Lake Land

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Spring

It's rare for Spud to be too tired to eat!

The last few months of school flew by in a flash and we are well into summer. Here are a few of the fun things that happened this spring.

The neighborhood girls and Spud taking advantage of the "warm" spring.

The rainy day fort we made under the stairs.

Crazy hair day at school

My darling daughters, with the help of dad, put lots of effort into a delicious Mother's Day Dinner.

Curly doing testing for her science fair project

Curly's Science Fair project

Lou as the Narrator and Unicorn in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"

Curly and Lettie helping out at Pika's Be Green book opening.

More "Eat, Drink, and Be Green" fun!

With friends after the dance recital

Dancing Divas

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Our March madness consisted of projects, parties, and playing. We did enjoy watching some basketball as well. The kids really got into the final four because Fisher had them each fill out a bracket and the winner wouldn't have to do chores for a week. Wouldn't you know, the winner was the kid who doesn't really "do" his chores. Spud could care less, but the girls find this totally unfair.

Most of Fisher's free hours were spent working on the basement. One of the main reasons we chose this house was for the unfinished basement. Fisher wants to develop his handy man skills and give up all of his free time to finish it (mostly) himself. With the electrical and vent work done, this month we began the drywall. When the weather turned nice, we decided to put the drywall on hold to assemble the playground that has been taking up half a garage bay since Christmas. The "12 hour, 2 man project" turned into a "20 hour, 3 man project" but after several Saturdays, the kids and the neighborhood are finally enjoying it. We are grateful for the help we have had from family on the never ending projects we seem to keep accumulating.

The basement "backyard" swing

Gary helping with drywall

Lou can be a "bit" dramatic and one evening decided she was running away. She packed up 3 bags and Fisher lent her his old down coat so she wouldn't freeze. She lasted about 30 minutes on the back porch (she decided that was a good option so she could come in for food when necessary) before her desire for comfort overcame her stubbornness.

Ready to run

Fisher did enjoy his Birthday, even though he doesn't look it

In mid-March we had a family party at the LLL ranch. Many of our cousins, siblings, and other family from Utah made the trek for what was supposed to be a snow play weekend. Since the snow was long gone, we enjoyed lots of game playing and visiting. We braved the muddy roads, to venture out for some kite flying, zip-lining, and sliding too.

Spud Lightyear and Ariel Anni enjoying Aunt Pika's dress-ups

Tom, "the game King" playing Snake Oil with the girls

Easter Unicorn K-Rae

Paisley and Russ serenading

An exciting game of "Settlers"

And of course, there is every day life to be enjoyed as well.

Spud bonked his nose and "needed" a band-aid

Lou helping spud with Family Home Evening

We had some crazy weather in March

Helping Great Grandpa Lake as part of our Easter Week celebrations

Lou decided she wanted to donate her hair. Isn't she cute!

Sunday, March 22, 2015

February - Fun & Fast

We started February out with a visit from the Waters. They were our first official over night guests in our new house. We celebrated with some serious active play at Fisher's physical therapy gym and then home made personal pizzas. It didn't take much to entertain the Waters. The kids were thrilled to play non-stop and the parents so the parents could just visit.

Spud is keeping me busy and I am constantly trying to find new activities that he enjoys. One of his current favorites is the wheat bin. It keeps him busy for quite a while and it also makes a big mess (which is probably why he enjoys it).

Berry is easier to entertain and enjoys quiet play, coloring, and learning time. She is becoming quite adept at writing her name.

Paisley brought this cute lederhosen back from Germany and it fits Spud just perfectly. He was quite the ham while we tried to get a good pictures of him.

The saddest day in February was the day that Paisley moved to Utah. We have loved living in the same city as her. We will miss her dropping by for lunch or to just say Hi. We will miss going on outings with her. She started her first job as the English content editor for "FamilyShare" at Deseret Digital Media.

We also celebrated my birthday! Fisher took me skiing. I can't remember the last time just the two of us went skiing... definitely pre-Arizona. We were amazed at how many runs we could do in an hour and equally amazed at how tired our legs were. I guess I am getting older. We celebrated with the kids too. The girls planned some fun surprises and insisted on making me breakfast and dinner and they did a pretty good job. It was a lovely birthday.

The combined fourth grade classes at Curly's school put on a musical about the Lewis and Clark expedition. It was well done and very entertaining. Curly is on the front row next to the girl in green. Her role was an aid to the president.

And that was February.

January

January flew by so quickly (and my memory is so terrible) that it seemed like maybe nothing noteworthy happened. It is a good thing we have pictures to record the things we don't want to forget.

One Sunday the girls dressed up every - single - stuffed animal we own and then put on fashion show complete with commentary and awards. I am still finding hair bows and other accessories clipped on teddy bear ears and doggy necks.

Our neighbor created a cool ice sculpture in his yard. It is lit up at night and we can see it from our kitchen window. Berry calls it Elsa's castle.

Berry took a tumble and ended up needing to have her chin repaired. This happened the day after Fisher and I were discussing how fortunate we were to never have had any of our children break a bone or need stitches.

We knew Paisley would probably be moving when she found a job, so we took advantage of the time she had here to go on outings. We spent one afternoon at the skating rink. Berry received a book about an ice skater for Christmas and was disappointed to discover she couldn't spin and twirl like the girl in her book. She settled for being pushed around on the ice skating trainer.

Beautiful frosted snow globe world

Berry decided to give her hair a trim. It's a good thing she is so cute.

After a fun day of skiing, we stopped to see the snow sculptures in Driggs.

We finally finished hanging some family photos.

We made sure to leave a spot for the new addition joining our family in July.

Near the end of January, Fisher had a conference in Park City, Utah. We left the older girls with Grandma and took Berry and Russ to Utah to visit Oma. We had fun staying with the Willeitners on our way.

Russ loves a mess!

Fisher and I enjoyed a few days in Park City. He attended classes while I read books, exercised and spent some time with nearby family. We enjoyed lunch with Paul and Michele and I got to visit K-Rae at the school where she works before she and I enjoyed an afternoon of shopping.

With Paul and Michele at The Canyons

K-Rae in her Speech Therapy office

On our way home, we were able to attend the blessing or our newest nephew, Dallin. We all think he is just perfect.

A White and Wonderful Christmas

Our first Christmas living in Idaho did not disappoint. We woke up to a winter wonderland on Christmas morning that provided the perfect backdrop for a wonderful day with family. The most memorable events of this Christmas season were (in no particular order):

- Having all of my parents, siblings and their families here to celebrate.
- Great Grandpa Lake joining us for Christmas morning breakfast and gifts.
- The family re-enactment of the Nativity.
- Teaching the kids to ski.
- Playing games with the family.
- Taking family pictures.
- Eating lots of really good food because everyone in my family is a really good cook.
- A happening New Years Eve party planned by Kristi and Diego.