The fun of having a 14 year old boy . . .

The embedded video kind of cuts Kaden out, so if you want to see the full screen wonderment, go to http://youtu.be/9tsbhy1aW50.

I totally laughed until I cried. Thanks Kade & Dylan for the entertainment!

Oh, what do YOU do in the Summertime?

Summer is half way gone and what have we done?

Well, first and foremost, we really like camping. We've only been officially out twice, but went for five days both times so to enjoy the time there. And you're going to spend the same in gas whether you go five days or two, so . . .

This is our favorite spot in Kilgore. The campsite is perfect, it is shady, there is a creek that runs right behind where our camper is parked, there are easy hikes nearby, someone has made huge log benches around the firepit, and there aren't nearly as many people there as Island Park and Palisades - both places I also love.

On our second trip, our friends came and stayed a couple of the nights we were there. This is a picture of the kids after we hiked to Salamander Lake.

Kaden & Jackson fishing at the lake.

This is what Kaden likes to do most during the summer. His goal was to catch 100 fish this summer, not sure what the official count is, but I would think that he has probably reached that goal already.

Courtney celebrated her 12th birthday in Kilgore. I CANNOT believe that my baby is 12. She got her much awaited ipod, and makeup, and shaving equipment. She is growing up much too fast and is turning into a beautiful young woman - which she has been very happy to graduate from Primary and go to Young Women too. So glad I get to be her mom.

And finally, here is a picture of my boyfriend. He likes to take me to the mountains and play his guitar for me. I am most happy with this arrangement.

Other things we have done this summer:

I got to travel to Boston for work in June which was much fun. If I get really ambitious, I will post pics of that trip and tell a little bit more about it. During the time I was gone, Courtney got to go and stay with Annie for a week - which I think they both loved, and Kaden and Greg went to Boise and caught up with Greg's friends and family. We were all very glad to see each other at the end of the week (especially after I ended up sleeping in the Denver airport on the last night of my trip).

Courtney got to go to girls camp in Mackay - which she loved and Kaden got to go to High Adventurer Camp in Copperbasin - which he reported was "ok", (do not be alarmed, I think he had fun, "ok" and "not bad" are standard answers for 14 year old boys).

Kaden has been taking golf lessons, which I think he also likes, and Courtney has been in swimming lessons twice, which she will openly admit that she LOVES. She got to do a week of swimming lessons when she stayed with Annie and now she is taking two weeks of lessons with her cousins Shelby & Kesley. She loves the water and she is becoming a great swimmer. Courtney is also still taking violin lessons and is very talented. She had to change teachers this summer because Vanessa moved, but I think we are settled in with her new teacher and she is planning on taking Orchestra this year in school.

Greg picked up an old fishing boat off of Craig's List and now has it in good working order, so we have also done quite a bit of boat fishing this year. He is a miracle worker mechanic, I swear he can bring back almost anything from the dead and is pretty handy to have around most of the time.

We have also been trying to get projects and general cleaning done around the house. Deep cleaning each room in the house, washing windows, yard work, etc. Not as much fun, but good to have it done.

One of the projects I recently finished, the quilt I made for Courtney this year. I love how it turned out. (Jellybean Pattern by Thimbleblossoms, Ruby fabric by Bonnie & Camille)

I have also been running lots this summer. Because of the nice weather, I have been running consistently since March-ish and am planning on running my 2nd Half Marathon ever this Saturday.

In May, I ran The Dam Run with Annie, my brother-in-law Brett, and cousins Nick & Becky at Lake Walcott. And what a Dam Run it was, it was freezing cold and the wind blew the entire time. The first four miles or so were directly into the wind and there were times I thought we were probably just running in place. Because it was so cold, Annie and I waited in the car before the race started and when it was about five minutes before we thought it should start, we got out and headed over. We saw people lined up at the starting line and figured we had plenty of time, so Annie went and used the bathroom while I waited for her. We moseyed over to the start line and found Nick, when we asked him where Becky & Brett were, he started laughing and informed us that he was waiting for the 5k run and that we had completely missed the start for the 10k and that they had left about five minutes ago. So, the spazzes that we are, we completely missed the start of our race and now are the idiots in the way back trying to catch up with everyone else. Don't worry though, we didn't come in last and we both had a real good laugh over it.

