Visitors from Texas

The first week of August my sister from Texas arrived with her family for a visit. We had lots of fun visiting and watching the boys play together. As usual I forgot my camera most of the time. Susan, Paul, Grant, Tucker, Evan and Lindy drove from Houston, Texas to Shelley, Idaho and then back again. Who knows how many total hours they spent in the car. (I am sure that Susan and Paul KNOW.) Thanks for enduring the drive so that we could visit you.

Lindy was born about six weeks after Isabel and is about 2 pounds bigger. They are both pretty cute. Here are the cousins together.



While Susan and Paul were here we all went camping by Palisades creek. It was lots of fun. With five little boys running around we only ended up with three stitches among them (poor Evan had a rough visit to Idaho). This was our only camping trip this summer. Maybe next summer we can go more often.

The five little boys sitting on the bunk bed of the trailer. (Taken with Grandma's cell phone. My camera was in our tent and I knew they wouldn't stay there long enough for me to get a picture.)



Zackary obviously didn't get exactly what he wanted when he wanted it. Check out that lower lip.



Linden, Uncle Daniel and Isabel all smiles while they wait for their food.



Paul, "Yip, I like breakfast, especially when my wife is cooking and I'm supervising."



David, "Where's my breakfast? I want it NOW!"



Susan, the chef, cooking pancakes while Paul supervises and Grant and David enjoy!!



Leonora and Kevin taking a break from breakfast for a smooch. Enjoy all the ones you can before that baby girl arrives.



Grandpa, all done with his breakfast in the trailer.



While everyone else was up and outside enjoying breakfast, Richard and Jessica were still in bed in the trailer. Jessica is pregnant and needs all the sleep she can get, but Richard?? Maybe he should have been helping start the fire to cook breakfast. Ha. Ha.



Grandma with her helper, Anton, scrambling eggs for breakfast in the trailer.



We also had a great picnic at North Bingham County Park where Anton and Zackary got to go fishing for real for the first time with Grandpa. It was lots of fun. Nothing was caught. Linden and Daniel played disc golf there. The boys also had fun playing on the toys. And everyone enjoyed the yummy food.

Thanks for a nice visit. We MISS you. (Even though you ditched us before saying goodbye.)

New Boats

Last Friday Linden and I were down in Basalt helping Uncle Andy with a few indoor and outdoor chores. He had told us that he was going to be irrigating and to be sure to bring the boys, ready to play and splash in the water. When we got there he had made the boys some boats to play with in the water. Anton and Zackary had a blast pulling their new boats around in the water, splashing and running. They always love playing in water and the boats made it even better.




Anton really wasn't as timid as he looks in these pictures.




THANKS, Uncle Andy!!

We Miss You, Uncle Mike!

On Saturday, July 3, 2010 Uncle Mike passed away from esophogeal cancer. He was diagnosed just a few months previous to his passing. Although I only got to personally meet him twice I was greatly impacted by his love for me and his very amiable, friendly and jovial personality. He was always ready with a good joke to lighten everyone's spirits. He truly cared for others and showed it in his actions.



My first encounter with Uncle Mike was when Linden and I were on our honeymoon. Linden's grandma hadn't been able to come to the wedding. So for our honeymoon we went to visit her in South Bend, WA. I was thrilled to find Uncle Mike, Aunt Becky, Tami and Mark there from Seattle, also. We had a wonderful visit. I felt so overwhelmed at the great love and friendship that was offered to me by Linden's family members before they even knew me. How wonderful it was to get to know them and become a member of their family. Everyone needs to have in-laws that are so accepting, loving and willing to offer friendship.



Uncle Mike was so willing to give of his time and resources to serve others. Every time he saw us he always had something to give either Linden and I or the boys or Isabel. Even when Linden was up visiting him in Washington shortly before he passed he had little gifts for Linden to bring back for Anton, Zackary and Isabel. At the family reunion last summer in Bear Lake he bought little toys for Anton and Zackary. We had a great time with him at the beach with lots of laughs. He was thrilled to be there with his nieces and nephews, spending time with them and just relaxing and enjoying the day.



