Yellowstone!

Last weekend Todd's parents took the entire family on a trip to Yellowstone.  We had such a great time!  I was especially lucky since we were able to go through Rexburg and Sugar City, and see all of our favorite places.

First stop was the Idaho Falls Temple, where Todd and I were married.  Next week is our 9 year anniversary! 

Next stop was Bear World, and Ty loved sitting on my lap!  He really liked looking at the animals.  He kept saying "Dog, dog, woof woof!" and then he would just squeal at the top of his lungs.  So cute!

This was our favorite bear.  He/she was so sweet hugging the log while he slept.  The girls loved it.

I have loved taking cheesy pictures like this since I can remember! 

We, of course, had to eat at Gringos for dinner.  Ty loved the chips and salsa!  He and I were both covered in salsa by the end of the meal.  :)

Re-enacting our proposal.  We always take the kids up to Ricks and show them where we met and went to school.  This is the practice room that Todd proposed to me in.  Each time we visit we take a family picture here.  It is fun to see our family change and grow.

Todd's mom made matching shirts for all the grandkids to wear.  They say "Yellowstone, Cub # 1-7".  They each have a number according to their birth order.  They turned out so cute.

Here we are in front of the canyon that Yellowstone gets it name from.  This picture doesn't do it any justice.  It is so majestic, and the color is really yellow.  Go figure.  :)  Aside from me worrying that someone would fall over the cliff, it was incredible.  I visited Yellowstone many times as a kid, but I don't remember ever seeing this before. 

Sitting in front of Old Faithful.

This was my favorite geyser as a kid.  Walking the boardwalk around the geysers brought back so many childhood memories.  It was great to be back and share it with my own children.  As an adult I am starting to realize what an amazing place Yellowstone really is.  I couldn't help but wonder what it must have been like to discover Yellowstone as a Native American or explorer.  No wonder places like these have always been considered magical, sacred, and healing.  I really was in awe by all of it. 

I couldn't help but be annoyed by many of the other tourists there.  :)  So many were driving crazy and getting WAY too close to the wild animals there.  It almost seemed like a lack of respect and reverance for the amazing environment they were in.  I have always loved learning about Native Americans, and the peace and respect they had for the earth.  I wish I could be more like that.  I love how they didn't feel entitled to everything in the world, like most of us feel now.  Such a deep respect, it really does move me.

Can you tell that this little girls like fairies?  (check out her Tinker Bell jacket, she is almost obsessed!)  So you can imagine the excitement she felt when we went to a place called Fairy Falls, and she caught some sort of winged bug, and we told her it was a fairy! She totally believed us!

Notice anything wrong with this picture?  Ty had a case of the runs (yippee), and had to wear Magdalen's short while we found him some clean clothes.  Doesn't he look great in lace?  :)

We ended the trip at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center.  The older cousins even got to help feed the bears!  And yes, the little girl sticking out of the bear's bottom is mine.  :)

July thus far...

July started out with a quick visit from Uma (aka my mom).  We had a ton of fun enjoying the beautiful weather!

We also played at the fountain downtown, and looked cool in our hats.  :)

When our girls won't go to sleep we often have them sit on a barstool.  It shows them pretty quick how tired they really are.  Well, the other night they both fell asleep while they were in time out.  Hilarious!

Don't you just love the tan line?!

The 4th of July has always been a favorite day of mine.  Growing up we always went to the parade.  Once I was in high school, I was always in the parade.  Then we would head over to Porter Park and check out the vendors.  If it was hot, we spent the afternoon inside, wishing we had AC.  But I also remember a couple 4ths that had lightly falling snow as we lit off our fireworks.  I looked forward to it every year, and loved having the traditions.  Sadly, the parade in Boise is seriously lame.  I was beyond disappointed when I took my kids to it a couple years ago.  But this year Boise had a chalk art festival in the park.  We had so much fun walking around and seeing the beautiful artwork.  Both of my girls love art, and even talked about entering the contest when they are older.

 Don't you just love the row of port-a-potties behind us?  Really classes up the picture...

Here is the artwork from my two budding artists.  What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I LOVE fireworks!  I am like a little kid again.  Every year we take our kids downtown to watch the Boise fireworks.  I think it will be one of my favorite traditions as a mom. As much as I love watching the fireworks, I found myself watching my kids alot.  It was so fun to see their eyes all lit up with huge smiles across their faces.  Ty kept saying "ooh!".  It was so adorable. 

It was another great 4th of July!  I hope my family will look back on their Independence Day memories as fondly as I do.  :)

To camp, or not to camp...

Several weeks ago when the sign up sheet for the ward campout ended up in my lap, I somehow found myself writing "Bigelow".  This was somewhat odd, since I never before have felt compelled to do so.  I figured we would go up for the evening, and come home to sleep.  Then I found myself thinking that Todd and the girls would camp, and Ty and I would come home.  Then I thought, well maybe I'll have Ty sleep at his grandparents house and I'll camp too.  Well, all 5 of us ended up spending the night.  And aside from not really getting any sleep because Ty is incapable of sleeping anywhere but his crib, we had an amazing first camping experience!

