Busy First Day of School

Brooke and Aubrey had their first day of school and were so excited. Aubrey made a paper chain about three weeks ago to count down the days to kindergarten and had a great first day. No tears, just a quick hug and into the classroom. Brooke was anxious to get back to school and see all of her friends.
In between all the "Meet the Teacher" and the filming of the first day of school was a trip to the hand specialist for Justin. Last night he was helping our friend Nathan who is paralyzed site in his new crossbow. Somehow while Justin was mounting the bow onto Nathan's wheelchair, the release went off and took off the end of Justin's right thumb. Justin would probably post a picture for you, but if you are like me you would rather not see it!! (If you really are curious I'm sure he would love to email you the pictures and give you a more detailed story!) Thank goodness our friends live close to the hospital so we were able to get to the hospital within minutes. They found the thumb piece (gross, huh!) and brought it in a plastic cup, but the doctor said they couldn't reattach it. We had a nice five hour visit in the ER and got home after one to get ready for the big back to school day! So, Justin is now scheduled for surgery on Friday. The surgeon is optomistic that his thumb will look somewhat normal in a few months when the fingernail grows back. I'm just glad it happenned here and not in the middle of the desert this weekend antelope hunting. And thank goodness it only took off a part of the thumb. The bow is so strong it probably would have taken off anything in it's path!
Hopefully tommorrow will be a nice calm day!

Crazy Photographer!

So, Justin went to sent up an antelope blind with a friend for the evening and I thought "I think I'll take the kids to the park and take their picture". What women in her right mind would take a sick 7 year old, an enthusiastic 5 year old, a multi-personality 3 year old, and a wandering 1 year old to a park with ponds all over the place by herself to take pictures. That crazy lady would be me! We survived without too many breakdowns and no one fell in!! But it could be worse. I could have painted a room some crazy color (this has happenned before but it was a nice pink!), cut my hair real short (a fear of his), or shopped til I dropped (a friend of mines little trick) while Justin is off hunting!!

Boys Weekend in the Sawtooths

Justin and Joel ready to hit the trail for four days in the Sawtooths. Excited about getting away from it all: work, noisy children, lovely wives, soft beds!
The first waterfall they came upon after breaking through a meadow full of wild flowers, reminding Justin of Aubrey!
My hot Man!!

It was the saddle just above and left of Justin's head that he and Joel climbed up and over to get to Vernon, Edna, and Virginia lakes.
A beautiful 15" Cutthroat in spawning colors. Justin said he made a mean snowcone out of the snow in this picture!
By the end, 4 blisters(Joel), 25 bug bites(Justin), 6 lakes, 30 miles(yeh right, 23 miles), 4 tired legs and two happy men. Thanks Joel for a great trip!!!

Our Baby Turns One!

Well, actually she turned one about a week ago, but I am finally posting her pictures. She had two parties, one with the Andrews and one with the Thuesons. Leah's favorite foods: ice cream (shocker!), peas (warm or cold) , canteloupe, and popsicles.

Leah's favorite toys: Her train, mom's dishes, anything her sisters are playing with, mom's cell phone (We have tried to give her play phones, but she can tell they are not the real deal!)
Leah's favorite activities: being outside (the minute a door opens to the great outdoors she makes a run for it!), laughing with her sisters, playing Peek a Boo with Dad in the mornings, seeing dogs and ducks on walks, coloring or drawing (for the most part she does a good job of finding paper instead of the cabinets)
We love you Leah!!

Whitewater Fun

Justin and I took a trip down the Canyon stretch of the South Fork Payette and wore these incredibly stylish and sexy hats!! We had a great time and neither of us unintentionally swam! It's a good thing because the water was very cold!!
Justin was lucky enough to spot a mountain lion just 60 yards away from the river. I missed it! I think Justin has an eagle eye when it comes to wildlife! As you can see we had a blast in the whitewater. (We are the two on the right!)

Fun 4th of July Weekend

We felt the need to get out of town and headed up the Middle Fork of the Payette River for a night of camping. Tin foil dinners and smores just taste better in the great outdoors. We were only about 10 miles from my parents cabin, just in case the night got a little rough with the girls.
It was Leah's first camping trip and she loved it!! She tried to escape camp every chance she got to explore.
Aubrey is quite allergic to mosquito bites and got one just below her eyes. Thank goodness it only swelled slightly and a little Benadryl helped relieve the puffiness. A few years ago she got a bite and one whole side of her face puffed up and her eye was swollen shut. A little trip to the Garden Valley medical center and a few shots later her eye finally started to open. It was not pretty!
The girls thought collecting firewood was the greatest thing about camping, besides the smores. Here Justin put the ax in a stump and the girls tried to get it out. It was very entertaining as you can see!

Aubrey and Brooke chillin out in the good ole Momentum raft. Even though it is starting to lose air, it was probably one of our favorite wedding gifts. Brooke was bummed she wasn't able to go down Friday afternoon with Dad, but she got to go with Me, Ginger and some relatives on Saturday. She loves the water!
Boyd came up from Arizona with some friends to hike in the Sawtooths and do a little rafting before he starts podiatry school this Fall.

Friday evening and Saturday morning we attend family reunion activities on Justin's side of the family. Here Justin has got all of the kids involved in some parachute activities. The kids thought this was great!!

What a wonderful weekend spending time with family making memories!

Hailey's Birthday