Zoo Field Trip

A day with friends and animals.

Giant Garden Fun

Avery watching the "thinker."

We studied the white rhino our first week of home school. Of course they were across the Savanna from us. Pretty hard to see but still cool.

These guys were pretty fun to watch.

Thinking Moments

Homeschooling Payton has it's ups and downs. Even the hard days are worth every minute and I am really loving spending more time with him. One thing I really enjoy is seeing how his mind works. Really I am in awe most of the time and can't wait for Justin to come home to relay our daily discoveries.
So last Monday he gave us a little glimpse into how he can apply ideas and concepts to other areas and it actually makes sense (most of the time). During our Family Home Evening we were talking about the 10 commandments for a little while and as we talked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy we talked about what this means to us and how we want to follow it. Well after a few minutes of discussing how we can keep it holy and that it is special day Payton had another light bulb moment.
He said "It is the same as the money thing."
Me, "What do you mean?"
Payton, "Well God gives us everything and we give just one tenth of our money back as tithing. It is just a little bit. And then he gives us a whole week and only ask that we give him one day back. It is like a day we give back as a tithe."
Me and Justin looked at each other a bit surprised. I have to admit I was a little shocked. I don't think I ever thought of that, it makes sense now, I just don't think I ever compared the two before or thought there was any correlation. I don't remember the last time we even talked about tithing, except maybe in his Sunday School class weeks ago. I really like the way his brain thinks and can digest school, life and the gospel. It really opens my eyes.

Priest Lake- the view from the water

Here are the adventures from our waterproof camera we finally got developed. It was a simple cheap camera, and I worry we will have a hard time finding film for it but this first picture makes it all worth it.

Grandpa Ron snorkeling.

The great wrestling match on the water. Fun to watch.

Grandpa Ron giving Payton a scare.

Payton and his friend Joseph U.

Mermaid Avery

Elena and Avery at the pool.

Homeschool day 15

(or something like that)

Yep our school was disrupted when I took a break to water the garden and was shocked by the remains of certain plants. So I went on a bug squishing spree which brought me to my tomatoes that were doing amazing. Of course on that day they looked half gone and with some more investigation I found these monsters. So our lesson switched from books to nature. Sadly I can't support all these guys. I still want some tomatoes.
(Ms. Nelson aka- Jill would be proud. She taught the life cycle of a butterfly when we were in Washington this summer. You should have been here.)



Something like Wild Cherry Sphinx (moth) Caterpillars

We believe these are Black Swallowtail (butterfly) caterpillars.

These guys liked my parsley and carrots. :(

So now for the funny twist. Monday night Avery had a friend over for our Family Night. So when we went outside to say goodnight I noticed a frog sitting in front of the Caterpillar cage. He looked like a little boy sitting in front of a Candy shop. So the whole family came out to see the toad. We thought it was so funny we took out a Caterpillar to see if that was indeed what he was staring at. We watched and watched and indeed he has one FAST tongue. So we tried it again and we still had a hard time seeing it. We all thought it was funny and figured 2 huge caterpillar was enough for the little guy and we went in. Well Tuesday night we had a late night missing item so I ran out to the van to look for it and was surprised to see Mr. Toad back to his spot sitting in front of the caterpillar door with his begging eyes and patient pose. So Avery and Payton weren't quiet asleep so I let them come back out and see him again. Again he helped us with our caterpillars population problem and we watched his hunting skills. He is very endearing and I had a laugh at Payton's new concern. "Mom what is going to happen to our new toad when we move?" We have been avoiding having a pet,(except for the short bunny incident) for these reasons. If I see him tonight I will try and snap a picture of our new friend.

They MUST be Related

Yeah we got the family together for a little bit this summer.

I wish I was a better photographer but I think they will do.

Jared, SERIOUSLY, thank you for lending us this awesome girl.

This photo shoot was much more exciting then JCPenny's!

Some grand- kids

Everyone but Grandma and Grandpa, Amy, Addison, and Jared. We missed you guys!