Pioneers and Dads

Last Wednesday Nate and I left to be a "Ma and Pa" on a pioneer trek with teenagers from our church. We were over six great kids, four girls and two boys. Here we are all: Brett, Rikki, Katrina, me, Blaire, Ryan (Bandito), Maigan, and Nate. What a great bunch of kids. Being with them for four days made me excited, not so scared anymore, for my own kids to turn into teenagers. Nate and I had so much fun with these kids. They were real troopers.

We experienced all four of Wyoming's seasons in the short four days. The wind was unbelievable. We kept on moving though, and we made it through. Nate made quite the handsome pioneer! He's so wonderful and I am so glad to be married to him. Also, we had a fun father's day yesterday celebrating what a great dad he is. I have yet to meet someone that is as involved with the kids and loves his family as much as Nate does.

Nate says that he was born in the wrong era. He especially loved the pioneer experience. I have to say that I loved the pioneer clothes, and all the walking, but I really missed baths, showers, sinks, and sturdy houses. We take so much for granted today!
Nate and I laughed so much with these kids. It's been a long time since I have laughed that hard. It's amazing these kids could still crack jokes, while the wind blew and the sand pelted our dirty faces, and the rain poured, and the ash cakes baked in the fire. We would do this again in a heart beat.

My mom and Dad came out to help us with the kids while we were gone. It was over their anniversary, so my sister Jill took the kids over that day. It was so nice to be able to be away and know that my kids were well taken care of. Dad brought out fishing poles for the kids and set them up. Then he went worm hunting in our yard with them. They loved that! They still talk about fishing and worms, and all that, even though their attention spans didn't last long while they were actually fishing. My dad is so great and I am so lucky to be his daughter.

My mom is incredible too. She seems to never tire while she endlessly serves the kids. I am so grateful for her too.

May!

These pictures are backwards, but we'll take what we can get.

We headed up to the mountains on Friday for some family camping time. There is this incredible place called Cub River just over an hour north of us in Idaho.






Water was everywhere!
This is the bridge in front of our campsite. We literally were on an island and had the whole thing to ourselves. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
My kids like to pose!
They sing "cheese" more than they say it for the pictures now!

Deven turned three on the 19th of May! We had a little party for him outside.

Uncle Thain entertained the kids well.
Handsome Deven in some new clothes from Grandma. A week ago we got to camp with the Floyds. Even though we live only a half hour away from them, every time we get together I feel like that's too far! We love hanging out with them. It's funny, Jeremy is the Elder's quorum president is his ward, Nate's is the same in our ward. Stacey is the 2nd counselor in the primary in their ward, and I am the same in our ward. Fun times. It's good to have "old" friends that we can go a long time without seeing, and then pick up like it was yesterday when we do see them. Thanks guys!
All seven of the kids kept the fire going. They were all great campers! The rain didn't bother them a bit.

Nate and the kids by the Boise river. We went up there for his nephew's wedding. We stayed at a little hotel right on the river. They have a super biking/walking trail all along it.
April and me. It was really fun seeing so many of the Blaines. Hopefully most will come out to our house for the 4th of July.
The happy couple, Corey and Melanie...
Ben and Deven finally got to blow up a Christmas present from Grandma. Ben did a lot of the work himself.

Ben and Deven inside. These kids are living the dream. I hope being so spoiled doesn't ruin their adorable personalities!

That was May! We'll see what happens in June.

Spring has sprung!

Spring has sprung! I am so glad! These tulips Nate and I planted last fall, and they survived the arctic winter! I am so glad. They brighten my day each time I see them outside.
The pink ones along the driveway are breathtaking as well.
The flowers look better with a pretty model! Thanks Emily!
Miracles do happen! No more diapers! Deven is pretty much all potty trained. For the last couple of days he has stayed dry, going to the store, soccer games, church, and even playing outside. Yesterday when he went poo in the potty five times! I can't tell you how good it felt to realize that was five diapers that we didn't have to change! He's been earning a matchbox car for every time he goes poop in the potty, and an m&m or skittle for ever time he pees. Ben and Emily get treats for helping. Deven's at the point where I don't really need to give him prizes, but we are so happy to do so if it means no more diapers!!!
Last night Deven wanted to wear underwear to bed. I was prepared with extra blankets under him, so changing the bed would be easy. He woke up dry this morning and went right to the bathroom. AMAZING! What a kid! It just goes to show that when they make up their mind, anything is possible. Just now as I was helping him get dressed he brought me a diaper... EEEEK, I hope he doesn't change his mind now... Phew, he chose underwear again...

Now, that the snow has receded into the high mountains, we can hike again. The kids hiked all the way up the Rocky Dugway road a week ago Saturday. What troopers!
We also walked down to the campground the day before. It's nice to visit our summer places again.
These pictures are all messed up, but here we are again up on the hike up the mountain. This is where the spring melt crossed the road. Up a ways more we saw a large mountain lion track. We also saw lots of dead deer. This winter was really hard on them. From the top we could see down Mantua valley, through the canyon, and down to the valley below where Corrine is. What a view.
I have been Emily's soccer team's coach this season. It has been such fun! I dragged my feet going into it, but if she wants to play next year, I think I'll coach again.
Ben's face says it all. That was my thought exactly as we woke up to this snow this morning. Oh well, it didn't stay long. I took the tulip pictures this afternoon, so it's nice out again.

