Baby Blessing in Idaho

The first weekend in October, Ben and Mom got to go to Idaho to see the blessing of Dehn and Ashley's newest addition, Parks.


It was very special for me to hold baby Parks, since Dehn had lived with us and been a part of our lives for so long, Parks felt like he was part of me too.

The day was filled with lots of family and food and good times.

Ben and little Parks fell fast asleep after a good meal

Yellowstone Weekend

Let me tell you about our wonderful weekend up in Island Park, Id. Aunt Denell and Uncle Jason invited us to spend some time at their Groberg Family cabin. It was the perfect fall weather and crisp air. We had a great time. It was so nice to get away and spend time outdoors. Always brings back memories from my childhood camping and hiking days. I loved being with the 3 young children, Denell's family, Daniel's family and Aunt Donna.


(Yes, Uncle Jason positioned Chris exactly in that spot!!)

















Saturday we spent exploring and feeding the fish at Big Springs. Jason threw bread to the ducks to distract them so the rest of us could focus on the large trout righ under the bridge.

We also took the little hike to see the cabin made all by hand by the short man (can't rememer his name right now).

Sunday was spent in Yellowstone Park after attending church in Island Park. I thought it was so beautiful in the park. We all kept a look out for the wild life and ended up seeing moose, elk, buffalo, deer, coyate, and even a wolf, but no bear. Lizzy was our photographer of wildlife and enjoyed jumping from the car to get a picture now and then.

We ate lunch at Old Faithful and patiently waited to see the geyser blow. Aunt Donna was with us, and she doesn't ever recall seeing it as a child so it was lots of fun to watch her enjoy the spray.

The children had lots of fun fishing the stream just behind the cabin. Lizzy caught two little fish, Hannah caught one little fish and Chris got lots of bites from all the big fish. Mom had fun holding the bait and snapping pictures.

Monday after cleaning the cabin we traveled home. Just outside of Twin Falls we stopped and hiked to these waterfalls. The visitor's center there had a great display of bears and a movie about them in Yellowstone. So even though we didn't see any real ones we had our bear experience.

I asked Chris if he had ever climbed a haystack. He didn't believe me that they are really really spiky, so we pulled over and Chris and Hannah climbed the stack. Guess mom isn't just a whoose after all!

Just as Monday night was coming to an end we stopped at Dehn and Ashley's to see their new home.

Washington Lake Neighborhood Campout

Here is the trip we have been looking forward to since the beginning of spring. It turned out wonderful and I'm sure will be a trip we will always remember. The Hurst family reserved a group site for the neighborhood at Washington Lake in the Unitas. Camping began on July 31 and ended on Aug 3.

The group consisted of 15 adults, 12 youth and 16 children (Jones, Wright, Allred, Farrer, Hurst, Daniel, Criman and William (missing)Families)

The most amazing part was to interact with everyone and to have the youth be together.

The children kept us all busy as their personalities and ages were varied and unique!

Raeann's talent for hair braiding was a big hit with the girls.

Hannah and Elizabeth had their hair done as well as several other girls.

Every night we gathered at the camp fire and had fun. This was the last night at camp. We ate Jen and Bill's chocolate cherry dutch oven cake and sang lots of songs from primary favorites to the silly ones. My favorite being "A Child's Prayer." We all roared with laughter when the teenagers popped out of their seats for "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam." We had no idea Colten could jump so high! The night was not complete until Brother Criman entertained us with his famous rendition of "The Jaberwalkie."

Many hours were spent playing card games in the tents, in the trailer, and on the group tables. The kids even put together a kick ball game and a softball game in the meadow.

The group ended up with 6 trailers and 6 tents. Here Lizzy and Hannah with Cammie and Janna are standing in front of their tent. The older girls had a tent of their own too. The boys had one tent for the young teen boys and one for the older boys. We will all agree that the older boys won the prize for creativity (if there had been one). Their tent had a wind sock and two camp stools in front, with a stone fence surrounding the border and a small garden in back. Way to go boys!



Mom and Hannah had fun exploring the meadow. We also went hiking by the lake in search for frogs. We came home with 4 frogs.

One of the funnest activities of the trip was the time spent at Provo Falls. Mom forgot to take the camera the first day at the falls and then didn't have any batteries the second day. We all got wet in the freezing cold water. The girls had fun riding the rapids on their behinds and some of the bigger braver kids actually went into the rushing water and found coves to stand in behind the falls.

These pictures were taken on our way home. We will have to get copies from the other families of all the fun here.

The other highlight of the campout was the time spent at the lake.

The water was cold but it didn't stop the kids from jumping in.

The rubber tube was made into a boat ride and Lizzy made sure even the toddlers (not shown) got to ride the boat out on the lake.