Yellowstone Trip {2012} -Take TWO-

Check it.  We're awesome.   Period.

 We packed a cooler and ate lunch in the car everyday.  {thank you snow}.  Brogan pretty much never stopped eating.

 Addison kept herself busy with a lot of peek-a-boo.

 Look!  The fog is starting to clear out!

 Just kidding.  It's back.  Antonio at Mammoth Hot springs.

 We stopped at pretty much every pull out {since we drove slllloooowww, in hopes to see a moose of course}.  Sheepeater Cliff.  Pretty cool.  You can hike back in there to see the whole wall of the cliff.  Even though it was snowing some people braved it and hiked back in there.  We just got out of the car :)

 Antonio is pretending to dive into this cliff (yes- there is a straight drop off right here).  I snapped this picture before I flipped out on him.  "Are you trying to kill yourself?!"  {I guess we didn't realize how bad we are}  {just kidding}.

 Freezing our fannies off at Mammoth Hot Springs (which weren't so hot).

 Cutest thing EVER!  Brogan saw a little ground squirrel. It stopped, then came onto the board walk straight at us, then started running in circles.  Watch.  It was cute!

"Mom- a squirrel!"

 "Where'd he go?"

 "Did you guys see that?"

 Addison- "Look he's over there now"  Brogan-"Over where?!"

 "Oh, Over there?"

 Can you see how cold these two are?!

We walked a ton, then headed back to the car.  Brogan wanted to eat {again}.  So he did.

 Addison wanted some warm air.  So she got some.  :)

 Then is was sleepy cuddle time.  {He looks like he's sleeping, but he just re-bumped his head.  He's just cuddly}.

 He decided to go to JoAnna for a real nap.

But that's okay.  Addison decided she wanted a nap too, so I got to snuggle her!

Antonio also decided he wanted a nap (no cuddling necessary for him ;)

 Stewart also wanted a nap, but I kept him awake.

 Just before we got back to West Yellowstone we found this whole herd of buffalo.  There were lots and lots of buffalo babies and mommies.  The boys decided to brave them {just a teency bit}

 {This picture is out of order, but eh}  Brazilians don't have to stay on the board walk {Asians either for that matter}

Yellowstone Trip {2012} -Take One-

Since we had Antonio here, and we were all in need of a serious vacation, we decided to head to Yellowstone so he could see some sights other than the back woods ;)

So we loaded up in my parents van (thanks guys!) and headed out.

(this van has a TV in it which stopped working the day before we came home. darn)

Isn't the driver so sexy?

We headed to Idaho Falls the first day and stayed with my aunt.  Did you know there's a ton of wind mills out that way now?  I sure didn't!

This van is so nice and big, the kids could get out of their car seats and roam a bit (so nice for looong car trips!)

We stayed a night in IF, then headed to WEST YELLOWSTONE!  We crossed over into Montana (um...nobody told us prior to our vacation planning that our exchange student isn't supposed to leave the state... Whoops!)  We went over anyway! haha!

By the way- did you notice it's snowing?!?!  The end of May, and it snowed (or rained) the WHOLE time!
Welcome to Yellowstone!  There's the snowy gates.

Right on the other side of the gates were some buffalo just waiting for us!  Addison was so stinking excited to see them.  We'd been talking about seeing buffalo, and coloring them on the way up.

 Have I mentioned how much I love this guy?!  Cause I do!

 (That's why I can give him so much crap).... "Hey Stewie- whatchya doin there honey....?  Taking an inconspicuous bathroom break in the wild outdoors?"  LOL!

 Brogan wanted to join the "wild outdoor" party.  (cause kids have to be changed on road trips too).

 We got out to look at some boiling water.  Aren't these two just cuties?!  BFF

 Antonio by the boiling water.

 This was the first time we were out of the van all day, and this is the first boiling water we'd ever seen, so it was a big deal :)

 This picture reminds me of how blessed I am!

 Did I mention we got to take my sister JoAnna on this trip?  Cause we did!  She was an awesome helper, and helped us girls not get outnumbered by the boys.

Stewart the Scout Master

Did I mention we have new callings in our ward?  I am the 4-5 yr old primary teacher, and Stew teaches the 11 yr old boys on Sunday.  Just a few weeks ago he also got called to be (the assistant but he tells me there's no difference) 11 year old scout master.  11 yr olds mean CAMP-OUTS!  He was excited for his first over nighter.

