Something's Weird

I'm not sure what the heck is going on, but for some reason my new memory card doesn't seem to want to import into my computer. It worked fine on Monday with the back to school pics, but on Thursday when I went to import Treven's birthday pictures, nothing happens. Gary says that one year of the Geek Squad came with my new computer, so I think I will call them and see what is up. I think that my memory card reader is messed up. Maybe I will try to use the USB cord and bypass the reader tomorrow. We'll see how much time I get- I have two challenges for the retreat due.

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school for the kids. It's always been tradition that I take picures of each kid before school and this year is no exception!

Treven starts his first day of First Grade! He attends school in Albion and isn't too excited about going. He just wants to play and for some reason, the teachers think he should do schoolwork and homework!

Chelsey started the 7th grade this year...she's the only one in the jr high! Last year, we had two there, but she's on her lonesome this year!

Mikayla will start at the high school today. She tried out for freshman volleyball and made the team. First game is Thursday, but it's away so I won't have any volleyball pictures until she has a home game!

Braquel started her Senior year....not too sure how I feel about that. I can't believe she is old enough to be graduating soon...she has the days counted until she moves out on her own, but Mom and Dad sure wish she would stay home longer!

Hope all the kids have a wonderful day!

Counting my Blessings

Last week there was a local man and his two sons that died together in a plane crash. I went to school with most of the kids in their family so it really hit close to home. I can't imagine losing my husband and both of my sons at the same time. I would be absolutely devastated...anyway, I have had the Mingo family on my mind and in my prayers all week.

My mom called me yesterday after the funeral and said that she really felt the need to let her children know how much she loves them and how proud of us she is. I can't tell you how much it means to hear. I have always known my mom loved us and that she was proud of us, but it still nice to be told again. In the course of our conversation, we talked about how our family is really not a huggy-touchy family. I realized that I really don't kiss my kids and tell them I love them often enough. I think they know deep down just like I did that they are loved and the essence of my whole world, but I bet they would like to hear it aloud. I'm going to make it a point to tell them or show them every single day how important they are to me. Anyone who knows me knows this will be a challenge! I'm much better at writing my feelings than saying them. It's extremely hard for me to say certain things out loud!!! But, none of us truly know how much time we have left to spend with our families and friends and I want the people I love to know they are loved.

Okay, so I have probably gone on enough for one day with my emotions! Time to put them back inside and not on my sleeve! Hope you all have a fabulous day and I encourage you all to let someone know you love them-I know I'm going to!

Roaring Springs

Time for ice cream!

This is Mikayla and I coming down the Avalanche! Pretty scary!

Braquel and Mikayla tanning on the lounge chairs. Both got a bit sunburnt and wish they hadn't laid out for so long!

Ellie enjoyed the sunshine, too. It was such a long weekend for her (her schedule was thrown right out the window), but she was so good.

Braquel, Mikayla, Nicholas, and Treven on the race track! I think Nico won the race. Treven said that was the best water slide out of them all!

We had such a dramatic vacation! Ellie started being really grumpy on Tuesday. I thought it was her teeth coming in because she was so slobbery, but she just got worse. She wouldn't smile and she cried every time I put her down. I took her to the doctor as a precaution on Thursday and sure enough, she ha a double ear infection and the back of her throat was red. The doctor put her on antibiotics and she started to get better by Saturday morning. (Although we dealt with diarrhea all weekend!)

We left for Boise Saturday morning with plans to go to the water park. It was really windy, though so we decided to do the school shopping on Saturday instead of Sunday. We hit the outlet mall and got Treven and Ellie some fall/winter clothes at Osh Kosh and Carters. Then we went to the Boise Towne Square Mall and met up with Victor and Michelle and their kids. The guys ditched us (much to the delight of all the teenagers) and went to Cabellas and Hooters for hotwings! Michelle and I stayed out of the stores most of the time because the stroller didn't work well in the midst of hundred of people in each store-it was a mad house that day. The girls all got lots of cute things and I got a few pictures of Braquel's last school shopping trip...more about that later.

After the mall, we went to check in the hotel and then we went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate Treven's upcoming birthday. He had never been there before so we thought it would be fun. I think the older kids thought it would be lame, but they actually all ended up enjoying the night. Lina told me it was the funnest place ever. All of the big kids donated their tickets to Treven so he could get a bigger prize in the end. He ended up getting a Chuck E. Cheese baseball and mitt, a rocket, and some Pop Rocks for all of the kids. Again, I took lots of pics...more about that later!

