Life in the Teton Valley...

                              

A lot has changed since my last post...including moving our family, away from everything we have ever known, to the country... Driggs, Idaho in the beautiful Teton Valley to be exact;)

But before I go any further, here is what we have been up to the last few months...
Hannah graduated from Preschool:)

I love this girl. She is bright, happy, caring, loving, sensitive, thoughtful, courageous, adorable, helpful, kind, tender-hearted, energetic, hilarious, and sweet. She is darling and I just absolutely adore her!

                  

And then we had some goodbye parties and BBQ's with friends and family. This was the last picture we took in our backyard. I am going to miss that sweet, little house. It was a beautiful day. *sigh*

                 

And then we packed up our stuff...and headed up north. It was bittersweet, but we feel happy about this leap we have taken.

                                 

It's been kind of a long process, but now that we are here and finally settled, we can explore:)
This is a hike we took up Teton Canyon...it was absolutely breathtaking! And the trails were perfect, and easy for the kids!

                                 

                                  

                                  

Jackson Hole, Wyoming...very fun little tourist stop. 

                              

This is the view from the Jackson Airport...is that gorgeous or what?!

                             

Who doesn't love the antler arches?!

But mostly we have been doing this...

Riding Bikes

Walks

                                    

Crafts...I'm bringing back the fabric covered button earrings;)

                   

And I fancied up my burlap wreath using the funky flower tutorial here

Sewing lessons...I start my little ones early;)

                   

And yes, I am wearing a denim shirt in almost every picture of me in this post...I am obsessed!!!!!

I bought a million from Old Navy here, here and here...and I want to go back for more. It's a disease.

On to more cute pictures...

Art with Sculpey clay

Nature study and notebooking

Cursive... she is practicing on every piece of paper that crosses her path.
                                             

Baking lessons

               

We are finishing up our first year of homeschooling, and I think it went well. We did have to make some adjustments and curriculum changes, but I think we have ironed out all the wrinkles and next year should flow smoothly. We will still keep busy, over the summer, with some of these fun activities plus a little reading and writing.

And since moving my kids have only had each other to play with...I have to admit, I love it! This is what spurred this move...more family time, less distractions.

                               

This is our lot...20 beautiful acres...I will keep you posted on this;)

                               

Oh, and some other BIG news around here...This one is walking! We are over-joyed, ecstatic, thrilled! She is so sweet! We love watching her totter around, and she is feels so big!

                

Well, until my next post, here is our SUMMER LIST 2013:

-Utah Trip

-BBQ

-Oregon Coast Trip

-Washington Trip

-Nature Scavenger Hunt

-Go Camping

-Swimming

-Bike Rides

-Sidewalk Chalk
-Bubbles
-Sno Cones
-Eat Ice Cream
-Farmers Market
-Picnic in the Park
-Stadium of Fire
-Salmon Bake
-Stargaze
-Roast Marshmallows
-Make Peach Lemonade
-Read
-Tye-Dye
-Yellowstone Trip
-Hike
-Ride Horses
-Go Fishing
-Paint Rocks
-Drive-in Movie

What will you be up to this summer!?!?

Well... if you take a trip out this way or see these beautiful mountains, think of us!!

                        


Happy Summer 2013 XOXO

life is good...

So, I have to say that I am a huge fan of Instagram! There are times that I do love using my big DSLR. But my hands are usually full of blankets, baby, bags, iphone, sunglasses, sippy cups, keys {don't forget the keys} and more... So being able to snap pictures with my iphone is FABULOUS! Here is a peak at what we have been up to lately...{follow us on instagram! my user name is errsuz)

lots of running... I am signed up for the Wasatch Back Ragnar in June...yikes...

made this recipe the other day...its roasted cauliflower cheddar soup...so good, but I feel like next time I will add more kick. Maybe more garlic or cheddar.

we recently went on a really fun field trip with our homeschool co-op. it included a tour of the bakery and the kids got to make their own cookies and have lunch. 

i learned how to make marbled paper...we did this activity for mutual night with the youth at church. 

this is basically the technique we used...we used watered down craft paint, card stock and squeegees.

started a new knitting project with mustard yarn from this cute shop {will post pictures when it is finished}... if you are ever in Utah, you have to visit this cute little shopping center...it's called Historic Gardner Village in South Jordan.

stocked up my baby shower stash... I love to give these simple handmade burp clothes and receiving blankets... the how-to is here.

