Sam is a Walker!!

When Sam turned 11 months he would take a few steps here and there but was still really nervous. If I would try to make him walk to someone Sam would get this death grip on your fingers and try to lean as far as he could to reach the other person. We would usually have to catch him before he fell on his face. But a few days ago he finally let go and took more than a couple of steps I think we counted five. He is getting braver and braver. This morning he let go of the couch and took a few steps. He wasn't even trying to walk to anyone. He is now two weeks away from being one and is a walker. Hooray for Sam!!
After Sam makes it to where he is going we all cheer for him and he gets excited and does that cute little baby quiver. Sometimes he gets a little too excited when we all cheer for him and falls over and then giggles and giggles. Then he can't stand up at all because he is too busy laughing!

The Great Escape!

Last year for Christmas Matthew got a baby corn snake from Santa. She has gotten fairly big this last year and has graduated from eating pinkies to eating fuzzies. (Mice that is.) A while after we got her I found Timmy up on the top bunk looking down into the cage. I told him to be careful.....the next thing I know the screen on the top is broken down into the cage because Timmy just had to get a closer look. Anyway, I popped it back up into place and told Andy we needed to get a new top before the snake got big enough to push the broken screen up. All was well for many months.

Then I walked into Matthew's room to tuck the kids in a couple of nights ago and the snake was all the way up the side. I yelled for Andy to come and look and told him that I thought she was looking for a way out of the cage. (Corn snakes are known for being great escape artists!) Andy said,"No, I don't think so and even if she was she isn't strong enough to lift the broken screen up yet." I said,"Okay, whatever!"

Then New Years Eve came and I was out getting a few last minute items when I got a phone call.
Andy said,"Have you seen the snake today?"
I said,"No why?"
Andy,"No reason."
Me,"She escaped didn't she!!! I told you she would. Are you sure?"
Andy,"I'm sure. I've checked the whole cage and the screen is popped up."

So then I came home from my shopping trip to find all of my boys with flashlights searching the house for the lost snake. Andy found her in MY bedroom(which is three away from Matthew's) and starts yelling at Scott to bring him the bucket. I said,"What bucket?" Andy said," the bucket I'm going to catch her in." I said,"Why don't you just pick her up?" Andy said,"I'm not touching that thing, it already tried to bite my toe when I found her!" (Sometimes men can be so silly!) So I went over and picked the snake up and put her back in her cage. By the way it did not nip at Andy's toe....he is so full of it!

Andy put duck tape over the part of the broken screen until I can get to the pet store to buy a new lid. But I'm still a little worried because after we "fixed" the top this is what we found....
Spider Wick is looking up at the screen where she escaped the first time. She stayed like that for a very long time. I see two problems with this. She now knows where the screen is vulnerable and also knows that there is a big wide open space outside of her cage to explore. I am glad it happened when she is still so small but I'm a little worried that it might happen again and that we won't be so lucky as to find her the same day.....I think I might have dreams about snakes tickling my toes until I get a new lid!

LET IT SNOW!!!!

Yesterday afternoon it go really cold and we had a surprise snow storm! At first I thought we would just get a little so the boys went out just so they could be in it.

Timmy, Ian, Scott, Brevin, Matthew, and Davis

It started to stick almost right away!

It was good packing snow so Matthew didn't waste any time building a little snowman!

Bethany lasted about five seconds! I got her all bundled up, she ran around to the front of the house and then right back inside. Too cold!

Then after it snowed more they decided they would play a football game in the snow.
Then it kept snowing and snowing so the boys decided to build forts. Since we hardly ever get snow up here I let the kids play outside well after dark.

Bethany did go back out again after I found Scott's old snow pants from when we lived in Utah.

The weather people said it was only supposed to snow in the mountains and then when it did snow in the valley they said it would melt and be gone in the morning. WRONG AGAIN!! I told my kids if it wasn't gone I would take them sledding. So this morning bright and early they were all begging to go. So I bundled them all up and we went over to the church for a few hours of fun. By the time we left it had started to melt.

Matthew

Scott

Timmy

All of the boys were getting really brave and running and jumping on the sleds to go down the hill. I almost told them about the jumps we used to make as kids to sled off of but decided a hospital trip wasn't something I wanted to do today! Bethany came sledding for the first part but I had forgotten my camera. She had a great time with the boys but she got cold and decided to go with Grandma and Sam to take Grandpa to his physical therapy.
I was glad that it snowed while the kids were out of school. If we get any snow up here they cancel school and then we have to make it up later. So this was the best time for it to snow. The kids were able to be home and enjoy it! Hooray for snowy days!!!

