Happy Birthday, Dad!

Tomorrow is my Dad's birthday. I respect him so much and am so thankful for him.

I am thankful for his commitment to the gospel. He has an unwavering testimony and is always working to strengthen his testimony, and increase his knowledge of the gospel.

My favorite thing about him is his pursuit for knowledge and truth, especially his amazing gift of being able to discern between truth and error. His example has taught me to love learning, and to always look for what is right and true in everything.

(My very first flowers, from Dad, of course.)

I have never heard him speak unkindly about my Mom. One of my favorite memories is when I overheard him describe my Mom as “a jewel” to one of his friends. I was able to grow up with that wonderful loving example, and then marry someone who treats me with the same kindness. I have been surrounded by “good men” my entire life, and I know that is a rare gift in today’s world.

My Dad is a wonderful Grandpa. From “airplane rides” for all the babies, to fishing trips for my boys, he's made wonderful memories and traditions in each of my children's lives.
My Dad is a stellar example of treating your body as a gift, and eating in a healthy way. He truly enjoys healthy eating. (I really could have done without the mint flavored cod liver oil, though…)

My Dad and I

I love you Dad! Have a Happy Birthday!

My little sister is engaged!

Yes, Lisa lou is engaged! You can see a picture of her ring on her blog: http://lisaloulife.blogspot.com/

She's marrying this cute cowboy:

We're all so excited! Congratulations, Lisa & Preston!

Here are some picture memories of Lisa:

I think this picture looks a lot like Abby.

We're excited to have Preston as part of the family!

Lisa is so loved by all of us.

Preston is marrying one of the neatest people ever.

Abby's silly smile

Abby always makes this funny face now when she wants to smile. We love it! She has the funniest expressions. She chatters all the time now, usually baby language, but she stumbles across real words all the time & surprises us. She tells us "no, no" now, and sings her own little version of the chorus of "I am a child of God"

umm me..

muh me..

walk mmm me... (she says "walk" really clearly, and all this is to the correct tune)

Green Canyon 2009

We just returned from one of the funnest years ever at Green Canyon!

Andrew and Zach loved swimming. I made them wear their life jackets the whole time even though I know they'd learn to be good swimmers faster without them. I just didn't feel comfortable watching eight kids in the pool by myself! (Not that I really have to "watch" the oldest four, but I did feel nervous with the four youngest.)

Here they are watching the swim lessons, and waiting patiently for them to end so they could go swimming!

Courtney got a great teacher this year, a girl who was in our ward in Rexburg. Courtney really improved a lot in her swimming skills. She was determined to pass her level this year! During free swim time, she was such a sweet sister and spent almost the whole time teaching Zachary swimming lessons. By the end of the week, he could doggy-paddle around, float on his back, etc. Courtney is a great teacher & a wonderful big sister!

Mallory during one of her lessons. She was wearing a life jacket so they could practice going off the diving board. Mallory refused to go off the board. She was much braver this year than last, though. Maybe she'll pass level one someday! On Friday she finally decided she wouldn't attend lessons anymore. We tried to get her to go to the last lesson on Saturday morning, but she came down with a bad stomach pain until after the lesson was over. She loved swimming during free time, however.


Aliysa absolutely loved her lessons, the fun friends, capture the flag, water basketball, hiking, doing facials with her friends, etc. She didn't want the week to end.

Spencer was a little fish, as usual. He passed off his level with flying colors. You can see Mallory in this picture, getting as far away from the edge as she can to make sure her teacher wouldn't get her to jump off the edge.

Andrew loved camping. And my prayers were answered, he was kept safe all week.

Abby climbed out of the motor home whenever the door was open, so she could play in the area of dirt just outside the door. She was covered in dirt all week.

Jace did well in his lessons, he passed level 5

Zachary loved the whole experience

Aliysa would just go, go, go all day. One day she was in the pool from 9:00 am until 7:00 pm. taking lessons, and playing water basketball. She finally remembered to eat around 7pm.

