Labor day at the Farm

Every year we hit my grandparents' house in Firth, Idaho. We attend the kickin' Eastern Idaho State Fair. This is my Grandpa Ford helping Evy put on her shoes.


This is Evy and Kate on the ten minute drive to the fair. We hadn't even gotten there yet.


McKee's petting zoo is a favorite of ours. Evy liked this pig until it got too close.


Evy and the "horsey"

If you're wondering about Evy's hair, it's because she pulled out her pigtails, lost the elastics somewhere in the fair, and this is what we were stuck with. A minute after this picture, a lady sat next to Evy and said, "Wow, you're hair is wild."

Maggie and I split this tiger ear with extra honey butter. That's right, we ate the whole thing. I do it every year.

Oh it's delightful.

A great day of fishing at the pond by my Cousin Tim.

Some of us (not me:) camped out by the pond. We ate most of our meals there. Ask everyone that camped how they liked the sprinklers soaking them at 3am. Ha ha ha.

Yummy breakfast

Maddi and Evy

Grandma pulled out this creepy dog? from her cedar chest from the 50s. It's super weird and I made the kids pose next to it. P.S. This creature still needs a name. Any ideas?

We had a fish fry at the pond that Tim and Casey had caught that day. I heard Matt and Stacy laugh simultaneously at the table. They were enjoying watching Aunt Michele bite into her lettuce burger. What a delight. Bless her heart for making her famous cookies even though she's on a special diet. Until next year EISF! (Eastern Idaho State Fair)

Yellowstone August 18-22, 2011

We hit Yellowstone with Nelson's family. We stayed at Colter Bay but drove into Yellowstone almost every day.


Evy, Holly and Nelson


Gene, Nelson, Paige, Dan, Crystal, Ben, Evy and Holly. My niece Paige rode with us to the hot pots. She'd never been to Yellowstone before and asked me what kind of rides they have there.

Evy was impossible to contain around any hot pots, ledge or body of water. Everyone told me I needed one of those child restraints disguised as monkey backpacks. I agree.

Evy near the lower falls.

No matter what a pain it is to set up and clean up, Nelson must bring his grill. We made some yummy french toast late at night.

Nelson's sister Crystal and her family camped with us old-fashioned style in our tents with popped air matresses. Meanwhile, the older folks traveled in style and wore white clothing.

I should have gotten a picture of my tent for comparison.

We went to an art show in Jackson Hole. This guy selling his hand carved wood pieces kept referring to Evy as a boy. I couldn't blame him though. Check out this hideous camping outfit. She got filthy disgusting every day. I wasn't about to put her in anything nice.

We made dutch oven chicken and potatoes. Yes it took forever and yes, it was delicious.

Wild animal near our campsite.

Evy and Nelson's cousin's daughter named Emma at Old Faithful. I told Nelson's cousin I wasn't sure if we should make the drive to Old Faithful because I wasn't sure it would go off that day. I think he believed me for a bit.

Holly and Nelson. Nelson loves these things.

The best place to watch Old Faithful is the 2nd floor of the lodge eating ice cream cones in the shade.

Cache County Fair

We hit the Cache County Fair this weekend. It's free but I just had to keep Nelson from buying everything from the vendors including: a camping hammock, eyeglass cleaners and The Living Scriptures set. He did splurge on a large rice krispy treat though. Also Nelson wants one of these machines. I think it's because so many people up here have one, he wants one too.


Each city made a mural about the fair out of beans. Interesting.

After this we hit the vegetable and fruit displays. The onion displays were so smelly, Nelson accused me of farting. Also, he found a display of white currants that a girl had grown. He wanted to know what they tasted like, so he looked around and then sampled some. Nasty. That's only something Nelson would do, eat a girl's fair display.

The plumber's booth. Pretty tempting.

I love this creek in the fairgrounds. I also love that there are so many creeks up here.

Nelson still wants to be a farmer sooooo bad. Also after the fair, Nelson once again pledged his love to me for Cache Valley. He just loves it here. Summers are very pretty, then winter hits. Yuck.

Krogue Family Reunion

We went to the Krogue family reunion in Hunstville this weekend. This is Nelson's mother's side of the family.


Pete, Hailey, Crystal, Paige, Karlene, Camille, Sara and Linley

Sara, Linley, Paige and Evy.

Karlene and Evy. This is before Evy barfed all over herself on the swings. Oatmeal cookie+swinging=bad combination. Luckily I could wash her off in the faucet and had brought a change of clothes. She went on playing like it was no big deal.

Evy stole Crystal's sunglasses.

Willow Park Zoo

I admit, Evy and I have to come up with activities everyday to keep ourselves entertained since it's just the two of us all the time. Luckily we have the Willow Park Zoo that only costs $3 for the 2 of us. This is Evy looking at an elk. I didn't have the heart to tell her that this is the same type of animal her dad has hanging in our basement.


I think one of my favorite things to do this summer is share a snow cone with Evy.

I know the controversy is that playgrounds are too safe these days for kids. Well, not for a (almost) 2 year old. They have gaps all over the place she can fall down from. This forces me to go up with her and all the kids are annoyed that a big person is taking up all the space.

My baby sure likes her treats

Evy kept pulling out a chocolate pudding mix out of the pantry and handing it to me. She didn't even know what it was but I finally made it for her and she was thrilled.

This is actually oatmeal but she treats it like ice cream.

First thing every morning, Evy wakes up, goes straight to the freezer and says, "pop!" (popsicle) I have to hold her off until later and luckily she forgets until then...usually.

This is cupcakes back in April. Like mother ,like daughter. I sure love me some treats.

July 22-23, 2011

We hung out in Salt Lake for the weekend to visit family and friends. We had a BBQ at Maggie's house on Saturday night. Brian bought steaks and salmon. Nelson was in heaven. Steve went ahead and licked his plate each time he ate seven layer bean dip. How helpful!


Evy took out her hair elastic, creating this marvelous ensemble you see here.

Holly and Jessica

Vienna, Jessica, Evy and Abby doing "pop pops"

Holly and Maggie. Okay, Maggie's tummy is real. Mine is my shirt. How flattering.

I was the only lucky gal that got to witness Brian slipping in mud in the backyard like a 3 year old. Oh it was delightful.

On Sunday we had a surprise 60th birthday party for Nelson's mom with his family. Crystal did a matching game of what prices were in 1951.

Evy, Amanda, Hailey, Linley, Sawyer, Paige, Karlene, Ben, Sara, Chandler and Chase at Nelson's sister Connie's house in South Jordan.

Gene, Karlene and Evy

Happy 60th birthday Karlene!