I reading diligently through my pile of books, but somehow new ones keep getting added:) My aunt wrote a book called Parenting with Spiritual Power...this one just got cutsies to the front of the line! So far it is chock full of parenting insight!

my new favorite lunch...quinoa, avocado, a little tomato and cilantro. really, quinoa with anything is wonderful!

IFA got baby chicks! we went to visit them!

a recent girls night consisted of wreath making...doesn't it always?! burlap wreath tutorial here.

life is good, wonderful, blessed, busy, stressful at times, but mostly happy. happy is always there when we look;) have a great weekend!

easter

ok, so, this week is going to be completely crazy for me...easter is coming up, i am hosting a baby shower (i will share more on that next week, probably:) carpooling, soccer practice and games, birthday parties, laundry, pinteresting:) yes lots and lots of stuff going on. but i wanted to share with you some fun easter crafts and goodies that i will be doing with my family this week...

so each day this week, i promised my kids a fun easter treat...
yesterday the treat was "cottontails" (powdered sugar covered doughnut holes) i got the idea from caramel potatoes

                           

                         

look how happy these girls are, as they pop little bunny tails one after another;)

today, will be 'building graham cracker peep houses', idea from kasey buick at one girl talks

tomorrow, we will be dying eggs using kool-aid, idea from pinterest

thursday, will be some version of rice krispy treats... can't decide which one to do... maybe i will do all three:)

bunny peep treat,  idea from pinterest

rainbow peep treat, idea from pinterest

easter egg treat, idea from better homes and gardens

and friday, will be chocolate nests for their peeps, idea from hostess with the mostess

go here for the chocolate pudding cup tutorial from bakerella

and for my special treat this week, i'm thinkin' maybe this from grosgrain fabulous...

and i'm definitely going to have to make these, easter deviled eggs from real mom kitchen, for my hubby after easter...he loves deviled eggs!

then on saturday, is our neighborhood easter egg hunt. it has become a tradition i love!!! we live on the best street, we feel very blessed to have such great neighbors! there have been a few traditions that have been established over the years; a summer block bbq (that has been going on for 30+years!), a little halloween carnival (games, face painting, treats), and this easter egg hunt! the neighborhood easter egg hunt means, more places to hide and find eggs, and a combined effort to supply candy and eggs makes it easier on parents:) win win! if you don't already have some traditions in your neighborhood, reach out and establish some of your own!! you make new friends and it's great fun for the kids! happy memories:)

and sunday, is easter:) during the week it's fun to talk about the easter bunny, candy and peeps. but, sunday we keep sacred, as we celebrate the true meaning behind the celebration of easter: the atonement and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

there are some wonderful bible videos here from lds.org

do you do easter baskets?!

i like mine simple; some candy or a treat, and maybe a small framed picture of Christ, and a softie or something...

peeps plush tutorial here from dandelions and lace

and then i just wanna throw in some other fun stuff:)...

some free easter printables that would be fun to frame and decorate the house

this one is from simply fresh designs

these were found by spunky junky , as well as the cute peeps banner template!

'hoppy easter' is from eighteen 25, love them!

lolly jane has this cute printable, plus a 'spring' banner tutorial!

love this easter egg printable from the ballard bunch!

you can't go wrong when you spray paint a frame and put in the simple phrase 'he is risen' as craft in a northern town did here

and what about these fun things for lunches?!

spring is officially here, cause my chickens are runnin' around, and so are my kids:)

found this at walmart! there is this special, beautiful walmart up the hill from me...it is amazing! it is like no other walmart i have ever been to! its smaller, clean and orderly, the employees are everywhere and helpful and friendly and they even smile! and then just down the hill is a regular, dirty, supersized walmart, where no employee can be found and when you do find one they can't help you.

but i just loved the mint striped cardigan!! so i bought it! just in time for my date night to see 'The Hunger Games'!! which was awesome!

here is my little easter bunny!

and my personal favorite easter candy of all time... the sweet tart jelly bean! try them if you haven't already! but maybe you shouldn't, you will be hooked!:)

happy easter! and spring! yay!