Quote Time!

As many of you know, I love surrounding myself with great quotes! I've been hoarding some in one of my notebooks for a while and I'm running out of space and it's about time to throw away my notebook anyways, so I thought that I'd share them with all of you here. Make sure to check back every now and then, I'm going to try to add good quotes when I find them.

"Happiness does not come from pressing a button ... it must be learned."
- Spencer W. Kimball

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is a process; working together is success."
- Henry Ford

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."
 - William Morris
(I'm working on implementing this one!)

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to live the width of it as well."
- Diane Ackerman

"Do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done with a grateful heart."
- Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Madison County Fair

A week or two ago we went with Amy (Mike's youngest sister) and her friend Hannah to the Madison County fair, it was fun to see all the animals that the kids had been working so hard all year with for 4H. There were even quite a few choices (probably about 10) for the food court. So we were definitely living BIG, fair style. (please note my sarcasm in that last comment)

 

They started the rodeo off right with getting all the kids (12 and under I think) together to chase a calf around to pull money off that was taped or tied to it. We got a good laugh out of it. 

There's the calf! He'd better run! One of the calves was quite distressed and tried running through the fence. Silly calf.

I was happily enjoying my frozen strawberry lemonade and watching the festivities when I noticed two little eyes watching me. I think he wanted me to share. We were trying to be sneaky and get a picture of him ogling my treat but he was camera shy.

Yes, this is a Shetland pony and yes - it was very funny watching it try to run and watching the little girl try to get it to run.

Okay family, remember that penguin movie we used to rent from Grandma Campbell's? The Three Amigo's or something? This little boy and pony reminds me of the little boy riding the burro in one of the segments. Way funny! (Sorry it's blurry - believe it or not this is the best one we took. Our camera was getting all confused trying to guess what I wanted it to zoom in on).

So probably the best part about small town rodeos is that they let everyone participate. By the end of the night we were beginning to think that probably the worst part about a small town rodeo is that they let everyone participate. It was a long night.  But it was fun to see some of the little girls try to get their BIG horses through the barrels. You can kind of tell in this very blurry picture that her feet are no where near the stirrups! She was getting frustrated and the horse was pretty content just to stare at the barrel so her daddy came out to help her. She did a great job.

Our New Neighbor

Not that this was a very momentous moment at our house but I thought we should take a picture anyways. :) Last week we came home from church and our new little neighbor was sitting on the steps. I fully expected it to fly away when we got close but it just watched us as we went down the steps and opened the door. Then it just stayed there. We'd go back and check a little bit later and it'd still be there. Every once in a while moving to stay in the shade. Michael had me close the curtains on our door to give it more "privacy." It eventually flew away once the sun had eaten up all the shade. I wonder if it was looking for a safe refuge from all the hunters because it knew that dove season was opening soon ... ?

Coeur d'Alene Here We Are!

This year Michael's family all decided that it would be fun if we headed up to Northern Idaho for a little bit of family time and R&R. At first we weren't quite sure if we were going to make it but in the end everything worked out! (Yay for work schedules/employers that pull through at just the perfect time). So here are some pictures from our trip. I'm afraid that this post will probably be heavy on pictures and light on text so I hope you enjoy!

 

 

For several months now, Mike and I have been saying how we've been wanting to go to Montana. Not for any specific reason but because we've been living so close to it for a few years now and we've never been. Well, this trip provided us with the perfect opportunity to do so! Here is our picture proof. Yes, we have been to Montana making it the 8th state we've visited since we've been married. Whew!

We stopped at the Dell Merc to get gas and make a potty stop. We decided to stop because we weren't sure how far it would be to the next town and we didn't want to take any chances. Don't know why we didn't use our handy dandy GPS to locate the next gas station but we stopped here and ended up paying WAY too much for gas and using algae infested water/soap/nasty to wash the windshield. Oh and Michael probably had to wait a good 20 minutes for the guy in the bathroom so finish bathing himself in the sink. Note the sign: Population: 35 (that's less than the extended Campbell family! Maybe we should come for family reunion and triple the town's population?) This building serves as the gas station, convenience store, and post office. Talk about multi-tasking.

