The Earth is Beautiful

My love for nature

2012-01-21T15:20:00.000-08:00

I was so happy to finally be able to spend some time on my true love in photography...nature photography. I've been collecting quite a few pictures and these aren't everything yet. Hopefully I can get some time for more soon.

These first few pictures were taken at City of Rocks, Idaho. Jon and I went with the youth there for Youth Conference and it was great! I enjoyed it immensely! The beauty there is astonishing!

(I lied...this one picture is from American Falls Reservoir the next place we went with the youth.)

Living here in this little valley of Inkom we see many wonderful sunsets and sunrises of both the sun and moon.

This was a quick pull over on the side of the road because I can't miss this shot. It was taken in Idaho Falls.

When the flooding happened in the spring the birds were in heaven. We had more birds in the area than ever! That also meant lots of baby birdies...a lot of these geese are babies...so sweet.

I took this picture up Harkness Canyon in McCammon before a family shoot. I think the little things in nature can be so beautiful.

Same time as the above picture. Our fall colors this year were amazing!! And they lasted so long! I was in heaven.

I took these duck pictures forever ago. I took them when I came to take pictures of the Idaho Falls temple. I love how the ducks just hang out with people. They are so used to them.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-18T12:23:00.000-08:00

The Nativity

We started Christmas Eve off with the Nativity story. Since there weren't enough kids, and one that didn't want to participate, the adults had to chip in and help. It was fun getting dressed up!

Our lovely narrator was Jon's sister, Gretchen.

I was the angel; Madalyn was Mary but didn't want to get caught on camera (teenagers!!) so she hid in her costume the whole time. :) Andrew was Joseph; McKay & Jon were shepherds.

The Wise Men were Maryn, Erik, and Joshua.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning came quickly and boy were we spoiled!

I had this box built by a cabinet maker friend of ours, Paul Tate, for my wonderful Jonathan. I think Jon loved it, he sat and stared at it for several minutes. :)

I made this rag quilt for my sweet mom. She loves it, but she's gonna need to wash it a few times...the lint drives her crazy!

I forgot to get a picture of me...since I'm always the one with the camera in my hands! I was given lots of fun things! Jon got me a computer, new pots and pans, other kitchen stuff, my mom got me a couple cute scarfs (I love scarfs!).

Above and beyond all this stuff! We recognize that Jesus Christ is our greatest gift of all!! We are so blessed to have him!

Ugly Sweater Party

2012-01-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

Here we are in all our glory in our best ugly sweaters! Our winner for the night was Uncle Erik! The sweater vest looked great on him!

We played a bunch of minute-to-win-it games which were fun!!

A little bit of Jon

2011-12-31T11:57:00.001-08:00

Jon is always up to interesting things. Thought I'd share some...

Jon has been working hard to erect a hay shelter these last few months. He finished the roof a few days ago which was a big accomplishment. (Scares me when he's up there though.) This structure is the basic frame for our future barn. It's gonna be great!

One day when we had some family over we discovered that Andrew and his cousin McKay were playing in Gunner's kennel in the back of the truck. Jon thought it would be funny to give them a little scare. So he snuck up to the truck and you can see little Andrew poking his head out in the second picture. Next thing you know "Roarrrrrrr!" Andrew flew back into the kennel it was hilarious!

When hunting season starts to roll around so does the mountain man beard. Look at that sweet smile!

It needs a little grooming now and then...

....not that kind of grooming! Yikes!

Jon's Wood Badge Course

2011-12-30T15:10:00.000-08:00

Jon was able to be on staff for a different Wood Badge course than me. His was in November at the Hoback. It was so beautiful right there by the river. I was able to do the portraits for his course which was great.

Here is the whole clan! Jon is on the bottom right and Caleb is on the front row by the log.

Jon made some good friends with other people on staff. This is Matt Holtman whom Jon admires a lot.

Every Wood Badge course does a service project at the place they have it. Their project was to replace some of the seating at the fire bowl. It was an enormous project and left Jon wiped out but proud of the accomplishment.

Caleb had the special experience to be a Youth Rep. There is a scout that is assigned to each of the 8 patrols. Caleb was assigned to the Antelope patrol. Caleb loved being a Youth Rep!

Receiving the green neckerchief with the Wood Badge council patch is an honor in the scout world.

There are a couple activities where the Youth Reps are in charge. Here Caleb was in charge of teaching a game. The patrol had to use sections of PVC pipe to carry a marble from one place to another without seeing it.

Jon receives his beads

2011-11-27T14:58:00.000-08:00

Wood Badge has become a pretty major event in our family's life. I went a couple years ago and then Jon was able to go last year. Both of us this year had the amazing opportunity to be on staff. The only hitch is you have to have earned your beads to be a staffer. Good thing Jon earned them the night before Wood Badge started! So this was his beading ceremony.

This is Matt Holtman who was Jon's troop guide and who Jon asked to bead him. Matt is a great guy and Jon really admires him. Here Matt was reciting an amazing poem. I couldn't believe he had it all memorized, it was long and wonderful!

Matt prepared the neckerchief before hand for the ceremony.

Then Matt put the new neckerchief and leather slide on.

Jon was beaming and was so proud of the accomplishment! And so was I!

What a great opportunity to mingle with great people!!

Heidi turned 30!

2011-11-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

What a great idea to throw a fancy party for your 30th birthday! Everything was great! Beautiful decorations, great food, wonderful company, amazing dress and handsome tux! Great job Heidi on planning a really great party!

I love her dress! It looked so good on her!

My fabulous sister-in-law Katie made this stunning cake. It was very delicious!!

Here are the ladies! From left to right: Me, Katie, Janette, Heidi, and Jen. We have way too much fun together!

Did some pictures of couples for fun. Left is Josh's parents Dayle and Gary, on the right good friends Katie and Cary.

More good friends. Left is Jen and Lance McMaster and on the right are the Smiths.

Halloween in little ole Inkom, Idaho

2011-11-06T16:58:00.000-08:00

It was so great to have Grandpa Rolf and Grandma Helen there too!

We had a little someone watching us (our kitty Socks) outside when we were doing the pumpkins.

Andrew-the Mad Scientist

Joshua- the Grim Reaper

The school parade

Joshua's 10th birthday! (Upto 2 digits now!!)

2011-11-06T15:18:00.000-08:00

Wow Joshua is 10! (For 2 months already...yikes!) I just love the excitement that comes out in Joshua when he has something fun happening. Joshua kind of lucked out and got to celebrate his birthday 2 times. Once with family on Sunday. That's when we had this scrumptious cheesecake!

Then on another day we had a party. From left to right we have Caleb, Sam Burton,Joshua, Jason, (ooh can't remember this boy's name he's new), Paden, and Sam Bake.

The party was everything in the air. The boys made paper airplanes, and played with a big bouncy ball, and this rocket was the gift from us. Boy was it awesome!!! It flew so high!

Still can't believe he's 10! But it's great and I enjoy Joshua so much!!

