Fall is Well

On Sunday we took the kids out for a ride to check out the cool little neighborhood near Mark's office. It has old homes and streets where the trees form beautiful canopies overhead. I was also looking for some fall pics of the kids to go in a window frame I want to change seasonally. We walked and played in the leaves. And I forced my children to walk hand-in-hand down the middle of the street. Safety first. Always, safety first. How many moms do you know yelling at their kids to get back into the middle of the street?! And hold hands for heavens sakes!!! I would have thought Ben would be in heaven being forced into the street like that, as that is his favorite place to run for when he escapes out of the house. But, as Murphy's Law would have it, he was so enamored with the piles of leave on the sides of the road, that he was kicking and screaming as I hauled him out to the middle of the road. This picture is a testimony of how the right point of view can make all the difference- happy children, hand-in-hand strolling down the street. Um, no, Ben WAS screaming his head off!

Yes, we love to jump in the leaves, and lay on the leaves. Ben was so much happier once he got out of the middle of the street (and I don't think it was because he just felt safe again).

Kate wins my prize for smoothest posing. I turn the camera remotely in her direction and she dazzles me with her pearly whites every time!

On the way in the car we had been listening to a little Abba "Dancing Queen." This seemed to particularly inspire Sophia who seemed much less interested in frolicking in the leaves than she was in just being a dancing queen her moves are simply inspiring. And believe it or not - no formal training.

One last good word for Abe and Elsa. Abe who is so patient with his sisters. Amazing brother. Elsa who is a good little mother and helps with the younger kids all of the time. We have great kids.

Common Sense

This weekend, we took a break. A break from the media that is! I didn't realize how relaxing life has really been for awhile until all of the hype - political and financial of the past few weeks has just become all-consuming!! If you turn on the TV or read the news on the internet that is. Did you know the world is ending tomorrow and the Gadianton has control over the government? True story. No worries here. I actually woke up the other morning and my heart was just racing and "Come Come Ye Saints" was going through my head!-- I was seriously stressed! it is craziness! I was lieing there thinking about what I am going to do when Mark gets drafted and dies and all of our insurance policies end up being worthless so I have to provide for my five children in some way and my degree in English just isn't going to be enough - (since our house and business were no longer worth anything). Good stuff. Take a deep breath! I called my good ole Dad who has recently lost a nice chunck of retirement and he reassured me that we still have about 50 acres in Idaho Falls that we can farm since no one is buying right now. Thank goodness for common sense! Phew~ that's a load off!

So, Friday the kids were out of school and since Mark was off and we were tired of worrying about things we have absolutely no control over, we made a pact not to look at the internet for a day and we took a little drive around Lake CDA to find a couple of places we have wanted to check out since we moved here 8 years ago! They are two little towns on the East side of lake CDA. Harrison (population 247) and St. Marys. On our way to Harrison, we stopped at this gas station that had a cool little country store inside- this picture simply doesn't do it justice. It was on a cliff overlooking the lake with a picnic area and just immacculately kept. Anyhow, we stopped for some snacks and some pictures.

It's amazing how much fun just circling a fire pit can be! Who needs Disneyland? Who can afford Disneyland?! Then on to Harrison where we found the neatest little park with a pretty view overlooking the lake. The kids played there with me for over an hour while Mark and Abe walked up the main drag of Harrison which consisted of a couple of shops. One of the shop owners was actually smoking in his store! Either he didn't get the memo, or he wasn't really expecting customers - or, martial law is in force in Harrison! Mark and Abe actually had fun talking to him because he liked rock collecting and knew of some good places to go.

Ben was quite fascinted by this little bear that he seemed to think was real. At first he was ready to go head to head with the bear - "you want some a this?!", then it seemed to get on his good side, so he was trying to feed it acorns - nice little bear.

After Harrison, we drove another 20 minutes to St. Mary's, which is literally 10 times as big - population 2047 or there abouts. We drove through town, assessed our dining options and went to a tiny little drive in for some dinner. I have to give my kids credit for the most well behaved dining in a public place ever. Good job kids. I think they were fascinated by other diners (I have a feeling some of them had never been out of St. Marys!) We had a good adventure with cultural diversity of a different nature.

The accomplishment of the day for me was figuring out how to use the automatic timer on my camera! See? No worries here! Did I mention the cash I am stashing under my matress? But why will it matter when our currency has no more value.....

Fall Foto

I had a great idea. Last week I met up with Barb's family again and my new-found photographer pal Randi to take some family pics at Barb's compound (that is quite lovely and diverse in it's settings. ) Randi is a local photographer who has a similar style to mine - so I was excited when we decided to swap family pics. (it is an on-going struggle for the photographer to find someone to take her own family pictures!) We pulled a couch outside and then I shot both families. And Randi shot my family. I don't have the pictures of my family to post as they were taken on Randi's equipment and I still haven't gotten them. Randi did a great job with what she had to work with! Poor Randi - my family was seriously CRAZY by the time we did our pictures and, um, my hair had taken on a life all it's own! But it was a fun shoot - and they all had such nice hair! (sigh)

Y