High Hopes

Quick Re-cap of the last 9 months

2011-05-02T14:29:00.018-06:00

I will skip the excuses as to why I haven't updated this blog since July 2010. There just isn't a good excuse that is believable. What I will do is quickly update you on what our family has been up to since last July. And I mean quickly . . .

In August Cody started playing tackle football. He ended up being a fairly good running back. We found that playing football really increased his confidence and his social skills - he is really shy. He was #95.

He played all the way to October, and by then the weather was pretty cold so we were glad it came to an end.

In October Sadie turned 13! Yes, we have a teenager! Here are some photos of her little party that she had. We found out that our small house isn't very good for having slumber parties in.

Sadie is just about ready to finish up the 8th grade and has decided that she wants to be an accountant when she grows up. She freaked out after the first trimester this year because one of her teachers gave her an A-, which brought her GPA down to a 3.98. I had to assure her for three days that colleges don't look at 8th grade transcripts before she would settle down

For Halloween the kids decided they weren't too old to dress up so Greg was "Dracula" and Cody was a zombie football player. Here are photos of those two. I guess my stage makeup skills are still in-tact. Jackson was a hunter but we didn't take his photo for some reason.

In December Jackson and Greg turned 9. They both earned their Wolf badges in cub scouts and now they are working on their Bear. The photo is from thier birthday. Jackson also got a "real" tent, and Greg got a mummy sleeping bag - exactly what they asked for.

In January Jackson started playing youth basketball and Brett coached his team. They had a lot of fun and Jackson enjoyed doing something just for him. He is #13.

In February the boys all had their Pinewood Derby for scouts. All of their cars did really well and they liked being able to make their cars with their dad. They were very individualized based on exactly what the boys imagined.

In March Brett and I had the opportunity to go to Orlando with his family (adults only). We rented a house, went to Universal studios, swam with Manatees and went fishing in the intracoastal area by Cocoa Beach. Will post photos of that trip later :)

After getting home from Orlando we took Jackson and Greg out of public school. They both struggle with reading and we didn't want the schools to just push them through to 4th grade unable to read. So I am working part time, and doing homeschool as well. It is one of the hardest things I have ever tried to do and I pray everyday that it will be successful!

Last month we finally took the kids to Disneyland. We were away for over a week and glad to finally get home, but we had a blast!

This is us waiting for our tickets to print out. For some reason the computer didn't want to work for us! Nice sunglasses Sadie :)

Here the kids are hanging out by one of the forts on Tom Sawyer's island.
Here we are waiting in line for the Thunder mountain railroad, one of our favorite rides there!

The kids enjoying the shade under Tarzan's Tree house.

Sadie loves Goofy so we just had to wait in line to get a photo with him.

Our entire family LOVED Pirates of the Caribean and we rode it over and over; during the fireworks was the best time!

So, now we are home. This past week we got two horses, Rose and Cloud (left to right below). Rose is a good kids horse and Brett is getting cloud broke. It is fun to finally have horses.

The other thing keeping Brett busy right now is the building of the "mansion" tree house in our pasture. The kids have been begging for one since we moved here three years ago and we are finally getting it built. Brett finished the floor on Saturday and we hope to get the railing and trap door done this week. It should be fun once it is all done.

So, that is my "quick" update. I am sure there is more that we have done. I will try really hard to be more organized and post things regularly. I know that relatives who live far away like to see what we are up to. Know that we appreciate all of you and hope you're having as much fun as we are!

Happy 4th!

2010-07-03T13:48:00.002-06:00

Well - this won't be a long post, but just to update you all! We have been a busy family this summer. 2 weeks ago we went hiking in Yellowstone, had a wonderful time seeing beauty and pushing our limits (the kid's limits). Have been tending our garden which is huge this year. The kids have been finding that house cleaning every morning with mom isn't that bad, and when you do it everyday it goes pretty fast. I have been busy getting my board exams taken - AND PASSED!! Yeah. So glad that is done with - I am totally done with school, tests, everything! Now I will actually be posting about the family, not just me ;). I just have to wait for my license to arrive from the state so I can start working outside the home. Gotta get those student loans paid off!
Today we are taking it easy and tonight we will go watch the HUGE fireworks display in Idaho Falls. There are a ton of people there, but we figured, the kids aren't going to be around forever, so let's enjoy the time they are! Hope all of you have a great 4th of July! God Bless America, we need it!

