Latest pics

Hayley and Clara got their school pics recently. I only got downloads of them but I like them enough that I think that I will end up ordering prints. Usually it is the other way around! Today we went up in the mountains in Idaho. We saw a 3,000 year old tree and thought that it was incredible that it was on the earth before Christ came! We did lots of hiking and some off-roading and just pretty much exploring in the woods. The kids played in a giant hollowed out cedar tree. Jeremy and I have been trying harder to make family time a priority. So far we have been having lots of fun!

What's Up

Last night we bought Jeremy an '06 Frontier that we hope will do better in the snow than his little Mazda. Today we drove up onto the mountain in the next town for some off-roading. We had never been up there since our other cars wouldn't make it up. We found lots of mountain biking and hiking trails and we stopped and hiked around while it sprinkled rain on us. We saw some deer up there while driving down.

Here's some pics of the dance studio that I painted murals at. The girls will get lessons in exchange. There's also a pic of the tree that I did at a friend's house. Their house is very country so it works. I also did 2 murals for my mom's group this summer and I'll try to post those soon.

Family Walk

Today we went to a little known trail in our town and hiked around. Clara found a bird's nest, and Hayley used some big weeds and put them in her hair to make herself look like a peacock. Zack and Jeremy were two cool guys hanging out.

I'm also posting a pic for my sister, Ginny, of my waterfall that I built while Jeremy was at work and had no clue what I was up to. :) It's about 4 feet across, but a giant pumpkin vine has volunteered to sprout next to it, so it makes my pond look small. (The vine is about 35 feet long!) Hope your weather is as nice as it has been here lately, it reminds me of San Diego. (sigh)

More pics

Okay so Jeremy and I are really proud of our yard since we started out with just dirt. It's been almost 4 years since we moved here and here's some pics of how much work we have done! My garden is doing well this year. I had to stake my corn during a windstorm that we had. I built a small waterfall in the backyard one day while Jeremy was at work and surprised him. Zack thinks that he is big enough to toddle up the ladder to the slide on the playground. His diaper is so big in the pic because he had gotten into some water. ;) -Laurel

More Stuff

Well, looking at what pics to post, I realized that I had left some stuff out. Hayley turned 9 and had a great birthday. Thanks for the cards and gifts! Here's the kids with their teachers, and Hayley's new school haircut. She never wears her hair down so I thought I'd better get a pic!

Oh, and during the Lentil Festival I ran a 5K. Well, ran and walked it but I was very proud of myself! Love, Laurel

Hello again!

Wow it has been a busy past few weeks. Jeremy's family came for the Lentil Festival, Johnny left to go back to school, the kids started school again, and I've done 2 big murals.

When Jeremy's family came, they drove a giant 15 passenger van up and we had a fun time driving around all together in it like the Partridge Family. Lindsey got some deals on Craigslist and bought a rocking chair with ottoman for her nursery and it's not often that you can go on a road trip and bring something that big back home in the car and still have plenty of room!

The Lentil Festival was fun and crazy. There were lots more people there this year and Hayley did a great job being queen. She crowned the king and queen for next year and she had to speak in a microphone and talk without preparing ahead of time and she was very poised and is quite the public speaker! This has been a great experience for her. This pic is of the girls with the world's largest bowl of lentil chili that they feed the whole town with for free during the festival.

Hayley is now a 4th grader and Clara started 1st grade. It's been quite a transition for me to just have Zack at home but we have had fun hanging out together. Mostly we go outside and play and somehow Zack ends up playing in water and getting all wet and having a great time.

I've done two murals lately, one was a tree in a friend's bedroom, and the other was a new dance studio that is opening this week. I will post pics on here as soon as possible. -Laurel

Proofs

Our photographer, Richard Link sent us the proofs of our pictures we took. He'll do some work in photoshop on them before they are printed. I'm not posting our family pic on here because he will have A LOT of photoshopping to do on that one! ;) It seems like we can't all smile at the same time AND have all of our eyes open. But he is a genius at photoshopping so I am sure they will turn out great. I hope that you get a kick out of them as much as I do. -Laurel