Rocks and Butterflies...

The summer is dwindling to an end and I feel like I haven't posted about any of the fun things that we have done here at home. One of my favorite things to do with the kids when school gets out in May is to make a list of all the fun things that we want to do over the summer (and the supplies that we'll need to do them), and then we just start doing them and crossing them off...

So this summer one of Ana's contributions to the list was to make rock necklaces (something that she had seen in Family Fun Magazine). They were super inexpensive to make (thus the reason they made "the list"), just wire, leather cord and rocks (from our backyard of course)...

 

Hayden twisting up his design...

 

The finished product. They turned out super cute...

 

Next on the list was one of Hayden's ideas. He had read about how the Monarch butterflies start to migrate south to Mexico and pass through Colorado in August, so he wanted to catch some and "observe" them for awhile. So here are our homemade butterfly observatories...

 

Also super inexpensive, just paper plates and tulle netting...

 

More from our "Summer Fun List" to come...

Elders...

Our kids had a sad day on Sunday, it was the last day that we had missionaries in our ward for awhile. Because Rob works from home and has had time to help out the Elders with rides and lessons a lot, our family saw them quite a bit (OK, that's an understatement, they might as well have lived at our house. One of them even asked if they had to knock on the door anymore?!! He was kidding of course). But we loved it, especially the kids, it gave us the opportunity to be so much more involved in the missionary work going on around us. And the missionaries that were in our ward in recent months were so great. But the Elders were sent of to different areas on Monday, so this picture was taken at the "Last Supper" that we had with them on Sunday...

 

Good luck Elders!
(If you want to know what the missionaries from our church do, you can check out www.lds.org or www.mormon.org to find out more)

Goldfish...

What do you need to pack if you're going to go to school? Hat, backpack and what else? A giant box of Goldfish of course. I actually took these pictures quite awhile ago when Sophie was determined to go to school with Ana. I'm not sure how she's going to manage the next two years with her favorite kids in the world gone all day long at school...

 

 

Minnesota 2011...

Our family did quite a bit of travelling this year, both to the East and the West..

Our first stop took us back to my roots, which is always a good place to be. Minnesota never disappoints...

The first thing that the kids always want to do when we get there is have grandpa pull them around with the lawn mower. This is the kind of entertainment that you have when you are surrounded by corn fields...


My dad let me try out his newest toy, his high speed, super-charged lawn mower that can turn on a dime. Holy cow, that thing is fun to drive, but it took me awhile to get the hang of it...

Cousins are in abundance in the Lammers family, and my kids LOVE their cousins. Hayden and Luke spent hours constructing things out of junk in my Dad's shop...

Leave it to the Lammers cousins to bust out a dance party in the museum...

Pipestone National Monument, my hometown's claim to fame...



My poor mom probably found these beads from one end of her house to the other after we left. They were the favorite toy this time at Nana's house...

Ana fell in love with baby Dodge. Actually everyone did. Those chubby cheeks and constant smiles captured everyone's hearts...


Sophie got herself a job as the local hair stylist. She was in heaven every time that friend Yvette let her "help" do her hair...

That's no monkey, that's my nephew Garrett about 30 feet up in a tree. Like I said, you get creative when all you got is corn fields...

Everyone loves MiMi!! It's no secret that my sister Mindy is all the grandkids' favorite. (Probably because she constantly feeds them candy and cookies, and offers to give them puppies:) Just kidding, she also spends tons of time with all of them, and they love it!!





MiMi also lives on a lake, where we love to spend time soaking up the rays...


I can't tell you how much I love going "home" and spending time with my family. They rejuvenate me and help me to be a better mom, wife and daughter. Thanks everyone for the great time!

Backyard...

The kids have really been enjoying the backyard this summer. We finally have one tree that provides some shade and they spend countless hours on our little swingset. The occasion for this backyard documentation was quite funny. Hayden thought that he was literally 'dying' because he got a spider bite (not poisonous, by the way). He decided to lay out his bed on the grass in the backyard so that he could 'die in nature'. Of course the girls followed suit and made their gravesites next to their brother so that they could 'all die together'. I really don't know where they get these morbid ideas, but it was quite hilarious to watch...

 

Flashback: Kindergarten Graduation...

It's hard to believe how fast the last year has flown by. But Kindergarten is over, and now we have a full-fledged first grader in our midst...

 

 

 

 

Ana loved kindergarten so much, mostly because she had the most wonderful teacher EVER! Thank you Mrs. Ciccarelli, you made kindergarten so awesome! Ana learned a ton and is reading like crazy.

Ana with the class pet, Chester the Guniea Pig.

So Talented...

I always talk about how my parents are the best, but did you know how talented they are as well??? They BUILT these cabinets! No, not from a kit. They actually built them from scratch for my Dad's new workshop. Pretty amazing...


He's pretty dangerous with the drill, you better watch out...

Love you Mom and Dad, I can only hope that someday I will be as talented as you both are!

World Record?

Hayden got a Guiness Book of World Records at the library recently, and thus the quest to set a world record began. First attempt...

 

I don't think that there is a world record for the most Dum Dums in a persons mouth at one time. So Hayden, I declare that you have set a new world record with 8!! (We'll just have to get that published with Guiness).

RS Hike...

For our last Relief Society activity, we utilized the beautiful terrain here in Colorado, and went on a hike. The weather could not have been more perfect...

 

 

 

It was such a fun group of women, and such a fun time!

Cricketstopher...

Hayden bought himself a little bug dome from the dollar section at Target with his very own money. So naturally, it was time to hunt for some bugs. It didn't take much persuasion to get his Dad to take him on a bug hunting expedition (if you know Rob well at all, you're not surprised). They weren't very succesful though, so what do you do if you can't find any bugs? Apparently, you go to Pet Smart and buy some. And that is how Cricketstopher joined the list of pets that get prayed for in every prayer uttered by our children...

 

Well, a few days later Cricketstopher just happened to "accidentally" get released from his enclosure into the vast unknown of our home. And so, of course, we needed another bug to reside in the bug dome. Thus, Cricket Columbus was acquired. The pet prayer list grows on and on...

Do kids ever stop praying for long dead pets??

The Virgin Islands...

I could go on and on about our trip to the US Virgin Islands, but I'll just let the pictures do the talking, they pretty much speak for themselves. I will just say that it was pretty much the most relaxing and wonderful week of our marriage (so far)...
























PS - Thanks soooooo much to Rob's family for taking care of our kids, it would not have been possible without you! We love you so much!