Laser Light Show at Coulee Dam

Something that I remember as a child was going to Aunt Florence and Uncle Walter's house in the summer. Uncle Walter worked at the Dam, so we would always get great tours of the inside of the dam and then go and see the light show in the evenings. Of course, when I was growing up it was just a light show with music and colored lights on the water. Now it is a laser show with designs, and pictures portraying the story of the Dam. It is a fun time and provides some nostalgia for me.

After a fun day of swimming, we headed into Coulee Dam to enjoy an evening at the Laser Light show. Tyler has seen this, but he could not remember as it had been a while. We thought it would be fun to take everyone, for some fun education about the Dam.

Before the show, we had the chance to walk around the little museum in the parking lot. The kids had fun with some of their interactive displays. They got to fly a computerized jetpacker around the dam. That was pretty interesting to watch. I am glad they do not get driver's licenses for many years. They all need to work on their hand-eye coordination. LOL.



After the museum tour, we had a bit of waiting to do until the light show started. We got there around 7 p.m. as it was getting to cold to swim and we had nowhere else to go. So Daddy made up the game of water bottle football. We had lots of water bottles with us, to keep us all hydrated, so Jim grabbed one and they started using it as the "ball" in their football game.

Noah really got into it and he actually leveled Tyler at one point. Someone passed the "ball" to Tyler and Noah just ran right up to him and tackled him to the ground. For a little guy, he sure can pack a big wollup, ask Tyler.

After dark started coming upon us, we had to entertain the kids amongst all the mosquitos. I did not think to bring any bug spray with me and we all got eaten alive. We also have a "fun" time trying to convince the kids it would be worth it to stay. They were getting bored with the sitting around and wanted to go home. Of course, with the photos below, you can see they came up with ways to entertain themselves. She really is surrounded by a bunch of goofballs.

We even had the opportunity to see the moon rise. It was really quite fun to watch. I saw the glow of the moon over the mountain first and over a 20 minute or so period we watched it rise right over the mountain. The kids were amazed at that one. Here is a picture of it, only because the kids kept begging me to take a pic. It is far away, but you can see it rising up from behind the mountain. God really did create a beautiful world for us.

After what seemed like forever, the light show finally started and the kids all say it was well worth the wait. It is a definite stop for us each summer, I think. We sat down on the grass below so we were able to see all the lasers as they were passing over our heads. It was fun to see the kids reactions to all the fun designs and to share something with them, that I did as I was growing up.

Swimming at Lake Roosevelt

This summer we had the opportunity to spend some time together with a day full of swimming and fun. We packed a picnic lunch and dinner (as we stayed all day for the laser light show to be shown in another post) and headed to Lake Roosevelt behind the Coulee Dam. We have enjoyed this spot for camping in years past. It was the plan to camp for the night/weekend, but during the move, some of the camping gear was misplaced. We have located it all now and plan on a camping trip next summer. LOL. For this summer, we just had fun swimming and enjoying the day.

Before leaving, we purchased just a small inflatable row boat. Daddy enjoyed taking all of the kids for rides around the swim area. It was quite a workout really.

The kids also tried their hand at rowing themselves around. Unfortunately, circles was about the only thing they accomplished. They had fun trying though.

There is also a dock in the swim area that the kids enjoyed jumping off of. The water level was low, so on one end it was deep enough to jump off, but on the other end, it was sitting on the ground.

This made it fun to crawl under and Daniel and Abby had fun chasing Daddy around under the dock.

Noah was able to relax in the sand a bit. He got worn out by all the swimming and jumping.

After swimming for a bit, we had some lunch and relaxed a bit before going back in for more swimming and boating. Jameson really does love his big brother Tyler. They have so much fun together.

Here they both are with their hats on backwards of course.

Just a fun pose of 3 of them enjoying the day.

Overall, it was a fun day. We had fun swimming, boating, and splashing in the water. There was lots of building in the sand and designing turtles and waterways and the such. It is nice when we can spend the day enjoying the beautiful things the Lord has blessed us with. Cant wait until next year's trip.

Playing around with Daddy

We spent a long summer away from dad, so on one of his days off after the big move, the kids enjoyed a fun day playing around with Daddy.

Abby had a tea party with Daddy and has wanted to have one almost every day since.

