Merry Christmas

 We got to meet the GRINCH! He was unspreading Holiday cheer outside the waiting area to see Santa.

 Cam asked Santa for a big truck

Paige asked for a Bratz monster sleeping bag

Ali didn't say much but had a BIG smile for Santa.

Paige was a little nervous of the Grinch and would only stand by him for a picture if I stood between them....Can you blame her?!?! Zoom in and check out those eyes!

Dreaming of a white Halloween????

 This is what we woke up to this morning! We went to bed with grass and woke up with over 6 inches of snow!!! The looks on the kids faces were priceless.....it was seriously like Christmas morning!

I'm thinking today looks like a good movie and hot chocolate day but the kids are already asking to put their snow clothes on and head out! I told Paige she has preschool today and she said, "What?! Preschool on a snow day!!!"

Fun Events!

 Cam answered the door the other day and found this waiting for him on the porch! He was SO EXCITED! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

 As you can see he couldn't be happier :)

 Paige's preschool took a field trip to go on a hay ride. They got to ride on a wagon pulled by two HUGE horses and they also got to ride a horse. Paige even got to hold the reins and steer. 

 Ali Cat turned two last week and really wanted a baby cake....so here it is. She is really into babies lately and carries one with her ever where she goes. She usually sleeps with 2 or 3!

 She was SO excited opening EVERY present. It was so cute to see her so excited about all of it. She would rip the paper off in a frenzy and then show love to whatever she found inside.

 We had her party at AmericInn and took the kids all swimming in the pool after.

 I LOVE this pic. Ali wheeling out part (a very small part) of her birthday haul in her jammies. She was the happiest two year old ever!

 Yesterday we took the kids to Bear World. They loved feeding the deer. The deer were super friendly! (actually a little too much so!)

 We found this fat pig and apparently Ali thought it looked like a great backrest....until it snorted at her and then she didn't want to sit by it anymore.

Aunt Bridge, braving the bouncy car ride with Ali.

Bad 24 hours!

It has been a rough 24 hours around our house. First off we found Cam and Ali covered in ceramic paint. If you think they look bad you should see the carpet! Yep, about 4 full bottles of paint dumped on the carpet and smeared in by those cute little hands. Called the carpet cleaner but still not clean.....he is going to try again but we are pretty sure there is no hope for the carpet. I should have gotten more pics but I was already getting the death glare for taking this one in such a stressful moment. 

Next on the line up was a smashed Kindle.....I have no idea what happened but one second Ali was watching a movie and the next second she was bringing the Kindle to me in this condition. Luckily the people at Amazon are AMAZING and sending me a new one on Wednesday! Lets hope our luck takes a turn for the better!

Finishing out August with a BANG!

 To start of the end of August Paige started preschool. She quickly became one of her teachers favorite students (the teacher has already told me twice ). She also started reading on her 4th day of school. She can read any sentence including the words see, can, I, and a. We are so proud of her!

 I ran in my first ever relay race. We ran as a 12 girl group called Mix of Chix from Ashton, ID to Jackson Hole, WY, a total of 180 miles in 33 hours. I personally ran 18.8 miles in 24 hours. The pic above was of my night run. 5.1 miles at 1am!

 This is my group at the finish line in Jackson. I was very proud to be a part of this strong group of girls. I can easily say this was one of the most challenging things I have ever done. If you would have asked me during the relay if I would do it again, I would have said "heck NO!" But ask me now and I will say, "Definitely YES, although I don't know exactly why!"

 Ry spent some time teaching the kids how to shoot the old school bow and arrow.

 He also taught Cam how to ride his bike without training wheels! He is seriously the only 2 year old I know that can ride without them. The first thing he said when he realized that he was riding without ry holding onto him was, "Yeah baby!"

 Ry took his model airplane for its first flight ever. The flight lasted all of 2 seconds but it was worth the show. It is almost all rebuilt again ready for round 2.

 Ryan's parents came to visit us and we took them to one of our favorite jeep trails at Packsaddle lake. The kids, of course, couldn't resist getting in the water. Not long after this pic Paige and Cam went topless and Ali went skinny dipping :)

 Although pictures never do it justice, the trail down into Packsaddle is a pretty intense trail.

 We also took Terry and Susan camping at Lava Hot Springs. It was great to enjoy the relaxing outdoors and the hot pools. Grandpa Terry even jumped off the highest platform at the lava pool, 33 feet high, GO GRANDPA! Paige also got brave and went down the huge curly slide all by herself.

This is a picture we took on our way home from Lava. It has been really smoky near our house from all of the wild fires that past few weeks. This picture shows the smoke just hanging in the air over the valley where we live. It looks like another set of mountains but in fact it is a thick layer of smoke!

August So Far....

 Just another day in the bath.....They have SO much fun in the tub together! It will be a sad day when they have to bath alone :(

 Big Helpers! We have been doing yard work (as always) and the kids are always willing to help.

 We went to the Fremont County Fair with Judd and Chelsie and the kids loved it. It seriously does not take much to make them happy. I think they were just as excited about the 4 rides here as they would have been with all of Lagoon!

 This mini coaster was actually very adrenaline pumping. It wasn't very big but it was fast and very shaky....I think the adrenaline came from fearing for your life on the rickety structure :)

 The newest Gould family :) Notice little baby Madilyn (due in November)

 The animals were a hit.....look at these natural born country kids.

 We took a little nature hike in Kilgore and found lots of little wildlife.....Ry said it looked like we were trolling for bears......luckily we DIDN'T see any of those.

 Paige wanted me to take her picture with this bee, but this was a close as she was willing to get.

We stopped for a picnic lunch at this old abandoned homestead. The kids liked exploring inside.

Weekend at Lava

 We spent the weekend camping with our friends the Neeleys at Lava Hot Springs. Riding in the truck on the way to Lava...we realized too late that we should have put Paige in the middle. Ali and Cam torture each other. 

 Chillin' at the hot pots. We spent our evenings here relaxing from the long day of river rafting and swimming. 

 Paige and her BFF of the trip. 

 Paige and Ali loved the slides they would go over and over. Cam just liked to chill in the pool.

 Our family float tube. I think we floated the river 5 times all together and Cam and Ry did an additional 3 times. The kids loved it. Paige would laugh every time we went over the bumpies (rapids)! It was SO much fun!

Playing Uno Moo in the camper.