I looked out my window and what did I see? Mickey Mouse! Poor guy - I think he was headed to the local dump ..... Poor Mickey :(

 Silverwood! Yay! This was just a few miles from Kellogg, ID and we knew we were getting close to our condo. We ended up making the trip in just about 7 hours. We survived! (Although the passenger side door of the car as well as my dear husband almost got ran over by some crazy truck driver at one of our gas stops.) I wish we would've gotten a picture of our Condo - it was beautiful and just a short walk to the lake. My favorite part was that we could sit out on the patio and take in the whole view - wish we could've stayed another few days so we could catch a sunset or two. (But no worries - I think we've already started making plans to go back "someday" oh and I'm going to be rich "someday" too ;)

Our first day in Coer d'Alene we braved the somewhat ornery weather and crowds and made our way to Silverwood Theme Park. This was a first for me - I think that I've decided that I like theme parks - ALOT. (So maybe Lagoon next summer? :) This is Michael's brother in law Larry (Rachelle's husband) and his son Joe on our first ride, the carousel. Joe was a trooper and held on tight the whole time, and when I say "tight" its not an overstatement. Once we started going we he latched on with white knuckles and his head practically glued to the pole. I thought that he was terrified but I must have been mistaken because he kept telling me he was having fun.

Mike's dad taking a picture of Mike's sister Rachelle and her daughter Emma.

Me and my child (oh I mean husband) Michael. :) Some of the other adults were riding the horses but we weren't fast enough to get one so we just stood. Which (I think anyways) is just about as fun. I don't really remember liking carousels much when I was younger. But I do remember begging my parents to let me ride on them.

Joe and Will (the two boys on the far right) on one of their first rides. Although this picture doesn't quite capture it, their faces transitioned from excitement to borderline terror every time the ride dropped. We all got a good laugh watching them but I'm not so sure if they were as amused as we were.

Michael and I waiting in line for Battle Zone. When Mike came with his family when he was younger he was too short for this ride so he wanted to go this time. When we got all loaded up in the tank I asked him if this fulfilled all his hopes and dreams and he said it did. (Well, he's easy to please) We were in one tank (I was up top in the turret shooting balls from an air cannon at our opponents on the other side of the fence and Michael was down below shooting water, balls, and steering) People (Mike's mom and dad) were on the other side of the tank shooting balls from air cannons at us and disabling our guns, but we were shooting at them and getting them wet. It was great fun. I think Michael could've stayed there all day!

This was one of our favorite rides - which we quickly dubbed the "log ride." We went around a track and then climbed up an incline and came rushing down and got splashed with water. You can see to the left and right of the track that there are little pipe looking things. These shot water out at the passengers when the people on the observation deck (at the left of the frame) fed the machine with quarters.  So you never knew if you were going to get doused with water or be able to make it out dry.

Well, I guess they didn't get wet this time! But we (Michael and I) went on the raft before and we sure did! (Michael has a funny story that he likes to tell about it but I'll let you ask him about it)

 

Rachelle and I were MIA for a little bit because we went to go ride the roller coasters. So we missed out on the Antique Car Ride and a few other rides the kids went on. Emma and Uncle Michael seemed to have a good time without us though. Rachelle and I had a good time on the roller coasters though. I'd never really gone on a "real" roller coaster before so we thought that we'd stay away from the upside down one for a little bit so we went on the wooden roller coaster first - well after waiting in line for 45 minutes anyways. Boy was that a mistake! I just about wet my pants! We were going soooo fast and sooo high and then all of the sudden we'd be going straight down or we'd be going way too fast around a corner. I felt like I was holding on for dear life and Rachelle's just sitting next to me and laughing the whole time. (Yeah - I felt really brave when she started doing that) I didn't know how to react. I was having fun but I couldn't even open my mouth to scream (and if you know me - that's kind of a miracle because I'm a pretty accomplished screamer if I do say so myself). In comparison to the wooden roller coaster, the upside down corkscrew one was a breeze! I wish we could've gone a few more times but with just one day in the park there were other things that we wanted to do and see.
 

