Rock Pickin

We took a Saturday to go up to Teton Valley and get rocks for the outside of our house.  It was really hard work, but I was glad that we could be there as a family.  We went to the creek that Zac used to play in as a little boy and used rocks from there.  I love that we were able to get rocks that he played on as a little boy.

The kids were troopers.  We picnicked in a little groove of trees for lunch and Eloise survived no nap.

I ended up wading for some of the rocks so Teagan came with me, it was so refreshing.   Zac was too busy working himself into a heat stroke to take pictures of us, I can't imagine having to do it without him!

I wouldn't let Eloise near the creek, even though it was really shallow so I filled a bucket of water for her to play in and cool off.  She loved it!

This was just the beginning of our rock picking, we ended up filling the whole trailer.  

Kurt and Shelly came to help, right when we were running out of steam and gave us a second wind.  It is so nice to have so much family close by that can help us!

This is the beautiful view from grandma and grandpa's house, right before a crazy rain storm.  So gorgeous!

We went to the Huntsman Springs annual "Freedom Celebration" that night for the best fireworks I've seen in a long time.  There was a per-fireworks show that was a Beach Boys concert.  I LOVED it so much!

Getting a Strong Foundation

We are all working hard trying to build our house.  The last few weeks we've dug the foundation, gotten walls poured, and we're hoping for the basement and garage floors to get poured tomorrow.  

When my dad lowered the "mini" excavator into the basement with the big one, I about had a heart attack!    It did make smoothing things out 10 times easier.  I'm slowly learning to trust him.  LOL

We (mostly my dad) spent hours working out the plumbing for the basement, but we passed the inspection first try!  I was so excited!  

Lots of late evenings and pretty sunsets at this house.  It's really coming together!

Vacation with Grandma Packer

We had such a great time on our trip to California to see Grandma Packer!

We spent a ton of time playing at her park and going to the pool, and just enjoying each other's company.  But on one of the days we got to go to the beach with her ward.

We brought an inflatable boat for Eloise and she pretty much sat in there the whole time.

 And then Grandma took her to the water and it was like she had entered her own little heaven.  She LOVED the water even though it was really cold.

 Teagan loved jumping the waves and splashing around.

 I love the beach, it is so relaxing and sunny and it is just incredible to see that water go on forever.  My mom spotted some dolphins and we got to watch them swim by.  SO COOL!  

 It got a little windy and Teagan discovered that laying in the sand was a fabulous way to warm up.  He played in the sand for a long time before we had to head back home.

I didn't take near enough pictures and it kills me!  Here are some of the fun things we did that I didn't have pictures of, hopefully I'll be able to add them in later if my mom got picture of them.

-The tree house/fort that my mom built for Teagan in the garage.  It was awesome and he could haul stuff up and down and across the room with a pulley system.  Grandma of the year award goes to her for the hours and hours she spent making it!

-The arts and crafts we did.  My mom spent so much time with Teagan making these fun wooden superhero guys that he loves.  

-Our handmade painted T-shirts.  We got to choose our design and my mom actually painted us each a shirt.  Teagan has been begging me to do wash so he can wear his again.  I think she should make a business out of it!

-Time spent at the park.  Teagan was so friendly and just made friends with whoever he met at the park and had so much fun.  Eloise learned to go down the slide by herself and loved the swings.

-Our water balloon fight on a hot day.

-Stonefire Grill, the best food ever!  I look forward to eating there every time we go to visit.  My mom's "birthday carrot cake" was so so yummy!

-Playing Karat Carrot, my mom's new game that she designed.  We were either really tired or that game is hilarious because we couldn't stop laughing that night.

-Relaxing and reading Anne of Green Gables again.

-My mom's school had graduation so we went without the kids and had a fun little date.  Later that night we went to one of the most fun wedding receptions I've been to in a while.  Live music, yummy food, and tons and tons of great company.  I got to catch up with high school friends and watch my kids play with their kids (Adam and Lisa), see my piano teacher from yesteryear and so many friends from the ward.   I love California and the people there.

As you can see, it was a full, fun week.  I hope that we can make it a yearly tradition to go visit every summer.  Something about going back to where I grew up is really nostalgic and we of course love getting my mom to ourselves without having to share with my siblings.  Thanks mom for the amazing visit, it was so fun! 

The Fish Hatchery

We are in California visiting my mom and it's been great.  Today we drove through the Valencia orange groves and visited the fish hatchery and got some fresh oranges.

The kids loved it!  There are hundreds of fish that dive for the food and splash around.  Eloise was throwing handfuls of food with only half making it to the fish.  There were several birds following her eating the ones that didn't make it.  

Teagan was very successful in getting the fish to jump the dam by throwing food right next to it.  

After throwing a handful in the fish went wild or "tots cray" as Teagan said.  LOL

More please....no wait I think she just screamed when she was ready for more.

It was great, simple fun.  The highlight was getting the fish to go out in open water so the birds would swoop down and get them. Love the wild out doors!

We are Building a House!

We are building a house in Shelley, Idaho and are really excited and a little nervous about it.  My dad is making it all possible with his know how and donation of his summer/fall to our project.  We're going to do as much work ourselves as possible so it will be a huge learning process for the whole family.

  While we were waiting for plans and permits to get ready we headed up to Bone to get some lumber for some parts of the house that required unusual boards.

Teagan enjoyed exploring and was ready to fight off any bears or other wild beasts with all the sticks he gathered.

I was the scout and went to find nice straight, big, dead trees.  Then Zac and my dad chopped them down and de-limbed them.

 Both kids wanted to help drive the excavator around.

It's hard to see, but this is Eloise helping Grandpa pull the log down the mountain to our trailer.

We ended up with some great lumber.  It's a great feeling to make trees into a house, I feel like such a pioneer!  I can't imagine doing it without chainsaws, excavators, trucks, trailers, and sawmills though, so I guess you can't exactly call us pioneers.

Playing House

Teagan has been a sweet brother the last few days.  While I did the dishes he made Eloise a bed in the laundry basket.  She was acting tired so he got out the baby monitor, kissed her goodnight and went to his room to keep a close watch on her.  He thinks it's a two way walkie talkie so he was talking to her, luckily she could hear him through his door.  

Teagan: Hi Ellie, how are you?

Eloise: good

Teagan: you are sooooo cute

Eloise: giggling

She grabbed the monitor so he had to come reprimand her....

Twice.

Then he gave her the monitor and danced and played piano for her, while she watched in his room.

Days like today are pretty awesome to be a mom.  I love these little kids!

Silly goose

I put Ellie's hair in a mini pigtail...it's laughable, but gets me excited that she's at least getting hair!

She is turning into a screamy little thing, please tell me it's just a stage.  At nursery today she kept screaming anytime another child got near her and was hitting them away from her toys, then she'd run up and try to steal their toys, while screaming....oh boy.  It's comforting to know that it's normal 1 year old behavior, but doesn't make it any cuter.

She is usually really sweet, a great eater and awesome sleeper so we can't complain too much.  :)

She is talking more and understands us really well.  Her main words are mom, more and a whole bunch of blabbering that sounds really close to words, but is just gibberish for now.