Family Update

2010-05-29T19:36:00.004-06:00

Just a quick update on what we have been up to. Last week we were kept pretty busy; me looking for a board patient, still no luck and the kid's end of school activities. Sadie had her spring concert for band and had a solo. Here is the clip of it - sorry if the video seems shaky, I started crying a bit when she started her solo - I guess I was just so proud of how well she was doing!

Cody had the chance to do an Idaho History Project for school this year. Every 4th grader in Idaho has Idaho History as their social studies for the entire year. Here is a photo of him sitting next to his project in his classroom. He skinned a beaver, just like one of the mountain man trapper's from early Idaho. For his display he made a poster of photos that were taken while he was skinning the beaver. Grandma and Grandpa Hawkins, while they were here,
helped him put it together. I thought it turned out great, and he got an A on the project so he was pretty proud. The furs that he displayed are ones that Brett has trapped and had tanned.
Last weekend we were able to make our annual CJ Strike Crappie fishing trip. We camped in the pouring rain and hurricane force winds - in a tent! That part wasn't very fun, but the fishing was still pretty good. Here is a photo of one of the big "small mouth" bass that Sadie caught. It was cold, thus the hat on her head.

That sums up the update! We are busy as usual, with more stuff to get done than we have time for. I am sure most of you can relate! Have a great Memorial Day!

Graduation and Relaxation

2010-05-14T11:53:00.003-06:00

Me - Giving a little speach.

See how happy my family looks now? Yeah - Mommy is done!

Brett, Me and my Mom and Dad Graduation day - I thought it would never come.

Strong enough to get through this program? Then strong enough to do ANYTHING! Yes, I wore jeans and running shoes :)

So - It has finally happened . . . I have graduated! Some of you might not realize that I took my first pre-requisite classes for this program before my twins were even thought of - Now, 9 years later, I have a bachelors degree in Dental Hygiene. It has been a long time coming and I am so excited to be done. I am proud to say that of my immediate family I am the first of my 6 siblings to have my bachelors degrees (Sarah will be getting hers in a couple weeks and Kelly is working towards hers as well - keep at it!).
On Friday May 7th the Dental Hygiene department had a private graduation ceremony and because I was our class president for the two years of the program, I was privileged to say a few words, thus the silly photo of me at the podium. I didn't have 2 caps on, one is the shadow. I was very blessed to have my parent's come all the way from Oregon to be a part of this occasion. We were really excited that they came and that we were able to have such a great visit with them. We love you guys! On the 8th the actual university graduation ceremony took place. Now, I have attended these before and I know how boring they are, but I figured that I am only going to do this once so I might as well do it right. I wore jeans and my running shoes and I was so glad that I did. We stood around for over an hour and then had to walk to our seats, then when it was finally my turn - walk all the way across the stage. Wow - then it was done! Yeah! I think my kids and Brett are the most excited about this being over. They are really glad to have me home. Thanks to those of you who supported me along this journey, whether by notes of encouragement or especially by being my patients - I am truly grateful.

The Monday after graduation Brett and I took off for 4 days alone (my parents stayed and watched the kids) - in Yellowstone National Park. We stayed in West Yellowstone and explored the park during the day. We were so thrilled to see more wildlife than we ever have before. Here are some photos of our relaxing trip.

The first photo above is a group of otters that entertained us on our first day. The first Grizzly photo is of a 4 year old female. We watched her tear into a beaver hut to no avail. The second grizzly is a sow with her twin cubs from this year. They were all over her, but it seemed like she just wanted to introduce them to the public (the photographers were going crazy as is visible in that shot in the slideshow below). The black bear was a sow with her yearling twin cubs, which means that they were born last year. I have only ever seen one bear in Yellowstone before this trip, and that one had just ran across the road and disappeared. Brett had never seen one in there ever before, so needless to say, this trip was amazing. I think we will make this an annual event, and may even take the kids next time.
Overall we saw 7 grizzly bears, 3 black bears, 10 bighorn sheep, 5 otters, 1 coyote, 6 deer and countless buffalo, elk, antelope, ground squirrels and birds (too many raven to count). It was fun and relaxing and we are so grateful to have had the chance to do it.

Here is a slide show with some more cool pics. Enjoy!