All of the little kiddos got to have horsie rides on Daddy's back. It is always a special treat. It is fun for the kids to enjoy, but also fun for us to watch. They are so comical and giddy with laughter.

Of course, if you get to have horsey rides, why not get rocket rides as well. The funnest part of this was watching the other kids tackle daddy while one was being rocketed.

Even Little J got in on the fun with Daddy.

Basically it is just a time for Daddy to get some good exercise. He loves playing around with the kids like this and they have a great time "beating up" on their daddy. Overall, a wonderfully fun night for them all.

Love to read

Here are some candids of Daniel relaxing and reading a book. Too precious. If only we all had the time to kick back like this and enjoy a good book.

Baby pushups

Jameson has picked up on learning many new skills. This is one of his newest to do and is a preclude to crawling very shortly. I cannot believe he is already to this point and growing so fast. We call him SuperBaby cause he is just progressing so fast. he will be crawling before we know it and then running us all ragged. LOL. Here are a few shots of what we have termed, Baby pushups.

He is just barely 5 months old at this point. Wow. He is literally on his hands pushing up to only only his toes. Amazing he can get the budda belly off the ground. LOL.

Tyler's 10th Birthday

Double Digit boy. I am so proud of Tyler. He has grown into quite the young man. I cant really call him a little boy anymore, can I? It is amazing to think that 10 years has gone by, he has been a joy the whole time.

There are so many things about Tyler that it is hard to narrow it down to just a few. Here is a list of 10 wonderful things about Tyler for his 10 years of life.

• The bestest big brother that anyone could ever have. He plays with, takes care of, and looks out for each and every one of his brothers and his little sister.
• Loves cars, bikes, skateboards, and as he tells me anything with wheels. It is fascinating to watch his mind work when it comes to vehicles of all kinds.
• Has taken after his mom and loves to read. I enjoy being able to read the same books as he does and discussing things with him. We have enjoyed reading the Harry Potter Series together and he is now following me in reading the Twilight Series. It is great to have a reading buddy.
• He enjoys school so much and is eager to learn and grow.
• He loves Cub Scouts and is always eager to earn whatever badge I put in front of him.
• He is a hard worker. If I give him a task, he accepts it and does it to the best of his ability. He has taken very nicely to emptying the dishwasher and vacuuming, something I need help with more and more these days. He is happy to help and tries hard to get it all done with a smile on his face.
• He is the funniest 10 year old I have the pleasure of knowing. He is quickwitted and comes up with some very funny things just in the spur of the moment. One funny recently was stated in the wake of me teasing him that I was going to "break his bum" for some teasing to me of his own. He immediately turned and said, "Don't break my bum, It alread has a crack in it!" Okay, so crude humor, but funny nonetheless. He is always able to come up with these kinds of things so fast.
• He loves sports and outdoor fun. This is exciting for Jim and I as we were both sports people ourselves growing up. It will be fun watching him (and the others) grow into whatever sport they choose.
• He has a great personality that is very easy for anyone to get along with. He is a bit shy (like his mother), but once he opens up, it is so easy to just like him.
• He has such a wonderful spirit about him. He has such wonderful faith in the gospel that comes very easy for him. He never doubts or questions anything, he just simply believes. He is a constant reminder of how easy the gospel truly is and how we just need to simply believe. Tyler loves the Lord and always thinks of what the correct thing to do is. His wonderful spirit is just an added blessing in our home.

We love you Tyler!! Happy 10th Birthday!!

4 months old already

Just an update on our little J. I cant believe he will be 4 months old tomorrow. It goes so very fast. He is getting so big and so aware of all these other people around him. He is just in love with all of his brothers and his sister.

He is getting so strong, holding his head up and rolling over. He is even trying to crawl believe it or not. There are times when he gets himself up on his knees. He just needs to learn to strengthen those arms and he will be off. He is going to be a handful in a few months I think.

Here is an updated pic.

He sure is a cute little guy (of course I am not biased at all). He is smiling and laughing and so interactive. Tyler loves to play peek-a-boo with him and he just giggles and laughs at his biggest brother. He also takes after his mom and is very ticklish.

We are so excited to add this special boy to our family and look forward to getting to know his little personality. So far, he is a pure joy and such a very happy baby. Hopefully that continues.