Memorial Day

We have a tradition at Memorial Day to go to a Memorial Service. They take place all over the city starting at 7:00am, 8:00am, etc. Well at 9:00am we went to Rose Hill Cemetary to attend the service. At the end of the service they do the 21 gun salute. Our friend and neighbor Lyle Moss is a Veteren and has been a part of the salute for years. He passed away recently and we really missed seeing him. I know his family misses him deeply as well. Surprisingly, my children really enjoy this tradition. Even though we don't have any family graves to visit, we do know a few people and they like to read about people they don't know. We also always have donuts after since it is breakfast time.

 

 
After the service we decided to go to Jackson Hole Wyoming for the day. They have a new activity center swimming pool that we had heard of and was very reasonably priced. On our way to Jackson, we stopped at this waterfall that Jeff discovered a few months ago. If you know the name of this place please let me know. It was so beautiful. I would not recommend it for small children, but our big kids could have stayed a while. We really had to gaurd Olivia and Natalie. I realized that it was the same waterfall that we floated by when we did our float for
Adventure camp. It is on the Snake River after or before the Reservoir. We climbed in the caves and it was awesome. Our children only climbed down a little, but we were wondering if their was a safe way down. If you know what I'm talking about I would really like some more details.

The Activity Center Swimming area ended up having two water slides and various other fun activities for the kids. It was totally worth it. Sorry, no swimming suit pictures. Then we went to a few shops in Jackson. It was a great day.

Something Funny is Going on in our Neighborhood.

The other day Jeff and I were sitting on the couch relaxing after Jeff had come home from work. I looked out my window and couldn't believe what I saw. Three little girls(not my children), were jumping on the tramp, each with a snake in their hands. It was as if they were holding a kitten, minus the fur and they were long and skinnny. I though "What is going on in our neighborhood?" I had to laugh because I know that Kyle has been catching snakes all week and has been sharing them with the neighborhood. If you feel left out please contact me. So I'm pretty sure that the parents in the neighbor hood are mad at the Jones. How do you stop this kid? He eats, sleeps and breathes snakes. You probably didn't realize that we could possible have that many snakes in the neighborhood. If you are wondering, they are non-poisonous water snakes and after playing with them for a few days, and storing them in a bucket outside, most were returned to the ditch/canal. For your information Kyle caught 12 snakes last week. What can I say, when you have one boy in a house of 5 girls I'd rather have him playing outside with his snakes than watching Barbie movies. He also loves to collect bugs. He has influenced Kristen and Natalie to not fear bugs or snakes hence the picture of Kristen with the snake around her neck. You may voice your complaints if you must.

Oh the Dread..

Ok, today I was planning on having Olivia's picture taken to preserve the last of her wild hair days. Well my friend/photographer had a sick child. Normally I'd just not worry about it, but then I realized Olivia doesn't have a scratch, bruise or permanent marker on her face and she currently doesn't have a runny nose. It's a gorgeous day with no wind, I gotta do it. Now Olivia is a trick. Every time she sees the camera, she puts her head down or turns the other way. I had already told the kids that we were taking pictures and had bribed them with ice cream afterwards. So we began and walked around the neighborhood to find the best shade. After the initial pictures, I just followed Olivia as she picked dandelions. Then we ended in my house. Now this was not as bad as I had expected. I think it was because we had set aside a time to do it with a goal and zero expectations. I literally hoped for one good one of Olivia.

Oh the dread was not so bad. I love to take pictures, but don't know many people who like to have them taken. What is the deal? I mean you do have to get dressed up, or at least comb your hair, then do that 5 more times with children. Then people can't fight or argue and have to stand still. Then the photographer usually pushes it to get just one more picture. You feel weird, and fear you'll possible look weird when you're done, and what if you look weird and have to send it to 50 people in your Christmas card. Your kids never cooperate. The parents are usually completely stressed out the whole time and it happens to affect the kids. I mean ,who wouldn't want their picture taken?

 

Pictures of Liv and Nat