Spring Happenings

2010-04-29T18:27:00.004-06:00

Well, it is spring in S.E. Idaho which means that you never know what the weather will bring. Last week we had a day that was 77degrees and this week it has been about 40. Spring also brings some fun times.

Sadie has started doing track for school. She started out doing the 100 and 200 meter dash, the 4x200 meter relay and the long jump. After the first track meet the coach changed her to doing the 4x100 meter relay, the girls medley relay (200 meter distance), the 4x200 meter relay and the long jump. I guess he was impressed with how she did. So here are some photos of her first meet.

Sadie - in maroon - starting her 200 meter dash.

Running the 200.

Long jump

The landing - at least it wasn't a scratch.

Sadie also has been busy with her piano playing. She had her festival a couple weeks ago and scored 100 out of 100. We are really proud of her enthusiasm for the piano and know she will appreciate it later in life. One of these days I will video tape her playing another piece so you can know what I am talking about. She is really talented.

Anyway - tomorrow is my last day of school - then I graduate on May 8th. Tomorrow is also Cody's 10th birthday, so lots of things going on right now. I will try to post photos of that soon. My folks are coming from Oregon this next week and we are looking forward to catching up and spending some quality time with them. Well -hope all of you have as good a day tomorrow as I am going to. Thanks for all you do!

Passed My Boards!!!!!

2010-04-10T12:11:00.002-06:00

For those who haven't heard yet, I received my National Boards results this week and I passed! Needless to say, I was very excited and it kept me in a great mood all week. Now all I got to do is graduate. 4 weeks until graduation and counting :)

Has it really been 3 1/2 months?

2010-03-27T10:12:00.004-06:00

They say that time flies when your having fun . . . I don't know if I would call this past several months as fun, but the time has been flying. I can't believe that I haven't posted anything in 3 1/2 months, not even a Christmas posting (sorry for not sending out cards this year!) As for catching up; Christmas was great, the twins turned 8 and got baptized, new years brought in a new semester for me (my last one) and we played in the snow a lot. School has been a crazy ride and this semester has been full of busy work, more papers than I thought possible and a lot of community service work plus studying for national boards. Other than that though our family has just been pushing forward. Brett has really been exceptional since I have been in school. He has taken on the roles of morning wake up for the kids (plus getting them ready and on the bus), cooking during the week on my late nights (he is a really good cook) and chauffeur for Sadie now that she has started doing track after school - plus many more. He is good at not complaining (most of the time :) but is looking forward to not having to have so much extra responsibility at home when I graduate. I am so grateful for him. I don't know how I would have gotten through this without him.
This week has been my spring break which I started off by taking my board exams; 8 hours of testing makes for a long day. I won't know if I passed or not for several more weeks so keep me in your prayers (that I passed).
I will be graduating on May 8th - so I will make sure that I post photos of that blessed day! All I will have to worry about then if finding a board patient for my clinical boards in June. Anyone know somebody who hasn't been to have their teeth cleaned in 10 years and have tarter built up all over? If so, let me know :).
So far all I have talked about it me, sorry. The kids are growing up really fast. I just bought Sadie some dresses for church and Easter yesterday. I had to buy them from the ladies section because she is so tall now and growing up so fast. She tried them all on last night and she doesn't even look a little bit like a little girl anymore. It is kind of sad, I remember when she would stand in our living room and do a little wiggle dance every time I put on music. Man, I feel old all of a sudden! Cody has become pretty independent. He likes to cook and play basketball outside and recently he discovered that reading long books isn't any harder than reading short books; it just takes longer to finish them! Imagine that. He is close to finishing "Eragon" and he is really enjoying it. Jackson and Greg are doing good being in the same class in school this year. They love their teacher. Jackson has trouble not talking in class, he thinks that if someone talks to him he HAS to talk back. Greg is our family clown and thinks that dinner time is the time when he needs to make people laugh, much to the dismay of Brett and I. He also thinks that he won't get in trouble if he just puts on huge smile. Jackson has been growing out his hair because he likes to comb it in the morning so he looks "so handsome". His hair is really thin and gets really poofy long, so it is getting cut today.

Since I haven't taken many photos the last couple months here are some pics from when our kids where little - they really have grown a lot!

If you want to access this photo album and see the comments that go with each photo click on this link:

Looking Back - High family

Thanks for all your love and support. We think of you all often, just don't have the time right now to always act on those thoughts.

