Babies

 

Our laptop blew up so John is working on getting the pictures off of it and organizing them on our new computer. I came across this little treasure I don't ever remember seeing! How tiny and cute are they? And they even liked each other! I'm pretty sure Emily was trying to steal his binky cause she still thinks we shouldn't have ever taken hers away! I love the chubby little hands intertwined. I can't believe this was a little less than 3 years ago. They were just babies...

 

As we were flipping through pictures Matson saw one of John and exclaimed, "Daddy SUPER NICE!"   Matson keeps us laughing every day...and in awe at the things he comes up with already.  Love our little 2 year old cutie.

Bear Lake- Day 2!!!!

The 2nd day at Bear Lake was GORGEOUS!  We went to an actual beach this day and we were all amazed at how gorgeous it was.  It was like being at the ocean...and you have to know that I have been dying for a trip to the ocean for the last 4 years!  Pretty much I was in heaven!  The water was a gorgeous turquoise blue and was as warm as a bathtub!  The sand was soft and warm and the there was just enough waves to make it PERFECT!  I fell in love with this place!!!  It really was a perfect day (minus the 45 minutes of sheer terror that involved a 911 call and all out search for my 3 year old nephew who went missing).  In the end, many prayers were answered, and John (not knowing that Chase was even missing) discovered him a mile from our beach spot and brought him safely back to greet the hysterical family and the police who had been helping to search for him.  So we continued the rest of our vacation feeling happy to all be together and extremely grateful for the best possible outcome of a terrifying experience.  Here are some pictures...

Matson building castles in the sand (which translates to Matson digging up wet sand and flinging it at us)!

Aunt Michelle flew in this morning and we could hardly wait to see her.  The kids all greeted her with their water squirters and soaked her down!  Then they spent most of the day trying to get the adults wet!

Matson LOVED it as much as me!  I guess he wanted to become one with the beach...he kept lying down in the wet sand and holding perfectly still! 

He was so filthy...covered head to toe with sand...but he was so happy!

Carter and I are working on building a moat for our castle.

That evening we played all kinds of fun games together. The highlight was teaching my dad how to play "don't eat pete"! He had never heard of it before. And then watching my dad play "duck duck goose" with all the little kids. They loved chasing grandpa around and he kept getting picked!

Cute cousins hanging out in the morning before we leave for home.

After a fun vacation we got raspberry shakes and then headed for home.  It think Matson was completely delirious-he was so tired!  The only thing better than one binky it TWO BINKIES!  He is one funny little baby...and he knows it!

Bear Lake -Day 1

We went to Bear Lake for our family reunion with all may family.  None of us had been there before and I was dying to see what all the hype was...all of my neighbors go there every year and LOVE it!  It was my turn to be in charge of the reunion so I convinced everyone to try out Bear Lake.  We rented the cabin (AKA GIGANTIC house) from a family in our ward.  It was gorgeous and relaxing and we had a great time!  This was the view from the family room at the cabin. 

We arrived and settled into tht cabin and then headed to the lake.  We stopped at a little spot by the road which didn't turn out to be a prime spot but the kids got super muddy and sand covered so I think they had a good time!  This is Matson heading to the water when we arrived!

 Back at the cabin we had some fun games and activities after dinner.  The kids gathered items from outside to make their own totem pole person and then we set them out to represent each family.

My Kiddos

Our Totem Pole Creations

The boys also found time to play a little miniature golf around the house!  Fun times!

John and my dad enjoyed the gorgeous view and spent a lot time counseling over some issues at work.  This is literally how John spent the whole vacation.  I want to go back just to he can enjoy a vacation without all that work stuff hanging over him the whole time...  You gotta love my dad in his flannel jammies...sorry dad!!!  I couldn't pass over this picture when I went through them!

Here are a bunch of the cousinsn exploring the areas around the cabin.  One of my favorite things about it was all the open space around us.  The kids loved building dirt houses, searching for treasures, and being able to roam free without any worries.  It was the perfect place.

Courtney

 On Saturday John and I were both working on various projects and the girls were looking after Matson.  After awhile Matson comes running in to talk to me.  He's all smiles and says, "I Courtney".  The girls had dressed him up in a dress (Emily's shirt), put make up on him, put bows in his hair (which he would NOT allow), and painted his nails.  He was going around telling everyone he was Courtney.  It was so funny!  Matson was super pleased with his fingernails that were painted yellow.  He said "Kelsie made these" and showed them off to everyone!  Today he turned to John to show off his nails again and said, Kelsie made these!  Then turned to Kelsie and said, "you made these!"  He was so proud of Kelsie's abilities to turn his fingernails colors!

The girls sure loved turning their brother into a girl for a couple of hours!  I did the same thing to my baby brother and he survived so I know Matson will be okay!  :)

Sand Mosaics

My favorite thing about the whole summer is "NO FRIEND DAY".  It sounds bad, but most of my neighbors do it on Wed. and I LOVE having a whole day of just my kids.  We fill it with fun projects...baking, crafts, etc... and I love having the whole day together to do whatever we feel like doing!   This week we made use of all the sand and shells we brought back from Bear Lake and did sand mosaics.  The kids had a ball and their finished creations were awesome...but I didn't get a picture!  I'll post pics of Bear Lake soon...hopefully before Matson's b-day...but no guarantees!  Summer if flying by.  :(

Island Park Vacation 2012

After our family reunions in Idaho we headed to Island Park for our family vacation.  The kids love staying in my Grandparents little A frame cabin and seeing Uncle Drew's plays.  We had a longer stay there this year which was so nice.  This post is picture OVERLOAD so watch out!  But here is a brief rundown of our trip for my sake.  

