summer has officially started

Springdale Farm

Monday I spent the afternoon with 14 kids at the farm. Very fun....very SMELLY!

Am had been telling Ab all morning how smelly it was. She took the same field trip 2 years ago and she still remembers. I knew it would be smelly, but I wasn't prepared for it really.

Oh my it was bad. After a few minutes one of the cute little boys said "it's not so bad anymore now that I am used to it." Our tour guide said "good because this is as good as it is going to get. Our barn cleaner broke this morning and when we go in it is really going to stink" I was wishing I hadn't signed up for this one. :)

Here are all the cows. It wasn't as bad as she made it sound. The little room where we watched the milking was worse. Thankfully this was really the worse part and we had a lovely time after.

This is Ricky

he is a 6 year old, 800 pound pig. When we told Am about the pig when we got home she said "wow that is going to be some pretty good bacon!"

we got to pet a rooster

a duckling

a chick

listen to a bunny's heart

climb on the hay

see baby goats

Here is Ab with the farm Border Collie guess what her name was?
What a fun fun day.

more Old Forge

guess what she is doing?

The kids love to climb up all the huge boulders around the campground

in town

he does have eyes I promise. We cut around them so the poor dog could see.

This was our first hike together. Chris and Cooper had gone on one earlier in the day up to a fire tower. We had to drive down a closed dirt road to find this place.

the walk was half on a trail and half on a boardwalk.

Here is the end of the line. It was VERY quiet here.

It kind of freaked the kids out how eerily quiet it was.

Here is our second hike the next day. Rocky Mountain. It was only .6 miles, but it was tough. OK it was only tough for the sick mama. The kids, dad, and dog did great.

well worth it. Isn't is beautiful.

See that small island behind her?

look close...there is a house on it. The kids decided it would be so cool to have a house there.

I only had a small not so good camera so all the many pictures I took of the amazing view didn't turn out so well. I loved this one of them. They really enjoyed the view.

just as we were leaving this man came up and pulled out his binoculars and offered them to the kids. He was a brave soul! They were nice ones and with all the kids jumping saying I want a turn it freaked Chris and I out a bit. :) No harm done and they loved looking through them.

the ride home is always a quite one. Everyone is ready for a nap. I love it because then Chris and I get to just talk. No interruptions.

this shirt says it all!

peace

Where do you go in a house with 5 kids for a nap without interruptions?

under the bed!
(please don't look at the dust)

The Best Mom EVER

Today is Mothers Day as you know. Here is my beautiful mother.

I have never once doubted her love for me or my siblings

She always made me laugh (maybe not when I was a teenager)

but she was always there having fun with us

she has a strong testimony and love of the gospel

Who would have thought she would become my best friend

she ALWAYS puts us first....in everything.

she is pretty much the best mom in the world

So today I say thanks mom. I feel blessed to have you as my mother. I don't know what I would do or where I would be without you. The only thing I don't like about you is that you live 2000 miles away! I wish I could be there with you today. I love you and miss you even more. I am so happy Families are Forever. xoxo