Our FROZEN Halloween

This year the girls wanted to do FROZEN characters for Halloween, of course. Anna and Elsa were by far the most popular costumes in 2014... but they weren't accompanied by Olaf and Sven! These 4 were a hit at every party. Especially Olaf. Don't let Scarlett's scowl fool you - she loved it.

Whenever I see this I want to sing "Reindeers are better than people.."

 

 Off to do their trick-or-treating! They were out for less than an hour and came home with their bags full. Success!

Fall Fun

It has been a glorious fall. I remember having snow this time last year, and having bitterly cold winds. But this year fall is full of beautiful colors, sunshine, and temperatures still up in the 60s and 70s. We have made the most of it.

 

We made use of our annual zoo membership and went with a few church friends to the zoo. We love to laugh at the otters and say hi to the two new tigers who never shy away from visitors. And this time of year just walking around the zoo is a treat with all the big trees with leaves of every color.

 

We also went to Grandpa's Maze and Farm, where the main attraction is the corn maze, but our family mostly enjoyed the petting zoo, pumpkin patch, hayrides, and other farm-themed games. Hadley was the boss of the slide. No one could stop her from going again and again, and fortunately sweet Claire offered to always be by her side.

 

 I also got to go with Scarlett's preschool class to the pumpkin patch. When Scarlett picked a pumpkin, I asked if I could take a picture of her with her pumpkin...and this is how she posed.

I brought Hadley along too...which made the day like ten times more difficult, and I couldn't bring the stroller. We went on a hayride out to the pumpkin patch, which we couldn't reach until first navigating through a corn maze. A corn maze with preschoolers. And a 1 year old. That's got to be some sick form of torture for a mom.

But we made it through and the kids loved every minute of it. Everyone got a pumpkin, then we had a picnic lunch together and headed home. It was a beautiful day with some great friends.

Happy 4th Birthday Scarlett!

This year we had Scarlett's birthday party at White Aspen Ranch. She's been wanting to have her party here since Lydia did a year ago, but I was afraid she was too young. Turns out that 4 is the perfect age for this activity. The girls first learned about taking care of horses, and got to brush their mane and tail to prep them. The horses were in heaven. Then each of the kids were led around the arena a couple times, and Lydia and Claire even helped lead the horses.

Scarlett was spoiled with lots of fun toys from her great friends from church and from preschool.

 

It was a fun week celebrating my sassy Scarlett. This kid is fiercely independent and even a little bossy. But she is fun. She is the life of the party, she's loud, she's the best little dancer, and she'll try everything her big sisters do.. like front flips on the trampoline or tricks on her bike and scooter. She is growing up faster than she should. She makes me laugh every single day, even when she is my most stubborn and difficult girl. I love her to pieces.

2014 Bear Lake Brawl Triathlon

Over the summer Josh competed in 1 race every month, and the last race of the season was in Bear Lake Utah. He raced the Olympic distance and finished with his best time yet.

My sisters and their boyfriends joined us, and we rented a really nice cabin on the lake for a long weekend. The water at Bear Lake is always cold, but the beaches are always fun because the water is so shallow, it's perfect for kids.

 

We also celebrated Scarlett's birthday that weekend with the family.

 

 

And it was also a great excuse to get the boat out one more time before it's stored for the winter.

 

First day of school - 3rd grade and 1st grade

I was looking through all my pictures and came across this gem

I forgot to properly acknowledge the first day of school for these kiddos! They are very excited to be at the same school this year (yay!) and they both have really sweet teachers who just adore them.

 

 

And every morning Scarlett and Hadley (if she's awake) come to say goodbye to their sisters and wave to the bus driver. It makes my heart happy.

A trip to Breckenridge for Mimi - Summer Part 7

Josh's mom Debbie loved the mountains. She loved Colorado and would find any excuse to escape to the mountains - a quilting retreat, a family vacation, or just a getaway. Since her passing last December, we all knew she wanted her final resting place to be in Colorado, so this August, on Jon & Deb's anniversary, all the Viets family met in Breckenridge to take her ashes to the summit of one of her favorite hikes - McCullough Gulch.

The trail wasn't long, but it was steep and rocky in parts, so we decided to leave the younger kids home with babysitters. It was just Jon, the 5 sons and wives, and Beckett, Ethan, and Emma. We took our time to take in the beautiful scenery along the trail.

We reached the lake, and knowing what we were there for caused us all to pause and reflect and just take a moment by the shore with our mom. There was such peace in that valley, and no one there but our family. We felt her presence, shared our memories, and knew that this was where her heart was. We all had a chance to say our final goodbyes and spread her ashes in the lake. All of the daughters-in-law have lockets with a little vial of ashes to keep with us, inscribed with Always in My Heart. 