Not for the faint hearted

2011-09-28T13:47:00.000-07:00

So the typical person when opening a door and seeing a huge spider would go and knock it down and get rid of it. Me on the other hand I ran and grabbed my camera. This is a Cat Face spider because of the 2 bumps on its back end that look like cat ears. The sun was just coming up and made all those hairs just glow. The spider web it made was big. It covered the top third of my doorway.

Oops...forgot one!

2011-09-24T09:10:00.000-07:00

I shouldn't have forgotten this one! It's one of my favorites. We went to a pond down the road from us and the boys can't resist throwing rocks in water.

All in the same picture?!!

2011-09-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

Out of who knows how many pictures I took of the boys together I was lucky to get one decent shot! Boys will definitely be boys in front of a camera, and even more so if their mom is using it to take the pictures! I could look at their beautiful smiles all day!

My sweet Joshua

2011-09-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

Joshua usually is a happy go with the flow kind of kid, but when it comes to taking pictures all the brakes come out. I love to take his picture....but he does not like me taking his picture. Somehow I managed to get a couple smiles out of him playing in the grass and talking about star wars video games. I'm so lucky to have this sweet boy!

My handsome Caleb

2011-09-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Caleb can look me straight in the eye now! Pretty soon I'm going to be the one looking up! Caleb was so cooperative for these pictures. I really appreciated it! (Maybe it was the ice cream at the end of the shoot that was motivating him. :)

I love his hazel eyes!

Gotta love the grass in the mouth...you'd think we live in Idaho or something.

That sign behind behind Caleb has meaning! :)

My Sweet Smiley Andrew

2011-09-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

I can't ever get enough of Andrew's smile! It melts me...I think he knows it too!

A short lived experience

2011-09-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

This year Caleb tried football. He came home from practice wiped out and soaking wet from sweat. The practices were tough. Caleb wasn't lovin' football like he thought he would. He wanted to quit but Jon and I encouraged him to try and make it to the first game and see if he liked the game. So he did and he really enjoyed the game. But then practice came around again the next week and Caleb was done. We always thought Caleb would love football because he loves to be rough and tough and he's a big boy, but looks like football is not meant for him. He would like to go back to soccer. So here are some pictures of the small window of football for Caleb.

He got to be a captain for the game. He's #29

Caleb's right up there in the front of the line!

Grandma Ruth's 60th Birthday Party

2011-09-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

Jon's mom turned 60 and her kids threw her a big party at Jon's brother's house, Oliver. It was great! The grand kids played and ate, and ate and played and the adults talked and ate, and ate and talked. It was nice to be together.

Jon's sister Katie made these two beautiful cakes and they were scrumptious!!

We sure have cute kiddos!

Who can resist that cute ice cream beard!?

Don't worry...she's not pouting...just trying to catch all that yummy ice cream. :)

As you can tell I couldn't resist my cute niece and nephew, Evelyn and Porter.

There was a fire that caught the kids interest.

My beautiful Mom

2011-09-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of having my mom with me at a wedding shoot earlier in the summer and she helped me out so I could figure out some spots. She's a natural in front of the camera...she used to model.

The lighting was so tricky that day. It was around 2pm and extremely windy! NOT ideal conditions.

I really appreciated my mom coming with me to support me that day. I had to drive kind of far (Rexburg) and it was so nice to visit together the whole time.

Can't say cute enough!

2011-09-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

I just love this picture of Andrew. Graduation from Kindergarten. He's in 1st grade now and going to school everyday with his brothers. When did I go from a mom with babies to a mom with kids?! I love seeing my boys growing up!

Lemonade anyone?

2011-09-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not it was Andrew who was the one to set up a lemonade stand and sell lemonade. He heard about a brother of a friend that did one and made some money. I guess the $$$ caught his attention because he was determined to get this thing going. He really enjoyed doing it and came out with a few dollars. He was pretty proud of himself. He teamed up with his cousin McKay too who sold cookies. I missed a picture of that.

The typical Andrew, camera face!

Can't sell it without testing it out, right?

The big flood in Inkom...in spring

2011-09-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Back in spring....(shows you how fast I am to post stuff!)...we had big flooding in our area from the snow melt. Luckily even with a river behind our house we were okay. The creeks and the rivers were maxed out! It was amazing to see that much water flowing! This picture really doesn't give the sight justice. This field has an old river bed running through it and you can't even see where it is. It was one big lake.

It was great to see how many birds discovered our little lake. There were so many birds enjoying the water. There was even this group of geese with babies. I spotted them when I drove by and quickly ran home for my camera. They were barely in sight when I got back so they are a little teeny in this picture (someday I would love to get a big zoom lens!)

What boredom creates

2011-09-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

What is this? Bobbing for bananas?! Who ever heard of that? Well I guess that's what summer days brings out...creativity!

But hold your horses they also went traditional and mostly ended up bobbing for apples...in a cooler no less! Maybe the bananas weren't as challenging. Easier to sink your teeth into!

Go get 'em Caleb!

Josh's 1st attempt...

2nd attempt success!...with a goofy face, or maybe he's trying to wink at me... :)

Wood Badge - What an experience!

2011-09-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

About 2 years ago I attended Wood Badge for the first time...it was an amazing learning experience! This time around I was asked to be on staff. There was a lot of preparation involved...I started meetings for it 6 months before the event. I had to prepare to give 5 presentations to a small group of people that I would be a leader over called a Troop Guide. So Wood Badge came and I left home for 8 days! I enjoyed the other "staffers" so much and became really close with my patrol (a group of 6 people). It was hard to separate from them when I had to leave them at different times as the week went on and let them learn on their own. I look forward to the next time I get to be on staff at Wood Badge...but I'm sure a couple years off wouldn't be a bad thing. It definitely is a big commitment!

This number you see here is the course number. The W2 is our area the 107 is the council the 11 is the year and the 2 means the second course of the year.

At the same time I was at Wood Badge, Caleb had the opportunity to go to Cedar Badge at the same time and place. He loved it! (Except for waking up at 6am every morning!) Cedar Badge is a leadership training for the boys. It correlates with Wood Badge which is the leadership training for the adults. I think that is so awesome!

I had the great opportunity to take all the portraits of the different groups at Wood Badge. It was fun, but tricky when I had to be in it!

This is my patrol...the Beavers! Every patrol has a critter they are associated with and will be for life. I am a Fox!

This is the staff...amazing people! I feel so lucky to have gotten to know them and learn so much from them! (I'm on the top row far right.)

And this is the whole Troop. All the participants and staff. It was quite a group with lots of fun people I was able to get to know. I am on the first row on the bench, 4th from the left in the yellow shirt.

I could never express through words well enough what a wonderful experience Wood Badge is. It's not just a scouting thing it's also a personal thing too. You grow so much and make many wonderful associations with people. I am so grateful for such an inspired program!

Boys love rockets!

2011-09-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

In Caleb's 6th grade class (last May) his teacher, Mrs. Anderson made arrangements for the kids to make rockets and shoot them off at the school. It is not a cheap project and I commend his teacher for making the effort and coming up with the funding for it through donations. Caleb was definitely excited about this and really talked it up. I came to watch the event and he made sure to be first in line! It was pretty exciting. Each rocket did something a little different. Some went straight up, some swirled around, some went up then nose divided, etc.. It was fun to see what the next rocket up would do!

