Leif

I discovered another funny thing Leif likes to eat: raw quinoa.  I was making a pot of quinoa the other day and spilled some on the counter.  After putting the pot on the stove, I turned back to see Leif licking it off the counter. 
Me: "You like that stuff?"
Leif:  "Yah, I yike it". 
Me:  "Isn't it a bit crunchy?"
Leif: "Yah.  I yike it".
He proceeded to lick the counter clean.

Also this week-
Leif was laying on the kitchen floor while I did the dishes.  All the sudden he started choking.  I instantly had a distinct thought that he'd swallowed the dime I'd seen earlier on the kitchen floor.  (Don't ask me why I had left it on the floor!)

I started pounding his back and shaking him.  He was kind of holding his throat and looking panicked.  Then he swallowed it!  We hugged other and we were both feeling pretty shaky.  I asked him if he'd swallowed that dime that was on the floor and he said yes.  We discussed that WE DO NOT EAT MONEY because it can get stuck in our throats or in our tummies.  He left a few minutes later to do something.  Very soon he came back in the kitchen and complained that his back hurt.  I thought to myself it was probably from me pounding on it too hard, but I asked him, "Why does your back hurt?".  With a sad expression on his face he replied, "Betuz I put money in my back!"

Want to hear about an amazing day?

 It started out as a small hike to a waterfall with the Hanson family before piano lessons. 


From the base of the canyon we climbed across a boulder field...........

.......and 10 minutes later we were in the cool mist of the pounding falls.  Can you spot Taylor down there?



At first, Leif didn't like all the water spraying on him but then he got over it. It was so beautiful.  I told my friend Michelle (who lives in Hawii) that it reminded me of Hawaii.  I really don't know what I'm talking about though, seeing as I've never actually seen a waterfall in Hawaii.  But this is how I imagine it would look!  Maybe. :-)

 Our whole group.  Well, 2 of Jenny's are missing from this photo.  Together we have 15 kids.  Sometimes that's hard to fathom.

Leif and his friend Hyrum discussing the view. "Jorjus, just jorjus."

Heidi, Hope and Hannah- great friends.

The walk back down to our car.......

Heidi kept finding flowers on the walk back down and putting them in my pocket. 

At the car, the kids decided the embankment looked like a gigantic sand pile and couldn't resist.

This amazing lizard was found in the sand.  I love this color of blue.


So, as we were trying to load our kids to leave, 2 guys in a Zip the Snake cart drove up and asked Jenny if our kids would like to try their new zipline course that is set up in the canyon.  When Jenny said it was too expensive he offered to do our entire group for a really good deal.  We jumped on it!


We found places for our very youngest children (thanks grandma and babysitter!) and then came back and got everyone outfitted.




  Reagan, with his identical buddies, riding the shuttle cart to the first zipline.  I think it's funny-  even though Reagan has mostly learned to tell them apart, I will hear him have to ask sometimes-- "Are you Hunter or Heath?"

There were 4 different zip lines set up. 
Here's Torsten.


Taylor and Hagen.

Hailey.

With her best friend Christina. 

Reagan.  He loved it and wasn't afraid at all.

 Yep, I did it too!  Those who know how afraid of heights I am are probably surprised.  I can be a wimp sometimes.

By this point in the day, I'd had to cancel piano lessons (apologies to our wonderful piano teacher) so we decided we might as well take a quick swim because the kids were hot. 

Can you believe this outdoor playground is only 5 minutes from Costco?  Amazing. 

What a memorable day.  It's always an adventure with Jenny and her family!

Hi there.  I fell off the blogging bandwagon for a record amount of time this time.  I'm going to try to get back on.  


So did I mentioned I moved?   Many of you probably know that by now since it happened clear back in May. :-)  Yes, we're now at CJ Strike again.  Same house and everything!  The boys helped so much with this past move.  Joel began working over here in April, which meant many of the loads were done with just the kids and I.  One time we had a flat on the trailer and the boys changed the tire in about 15 minutes and we were back on our way.  I was so proud of them. 

We ripped out the carpets and refinished the hardwood flooring upstairs, dug out sod and put a little garden in, did some electrical changes, and refinished the kitchen tabletop in the first couple of weeks of living here.  It was really busy but enjoyable and many friends helped out.  Reagan was baptized last week, Hailey has a summer babysitting job for the neighbor, the kids had a wonderful week at their 3rd year of CSI Music Fest- staying with friends in Twin Falls, we've been picking cherries and apricots for freezing and making fruit leather, swimming at the dock, making homemade ice cream, scout camp, summer piano lessons, visits to the library.  The rhythms of life can be so familiar and comforting.  Round and round.......summer, fall, winter and spring. 


Here are some pictures from our life the last 4 months.

Heidi posing in front of her human body poster she worked on this last school year. 

Along the trail to the Box Canyon Falls.  We went with the Hansons in April and had a great time. 

Jenny-- one of my best friends.  She's always up for an adventure with the kids.

 Amazing color, isn't it?

2 little blonde heads looking down into georgous water.  (it's about 3 feet deep but so crystal clear it only looks like it's a few inches deep)



Leif's first experience with raising baby chicks.  He loved to sit and watch them.

Our homeschool group had a special end of the year event.  Torsten and Hailey were in an amazing class that studied literature and history of the Civil War era.  For their class's part of the evening they performed dances from the time period decked out in their antibellum clothing.  It was so beautiful!  (Hailey is 4th from the left)

These are old pictures from February but I wanted to add them.  Leif likes to help Joel fix our cars. Leif told me he was fixing the wheel.  By the way, this is the car before Torsten's fender bender. Now the front end is a bit munched.  :-)

One day Leif decided to put everything in the toilet that was within sight.  It's hard to see, but there are toothbrushes, combs, and fingernail clippers underneath all the q-tips.

Back to slightly more recent pictures....... here are Torsten and Taylor in the stock trailer/moving trailer (a big nice one that a family in our new ward let us borrow).  The boys thought it was great fun to play their music out there.  Joel and I joked we should get a trailer as a playroom for the kids because they all loved playing in it and on it.

In the canal coming out of the CJ Strike Reservoir live some monster carp.  Hank and Hagen Hanson came and stalked them for a few days, teaching our boys a little more about fishing in the process.  This beauty weighed in over 30 lbs !

So I better get back to processing apricots......but I'll leave you with a smile to brighten your day!