The Freeman Family

Some great photos of some great friends!  While taking these pictures I realized it will be fun to have "grown" kids someday.  This family is full of such good kids, I mean young adults, and overall such a happy bunch.  It was fun (and cold) to spend time with them taking photos.  You can find more photos here.

Horses & Guns

The kids asked for a very unique Christmas present this year.  They wanted a bike trail on our property.  Eric went to work and started building the trail.  Sierra and Mason did quite a bit of work, too.  Today we had a work party with Eric's family and they made a lot of progress on the Horses & Guns trail.  Someday I will explain the meaning of the name.  Sierra already had a spot on the trail she wanted to clean on her bike where it's a little steep and tricky on a muddy bike.  She finally made it after about 25 falls in the mud.  Once we get the huge tree swings up and a few wooden signs it's going to be quite a forest paradise. 

A Real Photo

Garrett loves taking family photos.  Thanks Megan for capturing some great shots of a real family picture.    I love these!

Merry Merry Christmas!

Photos by Megan, friend extraordinaire.

This was our house just a few days ago!

Light

The world can seem like a dark place, especially with the tragic news this week.  But I know there is one place in which we can find light and peace and that place is with the Savior Jesus Christ. I know this is true.

“Our Mediator, our Redeemer, our Brother, our Advocate with the Father died for our sins and the sins of all mankind. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the foreordained but voluntary act of the Only Begotten Son of God. He offered His life as a redeeming ransom for us all. His mission, His ministry among men, His teachings of truth, His acts of mercy, His unwavering love for us prompt our gratitude and warm our hearts. Jesus Christ, Savior of the world—even the Son of God—was and is the ultimate pioneer, for He has gone before, showing all others the way to follow. May we ever follow Him.”

President Thomas S. Monson

O Come, Emmanuel

The Real Deal

Here are some pictures Eric got with his phone during the Killers Concert.  When that confetti fell it was like being in a dream, or rock video.  I don't care which...it was amazing.  I guess it's a good thing I am just beginning my concert experiences because I may have spent a lot of money going to them in my previous life.  I have a list of dreams and on that list are three bands I want to see in concert: Coldplay, The Killers and U2.  I can check off 2 of those names, but U2 may be a bit harder.  Did I mention I touched Brandon Flowers?  Oh yes, I think I did mention that. 

Before the next holiday

We did have Halloween around here, even though I never did get a picture of everyone.  Allie dressed up a little as a clown and Garrett was not interested at all.  He does not have the normal 3 year old dress up bug.  If it's not shorts and a t-shirt he is not interested. 

The Ball

My talented friends Lydia and Robin created a Masquerade Party with amazing details.  It was just after Halloween and this is the most I have ever dressed up for the holiday.   They held it in a huge barn complete with lights, a banquet table, amazing decor, dance music (some Pride and Prejudice style dancing of course) and some beautiful masks.  Even the invites were something to save.  It was a such a fun night.   

I won't give up

I was cleaning the kitchen, listening to Pandora, and this song came on.  I have heard Jason Mraz songs but have never heard this one.  I loved it at once.  Partly because it sounds a little country, which always reminds me of my childhood, but mostly because of the lyrics.  Life throws so many difficult situations at us and at times I find myself faced with a challenge that seems too hard.  I feel like I will never make it up the mountain.  Yet I know if I don't give up I can make it. It may be slow progress up the mountain but if I keep walking, even just one small step at a time, I can climb the mountain.  I can reach the top.  And I will be so much stronger in doing so.  Ok, enough blah, blogging. 

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.”
~Confucius~

BF

I already received my Christmas present this year. Eric and I, with 2 other good friends, went and saw Brandon Flowers in person.  I guess it was really The Killers but funny thing is I don't know the names of the other members of the band.  We decided to try the floor this time and it was totally worth it.  We had a concert pro with us and she chatted her way to the stage (thanks Meg).  We ended up being about 5 rows back from the stage.  Being so close made the concert so much fun!  Confetti falling, happy, loud fans and the best part was I touched Brandon Flower's hand.  Oh yes, I was that close and that starstruck but to be fair Eric touched his arms (or was it sweaty elbow?) and was just as thrilled.  A very Merry Christmas to us.

Toadstools or Amanita muscaria

I think it would be neat to travel more, see what the world is like outside our own little town and state but then I am reminded there are amazing discoveries right here under my nose.  My family drove a few minutes away from our normal route to church to check out these amazing Amanita muscaria.  At least that is what I think they are after doing a little research.  These are probably the biggest mushrooms I have ever seen.

There is so much to discover and learn about right here in the Northwest.  Have you ever read about mushrooms?  Of course I knew they were a type of fungi but I did not know that they are more closely related to animals than plants.  Read the definition below, with a dictionary, and you will see what I mean.  And these smurf-like dwellings were the icing on the cake to our mushroom hunt a few weeks prior.  You can see those in the previous post. 

This world we live in, this little town I live in, is pretty beautiful. 

 A fungus ( /ˈfʌŋɡəs/; plural: fungi^[3] or funguses^[4]) is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds (British English: moulds), as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria. One major difference is that fungal cells have cell walls that contain chitin, unlike the cell walls of plants, which contain cellulose. These and other differences show that the fungi form a single group of related organisms, named the Eumycota (true fungi or Eumycetes), that share a common ancestor (a monophyletic group). This fungal group is distinct from the structurally similar myxomycetes (slime molds) and oomycetes (water molds). The discipline of biology devoted to the study of fungi is known as mycology, which is often regarded as a branch of botany, even though genetic studies have shown that fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants.

The Hunt

We went out to hunt mushrooms, not to eat mind you, just to look.  There are so many mushrooms in the forest but we had no idea how many different kinds of mushrooms there actually are!  Now we just have to learn the names of them all.