"He's a keeper!" --Kim Roberts

This past week we had the opportunity to go with our friends the Roberts' on their annual Oregon Coast vacation. So last Friday we flew into Portland and drove to Cannon Beach. It is so beautiful there and dare I say, we were cold much of the time! It was seriously a sauna to come home.

Anyway, the first day we went into Seaside and went to the little shops there (and also the outlets!). Those who know Nate can just imagine his excitement about shopping, but he was a good sport......and there were lots of samples for him and CJ (ok and me too) to enjoy. That night we built a fire on the beach. I really think the campfire smell, smells different there.

Saturday we drove down the coast and stopped at a crabbing place just to see how it all worked. So we decided to rent a boat (CJ was the captain and Nate was the puller) and went and caught a TON of crabs.........seriously I think there were about 80. We 'crabbed' for a couple of hours and then brought the ones that were big enough to keep and went back to the dock. They they showed us how to clean them and cooked them and then we enjoyed. YUM!!!

Then we went on to Tillamook and took a tour of the cheese factory there. Of course we had an ice cream and I saw some people with BYU shirts on and it made me feel right at home. (Don't worry I told them that I really enjoyed their shirts).

That night we went to a play. We were a little bit late, but somebody at the back opened the door for us. We saw these cookies sitting right at the front and CJ asked if he could have a cookie and then took a couple into the play to enjoy. So of course I followed his example and took some for Nate and I. During intermission he went out to get another cookie and found out that they were $1 each. Ooops, we had stolen the cookies.

The next day was Sunday so we went to church in Seaside. There were LOTS of visitors (probably like Bear Lake or Island Park in the busy seasons). We drove on the beach and went to an old ship wreck. I made (those who know him really know that I MADE him to this--good thing he loves me!) Nate pose like on Titanic (too bad we were solo), it would have been better to be on there together.



Then we went up north to Astoria and saw the house were goonies was filmed. We tried to get Nate to do the, "truffle shuffle", but he wouldn't. Party pooper. We also went to the Astoria column and saw a beautiful view. That night we got goonies and watched it, just to make sure that was the actual house. Don't worry, it was.







At the "goonie house" we thought we heard sea lion barks so we drove down to the dock and found them. Nate was trying to get as close as he could (I am pretty sure we weren't supposed to go down there) and there was one at the front of the group or pack or whatever that was very protective. He would get up from his rest and scoot over to Nate barking the whole way, Nate had to run back a couple of times. It was good times. Kim missed it as she was on the phone, but she did "strike a pose" for the camera

The next day we rented some bikes and went on a long bike ride up to Ecola State Park. It was beautiful and quite the workout getting our beach cruiser bikes up the winding mountain road (but it felt good!) It was gorgeous up there and it felt so good to ride back down the mountain!

We ate LOTS of great seafood. Nate and I went running on the beach 2 of the mornings. Nate pretty much would run sprints and then slow down and wait for me to catch up and then run sprints again. We would go to the different tide pools and look at all the little ocean critters. There were lots and lots of wild life. Nate loves this kind of stuff!

It was so much fun to get away, but we missed our kids and were glad to come home to see them. My mom told me that Kace had a countdown going on when we were coming home. I was kind of surprised at that. Many many many thanks to my mom and dad, Jess and Mac and Mary and Isaac for watching the boys. You guys are the BEST!!

new family pics

I told Nate that the only thing I wanted for Mother's Day was new family pictures (mostly so he wouldn't complain and also so that I would actually get it). So I was at YW and Hayley Yates said, "My sister (Ashley) could take your pictures, let me call her." So she called her and we got it set up.

We had a good time, Kace was a little crazy sometimes........seriously a NORMAL smile. She took a ton of pictures (you get to see about 12 of them) and by the end both boys (actually all 3 of my boys) were pictured out. I had to choose one with Ty and his tractor, because that is what he LOVES!

This is one of my favorites. She caught the boys acting so natural together and then put the three pictures together. I LOVE IT! And the bonus is that Kace was acting normal :) Every time we told him to smile he would do this weird eyebrow raise that you saw earlier.

Ashley fixed this one. In the actual photo Kace's eyes were closed, but I can't even tell she fixed it so well.

Off we go

Nate has been so excited for the past couple of weeks to get things done so we could go fishing to Henry's Lake. Last year they caught the biggest fish I have ever seen. This year, however, they were LUCKY to have caught anything. I felt bad because the fishing was so bad and he had been so excited.

hmmm........what to use.............so many choices

We left on Thursday morning and drove with Donene (nate's mom) and Caitlin (nate's sis). We rode in the boat and watched Nate and Kace fish on Thursday afternoon/evening until we had an accident in the outhouse (you don't want to know) and then had to go to our bags.

