"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Ferris Bueller had it right. That's why this weekend we scrapped all our other plans...parties, activities and obligations...to go hang out at the lake. Fall is a rather under utilized time out there (due to busy schedules) but it is just beautiful. Even though it pretty much rained the entire time we were there it didn't stop us from going outside and having fun. The water was pure glass and the Tamaracks have turned yellow. The fall colors, the smell of woodsmoke, the foggy rainy weather and the beautiful lake were the perfect combination for an October family get together. Our family, Stacey and her two kids, Kelley and Elle, Justin and Hannah and their kids, and my mom and my Grandma were all able to come out. It was a lot of fun!!

Dane was the man!! Fishing in a complete downpour.

 The kids fished, went on nature walks with Aunt Kelley, played outside, decorated Halloween cookies, played games, watched movies, played the piano for Granny, did crafts, ate good food, and just had a great time.

Reilly and I ran up to Sandpoint super early to meet my Mom to do a little Sisters Creed business. Some of our vendor friends who have an antiques store up there were having a warehouse sale. We scored tons of gorgeous vintage Christmas ribbon. Awesome. We also stopped for breakfast at the Pine Street Bakery. They have the best filled croissants. Then it was back to the lake for more fall fun.

Elle, River and Ailey

 The little girls had the best time decorating and eating Halloween cookies. Those are some cooking and crafty girls...just like their mamas.

Reilly, River, Kameron and Bryn

The big kids enjoyed those cookies too. My mom also whipped up multiple batches of her fantastic homemade hot chocolate mix that we all beg for...yum.

Ailey, Gavin and River

 When it was all divided up these guys licked that bowl clean!! We also updated the kids pictures on Granny's picture wall. Good grief the last pictures I had up there were so old!! Kameron was missing his two front teeth...Ailey was two...and Bryn wasn't even up on the Great-Grandkids wall yet! I am horrible at remembering to bring updated pictures.

The cousins just played and played together. Tyler and I banned our older kids from bring cellphones, DS players etc and it was wonderful. 

Look...cousins playing"old-fashioned" board games. How quaint.

Kameron, Ailey, Dane and River. I love that somehow they ended up color coordinated.

Look at that family fun and togetherness without all the incessant texting!! I love it...and everyone survived.

 We did a bunch of crafting both for Christmas and for Sisters Creed. I love being creative, talking and joking with my family, and getting some serious stuff done.

Even with the constant rain it didn't stop Bryn from putting on a little song and dance show on the dock to help attract the fish for Dane to catch. Ha ha. I love that Dane is completely oblivious.

 

We had several crockpots of different types of soup going all day, a delicious mediterranean dip, good snacks (Hannah I need that recipe!!), and warm things to drink.

Elle, Bryn, River, Gavin, Ailey and Haylee

The other end of the table...minus several people

It was so much fun and I am glad that we didn't do all the things that we had on our to-do list and spent time relaxing and enjoying our family.

We also managed to sneak in a quick trip up to Greenbluff to go to the pumpkin patch.It was freezing so we made it quick. 

Who doesn't love Greenbluff?

 ...and hot pumpkin donuts?

Pumpkin Carving is a job for Dads in my book...Just like coloring Easter Eggs. I am not a fan of either one.

Reilly picked out a warty looking pumpkin and...word to the wise...they don't carve.

Other happenings this week... we had the fun of hearing Reilly sing twice. She had a choir concert on Tuesday night. She did a fantastic job!! (You will have to take my word for that because my little attempts at recording it were an abject failure) This year she is in Symphonic choir and they really sounded great. Then yesterday she sang in church with the young women. They sang "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and it was beautiful.

One last thing...We just found out that we...as in Sisters Creed...will be vendors at Farm Chicks this year. We haven't done that sale for a few years and are looking forward to doing it again. It is probably the largest and best known vintage sale in the United States. We are so excited and busy making plans for the show in June. It should be fun.

Halloween is just around the corner and I am in charge of the toilet paper mummy station in Ailey's class so I had better get to the store. 

Happy Fall!!

 

Kansas City Trip: Days 11 and 12 The End

 


Finally!! Yes, we are finally to the end of the big road trip. No one could be more thrilled than me to finish up the journaling of this event. Woohoo. Only took me until Mid-October...but what ev. It's done now.

