Freedom Celebration

A well known tribute in song to our beloved country was written and sung by Lee Greenwood, namely "I'm Proud to be and American". I have very vivid memories from my childhood that are tied to this song. All I have to do is listen to the song and I go back, I can picture it now...

It was early evening after dinner, and I was in the backyard of our home in Elko, Nevada. I must have been around 7 years old at this time, and I loved to listen to a certain song, the same listed above. I knew the words from beginning to end and would belt them out at the top of my lungs. On this particular evening I had my headphones on, listening to my walkman while swinging on our backyard swingset. As I listened to Lee Greenwood's classic tribute to our nation, I swung as high as I could, trying to touch the clouds with the tips of my toes, belting the words:

"From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Tenessee, across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea. From Detroit down to Houston, from New York to L.A, there's pride in every American heart and it's time we stand and say...."

I'm sure that you can finish the chorus, come on now belt it out! My young girl heart didn't realize the full extent to the freedoms that we enjoy in the United States, but my heart rejoiced nonetheless. Looking back now on the celebrations of our country that I have participated in, there are a few in particular that stick out in my mind.

When we lived in Idaho Falls, what seems like only yesterday but in reality was about 18 years ago, we would celebrate the 4th near the Snake River, at the Freedom Celebration hosted by Melaleuca. It must have been either 1990 or 1991, when I was 3 or 4. I was running around Freeman park in the pre-firework celebration on the green grass. I guess this memory is so vivid because of the excitement of the occasion, all the people, the music, and of course that familiar love for country. Whatever the reason for the vivid memory, it is etched in my mind, running free around the park on the 4th of July.

A few years later while visiting my dearest Grandmother Moore in I.F. one summer, we attended the same celebration at Freeman Park. Being a little more mature, I experienced it in a different light. I remember thinking how magical the fireworks were coreagraphed to music. When my favorite song came on, by Lee Greenwood, I just knew that we were so blessed to live where we live and to enjoy the blessed freedoms that we do. Every 4th of July celebration since then has taken on the same meaning in my heart, and I am indeed proud and grateful to be an American!

Please comment on this post and share with me your favorite 4th of July, I would love to hear about it!!!

Father's Day

This post is dedicated to my husband, Mike. The top ten unforgettable DAD moments for him (in my perspective) told through pictures, in no specific order (except for the number 1, because lets face it, that is #1!):

10. Teaching

9. Making sure that his boys get a good haircut

8. Passing on his love of Halloween and the fun we can have!

7. Taking his boys to experience new things
6. Playing on the floor with his boys

5. Just being plain silly


4. Being there when his boys get hurt or are sad
3. Passing his love of good food and cooking on to his boys
2. Making sure to cherish every moment with these two precious boys, Kimball and Brandon

1. Witnessing the birth of two precious boys...

Brandon
And Kimball

Mike, you are such a wonderful father and I love you so much more with every day, every time you hold our babies that love just grows. Thanks for showing your immense love for them and me with your hard work and dedication, your perseverance through all that comes your way in life, no matter how hard! Happy Father's Day, I hope that you enjoyed our celebrations we had this weekend, which also continued into Monday with the AWESOME steak we had for dinner followed by the beautiful hike and the warm campfire with the gooey smores. WE LOVE YOU!

To laugh and love is to live!

The title of the post explains these pictures more than adaquately!

It is a beautiful blessing to be a part of a family where there is so much love, who am I to be so blessed from on high?

Summer Festivities

The summer would not be complete without swimming...

Cold Watermelon...
Silly moments...
Smiles and laughter...
scraped knees and climbing trees...

Friendly Neighbors...

We have been looking into moving to a new apartment with 3 bedrooms, but there are really only 2 things holding us back. First of all, we can't find a good deal for a 3 bedroom but mostly we are becoming good friends with our neighbors, Chad and Amy Baker. They are a young couple like us, and they have 2 boys Braxton (2 weeks younger than Kimball) and Quentin (3 months older than Brandon). They love the outdoors and are just fun people to be around. I have some caught some cute moments on the camera of our kids playing together, and one of the two big kids (Mike and Chad) playing on some old skateboards. Last weekend while they were playing on the skateboards we decided to pack the kids in their strollers and everyone just take a stroll down the street and grab icecream at Farr's. Random? Of course, but that is how some of the best memories in life are made right? We also had an enjoyable time out in front of our apartments the other evening at a Dutch Oven Cookout. We won't be in these apartments forever, but while we are here so close to the Bakers, we'll try to enjoy it!

Braxton comes to our door often...

Brandon is wondering who this new guy is?
Riding along...
On your marks, get set, GO!
I was watching the boys during Chad and Amy's garage sale and the boys were fascinated with the train...

Raining Fish?

Well, it hasn't been exactly raining fish, but if we caught fish as much as it has rained this month, we'd save money on groceries! Mike took this picture of the sun breaking through the rain clouds that as of late have been our seemingly constant companions.

Here is another weather picture that I snapped as we were fishing at Eagle Rock, just down from American Falls Dam. We bought our fishing licenses and went fishing at the beginning of June, to kick off the summer festivities!
Our trip was complete with lots of snakes, we saw 4 in our short time by the river.
So we haven't caught anything yet, but we have only gone on 2 fishing trips as a family, and Mike ventured off on his own today for some fishing time over near Blackfoot after he finished tutoring a student in Math. We intend to catch some fish soon... actually to be quite honest, Mike will probably be the one to catch the fish because I admit to having very limited fishing skills, sadly enough!
Here are 2 more pics, Mike hooking a worm and Kimball chowing down on some snacks while Mom and Dad fish.
Any suggestions for good fishing grounds in Southeast Idaho? We'll take em...

Memorial Day Weekend

Last weekend was wonderful! Most of you have probably already seen these pictures on family websites or facebook, but oh well! We started last Saturday the 23rd celebrating Kirsten and Trevor's wedding. Natalie, my cousin, babysat the boys while Mike and I attended the sealing ceremony. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of their special day. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with Corey and Daymi and their children. Here are the two babes, Abby and Brandon.

Here are the other crazy cousins playing at the table, enjoying strawberries dipped in sugar.
We stayed the night and the next morning enjoyed the Sabbath with their family. We attended the blessing of Karlie Hoffman at 1:00. She was absolutely adorable in her dress and the blessing was beautiful. Unfortunately, we do not have pictures of that either, we left early after the Sacrament was passed. Here is a picture from that evening, we had a chilly and rainy cookout in the rain. Despite the rain, we had a blast eating hotdogs around a warm campfire!!
When we got back to Corey's house, we roasted marshmallows for s'mores around their grill. I love this pic of Mike, the flaming marshmallow stick I put in front of the camera is AWESOME!
I tried to recreate the moment.... but it didn't work!
My brother enjoying his first s'more...
Daymi is laughing at her nephew, Miguelito...
On Memorial Day, we visited five gravesites, my Uncle Jim, Grandpa Ben, Uncle Steve, Cousin Scott, and Mor-mor (grandma in Norwegian). 
Kimball is pictured by his namesakes gravesite (Kimball Benjamin).
We were at the grave sites of my Grandpa and Uncle Jim and met a relative, our Great-Aunt Jean Young! We snapped this picture, and as you can guess my mom was SO excited to hear that we had met her.



Later that day we had a picnic, and I snapped this cute pic of the kids lounging on the camping chairs in the front yard, CUTE!
Thanks so much for the fun weekend and for your hospitality Corey and Daymi!!!