We miss you, Uncle Mike. Thanks so much for the memories!

Odds and Ends

In between all of the visitors this summer we have a few odds and ends to post about. Overall we have had a great summer. We missed Linden A LOT the two months he was gone, but thanks to the help of family and friends we made it. It is wonderful to have him home. The boys have gotten back to a normal bedtime, instead of whenever Isabel decided to be patient and let me finally get them chased down and ready for bed. The normal bedtime comes in part because family visits have slowed down, Linden is home and the boys listen to him better, and Linden is home and able to help me with Isabel or the boys, whichever we feel like tag-teaming with that night. I don't know how single parents do it. I do know that I truly love my husband and am so glad that I don't have to go through any more tearful goodbye's after a short visit.

Here is the rundown in pictures of more of what we had going on this summer.

At three months (at the end of June), Isabel decided to start wielding a sword (at least when her brothers gave it to her).



She is a very smiley, happy and patient baby. Thank goodness. She is just what her mother needs!!



Zackary loves playing on the scooter at Grandma's. Especially when one of the other cousins showed the slightest interest in it. He let them know he liked it, also, and wasn't willing to share for very long. Here he obviously isn't having to share with his brother or cousins.



At the very end of June, after Linden was home, he finally started the boys' summer hair cuts. I supervised the final stages of the cutting and we ended up with three bald children. The older two by choice the youngest by genes. Unfortunately, our daughter will probably be bald for a few years. Good thing she takes after her brothers and is super cute (but in a feminine way, unlike her brothers).



Isabel after a bath one Sunday morning, awaiting her clothes.



June 29 my dad had a mild heart attack which ended up being a huge blessing. Because of the heart attack we discovered that he could have had a major life-ending heart attack at any point. To remedy the situation and prevent the major heart attack he had quadruple bypass surgery. It was all pretty sudden and unexpected. We were quite blessed with peace and comfort through this all. I know that my father's life was spared because of his great example of obedience and service. Dad was released as bishop 1 1/2 weeks after his surgery after serving as bishop for 5 years and 11 months. I know that Heavenly Father kept him from having the heart attack until it was time to be released and that he was kept here because he truly did his best to serve and love and be obedient. What a huge blessing to have this witnessed to me and to have my father still here with me so I can continue to learn from him.

I was amazed at my mother's strength as we went through this trial. I am also grateful for great friends that showed their support by helping at the hospital, calling and praying for us. Thanks to Shanna for cooking for us and so many others that helped in keeping us sane and cared for at this time.

My dad in the hospital.



The biggest of Dad's battle wounds (as he calls them). He had incisions in seven different places between getting the vein out of his leg, the heart cath site, and the three drainage tubes out of his chest, etc. for a total of 46 staples, 39 down his chest and the rest in a few other sites.



Linden left a couple of his shorts on the couch. Zackary decided to try them on and then came into the kitchen to show off his new wardrobe addition. He was so thrilled with his new shorts. Anton quickly joined in the fun. They enjoyed jumping around on the couch with their new clothes. Sorry the picture isn't that great. They wouldn't hold still. They were having too much fun.



We had a constant puddle in our yard all spring and the first part of the summer. About the middle of July Linden and our landlord were trying to figure out where the water was coming from with a backhoe. Unfortunately, the backhoe found a water line. The hole they were digging filled up with water in a matter of seconds and the lawn was covered in water. They found out the water was coming from a small crack in the water line. They got the break fixed and the leak repaired and we were only without water for part of a day. In this picture there is a ladder in the hole which was about six feet deep.



Our poor yard that Linden worked so hard on is just not the same after it went through this. Luckily the leak is fixed and we no longer have that constant puddle in our yard. Just a nice big dirt spot where the grass is refusing to grow back very quickly.

Visitors from Colorado

Our Visitors from Colorado arrived at the end of June, the night before our visitors from Iowa left. The cousins had lots of fun playing together for a little bit. In this post a big THANK YOU to Aunt Shanna. I always forgot my camera and hence only got one picture from their entire visit. So I borrowed pictures from Aunt Shanna'a blog. It was wonderful to have Benjamin, Shanna, Rohan and Bruce here visiting. They took good care of us with help watching the boys and feeding us!! Thanks! We love you and miss you.

