Karen had a Birthday-- Shout Hooray!

Karen turned 7! She is such a sweet little girl (with a dash or two of sassy to make things exciting). She was so excited to open her gifts, and so grateful for everything she got.

A few things about my darling little 7 year old that make her such a jewel:
Her favorite food is Mac-n-Cheese (cuz we're fancy like that).
Her favorite color is Turquoise.
Her favorite friends are her brothers and sisters and cousins.
Her favorite school subject is Friday Fun (games they play).
Her favorite scripture story is Mary and baby Jesus.
Her favorite dessert is cake and ice cream.
Her favorite saying is "Choose The Right".

Karen is such a delightful part of our family. I am so blessed to have her as my daughter.

1st Day of School

And just like that-- in the blink of an eye-- Summer had come and gone! We packed it as full of fun as possible, but it still didn't seem quite long enough. It is a darn good thing I have children who enjoy going to school, or I think I would just let them stay home. I sure miss them when they are gone! Here are the First Day pictures:

8th Grade

6th Grade

4th Grade

1st Grade

Seriously the cutest kids ever-- I'm just sayin!

August 2012

The month started off by sending our men to scout camp. I really get nervous when my boys are away from home-- so I was SO grateful that Ryan was willing to go with them this year. I sure love that man!

While the boys were gone, the rest of us decided to spend the week at our cabin with my family. It was so much fun. The cabin truly is one of my favorite places to be in the entire world. It is so gorgeous and peaceful. It was the perfect distraction for this worried mama who was missing her camp men. Creed and my little ladies were so well behaved. They had so much fun spending time with their cousins.

 

Sharing goldfish crackers

We had a treasure hunt for Zoey's birthday.

 

A deer that hung out at the cabin a couple of days.

Baby Birds

Making Shrinky-Dinks

We were able to go into Yellowstone a couple of times. We are sure blessed to have such a beautiful world to live in. I couldn't help but keep saying "Some people go there whole lives without seeing this!" I may or may not have even uttered my phrase to a stranger who looked back at me like I was a crazy lady.  On second thought, perhaps she didn't speak English. There were a lot of foreigners in the park. There was more than one situation where I tried to start a conversation with someone who had absolutely no idea what I said. Awkward! My Brother-in-law, Tyson, speaks Italian and made some new friends though. Anywhoooo... I have approximately 5 gazillion pictures, but the colors and animals and scenery (and cute kids) are just too great to not share them.

Our picnic at Old Faithful. We are enjoying our overpriced Subway sandwiches. ("$5 footlongs" that actually cost $9! Robbery!) 

Ice Cream at Old Faithful-- thanks Grandpa!

Picnic on day 2 (it was rainy)-- next to the hugest anthill you have ever seen!

A baby buffalo!

We were on a little hike, and turned a corner-- which had us nearly bumping into these buffalo. They were on the trail! I couldn't believe how close people were standing to them. The buffalo were even making angry grunt noises and seemed agitated. I was about 12 feet away when one started to snort and paw the ground. No one else in front of me seemed alarmed, but I grabbed my kids with super human strength, turned and hightailed it down the trail --all while pushing a vintage stroller that rolls about as smooth as a broken shopping cart! If anyone was going to be gored that day, I was making darn sure it wasn't me or my children!)

This is Creed in the aforementioned vintage stroller. It was tucked away at the cabin. It is one that I rode in when I was 1. Although I got more than one strange look from my fellow National Park enthusiasts, I was stinkin grateful to have it as opposed to carrying Creed around all day. I actually love the stroller, and would push it around my neighborhood if I owned it!

 Our second day in the park happened to be my birthday. It was fun to spend it somewhere I love with so many people that I love (minus my camp men). The highlight of the day was when we saw a grizzly bear! It was extremely far away, but it was still thrilling.

It was a great trip. It was even better to have my boys back home safe and sound and my little family complete again.