Fall turns into winter - catching up AGAIN

2009-12-05T11:52:00.003-07:00

Just a little catching up. Here is a slideshow of some of the highlights from the last 2 months. Halloween, playing outside, Cody earned his Bear badge in cub scouts, the twins had a class play at school, Sadie shot a deer and had a recital - just to name a few of the things we have been up to.

We have enjoyed a lot of things the fall like playing football in the crisp autumn air, raking leaves and jumping into the piles, seeing the first snow fall and feeling the temperatures start to plummet. It has been crazy with school, but something that I have learned is that my family has to come first whenever that is possible. I can't miss school if the kids are sick or have a school party, but I can try to enjoy the time we have on my weekends and in the evenings.

This slide show is Thanksgiving and the day after when we went and got Christmas trees. We had a great weekend and had a lot of fun - the kids especially.

We will post our Christmas letter soon. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and that your holidays will be filled with the love of those around you, and those like us who are far away.

Sadie's Deer and Recital

2009-12-05T11:20:00.004-07:00

Just real quick, back in October Sadie and Brett had the chance to hunt together for deer. Sadie's first ever big game hunting trip. She was a trooper. She got her deer after having to shoot it 3 times(2 of those shots were kill shots, it just wouldn't die). That had to be hard for a first time hunter as sensitive as Sadie is. So here is a photo of her and her first ever deer.

At the end of November Sadie had her piano recital. We were finally able to get Sadie started with a wonderful piano teacher back in June. On November 21, Sadie competed in a piano festival and scored 98/100 points. Then she had her recital on the 22nd. The following video is of her recital, playing one of her festival songs. We are so proud of her and her dedication to her playing. She really does love it.

Catching up

2009-10-17T13:19:00.005-06:00

Well, time is flying by and here it is, 2 months since my last post. We have been more busy than ever so I will touch on some of the highlights from the last 2 months.

School started for all of us (the kids and I) at the end of August. Sadie is in the 7th grade, Cody is in the 4th grade and Jackson and Greg are in the 2nd grade. They are all doing great this year at helping around the house and being more responsible for themselves. I am in my senior year in the dental hygiene program at Idaho State University. I had an instructor tell us last week that our program has to be the hardest bachelors program in the nation - I would agree. I will not bother you with a list of why I am so stressed, just know that I am really busy and can't wait to graduate in May.

September was a good month. On the 12th of September I ran my first ever 5k. That is 3.1 miles for those who don't know. I had trained since July with my friend Tasha. We slowly worked our way up to be able to run that far and ran in a race together to say that we had. It was a fun, and exhausting day.

For anyone who knew me growing up you are probably a little surprised that I would do this. I used to think the cross country runners were crazy. I have to admit though that I really grew to love running and felt such wonderful benefits from doing it. I can't wait to get back into a routine with it after school gets done in the spring.

Here I am with Tasha and her husband Bob, and their oldest child Aliysa.

Before the race.
This is right at the start of the race. I was feeling a little competitive with all the people around, so we kind of started off faster than we should have.

Here we are at the finish line. We finished in around 34 minutes, which was great for us.

Afterwards, just grateful to have it done.

That same afternoon we had a family reunion for Brett's mom's side of the family. It was fun to catch up with people we hadn't seen for a while and meet some new members of the family.

Since then we have just been busy with school and Brett has been really busy with work. He is finally done with his field season, of course now he is just hunting a bunch so he isn't really home any more than before! He was able to go out this past Thursday and get his antelope. He got a really nice buck, I will have to have him post some photos when he gets home.

Sadie is excited to be turning 12 years old tomorrow. She has asked for a crimper for her birthday, which is kinda funny because crimping your hair was popular when I was in middle school too - pretty crazy. She is growing up so fast. She is wearing mascara now, (one thing at a time) and she talks way too much on the phone with her friends. We really are blessed to have such a sweet spirit in our home. She is so helpful with me being in school. She has even started getting dinner ready for us on the nights when Brett and I are both late getting home.

Anyway - life is pretty good for us Highs. We are so grateful to have such wonderful friends and such supportive families who help us out while things are so crazy right now. Thank you all! We would love to hear from you.

Mt. Borah, Idaho: elevation 12,662 ft.

