At the cabin

While we were in Idaho we had a little family reunion. Most of my family ended up not being able to come, but my sister Mandy and her kids and my parents and Natalie came. We had a fun time.
One the first day we went on a hike along a railroad bed. That was nice because we could take a stroller, and James slept most of it. Here is Jase ready for the hike.
Here are the cousins along the trail. It was a 3 mile hike. Jase and Anna walked almost the whole way (Spencer and James did not!)
Anna and grandpa taking the lead
I didn't get pictures of these, but Jase kept drawing "dinosaur prints" with his walking stick in the path for Spencer to follow, he loved it. I also didn't get a picture of us crossing the treacherous mud slide, Mandy got almost knee deep in mud, but the rest of us came out pretty unscathed. The rain held off until we reached the covered pavilion- and then it poured.
That night Devon and i hosted some "Minute to Win It" games. We played boys vs girls, and both Mandy and Nathan were the only ones to get the cookie on "Face the Cookie." Besides Spencer who just put it in his mouth.

We played quite a few games, but as soon as we were done with this one James jumped off my lap and did it himself, he was very proud!
People in Texas- we are bringing these games to you- so be ready! It was really fun!
The second day we went to Mesa Falls. The falls is making a rainbow.


They had a little museum there with tons of animal pelts. It thought it was a little weird to touch them, Spencer was not at all disturbed.
This reminds me of Spencer and bears in Yellowstone. While we were driving in Yellowstone we talked about what you should do if you see a bear. Spencer could not be convinced that you should stand still, so if you ask him what to do if you see a bear he will tell you "Daddy will hold still and I will run and we'll see who gets attacked!" Luckily, we didn't see any bears.


James loves to growl, and there were lots of things to growl at here, he just can't decide if he should growl or say cheese.

Yellowstone and the Tetons

While we where in Idaho we got to spend a few days in Yellowstone. It was a little chilly but beautiful. Devon took 170 pictures, so really this is just a few!

These are called paint pots.

We saw lots of Bison
Yellowstone falls, very full this year because there has been tons of snow.
My little mountain goats
We also saw many elk

The hot water running into the cold river- it was pretty neat.


Old Faithful- you can't miss that!
We took the long way back through the tetons.



There was a baby moose on the side of the road- with it's mom.
We had a great trip, lots of amazing things to see.

Dinosaurs at the Hogle Zoo

We just got back from our first 2 week vacation of the summer. We went a day earlier then planned because the Hogle Zoo has a new attraction- animatronic dinosaurs! Here is Spencer with his map ready to lead us around.
Anna is peeking through prairie dog hole.
James fell asleep like this, with a cookie in hand and his legs up- it was pretty cute.
Spencer and the T-rex!


Spencer was quite sure that these dinosaurs were real. Actually he gets pretty upset when anyone mentions that dinosaurs are extinct, they are too cool to not be around anymore. Another thing that he insists on is that all duck-billed dinos are called a "horn-saurus." We love this boy!

James loves to growl- so he loves to play with anything that should growl, and anything that Spencer plays with.

Antelope Canyon

School is over for the summer! That year went fast! For the end of the year staff trip we went to Antelope Canyon. it is an "inverted slot canyon." It is wider at the bottom than at the top- but it's still pretty narrow. It was amazing!





It was kind of like a cave with an opening at the top- so the sand would some in with the wind- it was raining sand.

Rocks and dirt- good stuff for boys.
At certain times in the day the sun come in just right to make beams of light. We caught these on the way out. I kept thinking of Grandpa Gosney because of the rocks, and Devon though tof Elizabeth for the photography, so I guess it was a great place for everyone!

the boys

A little family scrapbooking of things I love to see my boys doing.
James will not let me sweep by myself, but i though it was really cute when they tried to sweep together. What great helpers?
Spencer said "Can you take a picture of me eating this?" Noodles are fun.
Can you tell who chose Spencer's clothes today? Usually Sunday clothes are a huge battle, so I was happy to let him wear a tie, even if it didn't really match.
James loves to hug stuffed animals, and people.

Spencer loves drawing. He is usually drawing some kind of dinosaur (not a big surprise since is is obsessed with dinosaurs right now).
James needed to add a hat to his Sunday attire. He had to take out every hat and shoe in the process.



You should watch "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" then watch Spencer dance to the theme song- it's pretty funny.

Spencer is 4!

Spencer turned 4 years old yesterday! I cannot believe he is that old! his birthday was on Saturday, so we let him open his family presents in the morning with Devon there.
He was so excited for each present! Life is good when you are the star of the party!

He and James really enjoyed the packing material in Grandma Gosney's present.
Here is Spencer painting the Boble head robot he got in his new art box from Grandma and Grandpa Gosney, James had to paint too.
Spencer got roller skates from Grandma and Grandpa Coombs. I think he expected them to be self propelled or something, but he loved it once he got the hang of it.
We had planed a Super-hero part for a while (you have to plan way in advance here, can't just run to Walmart and throw things together.) Anyway, in the past few weeks Spencer has become obsessed with dinosaurs. So we combined and did a Super-hero Dino party. Everyone got capes made from vinyl tablecloths- they actually turn out pretty good.
First we did a "Dion walk." Like a cake walk only with dinosaurs to walk on and dino music. It was pretty funny because there were not any extra dinos, and the kids would get all bunched up, then run to an empty one when the music stopped. James loved the music.

Then we did a super-hero mission to rescue stuffed animals. Some of the dad were the villains. At the first villain they had to throw bean bags into a target to free the animal.
At the second villain they had to solve dinosaur riddles.

At the last villain they had to name super-heros. When the missions were complete they earned cake!
One dinosaur and one super-hero cake- there were a lot of people there.
Lots of people means lots of presents, and Spencer loved it!
Spencer loved his party so much he said "I want to have the same party next year!" It was good- but we are not doing that big of a party next year.