Cabin Trip July 2009

It's only been about a month since we spent our week at the cabin, so I'm feeling pretty on top of things to post nearly 300 pictures! :) This is a real piece of heaven on earth!! Me and two of my boys on the deck with a rainbow in the background!

This is a fun shot of the two oldest and two youngest King children. (Mason, Carlianne, Angela & Michael)
I was able to take a couple of quick horse rides. This one was on one of Uncle Greg's Foxtrotters. I love how smooth the ride can be! The bottom left picture is with my cousin, Carolynn.

Isaiah never wanted to get off the horses!
Damian was just working with the guys on the fences.

My first triathlon (I know it wasn't a REAL triathlon, but it was real enough for me)! I was happy to not only finish the race, but finish about in the middle! Not bad, eh? It was so cute how Damian put up a finish line for the little kids to copy what the older folks had done.

Damian was really excited to experience riding horses all by himself! He started out riding with Brooklyn, trailing Mimi, but eventually was able to follow all by himself. Maybe I shouldn't mention how he went over the head of the horse coming down a hill and got stepped on. Luckily he didn't get hurt bad--maybe a little bruise. I'm sure it will be a memory he won't forget!
Gehrig was fixing all of the girls' hair with live flowers and making rings for the boys out of aluminum foil. He's always so creative. I'm holding the newest member of the family, Elsie Lynn. I thought it would be fun to get some shots of my boys in the beautiful flowers. If you look closely, you'll see that Isaiah wasn't interested in cooperating. Damian's attitude makes me laugh. Gehrig was in the mood for a photo shoot, so I kept snapping pictures while he struck several poses.

This is my favorite pose! What a handsome guy.
I love how Quincy is looking at his Uncle Michael. Michael was showing him how to use the new gun he picked up for him in town.

A few random shots: Emma & Quincy are great buds. Emma & Brooklyn love to help in the kitchen. Emma was enthralled with Elsie, the brand new baby! Ah. . .the lazy Susan (Quincy & Isaiah). Uncle Michael took the little ones for a ride. Isaiah and Brielle get another horse ride. Cora & Katelynn loved the trampoline. The canoe was a fun addition to our trip to the lake! We had a blast in it!
Hebgen Lake

We had the most wonderful weather all week. It was beach weather in the mornings, horse-riding weather in the afternoons and thunderstorms in the evenings! Couldn't have ordered better weather!!

Carolynn & Corby's kids were with us at the lake (Cade & Andelin).

Damian was teaching Brooklyn how to play chess.

The two cutest little horse riders! Emma & Isaiah

Isaiah was full of all kinds of tricks this trip. The top left picture shows when he got into the hair gel and emptied at least half of a large bottle on himself and the bedding. Then, after he got in trouble and sent back to bed, I found him asleep with my hat on. Too cute! The top right picture shows when he fell asleep sitting up against the window. We all got a good laugh at that one. The picture of him and the tie was the way I found him another time after his nap. He's a typical, busy 2 year old! I love this shot of Michael and Brinn. I love the series of pictures with Gehrig and Zorra (the dog). He was in heaven at the cabin! He was so enthusiastic about everything! I wish he weren't so allergic to horses, because he really loved being with them and on them.
I had fun teaching Damian how to skip rocks. I especially love the bottom left picture where Damian is so tickled by the rock skipping across the water.

The Three Musketeers (Gehrig, Damian & Brooklyn) were joined by Cade and Andelin nearly every day at their "clubhouse." I took food to them a couple of times because they were having so much fun, I hated to make them come up to eat.

The 4th of July

Truthfully, this wasn't a very exciting 4th because after we did a few fireworks with the children and put them to bed, we spent the rest of the evening cleaning the cabin because we had to leave the next day, Sunday. I only saw one large firework in the sky when I happened to look out during my cleaning. BUT, I love the pictures I have here with the kids doing fireworks. They had a blast! Look at Emma's expression in the middle picture.

Brinn, ever so clever, organized a talent show with the remaining kids (the rest of the families had to leave earlier). I love Emma & Brielle in the top picture. Isaiah's talent was jumping from the table to the couch (bottom right picture). Back in Idaho, we had fun visiting with Grandma & Grandpa Great. They were being so cute with Emma & Isaiah (tickling them and Grandpa capturing them with his legs).

