She's Thirteen!!

My Shelby turned 13 on Sunday. We were in Stanley camping but I think she had a pretty great day. She started out with crepes with strawberries and banana's. She couldn't have breakfast in bed because her bed is the table. She went bike riding with Grandma and canoeing in Redfish lake with the beautiful Sawtooth mountains behind her. We went fishing and ended the day with a chocolate chip cheesecake and homemade ice cream. She said it was a perfect day!!

10 Things I love about Shelby

1. Her silky soft skin

2. Her grace

3. Her love of babies and little kids

4. Her love of the scriptures

5. Her desire to do her very best in everything she tries

6. Her kindness to her sister

7. She loves girly things

8. When fishing, she will put a worm on a hook with perfectly painted nails and dangly earrings.

9. She is a great friend and looks out for those that might be shy or feel left out

10. That she is mine forever

Redfish

Christopher's stick pole
Kyle unhooking Ren's fish

One of Rachels many catches
Kyle and Sean ready for our hike

Some of the fishing kids

Our delicious dutch oven dinner

Games for hours

Memorial Day is a perfect weekend to camping in Stanley. Our family loves it there in May. No crowds, beautiful snow-covered Sawtooth mountains and great fishing. This year was no exception. We went with Brian and Lori, Jon and Rachel, Mom and Dad, and this year the Jensen's came with us. It was coldddd at night but we were prepared for cold. It rained some on Sunday but we were prepared for rain. We went fishing and found a most amazing fishing hole on the Yankee fork of the Salmon river. We shared fishing poles with all the kids and Christopher just used a stick with some line and a hook. We were catching fish by the dozens. We let most go if we could, but came home with a few who swallowed the hooks. Rachel is new to fishing and she caught fish after fish. I hope she doesn't think fishing is always like that! We rode bikes, canoed, ate great food, and played games. On Sunday, we had a testimony meeting. It is great to hear cousins, Aunts and Uncles, and Grandparents share their testimony. I love to be able to make these memories with my family and I love living in such a beautiful place.

Ummmm......How did this happen?

So, I guess we are chicken farmers. Michael and I were talking about food storage and I was complaining about powdered eggs. He said the way to solve the problem was by getting a few laying hens. I went to D&B and after waiting for two hours, (chickens are very popular right now), I told Michael to just stop by the Nampa store. He said why not just go to the hatchery. Why didn't I think of that? Ten minutes later he walked out with some chickens. I just wanted a couple.I had Michael get some extra to cover any tragic deaths. However, standing with 50 people waiting for chickens for two hours, you learn some things. I learned what a pullet was. I learned how to feed and take care of your chickens. Some guy also told me that chickens have a high mortality rate. Not so. Or maybe it's just that we take such good care of them, they wouldn't dare die. Needless to say, we have more than I want. I wanted to send some to Parma to live on a little farm. However, now the sweet things are named and loved by a certain cute 10 year old. Emily takes very good care of them. Michael built a great chicken coop complete with a sliding door and functioning widows. I'm sure in about 2 months I will be grateful for the eggs, but there is no way we are going to be able to use all of them. Anyone want some nice fresh brown eggs??!!

Mothers Day

Phoebe and Kyle
Christopher

Blake, Abby, Emily

The Ladies

Erica and Keegan

Keegan, Shelby, Allie

Fat man Sean and Jon

Miles

Ultimate frisbee

Every year for as long as I can remember, our family has gone camping at Hells Canyon on Mother's Day. It is a tradition. This year my mom decided it was time for a change and we went to Three Island Crossing. When I told my kids, it was non stop complaining. They are into traditions. They did not like the idea of messing with a great one. But after all was said and done,

they agreed that Three Island Crossing is not so bad of a place. I liked it because it is so much closer, we could get reservations, and it is fairly close to a store. The campground is nice and there is lots of grass and nice showers. It is a family affair with lots of cousins and ultimate frisbee, great food, and good times had by all. I missed Hells Canyon but we will go in the fall. I had a very nice Mothers Day. My kids and husband spoiled me. I love being a mom and I love my mom so much. I come from a long line of great moms. Lucky me!

Lightning

Ok Ok. I admit I have done some not so bright things. A couple of years ago, we were going on a road trip and I plugged in the portable dvd player for our kids. Somehow, I wasn't paying attention and I was just talking away and playing with the power cord. Well, I stuck the cord in my mouth and gave myself a very wonderful shock. My family enjoyed a big laugh. Fast forward to last night. We have been doing some remodeling around our house. Emily wanted help by putting outlet covers on some of the outlets. I gave her a screwdriver and told her to please be careful and not to stick the screwdriver in the outlet. She gave me a scathing, incredulous look and said, "I'm not the one who puts power cords in their mouth!!!!" Nice.