Weekend Whirlwind

I just downloaded my camera pictures and there were 91 pictures since my last download!  What!  I think that means it’s time to blog!  I’ll apologize right now for how long this post is probably going to be!  First off, Leonard shot an elk with his bow on the second day of archery season – in our field.  He’s pretty spoiled!  The elk have been destroying our fruit trees so it was a little bit retaliation – just kidding!  My favorite part of the elk hunt?  Taking it to the butcher – we used to cut them up and grind them to hamburger ourselves.  I’m so glad we didn’t do that this year – those elk are SO BIG!!!

I decided late last week to take the kids to Idaho Falls for Labor Day weekend.  Leonard had to work on Thursday and Monday so he couldn’t come with us.  We got in the car Thursday morning and headed to Idaho Falls.  The kids traveled well, even when our DVD player broke.  At least we know what to ask Santa for this year!  We stopped only once in Deer Lodge to eat, go the bathroom, and feed and change Timberlyn.  She slept the rest of the time.  It was great!

When we pulled into Idaho Falls the kids looked for the water tower and the temple.  Miranda said, “Look Mom!  The Temple!! That’s where you and Dad go!   Can we go there?”  I said, “Yes, Miranda,  when you get bigger.”  She said, “Yup, and we can get a baby.  Except not a boy baby, just a girl baby.” 

Uhhh, what?

“You know, because you get babies from Heavenly Father!”

Looks like I might have to teach her a little more about that before she gets older! :)

We got to my parent’s house and Mandy started calling, “Hello!  Is anybody here?”  I told her they were all at work but should be home soon.  Miranda dropped the books she had been holding, slumped her shoulders, and dropped her head in disappointment.   Luckily, Paul was home to rejoice in her arrival about two minutes after we got there!  He was followed very shortly by the Becks and Grandpa!

The next morning I took the kids over to visit Grandma and Grandpa Parry.  It was good to see them and visit with them for a bit.  We showed off baby Timberlyn.  She is baby number 87 descended from my grandparents.  There have been three more babies since she was born!  My grandparents have 90 descendants!  That is amazing!!

Grandma with Miranda and Timberlyn

That afternoon we took the kids to Heise Hot Springs near Ririe.  Jake, Jana, Riley, Sage, Courtney, Kalli, Terek, Dreyken, and Grandpa all came with us.  I used to go there as a kid.  We thought about taking the boat out but it was too cold.  The hot springs were perfect.  As an added bonus, it was NOT crowded.  Most of the time we had the pool to ourselves.  We managed to talk Miranda and Riley into going on the slide.

Jake and Riley

Grandpa and Miranda

After they did it once, they loved it and did it several times.   I also managed to get this shot.

Courtney, Riley (with wings), Dreyken (red and blue life jacket), Miranda (facing camera), Kaydra, Kalli, and Grandpa

Most will not realize this but the amazing thing about the above shot is Miranda is swimming in the deep water!  She has been terrified of water all summer and finally she figured out how to trust her life jacket and she was cruising all over the pool!! 

Too bad it was at the end of the summer!!

That night I took this picture of Timber sleeping on the couch at my parents….sweet baby girl:

On Saturday we went to the 5K Foam Fest at the Sandy Downs.  Paul had organized a family team so a few of my cousins had come from out of town to run.  It was so fun to see them.  In fact, on Friday night, Stephanie and Mike came over to visit for awhile and see the baby.  Then after they left, Lisa and Heather came over.  It was so fun and reminded me of late nights visiting at the cabin.  Made me a little homesick – even though I was home – weird.  It was so good to see them!!  Anyway, back to the race!

Here they are before they started! 

Jana, Paul, Heather, Justin, Lisa, Jordyn, Lindsay (Jordyn’s friend), Stephanie, Mike, Lauren, Lauren’s friend (sorry I don’t know your name!)

I know it says finish, but this was actually the start (it said start on the other side!)

Here they are the first time they ran by us, all happy and waving!  It was a hard race with about two miles of it being in heavy sand!  Yuck!!!

Paul – he actually took second in the race!  Wow!!Justin, Lisa, and AndrewEveryone – can’t name them allJana

Here they are the second time they passed us, after running in the sand and up and down hills – not quite so many smiles!!

Then came the mud pit!

Paul walking….Then crawlingJanaMike – notice the kids in the background – those are related to us!!Mike put mud in Jordyn’s hair and in retribution, she tried to push him and pushed Steph instead.  Steph spent the rest of the race trying to keep her pants up!!!

Then it was on to the slip and slide – my best photo was of Jordyn!

Finally, it was the foam finish!

LaurenJordynHeatherLisaMikeStephanie

And the shot of everyone after the race!!

It was a tough race and I am amazed they all finished.  They were complaining of the foam tasting bad and that it got in their lungs!  Not so fun – but it was fun to watch!!

After the race we ate lunch and then headed to the fair in Blackfoot.  The kids milked cows (sort of)

and fed the animals (mostly goats).

And we had fair food for dinner!  Delish!  I had a prime rib sandwich – best of the fair food!!  We walked around and ended the night with ice cream from Reid’s Dairy!  It was a great day. 

On Sunday we went to church with mom and reunited with some of our old ward members.  Everyone was surprised to see Timberlyn.  I guess pregnancy goes faster when you never see the person that was pregnant!  We enjoyed a yummy family dinner that night which included milkshakes and a game of Wacky Six.  The kids watched a movie while Dan talked us in to watching a soccer game – we later found out it was an old soccer game played last April!

We left Idaho Falls the next morning.  Miranda was sad to go and tried to talk Grandpa into keeping her.  She cried from Rocker to Drummond (about 20 miles) telling me to turn around and go the other way because she wanted to go back to Idaho Falls.  We had to stop for lunch in Rocker and then again at Cataldo to feed Timberlyn.  When we arrived home, we got the kids ready to start school the next day.  What a long day – but such a fun weekend.  I am so glad we decided to go!  It goes to show that if I can make the drive with four kids (including a nursing 7 week old) then many of you can make the drive this way and come visit us!!!  Thanks for a fun weekend!