Pumpkin Carving '14

Chris and I both aren't huge into pumpkin carving but kids always seem to love it and let's face it, it is Halloween tradition.  Ava was definitely more into it than Sadie. And Grace was nowhere to be seen.

  I always thought scooping out the guts was the fun part...

 Sadie apparently does not think that's the fun part. She actually gagged at one point. lol. Poor girl.

 Sadie didn't last long because she was too grossed out so daddy and Ava finished it off.

 And that face just about sums up what its like to dig into the guts of a pumpkin.

 Oh, there's Grace. Playing with the climbing rope.

And proof that I was present for the event. :)

Party at the Creek

There are so many great things about living in the country and having property that I wouldn't even know where to begin. But one of the best things is having such fun places for the kids to play...for free! And the best place around here to do that is at Grammy's "condo" down by the creek. There is plenty of water, mud, and a place for the adults to stay dry and make dinner. 

Back when our family was a little smaller we used to all pile onto the four wheeler to get places. Now we have the "jeeper" which the girls love. As you can see from Sadie's big smile. 

 See, plenty of water...

 And mud!!

 We love cousin time too. It's always more fun with them.

 By the time we were done all of the kids were covered in mud from head to toe. Grace had it the worst on her face though. I don't know how she could handle it but she never even said anything. 

After dinner these two got in a little more play time before dark. And I'm pretty sure there were tears when I said it was time to do. It's almost getting too cold now for playing in the creek. This was probably our last hurrah for the summer!

The Zoo

When I was a little girl my mom had a cassette tape (ancient I know!) of children's songs by a man named Raffi. I loved those songs and can still sing almost all of them from memory. One particular song is about going to the zoo so when Chris suggested last weekend that we go to Denver for the night to go to the zoo that song immediately popped into my head. It was stuck in my head the whole time we were there and now I'm singing it all over again! "We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo. How about you, you, you? You can come too, too, too, we're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!"
Okay enough of that. On with our trip. We stayed the night in a brand new hotel and it was the best hotel experience we've ever had. They had unlimited fountain drinks, popcorn, they served dinner and breakfast, had an indoor/outdoor pool, and a room that had never been slept in before. It was awesome! We probably could have skipped the zoo and the girls would have been non the wiser. They had just as much fun at the hotel as they did at the zoo.

We spent the first night hanging out at the hotel enjoy soda and popcorn and a couple of rounds in the pool.

 I'm not sure what kind of face Chris told them to make (angry face maybe?).

 Wrestling in the hot tub!

The hotel had literally only opened the day before we showed up. The pool room was still having some work done so it was a big loud in there but we had fun anyway. By the second round of swimming they were gone and then the third time (the next morning) they had finished by working through the night. 

 Chris spent half the time with Grace on his shoulders and the other half carrying one of the three girls. I didn't realize until we were at the zoo that my stroller tires were low so I was having a hard time pushing it. It was easier to just hold Grace.

 The bear on my back porch happened the night before we came to Denver so seeing the bears at the zoo was definitely not on my top ten list. I was still holding a grudge.

 This guy, definitely on my top ten list. The window was dirty which is why the picture is blurry. This dude was creepy, but so cool. He just waltzed right over to where I was and sat down. He would stare at me and then go back to eating his celery. But his stare was so direct it was almost creepy.

 Had to take a picture with the elephant ears!

 I think Giraffes are just so cool looking. Also on my top ten list.

 I think tigers are so beautiful. They scare the crud out of me, but they are so pretty to look at. 

Again with the weird faces. Who knows.

And now we've gone to the zoo. We've been promising the girls for a while now that we would go and when Chris first told the girls we were taking them somewhere but it was a surprise Ava immediately said "I hope its the zoo!" Well your wish is my command. 

Gravie

More pictures of Gravie on my photography blog: http://jennifershidelerphotos.blogspot.com

We Teach 'Em Young

Around here the most common passenger on a four wheeler is a dog! Mack is getting big these days and Grace can't lug him around anymore. Instead she opted for the kitty.

She had the cat on the back at first just like daddy does with Mack but the kitty fell off. So Grace gave her a ride on her lap. 

For Sale By Owner

If you are interested in buying yourself a cat Ava has one for sale and it is a steal of a deal at only $101,000!

"Ava big stand, Sell Kitty, $101,000"

Sadie Cora Turns 5!