We got back to the hotel about 10. The kids went to workout and I tried to get Ellie to sleep. We got two rooms (1 for Gary and I and the two little ones and 1 for all 5 teenage girls) They all brought treats and goodies for an up-all-night party so of course Treven wanted to be with them. I guess shopping wore them all out so they decided they would actually sleep. Treven finally ended up with us and asleep as soon as his head hit the pilllow.

We got to the water park not too long after they opened. The kids took off and started hitting the slides. I got some fun pics of Treven. Steph and David and their crew were there, too so I got some pics of them in the Wave Pool. Then I went to get some pics of the older kids in the Wave Pool and my camera kept telling me there was something wrong with my memory card-it could be damaged. It would let me do anything.....there are almost 2000 pics on that card. Luckliy I had downloaded everything up until our vacation so all I lost was the one from the mall and Chuck E. Cheese. I would have been sick if I had lost all my pics since Christmas...I hat to even think about it. (If anyone knows what could be wrong and how I could possibly retrieve the pics-PLEASE LET ME KNOW-I AM DESPERATE!) Anyway, the park is across from a Walgreens and I was going to go buy another memory card, but Michelle said she had an empty one if it would work in my camera. Luckily it did and I was able to get some pics from the Roaring Springs Water Park. It's the best I could do!

So that was our vacation. I'll post som pics of all the new school clothes later-

In the Garden...

I went out to pick green beans this morning and thought I would check on the rest of the veggie progress. There are quite a few green tomatoes and a few orange ones, but not really any red yet. If they don't get moving soon, it will freeze here and we will lose them!

These are some Italian Roaster Peppers. They are long and skinny and I think they aren't supposed to be too hot. Mostly for good flavor. They should be done soon.

These are Pimento Peppers- also not too hot and for flavor. So far, none of the really hot peppers have grown much, but they sure have lots of blossoms. It's too bad we have such a short growing season around here.

Can you guess what these are? Up and down both sides of my bean row, we found deer prints. They didn't trample the beans or eat them or anything-they must have just been checking things out, too!

These prints remind me of a story I once heard:

There was a Christian scientist and an atheist scientist doing research in the desert. One night before bed, the Christian scientist was saying his prayers and the atheist asked him, "How do you know there is a God out there listening to you?" The Christian answered and said, "I have faith." The atheist asked "Have you seen God face to face? Have you ever heard God's spoken voice?" The Christian had to admit that no, he had never seen God face to face and no, God had never spoken aloud to him.

The next morning, the Christian exited his tent and found the atheist studying some prints in the sand. "We had a camel come through here last night," said the atheist.

"Did you see him face to face?" asked the Christian.

"No." said the atheist.

"Did you speak to him and he answer aloud?" asked the Christian.

"No," said the atheist. "But look, there are footprints all around, he had to have been here."

"And that is why I have faith in God," said the Christian. "I can't see Him face to face and I can't hear His spoken voice, but His footprints are all around me and I can see where He has been."

I like to think of this story when I look at God's blessing on my life. Even the simple things-like deer prints in my garden that remind me of nature and how much I love living in the mountains. You won't find these deer prints in Burley or Rupert. Simple things like an abundance of green beans that will help feed my family all winter long. God is good! Have a blessed day!

BBQ at Woody's

Woody and Lee (our neighbors) invited us over for a Mexican BBQ Sunday. They grilled thinly sliced roast beef and layered it in a warm tortilla with a bit of butter, sour cream, chilis, and cheese. It was soooo good!

Kathy and Kim. We were having such a good time visiting with everyone that Lee had to call out dinnertime a couple of times!

Todd and Kathy. Normally, Kathy hides from me and Todd pulls funny faces, but I got a good one of Kathy. I tihink Todd was ignoring me!

l to r: Todd, Jim, Tammy, Kathy, Kim. Diana has the back of her head towards the camera so we didn't get her face.

Woody (our host) taking time out for Ellie. He was so excited to have a baby around when she was born. He's so good with her and loves to hold her and kiss on her anytime he gets a chance!

2009 Stapelman Reunion

This is a new game that all the kids wanted to get in on. Two kids (or adults, too I guess) sit across from one another with their feet up against each other. They place their hands on the stick, one kids hands on the inside and one on the outside. They pull each other and whoever pulls one over, pulls the stick out of the others hands, or tips the other one over backwards is the winner. Here is Treven playing with Clay Stapelman. He pulled him over so Treven was the winner. They had a ball doing this game. Mikayla even liked it, although she said her back was killing her after playing a few times.

This was supposed to be a picture of the boys starting the game, but somehow I downloaded the exact same picture as above. I guess I was really proud of Treven's win!!!