It was a beautiful day, a great hike, and though that day was a little somber, the rest of the week was about pure family fun. And everything is more fun with cousins. We shopped and swam and ate and played hard every day.

We spent a day up on the mountain exploring the Breckenridge Summer Fun Park. There was an alpine slide, a coaster, a bungee trampoline, a maze... all sorts of kid-friendly activities. These were some of their favorites.

Papa Jon even splurged on a rafting trip for all of us, down Brown's Canyon. It was so fun to see the joy on the little girls' faces!

We also rented bikes for a day and explored the bike trail that runs along the river. It was a fast and easy ride out, but the girls were pretty tired coming back.

 

Thanks for a great week Papa Jon.

You are so loved. 

 

Our epic summer part 6 - Lydia's Baptism

We are so proud of this girl. On August 9th, just after her 8th birthday, Lydia was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She made a covenant to be an example of Jesus Christ, to remember Him, keep His commandments, and be worthy of the Holy Spirit. For this special occasion my mom made her baptism/confirmation dress. And the best part about it - she made it from my wedding dress. She also used lace from her own wedding dress. This dress will be used for all 4 of my girls when they are of age. I love it.

Lydia was baptized by her dad, who has the Melchizedek priesthood. She even got to be baptized twice because Josh missed one of the words in prayer, and our church is very particular about the exact wording! Lydia didn't mind, but Josh felt bad. He was so worried about mixing up the wording with that of temple baptisms, that he missed something simple.

 Shortly after her baptism she was confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. My dad and Grandpa Rumsey and members of our bishopric participated in that blessing. She was blessed to heed the promptings of the Spirit, to grow into a strong daughter of God and to be an example to those around her, especially her sisters.

 It was a wonderful event, and actually very crowded with all the family and friends that came to support Lydia. There were 4 other baptisms that evening, and we happened to have a visiting Apostle (Elder Nelson), so the baptisms were moved to the small Avenue D Chapel near downtown Billings. Nobody seemed to mind. We were thrilled with the support of our ward - the Echo Canyon Ward - who filled up the chapel.

 

The week was full of fun and family and friends - all for Lydia.

This happened to be her "Golden Birthday" as well - she turned 8 on 8-8

 We had a golden family birthday party, and we also had a party with friends after her baptism.

During the week, with my family in town, we were busy playing in Montana. We went to the zoo, went fishing in Red Lodge, and hit the lake.  

We all had so much fun, we're not ready for this gorgeous summer to end!

Our epic summer part 5 - girls' trip to SLC

For Lydia's upcoming 8th Birthday I decided to take her on a girls trip to Salt Lake City. She is my girl who loves shopping, and also loves having mommy to herself, so it was a real treat.

 

I was also eager to do this trip when I learned that one of my best friends from Scotland was visiting family there! Amelia was my first, and best, friend when we moved to Aberdeen. She helped me find my way in a new country and find my way in this thing called motherhood.

 

Lydia and Evie are the same age, but all our girls played together when they were little tots. Can't believe this was 6 years ago!

Also in Utah, we met up with our dear friends the Milnes for a pool playdate. I cherish those friendships that last even after we've both moved away from Texas. Lydia and Addy didn't miss a beat, even though it's been almost two years.

 

While in Utah we did some major shopping too. We hit the City Creek Mall downtown, and ventured into the mega-sports-store Scheels.

But most importantly - Lydia got her ears pierced! She had been anxiously awaiting for this day and handled it like a champ. I could tell she was nervous, but the second that they were pierced she said "...that didn't hurt!"

 

 We couldn't leave Utah without a visit to good 'ole Provo. Lydia got some BYU gear, and we took Madison to the city waterpark for an afternoon.

 It was a fabulous weekend with my Lydia, and well worth the 8-hour drive!

 

Our Epic Summer Part 4 - summer in Montana

There's no place I'd rather be in the summer than Montana. The kids are out of school and spend all day outside because the weather is perfect.

 

We used our annual membership to the Zoo to visit often

 

 

We went camping with friends.

 This was at Canyon Ferry Lake with the Scherffius family. Their kids are older but they are so so good with our girls!

We let dad go four-wheeling with some buddies from church. A bunch of old men riding through mud and absolutely loving it.

 

We spent afternoons at the local pool/waterpark 

We went on lots of bike rides. Scarlett just learned to ride, and she's not even 4 yet! And Claire and Lydia like to race down the hills.

 

Josh's long bike rides are sometimes interrupted by wildlife. He's been on the road with porcupines, wild horses, deer, and even a herd of buffalo.

We enjoyed America's pastime - baseball

And we explored some of Montana's beautiful lakes - Cooney, Deadman's Basin, and our favorite - Yellowtail.

 

And add to that swimming lessons, park playdates, tennis, and gymnastics - that makes for one busy summer. And some happily exhausted kids too.