Farragut

John had a rare day off last Saturday and we went on an adventure. We drove up to Farragut State Park in northern Idaho, which used to be a huge naval training base. It was SO much fun, and the first vacation-y type thing we've been able to do this summer...ok, well maybe for the last three summers :)

We got to go hiking and swimming (which Jojo was thrilled about--she absolutely loves water).We also toured the "Museum at the Brig" which was really fun since John and I are both nerds and like educational things like that. They have a disc golf course there, too, which looked pretty fun but we didn't have a frisbee, so we didn't play.

I would love to go back next summer and stay longer...I really didn't want to come home!

Here are a couple of pictures.

 

A Smurf Named Jojo

Two weeks ago I had activity days and I was ready to have a break from my hyperactive two-year-old, so I convinced John to keep her with him while he did some work with the irrigation system for our raspberries.

Apparently it all went well until he was on the last row of berries...Jojo was getting tired of running around through the plants, so she asked if she could go sit in the truck. John reminded her that there wasn't anything for her in there because they had forgotten to bring toys. She said that she still wanted to sit in the truck, so he let her.

A few minutes later when he was done with his work, he went to get in the truck and this is what he found (apparently John couldn't figure out how to adjust the focus, so the pictures are kind of blurry):

 

In case you weren't sure--that's blue roofing chalk. I had a hard time restraining myself from laughing when I got home and saw it. John, however, was not amused. Needless to say, she went to bed early that night.

Election Day!

Wait just a minute while I get up on my soapbox...

Today was Washington's primary election, although a lot of people probably voted before today since Washington state does all absentee ballots now. The other day John and I heard a startling statistic on the radio--only sixteen percent of registered voters had cast their ballots. Sixteen! That is crazy! And that is a percentage of registered voters--many people who are eligible haven't even taken the time to register to vote. This drives me a little crazy.

Voting is not hard.

It is not only our right, it is our responsibility.

When we voluntarily abdicate our civic duty to participate in the political process (through informed voting) we also begin to abdicate the freedoms, rights, and privileges we enjoy here and we dishonor the men and women who have dedicated their lives--who have fought and died--to establish and maintain those rights and freedoms.

Voting is a privilege and a duty. It isn't that difficult. Do you have to take the five minutes (if that) to register? Yes. Do you have to do a little investigating and try and figure out who's running and what they stand for? Yes, if you want to be an informed voter...if you just randomly fill in circles or vote party lines with no thought, it might be better if you didn't vote. But overall, it doesn't take that much time or that much effort to really participate and to get in your two cents worth. So do it, and be grateful you can.

Three Cheers for Procrastination!

Drumroll please........ I finally finished our wedding album!!! It only took three and a half years, so it actually has pictures from our wedding, reception, honeymoon, and our first three anniversaries :) I still haven't started an album for Jojo or Lucy...maybe in another three years.

Raspberries

Our raspberries are up and growing really well. I took some pictures of them to share because I am very excited about it!

If You're a Dork and You Know it...

This video is from March, but I really wanted to post it because it is super funny. Jojo loves to sing and her nursery leaders taught her "If you're happy and you know it" at church one Sunday. We were bored, so John decided that we should sing a new version...

A Garden, Chickens, and Silly Girls

I haven't posted anything in...well...a long time. I've been meaning to for a while now, but life has been so hectic:

John's mom broke her leg a couple of weeks ago, we've been doing some work with our local community center to benefit the youth of our town, I got a calling as activity days leader in our ward, we're in the middle of remodeling our garage, our raspberries are planted (yippee!), but the water is still not connected to our parcel (not so yippee), and I've been chasing around the two cutest little sqidgets in the world.

Anyway, I am finally posting pictures of some of our summer activities for you to enjoy.

Our garden is planted and growing...except the zucchini, which never did sprout. I can tell you--I sure felt like a total gardening failure since everyone talks about how easy zucchini is to grow. But I guess someone has to be willing to take everyone else's overabundance of zucchini; that's going to be me this year.

