Greene Valley Ranch 2015

Atlanta, Idaho. My heaven on earth. This may be the last time here which is heartbreaking. I've come here for my whole life and id be so extremely sad to see it sold to someone else. Hopefully it won't be the last time. 

It was mr Lincoln's first time! He did great on the 8 hour ride up and so did Lucy. I love the ride there. Going through pine and see anderson ranch reservoir then driving through featherville and rocky bar are gorgeous! I even like driving on the 2 hour dirt road. The wild flowers were amazing this year. So beautiful! 

We did the usual fun things while we were there.

We went swimming every day . Lucy has been loving the water and isn't afraid to swim around by herself with her little floatie on. It was Lincoln's first time and he loved it too. It helps that the water is super warm. 

We played four square, spike ball and pickle ball. We couldn't golf this year cuz the grass was trying to come back. We had the huge mudslide a year ago and it did some pretty good damage to the grass and areas around the lodge. It was as terrible as I though but now there are mounds of dirt everywhere. On the bright side though, it brought down a Minh of white rocks and made a cool water park areas white a steam running through them.

I also got to take my cousin Tyson and Hollis engagement pictures while we were there. I've always wanted to to a photo shoot at the ranch of a couple and got my wish! 

On the Fourth of July we went into town and watched the parade. It consisted of 5 cars, a few four wheelers, horses, and some fat guys on mini dirt bikes. Haha I love Atlanta. That night we lit sparklers and then Tyson did his fire poi. Always one of my favorite things.

Another one of my favorite things that we always do is going to the sound of music hill. It's a fun wheeler ride up China basin. The scenery is breathtaking!

The last day I felt the need to go see everything one more time so we went to Chattanooga, the school house and the h house. 

I love spending time there! What also makes the trip so fun is spending time with my cousins and aunts and uncles and family! It's so fun to catch up with them! We love playing games with them every night. We play heck of a mess, qwirkle, last word, banana grams, nertz, and much more. It's fun! 

Farewell Atlanta! I hope to see you next year!

Yellowstone

After my dad buying each of his kids tent trailers (minus Erika), we finally got to take them out together to Yellowstone! I have never been there and so was pretty stoked to go. I was pretty nervous however to camp for 5 days with Lucy and Lincoln. 

After the 8 ish hour drive we made it to Island Park where my aunt Val reserved a campground loop for us. It was pretty nice and way nice to have all that room to be together and play. My dad has so many fun toys to play with! He brought the sky swings, scooters, bow and arrows, utvs. Plus he had his super nice rv! The first day we hung out at camp and played. Val and Todd invited 2 of their close friends and families. It was good to get to know them too. 

The first night in the trailer was pretty bad. Lucy woke up 5 times because she wouldn't stay in her sleeping bag and so she or cold and cried. Then she'd wake up Lincoln. It wasn't easy trying to get them both back to bed in such a small space. But we survived. Each night got better.

The second day we went into west Yellowstone to a museum and saw some bears! It was cool to watch them interact and play with each other. The museum was pretty small and short lived so we went back to camp not too long after. We hung around and played again. Mindy and I worked on or wood co craft, the kids watched movies and played on their bikes. 

The third day, we were going to go float the river. The crows and their friends went first and then we were going to go second. Well an hour, then two and three and four went by and they weren't back yet. We hung around a lot and played games but got sick of waiting so we went fishing and did some exploring. It was kind of a bummer day to be honest. I was anxious to go and was sad when it was too late. 

So the next day we were wanting to go, but it was a colder morning so we decided to go into Yellowstone instead. It took us almost an hour waiting in line to get into the park. It was a Sunday so it was extra busy. Our first stop we went to old faithful. It was pretty cool! Lucy loved it so much and kept saying mommy mommy look at the geyser! After lunch, we went and explored the other geysers. They are so cool looking and a little scary too. Dan and I were worried that Lucy would run away from us and fall into one. Dan kept a very tight rope on her. We went and drove around a little more of the park on our way back. Our kids zonked the moment they got in the car. It was pretty to see the sights. Yellowstone is gorgeous. I don't know why it took me 26 years to see this place!

On Monday we went back into the park. We went to the paint pots and some gorgeous waterfalls! 