2009-08-23T14:08:00.021-06:00

Yesterday, August 22, Brett and I finally got to hike to the peak of Mt. Borah. It is described on a website about the "50 Highpoints" with the following statement:

"Mount Borah is the tallest mountain in Idaho and ranked 6th hardest of the state's 50 highpoints. Although the hike to the summit is relatively short, 3.4 miles, it gains over a vertical mile in that distance. The trail is very steep and unrelenting. There is only about 1/10 of a mile of the trail that is flat or a grade less than 20%."

Our adventure started on Friday when we dropped the kids off in Blackfoot at Brett's parent's house. We headed out from there and camped in our Suburban pretty close to the trail head. There were so many people right at the trial head that we decided to just pull off into the sage brush, away from the crowd, and go to sleep.

This shows us on Saturday morning as we are eating and getting our packs ready for the day. Yes, we both look tired, I know. We got up at 5am and were on the trail around 5:45.
Here is a portion of the trail right after leaving the parking area. I just wanted to document that it didn't start off leisurely, but was steep from the get go (I thought this was steep until later when I learned what real steep is). We headed from the trail head into the trees where we hiked a steady climb for about 1000 feet elevation.

This is one of the first views we got to see since we started in the dark. You can see the shadow of the mountains, showing the sun coming up behind us.

No, I didn't tilt the camera in this picture. This is when the climb really started. Brett hiked up ahead of me so that I could get him in the photo, then I made him wait for me to catch up. You can see up at the top of the photo quite a few people up ahead of us, including a scout troop from Meridian.

Here is where the trail came up out of the trees. It was this steep for a long ways and we rested as often as we needed to. This photo really shows how busy the mountain was.

Here is that same section, you can see the treeline, but looking down on it. You can see in the background the parking area (kind of a light "C" shaped area still in the shadow) and really get an idea how far up we are all ready.

This photo is taken from the start of "Chicken out ridge", looking back at what we had just done. The red line is the trail and the prior shot was taken at the very start of the line. It may look level, but it isn't. The blue arrow is showing where the trail comes up and over, that white speck is someones shirt.

First off, I don't know that guy in the shot, he was patiently waiting for me to take my photo and get on with my climb so he could follow. OK - Now I have mentioned Chicken-out-Ridge (COR) but haven't really explained what it is. It is a section of the climb that literally scares people into "chickening out" and turning around. It is a ridge of rocks that is very steep and has pretty much a cliff on either side. There is a trail that people have made along the left side of the cliff face that prevents them from having to traverse the rocks, but it is pretty dangerous seeing that it is loose scree and snow and if you fall there is nothing to stop you. Now back to this shot - it is the beginning of COR, not too difficult, I am looking back at it from where the climbing gets more difficult.

I am really humiliated to post such a photo of myself on the Internet, but it is the only one that really shows some of what we were doing. The plaque at the base of the mountain said that the rock climbing portion was considered a "class 3 scramble" (1=easiest 5=hardest). I actually found the ridge to be the funnest part of the entire climb and found my spirits lifted quite a bit once we had finished it. It really was fun.

This is looking back at COR. The scariest part for me was that part on the left of the screen where the guy with the red pack is standing. You have to back-climb and I couldn't see where my feet needed to go, that was kinda creepy.

This is looking back at COR. This photo really gives you a feel for it, seeing the people scrambling across the top.

Now looking forward. After getting off of COR the peak was in sight. The last portion of the climb is tough. It is steep and through really loose rock (scree). After you go over the saddle (where those guys are) you have an 800 foot climb. Remember that by this point you are at over 11,800 feet elevation and the air is starting to get thin. We took it slow (probably slower than Brett would have done alone) and stopped often so that I could get enough oxygen into my system but eventually (about 12:20pm) we made it to the peak.

Someone had left this neat flag for photo opportunities so we took advantage of it. We shared the peak with about 30 other people but found a nice spot to sit down and eat our lunch. We took photos of the surrounding views and then headed back down. At this point in time I was tired, but I didn't really think that the trip down was going to be as strenuous as the trip up. The following shots are all views from the highest point in Idaho. Really amazing.

A couple lakes visible on the backside of Borah.

Brett, enjoying the view (probably thinking about which mountain we can climb next).

