A Peaceful Sunday Morning Idea

I don't know how many of you have had the opportunity to listen to the Mormon Channel radio station. I LOVE it!!!! Rather than listening to the station live, I have my list of favorite features that I just download and listen to at will. These segments are available as podcasts that can be downloaded into any number of programs including iTunes. You can subscribe and iTunes will continue to download new podcasts every time they become available.

One of my kids' favorite things to listen to is the Scripture Stories podcast. A moderator meets with a group of primary aged children and they read stories from the scripture readers, then discuss the lessons learned, the feelings and motivations of the people in the stories, and the decisions we make in our lives that are like the decisions faced by those people. All my kids enjoy this, but Kate (7) especially loves it. She sits with her reader and follows along, answering the questions posed by the moderator right along with the kids on the podcast! It's adorable, and very gratifying watching her learn to know and love the people in the scriptures. It is emphasized quite often that the people in the scriptures are real people, which is such an important concept in this age of cartoons.

For the adults in the house, some of my favorite podcasts are "Legacy" and "History of the Hymns". We are so blessed to have this wonderful resource. If you're so inclined, take a minute to subscribe and enjoy a peaceful Sunday morning, afternoon, or anytime.

More Vacation Pictures

Alright, fair warning: THIS SLIDESHOW CONTAINS 144 PICTURES OF OUR VACATION TO YELLOWSTONE. Feel free to skip through if you don't have time to watch the whole thing. :)

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Family Vacation '09

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The Wilson's spent Labor Day weekend in Island Park, Idaho and Yellowstone National Park!!! We had an absolute ball together. Because so much time was spent in the car we had lots of "togetherness" that could have been awful, but was actually quite wonderful. We had both Brad's and Todd's Ipods so we traded music back and forth introducing each other to our favorites and singing and laughing a lot. We played "I Spy a license plate" and managed to find plates from 47 of the 50 states plus for Canadian provinces. The only states we failed to see were North Carolina, South Carolina, and Maine. Darn!!! And yes, we DID see a Hawaii license plate while we were at Old Faithful. Crazy, huh?!! Anyway, that was a fun way to review all the states and kept us all occupied.

We picnicked in some beautiful places and hiked all over. The kids were amazing -- they did that energizer bunny thing that kept us all going and going and going! Kate's favorite part was when we visited the lower falls and walked down the long switchback trail. She counted her steps all the way back up. Todd's favorite part Old Faithful. He timed the eruption and tried to figure out some way get close enough to collect a water sample. Didn't happen (darn)! Jack loved everything except the really stinky, steamy hot pots. Those were pretty scary. Luckily, Dad carried him on his shoulders!

All in all we had an incredible time and can't wait to do it again. :)

Great Summer Readers - Principal's Walk

Todd and Kate both participated in their school's summer reading program. They went to the school library twice a week and read and tested on AR books. They really enjoyed it and it was a nice way to keep them fresh for the new school year. As a reward they were each invited to participate in the Principal's Walk. Brad worked from home on each of the mornings they were being honored so he could be there for them. What a great dad!!! :)

Rock Climbing at the Fair

I wasn't feeling well so Brad took the kids to the Cassia County Fair in Burley so they could climb the rock wall. They had the best time! Todd was pretty fearful... he inherited his mother's fear of heights -- but he overcame his trepidations and successfully made it to the top 3 times. Kate was the one who really wanted to go (she wore a skirt when we were there the night before so she couldn't do it then). She scurried up and down that wall several times with no problems. She apparently inherited her Dad's climbing abilities! All the kids were impressed with their Dad as he scaled the wall. He really hasn't climbed much since they've been born. Too much to live for, I suppose!

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Rupert West Stake 10k

Our Stake President is an avid runner, so he challenged our stake to get in shape and run a 10k with him. We started training at the beginning of the year. The kids and I ran/walked the 5k, but Brad ran the 10k. He's been training really hard and he beat his best time. He was AWESOME!!!! We were all so proud of him. Way to go Daddy!!!!!

Lake Cleveland FHE

Last night we took the Jeep up the mountain past Pomerelle ski resort to Lake Cleveland. We had a picnic and then hiked around the lake. It was gorgeous! We all had a great time. I had to laugh at our little safety kids, as we were preparing to leave Todd was packing his own bag with flashlights, bandaids, neosporin, pocket knife, leatherman, slingshot w/rocks, sunscreen, and bug spray. Kate insisted upon bringing the GIANT first aid kit. :) She did scrape her leg, which Todd then doctored up for her, so all the preparation was not in vain. It's nice to know they're looking out for us.