Danny's Championship Game

Danny's team succeeded in remaining undefeated for the entire baseball season. He was starting pitcher for the first game of the playoffs. He did very well and the team won the game by a wide margin. The last game of the playoffs for the championship was played two days later, on July 18th. The entire game was very close and the lead traded several times. Danny's team led 3 points going into the last inning. A few runs were scored and soon the other team was leading. During the last at bat Danny's team tied the game with two outs. The last batter pounded a run deep into right field that ended the game as a home run. What a fun season! The boys got to take a picture with the trophy.

Sleepy Kids & the Nebraska Sunrise

Early on Sunday, July 6th, Matt and I were switching drivers when I looked back at the kids and saw how sound they were sleeping. I thought to myself how often little things go by in our lives and we don't bother to capture them on camera. I decided to grab the camera and take these pictures.

At the same time I noticed how beautiful the sunrise in Nebraska was so I asked Matt if we could pull over to take a picture of the sunrise. Again, how often does something occur and we don't take a moment to enjoy it, kids or our Heavenly Father's beautiful creations?

Abby climbing stairs

After working with Abby at home with climbing up and down the stairs and having no success, I thought it would be a good idea to try at Grandma's house. Her steps are not as steep as ours and Abby seemed to do well with this advantage.
After we left Idaho Falls, we stopped at Great Grandma's home and Abby thrived on those steps as well. When we got home she didn't want anything to do with the stairs for about a week. Matt and I continued to work with her and everytime we did she would cry and would resist.
One day Tom and Michele came to visit the kids. Tom started chasing Abby around and the next thing we knew she started up the stairs and since then she has been quiet content crawling all over the levels of the house. I guess we will never know who had the magic touch helping her climb the stairs. We can just say that it was a combination of all of us. So what's next, walking?
(Abby is now 17 months old - 14 months corrected.)

Boating at Blacktail Reservior

On July 3rd & 4th, we went boating with Uncle David, Aunt Michelle and Hallie, Aunt Becky, Grandpa and Grandma. We had so much fun! Matt succeeded on the wakeboard and kneeboard even though it had been over 4 years since he last did it.
Danny was able to get up on the kneeboard the first try and almost got up on the wakeboard. David's new toy, that he pulls behind his boat, is called the Atom. It looks like an atom, with handles on the three corners and in between. The boys and Hallie had so much fun being pulled around on it. As the pictures show, they were holding on for dear life. The boys want to thank Uncle David and Aunt Michelle for bring their boat up from Utah so they could play around on it

Fishing with Grandpa

While Grandma, the girls and I stayed home, Grandpa took Matt and the boys fishing. They packed a picnic lunch and set off for a day on the water. They had so much fun fishing in Tetonia, ID. They each caught at least three or four fish. After lunch they went to a camp that had this long slide and let the boys play for a little bit. Afterwards, Grandpa took them to a small counrty store that serves square ice cream cones. Thanks Grandpa for all the memories you helped the boys make on this trip.

Strawberry Thief

The next morning, July 2nd, Grandma was making a Strawberry Rhubarb pie. When she went out to pick the strawberries, she mentioned to me that there wasn't hardly any berries in the patch. Later that evening when we were eating the pie out on the patio, we confronted Grandpa about eating strawberries out of the patch. He told us that he hadn't been eating any berries. About that time we noticed that Clarissa had disappeared from the picnic table. We turned our attention to the backyard only to realize that there was Clarissa bending over in the strawberry patch eating all the little red berries. The culprit had been found and the mystery solved. Good thing, Grandpa was off the hook! I guess it was a lot easier to forgive a little blonde 2 year old with blue eyes than her grandpa.=) Thanks Grandma, for the pies and the extra strawberries!

Big Jud's in Archer, ID

We left Matt's parents on Tuesday, July 1st. When we arrived at Grandpa and Grandma's in Idaho Falls, they wanted to take us out to eat at Big Jud's. To let you know, Archer is a small town between Rigby and Rexburg. In this small town there is a restaurant called Big Jud's. They are known for their 1 pound hamburgers. Their food is delicious. Matt kept telling me how wonderful the bun was. The buns are made at a local bakery and they really are wonderful. There were 10 of us, we ordered 3 of these 1 pounders and even took 3/4's of one home! After we ate all we could of the hamburger and fries, we were served our ice cream cones. Boy, were we full when we left Big Jud's! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for the wonderful opportunity to eat there. Also, thanks to Aunt Becky for the picture of the hamburger before it was cut into.