Our chickens are laying! We bought eight (supposed) pullets in February and after a couple of months found out one was a rooster. A few weeks ago one chicken flew over our fence and we are pretty sure she got eaten by a raccoon...little Doris now sleeps with the fishes [that is from Disney's Meet the Robinsons, in case you didn't know...I named her Doris posthumously just because of that]. So we now have six laying hens (Gloria, Lulu, Bernice, Gertrude, Hilda, and Mosie), which means we average about 3 eggs per day. They are starting to pile up a little since we don't eat that many eggs.

We have been having very warm weather lately and Jojo is loving it. She loves to play outside, especially in her little pool. The lady who does storytime at the library taught her how to "paint" with water and she has insisted on "painting" our fence every day since. She loves to dress herself, too and she comes up with some pretty imaginative combinations...we're still working on the smile.

Lucy is growing like a weed--and the weeds in our garden seem to grow faster than I can pull them out. She is a little over 20 lbs and, according to the nurse, "well above" the top of the growth charts. She loves to roll around and talk to us...and drool; there is a lot of drooling. She is finally getting interested in solids...sort of. I keep trying because I am ready to stop nursing so much (no surprise--she eats a lot). My patience is improving, at least that's what I tell myself.

John has been busy with work and a variety of projects. Next week hay season will be more active and he will be gone a lot of the time until work slows down again in the fall. Not so fun, but the girls and I will have lots of time to play and do crafty things.

As for me, I've been dabbling in a few of my areas of interest, although I can still only play a few hesitant chords on the guitar and I'm still perfecting my crusting buttercream recipe (I can only make so many cakes before my family gets tired of them).

One of my favorite things lately has been reading the Doctrines of Salvation volumes by Joseph Fielding Smith (compiled by Bruce R. McConkie). They are AMAZING! I have learned a lot and gained a greater testimony of the truth of the gospel. You should read them; they are great.

I will try to post again in a while (notice the vague terms and illusory promise there) :)

Pictures of Our Latest Adventures

Jojo is a great big sister. She loves to hold Lucy and tries to help her all the time...sometimes she loves her TOO much, but we're working on that :)

In February, we got eight baby chicks. They are getting so big. Jojo loves to watch them run around. Right now they are living in our garage with their heat lamp. Once it warms up, they will be big enough to live in the coop that we built for them.

Jojo got her very first haircut last week. I felt so bad cutting it since it took so long for it to grow, but she can see a lot better now without her hair always in her face :)

Jojo got a Mrs. Potato head for her birthday, to go along with her Mr. Potato Head. She enjoys wearing their accessories on herself.

Jojo's birthday was last month and she had a ball opening her presents.

Update

Well...it's been a long time since I've written on here. So much has happened in the last few months...in February we found out we were expecting again, but in April we lost the baby and I had to have a D&C the day before we were supposed to move from Rexburg back to Washington.

John's parents were able to come down to Rexburg to help us move, which was a great blessing, and we lived with them for about two months until we were able to close on a house of our own in June. We have been busy remodeling our little place and we love it!

A few weeks after we moved into our new home, I was able to finish my last semester of school online and I graduated in July. Yay! It is such a relief to be done with school and focus on other things for a while.

In June we found out we were expecting again and so far, everything is going well. In a few weeks we will have our 20 week ultrasound to find out the gender of the baby and then we will be heading down to Rexburg for John to complete one more semester of school.

Life is busy...but great!

This semester has brought a lot of changes in our lives. With both John and I in school full-time and working part-time, as well as getting ready to move in a couple of months (and with Jojo to take care of), it seems like there aren't enough minutes in the day to get everything done. It helps that I really enjoy my classes and like my co-workers (it would be even harder to get up at 3 AM if I didn't!). I am most excited to be learning about nutrition and about maternal & pediatric nursing this semester and John is enjoying his welding lab. However, I am counting down the days until July, when I (hopefully) will finally be a college graduate--and December, when John will graduate. Even with all of the stresses that come along with balancing school, work and family, I wouldn't have it any other way.

P.S. I haven't had much time to keep in contact with everyone, so I hope you are all doing well and enjoying life!

P.P.S. I would put up more pictures, but we left our camera at my parent's house over Christmas and I haven't had a chance to get it back yet.