Can you believe we are higher than these amazing mountains? The closer of the mountains are Leatherman peak and Mt. Breitenbach.Right here is where I should tell you that the trip down was not as strenuous as the trip up, but it was way harder. On the way up it was just pushing yourself to keep going up, taking breaks and catching your breath, but always feeling like - yeah, I can do this. Well, anyone who has ever hiked downhill on scree can imagine what our downhill climb was like. It was awful. By the time we got to COR I thought, oh good a break from the pounding that my knees were getting. What I didn't realize is that rock climbing is a lot harder when your legs feel like jello. At one point I was climbing across this rock face where you really had to reach and there was nothing behind you and I just locked up - like I felt frozen to the rock. I about completely lost it. Thankfully I was able to snap out of it and tell myself (out loud in fact) "Katherine, you can do this". I think I had Brett a little worried at that point. Anyway, by the time we hit the tree line my knees were killing me, but what can you do? There were thunderstorms lurking and the last place we wanted to be was on a tall mountain when lightning was striking, so I pushed on.
This photo is when we are almost back to the parking area. I desperately needed to use the bathroom and wanted to just crash. I am proud to say that I completed the hike without Brett having to carry my pack.

Overall, I am very glad that I did this and that we were successful. Would I do it again? Maybe if I had better gear like boots that fit right (you don't really know if they fit until you are going downhill like we were) and trekking poles. Being in better shape would probably get us up in better time, but we weren't in it to break any records. I am happy to say that I can check that peak off of my list. I think that next year we will climb Mt. Whitney in California (the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states). Anyone wishing to join us let us know. Right now I am just dreading my scheduled run for tomorrow - my legs are killing me!

Brett's Rexburg Rush Triathlon Experience

2009-08-15T19:29:00.016-06:00

Well, today was the big day. Brett swam, biked and ran his first triathlon. I have posted individual photos instead of a slide show so that I can take you through the whole process. He did this because back in April his brother Cameron asked him to do it with him, Brett said he would. I was planning on doing it too but decided I would wait until next year - I really would like to do it and not have to walk the entire "run" section of the race. That is going to take more time to train. This was right when the men started, they were pretty bunched together. Brett is on the far left side of the photo - no cap on, no goggles.
The swimming wasn't Brett's strongest part but he kept up and finished right in the middle of the pack. He swam the side stroke the entire 1/2 mile.
Too bad he can only do the side stroke on his left side or we could have gotten a better shot of his face in the water!

I love this photo. He is running up to the first transition area after getting out of the water. He is pooped here but he doesn't show it. Nice six pack huh?

Here he is after changing, heading out for the 14.2 mile biking section of which half was uphill.

Heading down the road!

Coming into transition two to shed his bike and helmet and run 3.1 miles. We didn't realize a helmet was manditory til the day before so Brett wore Sadie's helmet - it didn't fit very snug so Brett just let it slide to where it felt comfortable, on the side of his head. No time to adjust during the race!

Even with his legs cramping up he had a smile for me and the camera.

Coming over the finish line. The time in the back is for the intermediate level runners who began an hour before the sprint (Brett's group) so Brett finished in 1 hour 47 minutes and 5 seconds. His goal was to finish under 2 hours!

Brett and Cameron after the race.

Everyone squeezing into the sweaty guy! Say "Smelly armpits"!

From left to right - Chase (Cameron's brother in law) Cameron and Brett.

Overall, Brett finished sixth in his age division and really pushed it harder than he intended to. He entered to finish but couldn't stand it when people passed him on the bike section, just too competitive I guess. Overall it was a great morning, very motivational for all of us, in fact the boys are talking of doing one as a team when they get old enough (they only have to be 10 to enter this one). We are very proud of Brett's effort and dedication to fulfill this goal.

STUPID . . . IDAHO . . . WEATHER!!!

2009-08-08T14:18:00.003-06:00

Sorry if my title sounds a little bitter. I was supposed to be able to post some beautiful photos of Idaho's majesty from my view atop Mt. Borah this weekend, but NO! Thunder storms, a high of 40 deg. and possible snow showers kept us off the mountain this weekend. I am still pretty bummed about it - we have had this on the calendar all summer. For those of you who don't know this, hiking the tallest peaks in the six most western states (WA, OR, MT, ID, CA, NV) is one of my lifetime goals. This hike was going to be the first one to be checked off my list. So instead of hiking my butt off today we are working around our property trying to get our pasture ready to get a sprinkler system. So fun, I can hardly contain myself. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for us in a couple weeks when we are planning to try again. Wish us luck. We will keep you posted.

