Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is always a time to reflect on my blessings. This year was no different. I am so very blessed. I have everything I think I have always wanted. We spent Thanksgiving day with family and ate too much.
The day after Thanksgiving is of course the least busy day to shop, so I took to the stores in search of the best deals. Mostly I enjoyed spending time with my mom and sisters. Later after shopping our little girls joined us and we had a little tea party and painted our nails. This was fun for all the little girls of the family. The boys went swimming and joined us later for dinner.

Zoo

Our Zoo recently added an African section with giraffes and lions being our favorite additions. Hunter is more than obsessed with lions and all African animals. He would watch Lion King everyday if I let him and he plays lion with his Daddy a lot. He loves to growl and show his teeth.

Our zoo also has tigers, but Lily liked this one better than the real ones that looked more like they would eat her for lunch. In fact Lily enjoyed the slides, toys and gift shop better than any thing else.

Here are my own little critters, sometimes I feel like our house is a Zoo!!!! They are so full of life and are really a joy. We enjoyed a family picnic with Grammy and some cousins at the zoo and my kids fed the birds quite a bit of their lunch. It was fun!!!

Halloween - Yeah in December

Ok, Ok, so I am behind on my blog. Life with these four cute kids can take all my time and mostly my energy. We had mild weather for Halloween and the kids had a really great time.
Since we live out in the country we don't do a lot of trick or treating. We visit a few of our neighbors in the car and spend most of our time attending Trick or Truck at the church.

Pumpkins Pumpkins Pumpkins

This week we harvested our pumpkins. The kids have been watching and waiting all summer to pick our pumpkins. We grew 43 pumpkins!!! It is a tradition in our family to harvest the pumpkins and then enjoy pumpkin pie milkshakes from Arctic Circle as a family. Our kids really look forward to it and I love the way the pumpkins look all bright and orange lined up on our front porch.
We enjoy giving away some of our pumpkins and will carve several for Halloween. Pumpkins are one of my favorite things to grow in our garden. I save the seeds from our carving and next year we will enjoy pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins all over again.

Yesterday we took a little break from our Saturday chores to take a walk on Great Grandma Cleo's nature trail. It was a beautiful fall day and the kids and I enjoyed the bright sunshine and crisp air. Since this is hunting season I thought this picture would be appropriate. Hunter ran the whole way, Grandma would be proud!!

Blog Tag

I've been Blog Tagged ~ Have you?
My sister Jeanne’s blog started this…. Here are my answers to the questions from her blog. Tiff

1. Five Things I've done in the past 10 years:

• Got married and learned to appreciate dead animals on my wall.
  
• Had four beautiful children and have finger printed walls.
  
• Served as RS teacher, Gospel Doctrine teacher, Primary counselor and President, and RS counselor.
  
• Visited the East and West coasts of the United States.
  
• Changed enough diapers to fill an entire landfill and counting!!!!
  

2. Five things I wish I could do today:

• Put my feet up and read without interruption.
  
• Shop for something besides food and diapers.
  
• Smell my mom’s homemade bread.
  
• Eat on fancy matching dishes.
  
• Get a manicure and pedicure.
  

3. Five foods I couldn't live without:

• Chocolate and Hot Cocoa
  
• Ice cream
  
• Peanuts and Almonds
  
• Warm bread and Pasta
  
• My children’s laughter (Food for my soul)
  

4. Five places I've lived:

• Utah
  
• Brazil
  
• Puerto Rico
  
• Canada
  
• Idaho
  

5. Five jobs I've had:

• Big Sister
  
• Cashier
  
• Summer Housekeeper
  
• Ricks College RA
  
• BSU Financial Aide and Purchasing
  

6. Five things I would do if I were a millionaire:

• Enroll in a fresh flower delivery club and enjoys fresh cut flowers all year.
  
• Hire a cook / maid and spend more time outside playing with my kids.
  
• Take dance lessons with Cline (It would probably take several million to convince him).
  
• Travel the world visiting the countries with temples and attending those temples.
  
• Take our kids to all the Disney Lands and Disney Worlds there are worldwide.