One of our other favorite rides - the raft ride! Eight people buckle into the raft and then you're sent off down the river with rapids and drop offs and a good all around soaking. By the time we were done I think that I was a good seven hundred pounds heavier from all of the water.  This was before we got wet of course, I may have been a little tense right when this picture was taken. The people getting off looked pretty damp...

Mike's parents on the raft ride. Mom was smart and wore a water proof jacket. That's such a nice jacket. I bet her favorite daughter in law let her borrow it. ;) I can say that because I'm the only daughter in law she'll ever have haha.



On day two of our Coeur d' Alene trip we took a trip to a gold mine. We were able to go into the mine on a guided tour and see first hand all of the fun things (and not so fun things) that miners got to do in the gold rush days.

We had a good time but I kinda want to go back and get the other tour guide - she sure talked a lot more. Ours was more the "strong, silent, man of few words" type. Our tour guide was nice enough to take this picture with our awesome hats though :) Thanks Mr. Tour Guide Man!

At the end of the tour, they taught us how to mine for gold. A few of us found some little gold flakes but there were also plenty of garnets, quartz, and polished rocks from the gift shop that were mixed in too. This is Mike's dad and Will. Mike's dad was pretty diligent in looking for gold. By this point I think that the kids were less interested in the gold and were more excited to play in the big tubs of water.  What kid wouldn't?

Joe and Emma playing in the water. Honestly, if it were actually a warm day I would've been tempted to join them in their attempts to get soaking wet.

 Michael looking for gold. The technique of panning for gold is a lot more tricky than we originally thought but the people there were awfully patient in telling us how to do the final steps over, and over, and over ...

 

In the gift shop we found a few friends ... I think that they had been waiting a long time to meet us! haha c'mon show me some pity and laugh at my corny joke ...

 
So we were right on the lake, we walked around the lake and a few of the kids and I put our feet in the water but we didn't go fishing, we didn't go swimming, and we didn't go boating. All things to add to the to do list for "someday." But it was gorgeous to look at! We're so glad that those that could come were able to make it and hopefully next year we'll be able to get together with everyone.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake Recipe

Hey All ~
There were a few requests for the recipe of the cake I made on the last post so I thought I'd share it with everyone :) I hope yours doesn't turn out as sour as mine did! Please - tell me your secrets!!!

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, warmed to room temperature
zest from 1 large limes (about 1 T.)
1 cups + 2 Tablespoons sugar, separated
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour + 1/4 cup flour for tossing berries
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups fresh raspberries
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar

If you don't have any buttermilk, you'll want to pour 1/2 cup of milk and 1 1/2 teaspoons of vinegar together and set aside - do this first while you're putting the rest of the cake together. (This was the first time that I'd ever substituted buttermilk this way - so maybe that's why mine tasted so sour?)

Preheat oven to 350* and lightly butter a 9″ cake pan or baking dish and set aside. Blend 1/2 cup softened butter, the zest from one large lime and 1 cup of sugar together.

Add 1 egg and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and combine with the butter/lime/sugar mixture


Stir in 2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and your buttermilk mixture. Blend until thick and creamy.


**carefully** toss 3 cups of raspberries with 1/4 cup of flour - I might have been a little too vigorous in my "tossing" mine kind of ended up being mixed together instead but the raspberries were so soft it was hard to not squish them :(


Carefully fold raspberries into the batter.


Pour into cake pan or baking dish and bake for about 45- 50 minutes or until your cake is set and lightly browned on top. (Mine was in the oven for a lot longer than this and the middle was still not as done as I'd like it to be - but we were too impatient to wait any longer. It was smelling so good!) Next time I'll try a cake pan (or maybe just make cupcakes - those would be cute and easier to give away. One cake is too much for two people!)


Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (I told Mike I was going to return a book at the library and came home with ice cream - DELICIOUS!)

I hope that you don't get discouraged by my comments and attempt this recipe - I think my main problem was the raspberries being over/under ripe and possibly adding too much vinegar to the milk to make my buttermilk substitution. Can't wait to try this again with better berries and the real deal buttermilk! Happy baking everyone :)

recipe found at: http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/2011/07/simple-raspberry-buttermilk-cake.html

Oh What a Wonderful Weekend!

So, going to ward temple night definitely has its many benefits - but let's be worldy for a minute and I'll share with you some of the recent benefits of our last ward temple night. :) Sadly, it wasn't very well attended - which is actually pretty normal for any student ward in Rexburg during a break between semesters. Needless to say we had the rare opportunity to have some almost one on one time with our very busy dear bishop. While we were talking he invited us to come out and ride his horses "sometime" so we asked if the following Monday would be okay (this happened on a Thursday evening). I don't think he was expecting such a rapid scheduling but we made plans and left for the temple with our bellies full of tasty pizza and fruit punch (I might be exagerating on the "tasty" part but I think Michael thouroughly enjoyed it) and the anticipation of a fun day off for me and actually doing something not laundry/shopping/housework related. Oh - I was one happy girl!

So then Monday rolled around and it rained. Well, maybe that's not the right word - IT POURED!!! Buckets, sheets, cats, dogs the whole nine yards. But we decided that we could survive and headed to Idaho Falls anyways. Needless to say I was bummed and was singing "Rain rain go away" in my head all morning and Michael well - he was in heaven. I don't know how many times he told me, "this reminds me of Washington" or "I miss Washington" or something to that affect. I decided that I could be grateful for the rain if it makes Michael and the farmers happy.

Bishop and Sister Sparks made us a great breakfast - blueberry waffles, eggs, and cow sausage from her dad's ranch. Yum! Just what we needed on a damp (or drenched) rainy day. They were getting ready for a trip to California so Bishop saddled up Felice and Buck and pointed which direction to go and we were on our way.

Michael and Felice had a great time .... once they figured out who was boss. (I'm not sure if they ever really did ;) Bishop warned us that she'd be a handfull and when I asked Michael which one he wanted he chose Felice - so we spent a good chunk of time waiting for them to get acquainted. (Michael may have been more patient with Felice than I was with the both of them). But we had a good time anyway :) Buck and I probably could've wandered the hills behind the Bishop's house for hours but Michael and Felice were ready to call it a day (and we had shopping to do in Idaho Falls etc. etc.) p.s. sorry there aren't any pictures of me and Buck - can you guess who had the camera? :)

After we had finished riding, the Sparks' let us pick some raspberries to take home. Let me just say - this process is so much easier when its a little chilly and rainy and there isn't a bee in sight! We came home with some pretty tasty berries!

What to do with all these yummy berries? I made buttermilk raspberry cake with vanilla icecream. It was absolutely delicious - it *almost* tasted like hot cobbler from the dutch oven - almost. I'm not so sure if I added enough sugar, or maybe some of our raspberries weren't quite ripe because every once in a while we'd get a really sour bite - maybe next time I'll add a little more sugar and actually use a round cake pan (that I don't own - haha) instead of a round casserole dish. Probably would make a HUGE difference and I bet the center still wouldn't be gooey after an eternity in the oven! We used the rest of the raspberries to make a raspberry vinagrette this past weekend when we had a pot luck BBQ with the neighbors, pretty tasty salad if you ask me! :)

More to come soon! We have pictures from Northern Idaho with Mike's family that I need to add. Just trying to stay on top of things ... I know - I know, failing miserably! I don't have to work this Saturday (that's a first with the exceptions of Holidays/Vacations in probably almost a year!) Oh to stay home on a Saturday, a luxury that I never knew until now.