Day 1:  We arrived in Island Park, went 4 wheeling with Drew and family, had delicious pizza at Mack's Inn, went swimming, and headed to the cabin to get settled for the night!  I had NEVER been 4 wheeling and it was so fun.  I even drove the 4 wheeler (against my better judgement) and loved every second of it...although I was terrified the whole time!  I'm not much of  a thrill seeker.  :)

Day 2:  We got up and headed into West Yellowstone to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center.  It was a lot bigger than I remembered and the kids enjoyed it.  It wasn't Bear World...but it was a nice change!  We saw bears and wolves and lots of fun displays.  The kids even found themselves trapped in a bear trap.  See pictures below.  Then we walked around West and went to the Penny Store (our favorite)!  Then we headed back to the cabin and found that my Grandma and Parents had arrived.  John and my dad went out looking for cabins to buy (John is obsessed with having a cabin in Island Park).  Then we headed to the playhouse to see 3 Amigos!  My parents and Grandma LOVED it and it was fun to share Mack's Inn with them!  Thanks for coming with us!!!  We all stayed at the cabin together which was super fun!

Day 3:  We bid farewell to the grandparents and headed to Quake Lake.  The kids loved it (much too John's displeasure) because he doesn't know why I love it SO much.  We didn't get to see the houses in the lake which was a bummer though.  Then we went back to West to the Grizzly Center and got to see some different bears.  The wolves were very active this time which Emily enjoyed.  She loves wolves.  Then we went to the cabin for naps and High School Musical movie time.  We went back to Mack's Inn for a delicious dinner, and great entertainment.  We laughed our heads off during Home School Musical.  Drew is one of a kind and the kids loved it!  

Day 4:  We cleaned up the cabin and met Julie, Ellie, and Sterling at Warm River.  We fed the fish and ducks, chased the seagulls (Carter and Ellie's favorite part),  toured Johnny Sack's cabin, went on a little walk, and took some amazing pictures (which mostly involved John and I fighting over our camera that we both LOVE way too much).  :)  Then we said good-bye :(  to Ellie and fam and headed to Rexburg to the splash park.  We played, got soaked, dropped a key to Grandma, and I got lost getting to her house (I've been there a billion times).  Then we went home!  It was a painfully long drive (I'll spare you the details, but our kids HATE car rides.  We were happy to get home to our own beds, and happy to see our kitty survived without us, but we already miss Island Park!  

 Four wheeling with Uncle Drew!

Our family outside my grandparents cabin.  We love that view!

Mack's Inn...waiting for the play to start.

 Matson with his "2 GRANDMAS"!  Matson was DELIGHTED the entire trip that he had 2 grandmas in one place!  He walked around saying "1 Grandma, 2 Grandma" and pointing at them.  In the mornings he would go around telling everyone who would listen, "1 Grandma sleeping, 1 Grandma AWAKE!"  I can't begin to convey his exuberance...but if you've spent any time with our Matson, you know just what I mean! 

Emily, Grandpa Peterson, and Carter at the playhouse.

 The kids and crazy Uncle Drew...the 2nd night.

 On our way to Earthquake Lake.

Look at what the bears did to these garbage cans!  Pretty cool.

 Feeding ducks at Warm River.  Love my baby boy!

My kids and Ellie.  They all adore her!

Emily and Ellie

Touring Yellowstone with baby brother.

 Emily's favorite Wolf (her favorite animal).

Seeing the Bears at the Grizzly Center.

Caught in a Bear Trap! 

On the deck of Grandma's cabin in our jammies.

This one was for Aunt Carol, mom.  :)  Matson climbing the stairs to the loft!

Our family before getting ready to leave beautiful Island Park.  It was an amazing vacation and we can't wait for next year!

Peterson Reunion

While we were in Idaho we attended my Peterson Family Reunion.  I hadn't been for a few years and it was very fun to see family that I hadn't seen in a long time.  It was a very long, hot day but it was nice to be there with family.  We had lunch together and then went on a tour of a historic pioneer village which was really neat.  Then we visited, played games, and had a Dutch Oven Chicken dinner.  This is the kids with their Great Grandma and Grandpa Peterson.

This is all the Peterson clan listening to the tour guide for the pioneer tour.  The tour was very well done.  The kids got to do hand on pioneer activities and they shared lots of fun stories about the pioneers in this area.

 Cousins playing on the covered wagon.

 Emily was chosen to be a helper and she got to dress up in pioneer clothes and help spin wool.  She was in heaven.

The kids got to sit in old school desks and learn all about school during pioneer times.  

Grandpa Peterson did a great job of entertaining Matson all day which was a great help to us.  Matson is a busy little handful but Grandpa kept him happy and busy all day.  Matson has a special bond with Grandpa and really can't get enough of him.  Every day when he wakes up he asks me, "GO Grandpa's house?"   If my mom stops by to visit he hardly lets her in the house before he says "where Grandpa?"  It could be considered a bit offensive, but he sure LOVES his Grandpa!