Brady's Birthday and Father's Day

Brady turned six on Friday while the girls and I were still at camp. I don't think he missed us much since Dad spoiled him and Dallin with shopping, movies and eating out. Sounds like a regular girls' trip...I mean manly boys' weekend.

And is it too much to ask for one serious picture of everyone for Father's Day?
Apparently it is.

On a sad note, our sweet little kitty Hazel has mysteriously disappeared.
We've searched, called around and said prayers but still no Hazel,
only a lonely Ginger left behind. So sad!

Girl's Camp 2009

Well I survived Girl's Camp for the first time since I was a teenager. I always loved camp when I was younger so I was really excited to go, especially since both of my girls would be there.

OK, not the most flattering picture of me, but you had to see the newest hairstyle all the hip campsters are wearing this year. After one of the girls did mine everyone said, "Oh, it looks so cute!" and I was feeling pretty hott. It wasn't until later that night when I finally glimpsed in a mirror that I realized just how ridiculous I looked!

But seriously, how cute is Mallory? Everyone got to see what a fun little bundle of energy she is. I love moments like this one from camp, just the girls goofing around and being silly.

Kenzie had a great time and got even closer to the girls in the ward.

This is where the girls stayed, aka: The Holocaust Cabins. The bunks were three high and we crammed sixteen girls in each cabin. I never thought I would be glad that I got to stay in a tent rather than a cabin, but this would have been way too claustrophobic for me.

Here are some of the girls being their usual crazy selves during a mid afternoon dance party. We were the biggest, loudest, most fun ward up there (and I'm not just saying that, it was obvious). The theme was "The Amazing Race" and our girls won the competition as well as being voted "Most Spirited". We were so proud of the way they worked together, cheered for other wards, and set an awesome example for all of the Young Women.

And here are my six Laurels, seriously some of the greatest girls in the church today. They love to be together, having fun, showing everyone that choosing the right can still be a blast. Love them so much!

For the Birds

Reason why I really like living in Idaho #121:
There are a lot of interesting birds around here! I know, you never thought of me as the naturalist type, but it's been lots of fun watching them. We had a ton of geese and ducks flying by all winter long, there are the cutest quail families that scurry across our backyard and there's a pheasant (Mark's favorite) living in the field behind our house. One night I spotted what we think was a falcon perched on top of one of our front porch pillars. There's also some kind of lark that sits at the very top of our quaking aspen and sings the prettiest song.

Last night our neighbors were over and we made this discovery after wondering why our cats were climbing a certain tree:

A momma robin sitting on her three new babies:

Here she is standing watch after the cat scared her away. I'm sure she was a little worried with all the attention her little ones were getting.

I hope the cats don't get to her babies before they have a chance to fly away on their own!

Anne with an E

I've been introducing my girls to the joy that is "Anne of Green Gables" this week. Kenzie has read almost all of the books but we've never watched the movies together. I think they are liking it (even though Mallory keeps referring to them as people from "Ye Olden Days"), but I am loving it. It's been too long, Anne. I have fond memories of the first time we watched the series when they showed it an hour every night on PBS. Melissa and I would stay up late and watch it with my dad that summer in Beaver. Oh, I had such a crush on Gilbert Blythe and his curly hair. When I asked Kenzie if she thought he was cute she just gave me this look like, "Are you crazy?" I'm so glad I get to share these wonderful characters with my girls. How about all of you? Any kindred spirits out there?

Motorcycle Mania

I'll admit that when Mark started buying motorcycles a few years ago I wasn't too thrilled. I especially thought the little one he bought for the kids was pointless since we lived in the city and there weren't many places for them to ride it. I've changed my mind after today. We spent most of the afternoon and evening riding the bikes and it was a blast! It's so fun to have so much space to ride around in. We thought the boys might be ready to learn, so Mark started teaching Brady, first by riding with him and then running alongside.

By the end of the night he was nothing but a blur as he rode past all by himself.

Dallin took to it immediately without any help at all.

The girls have been riding for a few years now and they love it.

Just a quick break to practice piano...

Even I got in on the action and Mark took me off a few jumps on the quad.

Here's the biggest kid of them all, loving every minute of it.

And here's what we came home to find after going out for dinner:

The boys went to bed tonight scheming to get up early and immediately start riding. My apologies to the neighbors if you start hearing a little motor going around 7 am.

Let Summer Begin!

Yesterday was the last day of school and, like every year, I have mixed feelings. I'm excited for the freedom and the late nights/sleeping-in mornings (Brady didn't get up until 10:30 this morning and it's now 11:20 and I haven't seen Kenzie yet...teenagers!). But I'm not excited about the constant question of "What are we going to do tomorrow?" We did survive yesterday, though, so I'm trying to be optimistic.

Am I the only parent who gets a little teary saying goodbye to my kids' teachers ever year? These people mean so much to my kids (they spend more time with them than I do!) and I find myself being emotional every time. Mr. Woolery was a great teacher for Dallin. I wanted to apologize to him for having to put up with Dallin's obsessive/focused personality (it drives me crazy at times, I'm sure it bugged him too!)

Here's my baby graduating from kindergarten. I'm not sure I'm ready for this stage of life, even though I always looked forward to it. As Amber reminded me yesterday, I don't have any little kids anymore! (Sniff!)

The girls and I spent our first summer night at a YW camp clinic. It was held at our camp director's house, who has a wonderful yard complete with huge trees, fire pit, and various animals running around (including chickens and ducks.)


Here's Mallory helping out by taking the sheep for a walk. Definitely something I bet she never thought of doing when we lived in Phoenix! I had a meeting afterwards so the girls stayed to play outside with some of the kids in the ward. So much fun seeing them running around, just enjoying the beautiful Idaho evening. Can't wait for more!