The big walk to the launch pad. (With his teacher's husband the engineer guru.)

Off it goes!......and then running to go collect the rocket.

Jon's birthday

2011-09-05T20:20:00.001-07:00

My handsome man had a birthday at the beginning of the summer! (No beard back then!) The summer started off crazy busy so we did things simple this year. Hope he knows he's still special to us and we love him immensely!

Instead of doing a traditional cake (which isn't his favorite thing to eat anyway...but cookies are one of this favorite things so the boys and I made him a giant cookie!)

Funny how all the boys wanted to help light 3 candles.

We love you so much Jon!

Andrew happenings

2011-07-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

Well the time has come that all my kids are going to be in school full time. My youngest Andrew has graduated kindergarten! I'm so proud of him and how much he is learning and excelling in!

Above, Andrew had to have a costume that was something to do with a tomato to represent the color red. Each child either had a number or a color and they sang the cutest songs for each. I got those on video because they are too cute to not see again!

Below, we had a nice surprise when Andrew was called up with 4 other kids and was recognized for succeeding so well in his learning. And of course because our name starts with "T" Andrew brought up the rear of the line of graduates (in the red plaid shirt). The kids came up one side of the stage and got their diploma from Mrs. McKee and headed to the other side to shake hands with the principal Mr. Hunsaker.

We love Mrs. McKee and thank her for all her time and dedication to my Andrew!

Andrew's first loose tooth was kind of a funny situation...Jon and I had to encourage Andrew to wiggle it all he could to get it out because......

......there was another tooth already growing behind it! One tooth came out and ta da...another tooth was already there to take its place!

Spring Baseball

2011-07-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

Baseball was...interesting this year...the boys loved it and hated it at the same time. When they were playing their games they loved it! But getting them there was another story. It got better as the season went along. Andrew was in the McCammon league and Joshua and Caleb were in the Chubbuck league so it made for interesting conflicts when one game was in Lava while another game was in Chubbuck.

Andrew played 2 years ago and wouldn't step foot on the field without mommy, but this year he did great and got in the game and played on his own. Does that mean my little boy is growing up?!

Joshua actually didn't want to play baseball this year but I thought for sure he would want to when game time came. The desire didn't come right away like I thought so definitely I learned a lesson. Next year I will not push the issue! I think all in all though he had a good time.

Caleb by far had the biggest learning experience with baseball this year. As the boys get older the game gets more competitive. The game was not always fun and games but Caleb learned a lot! And I think he's grateful in the end for that.

Caleb played 3rd base quite a bit this year and had some amazing plays. One team they played against had a girl that was probably the best player in the league. When she was up to bat she hit the ball pretty well. But one of Caleb's team mates scooped the ball up and rocketed it to Caleb and Caleb caught it, swung around and tagged the girl out. It was awesome!

Our unexpeted addition

2011-06-22T20:47:00.001-07:00

I never expected to get another kitten but the opportunity came and here we are! A friend of Jon and I called and said he knew someone giving away Siamese kittens. I first told him I would love to have one but that we already got a kitten so we wouldn't be able to get another one. A couple days later the subject came up again and Jon said he wouldn't mind getting another kitty so I jumped on the opportunity and called our friend back. He had a female brought to him and was glad to still give her to us. So we drove over there and picked her up that night! She is so sweet and calm. We named her Lily. Our other kitty Socks is like a big brother to her. They wrestle, they snuggle, they eat together and sleep together. We sure love our new kitties!

We definitely miss our sweet kitty Gatsby and tears still come now and then, but what a joy these kitties have been to us.

Joshua's 3rd Grade Talent Show

2011-05-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

Joshua's class put on a little talent show a few days before school got out and it was quite entertaining. There was everything from piano playing, dancing, guitar playing, clothes pin drop, and Joshua's q-tip shooting. The class together sang the cutest songs too.

Joshua used a q-tip and a straw and shot the cups down. He had quite a tall tower but I didn't get a picture of the full tower. It only took him 2 shots to make the tower fall. (Thank goodness for Scouts, where he learned how to do this!)

*Sorry the coloring is so off on these pictures. I kept messing around with the settings on the camera and came up with a collage of colors!

Nightly Visitors

2011-05-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

One of the great and amazing benefits of living outside of town is seeing the beauties of nature around us often. The deer during the winter come down to feed in the field across from our house. They've even come into our yard for a little snack!

A loved one lost and a new love gained

2011-05-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

Last week our kitty Gatsby got sick and had to be taken to the vet. A few days later we lost him. He had developed a urinary blockage, which in turn ruined his kidneys and took him. It was a tough thing to face because Gatsby was my sweet kitty and I love him very much. Caleb had a hard time too and even said "Why did I have to lose my best friend?" We enjoyed the 4 years we had with Gatsby very much and will cherish our memories of him.

The day Gatsby died my sweet Jon came home with a surprise! This darling kitten. It was hard at first to accept him. I was still missing Gatsby too much, but I knew it wouldn't take long for me to love him. We named him Socks and he is all kitten right now!

The boys can't get enough of him!

He has the prettiest stripes all over.

And is fuzzier than a fuzz ball!

We have this toy mouse that he chases all over the place and then konks out after playing. It's been fun to see Jon even having snuggle time.

"Pick Me! Pick Me!" I caught this hiya! action mid cleaning. :)

The wonderful thing about all this is Socks doesn't replace Gatsby, but will add to the fond memories we make with our pets.

Wow! He's 12!!

2011-05-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

Our oldest son Caleb has finally turned 12! The reason I say finally is because we have been counting down the day for months! 12 is a big deal around here because there are some big changes and events. Caleb had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, which was amazing! He seemed to be so grown up within minutes. And now he gets to go to mutual which is the youth activity night every Tuesday. And he gets to dive into the more fun and intense Boy Scout stuff. Oh and he doesn't go to sharing time in Primary anymore, instead he goes to Young Men's during church. We're so excited for all the great things to come for Caleb!

We figured it was about time he deserved a nice set of scriptures. He started marking scriptures immediately and has been reading it often. I hope he finds a love for the scriptures!

Since we were going to do his birthday cake on Sunday, instead of on his birthday we had to at least sing to him and let him blow out a candle. These are grasshopper cookies, one of his favorite kinds.

And another favorite treat of Caleb's is Heath bars. So why not make a Heath cake! He was in heaven! It was chocolate inside and oh so delicious!! And it went along nicely with the luncheon we had after church with a whole bunch of family!

A studio in progress

2011-05-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

When I first started using a studio setting I didn't have any studio lights and pretty much just a black sheet. My boys are great troopers for being my guinea pigs!

Now I've got the lights and some nicer backdrops. It's still a work in progress learning the ins and outs of a studio!

Lots of random things

2011-05-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

I have a tendency to a lot quicker about posting about things of landmarks, like birthdays, Christmas, etc.. But it's the other memories that really are just as important. So here are some random things from the last several months I have neglected.

