Halloween 2012

TRICK OR TREAT!!

(doctor & a cupcake)

Josh & Jake just before heading out with their friends, unaccompanied by any adults.  

Milestone year for sure.

Jake, AKA Mike, or Micheal Jackson.

They were actually asking to come home...they had enough candy.  Think I will ever hear that again? 

The gangster.  We realized this morning, he only has one more year to trick-or-treat.  

He's getting so old!

Annie was the official candy-hander-outer.  She had a few friends over, and they were candy Nazi's.  If you were not in costume, they only gave a sticker.  and if the kids didn't say trick or treat, they just stared at the kid until they did. I purposely left the camera on the table by them, thinking they would take some pictures of themselves, but they didn't.  

We had gorgeous weather, and went out in sweatshirts.  That is almost unheard of here in Idaho.  We had a great night.  The countdown has begun until the night I go through their candy bags and stash 1/2 of what they picked up!  Enjoy it while you can.  Ha-ha-ha-ha.

Fruits of the season...

We love planting a garden.  And although we succeed at some things, we utterly fail at others. 

Pretty amazing that you can put a little seed into the ground, and after a little TLC, this is what you get. 

Thank goodness for all of our neighbors who answer the door when my kids come around with the squash wagon. And thank goodness for Bob & Karleen and their green house and that they supply us with all the things that we don't get to grow.

Just had to include this one.  This was a babysitter-Annie project, that she did with some other kids, and then with her siblings.  After it sat in the kitchen for two weeks, this is where this "rock"-in lady ended up...

  The back step waiting for the flowers to pour over her.

I guess planting can help draw a pretty good parallel for life too.  It really is true that you reap what you sow.  And a little TLC, or hard work, and it pays off.

First Day of School Photos...2012

With some things, "better late than never" is just an excuse.  But in this case, "better late than never" is just reality for me.  Happens to be one of those nights, when I don't have a "fire" burning...
So here are the pictures from at least a month ago...  (really where does my time go?)

Can't believe this is her last year at middle school...High school next year, REALLY???

She's so excited to be the big kid going to school again this year.  

And lucky me, she rides..and LOVES, the bus (and her wonderful bus driver, Ms Robin)

She's excited to go to school...and still excited to come home.  I'll enjoy it while it lasts, because I know it won't last forever!!

Man, I feel old...

What happens when you have kissing tonsils?

Why you have a tonsillectomy of course!

He didn't seem to nervous at all...pretty trusting...

Pre-op.  He said we could only take a picture if we never showed anyone.  Oops.

Smile now, wait for pain to hit later.

 Drugs make me feel a little dizzy...and sleepy.

Oh, what nice sisters and brother for their well wishes.

Oh, and don't forget to eat lots of popsicles.  His voice is a little higher, but we're pretty used to it now.  He can breath a lot better, and as it was said just the other day, when we go to the cabin again with all the cousins, no one is going to complain about sleeping with Jake in the bunk room, because he doesn't snore anymore!

Redfish...for Miranda

They missed you!

Redfish Lake continued...

Here's my sister, taking the hook out of the fish--okay, really she is yanking the hook out of the fish, and probably his guts too.  Thanks Dad for lessons learned when he doesn't have any boys, and did pretty darn good by his girls.

 

They are learning well!

Every good fisherman needs somebody to handle the gear!!

How many pictures do I have of myself, in my swimsuit, carrying water in buckets up the beach?

Everybody loves the beach!!

If at first you don't succeed in getting one (just one) good family picture, try, try again.  And we tried, and tried, and finally got one. 

After jumping off the dock...

Yes, sadly, Annie will probably outgrow me soon.

Breakfast at the lodge, with Grandma and Grandpa. 

In all the years I've come here, this was the very first time i have ever eaten at the lodge.  Thanks Great Grandma and Grandpa. 

New tradition started this year...paddleboat war.  I will come better prepared next year!

How many can fit?

We just keep adding more!

Can't help swimming when the water is this warm.

AAhh, it feels good to be clean!

My Happy Place

Everyone has one...that place they imagine when someone asks you to imagine your favorite place in the world, or the place you think of when the going gets rough, and you wish more than anything they could escape to that one place where everything is wonderful.  Mine is Redfish Lake.

I've been going there for more summers than I can count.  My parent used to load us up in the van, pack us in, and we would go and camp for 7 to 10 days.  I still can't figure out how they got all of us there, our tent, sleeping stuff, clothes, coats (anyone who goes to Redfish know that even in August you bring your coat), our cooking supplies and our food!!  Amazing!  And we did it year after year, after year. 

And now I do it with my kids.  Granted, we've gone to every other year now(...there's lots of really awesome places to see in this world).  And we rent a trailer--it makes it so, so, so much easier camping with 5 kids.  But, we still cook outside over the camp chef, we have our campfire at night, and we bathe in the hot springs a couple miles down the road.  We spend our days living in our swimsuits on the beach, riding our bikes everywhere we go, visiting the lodge for our dessert, and putting our sweatshirt and pants on at the days end. 

This is my Grandpa.  He's the one who started it all--for us anyway, I guess the real credit can go to his parents.  When he was a boy, his parents would bring their whole family up to the Salmon River, where they would fish, and fish and fish.  And on the banks, his mother would be canning the fish for their winter storage.  They would spend weeks at a time.  And then they would go home.  So, I suppose some of the fishing stories might have some fact to them after all.  when my grandpa gets with his 3 brothers, they can sure tell them!  My grandpa taught his sons about all the best fishing holes, who in turn passed it down to their sons, and now my dad is passing it on to my sons.  

This is my Grandma.  She's the one who keeps us all coming.  Not that any of us need much convincing.  We all love the Salmon River and Redfish Lake as much as my grandparents do.

And the best part about is that I get to come to my "favorite place" with some of my favorite people.  This is only mine and Megan's families. Melissa and her family couldn't stay the whole time, and we missed Miranda and Sarah althogether, but guess what--we'll be back!

It is so hard to get a family picture with my kids.  I'm pouting a little bit to see if I can get them to behave!

If you pinch them hard enough...

I love these kayaks out at the docks...love, love love the colors.

I love that my kids get to strengthen relationships with all of our "favorite people". 

 I love Redfish Lake because it is simple.  This year I challenged my family to leave all of their electronic gadgets at home.  We didn't bring IPods, or IPads, and Jon only checked his cell phone twice a day.  What a relaxed pace we lived, and we were refreshed when we came home, every one of us. 

See next post for more photos...