Happy Birthday Garrett!

Garrett turned 7 this last Saturday. We had a fun day.
We went swimming at Green Canyon. It is a hot springs
that my family has gone to for, seemingly, forever. Garrett
was so big and brave and was jumping off the diving board tons!
The pool itself is indoor and mixed with cold water but outside
is a HOT pool and sunbathing area. There is also a little
cold pool to cool off in afterward. Garrett and some other
boys that were there decided it would be fun to dip
themselves in the hot pool (don't know how
they could stand it...it was so hot!) and then dunk themselves in the
cold pool. BRRRR! Oh well, boys will be boys. They aren't the
first ones to ever do it. My brothers used to do the same thing
when they were little.
This was Ryan's first time swimming. He did so good. He just splashed around
and was very happy to play in the pool.
On the way home we stopped at the
Teton Dam historical site. It broke 33 years ago!

After swimming we came home and had a BBQ
with family and Garrett opened his presents.


He is really into basketball right now. He got a ball
and the hoop to go with it. Blaine just needs to
get it mounted to the shed so Garrett can play.


He got lots of money too! Here is the wad of cash
from Grandma Cook! Thanks Grandma!


Here is Garrett's basketball cake he requested.
I have never made a cake in any other shape but
square or round but I thought this turned out cute!
Garrett loved it and the cake was tasty too!


Garrett wanted to cut his own cake so here he is
doing the honors.
It was a long, fun day. Happy Birthday Bud!

Craters of the Moon

We took the kids to Craters of the Moon a few weeks
ago. Garrett is really into science stuff right now
and loved every minute of it. Especially the caves.
We got there in early afternoon and it was warm
and sunny. We had a picnic and then drove around
and headed to the caves. Right as we got to the caves,
it started to pour. It had been raining every day, so
we weren't too suprised. We just waited it out in the
car and when it let up some, we headed out.


Here is Blaine, Hannah and Garrett just getting ready
to go see the caves. Blaine has Ryan in a backpack
(in case you were wondering what was on his head).

This is inside one of the caves. It is actually a tunnel
because you can walk through and climb out the other
side if you needed to. The rain made it very slippery
in there.

Walking through the lava to the caves. It was still
raining some but the kids didn't care. They had a blast!

The yard

This is my back yard. I am taking it back. I
am taking it back from itself. For the last 3 1/2
years, I've pretty much let it do it's thing.
Now, its mine again. It has taken me this long
to figure out what most everything is, which is weeds
and which are plants/flowers. I have been doing
some studying and finally figured out what I like
and what I dislike. So, this spring, I'm taking this
yard back...one flowerbed at a time.


I can tell you what many things are
in my yard.
Above are lilacs. This is what Heaven
will smell like. My back yard is surrounded
by lilacs. I love it!


I'm trying hard to plant perennials in my yard.
I have planted burning bushes and day lilies so far,
with many more on my list to plant. We planted
petunias today. These are annuals but will fill in the
holes until I can figure out what else to do-or until the
burning bushes get so big they take out the house! Haha!
I had some good helpers, though. Hey, when else
does mom let you play in the mud?


It started raining on us towards the end of planting today.
The kids loved it, though. A little rain doesn't slow them down.

It was a good day. Got some planting done, dirt under
my fingernails (groan) and soaking wet kids! I'm content.