Earlier in winter the snow started to fly and Andrew was in heaven! He bundled up and ran out to go play! There is something so fun in shoveling snow!

I can't remember the details but I think I came home one night from doing something and found 3 boys snuggled up in bed. Dad is really good at making "nuggle spots"!

Jon is so good about going out in the freezing cold and blizzards to take the boys sledding on our road with the 4-wheeler. And they could go all day! The cousins joined in too and had a hoot! The bottom right picture shows them out in the pasture where the snow was fluffy and thick. The middle right picture is Andrew all bundled up! And the bottom left picture is Caleb letting the snow blast him from hitting bumps.

One of the first nice spring days in early April we were all out soaking in the sun and playing and working in the yard. I was pulling weeds and Andrew and McKay (his cousin) were so willing to help dump them for me. They each grabbed a wheel barrow and off they went. Joshua and Maryn (his cousin) were enjoying the trampoline in the breeze.

Can't ever get enough Easter!

2011-04-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

Andrew was jumping out of his skin this year to dye eggs. I wasn't sure how our brown eggs would color, but they turned out more vibrant than I expected! There was the usual battle over colors, but in the end the boys had fun and enjoyed seeing their creations!

We also went to an egg hunt over at the park here in Inkom, but silly me I forgot my camera. The boys had a hoot scooping up as many eggs as they could out of the thousands that were laid out.

And beyond all the eggs and Easter baskets, we always make sure to emphasize to the boys how important this holiday really is and that really it's about our Savior and the sacrifice he made for us to be able to return to be with our Father in Heaven.

And the thunder rolls...

2011-03-10T19:56:00.000-08:00

We had an intense thunderstorm come through here. It came quick and left quick! I've been wanting to capture lightning so here was my chance.

Who needs to buy basketball pictures...I'll take my own! Ha!

2011-02-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

This year when basketball pictures came up I only purchased the team picture. I waited patiently for my studio lights and here's what we got! I'm pleased with them. I still have a lot to learn with my studio and will hopefully just get better and better from here!

Caleb Thuernagle- 6th grade, Age 11

Joshua Thuernagle- Grade 3, Age 9

1-2-3-4-5-6!!!

2011-02-19T14:34:00.000-08:00

Several months before Andrew's birthday he decided he wanted to go sledding for his party. So that's what we did! We went to Bart's Field at ISU and the kids had a hoot! The snow was just right for sledding and the weather was perfect!

From left to right we have Caleb, Joshua, McKay, Jon in the back, Seth, Andrew, Maryn, and Reiley.

The energy these guys had to keep walking up the hill was amazing!

Jon gave the kids an extra boost to go faster and they kept asking for more! There's Andrew getting a big PUSH! And Caleb's getting the all out WHOOSH!

Clockwise from the top left: Andrew, Joshua, Seth, and Joshua watching Caleb.

You don't realize how amazing the view is from Bart's Field until you stop and take a look.
I love how Jon gets into the action with the kids!

Then back to our house we went where there was hot cocoa waiting for us and some yummy chocolate cake! It's nice to come back to a warm house after having fun sledding!

P.S. I had some really fun pictures of the cake but I can't find them so I'll just describe it a bit since this isn't the best view. It was a dragon cake. On the green hill I put a couple silly bands in the shape of dragons walking on the hill and then a dragon character from the movie How to Train Your Dragon flying in the sky. Andrew really wanted an Astro Boy cake but no luck finding stuff for that. He loves dragons though so I thought it would work too.

This is what makes the cold worth it!

2011-02-10T14:37:00.000-08:00

One day I had a bunch of kids over and even though it was chilly outside we braved it and bundled up and played in the snow. And look at the awesome creation we made!

From left to right we have: Denver Peterson, Timothy Dickhaut, Kaci Peterson, Siera Dickhaut, and the one and only Andrew Thuernagle! (And of course Frosty in the middle)

It's Basketball season

2011-01-28T12:32:00.000-08:00

The season has been off to a great start...Caleb and Joshua are loving basketball! This is Joshua's first season and he is on a great team. He is having so much fun!

I love Caleb's intensity sometimes when he plays...he means business!

I know this picture is blurry but I love it for some reason! It shows the action!

The kids line up at the beginning of their game and match up with an opponent that is similar in size. Joshua is in the right line in the middle.

Josh has a great coach that knows his stuff!

I love those moments that Josh gets right in there in the action! (He gets red-faced like me when he's active!)

Sweet Andrew is feeling a little left out. He so badly wants to play! Dad helped him out and made a hoop with his arms so Andrew could shoot some baskets. What a great dad!

Christmas with a Bang!

2011-01-10T16:16:00.000-08:00

Every year we have good intentions in not going out of control for Christmas and every year we blow it! Ha! The presents never stopped! The boys were in heaven! We feel so blessed to have had such an abundant Christmas this year, especially while facing difficult times in the economy.

On the top of the list for great gifts for me was that my mom was able to come visit us! We hadn't seen each other in over 2 years! She took the Greyhound to get here and boy was it a crazy trip. The bus left her in Wendover, NV but she made it work and still got to Pocatello safely! We were so grateful!

I made this blanket for Jon to snuggle in! He loves it! I used jeans I collected for the last 13 years or so from Jon's old jeans. The little squares were from my old jeans.

I was glad my mom came prepared for the cold 'cause it was cold!

Our own Nativity

2011-01-10T16:05:00.000-08:00

It's tradition every year on Christmas Eve to have the kids act out the Nativity story. We did it with the Petersons and it was darling! Those kids look so cute in their costumes!

Madalyn - Angel, Andrew and McKay - Wisemen, Joshua - Joseph, Maryn - Mary, Caleb - Shepherd

This was the closest we could find for baby Jesus...that's what happens when you have all boys!!

Thanksgiving Enjoyment

2010-12-23T16:52:00.000-08:00

What a feast! It was awesome to see one gigantic table going from the living room to the kitchen. That's what we get for having an enormous family! It looked amazing though. And all the food was so delicious. A lot of work by a lot of people was put into this amazing occasion.

The whole clan. I was lucky to get this picture...I got this one shot and then my camera battery died. Love how everyone is smiling....except....my Andrew. Hahaha!

The great person who took on this big day at her house! Jon's sister Gretchen.

Before....

....after.......... My tired boy from a long day of fun.

The reason for it all! Mom Ruth in the middle surrounded by her 7 beautiful children.

I am so thankful for the family I have been blessed with and especially miss the family I wasn't able to be with.

A trip to Utah

2010-12-17T19:03:00.000-08:00

Jon and I went down to Utah for some "Christmas business" and had a great time! We went to temple square with the boys and we all were in awe of the lights! The pictures don't give temple square justice. And then we stayed in Provo with my dad and the next day I was able to take some pictures of them (my favorite thing to do of course!!)

It's always a favorite to go see the Christus statue at the Visitors Center.

Isn't this just darling...the little child and Jesus looking at each other.

