Making a Tree Fort with Grandma

Grandma's Last VisitGrandma helps us begin our journey of making a tree fort. The first board goes up. Grandma is the master mind, and Scott is the muscle man. Kids do the tedious work of driving nails which they enjoy.


At first the kids were scared to climb up on top of it, thinking it would break, but when Grandma got up there all worries ceased. I was told later that even Evalily climbed up without help, and Grandma turned around and she was there. We may have to make a pull up ladder to make it safer.

Scott has a bunch of work to do to complete it, but at least there is a start.

Fall Time

The Annual Frewing Raking Day

Raking downhill is always a good suggestion. That is what I am doing, just pushing the leaves downhill with the back of the rake.

Evalily wants to help out with raking this year, which is wonderful if she would not rake right next to me, and pulling all of the leaves out of the piles I create.

We were so excited that the previous owners left us a "leaf picker-upper" with the lawn mower we requested, hoping not having to rake anymore. However, when we attempted to use it, there was too many leaves, and we would have had to dump out the contents every 5 feet. So we ended up using our tarp method we learned in Minnesota. So it has taken 2 full Saturdays to rake, and not all the leaves have fallen yet, so we may have one more left. I guess it is the price you pay for having mature trees around your property.

The tarp method always has it's positive points, according to Evalily. Cat is not so appreciative of the free ride. Evalily is trying to insure there is no escape for kitty. We roped Grandma into helping rake leaves too.

Adryann joins in on the way down, she can not resist a free ride.

The we play parachute in the strong wind. Once the wind yanked Scott to the ground. Wind is very powerful, we attest having lived in Tornado Alley for a few years.

Anniversary Exerpts

This weekend Scott and I celebrated our anniversary, #12. He surprised me and got his mom to babysit the kids. We went to Silverwood amusement park. That was a blast. I rode all the rides, even the one that went 70 mph, with 6 twists in it. That one made Scott sick for a day, despite the motion sickness medicine he had taken. That ride was exhilerating. But my favorite ride was the squirrel cages. That was really fun. Towards the evening we rode a water ride, and we got soaked head to foot, but it was still fun. I was freezing after getting wet, so we went back to the Bed and Breakfast place Scott rented. It was about 10 pm and we went out to look at the stars on the deck in some chairs. Around 11:30, we heard this loud gutteral HISSSSS sound only 25 feet away from us. i have never seen Scott so scared, he was running so fast and left me in the dust, but he did open the door for me to our room.

Scott was so scared he couldnt shut and lock the door, because my coat was in the way. I thought the wild animal was trying to get into our room, as Scott frantically struggled with the door. The animal made the sound 5 times as we were running to the room and trying to lock the door. It was so dark, no moonlight, so we couldnt see it. Prior to this, we were talking about wolves in Idaho, and cougar traveling route (an issue in the National Geographic I read). As we lay panting in our locked room, we couldnt for the life of us figure out what animal makes the sound. It was definately a big one, since it was so loud. The next morning as we sat around the kitchen table for breakfast with the other guests at the bed and Breakfast place, we asked the owner about the sound, and he said it was probably a moose.

That was so funny when I think about it, I nearly cry remembering it. The next day we went on a 16 mile bike ride on a paved bike trail. It was 8 miles downhill, and then 8 miles uphill. We stopped at a big lake, and there was a bike bridge over the lake. There were a lot of bikers on the trail. and this older lady, passed us going back up the hill, as I was huffing and puffing up the hill. She says as she passes us, "This is my first time doing this ride." I was thinking what is wrong with me?

Eagle Cap Wilderness Hike

Eagle Cap Wilderness

Starting out in the morning, at least we beat the pack llamas on the trail. No one wants to follow behind animals.

I opted for the frame pack full of waters, lunch and Scott's fishing gear. Scott drew the short straw and had to pack Evalily. Although in the end she walked some of the way, so it wasn't too bad for him. I cinched the pack waist strap too tight and I had a heat rash around my middle when I got to the top. I was trying to carry the weight of the pack solely on my hips, saving my shoulders. Something to learn for next time.

Hey a sign, though it doesn't say how much father the destination is.

Note to self, make Aaryn and Izaak carry more waters, as they were yards and yards ahead of us.

Son helping his mom cross a stream on a precarious bridge.

No Bridge here, 50 feet of water on the trail. I wish that my pack was not so heavy as I walked barefoot on these granite rocks, and ice cold water.

We made it to the meadows. Such a beautiful place. Aaryn is happy to be at our end.


Adryann likes the cool place to soak her tootsies. This is her first big hike and she did 10 miles round trip. We are real proud of her.

Lunch time, what a nice bench, Brian relaxes near the bend in the stream. The kids were excited to play in snow patches and had a snowball fight in July.

No luck fishing for Scott, resigns to watching Evalily and Izaak wading.











Evalily finds some flowers as her shorts dry over the fire since she slipped.

Aaryn caught the only fish of the day and nice brook trout. What a shock he got. Dad got real excited, but no bites for him.

Westward Travels

We reached the Badlands of South Dakota.

Adryann by this time has thrown up 10 times in a bucket, luckily (I mean, she hit the bucket and not the floor of the van), while driving with me in the van. She puts on a good smile for posterity.

The kids enjoy getting out of the truck and van to explore the area. Lots of trails and cairns to follow.

Izaak brought the best shoes, Flip Flops, for climbing and scaling the gravely edges. He still manages to defy the laws of gravity.

Aaryn hankers down for the night in a little cubbie he found.

Evalily rides into the sunset on her newly found pony.

