Birthday Girls

After I finished unpacking the school and Eric got done with guiding for the week we were able to visit Poky one last time for this summer. We went for two very important girlies birthdays. We were originally going for a surprise 50th birthday that we planned for my mom, and luckily Mara turned 2 that Friday which made for a convenient cover-up. We spent part of our Friday traveling and shopping in Idaho Falls, and the rest in Poky. That night was Mara's party and she was so cute! She would open a present and then walk around and show everyone. Grandpa Murphy was her favorite person to show and in the one photo she is showing him the crazy purple ball that Eric and I gave to her (she picked it out in the store with us). Amber borrowed a large cupcake pan from a friend and Mara was in heaven-she really did eat quite a bit of it by shoving her face into it to get a bite...she was so cute I couldn't resist taking a photo of her saying "cheese". She has finally warmed up to Eric and his crazy antics, she even let him help her blow some bubbles...however, he ended up wearing some of it too. She is definitely full of spunk and one of my most favorite girlies in the whole world. One of my other favorites outdid her sister with the frosting mustache and made hers a full beard-haha, silly kiddos. The next day I did a little shopping and helped get everything ready for my mom's surprise birthday party. I think she was mostly surprised...but we did do it for my dad last year so she had an inkling. We made pasta (her favorite) with 3 sauce choices, and 3 meat choices (my first time ever cooking scallops) with cheesecake for desert...the only bummer was that my mom had a late lunch with my grandma who took her shopping so she didn't eat. However, it turned out really nice, and as you can tell we all had a great time with the vultures I borrowed from work (I found them when I was unpacking-along with all the 50th signs). Mara warmed up to them after awhile, but she was pretty freaked to start with. Eric entertained us with his Jungle Book impersonation-such a handsome goofball, but I'll keep him ;0)! I love the photo of my mom laughing at the card Jason and Amber gave her-seriously so funny! You open that sweet looking card to a photo of a shirtless man that sings "Happy Birthday" while laughing-he laughs because in order to get him to sing you have to 'tickle his abs'...one of the best birthday cards ever made! I love going back to see family, and although it always seems to be a whirlwind-I never regret going. There's just something about being home. I can't explain it, but it hits me every time we see the exit ramp. It reminds me of the song that says, "it feels like home to me"...not sure if you've heard it, but it sums up my feelings. I know someday that somewhere else will probably feel pretty close, and even though I don't want to come back and live there-I will never shake the feeling that it's home. Thanks to everyone-I love you all very much! And to my birthday girls-I hope your days were both amazing-love you!
A place to call home for all my friends!
Liz

August Whirwind

I was hoping as we were nearing the end of August things would start to slow down so we could have a break before we went back to work...but alas, it's not happening. We have been able to do some great things though. We went to Boise (last post), had family photos taken (just started getting a peak at a few and I love them!), I finished up my swap kit early (and with no help-amazing I know!), had an early Christmas from my Grandma and finally received new (and much needed) pans, and were able to camping with Eric's mom and brother. You can see in the photo that our old pots from Walmart had seen their days...they were literally starting to fall apart...the only one that remained semi-nice was one from Jen and Mike Higbee for a wedding gift, so I guess now we know-Walmart pans have limited years of usage. We had tons of fun going camping with Eric's family, however, I got a nasty summer head cold and went home early. While we were there though Eric took Cam-Man fishing, and I went on a four-wheeler ride with Peggy and Frank. The scenery was beautiful and I had a great time....but being stuffed up made for a tough ride. They broke me in fast on the four-wheeler...I should have taken a photo! My four-wheeler came back the dirtiest even though we all went through the exact same stuff. I went through deep water, mud, up steep stuff and down steep stuff, through a rainstorm, and even had to reverse through a mud bog. We were on our trip for about 6 hours and saw 8 deer, 1 moose, and lots of amazing Wyoming scenery! I have been finishing up the rest of the softball season with the team that picked me up (finals are tonight), my summer curriculum work, and next week I will be working to unpack the school. Eric has been guiding and fishing as much as he can. We still have one more trip back to Pocatello for my nieces birthday, another week for me to nanny and work on the house, and then school starts again. I cannot believe a whole summer has almost gone by! All in all our summer has been great but fast...only 2 more weeks before we go back!
Slower Augusts for all my friends!
Liz

Destination: Boise-August 2010

Eric and I had the chance to finally go to Boise and see my brothers family. We got to see their new house, meet their new baby, and hang out with all of them. We haven't been able to be around them much so it was great to see them and spend time with them and their kiddos. They blessed their newest addition Hudson, so the whole family was there! It was a pretty busy weekend for us, we drove to Pocatello to meet up with my parents. Then we drove to Boise, went to the zoo, had a Bar-b-Que, hung out, and swam. The next day was the blessing, pictures, a luncheon, and driving back to Poky. On Monday we hung out in Poky and I ran errands while Eric fished with my dad. Then that night we had a friend take our photos. I have only seen one, but know they are going to turn out amazing!! Her name is Jen Simmons and she is awesome!! We were able to go out to dinner with her and her husband after photos and my parents along with my cousin Ben joined us. It was a crazy busy weekend-but so much fun!! We also finished up our softball season and even though we didn't do so well this year we had fun. Luckily though, I got picked up by another team so I am playing in the tournament. We have won our first 2 games so we will get to play again on Wednesday. All in all we have a had good but very busy summer. I am not excited to start school up again because we still have a lot to accomplish, but I have to just keep telling myself one thing at a time.

