Vacationing in Idaho

Sounds boring? not at all. It's a yearly tradition for our family to all get together for about a week and basically just hang out. So, the location doesn't really matter - as long as it has plenty of space for the 23 grandkids and 16 adults to sleep and play. Honestly, it's one of my favorite times of the year. Right up there with Christmas and General Conference :) We've gone to Park City, Vail (Colorado), Bear Lake, Midway, Heber, Spanish Fork Canyon, and now Idaho. And of all of them, Idaho was the best! It just had the greatest stuff for the kids and we could all eat in the same room together (at the same time!) and plenty of stuff for the adults to do, too.

Except for the mouse we found a few days before the end (blech... good thing it got a toilet paper roll thrown at it (by kim m.). hardly ever showed its face after that. yeah! take that! that'll teach him! :) the house was child-proofed. That was one of the best things - Lilia and Dasha were the youngest ones there and they would just go off and play and we didn't have to worry about them getting hurt. It was great! There were bikes already there, balls of every kind, slides, huge building blocks, games, pool table, foosball table, air hockey table, a sport court - and that was all INSIDE! so if it was rainy, which it was (that was one of the rainy weeks in June) they still had tons of fun.

Outside there was a baseball diamond, a playground set, tennis court, horse shoes, hot tub, pond with canoes, and lots of green grass. So, even though we love Bear Lake and being able to go to the beach, this worked out so well for our family that we're going back the next 2 years! I'm excited already :)

I love spending time with family and we were able to have family around for much of June - right after we got back from Idaho, the Burgers stayed with us for several days! (I'll post pictures later) When we're all together is when it's apparent to me that, yep, I want to be with these people for the rest of eternity.

moosen! I saw a flock of moosen! There were many of 'em. Many much moosen. out in the woods. in the wood-es. in the woodsen!

John and I took a little overnight jaunt up to Park City for our anniversary (that was in May - see how behind I am?!). We didn't really do much except sleep in and not wake up to kids or alarms because it was in between seasons. oh well. Poor planning on my part. Fortunately, we still had fun. Especially with the moosen...

(this is where the title of this post came from: watch and enjoy :)

happy anniversary to us!

do you play "princess" all day with your little girl?

I do. On average, about every other day. It gets old, but on the other hand it's so much fun! We're working on branching out a little :)

In the meantime, I'd like to do some shameless advertising. My sister-in-law sells dress ups for kids (and adults, if you like to dress up). Honestly, they are some of the best costumes out there - best quality and best cuteness factor. And the best part (for me) is that they are machine-washable. So, since Natalie wears them (a lot) I just throw them in with the laundry every week. so awesome. and did I mention they're amazing? Seriously, if you compare them to costumes in the stores with similar prices, the quality is 10x better. and they're machine-washable. Did I mention I love that they're machine-washable???

(these 2 dresses are my favorites - Natalie has the pink one and I reeeeally want to get the Rapunzel (purple) dress, but I think Natalie would prefer the Belle dress. oh well. You can't win 'em all.)

for the fathers in my life: lots of love

first, to my husband:

you have always been so excited to be a father, and I love seeing the happiness in your eyes spill over into the eyes of our children. I love that you love being a father and I know our children will grow up feeling that and loving the time spent with you.

second, to my father:

I love that you love to read. I love that you love to learn. I love that you love to share what you know and are learning with everyone around you. I love that you love the gospel and that you never held anything back. I love that you have always said, "I love you." (remember the squeeze-morse code? I do. how much? this much :)

third, to my father-in-law:

your humor and smile are completely contagious. I love that the spirit you bring to our home lingers for weeks and I love that the whole time you were here all we heard from Natalie was,"Grandpa Burger! Grandpa Burger! wait for me!" I love that they love you and I love that you raised your son to be a wonderful father.

(this is all a little late, but always true)

(possibly one of the worst pictures I could have ever picked, but it is the most recent I have on our computer of just my dad and I - I think I was 14?)

gone fishin'. back in 4 days.

so behind on this blog. going to Boston for 4 days. will post after that. promise a good one (with pictures) by Tuesday. later.

A whoppin' 3 years old

We went to the zoo.

For Natalie's birthday we went to the zoo with my sister and her 2 girls (who happen to be the same ages as my girls).  But we didn't go on her birthday - we went the day before.  And that turned out to be awesome foresight (or luck, rather) because 2 and under are free.  

so I didn't have to lie about her age to get her in for free :)

Speaking of the zoo, for a good laugh, go to my sissy's latest post - personally, I found it absolutely hilarious.  It's a bit reminiscent of Strong Bad, for those of you who are familiar with him and appreciate his humor.  Also, the picture with the boot reminds John and I of Teen Girl Squad, also on homestarruner.com.

aaaaanyway.  I just got sidetracked watching a bunch of Strong Bad emails... back to the pictures.  (surprisingly, it appears you can click on all the photos to make them bigger, if you so desire.  sometimes blogger baffles me.)