The Festivities Continue!

I forgot to post Lizzy's decorations for Thanksgiving. I thought that they were wonderful, She did the scarecrow at school, but the others she just made up here. 
So Daniel's work party was on a steam boat down the Columbia River. It was a fun tour and we danced on the top level. Dinner was nice, but the service was slow. We got our bread after they served dessert. But it was a nice change and I liked the trip. 

Devon Loved blowing out the candles on his cake, he wanted them relit so he could blow them out again. He loved the truck Grampa Bartholomew made.

It's strange having a 2 year old and a 4 year old. it's our even year I guess. We all had even birthdays. This next baby will be the odd one out. This is a bit random, but here is Charles having a tea party with his toys:

It was just so cute.
Then we went to Christmas at the Fort. I love going, the kids played some period games. Jacks, ring toss, Tops and Jacob's ladder.


Here they are waiting to make a top.

Here's my cool dudes at the Dentists's office, Devon did fabulous, but Charles had a hard time. 
He had to have a crown put in and several cavities repaired. So we took him to the surgery and they put him out while they did their work. He did really well waking up. When Lizzy had her bout with medicine she was angry, Charles was calm and happy.

Take a Break

I thought it would be fun to visit my family in Ut for spring break. Since Daniel had to work, my mom graciously came to help me drive down and back. I don't think I could have made it otherwise! We set off and this is how Mom's week went:

She is a champion Devon Chaser! He is extremely fast and turns on a dime, so having one adult on his tail was essential.
We started our adventure by going to the Aquarium and it was so fun seeing all the animals. They had a wide variety of creatures both aquatic and land. There was a rope bridge that the kids really liked.


Then we played on some Dinosaur bones at the Mall.


Visited Sal and Caitlin.



We drove passed his work which was fun.
Tried some delicious food at Culvers.

And visited some animals on the Farm.


Where the kids got to ride horses!

"Look Mom, no hands!"

 I had a good time there except for some kids ruffing up Devon. I kind of flipped out at that point. He was in a tunnel and these two older boys were hitting his head against the back wall. It was noisy in there, but I was the only parent who reacted to the screaming. Then I screamed a bit and yelled for those boys parents, got my kids and left. I was pretty shaken up. Devon recovered well, but he didn't want to get off his horse, I had to pry him off. Poor thing. They all loved the horses.

Then there was a wagon ride before we went home.

Our next trip was to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. When I moved away from Utah, well over a decade ago, Thanksgiving point was just getting started, now it is a massive attraction.The gardens are amazing, I think we walked through about 2/3 of them. We met up with Grandma Murphy, Aunt Cheryl, Laura and Uncle Matt.
It was a beautiful day and the flowers were stunning. I was surprised to find my cousin there, Matt was working a booth for Winder Farms, where he works. I thought that they were just a dairy, but they deliver all sorts of food and desserts.


There is a statue garden with huge sculptures of events in Christ's life.  
After a quick lunch at IKEA, we went north to visit my Great Aunt Audrey and Uncle Harris. It was a nice visit and I wish that I could have stayed longer, but the kids were tired, so we had to go. Next we visited This is the Place.

I had fond memories of going there when I was a youth and dearly wanted to take the kids there. It was amazing! We started with the memorial to the Mormon Battalion and the pony express.


Not only was it educational, but they had made it very family friendly. The kids got to ride another pony and pet animals. We had lunch at the hotel and rode the train.
 We put them to work washing, ironing and plowing.



Charles liked using the plow.

This house was closed due to a spring cleaning. The descendants of the family who ran this lodging house come up every year to give it a onceover. I though that was so neat!



On Sunday we went to hear my cousin's homecoming talk. She had been serving a mission in the Philippines. Her talk was wonderful and after church we all had a good time visiting and the kids ran a muck. As they are prone to do.
 


Here's Lizzy with her namesake, Elizabeth Murphy:


And Four Generations,

Then we headed out to Boise ID for the night and moseyed on home on Monday. We stopped for a few hours in Baker City visiting the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Here's Lizzy loading up her wagon:





Sorry the images are quite poor. We had a grand time there and then we had lunch at Sumpter Junction. It's a cute restaurant with model trains and one train runs around the whole restaurant. Then we made it home in time for dinner. Mom had to leave the next day, so that was sad, but it was a wonderful week and I am glad to be home.