The day we left Kansas City was bittersweet. On one hand, after eleven days we were pretty sick of traveling and looking forward to getting home and on the other hand, it was hard to say goodbye to Ramon, Jordin and kiddos.

We met up with my Mom and Ken, who were also leaving that day, at Jordin's house. Stacey, Kelley and the little girls were going to be leaving the day after. After shedding lots of tears we said goodbye. We had a couple of stops on our way out of town. I needed to do a bit of shopping for Sisters Creed and ended up finding some great things. We also stopped to get something to eat at the Kolache Factory. Kolaches are a big thing in Texas. We used to always stop for Kolaches on our way to and from Galveston. They are delicious. Kolaches are a thick kind of pastry filled with sausages, or fruit, or eggs and cheese etc. Unfortunately these Kolaches were pretty ho-hum. I guess I need to go to Texas to get my fix. We also stopped to purchase a little more Kansas City flair. We got more Royals, Chiefs, and KU t-shirts, hats, posters etc. You've gotta get the gear...right?

Outside of town there is a great new shopping and entertainment area called The Legends. This stop was definitely on my to-do list. It had to be at the end of the trip so I knew just how much money I could blow. :) At the Legends there is a White House Black Market OUTLET!! Woohoo. That is my favorite store and I have never even heard of there being an outlet. It did not disappoint!!

This was MY multi-level Forever 21!! I found some absolutely fantastic deals and left with some great purchases!! (We also stopped for our last Culver's Frozen Custard gluttony. Sad.)

After that it was pretty much endless driving through Nebraska. While not quite as horrible as South Dakota (really what could be?) it  was still very flat and very boring. We did stop in Lincoln and looked around. Here's a really random tip but if you should find yourself on an endless road trip and in Lincoln, NE...and if you feel that if you were to eat any more fast food you would hurl...the HyVee (a midwest grocery store) has DELICIOUS Chinese food. We chowed. Crazy... yet seriously good.

I also found in Lincoln my new favorite beverage that I cannot find anywhere here and will need to order online. It is delish!!

McClellans are sparkling water/ mineral water drinkers from way back. When I was a kid we always had Perrier and La Croix in the fridge. I just love it. I also absolutely love coconut...the taste, the smell everything. But... I had been burned by coconut water that tasted, as my kids described it, like "squash water". Gruesome. This drink tastes like the tropics!! All coconutty, light, and delicious.

We continued on our journey and drove through the night. We arrived in Wyoming early in the morning into a vastly different landscape. The desert. We had breakfast in Cody, WY and entered Yellowstone from the East Entrance. It had been over 12 years since we had last been there. Only Reilly had ever been there before and that was as a baby. The kids were super excited and the scenery was grand and majestic. Even Ailey who was so worried about supervolcanos and calderas was grinning and excitedly looking around.

The day was hot and dry. When we rounded the bend and saw that beautiful Yellowstone Lake we just couldn't resist. We pulled over as soon as possible and got right in!!
 

Tempting right?

 

Ailey still a bit fearful (calderas!!) but she dipped her toes in anyway.

Lake rats through and through

We started quite the trend. When we pulled over and jumped out there wasn't anyone else in the water...but after a few minutes a whole bunch of people pulled over and were wading into the lake. Yellowstone has such a "mass mentality" if other people are doing something/looking at something/stopping at something well then everybody feels a need to do/look/and stop at things. People are terrified that they are going to "miss out" on something. That aspect of Yellowstone drives me NUTS!! When we left a bus load of Japanese tourists were running to the water. :)

Our next stop was the mudpots. So fascinating to see as children. This year due to the lack of rain they weren't quite as impressive as in the past.

Still pretty cool though.

Brynnie was pretty impressed!!

The kids just couldn't believe their eyes. I grew up going to Yellowstone fairly regularly but it was all new to these guys. They said that Yellowstone was the highlight of the trip. It was fun that the three older kids were old enough to understand geology and to be fascinated by it.

Then we went to check out the West Thumb area to see the geysers, fumaroles, paint pots, and hot springs. It was on this particular little jaunt that Tyler decided to drive off the road and nearly killed us all. For reals. I guess every long road trip must have a near death experience to keep things interesting. It resulted in me being extremely pissed off for this part of the park, not talking to Tyler and refusing to be in any of the pictures.

