Cassie is 8!

8 years ago today Cassie was born!! She is growing so fast and is such a good big sister. We have a fun day planned!! We are doing a little bowling then going to a baptism, then cake and ice cream after dinner. Happy Birthday Cassie Bear!

She can see!

Jessica is seeing better these days. Her school did the vision screening test and suggested we get her eyes checked. So in we went. I was speechless when the my eye dr office told me how much a childs eye examination is... $225.00!! What??!! I checked around and that is the going rate if you don't have vision coverage! I was outraged. We happened to stop by fred meyer for a few things, and there is vista optical right there. I stopped and talked to them and they said if Jessie is able to communicate well that they could do a regular examine for $65. That was music to my ears. Jessie did well and the dr was very kind and patient. The dr says she can see fine up close but things in the distance are a blurry mess. So after a few fun trips to different places to check out out their frames, we finally decided on two pairs from costco. We picked them up on Tuesday and she is so proud of them!!

Treat or treat

Our 50's girlies.




Big Grandma and Grandpa brought Lane and joined us for the trunk or treat/chili cook off for our ward for the 2nd year!
We got 3rd place in the chilicook off!!! The kids got soo much candy there!! They had some game rooms too, with a haunted maze. There was a brother dressed as an ape at the door. Ben and Abby would not go anywhere near him!! Ben would not even open his eyes, he would just say, "scared momma scared".

Jer took the kids out on Monday, they went to a few friends homes for their halloween experience. We have some neighbors who wanted to scare the trick or treaters. So the son, who is 6'5" tall put out a strobe light and he dressed in a red and black costume that didn't have a face... it was creepy. He would stand stone still with the bowl of candy by his feet and wait until kids got right there, and he would move! So many kids were beyond scared! The neighbor came over just after jer left with the kids and said he didn't want to scare our kids, and gave me a bag of treats for them. I didn't tell Jer, so they went over there and they got so scared. Halloween treated us good, it was a lot of fun!... anybody need any candy?!

A few fun picts...

Ben loved the duck races.
We went to the pumpkin patch with some of our primary friends.
Here we are with the cousins.
Jessie showing us how to use the rope swing.

The kids at Other Grandmas and Grandpas.

Daddy's Blue truck

Its time we say good bye to "daddy's blue truck." Jer posted it on craigslist and sold it yesterday. It is sad, Jer put a lot of time and way too much money into that thing. It sure was fun to drive... there is nothing like driving an old, loud, bumpy, truck, but Jer said as a daily driver it was too much! We will miss you blue truck!

Catching up...

We will fill you in on a few highlights of the summer. We had a garden again this year, we planted the usual and somethings did amazingly great while others barely came up. We are grateful for all we were able to eat and can/freeze because of the garden. Garden fresh is the best.
The Kids got a kitten from a friend in the ward.
Jeremy wanted to name him C.S. Lewis (C.S. standing for coyote snack) and just call him Lewis. I thought that would be a little bit of a bad omen for the poor little guy, so they named him after a cat in one of Cassies favorite books, Baxter. He is living at big Grandmas house enjoying the freedoms of a barn cat. He is quite the cat. Ben loves him, especially. Baxter has grown so big that when Ben picks him up Baxters back legs drag on the ground.

We took a trip to Lake Chelan in the motorhome in June. It was a fantastic trip. Chelan is now one of our favorite places. The motorhome was great, it used a lot of gas, but it was fun to use it. Ben fell out of the motorhome the first night and this was his damage!! He has a pretty good scar! We went to a waterslide park, went to the beach, rode go carts, played put put golf, hiked and just hung out and had fun. We really liked the rv park we stayed it.

Jer and I had the opportunity to go on Trek in August. The kids stayed with other grandma and the cousins were there too! They had so much fun they didn't want to come home. We had a great time on trek too. We love the youth we had in our family and just overall had a ton of fun and it was a very spiritual experience.

Tucker E. Johnson passed away on Sept 4, 2011 in a car accidnet. Tucker was always very happy, fun loving and loved everyone he met, especially children. Some said he was an "old soul," having abilities to love and understand things, beyond his years. He also had one of the biggest smiles we have ever seen and he was always wearing it. We will miss him very much, but we know he is beside his mom doing a greater work. We love you Tucker!

Cassie and Jessie started school on Sept 7th. Jessie is in the first grade and Cassie is in second.

Cassie was so excited because she got the teacher she always wanted!! A few weeks into school, they had to shuffle some classes around and Cassie got a different teacher. She was heart broken. But you ask her now and she loves her new teacher!! Abby is still home with mom, no preschool this year. She is doing well. Her and Ben are so cute palin around. She loves to help me cook and take care of Ben. Ben is going like crazy. I always wondered what that phrase "all boy" meant, but I am learning. He loves to run, jump, climb, he does stuff Abby doesn't dare do. He likes tractors and trucks. He just likes to be loud and silly. two things haven't changed... his smile and his love for his dad.


Our last big bang was a hunting/camping trip to Winthrop. If you haven't been it is a fun little town. We stayed for 3 nights/ four days. Jer hunted and we camped. My dad, Jason, Jamie, Matt and Matt and Brandon came as well as Rich and Krista. They got 4 deer total,3 doe and 1 buck, Jers being the biggest doe.
The kids were very interested in seeing the deer when they got back to camp. We played games, went exploring, hiking, went to the museum and checked out the town. We also shivered our teeth out at night and kept a vigilent eye for rattlesnakes and cougar (maybe that was just me)! It was fun and we were glad Jer got his deer!!

Easter Weekend

Well Easter was a week ago, but that doesn't mean I cannot write about it. We started our Easter weekend out with a bang! Sophie and Elisabeth (Krista's nieces) were up visiting her. Well Friday was the last day that we could visit with them so we got up extra early and went to say out good byes.:( I decided to let Cassie stay home and help me get a few things done. Also they were spending the night at my moms and I didn't want to pull her out of school early, again! So we ran to the store to grab a few last minute items and Cass was telling everyone, as in strangers in the store, who she is, how old, and that she got to stay home while her sister had to go to school. Jessie choose to go to school because they were having an easter party. This is her fine easter bonnet that she made!! Anyway we died eggs, made cinnamon rolls and had a great time on Friday. I left the kids and Jer and I attended the temple with a few couples from the ward and we did sealings. That was amazing!!! (Is that okay to post about temple work?!) The next day Jer and I had trek training. We learned to build shelters, tie knots and cook in a dutch oven. We also learned how to prepare physically. It was really fun and interesting. We finished Saturday off with some yard work and baths. Sunday was good. The easter bunny brought some gifts of spring to the kids, some flip flops, sunglasses a book and ben got his first John Deere hat. Joanie took our picts and we had a great dinner at my moms. I really enjoyed Primary this month talking about the Savior and contemplating the atonement. I am grateful for my Heavenly Father and his unconditional love for us. I am grateful for Him sending a Savior for us and for Christs willingness to suffer and die for us. I am grateful for the ability to be resurrected and to have eternal life. I am grateful to all you who are such wonderful influences and teachers of the gospel. Thank you.