Backpacking anyone?

We went to the school garage sale this weekend and guess what we found?


That's right! We FINALLY bought a hiking backpack for Crystal!! And the best part is that we paid only $40 for it!!


Alright mountains, we are ready for ya!!

Battle of the Sexes

For our ward activity this month, we did dinner/game night - "Battle of the Sexes" Double Dare style. So while the families ate their dinner, they watched a group of us play the game.
Here are a group of my fun friends and our lovely babies.
Left to Right ~ Larissa, Michelle, Carrie, Me, Rachael


The Lovely Ladies


The Genial Gents


In these two pics, we had to be the ones who Drank the cup of CHOCOLATE PUDDING, through RED VINES first.
..I'm not the BIGGEST fan of chocolate
...I RARELY enjoy pudding
.....So the two together = DISGUSTING!!!

Can't you tell how excited I was?


Brian helping out, which gave them the win by one second!


Another group challenge was finishing a watermelon before the other team...if you look close enough, you can see our little helper...thank you Crystal ;)


Some of team physical challenges included ~

Egg-Drop Crab Walk


Bubble Gum Blowing...after finding iin whipped cream
Looking for my piece of gum.

Michelle chewing her gum.


Water Balloon Catching
Carrie throwing Beth a balloon


Beth trying to catch Carries ballon


Peanut Catching
Ben trying to catch the peanut in his mouth


Double Dutch Jump Rope


To say the least, we had a GREAT time. If you're wondering what happened to our little girl...we have Larissa and Mike to thank! They were SO great and willing to watch her! THANK YOU!!

Brian's grad cohort

Brian's grad group had a few BBQs last week which turned out to be a lot of fun. Here are a few pics -

Crystal on the playground rockers

I dont think Brian will ever grow out of his young boy at heart - it makes life that much more enjoyable!! ;)

I think this was ten minutes later...She's still excited. hehe


My two baybas walking around the park.


The rest of these were taken on Kamiak Butte. You can take a small hike to the top and see the surrounding area.

If you look in the distance, you can see Moscow on the top left (mostly hidden) and Pullman to the right.


I think someone was a little tired afterward. :)

And finally, this is Brian's cohort; it will be a fun group to be in the program with.

Family Visitors~Hurray!

Brian's older sister Sara, and his two nieces (Kendall and Taylor) came to spend the weekend with us. It's been full of fun times and we love having them here. Here are a few pics of what we've done thus far.

We went to the National Lentil Festival held here in Pullman, which was so neat! I was amazed at the many things they had for children...ALL FREE!! (inflatable toys, cotton candy, chili from the World's Largest Bowl) hehe We had a great time there!!

The WORLD"S LARGEST bowl of Lentil Chili.


Crystal was more than excited (to say the least) to see Sarah, who's been one of her favorite people. They were inseparable for the rest of the night. So this is Sara and Crystal sharing some chili.




Brian and the girls also eating their chili.

Taylor and Kendall ready to race in the inflatable obstacle course.


At the finish line.



We also took the girls to the water park, which was most definitely the highlight of their trip.
From left to right we have Kendall, Sara, Taylor


Crystal was still attached to Sara


Kendall couldnt get enough of the big water slides.

And Taylor LOVED the frog slide

Becky coming off of one of the slides

Brian taking Crystal up the water castle

A few more random pics...





And of course we cant forget the nightly face masks...
if you cant tell by the pics, Brian was MORE than excited to join in the fun!! hehe

What? A NEW look?

Okay - are you ready for this one...
**TA DA**


Welcome to my new look!! I wanted a fun change and Rachael, one of our friends is a cosmetologist and was more than happy to help. She did GREAT, and yes, I LOVE it! Thanks Rach!!


AND....This is Crystal's new talent-
sneaking into the fridge and eating her "BuBa" (blueberries)...we're DOOMED!! ;)

Making the best of Change

Seeing that Brian doesnt start school until next week, we've had the past few weeks to explore the Pullman/Moscow area and these are some of our favorite things to do around here.
First (but really in no order) we really enjoy going to the Farmer's Market in Moscow on Saturday mornings. We love walking around and trying new foods, along with enjoying the bands playing in the background.


This last time we went, Crystal "bought" her own bracelet. :) The lady selling them thought she was adorable! It was super cute!



Crystal also really enjoyed the free snow cones that some church was handing out. Yummy Yummy!!


Second (but probably MOST favorite) would be the swimming pools they have around here. Our favorite pool is in Moscow, and is SOOO much fun! They have an infants pool, lazy river, regular pool, and the best part (ther than Crystal's pool) is the HUGE tube and body slides!! But the best part of it all is that it only cost $5!!! You cant beat that deal.

They have a pool specifically catering to infants where the water goes from nothing and slowly deepens, giving plenty of crawlers and new walkers room to play. Crystal had a hard time walking through the water at first, but she was too excited to realize it. lol

But as long as she sat (which never lasted long) she did great.


Her favorite toy was by far the Froggy slide.

But for some reason, she wasnt too fond of the floor water fountains
These are a few of our friends, Rachael, Michael, and their little Hazel.



And LAST, but probably the COOLEST - (drum roll...) We live one mile away from grizzly bears!! What...did I just say that? Yes - indeed I did. It's a grizzly bear conservation and research project where they're raising half a dozen of them. It's so much fun to drive past and see them playing aroud with each other. We only have a few pics of them though.