Take me away...

For the past 5 years or so I have been able to attend a scrapbook retreat for conference weekend. Every year I look forward to it! I get time to focus on preserving my family's history while listening to the servants of God, and enjoying times with dear friends.

for the second year in a row, we attended a great retreat in Colorado Springs, at My Scrapbook Retreat. It was a special treat to have one of my dearest friends, Malinda even come all the way from Idaho to go with us. We had a great weekend and I got Cooper's baby scrapbook almost all finished. I am already looking forward to next year.

Jog-a-thon 2011

Every year as the school's fundraiser the kids get to participate in the Jog-a-thon. The students (and some teachers) did their best running laps and collecting pledges to donate to the school. Peyton was super excited to get to run in it this year now that she is in Kindergarten. And of course, Cooper loved cheering his older sisters and brother on. And eating a popsicle afterward. :)

Thanks to all our family who donated!

Morgan is 10!

Blink. And my first baby is 10 years old. It happened so fast!

We kept Morgan's birthday pretty low-key; pizza, cake, wii games, and a movie. She had about 10 friends over and then a few of the girls were able to spend the night. I enjoyed watching her be around her friends and, as a parent, I am glad she has made some good choices as far as friends.

As Morgan turns 10...
Her best friends are: Kendall, Tiffany, Hunter, and Zach.
She loves playing four square, volleyball, and basketball.
She participates in choir, Mesa, and GT at school.
She thinks Activity Days at church is pretty fun.
She gets really good grades.
She is addicted to computer and video games.
She is a great big sister, especially to Cooper.
She has a developing sense of humor and has tons of personality.

We love her and is so grateful she is in our family! Happy 10th birthday, Morgan!

Cooper is 2!

How quickly the time flies! My baby is growing up before my eyes! Cooper has LOADS of personality and is learning so fast. He talks up a storm and it amazes me how quickly he learns new words.

I have never seen a two-year old with such a sense humor. His latest joke is "I three." Then when we say, "wait a minute, you're not three!" He responds, "I two! Ha ha ha ha!" He made this up himself and it is his favorite go to joke lately. He loves jumping on the trampoline, playing with his cars and trucks, and singing "I am a Child of God" (aka "Gog"), "Twinkle, Twinkle" (aka "Quinkle, Quinkle"), and Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam (aka "Jesus").




We celebrated his birthday by having the Hansens and the Adamsons over for cake and games. We all had a really fun night together. Cooper is absolutely adored by just about everyone he meets. He is an absolute joy to have in our family and we love him so much!



Happy birthday buddy! It's great to be TWO!

Camping with friends

I am not really much of a camper anymore. I loved it growing up, but now that I am a mom I find that I don't sleep very well and I am always worried if the kids are warm enough (because I always seem to be cold). Ken is very glad that I still like like to go when good friends invite us. Camping with friends is the only way to go!

We loaded up the family and all our gear and headed up to Granby Lake the weekend after school started. The kids had a fantastic time playing with friends. They built awesome forts, loved building the fire, and eating s'mores. The adults enjoyed late nights talking around the campfire, playing horseshoes, and walks by the lake.

On Saturday, we took a short hike to Adams Falls. There was a series of beautiful waterfalls and the kids loved playing in the river. It was fun having a campsite so near the lake! We were lucky to get everything packed up and in the car just before the rain started to fall, as the lightening crackled overhead. It was a beautiful weekend and I loved the drive to and from the campsite as much as camping itself. Colorado is so beautiful and I am grateful for friends that make me go out and enjoy the beauty. :)

About to hike up to Adams Falls.

Love Calli's face in this one! She's not so sure about the canoeing.

First Day of School

Toward the end of summer, around the time we start getting the school supplies for the year, my kids start itching to go back to school. We are pretty lucky that all of our kids enjoy school. Peyton was even more excited because she was starting kindergarten!

We attended back to school night and met all the kids teachers --they have great teachers this year! Ms. Ingraham was Morgan's 3rd grade teacher (and her favorite teacher during elementary school) and was thrilled to have her again for 5th grade. Trevor has a new teacher named Ms. Doughty and knew Trevor enough to give him the tallest desk in the classroom. :) Peyton's teacher, Mrs. Dreitz, was so nice when we walked in and said she was excited to teached one of the Siders' kids. That sure made us feel welcome!

The first day arrived with much anticipation. The kids were up and ready and couldn't wait to get out of the door. I'm sure glad they love to learn and love going BACK TO SCHOOL!

"The Cabin"

You know those friends, that over laughter and tears, inside jokes, and time spent together, that have become family. We are richly blessed to have some of those in our life and every summer we meet up together in Montana at the DeBry family cabin just outside of Yellowstone. We have been going since before Morgan can even remember. In our family, we simply refer to it as "the cabin."

Each year the group picture has expanded, but there are wonderful activities that we look forward to. Ken looks forward to hiking, fishing, canoeing, shooting, horseback riding, and time with the guys. I look forward to reading a book curled up on the most comfortable couch EVER (and some of that other stuff too). The kids play with their friends and we play with ours. We talk and laugh late into the night. We are totally off the grid; no phone or internet. From those large picture windows we see a bit of heaven on earth and are surrounded by some of those we love most.

It is a tradition that we love and are so grateful that Mark and Malinda invite us year after year. Here is some of the picture highlights from "The Cabin -- 2011."

Lunch with the ladies at the Beartooth Cafe.

The hike up to Woody Falls.

The summit of Sheep Mountain with Pilot and Index behind.

Morgan's pinewood derby

It seems that the Activity Days girls wanted to get in on the fun of a pinewood derby. Morgan and Ken attended the "Robert Wagner school of Derby Cars" one Saturday and got Morgan's car ready. I think Ken was possibly more excited than Morgan and really looked forward to working on her car with her.

The big day came and everyone there had a good time! There were some amazing cars that the girls (and their dads) had worked so hard on. Overall, Morgan's car came in second place and she was thrilled with that. All the kids loved cheering Morgan and her car on. It was a great activity! Ken is already counting down to Trevor being in cubscouts so he can do it again. :) Way to go Morgan!!!

Mountain Man...

Ken has always had a love of hiking and in the past couple of years he has been working on "conquering" mountains, especially fourteeners (mountains over 14,000 feet). This summer he has had the opportunity to take several hikes. In July he, with his friend, Jeff Love, decided to conquer Grays peak and Torreys Peak. I am hoping that I will get him to be a guest blogger to share his adventures soon. Until then, I hope these pictures suffice.