After a WONDERFUL two weeks and a couple of days (Lou likes to say we were gone 3 weeks, but we weren't--must have felt like it), we were so excited to see Lou. The kids mobbed him! And, he was ready for us to be home. Always glad to be missed!

Sewing Projects & Highlights

I had a $10 gift certificate, plus a 30% off at Kohls a little over a week ago. I thought this cute little puppy towel would be fun for Isaiah (since Emma has a purple towel with a hood). With the discounts, I didn't have to pay too much for the $30 towel.

Anyway. . .poor Emma (only 3 mind you) was really sad she didn't have a cooler towel (her purple one used to have a cute butterfly on the hood, but it fell off and is plain now). So. . .the next opportunity for deep discounts at Kohls, I went ahead and got her this little towel. She was thrilled (and maybe a little spoiled).

I felt bad to leave the big boys out, but I couldn't afford to buy any more $30 towels. So. . .I attempted to make them some. I'm not really proud of them, but I thought I'd display them since I went to the effort to make them. Damian's is supposed to be a panda bear.

Gehrig designed his cobra with fangs and all. His drawing looked much more like a cobra than my sewing, but at least I tried. Right?

I have to mention a couple of fun highlights. . .

Isaiah is constantly saying, "Rorry (sorry)," and giving me hugs (complete with little pats on my back) whenever he's done something wrong or thinks he's done something wrong. He also is eager to hug Emma when she's sad or vice versa. I love it when they hug b/c they're exactly the same size! Too cute!

I turned on So You Think You Can Dance last week (I usually try to avoid it with the children around b/c of the modesty issues which Damian is very keyed into--i.e. he notices when people aren't dressed modestly and is quite concerned about it. (In fact, he told me the other day that he was really glad that I covered my belly and dressed modestly, unlike a mother at the park that he keeps seeing with stretchmarks and the works showing her belly with a shirt much too small for her). Anyway. . .it inspired Gehrig to make up his own "modern" dance. It was so funny/cute to watch him create a routine including the "worm." Damian has asked me to dance several times since then and really seems to enjoy it. He gets Emma to dance with him too. And of course, Emma and Isaiah like to dance together too. Maybe I can get them into ballroom dance soon!?!

This is our cute little friend, Annie, showing off her fun cupcakes at her 8th birthday party.
This is Emma with her best little friend (aside from her brothers) Kimberly. I thought it was so cute watching her friend apply make-up (ALL over her eyes!).

Emma's Photo Shoot After Winning her Photo Contest

Thanks to Kimberly for an amazing job with Emma. She was so patient with her never-ending energy and captured some amazingly beautiful shots! What a talent! We still have an outdoor photo shoot to do. The pictures make the effort sooooooo worth it!

FHE-Oquirrh Temple Open House

We had an enjoyable Family Home Evening tonight as we visited the Oquirrh Temple and then enjoyed dinner at Applebees later. We found a couple of people kind enough to snap a few pictures of us in the reception area and in front of the temple. I liked the picture of Christ behind us beckoning us to come unto Him.

Don't I have a cute family?

Isaiah's favorite part was the baptismal font. He kept saying, "Amimals. Amimals," as we passed the font. Emma noticed the chandeliers right away and pointed out how beautiful they were. Damian noticed that when you look in the mirrors in the sealing room, you can see, "forever and ever. Just like Jesus' love." I think Gehrig was anticipating coming back in just 3 1/2 years as a young man. YIKES!! And of course, the children were very excited to eat cookies afterwards!
I wonder what Damian was saying to Gehrig at that moment?
Gehrig's journal entry about the event:

Today I went to the temple and it might just be the most spiritul event in my life! I can tell you a story of true faith in the Lord.

Those of Faith by Gehrig Harris

Once one night I was adjusting my sterling silver CTR ring on my finger then it got stuck on my finger. I tried tuging and pulling. It wouldn't come off! I tried praying to God. I tugged on my finger once more and it slipped it off as easly as you slide a sewing needle through cloth! The end.

Now inside the temple my favorite room was the sealing room. It had a huge chandalier.

(spelling and punctuation as seen in his journal entry)