Memorial Day

Yesterday was Memorial Day and to celebrate we had my brother Jon and his family up to La Grande for some festivities.  We started out the day with a hike in Owsley Canyon.  This is one of my favorite places to be and it was perfect for seven little kids to tackle.  We brought up donuts and juice and had a yummy breakfast together at the picnic table.

Cute Hinkley couldn't get enough of his glazed donut - he had it all over his face!!

Here are the kiddos ready to start out on the trails - Isaac, Samantha, Clara, Emma, Hinkley, Eliza, and Jordan!

The kids had a wonderful time looking at all of the pretty plants and trees.  We started a game by looking out for animal tracks and trying to guess which animal they came from.  Eliza and Samantha found a puddle full of tadpoles!

Hinkley had a great time being strapped to his daddy's back.  He had this smile on his face the whole time and Jon was a good sport to carry a 30 pound child for over an hour.

Clara was lucky enough to be in the jogging stroller and being pushed by Mark.  She was having lots of fun but it's hard to get a good picture with her....

This was the point where we had hiked about a mile or so and decided it was a good time to turn around since little legs were getting very tired!

After our hike we drove them up to Morgan Lake on the other side of town.  Natalie and the kids had never been there and they wanted to try to skip rocks on the lake.  It was very pretty but the wind and rain all of a sudden started and the lake was choppy.  After a few minutes we were all freezing and decided it was time to just head back home for a while.

We went to lunch at Primos Pizza buffet.  What is better than All You Can Eat Pizza?  Well - All You Can Eat Pizza with an Arcade!  After filling our tummies with pizza and salad, we headed over to the arcade to play games.  Clara thought that this little horsey was so much fun!

Natalie and I played this dance game and I was terrible.  I couldn't figure it out!  So Jon took my place and since I had the camera I got to snap a picture of them rocking out to the music!

Afterwards Clara and Hinkley decided that they wanted to do it, too.....

These two are so adorable!

We came back home and had homemade milkshakes and played and visited for a while before the family had to head back home to Hermiston.  It was such a wonderful day and we hope to do it again soon!

Our Mountain Valley

This spring I have enjoyed doing quite a bit of hiking and walking with friends.  I absolutely LOVE it - it's a great workout and in our area there is so much beauty this time of year!  Each weekend we choose a different trail to go on and we spend a couple of hours hiking and exploring.  I don't usually have my camera with me but this past Saturday I went by myself and decided to hike up to Morgan Lake and I brought the camera along.  It is quite the hike and I was lucky enough to have Mark meet me half way up with the van so we could have a little time together enjoying our surroundings.

I am so blessed to live in the area that we do.  The mountains and trees are green and lush - the vegetation is fragrant and beautiful.  For me, there is something about nature that helps me feel close to my Heavenly Father.  He created all of this beauty for us to enjoy.  Since I was 18 I have lived near mountains and they have become very important to me.  I can walk the trails and ponder my life and all of my blessings.  It is invigorating and a true gift!  I am not a trained photographer so I can't do this landscape justice - you will just have to come visit so you can experience it in person!!!!

Family Home Evening

In our family we have Family Home Evening on Sunday nights - our Mondays are just difficult during the school year to fit in good, quality family time.  This past Sunday we decided to take our FHE up to Hillgard State Park.  The weather was gorgeous, the mountains were lush, and the river wasn't too high.  We had a nice lesson and I brought some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that I made before church.

After our lesson and treats, we walked down to the river bank and skipped rocks.

Even Clara wanted to get in on the action, although it was more difficult to keep her out of the water!

All the girls went for a little walk.  Clara adores her big sisters and loves being with them!

It was a perfect evening and one that we will need to repeat throughout the summer!