Fishing with Grandpa

For the Stimpson (my maiden name) Family Reunion we went camping in Cascade, ID. The highlights of the trip were definately fishing with Grandpa and swinging in the hammock. If you know my Dad fishing is his favorite hobby and he does it at least once a week. Growing up we always had fish frys and my Dad has cooked them about every way possible with every kind of fish. (it is sad to him that he has a daughter (me) who does not like the taste or smell of fish). Grandpa was great with the kids though and would take turns letting the kids reel in the fish. They were only little perch so the kids were able to handle it by themselves which they thought was great. Stephen also learned (thanks to his cousin Kadon) how to give bunny ears during a photo which he now thinks is hilarious.

Stephen and Kadon were pretending to be caterpillars in a cocoon.

A neighboring town near our campsite had a very nice beach area and playground for the kids so we all went there to play in the water. During lunch time Jack fell asleep while eating on the picnic bench so I layed him on a towel in the sand.
It was a great time taking the kids camping with so many cousins to play with. I think there were 17 cousins total.

After ONLY three days of driving We are back in D.C...

We have arrived back home after driving through some of the most beautiful and then some of the most desolate states in the U.S. Below are the pictures of the fun times we spent with the family in Idaho. For the whole three weeks, I felt we were going nonstop with my sisters wedding, a camping trip/family reunion, a baby blessing and then of course the highly acclaimed Declo Days... The kids enjoyed all of their cousins and we all got pretty close and personal staying in my mother's house with 15 grandchildren and 12 adults!! Although it was crazy it was very memorable and fun...



Uncle Alex bandaged up Stephen's leg when he got hurt and apparently went overboard with the bandages. Jack thought it was pretty funny and wanted a turn also...



Apparently my younger brother is a very Manly Man who knows how to knit. He made this dunce hat himself and Stephen decided he wanted to model it.



My sisters and I took our kids to a water park. It was really fun to see the boys have such a great time with cousins.





There are many more photos to come . . . so stay tuned!

Finally a post....

Sorry for the lack of posts. Since the kids and I are still in Idaho we have had little time to update. (and for some reason Matt just isn't into blogging.) Just recently I finally got a professional to take some photos of the boys and thought that they turned out really cute. I could be biased but they sure are handsome. The boys also got together for a photo of all the grandkids on Matt's side of the family. We also did photos of all the grandkids on my side of the family so stay tuned for that and many more posts of our trip to Idaho. In the meantime babe we miss you and the boys can't wait to see there Daddy!!

The Debate is Over and the Winner is....

We Are Moving to New York!!

Preschool Graduation

Congratulations to our little graduates. After doing eight weeks of preschool together Stephen and Jack had a little graduation celebration. A couple of ladies and I got together and we all took turns teaching a preschool class in our homes. It was fun to watch how they both interacted with other kids in a school setting. It was also very nice to have a two hour break every week. We were going to continue doing it in the Fall but as mentioned in the post above we are headed to New York.

Thanks to Anna who made the graduation cap and certificates!!

The Great Debate...

Congratulations to my husband! He was just accepted to New York University for his Tax LLM. He was also accepted to Georgetown back in April, so . . . now we have a decision to make. We either stay in D.C. to go to Georgetown or move to the big city and go to NYU. I have never been to New York so it would be a very exciting adventure but on the other hand we love where we live and our friends here (especially our ward) and it would be hard to leave. Just last night I said that we should pray about it and fittingly today's lesson in church was on prayer. So we shall see...

Georgetown



NYU

I CAN SURF!!

For our Memorial Day weekend we were invited to rent a beach house with some friends and just enjoy a few days near Outer Banks, North Carolina. I loved every minute of it. The house was nice and so was the company!! The best part of it all was that our friends taught us how to surf. I love it and I actually got up a few times. Stephen loved the beach which suprised me a little since the last time we went to a beach he would not go near the water. Jack on the other hand was terrified of the waves. For some reason he thought the waves were going to take his beach toys away. He did have fun in the sand though. We found a lot of sea creatures like crabs and jelly fish (Our friend actually got stung by a jelly fish) and Matt claims to have seen dolphins. It was definately a trip that we will make again!!

I still need to post pictures of Jack in the sand I just noticed he is not in any of the photos!!