First Day of School 2013

We no more than blinked and the summer was gone and it was time for the kiddos to head back to school.  It was good the weather was still warm and shorts were appropriate because any leftover pants from the previous year were more like capris and slim fit.  I'm still in shock that the summer turned my kids into a third, first and preschooler respectively.  Hudson has 'the new' Ms. Crofts.

Dalanie gets to experience Fantastic First Grade with Mrs. Murray.

Trusty bus #7 came to a stop in front and begged my kids to board.  So glad it did!

 

Although Ruby didn't start Joy School until after Harvest Break, I decided to include her here.

Parish Family Pictures

My cousin, Carli Hobson, took family pictures while we were all together.  It was no small feat to have every single person there, but we did it.  Stephens and Brent got into Burley earlier in the day.  Ty and Tameka left straight from the shoot to get on the road for their long drive home.  We had to skedaddle on home too, considering the first day of school was the following day.  I was pretty happy how they turned out.  Here are some of my favorites.

Packing It In

Mom met me in Pocatello to get the girls a few days early for Grandma's Camp.  It was a princess theme.  They built a cardboard castle, ate pancakes with extra sprinkles, dressed up, and had lots of fun.

 The veteran Grandma-Campers with newbie, Millie.

 I accepted an invitation to go running with Dad.  Holy smokes, I haven't ran most of the summer so it was quite a challenge.  But who can let their old man show them up?  We had a nice visit during the run.  I think it was all part of his strategy because by the end he turned on the gas and beat me.  I had nothing left.

 Maple bars on the swing for breakfast.

 We enjoyed a trip to the river with the Wilkins clan.  I am happy to report that after all these years, and babies, I got up the first try on the slalom ski and pulled off several 360's on the knee board. 

 Hudson and Mason spent a majority of the time out in the kayaks.

 Enjoying their time with Baby Truman.

 Enjoying Paul's new splash pad.

 This fancy cowboy and his snug pants.  Trying to keep this kid in clothes is a full time job.  I took a brand new pair of pants for him.  He pulled the tags off, put them on, and came walking upstairs.  Oh my goodness, how he ever gone them on and done up is a mystery to me.  No worries, he didn't mind.  Actually, he thought they looked quite good on him.

Ty, Tameka, Mom, Dad, me, and 7 of the grand kids went to the fair.  We were quite the spectacle with our stroller brigade.  Mom and I volunteered to take the kids home while the others went to the rodeo.   No part of the rodeo sounded fun with worn out, exhausted kiddos.  It was no small feat getting them all to the suburban and buckled up.  Luckily Hudson wanted to stay, so we had just enough room for 6 kids in car seats.  But that opened another can of worms- other kids wanted to stay, so there was a bunch of crying going on.  We finally bribed them with a 'special treat' (aka mini popsicles) that Mom ran into Albertsons and got.  Once home we got them all bathed, production line style.  Thank goodness for Dalanie!  She helped hold the littlest ones while we juggled the others.  Chris and Deidra went to her class reunion.  Poor little Truman doesn't take a bottle and was starving.  I handed Delsie and a bottle to Mom and nursed Truman.  Finally, all kids were asleep and the house was quiet.  Mom and I enjoyed our own Haagen Daaz chocolate bar as a reward.

 Dalanie's beauty shop.

 These two got to hang out on the floor together.

Hauling Hay

All of my family headed home for the weekend of fair while Hartwells were home.  Trouble is, they were in Logan and tied up with class reunion junk most of the time.  In the meantime, Grandpa had hay that needed hauled.  It was a family affair I tell you.  He wanted everyone's help.   We adopted Cole for the weekend.

 Bucking some bales. . . they were heavier than he thought.

 An extra hand.

 Millie and Tameka drove the tractor.  Millie thought it was a parade and waved to everyone.

 Getting instructions from Grandpa.

 Gathering up the grass that didn't make it in a bale.

 Riding Sadie

 This little city girl from Indiana wanted to ride the horse all by herself and she did!

Lake Powell '13

As soon as church was over, we loaded up and hit the road.

We headed south in search of a place to spend the week.  All of the kids loved taking their turn driving.

The long boat ride was perfect for toenail painting and foot rubs- all compliments of Dalanie.

I think just about everyone on the boat got one of her famous foot massages.  She was just to willing and happy to serve.

We had an awesome spot right beneath this ampitheatre.

Brent & Tracy's cousin, Sean and his family joined us for the week.

 It was fun to hike around in the 'cave.'  There were fire pits, modern day petroglyphs, lots of sand and even some dinosaur tracks if you ask the kids.

 I love the sleeping arrangements: all hands on deck, where ever and how ever you can.

 We had fires a few different nights.

 On the last night our family slept up in the amphitheater.  It wasn't the most comfortable, but it sure was memorable.

Our little family loaded up in the kayaks and went to explore the neighboring canyon.

We hiked up the canyon barefoot for a long way.

Delsie enjoying her snack for the walk.

Here Dalanie is getting her hair washed off the back of the houseboat.

Once hair was cleaned, Aunt Nicole braided it up all fancy.

Sydney and Delsie became good friends.  Syd was so sweet and willing to tend the babies.

We plopped Delsie in a bucket of warm water for her baths and she was so content to hang out until the water cooled off.

 

Of course the kids all caught their fare share of fish.  They are so excited to hook them and then it's all over from there.

This year's weather was so much different.  It was overcast a cool for a few of the days.  It was perfect for hiking.

 

We decided to take advantage of the hike right out our back door.  The entire group went in search of Broken Bow Arch.

There were hundreds and hundreds of crawdads as we walked up the stream.  They made for a lot of entertainment for the kids.

 We never found Broken Bow Arch, but Sean did tell us a pretty good story about the legend of the Indian boy and the arch.

This was the year for the three H, 8 year olds to learn how to ski.  Housten, Hailey, and Hudson all got up.  It was a struggle to get Hudson to think he wanted to, but once he decided he was up in no time.

Woo Hoo!

  Ruby and Dalanie both got out on the easy ski.  Here Ruby is making sure people are watching her.

The kids were great about cheering one another on and encouraging each other.

And it wouldn't be Lake Powell without some awesome tube rides.

Delsie & Sayler

Farewell Dinner

Headed home and saying good bye.