I've been telling Sadie since we were in Oregon that I was going to be taking her 5 year old pictures but something would always come up to distract me. Well Monday morning Sadie wakes up and says "mom, today is the day you are going to take my pictures remember?!" Ummm, actually no I don't remember saying that but sure, why not?

Unfortunately a storm was coming so we were in a hurry to beat the storm and didn't get to do all the things I had planned. So maybe we will try again at some point. But she did a good job of cooperating which I was grateful for. 

I can't believe this girls is already 5! To see more of her pictures visit my photography blog http://jennifershidelerphotos.blogspot.com.

Road Trip! {Part 2}

Well we had a lot of fun the first week in Oregon and we followed that with another week of fun! We had a couple of days of swimming, another birthday party, and of course shopping!

I have been super lazy this summer and have not taken my kids to the swimming pool at all. We've been so busy this summer it has flown by without me even realizing it. School starts in 3 weeks! That just doesn't seem possible. But its true. So I'm glad we got to go swimming in Oregon. The kids had a blast!

Grace was ready to go! 

 Laila was posing for me! haha! I have several but this one was my favorite. 

 Slides are so much for entertaining than diving boards! These kids just kept going nonstop down the slide. 

 I love this one of James! He looks like he is surfing!

 Both feet in the air!

Those are some wonky legs!

 Pretty ladies! You can tell which one had been in Florida for four months, right?!

After swimming we had Sadie's birthday party a day early so that our cousin Ezra (who was leaving the next morning) could be a part of it. 

I can't believe this girl is already 5! And starting kindergarten this year!

 So happy to have some cousins share this day with us. 

 I can't remember for sure but looking at this picture I think she requested chocolate cupcakes with white frosting. Grandma made sure that happened for us.

 I think she liked it! And I know she loved all her gifts! She got what she asked for and more.

And this is the only other picture I took the rest of the trip. Ezra with grandma and grandpa. (Do you see the smile on Grandpa?!)

Goodbye Oregon!

Road Trip! (Part 1)

Our summer started off with a bang. And it just kept on going right through the end of June. Now that July is here and half way over I finally feel like I have time to breath again...and maybe start blogging again. 

In order to catch up I'll start where we left off. The Rollins family was here for a visit before we were going to head out on a road trip to Oregon to visit my parents.  We had sick kids the whole time the Rollins family was here so we were a little worried we'd be dealing with it on the two day drive but we got lucky and no one was too terribly sick. (Just poor little Laila who really struggled to get over it).  We made it without incident but by the end of the second day my back and rear end had had enough! 

Our first big event while in Medford was watching my brother Tom in a Civil War reenactment. I've never been to one before and I have to admit it was kind of fun. My brother "got shot" and we were all so bummed but then we saw him army crawling away and cheered. It was silly but fun.

 Coolest part though? I got to fire a canon! It was pretty awesome!

After the battle was over we had a picnic lunch and then we headed off because time was a wasting and we had things to do. i.e the train park.

Its hard to see but my brother Shaun who is currently serving a mission in Fiji came with us. :)  Can you find him?

Who are those two hot mamma's? Oh, yeah, they are my beautiful, talented, smart, amazing sisters! :)

After the train park and pizza we headed home to my parents house and had a birthday party for my Grandpa. He got his own tablet!

My parents had seven children. All but one were in Oregon. (Shaun's head makes an appearance though). Of those seven children 4 are married and only Chris was unable to make the trip. They have 9 grandchildren with two more on the way and all of them were in Oregon as well. And we all stayed in the same house! Who knows how we all survived, but we did.

We kept ourselves plenty busy. I don't think there is one day that we ever just sat around and did nothing. It may not sound like a big deal but I live in the country, 20 minutes from the closest town, so we do a lot of just hanging out at home. It was a little overwhelming to be going going going all the time. But we made the trip count! 

Monday night we had a family picnic at the temple and then Grandpa prepared a lesson for FHE for the kids about temples. 

My niece Scarlet: the Ninja!

Next up was beautiful Crater Lake. There is nothing quite like it. This picture is totally unedited. The water really is that blue. Its amazing!

In case you are wondering why Sadie isn't in this picture its because she was off with her cousins exploring.  We went in the evening so it was a little cool and the bugs were bad but it is always worth the trip to see it.

Well that about wraps up the first half of our trip.  Second half to follow soon!