Little Things {August}...

So now that September is over, I thought I would post some of the little snippets of life from the month of August... better late than never...

 ^^One regular evening we went to the park below our house and Cory showed us all a hidden trail to a big rock. It was certainly a little thing...but it was a little snippet of life that is so good!^^

 

 

^^This summer Ellie and I have been quite enthralled by making flower crowns. This one was our favorite that we made! It was so pretty especially on this pretty girl!^^

 

 

^^We joined Uncle Ammon and Aunt Leslie's family at the church orchard for some peach-picking fun! It was great to do a little service and the peaches were an added bonus!^^

 

 

^^One of Cory's favorite things he did this summer was take his raft down the river with his good friend Brian. The kids even got in for a little stretch!^^

 

 

^^Brig is always drawing...usually pictures about hunting or The Nature Club. I really liked this one of Ellie, Dad and himself.^^

 

^^Another moment that would be lost from our memories if it wasn't for the handy iPhone. We took a quick drive up to the top of the Butte. The kids love hanging their heads out the window and helping Cory look for animals.^^

 

^^We met our newest little cousin...Sweet Little Avery Marie. She is a doll and we all love her to pieces! It was heart-warming to see Brig hold her. And Jase was is obsessed with her! He thinks it is super hilarious that she has eyes, ears, a nose, a mouth and fingers and toes.^^

^^Brig went through a phase where he wanted to learn about all the different natural disasters. So each night, if they were in bed early enough, Cory would show them a little clip on YouTube of a different one.^^

^^My sisters might get mad at me for posting this! BUT it is pretty fun to have us all together and snap a picture to prove it! They are all beautiful!

^^We attended a reception that was one of a kind! They had a mechanical bull for the kids to enjoy while the adults mingled. It was pretty fun to watch. Brig went three times and was a little cautious the first two times (and the operator was very compassionate) and then the third time I made sure to let the operator know that he could be bucked off. He stood up with a smile and felt like a real cowboy!

 

^^Jase really has no idea that he is little. He jumped right in line with all the other kids who were 5+ years older than him. He had a tiny little turn and looked like a natural!^^

 

 

^^Brig is a pretty good kid. Like really good. He wakes up before the rest of us each morning and finds ways to keep himself busy. I loved his piece of art from this particular morning.^^

^^I am assuming that Ellie took this picture. I love boys.^^

 

 

^^Something was really funny obviously. I love when Cory gets laughing this hard.^^

 

 

^^Our kids are a little different sometimes...one of those ways is their love for fish! They adore fresh trout. Cory catches a fish and they start cheering because they get to eat it. Then he brings it home and cooks it and they turn into the cutest little cavemen ever. It is slightly barbaric how they devour it...but it is super healthy right?^^

^^We went with Grandpa Walker to test out the boat after getting it fixed. Cory decided to indulge and delight our kids with a little water skiing show...jeans and all!!^^

 

 

^^My kids like me to sit in their room with them as they fall asleep each night. And most nights I love it too. But sometimes it take SOOOO long for them to drift off and I start to lose my patience. But then they fall asleep and I melt because I love these sweet humans so much.^^

 

 

^^Another riverside adventure...crawdad catching! Jase thought they were particularly interesting this year! His expressions can be hilarious!^^

The Selfie...

Ellie has mastered the selfie. I have probably hundreds of pictures that she has snapped. 

She loves getting her hands on my phone. 

She doesn't limit herself to the selfie. She snaps quite a few of our everyday life too. 

Thanks for the help Elle. 

Entrepreneurial Spirit...

Cory is quite the entrepreneur.  Always has been, always will be.  I'll get into that a little more soon...but it deserves its own post. So just try to imagine how proud he was when he walked in the front door to see this...

 

 

It was all them.  I got the juicer out and wrote the sign (after they told me their price...it was spendy juice!) They did the rest themselves...they even decorated (that was my favorite part). The lemonade was quite tart but thanks to some supportive grandparents they did quite well.

Cory took it one step further and told them that they could take some of their profit and use it to buy more lemons to make more juice! They thought that was a pretty great idea and each took $1 to Wal-Mart and picked out their own lemons and limes to make even more. It was so cute and they had a pretty good experience. And I had one sticky kitchen!

 

 

Random Phone Favorites...

I just have a few pictures on my phone that are too sweet to not document...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nana J's...

We went on a little trip with my mom and 2 of my sisters.  Just the kids and I.  My grandparents have only seen Brig one time and have never met Ellie.  Since I almost have 3 kids now, we thought we better change those numbers.

 

So we had a quick but nice little visit. Complete with grandma's pancakes (which Aunt T made into an Elk...Brig thought it was pretty great)

 

 

This was always the coveted chair.  It was fun to see my kids get to sit on it.

 

 

We were definitely showered with love.

 

 

4 generations...

 

 

All 3 of us have the middle name Elaine...

Pretty special:)

 

C A T C H U P....

It seems like I didn't blog very much of our fall...so here are a few pictures that I found on my phone.

Catch up begins now....

 

Brig is in a co-op preschool again and we got to check out and ride some really big tractors.  That is an important part of education when you live in the country:)

 

 

My parents moved and the kids have really liked visiting them in their new house. 

 

 

We have been reading more chapter books and one of them was about Knights.  We read it at the same time as our cousins so Aunt Christy did a really fun Family Home Evening where they got to pretend to be knights and put on "the Whole Armor of God."

So cute!

 

 

I can't believe that Brig is getting so big. He got to participate in the primary program for our church for the first time this year.  His part was short and sweet- but he did SUCH a great job. He was so confident.  When I went to pick him up from their practice party the day before I had to snap a picture...he looks so big hanging out and just chatting with his buddies!

 

 

They are just cute...

 

 

Hunting season is always...exciting...around our house.  It is the one time of year that I can't really tell Brig to stop pretending to hunt animals. Lots and lots of pretending.  I can't tell him no because he sees his dad hunting and just thinks he is so awesome! I would have to agree...

 

 

Ellie likes to pretend with Brig when he is playing hunting but she wasn't as fond of the real thing.  I agree with that too...

 

 

We took another quick trip to visit some friends of ours and went on a little hike to this waterfall.  They say it is way bigger usually...we will just have to go back! We sure love the Barker Family!

 

 

I am sure there is so much more that I didn't even capture.  But we had a pretty good fall and are looking forward to all the fun that winter has in store!