{the day of many firsts}

Tuesday, August 27th, 2013

started out as a normal day

but ended out being one to remember!

 

 Ella started her first day of 1st Grade.

Many of you will think to yourself, shouldn't she be in 2nd?

Yes, we decided to "start her late"

(or do 2 years of Kindergarten)

She has a VERY late summer birthday and

we want her older in her class,

we want her 18 before she graduates high school,

we want her older before she goes off to college,

we want another precious year of her at home with us 

because we love her so much

and want the absolute best for her!

So, while Ella was gone at school that day

 and Brock was sleeping,

Cole and mommy had some time together.

I knew he just needed some one-on-one time

to get the hang of it.

I was so proud of him

and he was SO PROUD of himself!

I'll never forget the look on his face

 when he went all the way down

the end of the street.

 

When Ella got home from school,

 he was so excited to show her his new talent.

This was my view from the two of them going off together...

~priceless~

Western Idaho Fair

 This past weekend we went to the Western Idaho Fair in Boise. Our kids were dying to go once they saw the rides, just driving by.

 We spent most of our time by the animals.

Our kids loved to pet, feed and see all the animals there.

 There was this one guy who put his whole body inside a balloon and dancing around to loud pop music... kinda freaky to watch. 

Ella loved seeing the horse and the competition rides.

The riders did these choreographed horse dances to music and wore costumes.

 

 Cole got lazy towards the end and hopped in the basket...

I guess I should've brought the double stroller!

High Adventure 2013

 Scott feels so lucky to get to work with the YM in church. He got to take some of the teachers and priests up to a secret lake past McCall.

Scott did this a couple years back with some friends from Indy in August 2011. 

Ella went with him last time, so it was Cole's turn.

 

It was a long 6 mile hike that went steep up and down the entire time.

The whole crew

(maybe you'll recognize 2 boys from pg.89 of Engisn May 2013)

The first night they got up there they slept in these yurts,

where Scott's old bishop just happened to be hiking there the same weekend.

 It was Cole's first time sleeping in a hammock while camping...

He's a tough kid, yet the hike was still intense for him,

he was out cold for 12 hours straight that night.

What a great group of boys and great adventure!

how does your garden grow?

We were excited to have an actual garden space in our backyard this year.

We planted tomatoes, cherry tomatoes,

 summer squash, zucchini, lettuce, carrots, green beans, cucumbers and bell peppers in our backyard.

We also did a family garden at

Grandma & Grandpa T's home.

Over there we had tons of corn, beans, peppers,

tomatoes, cucumbers, and more.

 Our kids enjoyed picking vegetables!

(even though they won't eat all of them :)

We were going do our first experience of canning,

but we decided to freeze the corn and beans instead.

We have been enjoying many BBQ's and family dinners here on our patio.

We have grape vines!!

Finally they have grown and are ready to pick!

We're planning on juicing and

making jam out of some.

Summer Baseball

Both kids played this summer, Cole in T-Ball and Ella in softball.

Cole had a great coach, actually from another Star ward.

She volunteered last moment since the team didn't have a coach.

As eventful as t-ball could be watching,

he had a blast playing and running his fastest ever.

We worked with him on his catching and hitting skills.

 We realized half way through the season

that he was batting right handed

and he's a lefty

So we switched him to the other side and he did way better!

Go figure!

Grandpa and Grandma T were able
 to come to their last games,

Cole was so excited to see Grandpa after his game.

 

 Ella had an awesome coach, I was impressed.

He wanted them all to learn but have fun at the same time.

And he was so patient with Ella, being her 1st year playing.

Ella's favorite thing was to hit the ball.

She loved it more than anything else.

She has a really good arm and can throw well.

We still gotta work on her catching skills, though. :)

Yay for summer softball!

Scott and I were on an adult Co-Ed softball team.

It was SO. MUCH. FUN.

We were undefeated all season

until championships...

and then we lost since half of our team was gone :(

(dang girls camp week)

But next year we're going ALL THE WAY!

Eagle Island and Barbacoa

We went to Eagle Island with the Thompson's

a few weeks ago for FHE.

It was a perfect night, perfect weather.

The kids had a blast playing with each other in the water.

Uncle Steven was the big hit in the boat,

taking turns with each kid for a ride.

Grandma T even bought all of us snow cones for a treat!

Brock had a blast playing in the sand,

since he got a little scared on his boat ride.

Buckets were a big hit!

 

A couple weekends ago we went out to fancy dinning before a session at the temple.

Scott won a competition through his work:

whoever had the biggest ca$h case won dinner of their choice for 2.

(I think Scott had over a $12,000 individual case so we won!)

We got to pick wherever we wanted to eat and chose Barbacoa.

It is known to be quite spendy, which was a big understatement.

We came out of there around $175 for just the two of us!

We both ordered the "Hot Rock Filet" which is filet mignon wrapped in bacon, sitting on this hot coal rock to stay warm. They brought it out and poured this sauce on it and lit it on FIRE! Seriously the hot rock kept me warm all night, it was that hot.

It came with giant prawns and mashed potatoes.

We of course ordered appetizers: this amazing guacamole that this guy made in front of us with ingredients of our choice.

We had a few virgin strawberry and mango daiquiris

 and virgin pina coladas.

We also ordered a yummy chocolate custard dessert.

It was fancy, and tasted ok. Nothing to brag about.

But the filet mignon was the best steak I had EVER eaten.

BEST. EVER.

Hoping to go again someday...

{Ella turns 7}

I can't believe Ella is already 7 years old!

  Since she has been obsessed with horses since

 she got to meet papa's horses for the first time

 and almost killed herself doing so...

(read story here)

She insisted on having a horse-themed party! 

 

 My good friend made the cake.

I actually had been searching on pinterest for ideas,

and pinned this cake, and she showed up with the exact same one.

Loved it!!!

The girls showed and up and I took them to a

 nearby horse training ranch: "Once Upon A Horse"

I was so impressed by what they did with

the girls in the 90 minutes we were there.

They put on riding helmets and then brushed the horses.

 

Then they each had turns riding Fred, the big brown horse.

 

I loved how they taught them how to ride.

They used a vaulting saddle, which helps to learn balance,

 they had them sit on their knees

and put their hands out  straight to learn the rhythm of the horse movements.

Ella's friends loved it too. Two of her friends

 shared Ella's love of horses

(one friend even owns her own horse)

The other two were a big timid at first, but loved it after.

After they rode Fred, they waited at the

 mounting blocks to ride the smaller horse.

 

 At the end the ranch owner gave them

 each this big plush white horse stuffed animal!

They were in heaven.

 Then loaded them all back up and over

 to our house for crafts & games.

Each girl decorated their own horse stick.

 

 Then race them in our backyard!

Then time for cake & ice cream!

Not only did the cake look amazing,

 but tasted amazing as well

 And of course last, but not least:

presents!

She had a very special birthday and

 felt loved by her friends and family she could share it with.

Thanks to Kassie for helping me decorate the day before!