Bright sun strikes again. I guess I should have provided sunglasses for these guys.

So pretty!!

The paint pots were my particular favorite sights this trip. I especially loved where there were yellow ones, aqua blue ones, purple ones, orange ones and emerald green ones right near each other. Nature is pretty amazing!!

We were seriously the scroungiest bunch. Showers? What day was that? Oh well. I guess I am keeping with tradition. I should unearth some of my childhood Yellowstone photos. We were one grubby bunch of kids!! Clearly nothing has changed. Also, by this point of the trip thank goodness we had amazing geological sites to see because we were DONE with this trip and with each other!! Those smiles...all fakes.
 

Then it was off to Old Faithful to wait and wait for her to do her thing, eat the world's most expensive ice cream, and hear the craziest group conversation ever.

Waiting...and looking mangy!!

This was where we had the most interesting and yet bizarre experience. While we all sat there waiting a big spontaneous conversation broke out. It started out with people asking "Where are you from?" etc. Soon a whole big section of people were joined in on one huge conversation. What about you ask? The beauty of Yellowstone? Nay Nay. It was the incompetence of Barrack Obama. Can you believe it? Very interesting. Especially as it was quite the little slice of American pie. People from all over the US were ticked off at the lack luster job of Barrack Obama and vocalizing it. Not one person in that group defended him. Not one. Even the Canadians were ticked off. They didn't care for him putting the kibosh on the ol' pipeline that would've made them some money. See that big group? They were all laughing and mocking Obama or "that A@#$$$% in the White House" as some people called him. Pretty good random sample of people: westerners, northwesterners, northerners, easterners, Retirees, RVers, Environmentalists, Southerners, Midwesterners all united in complete disgust with Obama. Well... that was enough to jolt me out of my pissy mood at our near death experience. Tyler and I just stared at each other incredulous...yet gleeful.  I hope this represents itself in the voting booth. It was interesting to say the least.

Old Faithful

The next stop was a waterfall that I don't remember the name of but it was pretty. We stopped, walked around, and enjoyed the beauty all around us.

Here we are looking exhausted because we were.

We then continued on looking at interesting things like Mammoth Hot Springs and stopping at several locations and just enjoying the park. We saw lots of buffalo, a few elk and that was about it. I have never in all my times of going to Yellowstone ever seen a bear. Interesting.

When we finally left the park we had one thought on our minds...a bed. We thought that we could push on to Bozeman, MT because when you get closer to home you just want to get home!! We planned to stop and stay the night there but we hadn't made reservations at a hotel. That was a huge mistake. Our night of a badly needed hotel happened to coincide with freshman orientation at Montana State University. Every single hotel was sold out!! Crap. By then we were starving and exhausted. We grabbed some food and thought about trying to keep pushing on to Butte, MT. But that was just not possible especially after driving all night the night before and being up all day. So we did the classy thing...NOT...we pulled into a Walmart parking lot and fell sound asleep. There was a huge thunderstorm that night and the lull of the thunder and the rain gave us a seriously refreshing night's sleep. The kids slept soundly and Tyler and I both slept like babies. We got up early and hit the road. We stopped for breakfast in Butte and headed for home as fast as possible. We got home at around 10:45am. We were just about to pull in when we noticed that our neighbor was trying to surprise us by mowing our lawn before we got home. Darn do-gooders. We had to drive around aimlessly until he was done so we didn't ruin his "surprise". Sweet idea though.

Here's what we looked like while waiting for him to be done so we could come home:

So we survived. We traveled in Tornado Alley during tornado season and didn't see a tornado and Yellowstone, much to Ailey's relief, didn't blow!! All in all, we had an absolutely fantastic time seeing this beautiful country of ours, spending time with family, and creating many memories.

Whew...and now I am done. :)

 Weekend Review

We had a busy weekend of birthday parties, dances, errands, winterizing the yard (blah), the Primary Program and family. One of the best things that has happened this past year is that we have had cousins move to Spokane. Yay!! My cousin, Justin, and his wife Hannah and their adorable family...which was super exciting...but my side of the family loves it up here so it wasn't a tremendous surprise. What was a HUGE surprise was that one of TYLER'S cousin's moved up here. That was completely unexpected. None of Tyler's family lives even remotely in this part of the country. We were super excited to have Angie and Dallin and their cute kids move up here. They were previously living in Minnesota and before that in Utah. It has been so much fun watching our kids get to know some of Tyler's extended family. All the rest are in Utah and our kids just don't get the chance to know them as well as my family...who are either close or who gather up here throughout the year.

