First day of 1st and 4th grades!

First day of school, ready to go!

This is my new favorite brother picture.  

He wouldn't stop doing the dorky laugh, so it's going to be all over the internet. ;) 

There's a nice smile!

Think someone's excited? 

Super cool kid. 

This is the first year we don't have to kneel down  -- they're so tall!

Daddy came home from work to say HI and take the kids to school.  We're so lucky!

Bit of this, bit of that

The boys grew this monster zucchini in their garden.  Josh texted me this picture with the caption "it's  as big as a fish!"

We've been having trouble keeping Luke in his bed while we're putting him to sleep -- he claims he is scared.  A friend of ours suggested this giant bear to be his protector.  Why not?

Mr. Cuddles to the rescue!

This is how Luke made his bed the next day.  I love this!

Saturday we went to Great Falls to look at a boat. The kids LOVE it.

We got to test it out on the Missouri River. 

If we buy a boat, it will be for this reason -- memories. 

I think we like it! :) 

Saturday morning I took the dogs to the pond.  (We are dog sitting Asia...who is a distant relative of Ruby/Sammy.) They weren't happy that The Man was holding them back from all those geese. They were so funny.  

Camping at the Desert Cafe

Our annual camping trip to the Carbella Boat Ramp was a blast this year.  the kids are getting older and they have technology.  Gabe's GoPro was a big hit, and these selfies from Friday night just crack me up. So much personality in such a small space. 

How can you not laugh at these? 

The cactus harvest was weak this year, according to Josh, and so they had to work hard at making sure they made the most of each cactus they collected.  He's trying very hard to slice this one into bite sized pieces.

The Desert Cafe, where they sell cactus things, is just behind the boys.

It was a windy and chilly day Saturday so we spent quite a bit of time inside.  Thank goodness some of the moms were smart enough to bring the rainbow loom. (not this mom, but other moms!)

Josh caught this fish with his bare hands.  True story.  The adults believe that Ady caught this fish, and then let him go. Josh saw him swimming slowly and thought he could grab it, so he jumped in and waded upstream to catch it with his bare hands.  Who knew.

Gotta do some silly posing.

Luke is just holding it for the novelty of it.  It's kind of nice scale, though, since we know Luke is 4'1".

I'm only including this picture because I love Luke's little smile.

We cooked it in the fire, and this is the anxious crowd waiting for tastes of it. 

Mike fed all the kids one bite...off the same fork. Josh got first bite, as you an see in his giant open mouth. Sick. 

He just KNOWS he's tough

For dinner he thought it would be good to use trout as a topping on his cheeseburger.  

They won't claim it's the others' fish.  Also, Ady won't hold the fish, so this is as lose as we get to a joint presentation picture.  

And last but not least, Mike caught about 10 fish on the morning float the guys went on.  This was the biggest one -- a fatty for sure.  Nice job, Daddy!

Grandparents and Great Falls

The boys went to Great Falls for a two night visit with the cousins.  Luke loves to help with the crankies, so he helped Grampa get set up in their new home in Great Falls.

Josh loves to climb a tree, and Sierra has a perfect Climbing Tree in her back yard. 

The boys are so jealous that Sierra has a trampoline.  They had a blast on it!

Why wouldn't you do pig faces for the camera? 

This picture makes me laugh so hard!  Luke's teeth really make it for me. 

Old Time Hooligans

I cannot love these Old Time photos more.  They were the highlight of our Virginia City trip.

Many of them are really similar, but I have to post them all because I love small things about each one.  Josh's raring his teeth in this one. :) 

Luke's jack-o-lantern teeth. 

One eyed Lukey.  

Josh and Luke look SO mean!

All smiles

This is the last one, where we got to do whatever we wanted.  Luke thought we were done, so he's not looking...but the rest of us make me smile!

A Fun Week

We don't have a bunch of pictures from the beginning of the week because my cousin Kyle was found dead Monday morning.  He was only 28 years old and was killed in a car accident. RIP, Kyle.

These pictures are from the rest of the week.


of 

The boys got to spend a night with Gramma and Grampa Harley this week. They were lucky enough to go to The Minions and loved it!  They're acting silly, Josh acting like he's very sick and Luke acting like he doesn't know what's happening.  

After the movie they went to the Bear Canyon pool, and had a blast on the slide.

Then they did something they've been wanting to do for years -- flatten coins on the train tracks! Look at this bounty!

They set the coins on the tracks, then left and came back later.  On their return visit they were lucky enough to be there right when a train came.  Too loud for Luke, but still very cool to see!

Saturday we went to Virginia City with the Harleys. Our first stop was the Creamery -- Josh loved his ice cream evidently.  

Luke didn't feel like having ice cream, so his first treat was at Cousin's Candy store. He was so happy there, and we kept calling him a kid in a candy store. :) 

Who can resist a super old car prop?  I would not drive with this crazy kid...how about you? 

Wait, maybe he's responsible? 

Josh is all business, as usual, and Luke looks like he's enjoying the ride. 

They walked through a saloon's swinging door.  They thought that was pretty fun. 

We went to Nevada City and the living history museum, where we watched a "riot" where the actors who played residents of the town who rioted about he price of flour.  The boys were very into it. 

Sunday morning we went to Soby's for an artistic pancake breakfast.  Josh requested New York City, and this is what he got. 

Luke's campfire, complete with bacon logs. 

When we left Soby's there was a old car show on Main Street.  We entered a raffle to win this "minion" tire stack  Pretty silly!