Albuquerque Temple Tour

For the kids recent Primary Activity, they went for a tour of the Albuquerque Temple grounds. It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed walking around the temple. It was pretty bright out that morning, so the kids really had to squint. Carter has sensitive eyes, so he ended up wearing my sun glasses.

I wanted to get a nice picture of the kids in front of this water fountain, but this was the best they would give me. :)

I am grateful for the temple, it is the place we can go to feel closest to our Heavenly Father and it is what brings families together for eternity.

I love to see the temple.

Pouting

The kids all put on their pouting faces...Any votes on the Best Pouter Face???

Josie Mason
Chloe
Carter The Winner gets a Spanking! :)

Summertime Snacks

We recently acquired a Cookbook for Kids, which we all love. With summer time here, we decided to try some of these recipes. Carter and Chloe had a great time in the kitchen and are excited to start cooking more often. Here are the snacks they prepared.

Carter with his "Green Meanies"Apples with Peanut Butter and Sunflower Seeds...YUM!

Chloe with her Trail Mix.
Cheerios, Popcorn, and Chocolate Chips.

We had a lot of fun making these treats. :)

Colorful Clouds

One thing about clouds, that we have all learned, is that they are not just grey or white, they are multicolored. Thanks to Matt, we have all be educated in this color discovery. As we drive down the road with the enormous sky around us, in New Mexico, we view many clouds. Sometimes Matt will ask us what colors we see, and suprisingly enough, we can see other colors besides the grey and white that I always believed they were. These pictures do not give the full effect of their colors, but we love the billowing puffs that they are. So, with a little of this art education, notice what colors you see in the clouds the next time you are out in the wide open.

The Botanical Garden

Our family took a day trip to the Botanical Gardens one Saturday. It was a nice overcast day and we thought it would be relaxing, just what we needed. We arrived and didn't waste anytime walking and taking pictures of the beautiful flowers. There began to be a little drizzle of rain, which we figured would make for some great pictures!

Carter, Chloe and Mason began playing amongst the very large carrots...and Mason avoided my request to look and smile for a picture! Then it really began to down pour with rain! Thankfully we were near the gigantic pumpkin, where we found refuge until the rain slowed for a moment.

We realized that the rain wasn't going to ease up much for the rest of the day, because the clouds were pretty set in the sky. We decided to come back another day when the weather was a little more pleasant. Thankfully we have a pass to get in, so it wasn't a waste of money!

We took a few more quick pictures on our way out, just in time before it down poured again!

I must say, these are some pretty great kids! They are happy and enjoy their life around them!

Until next time...

Good Bye 1st Grade

Carter had a really great year in 1st Grade. His teacher Mrs. Hoban was wonderful. She has taught for years and years and has lots of really great experience. Carter did really well and liked her a lot. She loves to read and really instilled that love in her students. She was always suggesting books and book series for Carter to read. We hope that all of our kids will pass through her class. We will miss her.

Great job passing 1st grade Carter!

Chloe's Preschool Graduation

Chloe had a really great year this year at Preschool. The years started off a little rough because she missed the Kindergarten deadline by 6 hours and 25 minutes. The School District wouldn't budge on letting her in. So, she was quite devastated, but thanks to a few prayers, she was able to get into the Pre-K Preschool that is a very large preschool run through the school district. The school is called Shining Stars and Chloe definately "shined" this year. She was the leader in her class and her teachers often told me that Chloe helped keep all the kids in order. She often asked the teachers to "go over the rules again" so that she could make sure that all the kids knew them and kept the rules. She made lots of friends and learned a lot. She is very ready to start kindergarten!

Her group quoted the nursery rhymn, "Jack be Nimble" They all sang a little love song to their parents.

This is her teacher Ms. Thacker. This was her first year out of college.

Chloe posing for her picture after receiving her diploma. :)

Her teacher sharing her thoughts about the year (while losing her dress...how embarrassing!)

Singing another little song.

Chloe and Mason playing in this little water fountain.

Daddy is so proud.

Mommy is so proud of her too.

Teachers Mrs. Lucille and Ms. Thacker

A beautiful girl in a butterfly chair. :)

A bite of watermelon after a long day.

Great job Chloe.

Early MP3

Josie took an opportunity to try out Chloe's MP3 player, while Chloe was gone. Mommy caught her while she was enjoying dancing to the princess tunes.

Cookies

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar??? Who me?
Couldn't be.
Which one should I taste?

This one is pretty good.

Now, let me try that one.

I think I'll eat this one all up. Bye. Bye.

Who else stole the cookie dough straight from the bowl?

Who me? Couldn't be!

I have made cookies on a few different occasions and it is funny to see how excited the kids get and how they love to snitch the dough! :)

Home - Better Than School

Carter says, "Mom, do you know why I like home better than school?"

Mom says, "No, why?"

Carter - "Because at home there are no rules for where you walk. You are free. At school there are rules about walking...You can't even jump."

We are both grateful for the simple freedoms we have.

Fathers & Sons

Every year, from the time the boys are 18 months and in nursery, Matt loads up the camping gear and his boys and goes on the Annual Fathers & Sons Campout.  They have a wonderful time every year and if they come home with clean faces and don't stink like campfire...I know something went seriously wrong!  But, that has never happened, so no need to be concerned!  You can tell as you view the pictures that they start off clean and by the end...their faces are clearly dirty!  Even Mason's nose, in some of these pictures, has nice big boogies running down it...so make sure to look closely!

Here are some of the hightlights of nearly every camping trip...

Fishing

Playing with Nature:  sticks, weeds, etc...

This year they made a rope swing ~

a real hit with the boys!

Is Camping complete without fruit snacks? 

We don't eat them often, so they are a real treat!  (Of course I am confident that it is the worst time to eat them...considering the possible lack of teeth brushing while camping!)

A little relaxing in the shade...

Hanging out with some good friends: 

The Dobb's & The Johnson's

Getting ready to eat breakfast, the next morning.

Making boats...

A nice country breakfast with pancakes

and the works...

Some sleepy, worn out boys!

I love this picture! 

You gotta give it to the men ~

making good use of their tools! 

A power tool camping?...for breakfast? 

Gotta love it!

This is the famous Grant Stoddard Teepee. 

Poor guy, has 3 daughters, but all the other boys love it!

The boys wanted to do some painting this year ~

Budding Artists!

Would you look at that! 

An Indian Paintbrush flower!

How fitting!

Tradition usually takes place at the

Jemez Mountains.

It is a beautiful area!

The finished Artwork!

Look closely...see the dirty face?  It is hard to see

through the cuteness!

What a treat it is for these boys to get to go with their dad on a special camping trip each year.  They have a great time!  We miss them terribly, while having a girl party of our own, and we know that they secretly wish we were with them camping as a family.  We love you boys!