Busy weekend in Idaho

We were lucky enough to spend a few days in Boise with Rich's brother and his family. I have been looking forward to this trip for several reasons: I enjoy spending time with Brian, Anna and their children; I needed an away to somewhere low-key; I wanted to learn how to bottle grape juice. I must say, I was not disappointed. We arrived late Wednesday and just visited then went to bed. After the kids went to school on Thursday, we got started pulling grapes off the stems - even the little girls and Luke helped (once Luke realized he could squish, he was excused to go play). We washed the grapes and put them into jars, added sugar, hot water, and a lid. We processed and were done!! It was awesome (and simple)! After it was time to...play!! It was great to see the kids playing together - clean up was quick, too.

So we spent Saturday at the ball field. Three of the four boys had their last games. All of them did awesome! It was exciting to see them on the field giving it their all - and loving it! I might have had a little peek of our future Saturdays.

Sunday morning, we were cleaning up and kept hearing this noise in the next room. I went in to see what was going on...

No harm in a little fun?! Ella, thanks for the good times.

Anna & Brian - thanks for letting us crash with you and we can't wait to see you again (soon, I hope)!

oops...my bad.

So I was chatting with my friend, Haley. She happened to mention if I knew about one of the links on my blog...huh? Well, I guess I entered the PARTY OF FIVE link wrong. I do NOT know those people who use such foul verbage (I never....blah blah blah). So I guess that means.....................my bad. I have now fixed the link. If you missed it, you didn't miss much.

Thanks Haley!

"Workin' 9 to 5..."

So, this morning I woke up ready to ATTACK my upstairs office. After cleaning the house (with Rich's help), we headed to Costco for a shelf. We decided to organize our food storage, thus to more efficiently use it. Here is the prized shelf:
And, here's our food storage:

After a little time and deciding we need another shelf (not here yet), here's the result:

In case you can't read the little paper on the shelf, it says:

GRAPE JUICE - by this time next week, that shelf will be full of bottle of homemade grape juice!

Needless to say, the upstairs office hasn't been touched.

Go Cougs!!

We spent a few days in the ever-lovely Logan. BYU vs. USU...here's a quote from the convience store guy, "Can you guys take it easy on us?" I laughed. USU is not known for their football program, thus as I understand it, the goal of USU was not necessarily WIN, but more likely, SCORE. This, they did - twice!! It was not BYU's best game, but they did come away with a win.

Here's Luke, Rich, and I at the game, ready to cheer.

During the day, we took a drive to Bear Lake. We played at the Garden City Park and walked down the boardwalk to the beach. It was cool, but sunny - perfect to play. We had lunch at L'Beau's (?) and drove all the way around the lake with we waited for Luke to fall asleep (he finally did).

This morning before leaving, we drove to the Logan Temple for a quick photo. We tried to long-arm the snapshot. After a couple of tries, we opted to take turns.

It was so nice to get away. All through Sardine Canyon, and again through Logan Canyon, I thought to myself...how could anyone see this beauty and not believe in God.

He is all around. Every moment I spend in nature, His hand on Earth is affirmed to me. I KNOW He is our Heavenly Father and He sent His son, Jesus Christ to atone for us. I KNOW HE lives. Take a moment to look around. See if any feelings of knowledge become yours.

Our extended family was just blessed with the safe arrival of Jack. He is a welcome addition to the circle of cousins. Congrats Mike, Jill, and girls! (Pics are on their blog)