Claire's Front Tooth

Claire lost her first big front tooth while we away this summer. She thought it was great. The tooth fairy even found her at Grandma's house. Last time she was at the dentist he said she had 5 loose teeth. I'm hoping she looses the other front one before it grows in because I think she looks so cute!!

Berries

One of the last things we did while in White Bird was pick berries. The wild blackberries came on during the last week of our visit. I was so excited. I picked enough to make a few pies, and then bring home and make some jam. I love picking berries, I always feel so productive. Cody was nice enough to go with me, and somehow we are going the same speed, but she gets a ton more. The kids didn't think berry picking was the best thing, but it was good practice for them.

Suckers

My dad has a sucker jar. I wish I took a picture of it because it is always filled to the brim with suckers of every kind. The kids knew that if they gave Grandpa a kiss they would get a sucker. I hate the sucker jar. They could come up and give my dad a kiss at 6 in the morning and get a sucker. What a way to start the day. But, I know that it is a Grandpa thing so I don't fight it to much. Let just say that by the end of our trip Grant warmed up to Grandpa and the kids all needed to go to the dentist.

Family Time

We spent quite a bit of time with my family this summer. My Grandma and Grandpa Farmer, my brother Roy and his family, my brother J.R., and my Aunt Linda all live in White Bird, so we would get together a lot. Almost every Sunday afternoon we would have a family dinner and then play some Pinocchole, which Chad learned how to play and I think enjoyed. It was so great for Great Grandma to get to know Ava, and spend time with her, and for the rest of the kids to really get to know my Aunt Linda. I think the boys especially loved her dog Macey a ton, but Aunt Linda was part of the packaged deal. Owen especially loved living close to Uncle J.R. who he adores. J.R. took Chad and Owen fishing one Saturday morning and Owen is proudly showing off his catch in the picture above. Of course Claire had to be in the picture, but she didn't go fishing, it was a boys day out!

Rocks

My kids learned something else while we were gone for the summer. They learned how to work. They spent a lot of time in the mountains helping their dad, uncle and Grandpa cut wood, then they spent a lot of time with me running the wood splitter and stacking wood. One of their other jobs was to help pick rocks. Like I said my parents have very rocky soil, so in order to cover the sprinkler pipe up we had to pick out all the rocks. The kids had a lot of help from their cousins and they all earned a trip to the drive in to see Toy Story 3 from Grandpa for all their hard work.

Sprinklers

Most of Chad's time at my parents house was spent working on their sprinkler system. My mom has wanted a yard for forever, and they just haven't done it. My dad decided it was time and was just about to hire someone when he found out we needed a job for the summer. It worked out perfectly! Chad laid over 2000 feet of pipe (I actually think it was more, but I can't remember), and put in so many sprinkler heads (I do have to say that I put in quite a few of those too!). He had 13 stations he put in, and had to do all the digging by himself. Let me just say that my parents have about the rockiest ground ever, and Chad was so tired of digging through rocks that he got out the excavator and dug some very large trenches, but it got the job done. I was so proud of him, and very impressed by his sprinkler boxes that I had to take a picture.

Playing

I have to say that the best part about being at my parents house was the fact that the kids could play outside all day, and loved it. I didn't have to worry about them. They were either outside Grandma's house jumping on the trampoline. (They discovered the joys of putting the sprinkler under the trampoline.) Or, they would be at Aunt Cody's house playing with the kids. I spent a lot of time there helping Cody paint their new addition, so they too spent a lot of time there. They kids also had a lot of fun checking on the animals, and were sent on quite a few made up scavenger hunts by their mother. You can only handle 10 kids on one house for so long. Their other favorite activity was riding the 4 wheelers or Grandpa's Big Red. Whenever anyone went for a ride they had to hop on. In case you are wondering what my kids looked like each night, check out the picture of Grant. Bath time was a must, and if the water wasn't that dirty, then they didn't spend enough time outside.