Hunting, messes, teeth and soccer

So this week I have been a hunting widow. Cline LOVES, not likes, LOVES to bow hunt and this isn't his first hunting trip of the year and it won't be his last..... I talked to Cline tonight and he said that a bear had taken down the two quarters(two of four pieces) of the elk meat they put into a tree when they were unable to haul it all out yesterday. They found one quarter stashed behind a tree and the other gone, the bear ate it.

Hunter has really been missing his Daddy. While Cline was getting ready Hunter was really disturbed about the 4 wheeler going into the back of the truck because he wanted a ride. He climbed on and stayed until Cline left.

I promised the kids I would take them to"Old McDonald's" to eat while Cline was gone, something I haven't attempted without Cline before. The four kids and I did very well and I got Lily a chocolate chip cookie to eat on the way home.

Big mess!!!! I couldn't believe she did such damage on one little car ride home.

Abby has finally lost her other front tooth. She is genetically pre disposed to "late tooth fall out syndrome" All of her classmates lost teeth years ago. She looks cute and talks with a little lisp.
She also has trouble with corn on the cobb and apples. Abby also joined youth soccer this year and had her first game this week. It was fun to watch.
Abby is learning quickly and assisted with one of her teams goals. Cline signed her up and chose her team jersey size, as you can see she will be wearing it her whole soccer career.

Abby's Baptism

Abby was baptized yesterday, September 6, 2008. We are so proud of her. She is always such a good girl. She has a great smile, missing three teeth and looking ready for her big day.

There were two other girls baptized too and Cline gave a talk. We had family and friends over to our house for dessert after wards to visit. It was a nice day!!!
It was one of those days when you feel as a mom that all your hard work has paid off. Abby said after getting out of the font that her baptism "was easy". I think she had worried about it a little. The water was warm and she said she felt "clean".
As she was getting dressed last night for bed she looked at herself in the mirror and said "I look different" and I have to agree. She has smiled and glowed for two days now.

It's back to school for Abby

Well the summer went by so fast that I still can't seem to realize that each morning we need to get Abby up for school. Abby gets up at 6:30 am and after getting ready rides her bike to the end of our lane to catch the bus, which usually arrives at 7:15. I usually join the ride to the bus stop with my bike and bike trailer attached with several kids riding and the dog running along side too. I am sure the bus driver wonders about our little send off party. Next year Abby will have Malia to ride with her. Abby rides the bus for 45 min and reads to pass the time.

Abby is in the third grade and has a great teacher. She loves music, PE and art the best. This first week of school she was asked to help in the cafeteria serving food and enjoyed that. It will be a good year. Abby's teacher said they would be learning cursive writing and multiplication. Since I still struggle with my multiplication and have since I was in grade school maybe Abby can teach me a trick or two to learning them.

Lily Walking

Lily is off and walking..... She has been holding our hands and walking all over the place for a long time now. Finally she is braving it on her own.

She is so happy to be independent and has great balance on flat surfaces, the grass slope outside gets her every time.
See the boy in the background? The one with the blanket and binkie? That's Hunter, our only boy and only kid ever attached to a blanket and binkie!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!
Here is Lily getting into her walker all by herself. I guess she doesn't need that anymore. It is fun when your kids learn to walk because they don't need your help as much to get around. Knowing this is our last little one to watch go through that process leaves a little pang in my heart.

Sleeping on the tramp.

Abby and Malia were begging to sleep on the trampoline, but not quite brave enough to do it alone, so they got Cline to sleep with them. They felt pretty safe in their tent with Cline in his own next to them.I enjoyed looking at all the stars in the night sky and then slept in my own bed. I am not a real outdoor sleeper and the trampoline is like sleeping on a giant water bed. The girls had a great time.
Nothing says summer like fresh corn on the cob. Abby had lost three teeth recently and had a bit of trouble eating corn this year. She is fascinated by the kernels left from her absent teeth.

