Family pictures 2017

Heather Walker took our pictures again this year.  We went to the church orchard and loved the rows of apple trees in their fall colors.  

Youth Cultural Celebration

For the Meridian Temple Dedication all the youth ages 12-18 got to dance or sing in the Youth Cultural Celebration.  The program highlighted Idaho's history, specifically the Treasure Valley.  Our stake was one of the largest groups of youth.  Our dance was a country dance.  Natali and Andrew spent hours practicing with their partners and Mack sang in the choir.

 Natali, Paige, and Joslyn

 Middleton Stake practicing their dance

Andrew's knee and his partner

 The General Authorities

Natali and some of her friends

Mack in the choir on the top, right in the middle.

The program was really great.  The kids put in so much time but it was worth it.  They all enjoyed the experience and Natali got to shake President Uchtdorf's hand.  We are so excited to have a temple 15 minutes away from our house.  Natali has been doing baptisms at least twice a month and Mack found over 800 names for baptism this summer so every time they go they do their own family names.  It is so awesome.

Halloween- My Creative Time of Year

I recently read a parenting book that talked about the importance of creating.  I realize that is not a strong aspect of my parenting or my personal life for that matter - except in the month of October.  Maybe all my Halloween creativity makes up for the lack during the rest of the year.

This year Kate had her costume all planned out.  Hermine Granger complete with robe, tie, and scarf  all homemade, need I add - no borrowing from a cousin either.  The scarf was knit on the annual Yellowstone trip and sadly, irritated my hands quite a bit.  I jumped into the costumes after arriving home and realized my hands were done with it.  But I had three costumes to make - luckily my Doctor gave me a weeks worth of steroids and I worked like a mad woman to finish them all before the drugs ran out.

Emily's Merida (Brave) costume was tricky but a lot of fun and Lily and I had a great time designing her Wonder Woman costume.  She was pretty particular but once we finished it she wore it as often as possible.

Andrew copied this idea from the Internet and it got a few laughs.

Natali used the well loved poodle skirt - yet again.  A never fail classic (Thanks Grandma).

Mack had a lovely gorilla costume all ready but in the end he went to a friends house and only wore it for about 15 minutes at our Halloween dinner before he was too sweaty and took it off.  So we don't even have any pictures of it.  

Our Halloween dinner was a blast with 21 kids in attendance.  Needless to say I was so busy in the kitchen I didn't take any pictures.  But the kids loved it. 

First Day of School Fall 2017

 Kate ruling the school in 5th Grade - Mrs. Simmons class.

 Barely holding back the excitement to be back in school -2nd Grade in Mrs. Willis's class.

 Lily - not so sure about sending everyone else off to school but not complaining about having more "Mom" time.  She actually started preschool a few weeks later with Mrs. Ashley and loves it.

 Call them crazy - either that or they are just excited that the walk to the bus stop went from .5 miles. to .05 miles with the bus driving right into our neighborhood.

 Last year in Middle School!

 Andrew with his new "hair style" and a big smile - ready for 7th grade.

 Showing their true emotions about going back to school.

Can't believe this girl is a Sophomore already.  Only three more years and she's out of here - Yikes!

Loving Summer

 Oh summer days - we love you!  Andrew fishing in the back yard.

 Mack and Andrew were semi forced into seeing Phantom of the Opera.  Maybe not the best pic for their first exposure to musicals, but in they end they both had good things to say.  And some of the comments didn't even involve the refreshments.

 The boys spend a week up at Camp Morrison in McCall for scout camp.  Andrew found a lovely moss wig and earned his swimming merit badge in spite of 40 degree water temperatures.  Over the course of the summer Mack earned 9 merit badges and Andrew 8 - impressive.

 The kids and Greg spent a weekend in Utah at an extended Rush reunion.  Natali got to model some of Grandma Rush's old clothes.  Here she is in her wedding dress.  The kids will never forget the massive slip 'n slide and the endless supply of creamsicles.

 The littles and I spent a day at the art museum in Boise.  They loved the gardens.

 One of the best parts of the summer was the return of Elder and Sister Dame!!  We were all so happy to have them back close to us.  Here they are at the airport they day they flew home.

 Summer wouldn't be complete without ballet performances of Beauty and the Beast.  Gaston and Belle were fabulous and the cat - random but cute.

A last hurrah at the zoo with Andrew, Lily and Emily before school began.

 The day before school started we took the whole crew over to Grandma house to have an eclipse party with Wilfords.  We were able to see totality for just less than 2 minutes.  It was such an amazing experience to feel the air get colder and see the strange lighting as the sun got darker and darker.  I loved seeing the 360 degree horizon but were less excited about the unwelcome mosquitoes coming out.  Then one tiny sliver of sun peeked out and the effect was gone.  It only took the smallest bit of light to end it - amazing! 

None of our photos of the actual eclipse were any good and I forgot to take any pics of the lighting or the kids - so we took these much later in the day.  It was such a cool experience.

A Week in Paradise

We spent a whole week enjoying the beauty of McCall.  Nani and Randy joined us and Greg actually took the whole week off.  It was so nice to just relax and enjoy the time together.  We drove the boat into town to enjoy ice cream alley.  The kids loved the boat ride and all the tubing on the way home.

 We did a nice hike up to a mountain lake.  It was uncharacteristically warm so Lily and Andrew took a little dip.  I just dunked my head.  The hike was hot but it was such a beautiful view.

Of course we picked a lot of berries, took lots of walks, looked for wild life, swam, and dug in the sand.  The three oldest, Randy, and Greg, rented side by sides and spent one day driving around the mountains.  I managed to do a fair share of reading.  We all love this place.