When I was taking their picture this friendly horse came right up to us and wanted to join right in! It was hilarious!

Geez David has sure grown up!

Aren't they sweet together!

1st Wrestling Season

2010-12-16T14:18:00.000-08:00

This was Caleb's first year trying wrestling and boy was it an adventure. We traveled a lot! and the matches were long, but Caleb loved being at them. He hopes to learn a lot more about wrestling and improve his technique.

A sad look of defeat...

Josh, his friend Kylar, and Kylar's sister getting a closer look.

My new little friend...Josh and Caleb's friend's sister...Nakaiya.

Natural Beauty and Man Made Beauty

2010-11-14T14:11:00.000-08:00

Right in my own backyard, so beautiful!!

Right in my frontyard! Why leave home?!

Our trees are still baby trees, I guess I was longing for some fall leaves in my yard!

Somehow man made things can be interesting and beautiful too.

Saw this while we were pheasant hunting.

This too.

Can you see it?

Saw this while we were scouting for elk.

I love how blue the sky can be.

Halloween Time

2010-11-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

The Parade
Halloween kicked off this year with the traditional parade through the school. I love seeing all the costumes!
Andrew was a mad scientist and he played his role to the T the whole time!
It seems that when you're a sixth grade boy it's tradition to dress as a girl. So here is my lovely daughter! (Blond for now!)
Joshua just loved How to Train Your Dragon so I encouraged him to be a viking. And boy did he make a great viking! (He was a little self conscious about his weight.)

The Party
Caleb was invited to a costume party and was so excited for it. For the party Caleb decided to "color and cut" his hair so now he's got black hair. Unfortunately he caught the flu the day before. He still pulled himself together to go but didn't have as much fun feeling sick the whole time.

Trick-R-Treating
It was just Joshua, Andrew and I for this event. Caleb and his dad stayed out bird hunting. First we hit the trunk-r-treat and boy did they load up. Then we hit the neighborhood and knocked a few doors. Some candy is not nearly as good as a whole bunch of candy!

Caleb is an official hunter

2010-10-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a long wait for Caleb to do what he's been dying to do with his dad for years. But the day has come and boy was Caleb lovin' it. He can hunt birds and small game and next year he can go for the big guys.

Can you tell what Caleb got by what Gunner is looking at? He's definitely a bird dog. So Caleb got a Hun for his first bird. What a proud father/son moment.

So here's the story:

Getting some instruction...

More instruction...

Lots of searching and walking...

On his way to his proud moment!

While we were driving to another field Caleb and Jon spotted a flock of Huns and Caleb got his mind set and you know the rest!

Another soccer season gone by

2010-10-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

Time to Celebrate

2010-10-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

I love having a great excuse to go out with friends! It was my best friend Heidi's birthday (the one in the black vest) and we had a hoot. We went to dinner (yay! no dishes) and then we went to one of the girls' house to see all the fun painting she's been doing in her new house and then off to my house we went to help Heidi tie 2 quilts she's making for her daughters. We had lots of fun laughs and chit chat together. Can't wait until next time!

My First Elk

2010-10-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

So I would've never predicted that I would get an elk....ever. Jon put in me in for a draw and low and behold I drew. 2 years ago I drew and had a hard time wanting to shoot an animal. (I'm an animal lover of course.) This year Jon and I were out there finding the elk and the experience was amazing. The elk were bugling around us a lot! It was neat to hear. We even heard a wolf howl...scary! But then we saw this elk and I was nervous but I knew that it would provide us meat and that that was a good thing. So I got up the nerve to shoot (with the help of a lot of prayer) and I shot! Then I prayed so hard that it would die quickly because that is my worst fear that the animal will suffer. It died within in a minute so I was relieved. I had really mixed emotions right off about it. I was sad that I had killed something, but proud at the same time that I did it and that we have great meat now. (Jon got an elk last week but unfortunately we're not sure if it's good, it smells really bad.) I'm so grateful that Jon is talented with hunting and that it provides us with food over the year.

Josh's 2nd Birthday Cake

2010-09-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

Josh lucked out this year and got to have 2 birthday cakes. One at his party with his friends and the second was with family. Originally Grandpa Rolf and Grandma Helen were going to come but they weren't able to come visit. Josh is a strawberry fanatic so I thought this cake was fitting.

He blew the candles out so fast I missed it! Ha!

Poor me

2010-09-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

At Joshua's birthday party the kids got runnin' around pretty crazy and poor little Andrew was the result. He hit his face on our deck and this is what happened. Honestly this picture doesn't do it justice. His poor little lip swelled up immensely! But really he was a trooper about it and iced it over the next couple days.

Andrew's first solution to helping his lip was to take a wad of toilet paper and tape it to his face. It worked for a little while. :)

Only one away from double digits!

2010-09-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

This year for Joshua we had a friends party here at our house and they had a ball, it was wild and crazy with all those boys but it was fun! (A couple parents said I was brave!)

For his cake I couldn't help but think how he loves to play video games and it's always good vs evil so for his cake it's blue vs red. It worked out so perfectly that when I was working on the cake Josh said it was like good vs evil and I hadn't even told him why I did it that way. Sometimes our kids are like open books.We were able to borrow Gretchen's (Jon's sister) bonzai slide and we moved the tramp close to it and the kids had a blast. The grass turned into one gigantic puddle!
It was easier to just have everyone stay outside but the slight breeze kept blowing the candles out. Oops!
Joshua accidentally saw his gift from us before his birthday, but I had to wrap it anyway of course...but 3 times to make it more fun!! This was the last layer.
I love how all the kids are in awe when it's time to open presents. They all huddled around Josh.
By the looks of it, it was a good birthday!

I tackled it!

2010-09-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday I ran a half marathon and I can't believe I did it. I started my training back in May and have steadily increased my distance over the summer. And lo and behold I found I could do it. (With a few aches and pains along the way.) It was a little too warm for me on race day so my speed really wasn't there but I feel great in saying I accomplished this goal!
Here we are after finishing the big run! I'm standing next to Jon's sister Gretchen and 2 of her friends.

A new beginning

2010-09-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

The first day of school for Joshua (3rd grade) and Caleb (6th grade) was August 23rd. And boy were they excited. They got up and were ready to go without a word from me! Poor Andrew was so sad he couldn't go with them but his first day was the next day.
Now the first day of school for Andrew (kindergarten) was August 24th and he was extatic. At first he didn't wan to ride the bus but his brothers convinced him it would be fun so he changed his mind. What great big brothers to help him out!
Making the long walk down to the bus stop at the end of our street.

I met up with Andrew right before school started to get a couple traditional pictures.
He even made a friend, Krue Hales, from his class right off the bat.
And his great teacher, Mrs. McKee, who was so welcoming! (I just can't get enough of Andrew's cute smile!)

Isn't the first day of school the best?!!

Extreme Makeover Home Edition came to little ole Poky!

