Sunday, January 8, 2017

July-November 2016

A brief catch-up! (Can you guess one of my new year's goals?!) :)

July - 
We went to Anderson Ranch and spent several days camping. We also went to Boise while Mr. Keller went fishing in Alaska with Papa Corrie. Daddy brought back a stuffed animal grizzly bear for the boys. The boys named him Jim and he's been the most beloved toy ever since. We've all enjoyed some delicious fish dinners, too. He's looking forward to another Alaska trip this summer.
The boys and I took a second trip to Anderson Ranch with my parents and helped fix up the shed/mini cabin up there. We painted, scrubbed, painted some more, laid a new floor. Lots of little fixes. We had so much fun and can't wait for next summer when we can really enjoy all of our hard work.

August -
Mr. Keller and I spent a few days in Jackson while Grandma Lorrie watched the boys. We also flew the kids to Huntington Beach again and to Disneyland. We really enjoyed this little trip. The boys travel so well. Mr. Keller got a HORRID sunburn while we were there, so that kind of put a damper on the rest of the trip for him. It was not good! He actually still has scarring from that. The coast was ironically somewhat chilly, but Disneyland was hooooooot. So so hot! I don't think we'll ever go back in August. The boys' favorite ride was Pirates of the Caribbean (we went three times!), and Splash Mountain, which I totally hated and knew that I would! I thought I was having a heart attack afterward. That was not the ride for me! Mr. Keller could have died laughing at the picture that was taken as we plummeted down. I screamed so loud. He said he's seen me give birth and he's never seen me make that face before. Lolol. No good!

We also spent lots of August evenings eating Hawaiian shaved ice at the stand by the mall. We kind of got addicted and dropped some serious cash there throughout the summer. We had a sleepover on the trampoline one night during the meteor shower. The boys and I hit all the estate and yard sales each weekend. We did tons of yard work, tended our garden (kind of) and looked after our cows. We had a lemonade stand (the boys made over $20!), took a day trip to Lava Hot Springs, took a day trip to Bear Lake (dreamy!).

In late August, we sent both boys off to school part-time and it took me several weeks of adjusting to an empty home. Such a new, painful stage, but we've survived. New beginnings tend to be hard for our little family, but our boys were so brave. They've already grown so much over the last few months.

September-
Kricket came to visit us and we had such a fun time with her as always. Grandma Lorrie also came to stay with us while Mr. Keller was hunting. We made pecan pie and had a little photoshoot in the back pasture. In the middle of September, we went to the pumpkin patch with the school. Mr. Keller bought a four-wheeler with a snow plow (which we've been sooooo thankful for the last little bit), and he also turned a new leaf when he bought himself a new truck (finally!!!!). We did lots of flea market prep and raked dozens and dozens and dozens of bags of leaves. The boys were such big helpers. This was a huge job! Mr. Keller turned 33 on the 23rd and he was sweet and selfless and took me to the Vintage Whites market in SLC and to Ikea on HIS birthday, which pretty much made it like my birthday. We stayed downtown overnight and headed back to Logan to pick up the boys the next day.

October-
We attended my Grandpa Bruce's 80th birthday party in Twin Falls. The best part was being together with ALL of my cousins but one. That hasn't happened for years and years and years. My parents came to visit the weekend of the primary program. We went to the pumpkin patch again and carved pumpkins together. We also went to Boise for several days while Mr. Keller worked in Phoenix. We shopped a lot that trip (bought the boys their first suits!), and on our way home, we stopped by the Boise temple for Morgan's baptism pictures. We had another wild, successful booth at the flea market. We had our first-ever friend birthday party for Morgan's 8th birthday with costumes, pizza, cupcakes and a pinata. The boys both went trick-or-treating as pirates -- matching costumes -- and brought home loads and loads of candy.

November-
Morgan was baptized on November 5th and we felt so much love from our family and ward friends that day. We had a nice lunch afterward and a little birthday party for him. I enjoyed looking back through all of our old pictures and printing off one from each year of his life. I can't quite account for all the time that has passed since he was brand new in my arms, but I'm so very proud of him and so thankful he's mine. I love him so very much.  

      
Here are just a few summer and fall pictures:



Huntington



Disneyland


Shaved Ice



Jenny Lake


Our little lemonade stand



Alaska fun



Twins!



First day of school


The pumpkin patch

We didn't get to plant pumpkins this year, so one morning, we brought some home from the grocery store. Danny couldn't wait to get home to put them all in his tractor and take them for a ride with his hat. He was a farmer that day. He even picked one of his beloved sunflowers. It was such a cute cute thing. We drove all the way down to the church and back and he would lift is hat and wave to the cars that went by. I loved this morning and want to document it well so I don't forget. 



Always obsessed with cats!


One of the giant piles of leaves we raked.


Halloween night - Danny carried his candy bag with his hook the whole time!


Friend birthday party!