Wishing you all the best!

p.s. Don't tell Michael but I've already started putting a few things together for Christmas - can't wait! :)

Remembering Trek ...

This past Sunday as part of our Family Reunion/ 60th Wedding Anniversary festivities for my dad's parents in Boise, we all got to go to church with Grandma and Grandpa. Lucky for us, it happened to be Fast and Testimony meeting. The Meridian 5th Ward had just returned from their Pioneer Trek a few weeks earlier and we were still hearing of their wonderful experiences. I feel blessed that we were able to attend.
Since then, I've been feeling grateful for the opportunity that I had to go on trek with our Stake in July of 2006 and for the time and energy that so many of our stake and ward leaders put forth in the planning and preparation for that sacred experience. The more that I've reflected on this experience the more I've come to know how truly involved the Lord is in our lives.
For our Stake, trek was held the week following my father's death. I remember after my dad's accident I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to travel to Wyoming to participate, I was still so much of a mess and I did best when I was at home curled up in my bed, trying to sleep through the grief that follows losing a loved one.In the end, I decided to go. How grateful I am now for that decision!
I don't remember very many specifics about trek. I couldn't tell you what we ate, where we slept or how many hours it took to get to Martin's Cove - let alone how many days we were there. But I do remember a few things. I remember leaving the church on the first day and leaving my newly widowed mother behind, thinking that this must've been what it was like for younger generations to leave those who wouldn't make it across the plains. I knew we would be back in a few days but at this point in my life, I remember feeling like I'd be gone from the safety and security of my own home for years. I remember in Dan's Cove where so many had lost their lives we were told that because of the harsh winter conditions, the families were unable to bury their dead in the frozen ground so they laid their loved ones to rest in the trees so the wolves couldn't get to them. I remember the reality of the Mormon Battalion when the Pa's and Young Men were called off to war and left their families behind - I felt that this part wasn't a reenactment for me and my family ... it was real. It was during this one section of trail when us girls were left to fend for ourselves that trek became a tender mercy for me. At the end of this section, we had to push our heavy handcarts up a large, steep, nasty hill with deep sand and rocks. I remember thinking to myself that as a trek "family", with everyone working together this hardship would've been a piece of cake. We had strong boys that could help us push through the sand and a ma and pa that could work together to encourage us to carry on. But the Lord had other plans, the men were needed elsewhere and we were left to fend for ourselves.
As the first few handcarts made their way up to reunite with their pa's and brothers at the top of the hill it was a struggle for the sisters and ma's but it was also a struggle for the pa's and brothers who were left to watch from the hill top above. It was as if there was nothing they could do to help us. Then they started to sing. They couldn't help push our heavy burdens but they could encourage us and they could give us strength, just as our Father in Heaven helps all of us to get through our trials. Just as my own father was trying to help and encourage me from his place beyond the veil.
These experiences, and a few others are most of what I remember from my trek experience - but these are the experiences that have meant the most to me in my life and that have continued to help me through my trials and short comings. I am so grateful that our stake decided to make more of an effort to focus on the spiritual trials and hardships of our pioneer ancestors instead of using the trek as a way for us to understand what it was like to not wear deodorant, brush our teeth, or eat the same meager rations that the pioneers were grateful to have. Many people have been on trek, all have had different experiences that have touched their lives in some way or another, I'm not saying one way is right and another is wrong or that any one way is better than another but my trek experience was right for me and the Lord was with me as we crossed the sandy plains of Wyoming. He was there and he comforted me, just as he had comforted the saints so many years before.

"... Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
'Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward
If we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;
And soon we'll have this tale to tell-
All is well! All is well! ... "
(Come, Come, Ye Saints, Hymn #30)


"... “Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed!
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand..."
(How Firm a Foundation, Hymn #85)

Happy Father's Day!

As a day for remembering our Fathers and all our Father Figures we just want to send out a HUGE thank you for all of the special men in our lives!

