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.