The Windy, Blustery Day

There was a bit of a windstorm last night. I heard it howling, but it didn't seem to last long. It seemed to have quieted down by the time I went to bed. When I woke up I had a bit of a shock when I looked outside. This is what I saw:

You need to click on the pictures and see them enlarged to get the full effect.

I'm surprised my tree is still standing!

PS - Check out that nice looking walkway we just put in!

Playing Catch Up

This summer I seem to be constantly playing catch up on my blog. So here it is, all caught up again. Maybe I will keep up on it better. Things are going to start slowing down...yeah right. Make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom for all the new posts!

I Love to See the Temple

Moses asked me one Sunday to take him to the temple. We had earlier church last Sunday because of stake conference, so we decided it would be the perfect day to go and see the temple. We took some pictures and walked around the grounds and enjoyed the scenery. I think in some of these pictures we look like total posers, but they are still pretty. And I promise we weren't really posing - in most of them anyway....

I am so grateful for the temple. It has blessed my life in so many ways. I love my family and am so grateful that Heavenly Father has provided a way for me to stay a family forever. Marrying Scott in the temple was the best thing I've ever done. It was the start of an eternal journey and now our beautiful children will be a part of that.

Zoo Time!

My friend Rayanna and I took our kids to the zoo. We just decided to make the drive to Calgary (2 hours each way) and expose our children to a whole bunch of animals, make a stop at Ikea, and drive home. It was so fun. The kids were pretty good on the drive and they loved the zoo. I'm so glad I have friends who are up for this kind of craziness!

Moses told me that his favorite part of the zoo was waking up the lions. When we got to the lion exhibit they were all laying in the sun having a little snooze. Our kids decided they should wake up so they started roaring and yelling, "Wake up lions!" Sure enough, the lions snapped their heads up to see what all the racket was. If you look in the pictures, you can see that in one, the lions are still asleep and in the other they have their heads up. Even some older people without children stopped on their way back by the lion den, and took some pictures of the now more alert lions. It didn't take long for the lions to loose interest, and go back to sleep.

Moses is going to Preschool!

Moses has started going to preschool. Just twice a week for two hours. He really loves it. Last time he told me, "Mom, I just want to stay at school forever. I just want to be learning forever." Yeah, that's my boy! I don't really think there is much learning involved in preschool, more playing than anything else. But that is what he needs right now. And I am hoping he will make some good friends there. So far he doesn't seem to remember any names, but he did just barely start.

I didn't cry or anything when I dropped him off the first day. I don't think I really think of it as school, so it wasn't like I was crying because my baby had all grown up. But I did feel a little emotional. Taking him someplace knowing that I wasn't going to know what happened for the next couple of hours of his life. Knowing I wouldn't really ever know what happened at school. It's not like he's never had a baby-sitter, but it did feel more permanent than that. This is the first thing he has ever really done on his own.

So this is Moses on the first day of school. He wouldn't let me do his hair. And he was a little nervous so he wouldn't smile.

So this is Moses on the third day of school. I thought about posting it and saying it was his first day of school picture, but decided honesty was the best policy. Yeah - my boy is a cutie!

Grandma Irene Got Married!

While I was in Oregon last, my grandma got married to a really nice man named Carlos. I took the pictures and put together a little photo album for them. It took me awhile to put it together, but it was well worth the effort. It turned out really nice. And I thought you would all be interested in the pictures. So check them out and then tell me how amazingly talented I am. :)

Book jpg

I love you, Grandma!

Who Doesn't Love Sprinklers?

Well, I was actually surprised Moses wanted to set the sprinkler up. He doesn't usually like water spraying on him and ALWAYS hates getting his hair wet. (I know, he's kinda quirky) But he asked, and I couldn't refuse. I didn't think either of them would get very wet, so I just left them in their clothes. Makenna came over and joined in the fun. By the end I was thinking I should have gotten out the swimsuits!

Chuck-E-Cheese's

While on another school trip to Calgary, my friend and I took our kids to Chuck-E-Cheese's. Remember that cool pizza place from your childhood? We got lunch and about ten dollars worth of tokens and our kids were busy for 3 hours! And they barely even stopped to eat! It was a little crazy as we both had two excited boys with us. I kept loseing Kael; he is a wanderer.There were a lot of games for the kids to play, but Moses' favorite thing seemed to be the little rides. That is until I showed him the prizes he could get with his tokens. After that he wanted to earn more tokens and started getting into the games. I think in another couple years that place will be my boys' favorite!

Unlike Moses, Kael hated it when the rides moved! Here he is with Henry trying to get out of the truck. And here he is with Moses, trying to get his seat belt off so he doesn't have to ride the little roller coaster!

Kael loved pushing the buttons! He didn't care if he was really playing or not. This little car game was one of his favorites. Buttons and a steering wheel - it was a little boys dream come true! Moses went into the little McDonald's style play place and into the race car. He recently reminded me that he was crying in this picture because he wanted me to help him make the car go - silly Moses!

Moses and I played a game of air hockey. It was really fun to play with him. I was the Flames and he wanted to be "that yucky team" aka the Oilers. :)

I'm so glad I have opportunities to do fun things with my boys. They are so amazing and I love playing their games and sharing in their smiles. Being a mom really is the greatest.

Leavitt Lake

Scott and I have decided that we are becoming professional moochers. It wasn't long after we were on lake Koocanusa that we joined the Leavitts at there parents cabin on lake Osoyoos. It was a beautiful cabin, and a beautiful lake, and we had a wonderful time there. Moses is still asking to go to "Tommy's lake house" as he calls it. There was so much to do there. Of course we went out on the boat and did a lot of wakeboarding. But there was also a pool and hot tub. And some little spray boats the boys went on. And last, but not least, a peaceful beach to lay on and do some serious reading. I finished two books that week!

Our second day there Scott started to have a lot of back pain. He took some pain meds (he has been known to carry a well stocked first aid kit) but was still up most of the night with what appeared to be a kidney stone. He woke me up around 4 am to drive him to the hospital. We had to drive back across the border (the cabin was on the US side of the lake) and to the nearest Canadian hospital with a CT scanner (Scott thought he might need it). It was about an hour away. When we got there, Scott gave a urine sample and the pain went away. He must have passed the stone then. He felt a little foolish talking to the doctor and telling him he was all better. But they sent us home with a smile and some more pain pills, just in case. I'm sure they were just glad they didn't have to scan him. I was glad he was feeling better. But very tired.

Here are all the pictures from our trip. Thank you Leavitts for letting us come and hang at your lake!

Lake Leavitt

Koocanusa

We just spent the best weekend with some friends! Our friends, the Muellers, have a house boat on lake Koocanusa and they invited us and the Hoggs out for a visit. It was so cool to just hang out with friends and play on the lake. There were so many fun things to do - for us and the kids. When we told Moses we were going to camp and sleep on a boat he kept saying, "I don't think that is a good idea," in the tone of a worried parent. After he told me that for about the fifth time I finally realized he was serious. I explained that the boat had a roof and was big like a house. After that he started to get excited. Now he is telling everyone that we were sleeping on a boat on a lake!