2010-08-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

Amazingly the popular show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition came to our little town Pocatello. It's been a big ordeal for the week the house was being built. I thought it would be fun to be there for the big reveal that the show is known for (i.e. "MOVE THAT BUS!") It was really interesting to see how it's really done live. There were a few practices before the family actually came and a couple more practices when the family was there. The limo even did some practicing without the family in it. It was pretty comical! It was fun to see the designers walking around here and there.

This first picture is Ed.Here we have Paul...or Paulie.
Here's the official bus!
Jillian couldn't say no to people who wanted her autograph. She sure is a pretty girl!
The crowd was intense! This picture doesn't do justice.
Then the guy we were really waiting for (Ty) came running down that long line of people giving high fives. I got to high five him too!
My friend Heidi and her two daughters, who were troopers with all the craziness, hung out with me. It was fun to chit chat (for hours!)

Here comes the family!
Just getting out.
And the bus finally moved! Boy were the family happy!

I think this show really has a great 'cause and I'm glad my area got to be a part of such a wonderful event!

The Thuernagle Reunion

2010-08-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

This year we had the chance to stay at a cabin near West Yellowstone. It was so much fun! It makes Jon and I really want to have a cabin!! The first night there, Jon kicked up his feet and played the harmonica. It was nice to enjoy some R&R.The next day we went to Yellowstone. The wonders there keep amazing me more and more. I took some nature pictures and I posted them on my photography website.
http://www.explorephotographybymohna.com/search/label/Nature
What a crowd waiting for Old Faithful. I can't believe how much the tourism has exploded around Old Faithful! Andrew was done with me taking pictures but I thought his face was irresistible!
There she blows!
The next day we went to Hebgen Lake. The kids loved playing in the water. Caleb went out pretty far in a float tube to fish. Some of the others had fun fishing in the float tubes too.
The food we got to eat was amazing! I have to give all the credit to Oliver, Jon's brother, who planned it all, brought all of it, and prepared every meal with a little help from each family. (I don't think he minded too much...he loves what he brings as you can see!)
I was surprised how much the kids had fun with tye dying. Especially the older kids. They kept going and going until the colors were brown mush. We had some great patterns turn out.
The kids even made bandannas for the doggies. The dogs didn't seem to mind!

What a great reunion we had! I'm already looking forward to next year!

Here turkey, turkey, turkey!

2010-08-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

I was out driving around looking for some photography spots and caught sight of these turkeys. Now usually I don't think of turkeys as "cute", but their little babies were definitely "Cute!" And it was neat to watch the parents helping them cross the road. One parent went across first with a couple of the babies and then the other parent went across with the last of the babies. They checked me out for a minute and even got really close to me. I wasn't sure if I should back up in case they came pecking at me!

In Josh's Eyes

2010-08-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

Josh was so proud to receive his Wolf! In a couple weeks he's going to be moving on to the Bear Den. It's been so great to be in the Cub Scouting program to see the boys advancing along and learning so much!

Josh was able to help with opening exercises too. He lead the flag ceremony.
Now this picture doesn't do justice to this heaping cereal bowl! It was so big I had to get a picture of it. Guess my Joshie is growing!

Jon's High Adventure

2010-08-08T18:06:00.001-07:00

Now that Jon is Young Men's President he has the privilege of doing everything they do! (But I don't think he minds too much...he loves the outdoors that much!) They went to Palisades area and hiked in about 4 miles to get to this beautiful area.

They brought horses to help pack in most of their gear. And to horseback ride.
They went fishing of course (and got some snags that required getting in the lake to unsnag the line...brrrrr...that's mountain water!)
Guess the food was great!
And nothing beats the beauty at all hours of the day out in the wilderness.

Having Fun

2010-07-27T22:19:00.000-07:00

I just keep learning more and more with photography...and I'm lovin it!!

Flowers are amazing

2010-07-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

Relay for Life...for Todd

2010-07-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

Jon and I have a good friend of ours, Todd, that is fighting for his life. He was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma about a year ago and is still fighting but unfortunately the cancer is winning. His great wife Stephanie has been an advocate for helping raise money for the American Cancer Society and put together a team for Relay for Life. Her team raised over $2000! And the whole event raised over $138,000! The event went all night long and every team had someone walking on the track all night!

Todd was a trooper and took a lap around the track with his team.
This was most of the team, some were coming a bit later. We tried to dress in camo to honor Todd who loves to hunt.
These luminaries were set up to honor loved ones. These two were for Todd. There were luminaries around most of the inner track, it was beautiful!
They had a luminary ceremony and lit tiki torches in honor of cancer victims. These were scouts preparing to light the tiki torches. They did such a good job being reverant.

Every hour there was a different theme while walking the track. This was at 3am and the theme was the 50s.
We're rooting for Todd and hope for the best for him and his family!

Ross Park Skate Park

2010-07-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

There is a great skate park not too far from us and the boys just loved it! (The best part is it's free!!) Caleb did it all too, his ripstick, roller blades, and bike.

(You like Caleb's helmet? It's his snowboard helmet. He outgrew his bike helmet and I didn't know...oops! That noggin' just keeps on growin')!

I love how Josh and Andrew made use of the ramps as slides too. Ha!

Our chickies are all grown up

2010-07-13T23:17:00.000-07:00

Well 5 months later since we first got our chickens and we got our first little egg! And we've been getting an egg or two a day since. They are just so cute and tiny.The eggs have varied in the way they look which has been interesting. This one is my favorite...speckled. But we've had really light colored ones and skinny ones and darker ones.

Anyone up for a mini omelet!?

Splish Splash I'm havin' a blast!

2010-07-10T18:06:00.000-07:00

Over the 4th of July weekend we had a big family gathering at Oliver's house (Jon's brother) up in Idaho Falls. (His wife Keisha had a brand new baby only 5 days old or so...what troopers they were!) Gretchen (Jon's sister) brought her big blow up slide and Caleb couldn't get enough. Jon livened up the entertainment by giving the slide a go...in his regular clothes! It was hilarious!

"Here I go! (Before the slide falls down!)"
"Woohoo! That's COLD!"
"See that wasn't so bad. Oh man, now I'm all wet!"
I just love having get togethers! We always have so much fun!

Our show is good enough

2010-07-10T17:49:00.000-07:00

We had a ball doing our own fireworks this year (for a few nights). Jon and Erik (his sister's husband) went a little fireworks crazy this year. But I have to admit it was fun to watch and it kept the kids really entertained.

This year I attempted to get some cool fireworks photography but they're still a work in progress. I realized I should've been much further away but I didn't want to be away from everyone. So that will need to wait for another time and place.
This fountain was the mother of all fountains we've ever done. It was taller than Jon!

After all that brightness I had to separate this one so you could see it. This was probably at 10:30 at night. The view of the hills behind our house.

We didn't end up going to any big fireworks show this year, but mainly because we just were having too much fun at our house. We had Jon's cousin up with his family (David and Karee Stosich) with their 3 boys and we just didn't want to leave. Nothing wrong with that I suppose.

Let's celebrate you today!