Father's Day for us was pretty uneventful. We had a nice visit with our new home teachers and then when they left I got busy making Mike's father's day present ... a banana cream pie! (I'm not a huge fan of bananas but Mike loves them so I thought it was a fitting "not quite a father" father's day gift) I made a crust from vanilla wafers and decided to try out a new recipe for the filling - it was delicious (and super easy)! We're so glad that our friends Dan and Ashley were able to come over and enjoy it with us.

Looks tasty - right? I may have made the novice mistake of buying WAY too many bananas. I thought the recipe called for seven bananas, not four and I originally planned on making two and having more friends over but everyone already had other plans. Oh, and we got bananas in our Bountiful Basket on Saturday. I sense that several batches of banana bread will be part of our near future. 

 

 

  
(Don't tell Mike I put his pie on the ground to take a picture of it)

As promised, here are a few pictures of our garden! Please excuse the little hooligan weeds that refuse to stay out of our designated garden area.

Our carrots are finally coming up! They're still to small to see (they're in the row closest to the camera) Hopefully we'll get some tasty food!

What I'm most excited about - STRAWBERRIES!!! Hopefully we'll be able to keep the pesky birds out of them. I can only stand guard and chase them all away for so long. Our neighbor suggested investing in a net - any suggestions?

Someone spiked our lettuce!

Question of the Day: what is this plant? I went out to dump our grass clippings last week and found this little beauty (haha - it's pretty big compared to the rest of our garden). There was the shell of some kind of gourd or squash next to it so maybe it's a volunteer from some kind of discarded produce? Or maybe it's just a monstrous weed!

Catching Up!

Ok - so here's a brief update of our life recently. If it looks familiar to some of you that's because it's the same email that I sent out a few days ago. Enjoy!

Hello Family and Friends!


Just thought that I'd take the time to write everyone to let you know that we're still alive :) We are :) We've had some worries about floods in our area but we aren't close enough to any of the major water ways for it to be a problem for us. Our garden (as well as the weeds) are starting to come up - we should have spinach before much longer YUM! (A huge thanks to Mike's parents for helping him plant the garden while they were here over Memorial Day weekend and I was stuck at work - hopefully by some very substantial miracle I'll manage to keep at least some of it alive long enough to eat some of it.

Michael is getting into the swing of things for the new semester (which is probably a good thing because midterms were last week). He's doing quite well in all of his classes, he was a little worried about his Sports Med class but that seems to be the least of his worries now. He's staying busy with work (loading trucks in the early AM for FedEx and Sports First Aider through the school) as well as with homework. (I'm trying to be a good sport about all of these picture taking outings but three hours of exposure time for one photo is a lot of patience for this girl!) I've officially been approved as a University Studies Major (about time for me just to settle down and pick something - right mom?) So I'll be graduating in April 2012 with a minor in Home and Family Living, a minor in Marriage and Family Studies, and a cluster in Interpersonal Communication. I'm looking into becoming a Certified Family Life Educator so hopefully additional classes won't push back graduation any further. For right now though I'm working full time, still as a receptionist at Rigby Chevrolet. Definitely never a dull moment around here. Anyways, just thought I'd give you an update on life around here since I've been neglecting our blog. (which I've resolved to be better about ... maybe ....) So all of you people are now holding me accountable for doing so. You can check it out at www.keepingupwiththefeiks.blogspot.com Maybe I'll get Michael to post some of his photo assignments for you. Hope you're all having a great week!

Love,

Lara and Michael


P.S. Mike gave me a brief lesson on how to use his super fancy camera with lots of buttons so hopefully one of these days (after I've weeded) I'll post some wonderful pictures of our garden.

President's Day Weekend!

