Summer Vacation

So I am pretty late in getting our family vacation pictures put onto our blog. The summer has flown by so quickly. I wish I had an extra 12 hours in the day sometimes. Anyway, back in June we were lucky enough to make the trek out to Minnesota to spend some time with Mark's family. It's a three day drive one way so it's the first time we have made it back there in about four years. It was wonderful to see family and get out to see the country. On the way there we stopped to see the new Rexburg Temple as well as my sister Shellie and her husband Joshua in Wyoming:

Then we drove through the Big Horn Mountains. It was the middle of June and there was STILL a ton of snow:

On the third day of our trip we stopped to spend some time at Mount Rushmore. It was really beautiful and exciting to be at such a historic place. Hopefully someday our girls will be glad they went:

After three days we finally arrived in Minnesota and were able to attend Church with Mark's parents:

The girls were able to spend some quality time with Gramma who is an expert at bread making. They were good helpers and the bread was delicious!

Probably the funnest aspect of the trip for the girls was being able to hang out with all of their cousins, except for McKay who is on his mission in Tacoma, Washington.

After about a week in Minnesota it was time to hit the road. On the way back home we drove through Montana and stopped at the site of the Little Big Horn. There was lots to see and do!
All in all it was a wonderful trip and unfortunately there are just too many pictures to add to our blog. These are just a few of the hundred or so that I took. We had so much fun and will hopefully make it back to Minnesota again next year!

Family Night Bike Ride

The past couple of weeks we have had so much rain here. We are not complaining because the rain is desperately needed and plus it's nice not to have to worry about watering our lawn and garden. However, yesterday the sun was out and it was a perfect night. So, we hopped on our bikes for Family Night and went for a much needed bike ride. The girls really love their bikes and are getting better and better at it. Samantha still has trouble steering and pedaling at the same time but we are working on it and by the end of the summer she will be a pro. Emma is almost ready to take those training wheels off and then she'll be riding around like crazy! It was really wonderful to get out there as a family and enjoy the lovely weather and our surroundings.

Sisterly Affection

Today I was in the kitchen getting some things done and realized after a few minutes how quiet it was in the living room. I could hear Emma reading but hadn't heard Samantha. This generally means trouble so I quick peeked in the living room to make sure that all was well. I saw that Emma was being a good sister and reading to Samantha. It was so sweet! Although the girls have moments of terrorizing each other, we are very grateful that they love each other and are wonderful sisters!

A Special Visit

This past weekend, Aunt Tracie came to Oregon for a visit with the family. We haven't seen her since last fall so we were anxious to see her again. She is the best auntie and always brings fun things for the girls. Today we had to say good-bye but she eased our pain by bringing new books for Emma and Samantha - Ratatouille and Enchanted! That was good thinking. Hopefully we'll see her again soon.

The Fruits of our Labors.....

Mother's Day marks the beginning of Spring for us in our family. Each year we spend the weekend planting flowers and vegetables that will last us through the summer. We have a great time together and always look forward to working hard. We wore ourselves out! The girls were very anxious to help us this year and they get a lot of satisfaction in watering the plants and getting rid of the weeds in the yard. It is definitely a family effort! Here are a few pictures of our accomplishments. We are quite proud of our little garden and flower beds. Hopefully we'll have vegetables a-plenty this summer to add to our food storage....Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Happy 3rd Birthday Sammy!!!

This past weekend we celebrated Samantha's third birthday! She had so much fun with all of the attention. She had a family party, a friend party, and a get together with Grandpa and Grandma. We can't believe that our baby girl is already three years old. The time passes so quickly!

Family Night Singing

Tonight for Family Home Evening we talked about the Primary songs and how they can make us feel better if we are having a bad day or if we are scared or worried about things. The girls chose their favorite song to sing and we thought we would share it all with you. Be sure to turn your volume up!

So much for Spring......

So remember last week when I wrote that it was 70 degrees? A few days later things got cold again and this morning we woke up to this. It's supposed to be rainy and snowy and cold for the next several days. This is very upsetting. When will spring come to stay?

The Joys of Kindergarten.....

Today was a very traumatic day for Emma. She had to go to the doctor to have her Kindergarten physical taken care of. This, unfortunately, required four shots!!!! She sure didn't like getting those shots. But, the doctor looked at her vision, her hearing, her reflexes, lungs, back, and tummy. He says she is in great physical health and can start Kindergarten in September. Hoooorrraaayyyyy!!!!! Lucky for Emma, she gets to go get some ice cream tonight with Daddy so the shots were well worth it!

Privileges

Today it was 70 degrees! It hasn't been this warm since last September so we were anxious to spend time outside. We promised the girls that they could go to the "castle park" after lunch if they were good. Unfortunately for Samantha, she misbehaved. I told her that she had lost her privilege and that she couldn't go to the park anymore. She looked a little bit confused but seemed to accept it. A few minutes later she came running up to me, "Mom! Mom! I found my privilege!!!! Can I go to the park now?"

I didn't quite know how to respond to her, but she still couldn't go to the park. Much to Emma's amusement, she was able to go with mom so here is a picture of her playing.

Birthday Party

Tonight Emma and Samantha were invited to a birthday party for a little girl in our ward. They looked forward to it all week long and were so excited! It was actually Samantha's first birthday party that she was going to attend (except for family parties). They came home with lots of goodies and had great fun!

Easter Egg Hunt

For Easter this year we drove to Kennewick to participate in an Easter Egg Hunt at Aunt Hollie's house. All of the cousins and aunts and uncles were there who live in the area and we had a great time. The kids loved searching for the eggs and candy. They had races and played games and got to eat lots of junk! Emma and Samantha just adore their cousins and wish that we could see them every day!

Why a Blog?

We think this is a great way to stay in touch with friends and relatives and let you know what is happening in the Perry Family. We hope you'll all take time to visit often and we'll do our best to keep our blog up-to-date with lots of pictures and information!