Fun Augusts for all my friends!

Liz

Check Out Ella

Hey all my scrappin'/Twilight friends out there! Check out Ella and join me for a challenge that will get you thinking (and swooning...every girl needs a little eye candy!).

You and Me Goin' Fishin In the Boat...

Eric finally got me to go fishing with him on his new raft...and amazingly enough I didn't hook him, lose any flies, or tip the boat over! I surprised myself by enjoying it, until I tried my hand at rowing and about ran us into a cliff ledge. I think I will stick with floating or fishing...for the rafts sake! We boated a couple good ones, and I lost some that seemed to be bigger than the biggest I caught...but at least I actually caught a few (fishing is no fun without catching!). The biggest one I caught I didn't get a photo with though. Eric got one and then it was my turn and it flopped out of my hands and hit the edge of the net which caused it to fall into the water-bummer, but at least we got a photo!! We went up and camped the night before and can I just say that whoever made tents with those pole systems is a genius!! I am always amazed at how little time it takes for us to get our tent up! We cooked some dinner and hung out. Dinner was made super easy with the cool new dutch oven I scored at 1/2 off!! The lid comes off to make a skillet...pretty cool! Our camping spot was super neat too...right on the river...so peaceful! The sleeping conditions were not fun! Being that we are not spring chickens and pretty spoiled with our soft bed...the ground was super hard! Even worse...I forgot that Pinedale summer camping is colder than other places and forgot to pack socks or anything warm to sleep in so I was cold all night. However, lesson learned and I will remember next time. All in all we had a great trip...and I am beginning to see why Eric spend almost every day in his raft! Even when he is not guiding he is fishing himself...and although I don't think I will ever be that devoted, I think I have found a new hobby to do with the hubs!

Happy camping to all my friends!

Liz

Family Time!!

I finally sat down and finished the painting that I started when we moved here. The plain white canvases seemed a little blank for me so I decided to pull out my inner David Bromstad (who I wish would come and do my whole house-love him!!) and put a little color on them. I think they turned out pretty good for my first time and I can't wait to put them up in my house today now that they are dry!! It's starting to come together...finally!

We were sooo happy to have Eric's brother TJ and his family come for a visit on their way to Utah. The boys went fishing on Friday while Lib, Eve, Sage, and myself hung out in town. Lib and Eve went swimming at the pack while Sage and I cuddled. Lib and I spent some quality early morning hours together while she was up with the baby and I was up with back pain. The night before they left we took them to this great little cookout spot we found by the lake to do Philly sandwiches and over the fire cinnamon rolls. Eve enjoyed the cherries, while Eric and I struggled to toast our cinnamon rolls right. All in all it was a very fun visit!! Thanks for coming T and Lib!!

My Susies...

I just read this e-mail that I received from my mom and sister and it hit me pretty hard. Lately I've been looking around and contemplating how it is that I fit in. In my world, my life...in my job, my church, my family, my friends, and in this new place I call home. Figuring out who I am is kind of a constant for me. I used to feel so sure about life, and through a series of different events I found that I wasn't so sure anymore. I guess that's the lords way of keeping me on my toes, and it's really helped me to become pretty independent. Most days I don't mind being by myself or having alone time, but there are times where that just isn't enough. Heaven knows I have had plenty of "Susies" in my life. Those people that just get who you are and what you are about without you having to do anything. Sadly, most of my Susies don't live around me anymore-but I know that I can count on them night or day-regardless of how far apart we are. You all know who you are-know that I love you, and appreciate you in a way you will never understand.

"Come with me to a third grade classroom..... There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of the sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, 'Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat.' He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered. As the teacher is walking toward him, a class mate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap.The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord! 'Now all of the sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else -Susie. She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You've done enough, you klutz! 'Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, 'You did that on purpose, didn't you?' Susie whispers back, 'I wet my pants once too.

'May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good.

Remember.....Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car. Each and everyone one of us is going through tough times right now, but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can. Keep the faith."

This e-mail also brought me hard back to the realization that Christ has always been and will always be a "Susie" for us all. He has made it possible for us to continue on in this world by constantly covering us for our mistakes. Instead of taking the credit, He is frequently waiting in the wings being ridiculed. All the while He goes on loving us and taking all the negative feedback because He too has been there. He suffered for all our sins and we are never alone-because there is nothing in our lives that He too has not faced in His. I know that the Savior Jesus Christ suffered for my sins, and although often times I am not that great at showing my appreciation-I do appreciate Him and all He and my Heavenly Father have done for me.

May all my friends have "Susies" in their lives to help them when they are down!

Liz

Photo Credit to Mark Mabry