Messy Faces

School

We did some crafts and coloring every day for the first part of the summer. Here my daughter is coloring with our neighbors little girl. It was an effort to keep them up on what they learned from their varying school year. You think my daughter was a little young for school and you are right. However she has some speech issues and so we were going to a talking time program through the school district and were working on letters. In order to keep her up on her sounds I worked with my neighbor and we came up with something everyday for 2 months to help with reading and sounds. By about August we got a little lazy. But it was nice to know that when we tested my daughter recently with her sounds since Talking Time with the school year is starting up again that she had retained the sounds and I would like to believe that the time my neighbor and I took this summer had a lot to do with it.

I added this picture of my little guy because while we had arts and crafts he wanted to be involved to and so he got a snack during this time. Occasionally I would let him color to, closely monitored so he wouldn't eat the crayons.

Fun in the Sun and the Water

These pictures aren't in order by any means but here they are having fun in the sprinklers and in the pool. The little guy was asleep the day we took the pool pictures and well he isn't to fond of the little pool either. So getting pictures is impossible. Hope you enjoy!

Here she is going down the pool slide at her Great Uncles house. She loved this slide so much she went on it many times.

Day at the Zoo with Friends

So we went to the zoo with our neighbors one day while their oldest was at school. Here are some pictures from the day.

Martins Cove

So we made another stop on our way home from seeing Grandpa at Martin's Cove. For those that don't know this is a place where the Mormon Pioneers stopped for protection from a really bad snow storm. Many pioneers from this company lost their lives due to the extreme cold. All this for a chance to find safety in practicing their religion. It was a beautiful place to visit and the spirit is so strong and hallowed by their lives. We got the chance to ride up to the cove since we didn't have the time to pull a handcart. But we are thinking that we would like to go back with our kids and do the trek with a handcart. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Here is a representation of what they brought across the plains in a handcart. As you can see it wasn't very much. Because it was a very warm September the Pioneers dumped a lot of warm blankets in Casper Wyoming. With no idea what was to await them.

Here is the nice tour guide that gave us a ride on a Rover up to the cove. We are so grateful that he took the time to show us around.

Here are some statues that represent the 3 young men at the age of 18. They carried the women, children, sick, and the elderly across the Sweetwater River. When they finished carrying everyone across they died due to the cold. They showed a great amount of love and service. I am amazed by them and their story. May we all show such love in our lives.

Oscar the dog comes from a near by ranch. In the Spring he finds his way to help people experience what it is like to be a pioneer crossing the plains pulling a handcart. Then he returns home in the Fall when the last handcart has been pulled and returned to the Museum/Front Office. His owner and the Missionaries on the property are amazed at this dogs diligence.

Here we are at the Cove. This is the place where they went for some protection from the storm.

Here is Devil's Gate in the background. In the front is the Prairie Park where they have some art that talks about some pioneers.

Here is the Sweetwater River. I thought it was very pretty and had to take a picture.

Here are 2 of the cutest kids in a handcart.

Independence Rock

So on our way home from visiting Grandpa we decided to stop at Independence Rock. We had lots of fun playing there for a moment. Plus it was a great place for a potty break.

Here is the little guy having fun pretending to drive. Daddy thought it would be fun to take a picture while I was with the little girl in the nice solar powered restroom.

Here we are getting a family picture

This was a flower that was growing at the base of the enormous rock known as Independence Rock. I thought it was beautiful and reminded me that beauty can grow in the most unusual situations. To not give up and do my best and blessing will come.Here on the rock people over the last couple centuries have stopped here and recorded their names and wrote messages to help others find their way that followed behind. Here someone scratched Old Oregon Trail. But don't plan on marking your own message now since they have signs that ask you not to in order to preserve the history on the rock.

Independence Rock~ It has a circumference a little over 1 mile long. It was so big we had a hard time getting it in one picture. The reason it is called Independence Rock is because the goal was to get there by Independence Day.

AA Covered Wagon displayed on the property to honer all the people who crossed the plains at this point.

Me and my little guy

It was fun taking pictures of them running toward the camera.

My favorite people in the whole world just playing and having fun.

Visiting Grandpa

So I am updating another old post and hoping to do this a little at a time and get back into the habit of blogging more regularly so that I can keep family updated on our life. Back in May we decided that it would be nice to visit My Dad and Aunt in Wyoming. So here are some pictures of my kids with Grandpa. My son is a bit attached to mommy and daddy and so didn't sit with Grandpa so well. So we didn't try one with my Aunt. But my daughter is always more than willing to visit with anyone and get her picture taken. She had lots of fun spending time with Grandpa. She would wake up and immediately ask where Grandpa was and need to go talk to him. Even still she asks when we are going to go see Grandpa and her Aunt.