Grandma & Grandpa Visit

My mom and dad came up this past weekend to visit and we had such a good time. The girls were very excited to see them and we had lots of fun. On Saturday Jeremy, the girls and my parents came to lunch at Applebee's while I was working and it was so fun to see them there - the girls were extra good - probably because last time we went we threatened them with their lives if they ever acted like they did in public again. We barbequed Saturday night and we just talked and watched a show while Jeremy went fishing. Sunday was church and my parents took the girls on a drive in the afternoon to go see the Rexburg temple - the only time my house was quiet and the car was finally quiet once they both fell asleep. We all took the dogs on a walk Sunday night - Gracie was trying to walk Molly who was running and Gracie would run a bit, her pants would fall down, she would hitch them back up and go again until she finally (and reluctantly) gave up the leash to her dad because her pants had fallen around her ankles and we were afraid she was going to trip and get hurt - my mom thought it was the funniest thing she has seen in a while. We went shopping and to the movies on Monday and had to say goodbye Tuesday morning. Here are a couple of pictures of the girls in their new church dresses - Whitney was crying because Gracie kept pushing her out of the way so she could be in the picture herself.

I bought the girls a makeup kit about 6 months ago and have had it put away because I haven't exactly been looking forward to letting them use it - I gave in today and let them put the make-up on themselves - they did a fabulous job don't you think?

Egin Lakes

I took the girls out to Egin Lakes on Wednesday. They are at the base of the sand dunes in St. Anthony. It's pretty amazing because they are just ground water that rises in the spring and pretty much goes away in the fall. It is a great place to take the kids because the water doesn't get too deep and it's just this great sand that surrounds it. We had a really fun time - the girls floated around in their tubes, played with their sand toys and we went on a few "adventures" walking in the lakes to different areas. We can't wait to go back. I also believe I am featuring (how exciting) the first picture of myself - I got a new swim suit and got a little bored so I took a picture of myself!

Zions Trip

Well, I think that I have finally recovered from our outing down to southern Utah. We had SO much fun. Jeremy and I agreed that trip was the best time we have had as a family in a long time - it actually felt like a vacation instead of trip. The twins did so many fun things and are still talking about the ho-cabin and when they get to go back and swim in the big pool. They both went to a day camp at the ranch where they went on a horse ride, visited the little petting zoo, went on the zipline twice (it was about 50 feet in the air?), did rock climbing, rode on the atv's with their counselors and went swimming. Jeremy and I got some alone time and went on an ATV tour, played frisbee golf and played paintball while the twins were at camp. We also went swimming as a family a few times. I think one of our favorite things we did was rent a golf cart - the girls loved it and it was pretty fun to have it for the day. This trip made me and Jeremy realize how much we want to do as a family - beyond watching t.v. together - and that we are going to make the effort so that our family spends as much time together doing activites, serving others, making a difference.





These pictures are from our last day at the ho-cabin. Gracie was quite upset that we were going home - this is the first time we have been away from home for an extended period of time and Gracie didn't want to go back to Idaho. They are both growing up so quickly!





Side note: the reason it is called the ho-cabin in courtesy of Whitney - instead of staying at a hotel she decided it was the hocabin.

4th of July & Yellowstone

I feel like such a slacker - I have not been great with keeping this blog up to date. On the 4th of July we went down to Idaho Falls (or as Gracie calls it, Idafo Falls) to the big parade with our friends Mandie and Kevin (the Duprees) and then we spent the rest of the day there. We took the girls to the zoo and to an arcade to play games and go on rides. That night we met back up with the Duprees to watch the fireworks. It was so much fun. These first pics are of the girls at the parade - Whitney had just applied her own lipgloss.

We took the girls to Yellowstone Park this past weekend and had such a good time. We took them almost exactly a year ago and they did so much better this time around. We finally saw bears in the park - it was our first time - and we ended up seeing 3 black bears - one far away, and two of them were about 20 yards away. It was pretty amazing. We also saw a lot of buffalo, elk, coyotes and did see a moose and its calf. The girls and Jer went hiking up these rocks for the following pictures. It is so beautiful up there. It would be fun to rent a little cabin up there for a couple of days and see the whole park and go on a few hiking trails.