The last day we packed up our campers and headed back home. On the way we stopped at bear world which was probably the highlight of the trip for us! Dan was wanting to see a bear the whole time and was so excited when he got to see 60! It was a fun place. It was neat being close to the Bears and seeing so many. Plus they had a cool petting zoo that you could pet deer, goats, and chickens. A deer even kissed Lucy! Next we went on the little kid rides. Lucy was a little daredevil and went on the roller coaster and some other bigger kid rides. It was a fun outing! We had a good time on our trip and would definitely do it it again!

Easter

We always have quite the eventful Easter egg hunts leading up to Easter. First we started out with the Tervort Hunt. It was the first year ever that the adults did not participate in the hunt, because we had to plan it! We realized how much work went into this and we appreciate Dave and Kathy even more for doing this for us each year. Kathy still helped out even though she was gone. We sure missed them a lot! The kiddos had fun and Lucy did a great job getting a lot of eggs and candy. 

Our next hunt was our neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Our neighborhood is awesome for doing this each year. We all brought something to contribute for a yummy breakfast. Then after that we lined up in the field for the hunt. The kids 0-3 got to go first. I for sure thought Lucy would get a prize egg this year, because she had about 20 or more eggs in her basket, but she wasn't lucky this time. Bummer! There were some good prize baskets. She still had fun though.

Our last hunt, we had on Easter at my parents. By this time, Lucy was a pro and got a bunch of eggs and candy (score for Daniel and I, cuz we eat more of her candy than she does haha). It was nice of my parents to do one. It was also so nice to have Easter on Conference weekend. I love listening to our leaders of the church. Easter was very enjoyable this year and we are so grateful for a Savior who died for us so that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father again. We feel so blessed!

Tervort Hunt

Neighborhood Hunt

Moss Hunt

Christmas 2014

Dan and I slept at my parent's again. It was kind of a sleepless night cuz Lucy woke up at 1. But once we got up, she was happy and we were very excited for Christmas. She gave papa, grandma, Erika and Ben all hugs and we went downstairs to open her presents. She was very spoiled. She got fun stickers, puzzles, cards and an Elmo in her stocking form Santa. Then dan and I gave her clothes, play food, doll magnets, and a panda bear. She had fun opening her gifts. Daniel gave me a tablet and I gave him clothes and a TV (that he got early from Black Friday). 

Once we were done exchanging gifts, the rest of the crew came over and we ate yummy breakfast. Then we exchanged gifts. The grandkids all got spoiled by their grandparents. Lucy got a vacuum and play food, clothes and a hippo (her most favorite gifts). We had fun watching them open and play with their presents. Mom gave all of us girls a sewing machine! So nice! The men got speakers and a heater from dad. We all got another nice check. We are so blessed. For me, this year I really loved giving my gifts cuz I put a lot of time into them. I put most of our home videos on DVDs and gave them to my parents and siblings. We had so much fun watching them. I also put a lot of time making Erika and Ben a date basket. I think they liked it. After getting dressed, we rushed off to the Tervort's. 

Oh and I forgot to say, the best thing was waking up to a white Christmas! It snowed sooo much!

Once we got to the Tervorts, gifts were immediately handed to us.  Lucy got clothes, a bear, a

 ball and a movie from Grandma and Papa. Daniel got speakers and I got new boots! Julie gave Lucy an Elsa costume and Baby boy some clothes. We gave everyone a Hawaii video. And we gave his parents a Hawaii book. After eating dinner, opening presents, we all went and watch the video. It was fun. Its so rewarding to see that everyone liked it. 

Around 4:00, Daniel and I went home and put Lucy down for a nap which was much needed. Once she got up, we gave her her big Santa present– a new play kitchen! She loved it! We played with it the rest of the night. It was a very good Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2014

GG Moss hosted CHristmas Eve at her house again. We sure have a big family and its getting crowded. Everyone (except Ryan) was there – even Elder Alex! He got home 6 days before. So fun to see him and have him meet Lucy. We ate yummy prime rib for dinner and then had our Christmas program. Each of the kids held a picture and we sung the Nativity song. Then we all went around and told about our big gives of the year. GG Moss spent her money on a tree from Festival of Trees that all went to Primary children's. Dan and I did a food drive with the youth and then donated it to his school's food drive. Afterwards, we all opened gifts. Grandma gave us a very nice check and she gave Lucy a kitty cat and an outfit. We gave Lucy her new pjs. Jake, Graham and Lucy and Paxton all were matching– it was adorable. Lucy was a wild child that night and wanted to be the center of attention. She was entertaining!