The boys wanted to climb on top of this plateau at little ways away from us. I told them to watch out for rattlesnakes, and make it there and back before we made it to the trail head, and somehow they did.

Evalily with one of her cute smiles. Wouldn't you know this would happen along our hike. Luckily no one was around.

The Next Day was Mount Rushmore!

The kids were eager to get onto the caves, Scott took the boys and Adryann on an advanced Lantern Tour through Jewel Cave. It was 2 hours long of darkness, nooks and crannies to crawl through. Adryann said the tightness didn't bother her, as she was the smallest person on the tour. The light of day was a strange sight after this tour. The next day we all went on a regular tour through Wind Cave. The boys were not impressed with this cave, compared to their last experience. However, Evalily insisted on climbing up and down 429+ stairs unaided. We thought tunneling through the ground was second nature to her.

The kids enjoyed our hotel here, with a giant water slide and full service breakfast.

That was basically our vacation, with 2 more days of driving through Montana and Washington. When we got to the TriCities at our apartment, Evalily said that she wanted to go home. It was sad.

Goodbye Glenwood, We will miss you!!!!

It is a miracle it all fit, that is what basically stressed us out. After packing for a week, you wonder if there will ever be an end to the boxes and crap. Last time we moved someone else did everything, and that was no stress at all. It was a sad day to leave our Dream House and lovely trees, and friends from our ward. Everything is green and lush in Iowa, and knowing we were headed for the dessert was hard to stomach. I think that our cat had the worst trip of her life. 5 days in the Uhaul, DON'T ASK! Scott nearly strangled her 1/2 to Washington. The kids took turns riding in the Uhaul with Dad, and they thought that was exciting, especially Dad's treats he stashed in the Truck (Oreos, Pop, candy bars). I drove the van 45 to 50 mph behind the truck, and stopped at ever rest stop between Iowa and Washington, for little bladdered, Evalily. Scott wanted to put a diaper on Evalily, but she refused to go pee in the diaper, what a good girl I trained so well. There are actually some nice rest stops I would recommend if anyone is interested.




Our Last Hurrah in Minnesota, at least for a while. What a great place to live, also! These are some of our friends that we hiked around Bassett Creek Park. The kids played on a giant gravel/ sand mountain there. We went to Minnesota one week before we moved, and it was sure refreshing to leave utter chaos (my semi-packed house).

Evalily, the little sweet girl, plays princess all day long. Although, she is a funny looking princess with a marshmallow stuffed in her mouth and going for more at the same time.

Aaryn and his best buddy Trevor, these two were connected at the hip. Their favorite activity together was riding bikes over jumps and down dirt roads. One day they helped the neighbors and fireman put out a grass fire that got away. Each got sprayed with the fire hose from the fireman and came back looking like a drowned rat.

Izaak and Henry run wild in the lawn. Sugar always does that for some strange reason. Izaak loved to spend the night at Henry's house, because Henry has the Wii and his mom makes the best food ever, a gourmet cook.

Memorial Day Picnic in our backyard, with friends, Adryann and Ty. Ty knows just how to cook those marshmallows.

Happy Birthday to Aaryn! 10 years old now, so big. I made a gigantic chocolate cake, 3 layers and 3 kinds of chocolate. Aaryn got a big Lego Star Wars set. He is such a great kid. I love him.

Recently, in April, the Aaryn was down at the neighbors house watching and hauling water and helping burn the tall dry grass. The burning was getting a bit carried away, in the eyes of one of Aaryn's friends. So the kid went home and called 911. The firetruck came and then there was only a small part burning, so a fireman asked Aaryn if he wanted to be hosed down. Aaryn was drenched. He had a fun time doing that.

Aaryn likes to bike around the neighborhood, up and down the gravel roads after school. He is getting really good at shooting his BB gun.

Izaak turned 8 this year, and was baptised. He is a very special boy. We are so proud of him. He got a new set of scriptures, green leather with gold writing. He had some family come to witness the event: Grandma Waite, Ori with Caleb and Wesley, and Joseph and Ivy. Dad baptised him and confirmed him on March 28, 2009, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The water was really cold because we had to fill the font in a hurry. Ivy played her violin most beautifully. Grandma and I spoke. Ori played the piano, and Joseph and Aaryn said the prayers. It was a good program, with treats afterwards.

Adryann is now 6 years old and is as sweet as ever. She is excited for school to be out and to be able to play at home. She is sweet as honey. She is a speedy girl and can out run most people in her class. She is a joy in our lives. I kind of created this hideous cake, but of course it was Adryann's dream come true, pink frosting with lots of candy on top.

Adryann is my little sunshine girl. She loves being outside in her fort she created with Izaak. It is amazing all the addins they have created. She loves nature and exploring outdoors. She is so fun to have around.

Last is dearest Evalily, she was so excited for her party and knew what to expect after watching her siblings going through the motions. She was so excited to open her presents that she would not eat a bite of her cake or ice cream, strange girl. She loved all her presents. It was fun to watch her open them and be so happy.

She is starting potty training now. She is doing pretty good in the morning time, and gets a piece of candy when she goes in the potty. The afternoons are busy though, and we still have some hits and misses. She is a smart girl and it wont take her long to figure it all out. I am excited to move her to a toddler bed soon. She will like having a bed like everyone else, but I wonder if she will stay in it, especially during naptimes.

Evalily is my little tag along. I love having her with me. She is so fun to be with. I love her lots.

Spring Egg Hunt

Evalily, Mariah, Adryann, Izaak, Aaryn, and Kevin, On Your Marks, Get Set, Go!!!!