The Dangers of the Hunt

We went Christmas tree hunting yesterday, with our old friends the Adams, and also with our new friends the Smiths, who bought our old house. They said multiple people had pestered them about having a big tree, so Jann offered to take them with us. They were not prepared for a day out in winter weather.

Ian/Jack thinking about hitting his brothers with snowballs.

Adam thinking along the same lines.

Sam and Laura and Katriina Adams.

I found a great tree, and had Pete hack it down before Jann even saw it because (1) Jann was nowhere to be seen, and (2) it was a great tree. Here we are on the way to Sam Smith's tree, with him, Pete, Jann.

Sam Smith hacking away at his tree..

...and his leg, it turns out. He said the lesson he learned was to let the chain stop before you rest it on your leg. We helped him reconsider his lesson learned by calmly shouting No! Never touch the chain to your leg!

Sam and Marta with their tree.

It was a beautiful day.

Pete cutting down Sam Johnson's tree. Since Sam is Sophomore class president, he needed a tree for the high school.

Jack's Baptism

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson brought Peter and Laura from school. Em drove from Oregon too. And Brett and Grandma and Grandpa Murdock came too. 

Pete did the baptism, at Big Jack's request.

Laura and Sam jamming while Grandpa and Brooklyn dance.

Grandma Johnson.

Grandma Murdock.

Pete's buddy and roommate Austin Brown.

Frosting cookies.

Laura was the most careful decorator.

Matthew enjoying one of his creations.

We walked over to show people the Forsgren's house that we may be purchasing in a few weeks here.

Sam taking portraits. Em with her red hair.

Pete with his Special Blend coat.

All Hallow's Eve'n

Sam and Adam went as X-Men, but Jack wanted to be Robin Hood.

Jack with Pumpkin Jack.

Wolverine, Dr. X (with Cerebro), and Robin Hood.

Mexican standoff.

Spud Harvest

Most of the week spud harvest was scheduled was rained out, so Sam had to skip school for a few days to finish up. Didn't miss much at school..

Sam's little brothers brought him a pumpkin empanada, as is traditional in our family.

Riding the scraper tractor.

Sam giving his mommy a heart-shaped ptoato.

Road Trip

With the Mom and kids out of town visiting Emily for spud harvest, Sam and I bached it for a week. On Sunday, we decided to hit the road as General Conference was ending, because Sam needs 50 hours of driving before he can get his license. We drove from Rexburg to Ririe, to Swan Valley, over Piney Pass to Victor, and back through Tetonia and Teton to Rexburg. It took about 3.5 hours. Lots more to go..

Sam at the old Teton Dam site.