2010-07-10T17:16:00.000-07:00

So how old do you have to be to stop telling people how old you are? Well Jon's not there yet so I'm gonna tell ya! He turned 37 on June 24th and it was fun to have a day special for him. I love to see that wonderful smile he has! We had the Peterson family over for dessert and enjoyed visiting with each other. Dinner on the other hand was not as fantastic as I envisioned. Our pump for our well went out and so I had no water....do you know how hard it is to cook dinner without water...VERY HARD! Well we made it work and Jon didn't complain...he was gracious about it. :)Notice the tool being used to open the present...the boys gave him grill utensils.
You can never go wrong with guy stuff! :)

Hello little sparrow

2010-07-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

The boys and I were inside in the kitchen area when all of a sudden we heard "THUMP"! We looked outside on the deck and there was this cute little sparrow dazed and confused. Luckily it wasn't hurt and the boys had fun holding it.

Craters of the Moon

2010-06-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

I had the awesome opportunity of going on a field trip with Caleb at the end of school to the Craters of the Moon. It's a couple of hours away (so the bus ride was dandy!) It was a very chilly day but we had so much fun going on a big hike in the park. You wouldn't think an old, massive lava flow would be anything grand but it was!

We saw many of these colorful rocks around. The colors were beautiful!I don't know what was more striking...the scenery or the wind. It was blowing us around like little leaves!
If you look at the people that are farthest away in this picture, they are leaning into the wind without anyone supporting them. The wind was soooooo... strong! I've never hiked in wind like that before!
This cave was so much fun for the kids. They would go in one hole and pop out somewhere else. It was a little tunnel system under there.
Can't resist some photography opportunities!

I'd love to go back with all the kids and investigate other areas of the park sometime.

Batter Up!

2010-06-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

Caleb and Joshua played baseball again this year. Andrew still isn't quite ready to go out in that big field and play alone without mom. :)

Caleb really enjoyed playing first baseman and catcher this year.
Do you see the ball he jumped back from?

Josh played all sorts of positions. His favorites were any of the bases and catcher. He's such a cute happy kid!

Both boys are good at playing baseball (they're fun to watch)...guess they get it from Jon!

Random things

2010-06-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

I have a couple random things in this post. Caleb and Josh recently started piano lessons with their Grandma Ruth which has been great. They are picking it up fast and enjoying it...so far anyway. :)
I actually took this picture of Josh though because I was going to take pictures of a friend who's a pianist and I needed to take some test pictures...so Josh was my model. He was a trooper!
Big Brother and Little Brother...Big truck and little truck! So cute!
Who can resist climbing in a tree like this!

Wow my Little Andrew is heading to Kindergarten!

2010-06-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

Andrew has finished his last year of preschool and is headed on to big, bad kindergarten! Okay maybe not big, bad...how about awesome and fun! His teacher Ms. Jen was amazing and has helped Andrew be very prepared for kindergarten. I'm so proud of Andrew and all that he learned through the year!

Isn't that smile irresistible!?This really is Andrew's best friend, Siera. "The Face" is just 'cause he really likes her. :)
There were 3 classes combined for the graduation program. They did awesome!
Oops! Looks like Zorro "Z" lost his mask!

Andrew is still young, but I definitely see a bright future ahead for him!

Tauphtus Park Zoo Field Trip

2010-06-04T14:52:00.001-07:00

Andrew and I made a trip to the zoo in Idaho Falls with Josh and his class. The zoo is always fun, but it was a bit chilly this time. On the other hand the animals were really active which was fun to see. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

You just gotta love how Josh tucked his zip up hoodie into his pants. He didn't have a belt so that was his solution. So cute!

Who can resist a baby zebra?! (which was actually brown and white interestingly)

Doesn't it look like the flamingos are making a heart?

I posted this rooster for Jon. He's the chicken guy these days. This one is actually very pretty!

So there's a little tour of the zoo for you! Hope you enjoyed it!

Girls Trip 2010

2010-06-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

I had such an awesome time going to California to visit and hang out with my friends. Every mom needs a getaway like this once in a while!!I was in heaven being on the coast. It was so beautiful!
This little bird was the funniest thing. I was just walking along and all of a sudden I felt this poke on my head and I couldn't figure out what it was at first. Until I saw this little birdie swoop down and peck at me again! It did it to a couple other people too. I think it was a mommy just protecting her nest somewhere close by.

Earned my Beads!

2010-06-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

Last summer I went to an adult Scout training called Wood Badge. It was an amazing experience where I learned so much and had a ball with the people there. You set goals, and you have 18 months to complete them, and when you are finished you "Earn your beads." Me and 3 others in my group did it and we were so elated to receive our beads. (In the scouting world this is a big deal!)

Along with the beads you receive a neckerchief and slide.The 4 of us on the right are the newbies and the 3 on the left were on staff at our Wood Badge.

Boy I love scouting!

Jamboral

2010-05-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

This year is the 100th anniversary of Scouting. And to celebrate, our district put together an awesome event called the Jamboral. Our district stretches from Wyoming to the Idaho/Utah border so it was a huge event for the area. There were approximately 6000 leaders and adults that attended! The event was a Friday and Saturday so we camped at the fairgrounds in Blackfoot. (That was an interesting experience itself...it was pretty darn cold and there were cows mooing all night long. Oh well, that's part of scouting sometimes!) There were so many activities going on it was amazing!

I think the favorite were the monkey bridges. The boys kept going back to these.This monkey bridge that Caleb is on was huge and was hard to cross.

One thing I'm always in awe about with scouting is how much the flag is reverenced. They had a wonderful flag ceremony with this huge flag.
Here's my future Boy Scout, Joshie!
Josh brought his Pinewood Derby car and got to race with other kids he didn't even know, he loved it!
I don't recommend a one man tug of war team.
I felt so lucky to be able to go with the boys and Jon to this event. We had so much fun!

My tween!

2010-05-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

Caleb turned 11 recently and I'm just waiting now for the day he's taller than me. Yikes! He's creeping up so quickly!! We had a bunch of family over and a friend of his, and hung out, and of course ate yummy food. He requested an ice cream cake so under that yummy crunched oreo was a chocolate cake with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. It was delicious!Boys!

Watch out! Here comes Mr. Stylish!
Big guy has upgraded to a mountain bike with gears! He's all set for anything now!
We sure are proud of you Caleb and love you so much!!

Easter

2010-05-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

BEFOREDURING
AFTER
A Happy Grandma Ruth surrounded by Grandchildren! :)
We had a wonderful Easter! It was so good to be with family! (We miss you Grandma Victoria!)

April Fools!!

2010-04-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

Anyone had ostrich eggs before? Well we did...on April 1st that is! (That should be a big clue that we didn't really eat ostrich eggs!) Ha! Any guesses as to what we really had? Give in? It's half a peach on whip cream. (Gretchen's idea) Yummy!I think it was a hit what do you think?

Photo contest

2010-04-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

So I'm trying to find ways to get my photography out there and decided to try out a contest. I entered my picture of our horse Smokem. If you would like to vote for it here's the link! Thanks!
http://www.reasonstoloveidaho.com/photos/find/998

Photography Update

2010-03-29T12:58:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to mention that I've posted quite a few things on my photography website since I've started it so check it out! There's an irresistibly cute picture on there to see! http://mohnasexplorephotography.blogspot.com/

You did it Caleb!

