Mommy Day

Today I had big plans of having a "me" day. I made arrangements for the kids to play with their cousin and I was off to Idaho Falls. I convinced my friend Apryl to come with and we were going to go to the temple, do some shopping, and have a fun girls day. That all changed at 7:15 this moring when I came upstairs and found this little one throwing up. So now I get to have a "mommy" day home with my little ones, loving on one, and praying that the other two don't get it.

The luckest kid ever!!

Tallon found a 4 leaf clover!! He said "it was one of his best days ever in his life!"

#4

Baby Tytan is HERE!!! We just got the news and are sooo excited. Sorry I don't have any pictures yet. We are planning on going down next weekend, so I will have some of the little man then. Congrats Kaleb, Whit and Carter!!

Memorial Day Morning

Memorial Day is my favorite holiday. I love the flowers on the graves, the sense of reverence for loved ones, and the time I get to spend with family. I really love being on the Thayne cemetery, listening to the 21 gun salute, and the goosebumps that I get when they play taps. It brings tears to my eyes and even brings one or two to Tyler's eyes. It is something from my childhood that I want to pass on to my children. Here are all(minus 1, Holt was in the car) the grand kids in my family. We have Evie, Vivin, Clancy, Jace (actually my brother), Anna, Tallon, Camilla, and Orrin. Good looking bunch aren't they!
This is my sweet, thoughtful Orrin. Love it!
My three sons spending a quiet moment with my Grandpa Van who has been gone 9 years now.
Orrin again. He was so interesting to watch. He had such a soberness about him as he was sitting looking at my Grandpa's military plaque.
Vivin joined Orrin and the two of them sat like this for about 5 mins. It just brought tears to my eyes.
Orrin took his little finger and traced all the letters on the marker. I wish I knew what kind of relationship these two had with this amazing man in heaven and if they still get to share a little bit of the relationship now.
The flag on the Thayne Cemetery.
One of the funnest parts of visiting the cemeteries is getting to see people that you never get to any other time of the year. I loved this picture of my parents and grandma visiting with some family members that live out of town.
Grandma Thelma has been telling me about the flags on the Bedford cemetery. I missed them last year, so I was really excited to see them. It was a beautiful sight.

I love the feelings that I get on Memorial Day. I love the sights that I get so see and the beauty that the cemetery holds. It truly is my favorite holiday.

Memorial Day Afternoon

One of the many joys of being married is finding that happy medium. My family always camped on Memorial Day weekend, but when it came Monday morning we were at the cemetery. Tyler's family also camped on Memorial Day weekend, and Monday morning still found them in camp and riding bikes. When we were first married we would go our separate ways for Memorial Day. I went to the cemeteries and spent the day with Grandma, and Tyler would stay at camp and ride bikes. This year we combined our loves and did the cemeteries in the morning and went to the lake and rode in the afternoon. It was a great way to spend the day. We got to have little Carter ride down to the lake with us. The boys love love love their Carter, and we had so much fun laughing at these four.

My little brother Jacob came with us and tried a few jumps.

Grandad showed us all what jumping is about. To bad I missed the near wreck and the nice save.

We made it back to the trucks and enjoyed some R and R in the shade. (truth is Tyler wrecked Ricks bike so riding was done for the day, worked out great everyone was ready to sit, I just have to tease Tyler!) Here is little Orrin enjoying some down time.

Bobby teasing the nephews.

Vivin loves his aunt Whit and spent quite a bit of lap time with her. Here he is just staring at the soon to be parents of nephew #4.

Vivin just being Vivin

It was a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! We spent many hours with our families and got to take time out to enjoy a weekend.

Alpine Cemetery

My Grandma Thelma and I have our own "little" time together each year. We take a day (usually Memorial Day) and visit different cemeteries around the valley. It has been fun to learn different history and events that have transpired over the years. We have always wanted to visit the Alpine cemetery but each year we find that we missed it once again. I was afraid that this year would be the same, plan to go but never quite find the time.

Grandma tells the story that years ago, Grandpa Van was asked to go pay tribute to the veterans buried in Alpine. They went with another couple and hiked up a ways into the forest and came to the cutest cemetery ever. They had a picnic and a moment of silence. It was a wonderful experience. Each year she tells me this story and says "we need to go find it again."

The thing about finding it again was that Grandma couldn't quite remember how to get there. She had a pretty good idea, but she also knew that the road wasn't a great one and didn't really want to go without Tyler going with us. This year it just worked out that Tyler had Memorial Day weekend off and we thought for sure he would take us. Of course he did, and it was just as neat as I hoped it would be.

