Hiking Chinese Peak

We have been trying to do a tradition of doing a big hike the day after school gets out. Unfortunately, it was really rainy on Friday so we had the children do their electronics day instead. Saturday was nice though, so we did our hike then.

The hike we chose was Chinese Peak. We had done this hike before, but went an easier route that was only about 1.5 miles each way. The way we went this time was 5 miles each way. We started our hike at about 10 am. There was a short uphill part to begin with before we could get a good look at the rest of the hike. When we did get to the top of that little up hill, we looked at the trail and Rebecca and I decided we should probably only go about half way - the path just looked too step and too long for us to do in one day. But as we got going we decided we might as well push through to the end. There were two pretty big uphill climbs mid-way through the hike. For the first one we had to really push the children to get to the top. On that first one we ended up hiking for five minutes and then taking a five minute break. Then five more on and five more off. Then one more time five on and five off before we got to the top. I thought that was going to be the hardest part, but then we got a clear view of the second peak. It looked almost straight up and I didn't know how we were going to motivate the kids on that one. But somehow they got ahead of us and Rebecca and I were just talking and then we looked up and saw that they were at the top of it already. Once we made it to the top of that one is was just about 30 minutes more on the ridge of a moderate uphill climb.




This is on top of the first peek. You can see the second peak right behind us, and then the summit is in the upper right corner.


You can't really tell from these pictures but some of the paths were very steep.

At the top! Julia laid down on the trail like she was dead when we first got up.







On the way back down.



At the top we took a break for about 30 minutes and ate lunch. Then went back down. As we were going down those steep parts I was just really shocked at how steep they were and I couldn't believe that we had all done it. Overall, it was a really beautiful hike and except for a little complaining here and there (mainly by Julia who has decided she does not like hikes very much), the children did a great job. We did it all in about five hours and when we were done everyone was sore and worn out.

We are hoping to do a lot more hiking though throughout the summer.

Electronics Day

The day after the last day of school we had an electronics day. We did this as a reward for how well they all did with reading books throughout the year. Their school does the AR book program where they take quizzes on the books that they read and then get prizes. Julia and Ethan both got enough points for the grand prize, lunch with the principal. Julia is a reading manic and she easily got 200 more points than was necessary. Ethan, on the other hand, had to really work hard to make the goal. He loves to read, he just likes to read some of the same books over and over again and you can only get points once for a book. Julia's favorite books are probably the Little House on the Prairie books, Anne of Green Gables books, and the Candy Makers series. Ethan's favorites were Big Nate, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Percy Jackson series. I think their favorite combined series this year was Michael Vey. Christian did great with his reading too, but they don't really do the points yet for his grade. He liked the Magic Treehouse books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Timewarp Trio books. He also has become our scripture reader for nightly devotionals. I used to be the one who read, but he was so insistent on asking every night that now he is just the one who reads it all.

So, for our electronics day they had from breakfast to dinner to play whatever games they wanted on the computer. They had a blast, but I think they also got bored with the games by the end of the day; which was something Rebecca and I had been hoping for.

Last Day of School

I got to go with Ethan on his Last Day of School Field Trip. They did the same events that Julia did last year.

First was roller skating. Ethan and I had a blast. I think I know more of the children Ethan's age in his school than I did Julia's last year. So I was able to play the skating games with lots of them.









After skating we went to the park for a picnic lunch. The students all ate their lunches quick so they could play. Ethan and his friends played 500. It was fun to see them play the same games that I played when I was in elementary school. I got to throw first.



Then off to the bowling alley. We got a game and a half in. Ethan was happy with his 95 score in the first game. And then he was super excited in the second game when he got a strike.







We had a great year of school. Julia, Ethan, and Christian all liked their teachers and I can tell that they did learn and grow during the year. Sometimes I wish the school had more resources to do things like art, music, and P.E., but I think they do a good job with the resources that they do have.

Miscellaneous Activities

Just a few things that we have been up to around the house for the past couple of weeks.

On one Saturday we went up to ISU for some of the campus activities. The museum was having some dinosaur activities. The children got to make their own fossils, look for others, and just learn a little about dinosaurs.



The main thing we went to campus for was to see the fiddle competition. It was an all day event. We got to watch some of the children play and then the competitive adult portion. There was one guy who played who had won the National Title twice. It was really fun to hear.



Julia has been sewing a lot. Here she is working on a doll dress. She is getting better and better and she seems to love doing it.


Agnes told us all afternoon she was not tired for a nap up until she fell asleep on the floor next to Asher. At first she was sleeping sitting on the counter after she started helping Rebecca cook. Rebecca hopped her down and suggested she go lay on the couch. Instead she just fell asleep there.



Ethan finally got his fidget spinner in the mail. I can't believe how popular those things are. I was thinking it was weird that these toys are such a fad, but then I remembered tickle me Elmo, Furbies, and beanie babies. I guess these are just the latest thing. I wish I could invent the next toy fad though. I read that since Feb 2017 when the spinners were introduced it's already become a $500,000,000 business.

Fun Run

Each year the children have a fun run at their school. The week leading up to the run is a health week. They focus on health things in their classroom and have exercise goals where the get prizes if they complete them. The day of the fun run they get to spend half the day outdoors. There are several stations that they rotate through, including potato sack and three leg races, tug of war, tag games, and t-shirt making. Also of course is the fun run. For the run they do 1 mile, which is 7 times around the track.


Julia in the potato sack race.


Ethan doing the tug of war. His group beat the other team two times, then teachers joined the other side for two more times and they still beat them, then a few more teachers joined the other team and finally they lost.