I Love To See The Temple

We took a little day trip to Twin Falls the first week in August. We took all four kids with us to the Twin Falls temple open house. The temple is beautiful and we are glad we took the trip. It was a challenge keeping Lily and Hunter quiet but all in all it was nice. Abby loved the HUGE chandelier in the Celestial room, Cline loved the animals painted in the endowment room, I loved the mirrors in the sealing room, Malia liked the "sparkly room" which was the Celestial room and Hunter really wanted to swim in the Baptismal font!!!
We went on a really hot day and the kids were glad to have cookies and ice water in the chapel after the tour. The temple grounds were beautiful, but nothing compares to these cute kids!!!
While in Twin Falls we drove to the Shoshone Falls (very small in background) for a brief look.
On the way to the falls we saw an elk park with lots of big bull elk and Cline took more pictures of them than of us at the temple...Hummmmm .... what to make of that?????? It was a great day, except that Cline got pulled over for speeding with all of us in the car. Good lesson for the kids though.

Summer Garden

Each summer we plant a garden and eat fresh veggies and fruit throughout the summer months. Sometimes the zuchini gets a little to big for me to eat ( I am the only one who eats it fresh) and so Uncle Scott showed the girls how to make a zuchini boat and they floated them down the ditch outside our house. Cline is the chief weeder and picker and I do most of the canning and freezing. This year we have made freezer jam and beans and the tomatoes are coming on so spaghetti sauce will be next to can. We have our first crop of apples from our trees so apple sauce is in order. Our peaches and pears only produced enough this year to eat so we enjoyed those fresh. I always feel a sense of satisfaction when I look at our garden and it's resulting produce on the shelves.

McCall

We had a great time last week in McCall. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a great time. Abby, Malia, Hunter and Lily are part of the 5th generation to vacation in the Swayne Family cabin.
Hunter riding the banana. He was so good about wearing his life jacket.
Cousin ZuZu with Malia shooting water up into the air.
Abby figured out how to jump off of the dock without getting wet using this floating seat.
Lily stink bug crawling along the beach. She enjoyed eating the sand!!!
Lily and Hunter having s'mores. Lily is eating the top cookie and Hunter the inside marshmallow.

Kids make taking vacations worth all the work. Now that we are home from nearly a month of vacations they are wondering why they have to clean now. We have had a great summer and I am glad for the memories we have created for our family.

Trip to Hayden Lake

We spent this last week in Hayden Lake visiting my grandfather Tuk. I have been going to this same lake almost every year for the past 25 years and now I take my kids. We had alot of fun, the sun was hot and the water cool and refreshing. We enjoyed playing with cousins and relaxing in the sun.
The kids liked to get wet then covered with sand.
Lily didn't care for the water at first but enjoyed it by the third day. We went to several beaches but Coeur d' Alen is our favorite.
I sat in this same chair as a baby that Lily is sitting in to eat. I have so many memories of visits to my grandparents house. They fill me with love and happiness.

Here we are on the front porch one last time. This year was filled with many emotions as Tuk suffered a heart attack while we were visiting and passed away several days later while we were there. I am so happy to have been there to hold his hand and kiss him goodbye. I will really miss him.

Alturus Lake

We recently attended the Lowe Family reunion at Alturus Lake near Stanley. We had a great time fishing, hiking, playing games, eating and talking. The mosquitos really liked hunter and other than a minor loss of power due to a storm we had no casualties. We took a 7 mile hike into the Sawtooth Wilderness. The wild flowers were in full bloom and it was beautiful. The sawtooth mountains are the most beautiful in all of Idaho.

Kasper

We have a new addition to our fishes and cats, a dog we named Kasper has joined us. The kids love him. He is a yellow lab, fixed and 2 years old. He LOVES to fetch and get into the nearby ditch. I wasn't too excited about a dog since our other attempts haven't turned out well. My stipulations were that the dog not jump on the kids or bark. So far so good, although he does get excited to play and bump into the kids now and then. He is a smart dog and I think we are all glad to have him. Cline doesn't even have much poop duty because Kasper takes care of business outside the grass area most times.

Abby Artist

Abby would like to be an artist when she grows up. She recently won 2nd place and $25 in an art contest in our community. Her owl has been on display at our local grocery store and bank. Today she spent some of her money treating us all to candy!!!! I had to strongly persuade her to save her money for the yo yo she desires and not take us all out to McDonalds.

Getting Started

We are starting some landscape work. We have put in a road out front and are creating a large rock garden and circle driveway and a patio out back. Cline is working hard and the kids and I are "helping". We are excited!!!