Eleanor turns 12!

September 6, 2017

Ellie turns 12!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel like we have been celebrating Ellie's birthday for the last two months. We are soo excited for our baby girl to be turning 12!

She got fancy road bike for her birthday and has gotten really good at riding it.

She also got some fun books and was able to go the  county fair with her best friend and ride on all the dangerous carnival rides. They had a blast!

A few things I love about Ellie.....

Ellie is amazing: She never stops amazing me. She has been blessed with incredible brains, skills and talents in this life. There is really NOTHING that she can't do if she sets her mind to it.

The name Eleanor means LIGHT and I really couldn't think of a better name for her.

She truly shines!

Ellie is super creative and a great artist

Ellie is beautiful inside and out. She has a soft heart and looks for ways to be kind and serve others.

Ellie is responsible and loves to take charge and make things happen.

Ellie loves her brothers and sisters. I love to watch them all play together. She is the best older sister!

Ellie is a voracious reader. She simply devours books. We go to the library often and get piles and piles of books for her and we never have enough...

the best reward for Ellie is a NEW book. :D

Ellie has become a little chef. She makes us breakfast all the time and is always willing to whip up a little treat for us on Sunday afternoons. :D

Ellie is the glue that holds our little family together. I love her more than life and there is nothing I wouldn't do for her. I am excited to watch her grow into a young lady, I have no doubt she will do great things and continue to amaze us everyday!

I love you Eleanor!

You have been the best daughter anyone could ever hope for.

(minus the first year, but that was probably due to a lack of communication. ;D  )

 "I love you to pieces Ellie"

 We got up early and opened up presents before Barry had to go to work, so Miss Eleanor could enjoy her presents all day. :D
(notice the shoe)

THe requested carrot cake with cream cheese frosting!

A beautiful cake for a beautiful girl!

(hey! I did my best, cake decorating it NOT one of my talents.)

Ward campout and Total Eclipse

 We went up to the Stake Scout Camp for a Ward Campout. We got our very own cabin. It was beautiful up in the mountain and the kids had a lot of fun hanging out with their friends in the ward. We arrived early, so we explored the area and found some fun monkey bars to play on.

 our cabin for the night. They shut off the generator at night, so it was pitch black in there. The kid's did great though, no screaming. I think they were all worn out from playing.

The lodge

our car got toilet papered in the night. That was definitely a first for us. :D

THe men did most of the cooking and the ladies cleaned up. Here they are making French toast dipped in frosted flakes. It was really really sweet. Not my favorite, but some people love it.

playing on the food cart

THe kids had lots of fun playing ping pong and shooting each other with ping pong ball guns.




The great American Total Eclipse of the Sun:

Ok, so I wasn't really too excited about the eclipse. There was a ton of to do about it in Idaho, because there were places that would be in total darkness. We had about 96%, and it was actually pretty cool. Everything got really quiet and the crickets started chirping. Our friends who saw the total blackout said that they could see the stars.

We spent the afternoon outside running around and watching the eclipse.

We were told or read that you could balance an egg on end during an eclipse.
Maybe you can, but we sure couldn't........;D

. :D

AN elipse selfie. A must!

 back to ward camp pictures for a minute.

 Owen is soo strong.:D

Toothless watching the eclipse!

 James found a helpful knothole in the deck to help him out. He tricked me for a fraction of a second

Owen roaming around in the jungle. Barry planted alfafa in the garden this year to feed to the chickens, it has grown huge, and the bugs love it.
I really hope he never does that again.

 eclipse games

Yellowstone Adventure 2017

This year we were not planning on it, but the stars aligned and we were able to take a 5 day trip to the Yellowstone Area.

A kind friend of Barry's let us stay in his cabin. It was perfect!

We ended up renting a van because we don't have much space in our Explorer and the air conditioner is broken. It was great to have the extra room and coolness.

The fields in the Ashton area were so gorgeous!

Owen got a new stroller for his birthday. Thanks Grandma! This one is actually tall enough for Barry and I to push it without hunching over and small enough that it still folds up nicely.

First off: We went to Herriman State Park, to explore and hike.

Emma gave us a menigytis scare that morning so we drove into Rexburg and took her into Urgent Care.
She was ok, just a virus, but Barry learned how to test for meningytis. he was demonstrating it for us. We were so glad our little Emma was ok. The other kids and I walked the streets of Rexburg while we waiting and window shopped.

off to hike through the wood..........

There was a writing camp at the Park at the same time as us. One of the instructors was from Buhl Idaho. Small world.

Sleepy Baby.

A perfect baby, stayed asleep even being dragged backwards over the bumpy path.

Emma was still not feeling the best. So we let her set the pace and be the leader. She lead us safely back to the car.

Golden Rod. Barry is very good at identifying all the flora and fauna along the way.

My camera refused to focus on this little guy, but the kids sure enjoyed watching him.

Henry's Lake

Mesa Falls. This was just up the road from the cabin we stayed at. It was raining....and the kid's were all asleep, so i was the only one who ventured out of the van.

Then off to Yellowstone.
I didn't take very many pictures. Because you've seen it all before.... ;)
Here are just a few...

Firehole Falls

We may have stopped at the famous Yellowstone Lodge and bought the kid's ice cream cones as big as their heads.

since Barry was not enjoying an ice cream with us, he went off to wander the gift shop alone. He came back with a stuffed buffalo for Owen Bear.

Picture recreation.

Just enjoying a bit of shade from his friend.

This was a scene quite a bit, eating out of the back of the van. This was leftover pizza.

Lots of sandwiches were made and enjoyed

Barry was super tired, so he parked the van and the kid's and I walked out to a sandbar on Yellowstone Lake. It was so beautiful out there.

James found a fishing lure. OF course James found a fishing lure. :P

Lauren peed in the lake, but don't worry folks, she pulled her undies down first....She is such a funny girl.

This is my favorite picture from the trip.What cuties!

ellie borrowed my camera and took these.

James' first Cutthroat trout. He was over the moon excited to have caught it.

AND he caught it in Eleanor Lake. This was our first time here. WE have seen it on the map many times but it is rather out of the way. It was a fun place to go and a beautiful drive with a lot less traffic. We'll be back.

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