Lots of water outside the tub...but how can I resist?
Judson's head is off limits to the water wars for a little while longer.
Little Chief Justin last year.....
A little bigger Chief Justin this year....
Justin is five years old now! I probably say this for every boy, but I can hardly believe how old he is getting. Surprisingly his fondness for Indians hasn't changed. I should have taken a picture of last year's headress now that all the feathers are missing. :)
Justin is a sweet boy. He is our true middle child. Sometimes he is quieter than his brothers or off content to play by himself. If there is one of our children more prone to wandering away from us, it is him. We have briefly lost him on two different occasions in a crowd. Talk about panick! Justin has a way of warming your heart with his smile and words. A famous quote from him to Grandma Sally..."I don't very like your food, but I'll eat it because you're my friend." How can you resist that? :) He also makes a mean leaning lincoln log cabin. I love watching him build things now that he is old enough to play with these toys. BJ and I are so proud of the little guy and the bigger boy he is becoming.
Below I have posted a ton. I felt the need to get caught up. (And it will be nice to cross this off my to-do list. :) All this to say, we are doing well and thank you for loving and encouraging us.
Happy Birthday Esther! We love you.
We had forgotten how much there is to do in this area. It will be great for our homeschool adventures. :)
They had a great time. Can't you tell?
Lots of people and delicious food. The big boys were a little weirded out at all the men wearing lederhosen, but had a good time. :)
Here is the crew in front of the biggest western store I have ever seen!
We left Colorado Monday afternoon and headed to Casper, WY. The next morning we had to get to West Yellowstone. Our plan was to hang out in Cody for a couple of hours....and we did in Wal-mart and the Dairy Queen drive thru. :) I guess we never got early enough starts.
Wednesday we spent the day in Yellowstone National Park. We knew our one day would only make a small dent in the park, but our families wanted to check it out. I would definitely love to go back and explore more! The day we visited happened to be the grand opening of the Old Faithful Learning Center. Esther enjoyed learning about these critters. :)
Our very dirty rig after 12 days on the road.
We had a blast on this trip. Keeping five boys entertained in the car that long was a challenge at times, but I was so happy to share my love of Colorado with the boys...and it rubbed off. They are already asking when we can go back. :) Oh, and somewhere along the freeway in Idaho is my toiletry bag, but that is another story. 
On the drive out to the farm, Saturday, we stopped to place flowers on my grandparents' and aunt's grave.
The boys, especially J.R. enjoyed seeing my cousin's tractors and combine.
Tons of grasshoppers jumped every step we took on the farm. That took a little getting used to. :)
Duaine and Johnny
Saturday's big event was Vernon days. Here is a bunch of our family outside the old schoolhouse my Aunt graduated from and my mom attended for a few years.
Aunt Lorena's graduating class. She said that at last year's reunion they had 100% attendance...all six of them showed up!
The little guys having fun.
The big guys having fun.
Justin was excited to find some more Indians at Alco to add to his collection.
Later in the day we headed back to Vernon for the fireman's dinner. It was delicious.
Duaine also put together a hay ride for the family that evening. It was a beautiful night. I was so thankful to be with family again.
Mom and my Great Aunt Esther.
Sunday afternoon, Amy and I did laundry. That was an adventure! It took us 3 1/2 hours! We were pretty hot and tired. Mom was there for part of it and gave Paisley Mae rides in the laundry cart. After the ride we saw the sign "No children in the carts." Oops!
Her pile.
My pile. I think girl clothes are smaller. :)
Mom and Ray fed us dinner at the RV.
BJ's new pastorate. Just kidding. This is Champion Valley Church where my mom attended as a child until they closed their doors. They then went to the Nazarene church in town. The outhouse seems almost unbelievable. :)
Another highlight of this trip was seeing my dad. It had been six years since Amy and I had seen him. It was nice for him to meet our children...and for them to meet their grandpa George. We had dinner at a really neat pizza joint, Fargo's, and my Uncle John, Aunt Cindy, and cousin Nate were able to come. It took us a while to get used to the George humor again. :)
I couldn't get over the view of the clouds. It seemed as though we were eye level with them. I was awestruck by the beauty of God's creation.
At the halfway point down the mountain each car must stop to have their brakes' temperature checked. BJ's were about 80 degrees cooler than Isaac's. Ha Ha! Don't worry Ike, BJ will give you a few pointers next time. :)
Chipotle's. Isaac is addicted. Now we are addicted. Thanks Isaac.
What did I tell you? I could hardly pull him away from the thrill of the hunt. :)
On the drive to Wray, Colorado, we accidentally lost the Freemans. We looked back, and they were gone. We had spent every minute of our trip together, so I felt weird and panicky. Anyway, our a/c had recently stopped working so we stopped for icecream at McDondalds in Burlington. On the walls were pictures of the old carousel in town. It spurred a memory of my Grandma Alma taking Amy and I there when we were little. We passed it on the way out of town and decided to stop. Twenty-five cents a ticket...can't beat that! Also, in McD 's there was a friendly group of old-timers obviously enjoying their daily coffee together. I got a kick out of one of the men who carried his fly swatter with him to whack the flies as they sat there.