Harvest Festival

My friend Jen hosted a charity this last weekend and made it into a festival. The admission was one thing of canned food for each person. The kids all dressed up in their costumes. Scott was a Clone, Matthew was Darth Vader, Timmy was a Knight, Bethany was a princess, and Sam was Tigger. We ended up taking my nephew Brevin with us and having a fabulous time. There were booths for the kids so they could play games and a cotton candy machine. They fed us dinner and when it was time to go my kids were begging me to stay. It's nice to know there are still people out there willing to do so much to help others!! Thank you Richman's for a wonderful night!

The Pumpkin Patch

Timmy went on a field trip with his preschool to the good ole pumpkin patch. It's actually the same farm we buy all of our berries from in the summer. But they change it a lot and have great activities set up for the kids to do. They have a hay maze with big tires and tubing, a hay pyramid with tunnels, a hay ride to take us out to pick out pumpkins, and a petting zoo. If you go on the weekends they have other things to do like pumpkin launching and a corn maze etc. but we always enjoy the little outing with the preschool. It seems to be just enough for the little kids.

Waiting for the hay ride to take us back to our car after we picked our pumpkins.

Timmy doing the happy dance on the pyramid!

Bethany excited that she woke up the bunny!

Timmy trying to find his way out of the hay maze.

Bethany deciding whether or not she is going to come out of the tunnel (She was having too much fun running back and forth!).

The First Day of School

Scott will be in fourth grade this year. He kept telling me he wasn't excited to go back to school but I think he was probably just nervous and after seeing all of his friends in his class last night he was pretty excited. He is so handsome!
Matthew will be in first grade and can you tell by that sweet smile that he is excited about everything that happens in life?! He was in all day kindergarten last year so there won't be that transition into a full day this year which will be nice. He's already a pro and he knows it!!
I can honestly say that I was not looking forward to school starting this year. We have had so much fun this summer and I'm really going to miss my kids. I know that they will have a great year but I will be lonely without them! I never realize how much help they really are until they leave!

Grandpa Farnsworth

My kids love it when Grandpa Farnsworth comes to town. He lives in Alaska and drives through town on his truck routes every once in a while. Grandpa is just a big kid in and of himself so my boys think it's great because he just plays with them as soon as he steps in the door and doesn't stop until he leaves. They especially love the wrestling part. Grandpa loves to throw the kids around and they love it too!

When I couldn't stand all of the chaos anymore I threw them all outside to play. Grandpa went out and pushed them on the swings but not before he showed off his great ability to still be able to jump out of the swing!

It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. They all had a good time playing with each other and their Grandpa and can't wait till he comes again. We love our Grandpa Farnsworth!

Camping at Lower Lewis River Falls

We went camping at the Lower Lewis River Falls. It was absolutely beautiful! The kids love to camp and always have a great time when we go with their cousins. The campground is right next to the falls so we were able to go for a little walk and see the waterfall after we got the tents set up. The kids also went wading. It was a little scary for me to have them in the water because the river is only accessible from on top of the falls. In the river there was one big rock that had huge cuts out of it from the water rushing by. But we were able to find a good little spot that seemed to be cut off from the rest of the river because the water was low.

We forgot the spatula so Andy used a putty knife to cook.
Scott is so handsome!

Brevin and Sam my happy camper!
Matthew making designs out of sticks.

Timmy caught a water skeeter!
Matthew and Davis trying to cross the big hole.

Timmy, Andy, and Bethany throwing rocks.
Davis, Scott, and Brevin playing in the river.

Andy and the kids at the Lower Lewis River Waterfall.
(It's still amazing even with the water so low)

Bethany ended up getting sick the next morning so Andy and I took her and Sam home early. Timmy cried because he wanted to stay there forever! So Grandpa and Grandma Lay let my other kids stay and play for a while. What great Grandparents they have!

Ape Caves

We were able to go to the lava tubes called the ape caves last week. Andy took the younger kids to the lower cave where there isn't a lot of climbing. Grandpa Lay, Brent, Amy, and their two youngest went to the lower cave with Andy. Matthew and Davis were supposed to come with Me, Grandma Lay, Scott, and Brevin to the upper cave, but when we got in the cave and they realized how dark it was they decided that the lower cave would be enough.
The upper cave was a lot of fun but I'm glad Matthew and Davis decided not to go. In the upper cave you have to climb over several rock falls and two lava falls. One is over 10 feet and we actually had to give the boys a boost. Then they had to take another step off of my shoulder. As you walked through the cave you could see how the lava would have just run right through it. We had a great time exploring and the boys thought is was the coolest thing ever!

Andy and the kids outside the cave. Everyone making their way down in to the caves.

Watch your head Scott. Grandma looking down at Brevin and Scott in the cave.

Brevin and Scott sitting in some of the little alcoves they found.

Scott and Brevin making their way down one of the many rock falls.

Trying to climb the 10 ft. lava fall. The one skylight in the cave signaling that the end is near.