This weekend Tyler's Uncle Lew and Aunt Marilyn and his cousin Kim were in town. We had so much fun over at Angie and Dallin's hanging out with them, catching up on family news, and laughing our heads off. This particular family has the best sense of humor and I love spending time with them!!

When I met Tyler I used to marvel that he was so unlike his own family. He looks different from them. His personality is different from theirs. His sense of humor is different. In fact, I would say that in his entire family...Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother and Tyler...not one of them is similar to any of the others. Not one. They are all completely unique and their own person. Looks,personality, and interests. It isn't a bad thing. It makes for great variety and diversity.  When Tyler was little he was absolutely CONVINCED that he was adopted. When he was little he made his mom actually show him pictures of her pregnant with him, in the hospital with him, and coming home with him. Even then he still had his doubts. Ha ha. I was so curious when Tyler and I started our family what our kids were going to look like since the Johnsons are all so diverse and my family has a definite family resemblance.

It was so fun when Tyler and I were dating and I met the Kofford family. THEY look like Tyler's long lost siblings!! Tyler's cousins Jon and Nate looked just like they could be his little brothers and Kim, in particular, looked just like she could be his sister...right down to the exact same shade of strawberry blonde red hair. They also have Tyler's sense of humor and many other shared characteristics. Isn't genetics the craziest thing? I love it!! I love looking for the things that get passed down through the generations...physical traits, interests, talents, humor, temperament etc. It is so fun.

Tyler and some of his look-alike-cousins...Angie and Kim

My camera's battery died and I need to order a new one asap. I hate iPhone pictures and these have the added benefit of being all instagramy...and weird...and the lighting was bad...but oh well. You get the idea, right?

 

Angie, Uncle Lew, Kim (in the back), Aunt Marilyn, Dallin (in the back), me and Ty

These are great people!! They have always made me feel a part of the family. They have always been so loving and welcoming...and they have never failed...not even once to make me laugh...HARD. If only you could see them all together. Hilarious. I am so grateful to be a part of the Kofford family.

(Even if as Uncle Lew just discovered...Wicked King Herod...happens to be their 68th great-grandpa. Ha ha. That might explain a few things...) 

Seriously cute cousins: Hannah, Bryn, Kam, Ailey and Alyssa

Alyssa had donned the footy jammies to impress her cousins with her KILLER stair sliding skills. The girl has some seriously talent. She flew!! They were VERY impressed...as were we. It seriously warmed my heart to hear them all downstairs laughing, playing, and having fun together. Love it.

Speaking of cute cousins...

Front Row: Bryn, Elle, and Jaylah. Back Row: Ailey and River

I told you guys I would post new wedding pictures as soon as some came my way. So if we aren't friends on Facebook here you go.

Aren't they the most darling flower girls you have ever seen? I just dearly love each and every one of them. They are quite the beauties.

 Kansas City Trip: Day 10

 The Day After

The day after the wedding we all slept in and had a fairly leisurely morning at the hotel. It was wonderful. We were planning to meet up with my family for brunch down on the Country Club Plaza. The weather was gorgeous. The sun was shining and the humidity was very low. Somehow we lucked out the whole time in KC and had hardly any humidity. Very unlike last summer when I thought I was going to keel over.

We met up with Kirk and Meki at Brio's Tuscan Grille. It was delicious!! It was fun to be able to relax and enjoy one another with all of the wedding preparations over and done. The food was great and company even better. I love my brother. He makes me laugh harder than anyone else on the planet and I miss him like crazy. We went ahead and ordered because the rest of the family was late due to drama the likes of which no one need ever know!! Am I right? :) Let's just say we were very glad to have stayed the past few days in a hotel. When we were finishing up with brunch my mom, Ken, Stacey, Kelley, River and Elle arrived. Unfortunately it was nearly time for Kirk and Meki to head to the airport. Darn it. So after a quick visit with the rest of the family it was time for them to say good-bye. I hate good-byes. I always cry like a baby and this time was no different...restaurant onlookers and all. I just really need Kirk and Jordi et al to move up here. I hate that they live so far away.

