Christmas Tree Adventure...

The Turner Family invited us along to head up Kelly Canyon and cut down our own Christmas tree this year. So we packed our families together (which included 7 kids) and headed on up!

We were are pretty excited. We parked at the ski lodge and were told to hike till you found the tree you wanted... sounds pretty simple right?.....

First, this little girl really thought she should walk the whole way (can I just say BABY steps!) and wouldNOT wear her gloves... hence her hands in the pocket, which, by the way, make her baby steps even smaller...

This is Lisa Turner and yes, that is a 5 month old baby she carried ALL day!!

Macey and Austin...

There we go!

Why kids love eating snow I'll never know, but it's a good thing. We took off about noon on this hike and didn't get back till 5... so it's a good thing they had something to snack on and hydrate them at the same time!

Still walking. A little further than we had anticipated...

Macey and her good friend Nolan...

Baby Bennett... AKA ROCKSTAR! This kid did not make a peep the whole time... oh, except for the time I told Macey to stop throwing snow at Lisa and so she threw it right in Bennett's face instead, but otherwise... nothing!!

Hiking to find a tree off the trail...

Right before the snow in the face incident!

Wanting to hike up to took for a tree with his Daddy...

There they are! Unfortunately, this hike didn't get us a tree. Do you see how high that snow is? You sink wast deep with every step!

So Matt decided he was going to see if the truck could make it up the trail and head to the top to turn around and look for trees...

The rest of us waited and prayed he'd make it back and not get stuck! Which he finally did! So Jeremy and Matt (and Macey somehow got in there!) headed up to look for trees while the kids...

rested from their long walk by making snow forts! (Whatever entertains, right?!)

Jacer!

Austin!

Lisa and I finally decided they must have gotten stuck somewhere, so we headed back to the ski logde and boy were we happy to get there! There was a fire and it was just nice to get back inside someplace warm for a bit!

And not too long after us, the guys made it down with 2 trees! I'd been seriously thinking the worst. That they were stuck up there and they'd come walking down and the whole day just woulda been a bust... but nope, Matt and Jeremy pulled it off and we were SO grateful!

Best part of it all was on the ride home, Marin says, "This will be a day I will never forget!"

Mission Accomplished!!

We loveingly refer to it as our "Charlie Brown Christmas bush", but we love it! It took a lot of work to get this baby but well worth it! :)

Why............................

So I thought she was "taking care of some business" in the other room... guess not the kind of "business" I was thinking of!

after I took this she says, "tute pictcher" = cute picture!

Halloween....

Oh the Halloween festivities. So this year Jace was Darth Vader...

Marin was An American Idol Rock Star...

We had a primary carnival and the face painting and games were so fun!

Gotta brag, the YW were in charge of the face painting, go girls!

We LOVE, no, our kids LOVE carving pumpkins...

Chad Barker's impressive getup at the carnival...

LOVED this!

Our neighbor Shelby trick or treating...

We had Grandma San's annual Halloween party...

Oh yes, and Macey HATED her costume... we were lucky to get this picture!

Lady Gaga and Cave Man, yeah!

Queen of Hearts and the cutest little witch...

Grandma's party is always FULL of fun games and we just love this tradition, thanks grandma!

Macey might have hated dressing up, but she LOVED getting "cawni" from everyone she met. Halloween with kids this age is actually becoming one of my favorites. I love how excited they are to dress up. Who knew a holiday I used to think we could do with out is actually becoming a favorite?!?!

New Sleep Remedy...

Having trouble sleeping? Try this!

It's Back...

Cinnamon Hot Chocolate at Maverick. It's sooo good. I'm drinking one right now... yummmmmmm!

I feel it my human responsibility...

To let you all know about a product that works the way it says it will work. Now, we all do this. Whether we want to admit it or not. Whether we stay home, have a job, are women or mothers or single bachelors. Some do it more than others, but the point is, at one time or another, we all have to mop. Some like it, some hate it. But it just comes with the territory of being human and living in spaces. So give this wonderful new mop a try. It's a spray mop that actually sprays and the microfiber scrub clothe is awesome. I did have to put some elbow grease action in, but it took off a spill of spaghetti sauce that had been sitting under the table for two days (no, I don't mop my floors every day like every other mother in America, I know...shocker!) . The swivel head let me get into every crevasse and angle possibly needed. Anyway, here's my shout out for the new Rubbermaid Reveal Mop. Give it a try and you will be so happily surprised!

Portland!

This Past weekend we headed to Portland, OR to see Aunt Teresa and Uncle Josh. It was an 11 hour drive (one way!) but so totally worth it! We crammed a lot into 2 days so here is just a little recap of our adventure:

We started out at 6:30 am and stopped in Twin Falls at a the Perrine Bridge...

We had a quick breakfast and got some wiggles out...



and were off again...

For lunch we stopped at a rest area in Ontario, gateway city of Oregon. We were VERY happy to get out and stretch and run for an hour...

Look, already it's so much greener than in Idaho!

We finally made it that evening! Josh and Teresa have done A TON of renovating on this place and it looks fantastic! They even painted the outside and I'm seriously considering stealing this color...

There was so much foliage and greenery and plants... we did a lot of walking around the city and there was just so much to see... We also LOVED all the big spider webs and spiders!

We hit the coast at a place called Cannon Beach. It was windy but it didn't rain and it's just gorgeous!

We had a lot of fun at the beach...

Well, some of us did... Macey hated about every minute of it. She hated the wind (sorry you live in SEastern Idaho babe!) DID NOT like the ice cold water or sand... She was ready to leave pretty much the second we got there!

These TWO loved it! They didn't even wait to change into shorts before hitting the water, which yes, a bit later they were FREEZING!

Just outside of Portland is a place you may know if you watch TLC's Little People Big World. We had to stop and check out their pumpkin patch...

I LOVED getting a picture with Mr. Matt Roloff! We're fans!!

They had a lot to do at the Roloff Farm, even had a baby tiger and lion at one end in cages you could see...

Now that is a pumpkin patch!

While walking around Portland we hit the Rose Gardens...

They were beautiful, just look what a little water can do!?!

Of course right next to this sign is a sign saying there is a $600.00 fine for picking the roses... I turn around and what does Miss Macey have in her hand? A big beautiful pink rose! We put it back, so please don't tell!

We climbed on a lot of bridges. This is an extremely old and VERY high one. I had vertigo every time I looked over the edge and just about had an anxiety attack every time Jace jumped to "get a better look"! The height didn't seem to bother some...

These are out of order... Farmers market again... she fit right in!

Saturday Farmer's Market in downtown. Rain does not deter anyone around here.

Just look at that produce! We had some salsa that night with some of it and it was delicious.

The Rose Gardens...

The infrastructure in Portland is awesome! There are MANY bridges and I think we stopped at quite a few of them.

This place was called The Saturday Market. It's like a flea market, Marin had a BALL spending her money getting little trinkets and bracelets...

We were so unprepared for this type of weather. We only have hoodies, no rain coats or rain boots... next time we will be better prepared, and we'll bring more than 2 umbrellas!

About 30 miles out of Portland is Multnomah Falls. It was pouring but it was just beautiful!! And do they know how to make steamers in Oregon or what?!?! I had some of the best I have ever had in my life there. I had one at a little shop here in town the other day and it did not even compare, serisouly!!!!!

We had such a blast. Thank U Josh and Teresa for having us stay and spending the weekend with us. We are still talking about that pie, Josh, for real!!!! We Love Portland!