Wyatt has been fascinated with roads for the past several months. He is always watching when we go on trips to see how many lanes there are on the highways and where the roads connect to each other. 
Since we returned from our trip to Idaho he has spent a great deal of time outside drawing large and rather detailed roads all over the driveway.
Overpasses, underpasses, lane merges, entrance ramps...this road has it all!
Today was the first official day of school at the Griffis Academy. The kids enjoyed our traditional pencil brownie cake for dessert. Here are some other highlights from the day...
Wyatt is in 1st grade this year. His day is a little more structured than last year, especially since Sabrina is doing school with us this year. He loved getting to do some of his lessons outside!
Sabrina is in kindergarten. She feels like such a big girl getting to do lessons with Wyatt and practiced writing her numbers today.
Colter is going to preschool at church five mornings a week and then doing a few lessons at home with Wyatt and Sabrina in the early afternoon. He loves the swings on the playground! 
Monique is going to preschool three mornings a week. She loves her new teacher, Ms. 'Doza (her name for Mrs. Mendoza) and experiencing structure outside of our home is really good for her. She was very proud of the blue bouncy ball she got today! 
Zane is also going to preschool two mornings each week. This gives me two mornings to just focus on Wyatt and Sabrina which is going to be very helpful as they get into the routine of school. He loves his big school backpack, even though it is as big as he is!
playing in the Lochsa River...
picnics and playtime at both of the local parks...
visiting Daddy's new hospital and clinic...
picking (and eating!) huckleberries...
and stopping to visit an ancient cedar grove as we started on the drive back.
As you can tell from the pictures, our trip to Idaho started out with a bang - well actually it was a very loud bump! We were driving through downtown Colorado Springs at about 11:00 in the evening when Danny saw two large mule deer bucks in the middle of the interstate. He swerved slightly to avoid hitting one, which spooked the other who ran straight for our van. Monique, Zane and I were all sleeping so we missed the excitement. We pulled off at the next exit to check the damage and then continued on to Denver. The next day we were able to get a new headlight put in and will wait to get the rest of the damage fixed after we get back home. Hopefully the rest of our trip will be much less eventful!
Monique and Zane have had lots of fun this week being the only two at home...
They especially enjoyed their long playtime in the bathtub...
and eating yummy snacks! 
Buckled up and ready for some fun...
Zane was not please at all that he was being left behind. He had his backpack packed and was ready to go...
will be leaving tomorrow for a fun-filled week in Colorado with Gigi and G-pa. I'm sure going to miss them!
Here it is - baby's first picture. We still aren't certain yet if it's a boy or a girl, but both Danny and my ob are thinking it MIGHT be a girl. We'll do another ultrasound at our hospital here (so the kids can see it) later this month.
We celebrated my grandfather's 80th birthday with a family dinner and birthday reception. It was a fun weekend and a great chance to tell him thanks for all he means for our family. 