After Kirk and Meki left, Tyler and the kids and I left to spend a day on the plaza. We had an AWESOME time!! First stop...the Art Museum. I have a deep love of museums especially art museums. It stems from living in Springville, Utah for a few years during elementary school. In the summer, Stacey and I, would ride our bikes to the art museum and wander around for hours. My favorite painting was the one of the mother with two daughters. One daughter had blue eyes and one daughter had brown eyes and the mother had two different colored eyes. So cool. We loved it there!! My love was further solidified when I was 13 and my mom and I traveled to Washington DC and spent days at the Smithsonian. I was in heaven. Spokane has a very small art museum which I usually find sub par so anytime we travel and I have the opportunity to show great works of art to my children I jump on it. I want just want them to soak it up when they get the chance.

I love the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art!! I truly do. I have many fond memories of the place. I was giddy with excitement to go there. By the way...I was the only one. But oh well. I love the green lawn where we would listen to the symphony and have gourmet picnics in the summer. I actually went there on several dates with a particularly cultured boy named Matt who also took me to polo matches. Poor Matt ...I had to put an end to it though when we would constantly run into my parents...heaven forbid. Too many shared interests and run- ins with my parents was the kiss of death.

Anyway...

I LOVE the big badminton shuttlecock sculptures that are scattered on the grounds. They are so cool. We are big badminton fans and had to get up close and touch these amazing things. Word to the wise...don't do that. A voice came out of nowhere saying "Please do not touch the art...please step away from the sculptures". Bummer.

 Just soaking it all in...

Basking in the sunshine on a beautiful day

Inside was awesome. I could have stayed there for days and it truly would take days to see everything. We went to the Worlds Fair exhibit which was cool and then we wandered from room to room looking at the priceless paintings. It surprised our kids how often stories from the Bible were depicted in art and unlike me at that age they have excellent scripture knowledge of even some of the more obscure stories that were depicted in gorgeous paintings. I loved that and it gave them a vivid image to go along with the scriptures they know so well.

My favorite moment was when Ailey and I were walking around together and we stood gazing at a picture of the Crucifixion. It showed Christ in agony, nailed to the cross, bleeding...suffering. Ailey just stared at it wide-eyed. She couldn't take her eyes away. I just watched her, wondering what she was thinking, when she suddenly looked up at me and in a little voice choked with emotion said "He did that for me?"

What a beautiful moment to share with her, as my own eyes filled with tears, and I said "Yes, He did Ailey. That's how much He loves you." We could have packed up and gone home right then. Golden moment. Our children don't often see these brutal crucifixion pictures that are more common in other Christian faiths. Sometimes it is important that they do and that they "get" it...in all it's horror and violence...what the Savior suffered for them...for us.

Then after much too short a time for me and much too long a time for my children it was time to go. Tyler has promised me a nice long...adults only...visit when we come out for Jordin's graduation from Nursing School. I am going to hold him to that!!

Back on the plaza we soaked up the sun, the people, the sights and the gorgeous fountains. This is one of my very favorites. The J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain. My friends and I were always posing for pictures in front of this one in high school.

You will have to kindly ignore that fact that my garments are hanging out. I should have Tyler photo shop them out but I am too lazy. Oh well.

Ignore the garments here too. Clearly the sun has some kind of über-strength in the Midwest since we poor Pacific Northwesterners can't seem to take a picture outside and look normal with our overly sensitive eyes. Good grief. Clearly, we aren't used to that much sunshine!!

Then it was time to shop!!

Reilly's 1st Stop

A multi-level Forever 21. I have to admit it was pretty awesome. Luckily for Reilly she has a very generous daddy who bought her several cute things for school. It was fun to spoil her a bit and watch her running around like a kid in a candy store.


We had a great fun-filled day as we strolled the plaza together. Then it was back to the hotel for a little rest and relaxation...and to pack...so that we could leave the next day. The day ended with a party at the Bubblemart which is a laundromat. Tyler and I met my mom there who was doing about 40 loads of laundry. We were later joined by Jordin, Ramon, Jaylah, and RJ. The party eventually moved to a bench outside the Bubblemart as we laughed and laughed until it got late. Who knew you could have so much fun at the laundromat?