On Friday Nate's dad, Mac, Isaac, Mary and Lincoln came up at 3:00 AM (CRAZY) so that they could get there by 7:00 and be ready for the good fishing time. So the boys went fishing and the girls (and kids) headed to Yellowstone. We saw an eagle, buffalo and some elk. I was surprised at how many people were there and the traffic was WAY slow, until we got to the turn to go to Old Faithful. We went to Old Faithful and Kace loved that. He thought the geysers were really neat. And yes, Heidi, he is wearing his favorite holey sweats, but we were "camping."

We saw the Beehive geyser go off also. It shot higher than Old Faithful and only goes off every 10 hrs-5 days. After it went off Ty decided he was thirsty and laid on the wooden sidewalk and starting lapping (like a dog) the water that had just launched. Hope that was safe, he hasn't been sick, so I am guessing it was.

Ty was OBSESSED with Lincoln's stroller and had this nasty scream if you touched the stroller OR if you told him he couldn't push it. Grandma spoiled the kids (and adults!) to some ice cream at the Old Faithful Inn and then we headed back. We took some scenic routes and saw a lot of buffalo and their little babies.

On Saturday the boys woke up early to see if they could have any success (the didn't) again. So they were back by 8:30 (the die-hards woke up REAL early!). Mac and Isaac couldn't remember having been to Yellowstone so everyone (but our family) went back through the park.

Nate didn't really want to go that way because it was further from home, so we told Kace we could stop at Bear World which is just south of Rexburg. I was pretty impressed. The boys LOVED it. First you drive through and see all the bears (they have a lot), elk, moose, and wolf. Then you park and go through the petting zoo, feed the ducks and fish, and ride the little amusement park rides. The boys LOVED IT. It was a great way to break up our trip home.

"CHEESE" What an awesome boat in the background!


They saw this chicken lay this egg so we got a picture.


They had lots of little farm animals to pet. I think the favorite was the pig. It snorted every time you touched it. They kept running back to touch it and hear it snort!


Here is a picture of a catfish Kace caught the day before we left in the Bear River (he calls himself the, "KING OF THE RIVER!" He is a very modest little boy :)

Readers are Leaders!

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I haven't really been in the blogging mood lately, but feel I need to do something new :)

The elementary school Kace attends had their end-of-the-year awards assembly and Kace had the highest number of minutes read in his class, so he got to squirt his teacher with a fire hose. You can imagine how excited he was to do this! He also got a medal that said, "readers are leaders" and wore it around all day!

Nate has been working VERY hard on our house to get it ready for stucco/rock etc. He is almost done with the roof he is building over the downstairs door that we dug last year. Then it will be a whole new house. I am very excited! I will post some pictures on facebook as it is probably a little more safe than blogs :)

The horse ride

I have never really been around horses. My dad always thought horses were pretty useless to have around because he had tractors to do the work that they used to do and you had to pay to feed them. Anyway, I did learn about them when I went on my first date with Nate. We went to his grandparents house in Liberty the day his cousin got home from his mission, that's right so I met the WHOLE family, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. on our first date. Thank goodness I already knew Nate's immediate family so I at least felt comfortable with them. Anyway, we went to his grandparents and went to the family BBQ and then went horseback riding. I remember Nate telling me a lot about the horse and how to saddle it and such, but don't really remember any of the details of what he said. I guess I was hearing him and not really listening. I had a fun time with him.

So we knew the cows would be getting too big for us to have in our pasture for the summer (they tend to push the fence and get out all the time) so Nate's dad came and got them to take up to his place and brought back, "BOB, the horse" for us to have in our pasture. Bob is so lucky he can just eat to his heart's desire. Kace and Ty were so excited to have a horse and were even more excited that they would be able to ride Bob. So last Monday night Nate saddled up good old "bob the horse" and took the boys on a ride. They loved it!

Of course we had to have a bunny ear picture. What do bunny ears mean anyway?

Easter at our house

I really wanted to make Easter more about Christ this year. I thought about this mostly because when I asked Kace why we have Easter he gave me some worldly answer. I felt so bad, I thought we had taught him and looking back on it, we have had him tell us (before he finds his Easter basket) why we have Easter every year. Obviously he doesn't remember that part, just the candy, hunts and bunny. So we colored eggs on Thursday night. It was so much fun. They really got into it. Okay Nate did NOT get into it, he smashed his finger with a sledge hammer (he is getting rid of the rock in front of our house so we can get new rock! YEA!), so anyway he was out of commission.

