Mt. Rushmore

We drove by the Crazy Horse Monument on our way to Mt. Rushmore-

 Mt. Rushmore was really cool!  We walked the presidential trail and the kids loved to get off the path and climb up the rocks.  Everett was so good in the backpack carrier the whole time.  Our couple hours there couldn't have been better.  We stopped in the gift shop on the way out; Maddie picked a necklace with a hawk on it and Garen and Sophie both picked Mt. Rushmore flashlights.  Then we stopped for ice cream before heading on our way.

Martin's Cove

The last 9 days we drove to Minnesota and back and did some awesome stuff along the way.  The next several posts will be about our travels and adventures.  Starting with Martin's Cove.  We didn't have time to hike all the way to Devil's peak but we did pull the kids in a handcart along the trail and up to the Invisible Veil bridge.  At the bridge you could whisper something at one end of the metal rail and be able to hear it at the other.  I don't think the kids could quite understand exactly how difficult it was for the pioneers, as a matter of fact I don't think I can.  But there were a few times on our trip that the kids were tired of being in the car or tired of walking and I would think to myself how could you do this all day with starving children, no shoes, in the snow and all you see in front of you is more mountains to climb!

7 Years Old!!!

Happy Birthday to this crazy kid who talks in Star Wars language and will never give me a straight face for a picture-

June is a hard month for me, within 9 days I have to watch 3 of my kids grow a year older!  Not to mention I get older in June as well.  

Looking at these baby pictures I remember thinking as he screamed day and night that it would last forever and now I have no idea where the last 7 years have gone.

Garen just finished up Kindergarten and is an exceptional reader.  He loves anything to do with Star Wars and has his character Star Wars book memorized and he can reenact all the characters.  He comes up with the smartest comments and the most funny but he usually does this in a time when he should be doing something else like getting ready for the bus to come or cleaning something up.  Sometimes I just like to watch him when he doesn't know it and I am intrigued by the way his brain works.  Although he doesn't read comic strips ever he draws them all the time.  Garen likes to test my patience but there is no way I could imagine our family without his daily presence!  

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY!!!

Everett's Birthday!

The kids were so excited when Everett woke up this morning.  We all pilled in to wish him a Happy Birthday and he was all smiles.  We took him to the splash park in the morning and he loved it.  And after a good nap and when dad got home Everett opened his presents; I think his siblings were way more excited then him.  Then we sang him happy birthday and had cake.  The rest of the evening was spent at the park for our ward picnic.  It was a really fun day and I just can't believe his first birthday has already come and gone.

Flashback Friday

Since this is where we are headed on Saturday I thought me and my siblings at Mt. Rushmore in 1987 was a good flashback Friday!