Monday, June 6, 2011

Hiking on Moscow Mountain

 James has been working a lot of overtime lately, but was miraculously able to have the Saturday before Memorial Day off.  Normally he has every Saturday off, but these last couple of months have been really, really busy. 

So we took advantage of our time together and went up to Moscow Mountain to do some walking around and have a little picnic.  It was beautiful!

We walked in a mile or two, then ate our lunch.  After lunch we were planning to go back along the same road.  It's a logging road that is only open to logging trucks, but you can walk and bike on it all you want.  But the kids discovered this little stream and just kept following it so we just kept following them.


 They had so much fun watching all the little waterfalls and seeing where the stream would take us.  They were having such a good time that they forgot to fight with each other.  It was amazing!  They were happy and helping each other.  They didn't want anyone to miss anything.  And it didn't seem like anything could bother them.  They all got their feet wet, sometimes on purpose and sometimes not.  But they didn't mind at all. 
The blur at the top of the picture on the right is Naomi jumping over the stream.


 We followed the stream for probably a mile, until it came to another road and we  stopped to take a little break.  The kids were starting to feel a little tired and unsure about the hike back to the van.  So Daddy broke out some candy.  Pretty soon everyone was ready to go again! 


We followed the new road back to the main road and were able to see some wonderful views.



It was so nice to be together as a family and not have any worries or stress.  It was just what we needed!
        

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Annie is 9

Annie is NINE years old now! 



12 things we love about Annie at age 9:

1.  She writes lots and lots of poems.
2.  Annie has a unique way of jumping up as high as she can.  When her class plays Simon Says they often say, "Simon Says, do an Annie Jump!"
3.  She loves her long hair.
4.  She is an awesome reader and loves reading about magical places and characters.  Some of her favorite books are the Secrets of Droon series, The Sisters Grimm series, and The Princess Academy.
5.  Annie decorated her own cake!  I made most of the flowers out of Starburst candies and Stephen drew the pictures of fairies for her, but she put everything on the cake and did a wonderful job!



6.   Annie is getting really good at making chocolate chip cookies.
7.  She takes such good care of Naomi and Ellen at bedtime.  She tells them stories and sings songs.  They love it!
8.  She really likes walking around in the woods and loves to explore.
9.  She is not easily persuaded by what others think she should do.  She knows what she wants to do and is not likely to change her mind.
10.  Annie loves big hugs!
11.   She is really enjoying playing the piano and is doing a great job!


12.  She still has a great imagination and is always using it!

We love you so much, Annie, and are so thankful that Heavenly Father sent you to our family!