Part of that time she spent in the freezing cold soak pool. One of her friends, E.J., sat in the pool for 7 minutes. So, she had to sit in it longer than him, and she stayed in for 15 minutes. The next day he sat in it for 20 minutes, and then she stayed in for 22 minutes. The next day they both conveniently forgot to challenge each other because they didn't want to face it again. Brrrr!

Jace settling down for the night.

Abby, all tuckered out.

We love this smile!

Aliysa and friends went on a long hike, up to where the old swimming pool and hot tub were by the original hot springs. We had heard stories of how this old pool was taken over by snakes. Well, it turns out that there are tons of blow snakes in the area (they are an enemy of rattlesnakes) Every time kids have gone hiking around here, they find one of these huge snakes. Aliysa and E.J. found one:

And this "harmless snake" bit Aliysa!

She was so proud of this injury that she wouldn't wash it off until we had taken a picture.

A group of kids all interested in the snake!

Here's a funny snake story that I found in the history of Green Canyon: (http://www.greencanyonhotspring.com/history/)

In the old pool, the dressing rooms lined the sides of the pool and were only about four feet from the water. One day, Myrtle Neeley was changing to get into the pool. She bent over to pull her swimming suit up and almost grabbed a coiled snake that was under the bench in her dressing room. It scared her so bad that she jumped backwards into the dressing room door. The door flew open and she tumbled backward into the pool with her swimming suit still around her ankles.

They found a little lizard, and gave it to Jace. He wanted to bring it home, but unfortunately, it got lost before we left. (Tasha: yeay!)

Bob was able to come up some of the evenings. Camp is so much fun when he is there. He played capture-the-flag with all the kids, entertained the campfire participants with a couple of "uncle Jake" stories, played flag football and just made life more fun!

Courtney and some friends lounging around in the shade on a hot afternoon.

Jace with his lizard

Andrew and Zach with their own version of "Uno."

I'm not sure why Andrew has some money, maybe there was some gambling going on???

I wish I had a video of Andrew & Zach's "hide-and-seek" game that they played in the motor home one morning while the kids were at their lesson. It made me laugh. They would both end up hiding at the same time, and then hollering for each other to come find them. The idea of hiding quietly and trying NOT to be found is still not a concept they understand. Even when Zach tries to hide quietly, he giggles too much.

Abby getting ready for the campfire, watching the flag football game.

The crock-pot was my best friend! I cooked yummy lentil soup, pot roast with potatoes & carrots, and used it to warm up several other things. Cooking is always an adventure while camping!

Discovering some neat bugs with Dad.

We were all tired and happy at the end of the week. What great memories!

Save the flowers!

http://lamoreauxhomeschool.blogspot.com/

Edible Aquafer

This week in Cub Scouts, A lady from the Soil Conservation District came and Spencer got to make an edible aquifer.


1. Ice - represents rocks
2. Sprite - water (aquafer)
3. Ice cream - soil (clay layer) (they used a spoon to make the ice cream seal off the Sprite)
4. Crushed graham crackers - soil (sand layer)
5. Green sprinkles - grass, plant life
6. Candy - insects & worms (very important for the soil)
7. Red food coloring - contaminants (gasoline, etc.)
8. Straw - represents a well being dug.

They took the straw and pushed it into the ice cream where the drops of food coloring were. They got to see how contaminants can get into the aquafer.

Then they drank some of the sprite to see how the aquafer gets depleted. Then she poured more Sprite on top of the ice cream, and we waited. Slowly the Sprite leaked into the "ground", and suddenly it would re-fill the aquafer. She talked a bit about other water issues - how not to waste water, etc. Then the boys ate their aquafers.

Good Nutrition Eliminates School Problems

I hope you'll all read my recent post on my health blog. It is an amazing study!
http://marathonofmotherhood.blogspot.com/

Abby loves shoes

I love how determined and patient little children are when learning new things. Abby just thinks that shoes are the greatest. I think it's so cute how proud she is of herself.