Coming your way...soon !

Hey there all you blogger fans...something wicked awesome is coming your way. Just not tonight. I am too tired to download it all. But I just wanted to get you excited about us posting a new post SOON! In the meantime, thanks for all your great reads on your blogs. I am loving them all.

First Haircut

Yummy! Lauren enjoyed her favorite food, yogurt after a long afternoon at the beauty salon. It was so fun. Girls day out. My hair dresser cut Lauren's hair and styled it so cute. She brought out all of this natural curl somehow. I just sat and smiled from ear to ear. She is so yummy!

Yellowstone or Bust!

This last Saturday as we sipped our hot chocolate and watched the snow start to flurry down from our kitchen window we (the Peterson Family) all decided it was a perfect day to venture out as planned and visit Yellowstone. We were sure all the animals would be coming down to feed and prepare for winter. The leaves were suppose to be gorgeous and we had nothing better to do as a family.(The Utah game wasn't on Dish Network). Unfortunately, when we made these plans it was the day before and it had been a toasty high 70's and we were all geared up for a great Saturday. The snow is no deterrent to a child we found and we were soon on the road to Yellowstone - no matter the weather. We made it all the way to Island Park where the magic of the car ride wore off and we were all ready to take a break. Funny thing the gas station/bar/service station/restaurant we stopped at happened to have 1 cent candies...a thing of the past I thought. It made the trip all exciting again and we decided according to the dropping thermometer in our car that 32 degrees was chilly enough and we stopped at the coolest, closest next stop. Big Springs in Island Park. We were the only ones there. (I can't imagine why). Still, I have to admit that it was really cool and a rare chance to be there alone. The gigantic trout were starving and jumping out of the water at any food thrown their way. The kids could have cared less about the temperature and we played at the springs for a bit. Troy was as giddy as the kids were at the fish. It was quite the sight. It was really fun...fun enough that Yellowstone was no longer a necessity of the day. We started for home and took a detour at Mesa Falls. It was awesome. Again we were the only ones there again but the water was still so warm from the recent weather that it was steaming all over. Very cool. We hiked our little hearts out and marveled at the wonderful pace of life we have somehow discovered back into our lives. It is so easy to forget about how important it is to enjoy the small moments. The waterfalls got Troy reminiscing of college days at Ricks and he mentioned another waterfall called Cave Falls. So we ventured on over to there. It was such a beautiful drive, the last part was slightly hard to see when it started to snow so hard it was a white out. That's when we saw a sign that welcomed us into Yellowstone Nat. Park. I laughed that we somehow made it to Yellowstone even though we thought we had talked the kids out of going there. Obviously it was snowing in Yellowstone and no animals were out for us to see, but we sure did have fun discovering beautiful parts of Idaho and all the great water falls of Idaho. Idaho...what a great and crazy place. Scary how much it actually grows on you.

First Frost!

A sad day has come in my life. The first frost of the season is here and my fear of winter time has officially set in. Who knew I was such a wimp? Who knew my blood ran thin? Who knew that Texas was the perfect climate for me? I have to be strong for my families sake but I am confiding in my new found friend...my blog. I am terrified of freezing to death this winter. Pray for me.

Surprises O' Plenty!

Ok! Ok! For all you family and friends who thought I was acting a bit weird...Yes, it's true. I am pregnant. We are excited for #4 and really not sure what to expect. Three has been a blast. We have enjoyed having a baby in the house so much, only Lauren is not much of a baby anymore. She would love a baby. I think that she would love a baby sister. The boys are hoping that is the case too. They say then she will stay out of their stuff and bug the baby instead. I am sure this will all come to pass. we are excited and I am a bit sick, but March is the due date. It's exciting! I am honestly hoping all my extra baby padding will help me weather this winter a little easier...since my blood still hasn't quite thickened yet.

We Love Visitors!

These photos are dedicated to some of our visitors we had this summer. My brother Mark and his wife Jaime came up with their girls and we had such a good time. I love the picture of Emeryn stuffing things down her shirt. That captures most of her time spent here. It was so hilarious.













Our last visitor of the summer was Michelle Hill and her kids Gavin and Lainey. We spent a perfect day at Bear World and enjoyed the theme park afterwards. We all had a blast (as you can tell from the pictures). We miss them already and enjoyed all our time together. If you can't tell already we LOVE having visitors and really want you all to come visit some day!

Where Did The Summer Go?

So one minute it is July, and the next minute school is in session and the summer is slipping away. The end of summer is bittersweet - fall means cool weather, changing leaves, Utah football (Troy made me add that) and the kids get to go back to school. But it is so fun to have the boys at home during the summer for outdoor adventures.

We spent a wonderful week up in Driggs, Idaho at Aunt Laurel's and Uncle Blake's place and loved every minute of it...except that Troy was the only member of his family that wasn't there for most of it. We moved here for less travel, but his one big business trip of the year fell on the same week as the annual Peterson family reunion. We enjoyed the beautiful outdoors while he sweated his guts out in Atlanta. We missed him but still had a great time. At the cabin, we also met our future uncle/brother-in-law Ryan Bessey. He is already a favorite for Kimball and Cole - a favorite like a cherry snow cone. Uncle Justin is still a favorite too, like a grape snow cone. They are both favorites. We are sad to see our beloved "Wee" grow up (and we will miss her visits and free nanny services) but we are happy for both of them and look forward to the wedding in December. A few photos from the trip:













Kimball thinks school in Idaho is still like summer vacation (since they get three recesses and start later and finish earlier than in Texas). I am still anxious to see how the school situation works out for both the boys. Texas schools are a little more intense to say the least.

We sold our Camry on the first day of school, the boys posed by it before they pedaled off to school. We enjoy our bike rides to the school (four times a day for me and Lauren) although we are not so excited about the city's new idea to drop tons of gravel all over the road and then just leave it there to help the roads last longer. It makes riding a bike extremley difficult, especially with little legs. I guess these are the benefits of living in the so called "country".





Kimball has become the big stud of the neighborhood since all his little buddies on our street saw him out mowing our lawn a few weeks ago. Troy and I are enjoying the bliss while it lasts. Our lawn is HUGE, and Kimball has still begged every week to mow it. We are the only ones on the block who don't own a riding lawn mower. Kimball loves it and it takes a good three hours to do it but he is awesome at it! I just start the mower for him and then he goes until it runs out of gas. I fill it up and off he goes again .... Last Saturday he got really smart and told his neighbor buddy how cool it is to mow the lawn...so a few minutes later he had his buddy rolling his push mower down the street and they split our lawn in half and both mowed it happily together. I need to get a picture of the lawn so I can remember and laugh at all the missed strips and crooked rows! I love it and it only cost me two tanks of gas and two ice cream cones. what a deal!