Last fall we went and visited our temple here in Boise (well, we’ve gone many times, but these pictures are from the fall).
Emma was so cute. She regularly has paper and pencil with her so she can draw, or take notes, or make journal entries. And there’s Ben with the flowers. These pictures represent them perfectly.
This is one of Adam’s favorite parts of the architecture of our temple. We have many pictures of these arches.
Awe, what cute kids.
Adam was working on replacing our faucet in the kitchen. Of course the boys had to help.
Spencer is getting his work face on. “Don’t mess with me. I’m tough!”
“Oh wait, this is my real work face.” And that is really how quickly he can go from grumpy to happy (and visa versa).
What good helpers! I’m sure this project was completed much quicker because of Ben and Spencer’s assistance.
Good work strong boy! I sure love my guys.
Last summer Adam and I took Emma to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. There is a small local theater company here called the Starlight Mountain Theater. During the summer they put on a few musicals in the mountains in an outdoor theater. Emma loves musicals, and especially Joseph, so we were excited for this chance. Unfortunately we didn’t take many pictures (sorry).
Here’s Emma (cheesy grin included) eating out on our trip. I think she really liked having Mom and Dad all to herself for a little while.
Here’s Adam and Emma waiting for the show to start. Take a close look at Emma’s coat! When we were visiting my parents last summer I had told my mom that we were going to go see Joseph later in the summer. And so she made Emma her very own technicolor coat! What an amazing mom! Emma absolutely loved it! I wanted so badly to get a picture of Emma and Joseph together after the show, but she was not going for that idea. Oh well. We still had such a great time.
Ben really likes taking pictures, or at least just using the camera. So it cracks me up when we come across a whole string of pictures on the camera that we’ve never seen, and which usually don’t make any sense.
Of course there is usually a self portrait (or many).
You’ll notice a few feet pictures. I guess that’s a nice close subject for him to photograph. And then a bunch of just random other pictures. It’s fun for me to see what he thinks is interesting.
I’m glad the family will pose for him when he comes around.
We have a pretty good zoo here. The kids love to go. It seems like we end up going usually a couple of times a year. Here are just some pictures of our trip there last fall.
Everyone had their own idea of where to go first!
No, that’s not a real Komodo Dragon that Spencer is standing on. But they do have a real one here that is this size!
My what big ears you have!
I think within the last year they added a brand new section on to the zoo. They call it the African Safari (or something to that effect). There is now a jungle cruise boat ride you can take; two giraffes; and lions! It is a really fun new area.
The elephant Ben is standing in front of is baby elephant statue thing that sprays water out of his trunk periodically. That’s why Spencer’s hair is wet in his picture.
Emma is really good at pulling out loose teeth, but not as quick at growing them back in! In this picture I think she has 5 teeth that are trying to grow in.
Okay, so this is a bit more current of a picture. And I know it’s hard to see, but she is actually starting to grow more teeth! Hurrah! It’s awfully hard for a kid to eat with almost no front teeth. We’ve seen a lot of gnawing with her side molars for many, many months.
We took the family camping last summer for the first time. We went to the same place that the boys go for Father and Sons. It’s a little far, but it is so beautiful.
Of course, we had to practice in the back yard first.
We found a great site that was near the little river. The water was pretty cold, but we all had so much fun wading in the water and playing in the sand.
And then of course sitting around the camp fire and roasting marshmallows is a must. It amazes me how naturally the boys take to “tending” the fire. They were constantly making sure it had enough wood, and adding sticks they collected as needed.
And lastly, it was so neat for the kids to be able to see a real owl that night. I know it’s hard to see in this picture, but it is sitting at the very top of the tallest tree. We heard it calling and saw it swoop to the ground a couple of times. And the kids had to take the opportunity to practice their owl calls to a real owl! They were so cute I could hardly stand it! We had such a great time and we can’t wait to go camping more this summer too.
