Pocatello Zoo - May 2011

Shane (Heather's husband) had a sister in town so we decided to take the kids to the Pocatello Zoo. The zoo is just the right size for little legs and little attention spans. It doesn't have the exotic animals like lions, tigers, elephants, zebras, giraffes, and hippos, but it does have animals that are more in their natural Idaho habitat.

The kids favorite animal was the baby black bear cub that was only 4 months old. He was so cute, just like a little baby.
In the middle of the park the kids took a break to do a dinosaur dig.

Our friend Collin found the first bone.

There were "dophers" everywhere.

I felt so sad for this big grizzly bear. She was just pacing back and forth in a space no larger than my front living room. She seemed really crowded and unhappy.

We brought our friends the Evans with us to the zoo. They seemed to have fun. Notice how my kids are really hard to spot in any of these pictures. They wouldn't sit still long enough for me to take a picture of them. I loved the tree that they are standing under. I don't know what the tree is called, but I would love to have one in my front yard.

I think my favorite was this Peacock, although I don't think they are native to Idaho.

End of the School Year Fun

The kids at Abigail's school have been working so hard for the IRI (which is a state standardized test). Now that it is over, the kids can actually have fun. They had a field trip to the fire station, a local petting zoo, and a park. They have also had their Spring Carnival. One day, the first grade had a cook-out at the school where they had a magician and comedian come for entertainment. I am glad the kids (and teachers) are able to take it easier now. They have an un-birthday party for all the summer birthdays and a bubble party scheduled for next week. The last day of school is Wednesday, June 1st. Even though it was tough to start a new school in January, I think Abigail would tell you that she has enjoyed her first-grade year and I can tell you that she has learned ALOT.

Memorial Day Campout - Destination: Backyard

We had a camping trip planned for Memorial Day weekend, but not sure that the weather was going to cooperate and recovering from our extra expenses that we had on our surprise trip to Texas, we decided to cancel the mini vacation. The girls were a bit disappointed, so Darin, being the fun dad that he is, decided to set the tent up in the backyard. The girls had just as much fun and when it started raining at 2:30 in the morning we were able to escape into the warm house and we didn't have to worry about preparing food in the cold rain. We will have to reschedule a REAL camping trip later in the summer

The Wonderful World of Dance

Last Friday the girls had pictures for their dance classes. This year's theme for the younger student's recital is "The Wonderful World of Dance" each class is assigned a different Disney song to dance to. Abigail's ballet class is dancing to A Whole New World from Aladdin and the twins ballet class is dancing to Beauty & The Beast. They love dance and are excited that
their recital is coming up. As a side note, it took me 1 1/2 hours to get the girls ready with Darin's help. Being a "dance mom" of 3 little girls is going to be quite the adventure. The twins were very excited that I was putting make-up on them for the very first time.
Emily (Belle), Abigail (Jasmine), Elizabeth (Belle)

Elizabeth

Abigail

Emily

Garden

I love when the flowers bloom in the Spring! Here are some things we have going on in our front yard. The back yard still needs alot of work, so it may be a couple of years before I post pictures of it.

Bleeding Hearts by the front steps.

Old Wheel Barrow Planter

Milk Can, Tulips & Wagon Wheel

Whiskey Barrel with Phlox & Viola

Our House

When we first moved back to Idaho, I thought the exterrior of our house was rather drab and boring, but it is growing on me. Expecially since I can see grass. I took some pictures of our house the other day and thought my blog readers might like to see where we live. It is a one story house with a full basement and a one car garage. The layout is perfect for our family and it is just the right size. Behind our house is the field to the Elementary school. I am so glad that this is where our family landed.

It's Spring

I think Spring is finally here in Southeast Idaho! The girls were on their way to a birthday party and I decided to snap some photos of the little cuties. I like these pictures because they fit each one of the girls personalities perfectly!.

Emily

Classic Elizabeth

Abigail

Our Suprise Visit to Texas

Last weekend (5/13 - 5/17) we decided to hop in the car and drive 24 hours straight to Texas. My adopted grandmother (Grand Bev) passed away just before then, and I really wanted to go to her funeral cause she was a major part of my life for the past 20 years. Darin and I did some math and figured it would cost the same for me to get a last minute plane ticket as it would for the entire family to go on a road trip. Yes, we are crazy to subject ourselves to 48 hours of driving in a 96 hour time span, but we did it and the kids had a blast and I got to say goodbye to a good lady. My parents were totally surprised, they had no idea that we were coming and it was great seeing the shock on their faces. Of course the girls had to hit the pool, but I didn't dare swim because it was only 65 degrees.

My parents just happened to have some Texas shirts for the girls and they were excited to wear them on their trip back to Idaho.

Flowers For You

The other day the girls picked me a bunch of "flowers" and knocked on the door with huge grins on their faces "for you" they said. How could I resist that bunch of weeds they had picked for me. We decided that they would look best on our picnic table outside and used a 5 gallon bucket as a vase. It's the thought that counts, right?

Uh-OH

So we have had a couple of really good rain storms over the past six weeks or so. One morning I walked in the girls bedroom and the carpet was saturated with water. We had to rip up the carpet and tear out some sheet rock to see where the water was coming from. It came from the bottom corner. Now we have to have some foundation work done to re-seal the foundation on the bottom corner of the house. Man, what a mess! There is always something to do when you live in a house.

Future Babysitter

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to watch a little baby that is in foster care. What a treat for the girls to be able to help me take care of a "real" baby. To say that Elizabeth was obsessed with the baby would be an understatement. She would not leave the baby's side the entire day. I was very surprised how she instinctively knew what to do with the baby. She would tell me if the baby was hungry, needed to be changed, or just wanted to be held. She will make an excellent babysitter someday and future mom. The only issue we had was when the baby left, Elizabeth cried for 30 minutes.

Mother's Day Weekend

I had a really nice laid-back mother's day weekend. It was the first weekend that was some-what decent weather, so Heather came over and helped me work in my front yard. We cleaned out my front flower bed and turned it into a bulb-garden there will be Iris, Daffodils, Tulips, & Freesia. We planted Day lilies close to my house and planted some climbing roses next to my fence. We still need to plant some more plants in the whiskey barrel and old wheel barrel, but we made a lot of progress. We also added a personal touch with the old wagon wheels and milk jugs. I would much rather garden than be stuck inside doing housework any day. Thanks for the help Heather!

On Friday Darin surprised me with this bouquet of flowers and a sweet note. He can be such a sweetheart sometimes.

Abigail made me this flower recipe-card holder at school. She wrote me a cute note and stuck it in the holder-part. I will treasure it forever.

Fun Fort

The sun is finally starting to come out more often, the girls love to make forts on our back deck, they played for hours one afternnon and even ate lunch in their fort. I am so glad that the girls can play together and keep eachother occupied.

Treasures

I have decided that Abigail is a confirmed pack-rat. Everyday Abigail comes home from school with trash that she claims to be treasures that she found on the playground at school or in the parking lot, etc. Most of these things have absolutely no value, but she treasures every piece that she has collected and has to methodically show them to me when she gets home from school. I took a picture of this collection because it was rather large. She even found a note that someone elses mom gave to their child and brought it home. The note said "Good Luck Matty. I hope you do well on your test today. Love, Mom!" I can at least be thankful that she hasn't brought anything home that was alive. She did however bring a handful of gravel once. Silly six-year-old.