Tie-Dye Fun!

Jacob really wanted to tie-dye a shirt last summer.  So I bought all the stuff, telling him we would do it soon...But it never happened.  So I dug everything out a few weeks ago, and we MADE it happen!  :)

Dad and Jacob

Kyle--this is pretty intense stuff...

The kids had a lot of fun....even the older kids joined in.

Dallin and Brandon folding their shirts...

I just want to point out Brandon's smile.  Yes, he does that, on occasion.  :)

After we folded them in weird shapes (with lots of elastics) and dyed the folds of the shirt, we wrapped them in plastic wrap...Dad helped with this part.

And the next day?  Everyone had a new shirt to wear!

Kyle (and Ziggy)

Dallin

Brandon

Jacob

And here's everyone ready for the day with their new shirts on....even though a couple of them aren't "ready" to take the picture.  Ha!  :)

Yep, that's better!

 

Fun times!

Jacob turns 10!

Jacob turned 10 on July 9th!  How can my baby be 10?  All of my children have now entered the double digits.  That is just frightening! 

Jacob got a DSi for his bday.  He was pretty excited about that.  Here he is "modeling" it.

More modeling...

Oh, and it opens!  :)



Yes, this is the cake I made all by myself!  It's a "funfetti" cake mix, with green frosting on top.  (Although it looks white, doesn't it?  Well, I did add green food coloring...just saying.)



Grandpa and Grandma Johnson came over to wish Jacob a Happy Birthday!

 

 

Kyle and Dallin eating cake (Kyle is trying to avoid the camera...too bad Kyle...we still see you!)

Jacob eating his "funfetti" cake!  (Oh yah, and we had Arby's for dinner.  Nothing's too good for my little guy.  HA HA!  Actually that is what he wanted...for real!)

Brandon...pondering...cake

Mom and Jacob

Dad, Mom, and Jacob

Happy Birthday Jacob!  We love you so much!  Thanks for completing our family!

Summer Backpacking Trip 2014

 

All of the boys and Todd went backpacking over the 4th of July weekend.  I was alone for 48 HOURS!  It was so quiet and heavenly!  (Can I say that?) 

 

 This is a backpacking trip that Todd went on each year when he was younger with his brothers and his Dad.  Eric, Brandon, and Dallin have been a couple of times, but because of Todd's "hip injury," they haven't been able to go the last several years, so this was Kyle and Jacob's first time.  Jacob likes this kind of thing...hiking, camping.  Kyle? Not so much!  He was seriously considering staying home and I was about to lose my 48 hours of solitude, so I came up with a plan.  First I threatened him and told him that he HAD to go.  (That didn't go over too well.)  Then I told him how much fun he would have.  This conversation went on for awhile with very little  success, by the way, so I made a deal with Kyle.  I told him I'd pay him $20 if he went and tried it this first time.  For real!  And that's all it took.  Yes, I bribed my son to go backpacking!  I'm not ashamed to admit it either!  It was the best $20 I ever spent!  :)

 

(Actually, Kyle tried to get $50 out of me at first, but that was not happening.  He settled with $20 and I was okay with that too.  Remember...48 HOURS!!) 

 

 

Here are some pictures of their adventure...

First of all, the backpacks are filled and ready to go!

 

 

Here they are on the trail, although I think this was taken on the way down...not the way up.

  Oh well, still fun (for me...and them)!

 



The scenery was beautiful!  They went to Twin Lakes, by the way.  It is about 1/2 hour past Kamas.

 



 

 

 

It looks like the hammock got used quite a bit...

 

Jacob

 



 

 

Kyle

 



 

 

Brandon and Jacob.  Do you see Kyle in the back trying to photo bomb the picture?  HA!  (We see you Kyle!)

 



I love this picture of Jacob.  He reminds me of Eric the way he is posing like that.  Maybe Jacob is going to be a drama kid too.  It wouldn't surprise me.  Eric stands like this a lot.  They both look like Peter Pan! 

 



 

And this is Dallin.  The hat he is wearing is one of Todd's old hats from high school.  At least, I remember it from high school.  I don't know if he had it earlier than that.  Dallin looks just like Todd did at that age, especially with that hat on.  Crazy flashback for me!

 



More scenery...

 



 

 

The Walls went backpacking too.  Here is Zach, Dallin, Jacob, and Aubrey.

 



Apparently the mosquitos were terrible!  See that "green-screen-thing" Dallin is wearing?  While it did protect the bugs from their faces, it didn't help with the rest of their bodies.  Poor Kyle ended up with 56 mosquito bites.  And he must be a little allergic because he swelled up pretty good on his legs and arms. (He earned that $20, don't you think?)  :) 

 



 

This is a hill where they all went "rock bowling."  It's a smooth cement strip that slopes downward.  Apparently this activity is an annual event.

 



 

On Saturday morning when they were packing up to leave, several goats wandered into their camp.  Todd was so excited and he took tons of pictures.  I think there were 4 or 5 adults and a couple baby goats.  Pretty cool, eh?

 



 

 They all survived the trip (barely).  I survived just fine!  :)  I hope this is an annual thing from here on out.  Just saying...(even if I have to pay for it)!

 

 

 I love you guys!  Now, let's plan next year!  HA!

 

Kyle Jones and Spencer Bigelow

Our good friends, the Bigelows, were called to be a Mission President (and wife) in the Brazil, Recife mission.  They left for Brazil on Thursday, June 26th.  The day before they left, Kyle was able to spend some time with Spencer.  Here are a few pictures of their last day together (for the next 3 years)...

These kids are like two little peas in a pod!

And here's a picture of Spencer and his Grandma driving away.  

Oh, that is so sad.  :(  (But we are happy for them!)

We will miss the Bigelow family tremendously.  It has been a wonderful opportunity and an amazing experience to raise our families together.  Good luck you guys!  You're going to be great!  :)  See you in 3 years!

An evening at Oakcrest

Because Todd is the new Stake President, we had the opportunity to go up to Oakcrest on the stake Leadership night and meet with the girls from our stake.  I couldn't wait to go.  It's been years since I've been there.

 

This is the picture hanging above the stage.  It is beautiful!

 



And here's the old Trading Post!  Oh man, I bought a lot of  "ice cream nut sundaes" from that place.  They were my favorite.  YUM!

 



 

 

This picture was on the wall behind the stage.  This is their theme this summer:  Walk Beside Me.

  I love it!

 



And here's the wall (well, one of them) where all of the pictures of each years' staff hangs.  They are proudly hung on the walls in the lodge.  Such memories!  (Yes, I'm in there somewhere...twice!) 

 



Oh man, I just love this place.  I really wanted to go up to this place called "Aspen Grove" and take a picture, but it was under construction, so Todd wouldn't let me.  grrr...I would have been careful.  :)

 

So, I settled for the Lodge.

 



 

Todd had to speak for a few minutes with the young women in our stake.  He did a great job.  The young women were a little rowdy in the beginning, and I could tell that Todd wasn't quite sure what to do.  But they eventually settled down and he delivered a sweet message.  (Think about it....we don't have any girls in our family, so this was a totally different experience than what he's used to with the boy scouts.)  HA! 

 

I'll see you sometime again Oakcrest!  :)  I love you!