Family Fun - Sawmill Canyon

2009-08-03T09:56:00.002-06:00

This past Saturday brought our family a day of fishing, shooting, hiking, sweating, some tears and a lot of fun. We headed out to Sawmill Canyon first thing in the morning. We first stopped at squaw creek for lunch and some fishing. The kids shot the 22 and Brett and I shot his new 357 magnum which didn't kick nearly as hard as I expected it to. We then headed for the Mill Creek trail. This trail starts at a campground and heads 2 miles up (and I mean up - approx 1000 vertical feet up) to a high mountain lake, appropriately named Mill Creek Lake. The kids did great on the hike but about 3/4 of the way up Sadie got very emotional and dramatic (she is 11 yrs old so this is to be expected) and started crying about how we were never going to reach the lake. It was actually pretty funny to the rest of us, but don't let her know that! We got up to the lake around 2:30pm or so and the boys were so hot and sweaty from the hike they decided that they were going to go swimming in the lake. Now mind you, we didn't bring swim suits, so they stripped down to their undies (even though we were not the only ones there), and went swimming. It was COLD water and you can tell by the photos that they could feel how cold it was. I had to take pictures, sorry boys. We spent the rest of the day fishing in the lake. Sadie and Brett fly fished most of the time. It was Sadie's first real fly fishing experience and she did really well. The photo of the fish being pulled out of the water then Sadie leaning over a fish are her catching her first fish on that fly rod, with a fly that she tied herself. Can you say "Daddy's girl"? Anyway, we built a fire and cooked our fish (some grayling and some trout) in some tin foil and ate it fresh for dinner. It was so good. The hike back down was a lot easier than the way up and we reached the car about 10:30pm. On the way back down, we were hiking along a pretty steep side hill and Greg was getting a little worried because his legs were tired. He told me, in all seriousness, that if he were to fall off the side and die that it would all be daddy's fault because it was his idea to go on this hike. I had to laugh pretty hard about that before I assured him there was no way anyone was going to die. We got home super late and it was hard to get up for 9am church the next morning, but I think we have all recovered quite well. Next weekend Brett and I are going to hike Mt. Borah, Idaho's tallest mountain. We will certainly post photos of that. Enjoy!

Rockets and Wolfe Badges

2009-07-23T13:42:00.008-06:00

Cody with his rocket, ready to launch!

Sadie finishing up her rocket so she can launch it too.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . . . . BLAST OFF

Cody on his first launch

Sadie on her first launch. Do you see how tall she is getting?

So, Sadie and Cody attended a 4-H rocket day camp. They had a great time learning how rockets are powered, how to make them and how to launch them. They got to launch them twice and get to enter their rockets in the fair.

Cody just received his Wolf badge for cub scouts last night. He refused to hug me back when I tried to hug him. What a stinker!

The boys spreading out one of the flags to cut into smaller pieces. You can see the man in the background who played the bagpipe while they cut the flags.
Cody asking permission to retire the flag.
After putting it on the fire.

After the advancement ceremony where Cody got his badge, the scouts retired several American Flags. They cut them up and then asked the VFW representative if they had permission to retire the flag, he would salute them and say, "permission granted" then they would walk the flag pieces to the fire and put it on. I was touching to witness.

Hope you all are keeping busy like we are! Keep in touch!

OH Summer time!

2009-07-16T13:37:00.003-06:00

This first slide show is of the Hawkins Family Reunion that we had at my folk's place in Stayton, OR back in June. I traveled over with the kids for an extended stay and my folks and Brett surprised me by flying Brett over for the reunion. It was a great surprise and a great day. We did family photos - it is the first time our entire family has been together in probably 6 years! So that was cool. We had a lot of fun catching up with everyone. I really do love my family!

Last week we took another summer trip south and went to Downata Hot springs for an entire day, camped there overnight and then went to Lagoon (an amusement park in Utah) for 2 whole days. We had so much fun. At Downata we enjoyed the pool and the multiple slides, I forgot to get out my camera until almost closing time so there aren't any photos of the big slides. Brett and I both swam a 1/2 mile just to see if we could. Brett is doing a sprint distance triathlon in August and the swimming part is the part he was most concerned about, but after this trip I think he feels more confident!