Primary Program -- Morgan surprised us by getting up to help Danny with his part when he needed help at the pulpit. We didn't know he had memorized Danny's part, too. It was so sweet! I totally cried. 



My tiny farmer Dan







Sunday, July 10, 2016

June!

A long post of pictures, to catch me up, or mostly. 

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Undies-only all summer long!

Planting my hydrangeas I got for mother's day


Danny had an idea to "hide" from Mr. Keller when he came home from work. He thought if he shut his eyes, he was hiding!


Gorgeous lilac season, now long gone!



Checking out his smile, so cute! He didn't know I snapped this picture.


Afternoon playtime, while mama naps. 




Playing at our flip house, which has been under contract for a month, and should close next week!


On their way to the fathers and sons camp-out. I went to dinner by myself and came home and laid on the couch the whole night. It was wonderful, even though I did actually shed real tears when they all left me!



Danny was sans pants in this! They thought this was great. 


First popcicle of the season --- leftover popcicles from last year. Gross!



So pooped!


Sunday dinner, and my sweet boy who loves sunday dinner, and gorgeous peonies from our flip house. 


Still matching for forever!


One of the last quiet mornings before school got out. 



My little artist, who has been painting the earth and the forest, and forest fires with bright orange! Like the forest fire in Bambi!




We woke up one morning and Danny exclaimed it was Bambi's birthday! So we partied. 



We took an overnight trip to twin falls. The boys had a fun pizza party with their second cousins at grandma glenna's house. Here she is showing them her baton twirling skills. I wish I had video of this! It was so funny and so so cute!



I drove to twin to go to my friend Jess's vintage market. Her booth was so cute!



I ran into all sorts of old friends, including miss alice who is my sweet wildhare flea market friend. I love her so. 


We had dinner and cake at the Lawleys and the boys had so much fun running wild.


Grandma and papa came back home with us that weekend for a few nights. They intended on going to soccer games with us that Saturday but it poured, and the boys had gotten colds, so we just stayed home and played with them. 


Making graduation hats for our graduation ceremony we held at home. Montessori doesn't do graduations, which is kind of a bummer, but we had our own and it was great. 




On Morgan's last day of school, Danny and I had a very special day. We went to Tuesday Morning to pick out a new toy, and to Cafe Rio, his favorite place. I cherish so much these sweet, special times him and I have shared over the last few years that Morgan has been in school. 





Here we are preparing our garden space.


My helper outside. 


Playing with Danny's new toy. 





Our last day before Morgan got out of school. My heart was breaking. 



The last day of school, super last minute, Mr. Keller and I got Lumineers tickets in slc off Craigslist. I was so excited because the tickets sold out in ten minutes back in Feburary, and I was so bummed out that we didn't get them. So bummed out that I actually bought tickets to one of their shows in british columbia, thinking that we would take our yearly trip there and go to the show. Mr. Keller ended up having a convention that weekend, so we sold those tickets on craigslist to someone else, and were so lucky to find a pair for us in slc. It was a lot of dang work to get this checked off my bucket list, but it was so worth it. We both had such a good time. We would have totally gone again, and again, if we could have. Maybe later this year we'll travel to another one of their shows. Such talent! 




We stayed overnight in salt lake and before heading back to logan to pick up our monkeys, we went to temple square and walked around. We almost decided to just get on the road and not go, but I'm so glad we did. It was such a calming morning. We rarely make it to the temple at all. I'm so glad we paused long enough to enjoy just a little bit the magnificent legacy we have so close to home. I truly feel this particular temple is the prettiest structure in the entire world. It's overwhelmingly beautiful. I love it so much. 



I don't remember where we were going, but I do love this picture. 



Miss Vera who is so dang cute I could die!


On our way back home from grandma's after having a sleepover with cousin Bodie. Haha!


More yard work, prepping the space for gravel. We had three semi loads delivered and it looks so nice!


Planting our garden, or Danny's garden, actually. 


Sweet boy growing up. He's a big help to mama. 


Magic treehouse....all summer long! He can't get enough. 


Pizza after a long day of yardwork. 


We went to grandma keller's birthday celebration on memorial day. This was on the drive back! So so pretty!


Chilled watermelon, get in my belly. I seriously go through watermelons like nobody's business. I love them so much lately!


Always a messy face. 


The boys have enjoyed their pool days so much. I love the simplicity right now. I know this will not always be like this, and summers eventually will be too crazy to even think about, but for now, this is the best. 





Sundays with daddy. 


A  beautiful wild rose bush in our backyard. 




Our calves that we got a few weeks ago. One has since passed away, but the boys have enjoyed these guys so much and they are keeping our pasture down, so win-win!



My first ever lattice pie! 


A really awesome nest from one of our trees. The eggs must have been eaten because we never saw babies, but had seen eggs earlier. Such amazing detail and so much work for that mama bird. 



Bambi eating breakfast with us one morning. Yes, those are blades of grass. 




Looking at old photos of themselves. Such a sweet moment. 




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