Ok, we failed. I had the goal of taking pictures this weekend. The camera was even present, but we either neglected to use it or we forgot the memory card at home in Michael's computer where it was so very helpful. So here's an overview of what we did this weekend ... minus pictures. (Sorry!)
Lara's brother Justin came and stayed with us this weekend. It wasn't very eventful. He pulled into town just in time for dinner on Friday night. We ate dinner, watched a movie that we borrowed from our friends Dan and Ashley. (Despicable Me - one of our favorites!) Reasons why it's our favorite: "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" "What are you warming up for?" "I shrink the moon, I grab the moon, I sit on the toilet bowl... what?" "That book was accidentally destroyed maliciously..." Definitely a MUST SEE if you haven't seen it already, and if you have seen it - definitely worth watching again! After Mike and I had practically slept through the last half hour of the movie (it was way past our bedtime!) we all went to sleep. Well, Mike and I went to sleep - not so sure how late little brother stayed up.
Saturday we attempted to sleep in. I think Mike and I were up at seven (so much for sleeping in!) I went to work for a few hours and then took off a few hours early so we could go to lunch with the Deason's. Some Feik family friends who were in town dropping their son off for classes up at Badger Creek. We had a nice visit, it was great to see them again. (Now I'm scheming on how we can make it to the Oregon Coast to rent a weekend at their cute little beach house!) After lunch the three of us went and picked up some ammunition so we could go shooting with some friends on Monday. We also took Justin to see all of the new and exciting things on campus. I think we must have walked around for at least an hour (maybe two - or maybe I was just tired by that point in the day) The rest of the afternoon/evening the boys spent on the XBOX or on their computers and I spent some time updating our blog and trying to get some homework done. Nothing too exciting.
Sunday morning we failed in our attempts to sleep in (yet again - I'm thinking Mike's work schedule has really been a lifestyle change for us). We ate yummy pancakes, blueberry muffins, and orange juice for breakfast. I debated whether or not to call a substitute for nursery because I've been sick the past few days. (If I were one of the nursery kids I would've sent me back to my parents) I went anyways - I'm sure that the parents LOVED having a sick nursery leader in with their kids. (I'm not so certain that I didn't get it from one of them last week to tell you the truth). Nursery was great as far as the kids go. We had a great time and they were as squirrelly as ever towards the end just like they usually are, but we still had a good time. I think that they even paid more attention to the lesson this time (even though they did destroy all of my visual aides - why did I think it was a good idea to let them hold them?) No matter, they were just printed pictures from online. I think that I've decided that sometimes the hardest part about nursery is dealing with the parents, but I think that's to be expected. The boys went to their regular meetings and then we met up for sacrament meeting. After church we got ready to have friends over for dinner.
For Thanksgiving, I got a ham from work. Much too big for just Mike and I. So we invited people over to eat with us. It was fun. Afterward we played one of Mike's favorite games - BANG! (Don't tell Mike this but I think I actually enjoyed it this time around :) Needless to say we stayed up much too late.
Monday morning Mike went to work and Justin and I slept in. By the time that Mike got home I was awake and it was proving to be very difficult to go back to sleep. So we watched Netflix on the laptop. Can't remember the last time I stayed in bed that long! We made rice pudding for breakfast around TEN! I can't believe that eating that late used to be normal for us! I did homework while Justin packed up his stuff (I think that he packed more than a teenage girl would!) and Mike read his book and tried to take a nap. Justin left Rexburg around 1:30 to meet up with Mom and Grandparents in Burley who were visiting family in Utah. We left shortly after to go shooting with Chris and Summer. It was fun. My shoulder is a little stiff though and I think that shooting the pistol inflamed my carpel tunnel yet again. But it was totally worth it - I actually hit the can a few times, which I consider to be a great accomplishment. Overall it was a great weekend but it is definitely leaving us wanting warmer weather!

Labor Day Weekend

Over Labor Day weekend we went with some of our friends up to Yellowstone. I'd never been so it was quite the adventure. Since it's been so long ago I decided just to post a few pictures instead of trying to remember all the details - but it was fun and we're so grateful we have such great friends that will let us tag along with them!

I think that there were five cows (female elk) that were along the bank that day, but this is one of my favorite pictures of all the ones that Mike took of them.