Fun at the Zoo

Summer would not be complete without a trip to the zoo. In my new quest to be more fun and spontaneous (thanks to the last camping trip), I woke up one day and decided we would pack up and go. Forget making beds, chores, laundry, dishes.....we left it all. A quick stop to pick up Grandma Juju and we were on our way. My kids love the zoo!! Connor loves the adventure to find all the animals. Lauren is the animal-lover and likes to watch for new babies. Cody is the observer - pointing out to us all the poop and stinky smells. All day long he kept saying,"Eew, mom. It stinks''. We saw all the animals and especially loved the bird show. I also reminisced about all the years that my Grandpa Jensen got a season pass to the zoo. He loved taking the grandkids to the zoo each summer. That was back in the day when there was a petting zoo, when you could feed the elephants, when you could ride an elephant, and when you could get a wax figure of any animal you could imagine. I had a whole toy box full of those thanks to Grandpa. What great memories I have with my Grandpa at the zoo!! Here are some fun pictures of our day.

Lauren's favorite animal was the giraffe. She especially loved the baby giraffe.

Gotta love the train!!

My sweet boys!!

Fly by the seat of my pants

Last week Tony came home from work one day and says to me,"My next job won't be ready for a week, so, lets go camping tomorrow". Now keep in mind that he is saying this to his wife who likes to plan and prepare and organize and have everything 'just so'.
"Tomorrow?", I say (knowing I would have no time to plan and prepare and organize).
"Yes, let's just go", he says to me.
"OK", I agree.
So, in 24 hours we borrowed my parents trailer (thanks mom and dad), packed some clothes, gathered some food, reserved the last camping spot available, made 100 phone calls (seriously) to rearrange our week and prior commitments, loaded the trailer, cleaned out the car, picked up the house, did a few loads of laundry.......... and then we were off. We headed to one of our favorite vacations spots - Island Park Idaho. Tony has been going here his whole life and it is fun for us to now take our kids who love it just as much as we do.
A few highlights of our trip include:

• A whole day in Yellowstone. We played the license plate game (almost got them all) and the kids were on the hunt for every possible animal that exists there. We saw the geysers, Old Faithful, the falls, Mammoth, the stink pots (gotta love those), lots of buffalo, elk, deer, 2 bears, and even coyotes. It was quite the adventure!!
• Floated the river. As tradition goes, we rented a canoe and floated the river one afternoon. We love doing this!! It is so peaceful, relaxing, and fun. The kids each took turns paddling and we even got out and played in the river. Towards the end a storm was approaching and Tony and I had to paddle like mad to get us back before we got rained on.
• Food over the fire. Nothing is better than meals cooked over the fire when you are camping. We had hot dogs, tin-foil dinners, marshmallows, and of course, smores!
• Shooting. We can't be in the mountains without Tony dragging out a gun for us to shoot. He has a favorite .22 that the kids love to shoot. I think Lauren outshot us all.

It was so nice to get away, have a change of pace, and have a change of scenery. More than anything, we just love being together as a family. Once we got home and were unpacking, Cody says to Tony,"Can we go camping tomorrow?".
I think that says it all.........

Have I done any good in the world today???

For family night this week we had a special evening with our good friend and neighbor BJ Warnick. She recently returned from Zambia where she does Humanitarian work for the Mothers Without Borders organization. She visits there once or twice a year and leads teams of other volunteers. The volunteer teams work to help villages and people there have a better way of life. Most of the children there are orphans as AIDS has killed so many of their parents. The work they do is helping to build a better and stronger generation as well as saving lives. BJ is an amazing person and such a great example of love and service. She gave a great lesson and talked a lot to the kids. She wanted them to know that there are other children around the world, who may not look like them, but that they are also children of God. We were able to taste, and feel, and see the way people live in Zambia. She also told us incredible stories and experiences that confirmed to her that we are all children of god and that he has a plan for each of us. We were all so inspired by her words and testimony. Her daughter, McCall (who also went to Zambia this year), told us how her work in Africa has changed her life. It was definitely a night to remember. Since then I have been asking myself, 'Have I done any good in the world today?? Thank you BJ and McCall!!

Big Boy Bed

The exciting news at our house this week is that Cody now has a big boy bed. Yes, the crib is down and Cody is loving having his own big bed. After a week of painting 5 coats to get his bed just the right color red, and searching for the perfect bedding, we have it all done. Several times this week I asked myself, "Why am I doing this?" (those of you who know me know that I hate to paint). What came to mind was "it's for Cody". I love this little guy and wanted him to have a fun bed and a fun room for him to play. He now will tell the kids "Get out my room!". He has really taken ownership of his room since getting his new bed. He is growing up too fast and I am falling more in love with him each day.