truman enjoyed his time on the water steering the canoe.

Verna and Brad with their three boys: Miles, Luke, and Dylan.

Rebekah and Dennis with baby Douglas.

My mom and dad hangin' out in the cabin.

Northwest Trip

Ryan's sister Heather moved to Issaquah, Washington six months ago. We decided to take a road trip to go see her this summer before the family reunion in Oregon.

 Adelyn was so excited to see her cousins Savanna, Kiley, and Abby again. They have so much fun together.

 Annalise picked these beautiful wildflowers by the pond.

We took the kids raspberry picking at berry farm near Issaquah.

The berries were HUGE!

Even Bryant took a turn.

 The kids all lined up for a picture after we finished picking the berries.

 Later that day, we went to Pine Lake where the kids played in the water and on the playgrounds.

 These girls had a blast together.

 

The next day, we drove to Mount Rainier National Park. This is the outlook where you can see five different volcanoes at once, including Rainier.

We took the kids on a beautiful hike called "Grove of the Patriarchs" where we got to see trees that are estimated to be over 1,000 years old.

The next day, we went to Jetty Island, off the coast of Everett, Washington. It was a little windy and cold, but we still had a pretty good time.

Preston and Bryant became best buds on our trip. This picture is taken on our first day at Beachside Park in Waldport, Oregon. Ryan's aunt Ruth organized the whole camp-out and it was a huge success and so much fun.

We spent most of our time on the beach playing with the sand toys, collecting sea shells, and splashing in the waves. The girls loved getting buried in the sand and having sand mermaid tails in place of their legs.

Seal Rock was just a few miles away from our campsite and had the most amazing tide pools. I have never seen so many starfish! We also saw lots of crab and anemones. What a beautiful place, and the weather was perfect. It was a fabulous family vacation.