Yellowstone

For Ben's birthday we like to do little family day trips. So this year we went to Yellowstone. The girls handled it really well and we had lots of fun.

At the mud pots.

Jenna insisted on walking all those boards walks on her own. Which was fine with me because it didn't take long before she was worn out.

We were lucky to see this bad boy on the side of the road. Beautiful antlers still in the velvet. Ben made me get out of the car with all the other crazy people to get pictures of him. 

These two little bulls were fun to watch. There was a flock of geese that they were chasing on the bank. When the geese ran into the water the bulls got in too and still chased them around. It was really funny.

We also saw several herds of buffalo with their calves, a coyote, two bald eagles and a grizzly with her two cubs. It was a great day and that bull elk made Ben's day :o)

A Day with Daddy

Ben is a hunter. He loves to hunt. He once told me that hunting to him is like Christmas to kids. So between classes and work he tries to practice with his bow so he can get that monster buck or whatever he is hunting in the fall. So with all that where does he fit in his girls? Well I'll tell ya, he takes them along.  The archery range that Ben shoots at has a little trail that you follow and along the trail are different targets that you can shoot at. Ben with his bow and Katelyn with her toy gun we headed up the trail. Jenna just kinda did her own thing but Katelyn kept in time with Ben's foot steps, she aimed at every target and killed each animal before Ben had a chance to shoot. She absolutely loved it, and quit often asks when were are going to go "hunting" again. 

I love Katelyn's pose. You can't really see it but she has one foot in front and one in the back.

Jenna pet all the animals and she would talk softly to them. Really cute

This is only the Antelope but Katelyn would show us where she shot all the animals. 

It was a really fun day and it sure is sweet watch my little girls with their daddy. 

Melaleuca Zoo Day

One thing I like about Melaleuca is their family summer activities.  Every June we get to attended Melaleuca Zoo Day. Ben has kind of out grown the zoo, at least the Idaho Falls  Zoo so it started out with just the girls and I. A miracle happened in our behalf and after aimlessly driving around looking for a parking spot we some how ended up parking behind Alissa and Matt, so we went through the zoo with them. In the zoo we ran into Abe and Kayla. More like Brunson Zoo Day lol. This year however, it ended up being on the same day the zoo does Bear at the Zoo so kids got to see Smokey the Bear and do some bear crafts. 

Jenna with her Smokey the Bear Ranger Hat. 

Believe it or not Katelyn's bear magnet cost me a dollar,  usually the crafts at the zoo are free, but its okay, she had fun. Her cousin Piper did one with her.  Katelyn's bear magnet hangs beautifully on our fridge. 

Six Year Anniversary Surprise

June 12th was Ben and I's 6th year anniversary. Ben got me these beautiful roses, and these were not just regular roses, they were the biggest roses I have ever seen.  It was also quit the surprise because Ben doesn't believe in giving flowers. Hmm... I love him so much!

They may not look that big in the picture but the flowers were as big as a saucer. I can't remember what Ben say the florist called them.

Jenna was always climbing up the table to smell them :o)

First Marshmallow Roasting of 2010

One of our favorite things to do in the Summer time is roast marshmallows over a smoldering fire and make ourselves some S'Mores. Well it's that time of the year when the Brunson's trim up their apple trees and then burn the branches. Grandpa had Katelyn fetch some marshmallows from Grandma while he rounded up the graham crackers and the candy bars. It was a fun night and Katelyn offered us plenty of opportunities for a good laugh. 

This is Jenna's attempt to eat the marshmallow off the roasting stick. She never succeeded but it was quit funny to watch.

Katelyn was under the impression that all she had to do to roast her marshmallow was to stick the marshmallow on the stick, hold it to the fire while sitting in her charm about 5 or so feet away from the fire, wait a few seconds and ta da, she'd have a roasted marshmallow. Obviously it didn't work,  so her Uncle Michael was kind enough to teach her how to do it the right way.

Memorial Weekend

I know I'm so slow at posting events but I figured I'd hurry an do our memorial weekend while I'm thinking about it. On Friday the girls and I had a inside BBQ with my family, Ben had to work. The food was great and we had a blast playing charades. A lot of fun and laughter :o) After the dinner the girls and I took a plate over to Ben because we felt bad that he couldn't have joined us. 

 

On Saturday Ben was swamped with homework so the girls and I did a little shopping until Ben was done. At 4:50 pm we went as a family to the cheap theatre to see How to Train Your Dragon. We were accompanied by our neighbors and a family friend who got left alone by his wife for the weekend. Things were going great until we got to the counter to purchase our movie tickets, there we learned that their machines weren't working and they could only take cash. Naturally no cash was among us so I took the girls to the back of the line while Ben ran down the block to the ATM machine. When we finally got into the movie it was jam packed so we ended up in the back. From the get go Katelyn was mesmerized with the movie, Jenna on the other hand was miss wiggles and the only time she held still was when the dragon Toothless was interacting with the boy Hiccup. Then Jenna would start pointing at the screen and would continually call out "puppy". 

Sunday we went to church with the plans to go visit family afterwards but when we got home we learned that they would be visiting graves al day. So Ben and I took the girls for a walk, Katelyn complained all the way up the hill and then cried all the way back down, I think she was a bit tired. After the walk we had FHE, I had the lesson and let me just say I LOVE The Friend, it gives the perfect little lessons for the girls. 

Monday, Ben and I were up bright and early to get ready to go fishing with the girls. However, Ben's dad called and said that his pheasant eggs were hatching and asked if the girls could come spend the day with him. The tired little girls were up by 5:30 am because we were to meet Ben's Grandpa Brunson at 6:30 am with the boat. Unfortunately  Grandpa's truck battery was dead so Ben and I took the girls to McDonalds for some breakfast, then we picked up Isaac and went to the Brunson's. If I remember right Ben's Grandpa didn't get to us till 8:30 so we didn't get to the lake until 10:00. It has been a long time since I have been in a boat so at first I was a bit uneasy and just sure were were gonna sink lol. After awhile though I was fine and was able to enjoy the scenery. We fished for about four hours with lots of wind and a threat of rain and not one bit, needless to say we got skunked. By the time we got home Ben and I were dead tired and had some burnt faces. Katelyn and Jenna on the other hand had some fun with Grandpa. Katelyn told me she planted flowers, planted her pumpkin in a tire and mowed the lawn with Grandpa. She had so much fun she asked me if she could spend the day with Grandpa everyday :o) Jenna I was told was all over the place but she did follow Grandpa around. 

Well that be our memorial weekend, not a whole lot but it was fun.

        Pelicans at Island Park 

Bring on the Picnics

Every spring and summer our family loves to go on picnics. Katelyn has  a Tinkerbell lunchbox and Jenna has a princess one. Since we like to take the first opportunity the weather gives us of a nice day we end up going to the parks that are close because we know those are rid of the snow. So the first two pictures are from out very first picnic of 2010 at Beaver Dick Park.

These two pictures are from our trip to the zoo with my brother and his family. It was a nice day except for the cool breeze which gave everyone goosebumps. We went on Earth Day so the zoo had little booths set up for the kids to learn about the animals and do crafts. Afterwards we had a picnic at the park.

This is the booth about the bears. Katelyn got a bear paw stamp and a postcard showing the difference between a brown bear and a grizzley bear.