Palouse Falls

Since Dave worked the weekend, he got Monday and Tuesday off. So, we took an adventure as a family today. We drove up to the Palouse Falls and had a fantastic time exploring and being outside. It was kind of an overcast day, so it was nice and cool. The geologic formations were so beautiful and everything was green. We loved it. The boys were a little disappointed that we didn't go to the bottom of the waterfall, but it was a really steep hike so we didn't attempt it. The boys had a good time wandering around and hiking and climbing.

We brought lunch with us and had a picnic at the falls. When there is so much to see, there isn't time to sit and eat, so mostly just Mommy and Daddy ate while Braden ravaged the table, and the boys continued to explore. We saw some "prairie dogs" and then ran right down their hole. Tanner is pointing at the hole here.
There were quite a few look out points, and we went to them all.
We saw two blow snakes, which were so AWESOME!!! Tanner says it was his favorite part. Colty wasn't as excited about it and carried a handful of rocks around to throw at the snake if he saw another one. He was really glad we didn't.

Then we took a little hike to see the upper falls. Little Mr. Independent liked to walk by himself.
It was a baby waterfall, and wasn't blocked by a fence, so we had to be very careful. Our Daddy gets real nervous about stuff like that.

Working with Daddy

Dave is scheduled to work one weekend a month this summer, and this was his weekend. So, after church today, the boys and I took lunch to our Daddy, then spent the afternoon driving in the truck with him. It was a bit squishy, but it was fun to be together. Everyone took a turn on Daddy's lap, and Braden even thought it was fun to sit on the dash board.We drove all over the farm checking the pivots and switching water. After a while Colty decided he really needed a tractor ride. Braden joined, but took a few minutes to warm up to the idea.Tanner just wanted to draw. He took the chance to finish his pictures while the truck was holding still and not so bumpy. He drew a fantastic picture of pivots. Dave was way impressed - we are pretty sure we have a genius artist on our hands. I guess it is a big deal when he chooses the pencil over the tractor!We were way excited when we saw a Coyote. Daddy tells us all the time that he sees Coyotes and snakes, but I didn't think we would really see any. We didn't get to see any snakes, but we saw a cool Coyote.
It was a fun afternoon with Daddy. Now we know what he does all day, and the best part is that he gets Monday and Tuesday off since he worked Saturday and Sunday, so we're going to find some place fun to go tomorrow. Maybe we'll go see the big waterfall....

Water on the deck

The last few days have been very warm - high 80's. And, there is only so much fun that we can have inside our hot apartment, so we went outside on the deck and played in the water. Braden loves to stand at the sink in the bathroom and play in the water, which of course makes a mess. So, I took cups and buckets outside where the mess didn't matter. Braden had a great time.Tanner and Colty had fun too.
Braden was totally wet, and then when his brothers kind of took over the water, he just walked away. I love the footprints!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the women out there who love us, and that we love. Dave and I had to speak today in our new ward, and it wasn't a very good Mother's Day present to me, it was good to get over. I spoke on a "Mother's Heart" and Dave spoke on "The Sacred Nature of Motherhood." Time ran short for both of us, so we ended up cutting our talks, but we both received many compliments on a job well done. Dave said some really nice things about the mother of his children, which doesn't happen very often in public, so I really appreciated it. He also talked about how much he loves his mom and how he wouldn't be who he is with out her.
I also spoke about how much I love my mom too. She is a woman with a mother heart, and I appreciate all she has done for us. I don't know what we would have done without her being there for us, helping us when we needed her - after having a baby, when we got in our accident, when we moved, or when she has taken the kids when we need to do something without them. She is a wonderful person, and I love her.I also want to pay tribute to my friends, women with mother hearts. Even those who haven't had opportunity to have the families they have wanted, I appreciate the example of true women of God you are. Thank you for living the lives you live, and loving the youth that let you lead them. And to my friends who have adopted my children, thanks for sharing your mother hearts with them. I know that you sent a piece of that heart with us to WA. And to the women with large families, doing what you know is right, even when the world doesn't agree, thank you for raising children up in the Lord, preparing future missionaries, and teaching behaviors in line with the teachings of the living prophets.Happy Mother's Day to all of you.

Wonka paper

Kennewick School district has a fantastic program here called Ready for Kindergarten. It is a program that is free to anyone in the school district and they offer classes 3 times a year for the parents to take for their children. You go to a class for each age group, and they give you all sorts of cool games and puzzles and books and ideas for your kids to help them be at the top of the game when they start school. It is a 90 minute class and they give such phenomenal ideas and stuff that I think that people are FOOLS if they don't take advantage of the program. Each class we get at least $20 worth of free products. And, the ideas that other parents share are priceless. I am so glad that I found out about it.

One of the fun ideas that they gave was to make Wonka paper. Using different foods, have your kids use their fingers to draw shapes and letters, then they can taste their fingers, or lick the paper when it dries. We used lemon pudding, ketchup, fry sauce, and syrup. Even Braden had a great time. He thought it was just as much fun to put stuff on his head as it was on the paper. Tanner did his page of shapes, then decided he would rather draw with a pencil than with food. Colton had a fantastic time.

Fishing again...

On Thursday the wind FINALLY slowed the a light breeze, so Colty called Daddy to see if he would take us fishing. Daddy came home from work in good time, and we went to the family fishing pond near the river. It was a delightful time had by most, as Tanner caught 2 fish, one got away though, and Colty caught 2 fish.

Braden thought he could walk on water and he walked right out into the pond. He did learn fast though, because he didn't do it again. He then just sat by the blanket and watched. We stopped and got pizza on our way to the pond, and it did NOT settle well with my stomach, so I was less than fun, but everyone else had a great time. The fish were kind of small, but who cares, they are sure fun to catch!!

A Fishing Date with Daddy

The City of Kennewick does a fishing day at the Family Fishing Pond. It is open to the first 1,200 kids that sign up and costs only $5. For that $5, you get to fish in a super-stocked pond, get a t-shirt, and a new fishing pole, and they provide the bait. So, Daddy took Tanner on Saturday from 10:30 to noon-ish and they had such a good time.
Tanner was a little nervous about going because the kind of fishing that he is most familiar with is the kind where you wait a long time and don't catch anything.
But he was so excited when he caught one. Dave said that he would tell anyone that would listen that he caught a fish. Then he caught another. They were there for about an hour and had such a great time. They could have caught more, but their worms, "wiggled away."
There was a fun slide and mural inside a big fish that they brought in for the special day. It was fun, but of course, since there was a lot of kids Tanner was timid and didn't go down the slide.
Dave thought one of the best parts was that there was a cleaning table so he didn't have to gut the fish. We are excited to eat Tanner's catches - we'll have them Monday.