NEW KITCHEN!!! (finally)

Okay friends! Here it is! The kitchen:)


Some accessories...

And last but not least my Anthropologie board. The knobs are from Anthropologie, and the plants are air plants. My third plant froze so all we have left is the tiny seedling but another is on it's way:) I actually cut the board myself which is a big deal because I hate loud power tools. Yes, I used power tools. I guess you can teach old dogs new tricks.

Happy Harvest!

I LOVE this time of the year! I love the colors, I love cuddling under blankets, I love the HARVEST! It is also Ella's birthday. This year our house was still slightly unfinished from our kitchen fiasco so Ella's "BUGS AND BUTTERFLIES" party was moved to the park. Five is a monumental age for a little one and it was a good day:) Thanks Mom for helping with the cake!

What do we do when we aren't throwing birthday parties? We harvest! These pumpkins are from our garden. The apples are from our tress (I am so mad I didn't get pics of the kids picking them!)The geese are even from the field! Rob saw them land during dinner and got his gun, walked outside and shot the geese! I need to just say that it made me sad and I even cried a little bit. The geese didn't taste very good either. Ashten (The best canning buddy in the world) and I canned apple pie filling, jalapeno pickles, bread and butter pickles, jalapeno jam, and raspberry jam. This was my first year canning and as weird as it sounds...it was addicting. My breakfast now consists of homemade toast and jam! SO MUCH HAPPINESS!!! While we were in the kitchen the girls were stacking wood with dad or painting pumpkins :)


We can't forget the traditional Halloween crafts. This year we made pumpkin sun-catchers, spiders, and ghosts. The kids didn't want to put their ghosts up but ran around the house "scaring" everyone.

We spend most of our day in the kitchen. Right here Claire is playing in the sink while the girls and I are making granola bars. I will always picture my counters covered with children in dress ups and ingredients.

This time of year also brought around CLAIRE"S FIRST FEEDING. The pictures explain it all.

HAPPY HARVEST TO ALL!!!

ROLO PRINCESSES!

I enjoy my sleep. Rob enjoys NOT waking me from my sleep. But sometimes he has to. Like when our kitchen is flooded. Rob had to rush off to work which left me with a very wet mess. Luckily we know a guy. The guy told us that the kitchen and mud room is ruined and will be gutted and renovated. My initial reaction was PURE JOY!!! Christmas came early this year! I would LOVE to design my own kitchen!! Rob on the other hand.....not so excited. The bad news was that the girls and I would be gone for another 3-4weeks.

Sweet little Ella loves her daddy. This particular day was supposed to be a "Let's-surprise-Dad-just-because-we-love-him-day". We had some great plans made and when we couldn't do them anymore Ella got so sad. So we brainstormed and came up with a craft that we will probably do every time we take a trip while Rob stays home. ROLO PRINCESSES (naturally)! All that is needed is some white copy paper, some markers, scissors, Rolos, and a couple adorable girls with big imaginations. We initially wanted to make individual wrappers and wrap Rolos and leave them for Rob so that every time he opened on he would think of the girls. After they were wrapped Brooke's Rolos that were wrapped were clearly more beautiful than the ones that weren't and those became princesses. The others became bad guys. Oh the battle that ensued!! The bad guys won. This was one of the cutest craft ideas we have ever done:) A tradition has been born!

So we went to Utah and had another fabulous trip! So much to do. I thought 3-4 weeks would be a ton of time but it was JAM PACKED! We ran out of time! So here are some pics of a few things we did:) Love and miss you all!



P.S. New kitchen pictures will be coming later. I am waiting to finish a project using some goods from ANTRHOPOLOGIE...

On the Road Again!

The next weekend brought my parent's into town...a trip to Rexburg for Shanae's graduation and to watch her dance that she choreographed be performed at the ceremony...a going away party for our dear friends, The Taylor's (they are so loved we had around 100 people at our house!)...and Shanae stayed with us for a few days which inspired all us girlies to head off to Seattle for a couple of weeks. I am a firm believer that spur-of-the-moment-trips are one way to teach your kids to make life what you want it to be! Did I mention Claire was only 2 months old?? This is not something I would recommend for the weak of heart.


The girls did awesome!!! Claire was an angel, Brooke was an angel, and Ella was and angel. My girls rock. Our Seattle trip was full of all the normal things we do while in Seattle. Pike Place, the ZOO water parks, beaches, shopping, food, food, more food, Children's museum, my dad running around the house chasing my kids while pretending to be a wild chicken,puzzles until two in the morning, and smelling that fabulous sea and evergreen air!! I have a rule about driving with the windows down during the summer in Seattle; it is a must! Mom had surgery on her shoulder the day after we arrived and everything was very successful! Her recovery was great and the girls were still able to play with her and I kept finding her holding Claire when she probably shouldn't have. Inside jokes we made (Shanae---FANNY!!!), bucket lists were made, banana cupcakes with cinnamon frosting were made, and great memories were made. Here are just some of the pics from that trip:) Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Simplicity and one of my soap boxes!

July in Montana...What to do? What to do??
Who? The Taylor's, The Humphrey's, The Olsen's and the Child's. What? Boating, kayaking, canoing, games, food, great friends, hot tub, a turtle that the boys found which laid an egg, you know- all the normal cabin stuff. When? Weekend after the fourth. Where? Seeley Lake in a beautiful cabin! Why? Why not?


And what would a summer in MT be without some good ol' tent camping? Rob got the camera while I got the gear. Thanks hun. Husband of the year award nominee!

One of the perks of living in MT is that campgrounds are close to home and since Claire was only a couple of months old we decided to go to Blodgett and Rob would stay with Brooke and Ella while I came back to the house with Claire. The first item of business was to run. Just run around. Luckily for us there was a trail perfect for little runners. Next on the list was junk food, hiking, the river, star-gazing, hide-and-go-seek, and climbing (not in that order).
There was a big boulder that was perfect for the girls to climb and it was flat on the top so they had to put on a show for us. I am sure some woodland creature stopped to listen. I would like to point out that we may be roughin' it outside but my girls have skirts on! We may live in MT but they are still my girls!

Rob said that the girls' favorite thing to do that night was to listen to camping and fishing stories around the fire. They also got new flashlights and Rob took them on a night walk. They didn't want to come back home the next day but rain was coming fast so Rob quickly got the tent down and got the girls out of there. But they REALLY didn't want to come home yet so they waited for the rain to stop and then played in the river.

These simple activities are what will convince the girls that they had the best childhood ever. I can't help but think that we have all become so commercialized and spoiled. I blame this on Walmart. In today's world (I can't believe I just said that) parents are planning huge vacations which cost 1/4 of their salary and then get mad when their kids throw a fit because they are too tired, but those parents didn't spend all that money for their kids to whine so they better smile and have a good time or else!! Anyone who has been to Disney World knows exactly what I am talking about. I am guilty too. I just dragged my kids around Utah for three weeks and had to get in as much as possible because who knows when we will be back. Actually, we will be back for Christmas and I am sure we will do it all again and I am sure my kids will get tired and I will get frustrated. Which is a big part of why we live where we live. I am thankful for a grounded and balanced husband and kids who want to explore the wonders of dirt and sing on a rock. And I am grateful for simplicity.