The Big Weekend--Part 3

 After attending a great sacrament meeting where Nat gave a great talk, all of us headed home to work on more food. Because when the McIntyre's throw a party there is always a ton of food!!

Many, many people came and it was so great to see so many old friends and make new friends.

 This cute boy is my nephew Heston and Kathryn with Natalie. Can you tell she had been playing hard? They loved having so many cousins to be with.

 A few of the many who cam to support Nat.

 Chris and Jen with one of our favorite people--Allan.

Afterwards we were beat! So the rest of the night was spend doing this...and it was great!

 Monday morning was Natalie's last day so between canning more beans all the ladies (and some of the guys snuck in...) had a party in her room.

 We helped her go through all her stuff and get all packed up to leave the next morning. We were all armed with pops, scissors (for cutting off tags), and the lists. Checking and re-checking everything.

That was sure a different experience than when my brothers left but hey girls are just a little bit more put together at this age!

The Big Weekend--Part 2

 Some wonderful people in my parent's stake has made the coolest backyard ever. He has built this wonderful water slide into his hillside. He graciously let my family all come over (we were missing one--Jess we sure missed you!!).

 The kids were in absolute heaven. They slid over and over and over again. They couldn't get enough. They were all super brave and went down at least 50 times. It was so fun to watch them!

Then they discovered they wanted to do trains like the adults. Their faces were awesome coming down so fast. So brave!

 Plus we made the coolest faces too. 

 We loved our trains!

 This is where we all ended at--with some super weggies too!

 The boys thought it was so fun to attack everyone as soon as they came in--some loved it and some did not. Hahaha....

After some serious sliding we took a break for a fun picnic,

 swinging,

 talking,

and just hanging out. These are the newest grandbabies. So cute--Emmett, Elsie, and Ellee.

 And this girl is so cute. We love our Grace!!

 Since we were celebrating Nat's 19th birthday we had Oreo Ice Cream Cake. Love Ryan and Katy's face in this picture. I have a feeling Natalie didn't blow "all" the candles out by herself!

 After everyone was super worn out we headed back to the house to get some work done. Well after some 4 wheeling riding anyway. Natalie spent some last minute aunt time with the girls!

The rest sat here for about 4 hours--that's what happens when you bring 185 pounds of beans. But boy does it go way faster when you have lots of help!!

 My sisters are super crazy--boy love these ladies though!!

Along with beans we prepped food for Nat's open house the next day. My mom and I had some super sore feet by the end of the night. Thank heavens for awesome husbands who rub them!!

The Big Weekend--Part 1

Boy have we been so excited/dreading this weekend. My youngest sister is leaving (left as of yesterday) for her mission.  But along with that we had lots and lots of fun things planned to do with her. 

After making a quick trip to Burley to pick up 185 pounds of green beans and have lunch with my good friend Tara, we loaded up and headed to my parent's house. You should have seen us in our van...we were packed to the roof with beans. We barely fit our kids in!

Our first stop (technically 2nd since we unloaded all the beans first) on the fun weekend train was the Owyhee County Fair.

 Boy is this a tiny one compared to our county. The kids enjoyed looking at the animals (no horses though--Sarah was kinda sad about that!).

 It was super hot so it was nice to be in the barns where there is shade.

 After we saw all the animals we decided to enjoy some super greasy fair food. Last time this happened Sam got food poisoning but thank heavens this time no one got sick. And it was actually pretty good.

Afterwards my dad treated us to some ice cream at a local shop. Boy was that tasty too. 

Then it was back to the house to snap more beans.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

 I finally turned a year older and I love it!! Growing older has never bothered me (yet anyway...) so I just look forward to a fun day spent however I want.

This year the famous violinist Midori was coming to Sun Valley on my birthday so we decided to pack the kids up, head up north, and see her.

 We made it there in time for the rehearsal which was fun because we could sit up close and watch her. She is truly amazing and I love exposing the kids to talented musicians.

I love listening to such amazing talent. She played beautifully and it made you just want to pick a violin up and play yourself. So neat!

 Most of the time they watched and listen--except for Luke but hey there is only so much we could ask for.

 After the rehearsal we had several hours to kill before the concert so we wandered around--it's such a beautiful area up there,

 played games with our friends that came also,

and ate a picnic, all while trying not to be trampled by crowds of people. It is a very popular event up there. We decided to sit on the grass and watch the jumbo tron for the actual concert so the littler kids wouldn't be too bored so this is what it looked like out there :).

What a fun birthday it was! I got everything I wanted (I asked for a bag of pb m&ms and a 12 pack of pop) and even a bonus from the kids (a pair of earrings which was so cute of them to do). I am so blessed!!

Super Shopping Trip!!

See this girl...she's leaving on her mission in 5 days. So this girl needed some clothes (and many more items that we never dreamed of) before she left. So of course we made it into a fun trip of girls shopping till they were totally sick of it--does that happen?

Sure does for this girl, but hey it's a lot more fun to spend someone elses moolah!!

We did throw in a few other fun things along the way like visiting "this is the place" park

and getting lost (which meant we got to shop at Savers which was a blast for me!)

 It also meant pie milkshakes at Sammy's--which conveniently was right next door to our hotel!!

 And it also meant eating at fun restaurants. Our favorite--Chilis!! Boy were we ready for some chips and salsa :)

It also meant we would get super silly because we had been to so many stores ("we like big butts and we cannot lie...")

 And cooling off and relaxing in the swimming pool and watching some fun tv shows that we never get at home!

What a great time we had together--only wish the other 2 sisters could of joined us :(