Home By the Creekside

It was nice to wake up to a snow covered lawn. A clean slate! That is what Brayden got when he entered the waters of baptism today. It was a truly great experience for him. My friend makes really awesome cakes and I found something similar (not really similar cuz this one rocks!) on the internet and we (Clay and I) totally KNEW that it was meant for him to make his day extra special. We were so pleased to have a golden plates cake. It was strawberry inside. His favorite flava! Here is a link to the awesome woman that makes them . We will totally do another one for Lyndee's baptism next year.  Brayden and Lyndee were so excited this morning. This is where I figured that one of my little monsters turned my flash off. It is now all fixed. This day was a very special occasion for Brayden. We had Clay's mom and aunt, brother and future wife, my sis in law, and all my nieces and nephews come to SUPPORT Brayden. It totally made it extra nice for him. It was very heart felt and it ...

Lyndee was "pretty" girl. Brayden was bloody bones. Together, we all went trick or treating with my nephew and my sis in law. It was pretty chilly that night. We always go to our neighbors first. These are our new ones. They are super sweet. This dude below waited for a while to give candy to Brayden. This guy decorates his foyer. It was all old timey with several skeletons sitting around playing poker. On the table, all the candy was there. The kids had to pick out what they wanted. He built it all.

Brayden turned 8. His grandparents came from Meridian to spend the weekend with us. We had homemade sloppy joes for dinner, french fries, cider, and birthday cake for dinner. See below my shrunken head cider. Those are the heads...floating in the cider...yummy. I made his cake. It was a mummy cake with eyes poking out from it. He loved it. After presents, cake, and fun, as a family, we all headed up to Rexburg and went to the straw maze. It was sooo much fun. We went through and decided to go back to find the beginning. My husband decided to ditch us. We thought he was lost. A couple minutes later, I get a call from him telling me that he is at the beginning. We ended up being lost. We might make this a tradition. It was a hoot. Anyone that knows Brayden, this is his true form. Always having this huge smile. I love him so much.   Crazy fun with nephew, too.   Ya....thats me with my babies. There's my mom playing peek a boo with the camera. Just kidding, shes no...

Lyndee and Brayden participated in their Halloween parade at school last Friday. It was exciting for Lyndee. She was so cute and she enjoyed it. Her teacher is so awesome with her. She held onto Lyndee because she wanted to talk with everyone and visit. So she told Lyndee since they are both wearing gloves that they need to stick together. So clever!!! Brayden has a bloody bone costume. Blood is supposed to leak through his bones but we put water in it for school. He had a good time walking in his line. Whoa! There Bessie! Who is that scurvy lot below??? Yup that is me! I dressed up as a pirate with the rest of my colleagues. We had good fun. I didn't want to but I pulled this together the night before. The only thing that is missing is my peg leg. I know you all are so jealous of my chest hair. Argh! I had to look the part in my picture...

For last couple years, I hear about people going to pick apples at this orchard. I have wanted to but always when it was too late. Since I am a beginner canner, I want to can some apple pie filling jam. Yes, jam. I want to make some apple butter. Then I want to make my family some homemade apple sauce. I know I will go back next week to pick more apples. But until then....we shall snack on these wonderful precious fruits of our Heavenly Father. My favorite picture....This was the view of the mountains nearby (you have got to click this picture for a bigger view...). We had our first snow on Thursday--about 2 inches. It is all gone--thank goodness. Anyways, those mountains hold my precious huckleberries. What a view! I am so jealous that they get to look out everyday.   Picking honeycrisp apples with my honeys! We filled our cooler in no time. I wanted to bring two but put only one in.Lyndee picked so much that her little bag broke. She was so pleased with her apple picking s...

Ahh! My babies. Off to their first day of school. Lyndee is in first grade and Brayden will be in second grade. I love this time of year. The firsts of many things in their lives. Lyndee...what can I say? I hope you do many great things this year. You will learn how to read, add, subtract, and make new friends. I hope you succeed in paying attention, raising your hand, and being the best. I hope you soar, Lyndee. So proud of Brayden, he did a great job learning how to read in 1st grade. I can't wait until we can read more books together. Yay! You get to add, subtract, multiply, and learn how to patient with others in your classroom. Good luck buddy!

My cutie patootie is attempting his first year playing flag football. At practice,  it looks like he is going to really like it. His first game is this Saturday. More pictures then.

Yesterday, we went up into the mountains and picked some huckleberries. We meaning I made sure that I did not lose track of our vehicle. We picked about 2 cups. As nice as it was to get some fresh air and take in the beautiful land, the kids were not into picking but bickering. So we came home and took the kids to the fairgrounds where there was a car show. We looked at a couple old cars. Then saw the fire dept giving rides in their cherry picker. I don't what it is called. They went right up in it and then threw candy down upon our heads. Then as we left, Brayden and Lyndee wanted to climb the rock and press the button at the top. Yay! He made it and the Army dude said, "Just like a ranger!!" Please don't get any ideas, Brayden. Then Lyndee wanted to try and she did. That is as far as she got..and then she came down. Way to do your best!