Our "School is Out!" Road Trip

To celebrate the end of the school year we took a 4 state road trip in 4 days.  Starting in Idaho we headed west into Oregon.  We stayed at a lodge in Ashland, OR the first night.  Here is Bowen standing with the goats at the lodge.  They also had baby bunnies!

 The next day we made it into California.  This was all the kids' first time to CA.

 The main destination on our trip was the Redwoods.

 Everything is big in Redwood country.

 Paul Bunyan is big.

 And so are the trees.

 We all had fun exploring the forest and reading facts about the huge trees.  We even got to drive through one.  Our car barely fit.

 I can appreciate God's handiwork in many landscapes and places on earth, but the Redwoods are especially spectacular at showcasing God's awesome power.  Those are some mighty big trees!

It's Snowing!

We had our first snow fall today.

And it's still coming down out there.

Bowen will have to go back out and shovel the porch again.

Alaina's Happy Birthday

 Did you realize my little Alaina is now 12?  We celebrated with her a couple of ways this year.  Frozen yogurt with Grandma and Grandpa, some homemade caramel apples later, and yummy chocolate earthquake cake and 12 candles the next day.  Delicious.

Here she is with some of her loot.  Happy Birthday Alaina!  

We love you.

Hayride, Pumpkin Craving and Costume Catch-up

 Playing catch-up with some October pictures!  

 We had a local youth group over to our house for a hayride a couple days before Halloween.

It was chilly that night and we followed it up with a roaring fire in our newly finished fire pit.  And hot dogs.  And s'mores, of course.

We had fun carving pumpkins at the last minute.  The girls worked a long time on their detailed carvings.

We had many activities on Halloween night - a barn party,

some trick-or-treating,

 and some visiting of family.

 Fun times!

At the Lagoon

 We took the kids to the Lagoon last weekend.  What's the Lagoon?  An amusement park in Utah.

 It was the kids' first time in the state of Utah.

 We had a fun time, especially in the morning when the lines weren't as long.

My camera batteries were low so I only got these few pics at the beginning of the day, but they are some classics!

It's October!!

 I love fall!  That brisk breeze and all the beautiful colors!  We went to the corn maze last week and had lots of fun. 

 We didn't find our way all the way through the maze.  We gave up early and headed back to check out all the other fun stuff they had there.

 They had a corn pit (like a sandbox but instead of sand, lots of corn!)  There are still pieces of corn falling out of the dryer when I wash the kids' clothes.

 Tires swings, a cow train, and a pioneer village too!

 And lots of pumpkins!

 Some really big pumpkins!!

Emily and Alaina were with us, but we went the same time as the youth group so they were with friends and I didn't get any pics of them - something they were probably quite happy about.

Corn Harvest!

 It was time to harvest the corn about a week ago.  The kids were excited to be a part of the process and get to ride the "corn picker".

 The boys rode for quite awhile with Ryan too who was discing the field.  They haven't gotten tired of tractors yet!

Byron was driving the corn picker and he let Rylan and Emily try their hand at driving.   Thankfully he didn't let Bowen get a hold of the wheel.