What I loved about camping:

1.  Being away from real life, with nothing to do but enjoy nature and my family.

2.  Waking up to the misty, mountain air.

3.  Hiking, walking, listening to the crickets and birds.

4.  Playing my guitar and singing around the campfire

5.  The girls were so well behaved.  They followed all the rules, got along, played with friends, and slept!

What I learned:

1.  Just because a website says the campsite has a bathroom doesn't mean there is an actual bathroom.  (Apparently permanent porta-potties qualify as bathrooms.)

2.  Bottomless toilets are quite scary to children.

3.  Pack a pair of shoes for every hour you will spend away from home.

4.  A one year old is actually not that hard to camp with during the day.  Night is a whole other story...

5.  A ward campout is the way to go since I was not required to do any real meal preparation.

What I will do differently in the future: 

1.  Invest in a BIG tent.  5 people do not fit in a 4 person tent, even if one of those people is tiny.

2.  Go to a campsite with an actual bathroom.

3.   Socialize more.  We went to bed way too early, and had to lay there listening to everyone still out talking and having fun.

4.  Leave the one year old with grandma!  :)

5.  Really, the main thing is the bathroom!

Father's Day

Bronwyn has always loved her daddy.  Isn't is so adorable how she is leaning on his shoulder?  She has anxiously awaited his arrival since she was just a few months old.  And the other kids are following her example.  Once Todd walks in the door, everyone's face lights up and a wrestling match ensues!  We are so blessed to have the world's best daddy living under our roof!

My handsome boys!  Ty is ready to say "hello" to the ladies!

I offered to host the family Father's Day celebration, thinking we would have a ping pong party in the backyard and roast smores.  Mother Nature had other plans.  In typical Idaho fashion, the weather was horrible until everyone went home.  But we managed to find about 20 minutes nice enough to roast marshmallows and play a little ping pong.  Ty LOVED the marshmallows.

Then we came inside for a fun game of Rockband.  The kids are actually getting pretty good!  It was fun!

This future father was caught red (blue?) handed!  On Saturday Todd took the girls to an arcade, and Magsy won this big, blue gumball.  But she thought it was just a ball, so the kids have been rolling it around the house ever since.  Well, yesterday I walked into the family room to find this!  Looks like he figured it out!

Here he is pointing to all the blue handprints on our carpet!  Thank goodness for stain guard!

What do you do, in the Summertime?

Pick your nose?  That's what Ty is doing!  :)

Despite the weird weather, we are still having a great summer so far...

We planted our garden.

It's hard to see, but we found a nest in one of our hanging flower baskets.  It started out with 4 eggs, but now there are 2 babies and 2 eggs.  We love checking on it every night.  Although I feel really bad because the mommy bird always flies into our tree and yells at us.  

The girls had their pictures taken yesterday, and here are some shots of how cute I did their hair.  :)

We have spent most of our free time riding our bikes!  It has been a blast.  It started out rough.  Meaning, Bronwyn cried the ENTIRE time the first time we rode.  In her defense, she didn't really know what she was doing.  And since she is a very anxious child, I think the whole situation was pretty overwhelming for her.  She gets so much better each time we ride.  Magdalen and I are using a tandem bike, so that means that I do most of the work.  :)  I love having her so close though.  We sing and talk.  She loves it.  She always says, "Mom, it's what we've always wanted!".  

I really want to raise an active family, so I got really excited when I found this awesome baby seat for Ty.  It can go on my bike or Todd's, but Todd usually takes Ty since I already have Magsy.  It is really the only activity that all 5 of us can do together, and we all enjoy it.  Todd has spent alot of time putting bikes together, tightening joints, checking tire pressure, loading the bikes in and out of the van etc. etc. etc.  I worry that one day he won't find it fun enough to do all the work for us!  It was all my idea, and I have totally forced my family into this hobby.  But I think we will stick with it.  :)

Tonight we took our bikes to Todd's parent's neighborhood, so I put my mother in law on camera duty.  :)

Todd's aunt and uncle were visiting, so we totally crashed the party and stayed through dinner.

We all enjoyed some ice cream!

And Ty even got a wagon ride.

Summer: So far, So good!

Mommy-Daughter Trip

The girls and I recently took a mommy-daughter trip to Utah for my step-sister's wedding, and we had so much fun!  Both girls were SO excited to go on an airplane.  We spent the entire flight looking out the window, looking at clouds and mountains.  Bronwyn even turned to me and said "This is the best day of my life!". And that was just in the first hour of our trip!

Monday morning we went to my dad's grave.  I think it was the first time the girls actually understood what we were doing there, which led to some interesting questions from them.

Tuesday morning began at the Provo Temple.  Bronwyn and Magsy were excited to be in the waiting room since they have never been inside the temple before.  :)  It was sweet to see them care so much.

The happy couple!  It was a beautiful ceremony.  They were thrilled to be sealed to eachother.

The reception was held on the top floor of the new Zions Bank building.  It has the most beautiful view!

Bronwyn was so excited to hold the bouquet while the bride and groom cut the cake.

I was pretty ready to hold my baby Ty by the time we got home, but it sure was nice to have a few days off from chasing him around!  I'm sure this was the first of many mommy-daughter outings.