Fishing with the Fam

Uncle Mike came for a visit (YAY!) and suggested we go fishing, so Grandpa Willy splurged and rented a boat for us at Strawberry Reservoir. Some of my favorite childhood memories include fishing in my Grandpa's old blue boat on Yellowstone Lake, so I was excited to spend a fun morning fishing. My camera died and most of the good pictures were taken with Willy Jan's camera (family joke...haha), so I still need to copy them, but I figured I would post what I have. 

Garrett and Abby LOVED it! It was freezing (literally) for the first couple of hours, but they were such good sports and were so excited to be on the boat. 

This is where my camera died and all the fun really began. It warmed up (HOORAY!) and we hit a hot spot. The fish were biting like crazy and somehow it never gets old to feel that tug on your line and experience the thrill of reeling your catch in. The kids were thrilled with every fish we caught and their smiles just got bigger and bigger with each one. 

The highlight of the trip was when Mike and Greg yelled to me that Eric had a big one on and to hurry to the back of the boat and start taking pictures. I ran back with the camera only to discover Eric was doing some business off the boat and wasn't so thrilled with the prospect of having it documented. I still laugh when I think about it. Greg and Mike have been giving me a hard time since college, so I'm thrilled to add one more great story to their legendary "We got Nat" collection.

Here are a few phone pics of our daily catch. Not bad, huh?

I'm still trying to decide what kind of prize I should receive for being the only woman (minus Abbs) to join in this early-morning adventure. Jan, Mal, Cathy, Gini, Irina...you owe me big time for representing! :)

Grandma's School's Out Party!

Before we get to the school's out party, I loved this picture of Garrett trying to make Owen smile with his funny faces. 

He did reward them with a cheeser, but I snapped the picture a second too late. He sure is a cute little guy! 

Grandma Susie started the summer out with a bang and invited all the grandkids over for a water party.

It was a perfect start to what we are hoping is our best summer ever! Thanks, Grandma. We are so lucky to have you.

Chicken Nuggets, Etc.

My cousin, Marijka, babysits for us quite often and made the coolest lunch for the kids the other day. Am I the only one who didn't know how easy it is to make your own chicken nuggets? It is so cool! She crushed goldfish crackers and added some seasonings (salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, paprika, pretty much anything works), cut chicken breasts into strips/nuggets, dipped the chicken in milk and then shook it in a Ziploc bag. You bake them at 350 for about 8 minutes on one side and then turn them and crisp up the other side for about 2 minutes. They are SO GOOD and super easy. If your kids are dippers like mine, ranch dressing works great! My life was forever changed. I even took pictures to prove it. Thanks, Marijka! 

We had a perfect Mother's Day. The highlight was skyping with our favorite Spanish Elder. He will be home in November and we are so excited! Garrett and Abby were so thrilled to see him and talk to him through the TV. Doesn't he look great?

The kids picked out a beautiful planter for Grandma Jan and one for me, too. They are so pretty and I smile every time I see my flowers on the porch. Every time I water them I think of my sweet children and how much they are like flowers...it takes lots of time and effort to grow something beautiful. I'm grateful to be their mom and I feel so inadequate most of the time, but I sure try hard and have hope that Higher Powers will make up where I fall short.

My sweet dad brought me these flowers and told me thanks for being the mother of his grandchildren. How cute is that? Yellow is my favorite color...he is one smart guy.

I wanted to get a picture with my mom and our kids on Mother's Day, but it didn't happen. They love Grandma Susie so much and she is good to us. Sorry for the lack of picture, but she knows we love her.

We all love our favorite Aunt Kathy and had so much fun celebrating her birthday at Fredrico's. She had lots of little helpers to blow out her candles and even let the kids sneak a taste of frosting. We always joke that being around Kathy is a huge self-esteem boost because she spends the whole time telling us how wonderful we are, how cute the kids are, how proud she is of us, etc. She is such a blessing in our family and we cherish the time we get to spend with her.

We went to the Horse Pulls at Black and White Days last weekend. Of course, Garrett and Abby were more excited for the cotton candy than anything else.

Garrett was quite distressed when we got home and I told him he needed to brush his teeth really well because cotton candy is made of sugar bugs. He didn't like that idea so much. Sorry to ruin the magic, buddy.