I don't know anybody else who takes a picture giving THEMSELVES bunny ears.



Nate and his poor finger. He has to get it better because he has "valley tournament" games this week. That was his biggest concern. Speaking of the "valley" (that is where Nate grew up....in Huntsville), I still think of Sweet Valley High when I say it! :) I just loved those books when I was a tween!





Coloring eggs is not complete without a spill or two.



Here is Ty right after he spilled. He knew he shouldn't have knocked it over and tends to pout everytime he gets a "talking to."



Every year while growing up we had a few BYU eggs. I can't help but carry on the tradition and Kace is very happy to oblige!



Friday night Nate pulled Kace's front tooth out. Now he has a snaggle tooth (the other front one is loose, but not quite ready). He was very excited to put it under his pillow. Don't worry the tooth fairy found the tooth this time!

So on Thursday we colored eggs and on Friday night the Easter Bunny came. The Easter bunny didn't want to bring very much candy because she/he knew that the big egg hunt was coming up at Grandma Jones'. So Kace got some "chapter books" and a portable soccer goal.



Ty got a couple of books (a tractor one that was a huge hit!) and a tricycle. He really needed a bike for himself because Kace totally trashed his tricycle (it is in about 5 pieces) so Ty got a nicer one, hopefully it will last. He LOVED IT! Unfortunately for him, Kace loved it too and it has been the cause of a few disagreements. I wish it were a little bit smaller as Ty has a hard time reaching the pedals, but he will grow into it in no time.



On Sunday I after church we had a discussion on the real meaning/reason for Easter. My friend Kylene sent me the story of Easter done through eggs, so we did it with the boys. We looked up lots of scriptures and I think Ty was more interested in jumping on the eggs to crush them, but hopefully Kace understood a little bit! I think we will do this every year!

Kace made lots of hunts up for Ty and hid things in the eggs. He was so excited and it was cute to see. Thankfully, Ty got excited too and loved it!

Fun in the sun.....that means we left Utah!

Most of you know that Nate had to go to Florida a couple of weeks ago. He got very very bored all by himself, so when he found out he had to go to Arizona he really wanted me to come with him. He didn't have to beg too hard. It was only going to be three days, Kace didn't have school the first two days and it is blasted cold here and I wanted to leave. So thanks to our parents and Caitlin (THANKS FOR WATCHING THE BOYS!), we were able to go on this little adventure! Oh, in the first picture we have our jackets on because we are at the airport waiting to go home. I didn't have a picture of us at all, so I made Nate pose by the catcus. He looks thrilled doesn't he!

We first flew into Tucson Monday morning. After we got checked into our hotel (and changed into shorts!) we drove up to Queen Creek to visit my old roommate Jamie. It was so much fun! She was my roommate when I met and started dating Nate so she knows him well. I hadn't seen her in such a long time and hadn't seen any of her kids. She now has three!! This was one of the times I really wish the boys had come. They would have had a blast playing with her boys.

We had a great visit and Nate's favorite pizza and drove back. Thanks to Travis for drawing an awesome map, we made it back in no time! This was definitely the highlight of the trip. I loved seeing her and visiting her. It was like we hadn't missed a beat! This means that there were lots of laughs!!

The next day Nate had to go to work for the day, but there was another wife (and her kids) that was there with her husband so we hung out and went to a desert museum. It sounds boring, but it was really fun and interesting. It was nice to have someone to hang out and talk with.

We had a great trip and a nice break from the normalities (google doesn't like thsi word for some reason!) of life. The last day I called to see how the boys were and my mom told me it was snowing. So we changed back out of the shorts to get on the airplane and come home to coldville.

Oh, on Monday I called Caitlin to see how the boys were and she said that she had to tell me a funny story to tell me. She said she put herself and Ty down for a nap (and a show on for Kace) and a couple of hours later she heard someone upstairs banging around in the kitchen. So she went upstairs to see what he was doing. She asked and he told her that he was, "doing a surprise." Then he told her that he was, "cleaning up the WHOLE house to surprise Grandma when she got home from work!" I was so impressed. She said that he lined up all the shoes, cleaned up the stuff from their bags. I thought it was so cute! I hope I didn't mess up the story too bad :)