Idaho to New York

See our week long adventure!

Day One
Stops: Yellowstone National Park
Hotel Stay: Sheridan, WY


Walking around the "hot pots"


Sisterly Love--Waiting for Old Faithful--


It didn't disappoint.

Day Two
Stops: Devil's Tower, Dinosaur park, Mt. Rushmore, The Badlands, Wall Drug Store
Hotel Stay: Murdo, SD
Devil's Tower
Smiles
Playing Hide & Seek
Found a tepee to play in
Our "new" ride. (Camille calls him Ernie)
She REALLY wanted to scare the poor prairie dogs
Juice Break
The Three Horn
The Long Neck
The Swimmer

Those "guys" in the Mountain
Fake Smile...
This place rocks
The Badlands
These fellas were everywhere!

Day Three
Stops: The Corn Palace, The Sioux Falls falls
Hotel Stay: Blue Earth, MN

Made outta corn
Outside the "palace"
She loves corn


Sioux Falls falls


Preparing to JUMP!

Stay turned for days four through seven.....

Too much playing...

...not enough work!!

We're suppose to leave in the morning to start our 6 day drive to New York but we just can't seem to stop playing and buckle down and get the packing done! :)



Played in Grandma Donna's ditch water. (Mil is just warming up on the driveway.)


We did some more hot air balloon rides.


Grandpa Lewis took us for a airplane ride.


We flew over our house.

and many more things we haven't taken pictures of.

What did you do this morning?

We went and helped Grandpa Lewis put up the Hot Air Balloon for the 5th grades in Rexburg.


Unloading
Adding some air

Helping Grandma "guide" the balloon.




Helping Grandpa inspect the balloon

Nattie double checking Grandpa's work. (Camille thinks the fan is TOO LOUD.)

Up, up and away
The school kids thought it was awesome
Chillin' in the basket
Nervous that Grandpa is going to let go.

Million-dollar caramel cookies

Because it's Brad's last day of work out at the Site. I made these little babies for him to take.

Million-Dollar Caramel Cookies




(Makes 4 dozen)
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar, plus 1 Tbs
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1⁄2 cups flour, plus 1⁄4 cup
• 3⁄4 cup cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 Heath candy bars
• 1 bag Rolo chewy caramels
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugars until fluffy, then add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
2. In a separate bowl, mix 2 1⁄2 cups flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture a little bit at a time and blend well. If the dough feels too sticky, sprinkle in a little extra flour. Cover and chill dough in fridge for about 30 minutes.
3. Chop Heath bars into small pieces. Place in a small bowl and toss with 1 Tbs sugar.
4. Once dough has chilled, wrap a piece around each caramel, forming a 1-inch ball and covering the candy completely. Dip top of the dough ball into the candy topping and place on parchment-lined baking sheet.
5. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes. Cookies will look quite soft, but do not overbake. Cool in pan slightly, then move to a rack or the counter to finish cooling. Store in a covered container.

YUMMY!

Missing you already!!

We sure had fun having our cousins stay with us this summer.

Abigail, Say-Say, Nattie J, Millie, and Talon


Abi, Saylor, Camille, and Nattie enjoying their bubble bath.

Good luck in Dubai!

You've had a birthday shout hurray

Camille had her third birthday last week. She sure is growing up fast! I've been hesitant to post pictures because her "castle" cake didn't turn out how I envisioned it. Plus, I saw this cake my sister made for her son's birthday 4 days later:

Anthony's sandwich cake

My pathetic attempt at a castle.


Saylor, Abigail, Camille, and Nattie ready to PARTY!


One very pleased birthday girl

Testing out the swimming cover-up Grandma Myrna made her.

Excited about her present from Grandma Donna

Enjoying the castle's towers

Natalie wishes we had birthdays more often.

Looking forward to another year with you Miss Millie!!

Same Kind of Different as Me

Same Kind of Different as Me.

by Ron Hall & Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent


As the front cover says, "Amazing True Story"! It definitely is. This is a book I would recommend to anyone looking for a interesting story.(and maybe a little insight into life.) I don't think I'd necessarily call it a quick read but it's a worthy read.

I enjoyed how is book is told from two different people's points of view. I think it adds a lot to the dynamic of the story. At first the switching between characters and stories every other chapter annoyed me a bit however it's really nice as the two men's stories met and began to mingle. I enjoy seeing the situation from both their perspectives.

It's the kind of story that really makes you look at yourself and wonder what kind of person you are. Or would be in certain situations. Definitely, reaffirms the saying about not judging a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes.

This story is about Denver, a black man from Louisiana, that has no skills other than picking cotton and sees being homeless a step up and Ron, a white man from Texas, that has made himself VERY successful selling art. These two men's worlds come together and they become friends for life.

While Ron is a smart business man and a good christian, I found Denver very insightful. Here are some of my favorite quotes from him:

"But I found out everybody's different--the same kind of different as me. We're all just regular folks walkin down the road God done set in front of us."

"The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or somethin in between, this earth ain't no final restin place. So in a way, we is all homeless--just workin our way toward home."

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Booksneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Oh how I love thee...

This little wonder got crayon out of clothes on the first try!!!

I'm a slow learner!

Camille has really taken a liking to coloring lately. The other day while she was busy coloring I decided to hop in the shower. When I came out of my room I hear Mil telling me from the other room,
"Oh Mom there are owies all over me. There are owies everywhere."
I could tell by her voice she was just pretending. When I walked out and saw her I tried not to laugh. She had on a very serious face. So what could I do but grab the camera and tell her to smile.





Of course, after the photo shoot we had a good talk about how to appropriately use markers, that writing on ourselves isn't okay, and the fact that she wouldn't be able to use her markers for a few days.

Fast forward to yesterday. I just pulled a load of clothes out of the dryer to discover they had been dried with a red crayon. As I was headed to the computer to look up possible solutions for the clothes Camille asked if she could please color with her markers. Feeling a strong distaste for crayons at that moment I decided it had been enough days that we could try markers again. After securing a promise from her that she would not write on herself, I handed her the markers and headed downstairs.

When I came back upstairs I was speechless!


Apparently she was trying to draw Tarzan. Why Tarzan has to be drawn on a wall and not on paper is beyond me.


Camille obviously was feeling a little guilty because she attempted to clean up.

Thanks to washable markers and magic eraser the wall is now back to it's original color and the markers have been retired until further notice.