We traveled to Alpine, went passed the 4H camp, and took the second turn off. We went up a gravel road and then turned to the right when it forked. We found ourselves on a old dirt road, that was more like an old logging road than anything. Just a ways up that road we looked to the left and off in a patch of trees, sat the Alpine Cemetery. It consists of 6 graves.





I have never seen a more peaceful place. The wind was blowing through the trees, birds were singing, and the daffodils were in bloom.

Grandma remembered one of the men buried there. He was an old mountain man that lived up Snake River. He had a huge strawberry patch and only came to town about 2 times a year for supplies. He was asked once if he would sell a 1lb of strawberries and replied, "Oh, I would never cut one of my strawberries in half!" It is little stories like this that make trips like this something to look forward to ever year.

God Bless America!

Tallon has the most awesome teacher. She has spent all year teaching the kids about America and how we respect the flag and country. They have learned patriotic songs and today they presented their patriotic program.
Tallon giving a little wave

Tallon giving his part. He did awesome!

The kids even learned fun action to go along with their songs, it was really cute.

Playing his Kazoo

Waiting so patiently for his turn.

It was really neat to see the kids perform. They practiced all year and the program was awesome. I am so grateful with all of the junk that is going on in the schools, that his teacher taught them that America is to be respected, the flag is to be saluted, and that God does bless America.

Don't know if I am ready for THIS

Vivin is spending a lot of time camped out on the potty. He hasn't done anything yet but at least it is a start. Orrin on the other hand, is content to sit and offer moral support but has no desire to switch seats.

Too funny!!

Just found these and had to share. We were at my parents and Tallon found this bike. It was to good to not get pictures!

This is my brother-in-law, Brian. Tyler is still laughing about his mad skills.

Just thought it might make someone smile, it did me!

A little to quiet for comfort

Yesterday, towards evening the house was so quiet. There was no screaming, no fighting, no hint of children anywhere. After enjoying the peace for 2 seconds, I started getting a little worried. Too much quiet leads to much mischief, but today I was pleasantly surprised. I found Orrin playing quietly in his room with Mr. Potato Head...

Vivin playing by the front door, being Mr. Potato Head...

and Tallon & Brixton playing cars in his room.

Peace for 5 mins! It was wonderful.

My Garden!

So what started out as the perfect spot for the trailer, has been transformed into the perfect spot for my garden! My brother-in-law, James, made me this cool raised garden! It is 12x6 (just perfect for starting out) with 4 ft sides, so I don't have to break my back weeding the thing!

The kicker of the whole thing was that I don't need 4 ft of top soil, so Tyler got me a trailer load of rock to fill in the bottom foot. We spent about 2 hours shoveling the rock in it and tonight Tyler is bringing me my top soil, which means I should be able to start planting in the next day or two!!

I am really excited to try my hand at gardening. It is something I have no experience with, so I know I am in for a lot of trial and error. If nothing else it will be fun to see what I can get to grow, even if it is only a weed!

Cole Canyon

Tallon has been waiting for the day when Cole Canyon would dry out enough and we could go hunt some potgutts. Well today was that day and it was wonderful!! Before we even made it passed Smoot, Orrin was passed out in the back. It was just to cute to see him holding his gun like this. Vivin was to excited to be going for a ride! There was no sleeping for this little man.
We had perfect weather! The wind was blowing a little bit, but as soon as we found a little canyon without it, the kids were off exploring. Tallon is the best big brother! He let the boys follow him everywhere and was so patient.
I followed Tallon and Orrin up side hill where they were putting the sneak on something. I was horrified to find that they were camped out by a badger hole waiting to see what cool animal lived inside. We had a quick lesson on only peeking in little holes and leaving the big holes alone!
Here is the 3 boys enjoying their picnic. Tallon said sandwiches taste better when you can smell sagebrush. I had to agree with him.
Here is Tallon showing off his mad skills. Yes, he still loves his .22.
Vivin and Grandad holding a very serious conversation.
The best part of the day was seeing these two smile like this! First they found some mud puddles and loved playing in them. Then, Tallon made Grandad wait until we were way ahead and then have him go as fast as they dared and make as much dust as possible trying to catch up. They had a lot of fun together! Just a quick view of the mountains.


We had a great time. We rode for about 5 hrs and were all exhausted when we came home. It is the first of many Saturdays that will be spent this way all summer.

Always a classic

No perfect day is ever complete without playing on the tramp with the sprinkler underneath.

Vivin thinking he was funny.

Orrin thinking he was not.

My three little men! Dang they are cute!

Orrin was so frustrated by the end of play time. His poor waist is about 3 inches to small for his shorts, this was the result.

Watching the boys play like this took me right back to my childhood! Yes, jumping on the tramp with a sprinkler is truly a classic.