Happy 2nd Birthday Jake!

Jake had a great birthday party with all his little cousins there. Everyone took turns smacking the pinata. Shane & Doug held it up, so some kids had a trickier time at actually hitting it.
The kids played & played. Then the "big kids" played too. Wish I had some pictures of Doug & Devin playing ball. We had yummy food and cake & ice-cream. It was fun to just hang out together at Devin & Katy's place.

Doug's Graduation Day!

We got there early to wait with Doug & Mallena after his practice. The wait got a little long for some people.
But it was worth it to see Doug march down that aisle.

And back up that aisle after receiving his diploma & being pronounced "Dr. Douglas Ricks".

Could there be any prouder parents?

I would have posted Doug & Mallena's picture, but Melina already did.

The Sacred Grove was so pretty & peaceful. Larry had to save these little guys from becoming roadkill. They were just up the road from the Palmyra Temple.

Palmyra Temple It was amazing to see the actual places & buildings that are so important in our Church history.

Catch me!

Mall of America

LegoLand--Who's scarier? Big red dinosaur or little red Melina?Kiss me
Larry & Shane snooze while Melina & I shop.

All finished!

I must say Larry did a fantastic job with the kitchen counter & tiling.

Yellowstone

I was really excited to see a bison ambling down the road towards us shortly after entering the park. The further we went the more we saw. Pretty soon we were practically surrounded. This guy didn't care that he was crowding us on the road.Everyone knows how much Larry likes to play checkers. He's so good he can take on two players at the same time.
Finally! A creature that is NOT a bison. There were actually two elk here.

Old Faithful

It was a terrific day to be at the Park!

Out with the old...

Okay, so this is what I have been living with for the last 20 odd years. I have been wanting a change for a long time, but the project just seemed to big & expensive. But then a couple weeks ago, Larry got the urge to do something about it. Soon things were being torn out and piggy banks were being broken into. This is what we have so far. We have the ceramic tile to put up next.

Spring in Idaho

These poor birds must be a little confused. Just a few days ago they had bare ground & bird seed in the feeders.

Spring break at Oma's

Brigham & Jaz spent one night at Oma's. We all had fun. As you can tell, there is an advantage of being the one with the camera. No shots of me in a swimsuit!!

Troy eased Jaz into the water to get her used to it. She made Grandpa stay in long after the rest of us got out because she was having so much fun in the water. Brigham & Troy & I went back to playing the Wii.

Girls' Get-Away

Okay, it's unlocked. Now what?

Saturday afternoon it was so nice outside.

Snowmobiling in was an adventure.

Goofy grins. Check out the eyebrows!



One, two, three & UP!

Bear World

So, we heard that Saturday was a free day at Bear World. Melina, Brigham, Jaz & I went up, excited to see the bears. Waited in line with a ton of other cars, finally we were herded in to the Gift Shop. Let Down! We couldn't believe it. So all we got to see was this little bear cub. We couldn't even touch it unless we paid $15 to hold one in a picture. We looked through a window & could see a few younger bears over behind a fence.No, Jazzy, you aren't in trouble. This is what happens when you leave a little princess alone in the bathroom with Oma's make-up.

Hanging out with Grandpa

I think Larry gave up on watching the Olympics, but he had four happy kids at his feet. I wish I had taken a picture of Miriam & Shay using Larry for a pillow.

Slime, glorious slime!

Courtney, Jaz & Brigham were more interested in playing with slime than with eating birthday cake.

Now what?

Once again the dogs were going berserk. This time I checked. This is what came running up to greet me. It has to be part St. Bernard what with all that slobber flying everywhere.Princess was barking for all she was worth, but also hiding back by me. So, yes, that is an extra black lab there with Tucker & Burt. Those two cannot come back in the house until they find a way to get all that slobber off of their heads! You can tell how big that yellow dog is by seeing Burt up next to it.

Moose on the Loose!

I am so used to ignoring the dogs barking that I totally missed what was in my front yard this morning. Fortunately my neighbor didn't. Jean, you are not the only one to have moose visitors!

Birthday time again!

Thanks for the birthday party! Mallena reserved her clubhouse for it. We had yummy food & cake & ice-cream & great presents! It was fun having everybody there (except for Doug who is WAY too far away to come) Do you think we like to take pictures? What do we do with all of them anyway?
There really is a funny story that Shane is re-enacting here.

Happy Birthday Doug!!

We didn't have 30 candles so Doug had just one big black candle. And Brigham blew it out for him.

Jake backs up to any lap that is available & plunks down.

Merry Christmas!

Oh, goody!! We had a fun day. It was great watching the kids unwrap presents & play together.