Thanksgiving in Oregon!

We made it to Oregon for Thanksgiving again this year! We had so much fun. Sadly, I didn't take very many pictures. Lucy had been talking about going for weeks before. She loves to go to "the Oregon" as she calls it, but she especially likes to hang out with Grandma & Grandpa. We stayed busy while we were there. Nick did a lot of hunting with the boys in the wee hours of the morning. My Mom and I started an adorable quilt. And pretty much we just partied! We went ice skating and had lots of fun. Lucy was so excited to go . . . but after about a half an hour of the skates and cold, she was ready to get her "skaters" off. She did great though.
Kate had fun trading off with Grandpa & Uncle Brian going around the rink!
We had to go cut down a Christmas tree too! I can't remember a year we haven't done this. Such a fun tradition. And it wouldn't be the same without being drug around on a tube behind the suburban with a tow rope!

Lucy with my cousin, Jordan. Check out his sweet stitches above his eye. He crashed the night before ice skating. Poor guy!
And here it is . . . our beautiful Christmas tree. Sadly, all of our Christmas decorations are in Lewisville, so we made do with what we had! The girls are getting so grown up . . . I can't believe it, wish they'd just stay little girls forever! They are so much fun.

Jon Schmidt Concert!

A couple weeks ago we were able to go to a Jon Schmidt concert! It was AWESOME! If you ever get a chance to go, GO. He is a great performer and entertainer. Nathan and Alisa were able to come with too, we had so much fun. He even played his "Love Story Meets Viva La Vida" with the celloist guy. If you haven't heard it, check it out on youtube, it's amazing! After, he signed books and CD's. I got some sheet music, so I was excited! Now for a piano . . . maybe someday.
It was neat to meet him. Lucy is holding up the ball that he threw into the audience and Nathan caught. He gave it to Lucy and Jon signed it, she thought it was so cool! Good times.

Balanced Rock

Yesterday, we went on a little drive to "Balanced Rock" in the Salmon Falls Creek Canyon, near Buhl. It was so cool. It is just a giant boulder sitting on another rock. It is about 50 feet high and the base is only 3 feet by 17 inches. Pretty amazing that it hasn't fallen over! We took the girls and hiked right up to it. It was lots of fun, here's some pics . . .

Some pretty amazing rock formations! Check the post below for more on the last month!

A Very Random Catch Up

Here are some pics from the last month or so. Most recent to oldest. This is how Kate just woke up from her nap today. Isn't she so sweet?!

More of the cute fairy princesses on Halloween!
Our Jack-o-Lantern
The trick-or-treaters. Lucy loved this. Nick, not so much. Haha. No, we had lots of fun!
And here is Lucy on her last day of swimming lessons, "jumping off" the diving board. She was so proud of herself and actually did it several times. She really did improve a lot from the beginning and she LOVED it!
Kate checking on Howdy. She loves the horses. I'm pretty sure "horsey" was her first word.

So these next few pics were from a trip I took last month to Las Vegas to Charlyn's wedding. I was able to ride down with Char's brother and sister, and then home with Becky & Brad. Thanks again, guys! Charlyn was one of my many AWESOME roommates from Rexburg. Char's always been a great friend and example to me. Love her to death.

The beautiful bride and husband on the wedding day!
It was so fun to see everyone at the wedding. Char, Becky, Morgan, Diane, and Erin were all able to be there. This is a group of us in the Bellagio. Yes, I'm husbandless. Thanks for watching the girlies, Nick! What an awesome husband!
Me and Morgan, she has two adorable little girls too! Funny- I have SEVERAL good friends with just two little girls.
Becky and I. Love her.

Sorry for the enormous post. I feel better though, now that it's done!

Sneak Peek . . .

My hard work paid off . . . I must say they make pretty darn cute fairy princesses! See them in the Virtual Costume Parade on Make It and Love It, HERE.

Happy Fall

Nothing like a peanut butter & jelly sandwich picnic in the leaves.

Just chillin'.

Cutie. Finished just in time.

Already!?

Yes, it snowed a couple nights ago. This picture was after it all about melted. We probably had four inches. I was hoping we still had a good month before that happened!
Lucy started swimming lessons yesterday! She has been counting down the days. The pool is only a couple blocks from our house, so that is nice. She loved it and had so much fun! Lucy is a lot of fun these days. I can't believe how much she has grown up lately. She's my buddy. She's pretty tall, and everywhere we go people can't believe that she's only 3! Lately, she's been really into playing "house" with Kate and her dolls. It's so fun to listen to her make conversation. She definitely keeps us laughing!

Catching Up

It's been a while. Things have been crazy the last couple months. We have done a couple horse shows this month, one in Blackfoot and the other in Montana. Nick couldn't miss. We had fun, but were sure worn out afterwards. My parents came and spent some time with us, WHICH WE LOVED!!! Lucy can't get enough of them, she even went to Utah with them for a few days. We are finally getting settled into our place. We are really enjoying it here. Nick is getting back into the groove of school and doing well. The girls and I are keeping busy with fun things around here, it's been way nice to actually live "in town" for a change. Okay, I'll admit it . . . I AM A COUPON FREAK! There, it's out. So it's nice to be so close to all the stores! Anyway, that's another post in itself. Maybe someday. Oh, and I have to add that I WENT SAILING last Saturday. And it was pretty much AWESOME! Somehow I didn't get a single picture, darn it. Next time. Thanks Womack's for the great time! Lucy can't wait to play with "the boys" again. Wow, this post is really random, so I’ll stop. Here are some random pics to go along with the post. Later.

Lucy ready to go down the river at Lava Hot Springs!

And there she is with Alisa and Nathan behind!

Nick driving Bomber at the fair in Blackfoot.

Lucy and Grandma at Shoshone Falls, near Twin.

In our new backyard. The girls love the playhouse and swing!

Kate with her flower and headband, she does everything just like her big sister these days. =)

CORN, CORN, CORN

We have corn coming out of our ears! Haha. I know, I'm a dork. But seriously our garden has been giving us plenty of veggies to eat breakfast, lunch, & dinner. My parents are here in Lewisville with the girls and I while Nick is in Twin Falls at school. We have been eating corn on the cob like crazy and I love it! (The only good thing about the end of summer.) We have frozen about 18 DOZEN ears of corn. A lot! We have had tons of cucumbers, beans, swiss chard, peppers, beets, lettuce, corn, and the tomatoes are coming along. Gardens are sure a lot of work (especially when your husband decides to plant 15 rows of corn), but when they begin to produce it's all worth it! Here's some pics . . . The process . . . Some of the bags we froze . . .
Horses enjoying the leftovers!
On another note- Nick is doing well with school and we are still getting stuff moved. One of these days we'll be settled! But for now we are enjoying my parents being here and spending time with them! We've had lots of visitors this last month, it's been great!

It's Happening!!

Nick starts in the Nursing program on Monday. We are excited and a little nervous at the same time. It will be something new and different! He bought all his books for the next 4 semesters and that alone about wiped us out! We will be moving to Twin Falls, where Nick will be attending the College of Southern Idaho. All Lucy can say is "I don't want to move to a new house!" We'll be back often enough, I'm sure! She and Kate are getting lots of rides in on Howdy to make up for the time we'll be gone. They sure love the horses . . . good thing! We went to Twin Falls this week to look for housing and finish up some last minute things before Nick starts. It was a bit of a stressful trip, but we took a break to go see Shoshone Falls and have a picnic. It was beautiful and the girls had fun having a break from the car.We'll keep you posted on the move. As for the Europe pictures, they're still coming, things have just been a bit CRAZY!