Some of the bigger kids watching and waiting for their turn to play the Stick Game. Note all of the sweatshirts! It had been raining the night before and it was downright freezing. Everyone had hoodies or blankets as they participated in the activities. Earlier that morning they had some relays that I missed out on, but there were a few people that were walking around limping. It was quite the workout from what I understand- they had to pull around 400 pounds of rock salt for one of the relays....glad I missed out!

This is what I bought from the auction. There is a cake mix inside of the box and the icing to match. The front flap folds down and there are three tubes of sprinkles to decorate your cupcakes and inside the star pocket are little bags with birthday party hat decorations to put on the top. Too cute. I'm going to use it for a pattern, switch up the supplies for Christmas and give them to the neighbors as gifts.

Ellie's 5 months old

It's so hard to believe that my little baby is already 5 months old! I don't know where the time went, but I sure wish it would slow down. When Ellie was one week old, she received this little lamb that was pretty much as big as she was. We took some pics with it just to show how tiny she was. Now, every 5th when she turns one month older, I take pics with the lamb again to show how much she has grown. Next month, I will post the progression for the first half of her first year.

Challenge #1 Done

I am attending a scrapbook retreat in October and to help get the momentum going, the retreat hostesses have started to issue a challenge every other Monday until the retreat. When we get there, the challenges will be judged and prizes awarded. I'm not doing these for the prizes because my scrapbooking skills are a bit lacking, but for the sake of gearing up and getting excited and to get one more page done and in a book, I am going to do each of the challenges. This weeks challenge was to make a page or card that uses up leftover sticker letters. It's hard to see in the pic, but there are three different sticker types I combined. There are plain green, white, and glittery green stickers. It was tricky getting both words out because I was short some of the letters, but I guess that's the whole idea! Anyway, the page turned out pretty well for my standards! The title is "So "LUCKY" you joined our "FAMILY" and features pictures of Ellie on her first St. Patrick's Day.

Ahhh... the lazy days of summer

I sure wish I was a kid again. Treven has spent most of his summer playing outdoors. From the second he gets up in the morning, he is wanting to go get his friends and ride his bike. Today, he went into the creek by our neighbor, Woody's house and played for awhile. When I went to check on him and his friends, they were soaked. They start at one end of the field, go through the culvert, and out the other side to end up at Woody's. There is a litttle waterfall where they can get in a little deeper and play.

Here the kids are on the other side of the culvert. There are mostly rocks leading into the culvert, but about 15 feet past the rocks is a little pool of water. As you can see it comes almost to their knees. Just the right amount of water to catch water skippers and little minnows in. It's nice and shady so I would imagine they could find all kinds of hungry mosquitos, too!

Colton and Mason had to leave, so Treven decided he wanted to take me to a spot to get some cattails. Here was a bit of our conversation on the way there:

Treven: Mom, there are some really great cattails down here and we don't have to go to Burley!

Me: Wow! Do you remember the rules about the cattails?

Treven: Sure...(thinks a minute) we don't hit dad with them because he gets really mad.

Me: That's right...it really hurts.

Treven: Dad gets so mad he might spank me so hard I can't sit down for a week!!!

Of course, there is a little inside information you need if you don't know the story on this conversation! Last summer, we went to Emerald Lake for a family picnic. Treven got several cattails and took them home. Gary told him over and over that we don't hit people with them. Treven decided it was ok to hit as long as you only hit the bad guys! Gary and I were just walking out the door to go to Annies and WHACK! Treven hit Gary right across the butt as hard as he could with the cattail. Needless to say, he got into some trouble over it. I came home a little later that night to check on the kids and he was still mad at his dad. He told me that he wasn't sure he would ever love dad again! He did get over it later that night, though.

More conversation:

Treven: Come on, Mom...let's go faster! (He starts running down the gravel road to the cattails)

Me: I can't run, Trev...I'm too old and fat (even though I do pick up the pace a bit)

Treven: (slowing down) It's okay, Mom. I'll wait up for you like a good son!

That you are, baby,,,that you are!

Concert at Annies

Deena, Debi, and Melissa all taking a shot. Debi ordered Kahlua with Tequila, but when she drank it, she told Gary that wasn't as good as she remembered! They all had pretty funny looks on their faces after they drank their shot!

These are a couple of Matt's friends that came up for Laio's performance.

We had Laio come up to Annies last night and do a tribute for Matt. We originally wanted her to come up and do something last Friday (Matt's 34th birthday) but all of his family and friends were going to the City of Rocks to spread his ashes. Laio and I decided that the 31st would work just as well so she came around 8 and played until a little after 10. She does such a great job. She has kind of a Janis Joplin type sound and she does some rock and some blues. She writes her own songs so she mixes some of her stuff with some covers from other singers. I guess she recently cut her own album in Nashville and I'm excited to buy her CD when it comes out.