Adventure Pics

I had trouble inserting photos in the last entry, so here are a few:

Niagara Falls:

Kirtland Temple:

Smith Family Log Home & The Sacred Grove:

Mike on the Hill Cumorah:

The Cabin at Completion: Wintertime at our Cabin:

Chicago (Robie House and Wright Home):

Our Adventures

Here's just a quick sampling of our adventures over the past year:

In August, Mike and I took a trip to upstate New York, Canada, and Ohio for our annual anniversary trip. We visited Buffalo, both sides of Niagra Falls, Kirtland, and Palmyra. We experienced the fun of Bed & Breakfasts for the first time, and we saw some amazing church historical sites. It was a wonderful trip!

In October, our cabin was completed. We spent quite a bit of October there, furnishing and decorating it. We had so much fun, because we got to play lots, too. We've discovered the joy of hiking and 4-wheeling as a family (as well as the joy of excusing our kids from school over and over again)!

Over the winter, we changed our focus from selling the cabin to managing it as a vacation rental. Because we've kept it, we've had many fun trips down there in the snow! (The snow is now very nearly gone...almost!) For pictures, take a peek at the link to the right...

April came, and Mike was invited to Chicago by Asko, the Swedish appliance manufacturer. He was a finalist in their annual kitchen design contest, so they flew us out for KBIS, the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show. They also treated us to a special party and tour at the Sears Tower and an amazing private dinner at the Ritz Carlton. While we were in Chicago, Mike and I rode the "L" and the busses all over town. We got to explore some cool territory and see some awesome architecture, but the highlight was a visit to a couple of Frank Lloyd Wright homes (the Robie House and Wright's own home and studio). They were incredible!

Well, there you have it. That's our year. Maybe I'll keep up a little better this year! Greetings to all!

The Kids' News...

Jessie turned two this last December. She now talks all the time, she knows her letters, and she dances everywhere she goes! She's an absolute darling!









Jeremy is almost 6. He's graduating from Kindergarten this week, and he has loved his first year of elementary school. He loves trucks and tractors, and he's quite the engineer--he spends most of his time building and creating things!





Jen is finishing second grade. She's still dancing (she's been in 3 major productions since the last blog), and she also loves reading and playing the piano. Jennifer was baptized in January!









Jonathan is completing fourth grade. He's had a fantastic year this year at Foothill Elementary. He loves math, magic, and (newly discovered this year) reading! Jonathan is also doing well on the piano and creating amazing things on his personal website!








Well, there you have it...this year's update on the kids! Next up: Mike's and my adventures...

Update?!?

I've been inspired to do an update! Yes, I know it's been a year, but... My dear friend Jenny has been doing a major overhaul on her blog, and it looks like so much fun! (I guess I'm just ready to be distracted for a little while.) Well, here goes. I did, as Jenny so aptly put it, a little "tinkering" with the format, and soon--no deadlines here--I intend to do a quick "catch up" on our year. Then we can continue on...

p.s. We still have Bob.

Update on the Cabin

Here are the latest pics of the cabin, taken May 6th. It's come a long way!
We went down this time to measure for the cabinets. As of the date of this post, the cabinets are built, waiting for the drywall to "cure". We'll be installing soon!
We were very excited to see new additions like the roof, the front deck and stairs, finished windows, this fireplace, and...
...bathtubs!!!
While we were there this time, the kids got to do some exploring. We had so much fun! We're realizing that having a cabin might just be the way to go for some fun family memories!

For Old Time's Sake

Does anyone remember this? We drove through Paris, Idaho, on the way home from Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Parks. Mike has fond memories of his Mom's concert here...

Yellowstone

Here are a few pictures from our Yellowstone trip in April. (Yes, I'm just catching up our blog...) We saw some gorgeous sites...

...and a ghost town...
...hot springs...
...and geysers...
...and don't forget the wildlife! Yes, he really was THAT close!!!

We took a LOT of pictures, of course--don't worry, we won't post them all here, but here's the scoop: Mike and I went to Yellowstone for five days over Spring Break. We got to enter the park on the very first day it was open for the "summer" season. The weather was crazy (snow, sun, snow, sun, clouds, sun...), but that added to the beauty. The park was not crowded at all, so we got to take our time exploring. We saw elk, black bears, a grizzly, bison, eagles, and geese. We also saw many beautiful (and bizzare!) land formations. It was a wonderful vacation!