Julia and her friend Grace. Grace was one of Julia's best friends this year. Unfortunately she will be moving to Boise this summer. They have been trying to spend extra time together the past few weeks know that is coming up.


Christian's grade went first. Elliott did a couple laps with him and I ran his final lap. This group was funny because I don't think any of them did all 7 laps. They would lose count midway through and I think most kids only did 5 or 6 times around. When Christian ran by on his 4th, he hollered to us that he was on his seventh. We convinced him to do at least one more.


Waiting for Christian's race.


Christian running past (not the high five guy)! Christian was pretty funny when he would run by us - he would speed up, not look at us, and just run by smiling, but really trying to show us how fast he was going.

Ethan was next. I ended up doing the whole thing with him. Then was Julia's group and I had fun running with her as well.  It was perfect weather for the run - 60s and overcast.

The hardest part for me and Rebecca though was walking home. Those two miles uphill with the stroller were pretty tiring.

Mother's Day

We love celebrating Mother's Day in our house, but it seems like we can never do enough to show Rebecca how much she really means to us.

This year, I tried to do a few house projects for her mother's day gift. The first was putting up more blinds for our windows. We now have blinds in our bedroom and the two rooms that we typically use for guests. The second was some garden boxes. We finished making the boxes, but we still have to add good dirt to them, put in the watering system, and add the rocks around them. Here is a picture of our progress on that one.



I know that both of those gifts are really for our whole family, so I am not sure if they actually count as presents for her. She had really been wanting both though. Maybe one day when we are rich and the children are out of the home I will be able to get her all of the diamonds, pearls, and chocolates that she deserves.

The children also had cards to share and we also worked on making her a video. Unfortunately, I didn't realize the video editing software I was using was only a trial version, so the transitions are all funny on this and the company's name is on parts of it, but here it is anyway.



Rebecca's big meal today was an egg plant pizza (we also had a couple of cheese ones for those who did not want the egg plant) and a chocolate mousse torte. Both were delicious!

This weekend we also got to skype/call our mothers and express our appreciation to them. We have truly been blessed for the things that they have taught and continue to teach us and for the examples that they have set for us. I really like a quote by President Nelson. He said "The highest and noblest work in this life is that of mother."

Ethan's Birthday

Ethan turned 9 last Sunday. Since it was a Fast Sunday, he wanted to wait to celebrate his birthday until this weekend. We did a friend birthday party yesterday and then all of the family celebrations today.

For his friend party he decided on a basketball theme. He was having troubling narrowing down his guests and he ended up inviting 14 of his friends and all of them ended up coming. We started off just shooting around on our hoop while his friends arrived. Then we played a game kind of like sharks and minnows, except with dribbling a ball across the court. Next we played a shooting relay game. Then we tried to split up into teams and play a tournament of games. But five-on-five on our court was just too crowded and they all ended up swarming whoever had the ball anyway. And the teams that were off just went crazy with all 10 of them on the trampoline at once. So we switched it to play a game where they listen for their number and then run after the ball. We did a couple of other short games after that, then presents and desert. Ethan ended up with 5 different guns (3 Nerf guns, one supersoaker, and one dart crossbow) as well as a bunch of other cool presents. I think the most used one so far has been a whoopee cushion.







Today we started off with early morning basketball. Ethan, Christian, and Elliott came to watch me play at the church. At least 20 people showed up, so we left after I played the first game. For breakfast Ethan picked cereal (coco-puffs and fruit loops) and bacon. Then we opened presents. All of the kids were very kind and thoughtful in what they gave him. That is probably my favorite part of celebrating birthdays, see what the children give each other. We played some Nerf gun wars for the rest of the morning. For lunch Ethan picked sandwiches. Some people did peanut butter and jelly, others did Nutella, there were also peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches, and Rebecca and I did egg salad ones. In the afternoon we went outside and played a few games of capture the flag. For dinner Ethan picked chicken nuggets and fries and then ice-cream cones for his birthday dessert. We ended the night with Spongebob.



Overall I think Ethan had a great birthday. We are so glad that he is part of our family. He sets a great example for all of us.





Although it has been really nice out for the past couple of weeks (70s+), today, out of nowhere, it started snowing. I tried to get it in these pictures, but it is still hard to tell.

Idaho Falls Temple Open House

On Tuesday, as a family, we went to the Idaho Falls temple open house. The Idaho Falls temple is currently our closest temple, about 45 minutes away. However, ever since we moved here, it has been closed for remodeling. So we have been traveling up to the Rexburg temple (about 1 hour and 20 minutes away) once or twice a month. It has been fun to go to the Rexburg temple for the past year and a half (fun to visit BYU-Idaho and that temple is beautiful), but that temple was always packed and we would have to plan a whole day trip when we would go.

Just last month they finished with the remodel for the Idaho Falls temple. For the next few weeks they will have it open for tours for the public. Then in early June they will have a cultural celebration here in Pocatello. And then they will rededicate the temple and it will be operating again.

We were excited to be able to bring our children to the open house so they could actually go inside the temple. They seemed to be super excited too. We parked at a nearby church and then got shuttled over to the temple grounds. Then we watched a short video about the purpose of temples. It was really good. I couldn't find it online, but here is a similar one: https://www.lds.org/church/temples/blessings-of-the-temple-video?lang=eng

Also, here you can find more information about temples and see some pictures inside them: https://www.lds.org/church/temples/why-we-build-temples?lang=eng

After the video we got to walk through. It was very unique on the inside. There was some very old artwork, but then very modern features for the lighting and doorways and everything. It was pretty cool and I was excited for our children to get to see it all.



Afterward we hit McDonald's on the way home as a special treat for the children.