Jackson Hole (Saturday)

Saturday we headed out to Jackson Hole to picnic and ride the Alpine slide. We were planning on riding a gondola up the mountain to eat our picnic but when we got there they informed us that it is closed to the public on Saturdays, wish they would have had that little tid bit on their site when my sister was looking into it. So we decided to just head to the park there in town for our lunch.

Courtney, Aaron, Ryker, Quinton, Conner, Ellie

Grandma and Grandpa preferred the bench.

Got to get a picture in front of one of the horn arches to the park.

We walked around a little bit to find the candy store, Grandma bought each of the kids a treat.


My sister took the pictures of the kids on their sleds before the run down the mountain. I was a little nervous for my kids riding the chairlift up but everyone did great. Weiland even spotted an abandoned flip flop and a hat on his ride up. He asked what would happen if he dropped his, luckily he was with Grandpa so we didn't have to find out. I rode up with Holland and was nervous the whole way up ( I know Todd you're shocked) She sat next to me on the seat and just pointed at everything as we went by. She loved the ride down and I thought it was pretty fun too, I didn't go as fast as Quinton and Aaron but still held my own. I'll post those pictures as soon as I get them.

Another great day!

Grandma & Grandpa came to visit (Friday)

We were so excited when we found out that Grandma and Grandpa Sillito were coming to visit. They arrived on Friday and we had a full week of fun things planned to do while they were here.
That night we had a BBQ and watched a movie in the backyard. The burgers were sooooo yummy, we decided to do sliders and have a whole bunch of different toppings for our burgers so we could try out a couple of styles of burgers since they were small.

Of course Grandma brought treats for everyone, suckers, pixie stixs, & rings pops. The little girls LOVED the treats and were a sticky mess by the end of the night. So before jammies they had a much needed bath. Hollands not really a big splasher but Brynlee is and Holland learned a few things from her cousin and now I also get wet when we bathe. (that's a laugh look, not a I'm going to cry look)

The kids were absolutely thrilled to be able to run around outside in their PJ's!

We attached a white sheet to the roof and had borrow a projector from a neighbor. I didn't realize it pretty much had to be pitch black to be able to see the movie. Even with the late start the kids had a blast and thought we should do it this way every night.

It was such a fun beginning to a fun week with Grandma and Grandpa.

Holland VS the Mosquito

Poor girl, the mosquito won.
Turns out it was a spider not a mosquito. That really creaps me out!

What I find odd is that I noticed the bite yesterday morning and didn't think much of it then she wakes up today with her swollen eye, what's with the delayed reaction?

She must have inherited her mom's reaction to mosquito bites, mine used to become huge welts. Sorry sweet girl.

4th of July ! ! !

This 4th (or 3rd) was much the same as the years before with only one HUGE difference, no Todd. We paraded, we picniced, we played, and we fireworked, but all with out Todd. I noticed it at every turn and it was hard and made for a LONG day. I am so glad to live here near my sisters, it has made all the difference.




So this year we had a new addition to the parade, freezing cold weather. We came with blankets to keep warm while we waited, bbbrrrrrrr. (Can you even find Ellie in this picture?)



The kids stood out in the street the entire time waving at all the people going by hoping they would throw some candy their way. We didn't see as much candy this year as in years past which was ok by me since they never eat it anyway.

Holland enjoying the spoils of her siblings hard work.

After the parade we headed out to the pond for a BBQ and play time with family. A HUGE thank you to Brad and Lacey for having us out. The kids always love to come and play.

This is where Holland spent most of her time, right by the food. Which also meant this is where I had to spend most of my time to keep her out of it. For some reason she loved poking holes in the plastic wrap of the rice crispy treats, and she always had a cup with her.

The boys loved looking for bugs and salamanders, no luck on the salamanders.

But Weiland had all kinds of luck with the bugs, YUCK!

We then headed home for dinner and baths and to get things ready for Sunday. It was nice to rest for a short while before we headed out to our neighborhood fireworks get together.

The kids all ready to watch the show, but wait what's missing from this picture?

Todd.
(last year's 4th of July waiting for fireworks)

And again this is how Ellie spent the night watching the fireworks.

Oh wait, Weiland too.

We had a great day and feel so blessed to live in this amazing country. I am so thankful for all those who have given their lives to keep us free and all those who risk their lives to maintain our freedom. Happy 4th of July!!!

I'm going there someday

This past Monday for FHE we did an activity my sister told me about. We all got in the car and I told the kids we were going to the Temple. Well they were excited. Then I told them we were going to get there taking directions from some dice. If they rolled a one or a three we would go left, if they rolled a two or a four we would go right, if they rolled a five or a six we would go straight. They thought this was a great idea, but soon they realized we were no where near the Temple. We talked about how come we wern't getting any closer to the Temple, how if we didn't make good choices or if we didn't know how, or if we left it to chance and hoped we would get there we probably never would.

I then asked what if we had directions? They thought this was a GREAT idea and wondered where we could get some. So we headed back to the house to start again only this time with directions I had made for each of them. They were very specific and had arrows for those that couldn't read. We eventually made it to the Temple with no problems. We then got out and went and sat down on a hill and talked about how come the dice didn't work on getting us to the Temple and how come the directions did. I told them we have directions to get us to the Temple, the scriptures. I pulled out a copy and told them each that these were their directions to use all thier lives and they would get to the Temple. It was a great teaching opportunity.

They then each got a turn to roll down the hill before we left for our treat. Quinton opted to run instead of roll.

Thanks Court for the great FHE idea.