Well, that's what we've accomplished thus far. Hope to get a bit more camping & fishing in before we are all freezing again. How about you? What have you done this summer?

More Court

School Pics 2011

So, we went out tonight with the intent of taking some school pictures for Courtney. We had to put up with a bit of a strong breeze which made for some great flyaway hair, but other than that we had fun trying poses, going to different locations, and just being silly.







p.s. I did not photoshop this in, nor did I spray paint/vandalize this wall. We saw it there and couldn't pass up a picture with this graffiti!




Silly girl!

Rupert Residents

So this is mostly a picture post. I took a class to help me know how to better run my camera and now I've been trying to practice.

Flowers make for fairly cooperative subjects, so here you have one of the varieties of daylilies that grow on the side of our house, they are very nice right now.


Here is the peach variety that my mom likes, peach is her favorite color. Give her a peach shirt, she will buy it.


Here we have a cheese dog named Shay. He is a funny kid and he likes tractors and four wheelers. A lot. He will be a farmer someday and love every minute of it.


Here is pretty little 'Lyza. She is pretty mellow and very cute. And she likes food. A lot. Sit her in front of a plate of food and she will not get up until it is gone. And she uses a fork very well for a girl of 18 months.


Here is Garrissimo. He is six and is very smart and can do just about anything. He is not a farmer, but is a mighty hunter. And he likes Andy Griffith. Oh, and in this picture I think he looks a lot like my dad did when he was a boy.


We had a very nice visit with these yahoos and had a jam packed day and a half in Rupert. We went swimming, had lunch in the park, watched Andy Griffith, had a water fight, painted glitter toes, saw Cousin Becky's new baby Brianne, went to Gossner's and in general, just had a very good time.

Summer seems to be going by quickly, hard to believe that one month from today the kids will be back in school. Goodbye July . . . Hello August!

Food, Fun & Lots of Mosquitoes!

So lately we've been FINALLY getting some camping in - the last weekend in June we drove up to Henry's Lake and spent the day with Greg's family, then the 4th of July weekend we were back up to Henry's for the Bob & Julie Martineau reunion, and finally, last weekend we went to Hawley Creek and camped on our friends' property. Lots of food, fun, & mosquitoes!

This is a picture I took using my fixed lens, I thought it was cool.

Rayce sharing his sucker with Grandma. Yummy!

Here is Garrett just being Garrett

Bathing Beauties!

Shay - loving his mama

Everyone wading by Mack's Inn

Brock, being Brock

Courtney and Ryker

The Lovely Lyza

Paige peeking

The Martineau Fam

Martineau Fam with funny faces . . . oh wait, they always have funny faces.


After camping, we had Courtney's birthday on July 5. She shares her birthday with her cousin Kesley, who is just one year younger. We took them and a few friends up to the new "Rexburg Rapids" and had a lot of fun. Can't believe my girl is 11. In my mind, she should be about four. Even more so, I can't believe that she is starting to look so grown up. But I sure am glad to have her and love her so much. I've told her more than once that I would be dead without her. She is a great helper, so much fun, and is much more observant than the boys are - she can always tell if I've had my hair done, if I have gotten a new pair of shoes, or even if I am feeling down - she is just a good girl to have around.

The Annual Birthday Portrait


Courtney & Shelby after finding out that they get to go to the Taylor Swift Concert in SLC = HAPPY GIRLS!


Finally, last weekend we went camping at Hawley Creek with our friends Ray & Susan and their girls. It was very pretty there, so I got this shot of the mountains and their "bunk house". We were very grateful to get to go with them and very excited to FINALLY get our trailer out.

One Wedding and a Funeral

So, Saturday we had a wedding and a funeral. Our friends Logan & Suzanne's daughter Whitney got married to David Thompson, and I volunteered to take pictures for them. (I know, crazy.) It was fun and I hope they are pleased with the results.

After the wedding, we had a graveside service for my Uncle Mike. Although funerals are never fun, it was great to see all of our Bingham cousins and we got to eat dinner and visit for most of the evening. I really like those Binghams.

For now, I wanted to share one of the pictures I took (and photoshopped) at the wedding. I still want/need to take a class to learn how to better use my camera, but I thought that this one turned out pretty good.