Grace, Anne, Rohan, Bruce, Anton and Zackary enjoying popsicles on the trampoline at Grandma and Grandpa's.



Rohan holding Isabel.



Isabel sleeping, thought this was adorable.



One day while at Grandma and Grandpa's I decided to wash my car. It was in desperate need of a washing. It had been a LONG time. I had four little boys helping me. Rohan, Anton, Zackary and Bruce enjoyed dumping cups of water on the car. This activity kept them from playing with the hose and getting EVERYONE wet. I didn't get my car washed all of the way and it wasn't very clean after I was done, but we had lots of fun. A week or two later Uncle David and Uncle Richard washed my car again and acually got it clean. With the summer thunderstorms it didn't last very long, oh well.



The four boys on the top bunk. They LOVED playing up there. No one fell, thank goodness. They would jump and climb and sometimes even wrestle a little on the top bunk while all FOUR of them were there. It was great for entertaining them.



Isabel on the Fourth of July. We had a rather hectic fourth. More info on that to come in the next post.



We loved having Benjamin and Shanna visit. The boys loved playing with their cousins. We hope to see them again soon. We miss all of the chaotic play that comes with four little boys.

Yellowstone and Grand Teton

While the Ohio Nielsens were here we had a great trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. It was lots of fun. I didn't get many pictures from the trip (except the hike) because I was busy with three children one being an almost three month old baby. I was so grateful for all of the Aunts and Uncles helping me with the kids because Linden was missing us in Washington and unable to assist.

It was a great trip and between all of the different vehicles there were many great experiences. We saw elk, deer (a mother with newborn twin fawns, they had been born just MINUTES before), moose, bears, wolf, eagles, and SO many other animals. We also saw lots of geysers and other geo-thermal features, waterfalls, lakes, rivers, and mountains and streams. What a beautiful place. How wonderful to live in such a beautiful world Heavenly Father has created for us.

Here is the rundown on the pictures that I did get.

Uncle Alex, Aunt Annikka and Aunt Brina with Anton and Zackary on one of the hikes at Mammoth.



Aunt Brina with Anton and Zackary at Mammoth in Yellowstone.



One of the days of our trip we decided to hike up to Hidden Falls. We were brave going with two infants, a four year old and a two year old. It was lots of fun and luckily there were Aunts and Uncles to encourage Anton and Zackary along, keep them out of the puddles and let them wipe their mud covered hands on their pants when they fell (they don't like dirty hands and wiping them off kept them from fussing about dirty hands, it was a rainy trip.) My job was to keep Isabel asleep in the sling as we hiked and take pictures.

Aunt Brina with Zackary.



Uncle Alex and Aunt Brook on our hike. Yep, Brook is pretty short!! (However, Alex is standing on a rock.)



Aunt Claudette with Anton. Pausing for a picture.



Isabel and I hiking.



The torrent of water running down the mountain.



Aunt Annikka, Aunt Brook, and Aunt Claudette.



We miss you, Daddy. Wish you could have been there with us.



All of us at the falls. In the very back, Alex with Anton. Brook, Claudette, Brina and Zackary, Rachel with Isabel, Annikka, and Doug with Ella.



Hidden Falls. So much power in the water.



Hidden Falls, from when we hiked there last fall. Notice the difference that spring run off makes.



All of us that went on the hike posed by Jenny Lake, minus me, the photographer, and Isabel in her sling. Claudette, Zackary, Brina, Anton, Brook, Alex, Annikka, Ella and Doug.



A view of the Tetons from the trail up to Hidden Falls.



The Ohio Nielsens. We MISS you.



A view of Mount Moran taken from Colter Bay. Love the cloud cover! It gives it a great feel.



Those of us left for the last day of the trip. We walked down to Jackson Lake but it was WAY too cold to do very much. It had snowed that morning (just a little bit). We soon headed over to Jackson Lake Lodge where we ate Dusty Glaciers! MMMMMMM!!!!!!!



Thanks for a great trip!!