2010-03-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

We are so proud of Caleb for earning the highest rank in Cub Scouts...the Arrow of Light! A very awesome ceremony was done for him and 2 other boys. There were 2 people dressed in Indian outfits and Indian drum music was playing and the lights were dimmed. Some wonderful things were said to the boys and I could tell that Caleb felt special. Try pronouncing that name!
The Indian name that Caleb chose. Any guesses as to what it means?....he takes after his Dad for sure...it means elk in Hopi.

Our cute little chickies

2010-03-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

For the past few months Jon has had chickens on his brain. And one day poof he made it come to fruition. He built an amazing chicken coop and the chicks came in the mail one morning at 6am. Yes, the mail! And Jon's sister Gretchen being so lucky to be our neighbor got sucked into too and has chicks also. They are irresistibly cute and fun to hold. Although now that they are getting bigger they're harder to catch and they don't really want to be held.Andrew just loves the chicks. He holds them everyday.

It's Derby Time!

2010-02-03T19:50:00.000-08:00

This is the first time we've done a traditional pinewood derby race since Caleb and Josh have been in cub scouting. Caleb's first year he did a space derby and the next year he did his car at the den meetings. It was great to see Jon helping the boys build their awesome cars! (He even got them a "professional paint job" from a friend!) Grandpa got to help too!

Josh and Caleb had to race each other after a couple of brackets.

The races got pretty intense at times (look at Josh crossing his fingers!)

And they're off...!Who's in the lead?!

The boys didn't win but they had so much fun!

I just had to throw this funny picture in...any guesses as to what my couch potatoes are doing? Just look at their hands and it will tell the whole story! The New Super Mario Bros (where upto 4 people can play at the same time) has been a huge hit at our house!

The Big 5-0!

2010-02-01T18:04:00.001-08:00

It really is amazing that my little baby Andrew is now 5 years old! Andrew you could say is somewhat of a Momma's Boy...okay maybe a lot! He brings me many smiles everyday! He should've been smiling in this picture but we had a head to head collision (I still thought it was cute!) We had a party at Randy's Xtreme Tumbling. They have trampolines and a huge foam pit, it's super fun for everyone (including the adults!)We've never called Andrew "Sharkboy" but the cake just sort of developed on its own when Andrew requested a blue cake. :)

There's a reason Jon was called "Gumby" growing up!
Here's Joshie!
Even the Grandparents joined in on the fun! Go Grandma Helen! (That jump into the foam pit is about 9' up there, but it feels much higher when you're looking down!)
Good luck getting out of that pit Maddie!
The smile to melt anyone!
We had so much fun with family and friends that came!! Thanks for helping us celebrate Andrew's special day!

Sleeping beauty...I mean...sleeping handsome?

2010-01-25T12:04:00.001-08:00

Why can kids fall asleep anywhere? Why can't I fall asleep while at the computer or at the dinner table and that be okay? The beauty of being a child! Andrew here fell asleep right at his door. My little angel.

Blue eyes melt my heart...

2010-01-06T13:29:00.000-08:00

This is my step sister, Laura's, son Matthew Jr. and he just has me wrapped around his little pinkie. They came over Christmas day and I couldn't stop taking pictures of him.Here is Mattie with his Grandma Helen.
Why do the boys always get the beautiful long lashes!?
Mattie with his cute Mommy!

Christmas morning and New Years Eve

2010-01-01T13:50:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning
Who needs an alarm clock when you have kids, right?! :) Caleb could hardly sleep all night. He woke up at 1am (yes you read that right!) and went and watched TV (little did I know of course in my blissful sleep). He went back to bed and was kind enough to wait until 6:30am to wake us up. After everyone was at least half awake and dressed we started with gifts at almost 8am. What a looooong wait for excited little boys! We were lucky this year to have my dad and Helen and David with us this year. We enjoyed the morning very much!New Year's Eve
We had a fun filled night with games, food, balloons, confetti and hats!

Some of us at the strike of midnight were in a blissful slumber....
Others were trying with all their might to wake for that exciting last 10 seconds...
Others awoke with motivation from poppers sounding through the house and wanted to join in...
And then there was the group that managed to make it all the way to the very end and still had energy to spare!
Happy New Year!!

The Nativity

2009-12-27T15:25:00.000-08:00

We had a fun time doing the nativity with our family and friends. We had my dad and his family, the Peterson family, and our neighbors the Websters over. Everyone who participated did a great job!Aren't the 3 wise men just cuter than cute?
Our neighbor Mark Webster narrated the story for us!

The Peterson Family

2009-12-08T10:57:00.000-08:00

I had the chance to take pictures of Jon's sister's family, the Petersons. We kind of did it on a whim but we got some great shots. It's been so fun to have them as our neighbors just 2 houses down!

Lego Mania!

2009-12-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

For the past couple months Caleb has been learning about Robotics and built a robot out of legos with a team. This last Saturday was the big competition they've been working for. He had so much fun! There were 3 rounds and Caleb was able to lead in one of those rounds. No prizes this time, but the experience was prize enough!!

Really Happy Snowman!

2009-11-25T12:45:00.000-08:00

The first big snowfall that actually sticks and Caleb and Andrew are out there immediately! They used the snow on the deck to make this cute little guy. He wasn't taller than Andrew. Take a look at that humongous smile!!

Halloween haunting...well treating really!

2009-11-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Halloween was pretty fun this year! On Thursday the boys had a parade and parties at their school. And on Halloween we had lots of family together. From left to right we have: Madalyn holding Evelyn, Caleb, Vaughn (in front), Joshua, Andrew, Maryn, Mckay, and Isabel.You like Caleb's new haircut?
Little Bo Peep found her sheep!!
The cutest lamb you'll ever see!!

I have the cutest niece!

2009-11-05T13:15:00.000-08:00

This last weekend I had the privilege of taking pictures of my niece, Evelyn Grant. They turned out so darling that I couldn't help but share them! Thank goodness for pictures to be able to remember that sweet face forever!

Fire Station Field Trip

2009-10-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Andrew's preschool had a field trip to the Fire Station. The kids had a great time!
Look at my cute little Fire Chief!

The best part! Spraying the hose!

Our sweet Joshie's special day

2009-10-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful day we had on saturday! We had lots of family and friends that came to support Joshua. We almost filled up the relief society room with just the people that came for Josh...what a sight! And it was great to visit with everyone back at our house. I'm just so happy to see my son making such amazing choices!

I was taking the picture for this one.

Got a little brave!

2009-10-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

Recently my good friend Stephanie asked me if I could take some pictures of her kids. I usually don't do portrait photography (something I want to get better at) but I thought, what the hey. I had a fun time taking pictures of her kids and even more fun playing around with the pictures! Here are a couple of my favorites.

Our beautiful Moon!

2009-10-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

The moon came up over the mountains so beautifully tonight that I couldn't resist taking a picture of it! I just admire the amazing things God has created so much!