Now that the sun shines, Nate has to get creative when he forgets a hat to cover his head.
Mom and Granny came out for a week and we had a great time. Here we went out to Promontory point, the famous site of the last spike that connected the trans continental railroad. It was snowing and cold that day (yes, it was the end of April), but Granny and Mom (or Grandma around here) were troopers and we had a great time. Nate works near there, so we kidnapped him from work.

We also visited the little zoo in Logan. Again, we had such a fun time. At a fun dinner party with Jill and Thain and Mom and Granny, the guys built the tallest marble maze tower that they could manage with Ben's set.
Run Ben, chase the ball! Ben is having fun learning how to play soccer!

If you want really fun kids music I recommend you check out http://www.jimcosgrove.com He's more known as "Mr. Stinky Feet". We got to know his music through the Albuquerque summer programs and concerts with the Hammonds. He's the best! The music cheers Nate and I up as well. Don't let your kids miss out! I guess that's all for today. If you have a blog now let me know, I'll link your page to ours. Happy spring! Love, Jen

If I could write a book...

...it would probably be about living in Mantua. This weekend was another amazing one, filled with outdoor adventures. Can you see our house? They cleaned out the drainage ditch in front by the road, and the snow pile is enormous.
Nate and I went on our favorite date on Saturday morning. We skied for two hours from our house, around the little mountain behind us, and back across the field to our house. Here is Nate at a great lookout point. The town of Mantua is below. Oh, you can't see any buildings? Isn't it great?!
There's me, coming up the hill and a bit of Nate's finger. One of the best things about cross country skiing, is you can wear your husbands old clothes and it doesn't matter. I find downhill skiers always look like they just went shopping at REI.
That little dot is really me. This field on the backside was a very long slight downhill ride. What a trip. Nate prefered skiing up a steeper hill and down it, that's why he's so far away from me. Along the way we saw the remains of a large elk that got caught in a fench. We also saw the wings and feathers of a large hawk. Nate thought it was shot down, but I thought it was hunted, because the wings were left whole and by themselves. Would hunters leave the wings behind and take the rest? Any ideas my naturalist friends? I guess it could be a combo scenario.
Okay, so now we pause to reflect on the last year of our living here. I do this to prove that yes, the other seasons, besides the snow season, do indeed exist. Here is Emily and Ben in front of the colorful trees in our front yard.

Here is spring, right after we moved in. My sister Jill and her hubby Thain, and the Floyds are over for a large bonfire. Nate burned all of our moving boxes, much to the delight of the kids.
Another spring shot shortly after we moved in. I love the trees all blossomed out.
Our favorite summer activity after Nate got home from work, was walking or biking to the lake and taking a dip. We liked watching the little fish play in the seaweed.
A fun thing for the kids and I was to walk or bike to the campground while Nate was at work. They could play for hours in the stream.
This is looking up to Willard Peak from our house, my personal favorite view. The hills are alive with fall fruity pebbles foilage. Are you convinced yet that this is a great place to live? :)

Now we are back to this last weekend. It's going to take several posts for me to get used to how this picture layout works. Ben looks so adorable pulling his sled up this hill.
There's pretty Emily. She was the first one down the hill! She didn't fall, and did beautifully on her skis. Unfortunately, it wiped her out. For the rest of the day she would fall easily and get discouraged.
Looking down our new favorite ski and sled hill. That's my good friend Heidi and her daughter Aubrey skiing. I taught her how to ski this winter and she's been hooked ever since. It's nice to have company during the day ski trips when Nate is at work. She and her daughters are pros already!
There's me and Deven taking a little break. We don't have ski gear on, because it was 57 degrees when we left the house. For you Arizona, New Mexico, CA, and Brazil folks, I know it still sounds chilly. For us, it was heavenly. This morning (monday, the 3rd of March) it was 8 degrees as I sent Emily off to get the bus. Brrr!

There is Hannah, Heidi's daughter, and behind her my friend Andria (she's the mom of 4 1/2 kids, and homeschools them all. Just to show how tough this lady is, she walked all the way up this snowy hill, while we leisurely skied up.)

There is Hannah, the back side of Heidi and Emily. You can't tell that it's really kind of a steep drop off and Hannah is hanging on tight so she doesn't go flying down the hill.

I know it's March, and some days feel like spring, but it's going to be hard to put away the skis for a few months. This has been an amazing year for us! Skiing every day that we want to, right out our door is definitely spoiling us.

I just read a great book called "A Train to Potevka" by Mike Ramsdell. I loved it because it was educational, inspiring, and entertaining. It illustrated the life lesson that good things come out of hard times. I wish I could write such a book. I'll put it on my life list. For now, the kids keep me pretty occupied.

Sorry Katherine, my shopping lists and bills were much to boring. I would rather show off Mantua. I made pudim last week for Heidi's birthday. It was yummy! Have you learned how yet? I would like to make pao de quejo (brazilian cheese bread), but I need special flour. Could you ask your mamacita maid for a good recipe? Thank goodness for the internet!

Ciao for now friends!