Grandma’s House

We have been wanting to go to Grandma’s house this whole month and never had a few free days in a row until last week.  So I loaded up the kids and we went to Washington!  Ashley is so much help taking care of the kids while I drive that it is really like having another adult in the car.  She is great.  Everyone traveled well.  We actually got to drive from Ontario on with Mom and Dad, so that helped too. 

We got right into it right when we got there, kids in costumes;

 

And out in the garden with Grandpa.  There is always lots to do!

Brown Reunion

We loaded up the Suburban and went to the Brown Reunion in Montana.  We were stuffed to the gills!  needless to say we bought a hitch carrier for our Telford Reunion the next week! 

The kids traveled great, it took about 5 hours and they didn’t get out of the car once!  We only stopped once in Arco, that has got to be a record for our family!

We had the best camp site, it had all the facilities you could need.  We were glad to have water and electricity to keep us warm at night.  Grandpa Nielson didn’t come until the second day but Claire Bear warmed right up to Uncle Mark, he was a great stand in until Grandpa got there.

After Grandpa got there Claire and Dallie were in all sorts of traps, tricks, and invisiblism they could create.  They had such a fun time together with their Grandpa teasing them.

It is always good when we get to see Grandma Ruby.  She is so popular around our house.  We talk about her a lot, so it was fun to actually get to see her for a few days.  We also got to go to Aunt Sandra’s beautiful cabin in the woods.  It was really neat!

I have a picture just like this when Claire was a baby when we went to the Big Brown Reunion in Utah.

The kids (minus Rett) with two Grandma’s.  It is so fun to have so many Grandmas!

Grandpa N made a kiddy pool for the littles.  The raging river was just too much for us and this worked perfectly to cool off in.

We went down to take a dip in the river but it was too cold for us!  It was by this huge pretty rock though.

Rett wanted in so bad, but didn’t stay in, it was like ice!

Summer got coerced across, possibly pushed across, I’m not sure how it happened, but it took for EVER to get her to come back, it was super cold water!

And it was quite a little swim in a fast current.

She finally did it with Uncle Jason’s help.

We had a great time, and good visit with family we don’t get to see to much.  Plus all of the sisters (and Mom) were there so it makes it all worth it!

Strawberry Jam!

The strawberry jam genetics run strong in our family.  I am pretty sure I have seen Grandpa Nielson do this before!

Oh Mom, but it’s SO yummy!

It’s A Sign!

Dad and Mom have been at my house!  I got a new faucet installed which I love!

AND, Ashley and Emma finally got new doors, with locks, not sure about the locks part yet.  I went to tuck them in and they both had their doors shut and Emma had locked herself in.  We had to lay down some new rules about doors and when we do and don’t get to lock them, silly!

Trip to Oregon Cousins

We went to Bret and Jen’s for the weekend.  Lizzie has turned 8 and was getting baptized.  Grandma and Grandpa were there.  It was actually kind of a quiet weekend, we really enjoyed visiting and playing with cousins that we don’t see enough.  Grandpa and Grandma both have birthdays in October so we brought a little treat over for them and Lizzie.

I am pretty sure Rett has never had so much attention.  He loved it and all of the girls loved him.

 

Justin was in heaven with some of Kurtis’ old toys.  We also got to catch the end of Kurt’s game.  He did a good job and won!

Rett learned to sit up while we were there, now at home he wont do it though.  We need to keep practicing.

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

Mom and Dad are going to get tired of traveling!  We are glad they are willing to keep coming to see us!  They were on the way to Utah for Sara’s graduation from Law School and so they stayed at our house on the way to and from there.  We didn’t complain!  Dad did lots of projects for me like getting my lawn mower tuned up and the lawn mowed.

He also got some more baseboard trim put up in the living room, it looks really good!  Justin was Dads right hand man and was calling him gramp, it was funny!

Mom babysat while I took the kids into the Easter egg hunt in town.  We wish they could have stayed longer, but it was great that they could come at all.

I married my father!!

The dishwasher broke down (again) and instead of replacing it Ryan has just fixed it up so nicely for me, It looks like Dad was here for a visit! Yes, that is a light switch on the front of it! If you open the door when it is on the dishwasher just keeps running! The kids just LOVE switching it off and on ALL THE TIME! I am pretty sure Dad would have done the EXACT same repair job, must be a farmer thing??? I shouldn't be complaining, at least it still works! It was a miserable couple of days washing by hand until he had time to fix it! Yeah for a handy husband!

Ol' WYOMING!

The kids and I made the trek to Ol' Wyoming this past weekend. It was a long drive, but very scenic. You can see all of the pine trees of Yellowstone Park out Claire's window, (who by the way was an excellent traveler, I made the best $7.50 investment in Dora Super babies that she watched the ENTIRE way!) The drive was not bad at all, I guess that means we need to do it more often! We went to visit Erica's family, Cole turned 12 and was being ordained to the Priesthood. It was a nice weekend. Kiley and Jason came from Nebraska, and Mom and Dad brought Summer and Lexi from Washington. Mom and Dad also brought tons of peaches, corn, apricots, apples which = WORK! We worked all day Saturday making freezer corn and canning those peaches. We had lots of help which made it go so much faster: Wyatt taking care of all of the corn husks.The men cutting all of that corn off of the cobb. Jason, Kameron, Doug, and Dad. (I am glad I got a picture of Doug, maybe you were there on Saturday after all.......)

My one kid that helped.....My other two that did not help.....
And Claire Bear, non helper!

Ryder was helping, you just couldn't see him, every time I saw him he had corn silk on his head! Oh, there he is!

Ashley and Weston hauling those gunny sacks full of CORN!

Claire and Ryder getting ready for bed, these two really are good buddies, I even saw him holding her hand once! Fun cousin friends! We had a good productive day!