 Thankfully- he made it, and so did the boys.  He's going to make a good little Scout Master.  He always does a good job doing the best he can in his callings.  {I just love him so much!}

Brogan grows a Goose Egg!

Had our first goose-egg experience the other day.  We were outside on the porch and Emmett jumped on Brogan.  Of course he fell and bonked his head right on the rail.  

 It grew instantly (and for the first time as a Mom I got panicky worried).  It was growing so fast I thought maybe his brain was bleeding!  Good thing my Mom had just happend to stop by on her break and was there to assure me that goose-eggs are frequent!

 Youchie!  I immediately tylenoled him up, and we put frozen corn on it as he would let us.  The rest of the day was a little tough, but we managed it.

 My boy is a boy for sure!  Let the bonks begin :)

Taylor comes to play!

Addison had a friend over the other day (Taylor Williams).  We made bird feeders with pine cones, peanut butter, and bird seed.  It was a good messy time :)

 They played and fought (they're going to be the best and worst of friends), and then settled down to watch The Lion King.  It was a fun day for sure!

Mother's Day

Along with the sod, Stewart took Addison to Kings to pot a free flower for Mother's day.  They let the kids pick their own flower and little pot.  I was planting my other pots when she brought it home to me.  Stew had it behind his back and as he pulled it out Addison yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"  I love that girl!

 She was pretty proud of this cute little flower.  Stew said she picked out a sick looking little pansy.  Now it's blossomed into the prettiest pansy I have!  

Our New Grass!

Our biggest project we've been working on would have to be our back yard.  When we moved in the grass in the back was pretty sad looking.  Stewart lightly tilled it up in hopes that it would come in a little thicker.  No luck.  So then he rota-tilled it all up, and planted new seed.  Two weeks later nothing was popping up, so he seeded again.  Again.  Nothing.  As the weather started getting warmer (surprisingly early), the kids wanted to go out and play.  Too bad the yard was so torn up, and we were waiting for grass!   I began to grow impatient, and thought about laying sod.  I talked to our neighbor and he said they went through the same process before they laid sod too.  So we jumped on the sod wagon!

This isn't the best before, but it's right before we laid the sod.

 (See this huge bush?  Ya- just keep watching for that thing... to be gone!)

The kids were big helpers 

 We also put an edging in to keep the grass from growing into the rocks and stuff.  (Makes it look really nice).

 The boys working hard to pack the sod into the yard (that stuff's heavy!)

 Rolling it out and piecing it together oh so nicely!

 Ta-Da!  We bought one pallet of sod in the first go-around (thinking we'd wait till our next pay check to finish).  Unfortunately, it looked so good, and I loved it so much, I just couldn't wait to get er done!  So for my mother's day present my sweet man finished the sod in the yard.  I couldn't have gotten a better Mother's day present!

 Remember the bush?  GONE!  I hacked away at that bad boy till there was nothing left! (btw...perfect anger management)

 Bye-bye!  Have a nice life in the tree yard :)

 Half done, getting ready to lay the second half

The boys working hard once again!

 They're so strong :) 

 We ran out of edging, so we laid sod, then edged.  Worked fine.

 The second load didn't quite finish the yard, so we had to get another 1/2 pallet.  Now it's nice and finished!

 These two enjoying the fruits of their labor.

(As soon as we laid the first strip in the yard Addison stripped down to her diaper and was laying on it saying "ooohhh".  It was so cute!)

Cooking Lessons

Addison has been wanting to help more  in the kitchen, so I've been trying to be "good Mom" and let her make messes (and meals)!

This morning she made French toast.  She's actually not bad.  She can crack the eggs very well (I have to help her get the egg out of the shell), she's a great stirrer, and she can put things into the pan.  

Don't you just love her chef hat and apron?!  My amazing SIL Cheryll made these for our kids for Christmas.  (She's amazingly talented!  Like AMAZINGLY talented!) 

What a cute little cook!  (Even though Brogan isn't quite yet cooking, he still looks great in his chef hat too! ;)

Here it goes...

So this morning we all woke up bright and early (four AM) to take our exchange student Antonio to the airport. It's only been four months, but he's become such a great part of our family, we're going to miss him so much!  So now that he's gone and the fun is all over, it's time to let you in on all the fun we've been having!  Just a little forewarning, I'm a wee bit emotional this morning {it was harder to let my boy go than I thought it'd be!!}.