So we spent 2 entire days at Lagoon. It was a bit much, considering we did the same thing last year but we still had fun. I seemed to discover my inner dare devil. I rode almost every ride in the park, including the ones that I had sworn that no one could pay me to go on (Yes, I rode "Rocket" and "Wicked"). It was really fun. On the first roller coaster that we went on (Jet Star)the seats are configured so that you have 2 in a seat, one in back and one in front kinda between the other's legs. So Greg was with me and I had my arms over the side holding onto a bar. This coaster goes supper fast and kinda whips you around a lot. I ended up banging my arm against a bolt or something and got a HUGE bruise on the inside of my left bicep. Battle wound I guess :).

Overall - our summer has been all it needed to be so far. It has been relaxing yet busy and we still have several things planned for the next month. I will try to do better at posting more regularly, at least until school starts back up! Hope all of you are enjoying your summer as much as we are.

Spring 2009 Adventures

2009-05-20T17:04:00.003-06:00

I didn't include the captions for these photos because they blocked half of the picture. To see them all in a web-album with captions go to this link :
http://picasaweb.google.com/kathigh27/Spring2009Happenings?authkey=Gv1sRgCM361--M8Kz6MQ&feat=directlink

Well, this spring has been busy to say the least.
Let's see . . . right after the pinewood derby Greg lost his first front tooth (he is pictured against a brown wall).

We got to go to a cabin up in Island Park with all of Brett's brothers and their families for a weekend full of snow machining and sledding - that was really fun and relaxing.

Easter came and the kids looked adorable in their Easter clothes (I am sure you can figure out which photo that is).

Then the last couple of weeks of school really dragged for me. Finally I finished out the semester and gladly I can consider myself a senior DH student. Now I am really busy doing all the stuff that I haven't been able to do since in school, like chaperoning for field trips.

This past weekend we went to CJ Strike reservoir (over by Mt. Home Idaho) and camped for four days. The crappie fishing was HOT. The kids were catching fish at a rate that was amazing, almost every cast at some times. Two of Brett's brothers, and families, plus his best friend and his older kids came too. By the end of the first day we had completely filled a cooler with crappie (that was approx. 200 fish). We gave that away and by the second night we had filled another cooler. From then on we fished "catch and release" only :). The slide show has photos of Jackson holding a large mouth bass that he caught on our last night there. He was pretty excited about that, as were we all. He released it though so that it could get even bigger. It was really exciting to see all of our kids able to cast, catch, pull the hooks out, release and even re-hook their own line when it broke (most of the time) - all by themselves. That is pretty impressive considering crappie have sharp spines sticking out with their fins and they don't like to hold still. Brett really enjoyed seeing all of us having fun catching fish. It took him almost 3 hours to fillet the cooler full of crappie that we brought home. I think I need to plan on cooking crappie at least once a week for a while.

On the way to the reservoir we stopped to eat dinner and Jackson came over to me and said "Mom, something feels weird" and then he opened his mouth. Well, one of his front teeth were gone. He apparently took a bite of pizza and it came out and he swallowed it. It was pretty funny. Then two days later, while camping, he lost the other one. The photo of him holding the large mouth bass -face forward- shows his toothless grin pretty good.

Overall, our spring has been fun, busy and full of memories made. We are so grateful to have family and friends to make those memories with and look forward to the many memories we have yet to make this summer.

Pinewood Derby 2009

2009-03-26T16:04:00.004-06:00

Cody participated in his first ever "Pinewood Derby" for scouts last night. He won every race he was in except for one and ended up getting second place overall. His average speed (in scale) was 180mph.
We all had a great time helping him with his car. Overall, we were happily surprised at how well he did, but now he keeps asking if we think he can beat the boy who got first place next year. What a goofball! Maybe next year we will start working on his car earlier than the week of the race.

Catching up

2009-03-14T12:21:00.004-06:00

The kids loved it when Brett would pull them on the sled with the snow machine. We love having a property that lets us enjoy the outdoors all year long!

We went hiking a couple weekends ago and enjoyed the sun shining for a change, even if there was snow on the trail. Even our dog Jessie enjoyed getting out. In fact she ended up chasing some deer over the hill and Brett had to go find her. Needless to say she got in trouble.

Well, it has been 3 months since I have updated this blog and I am sorry. Honestly, we have been so busy, but not doing anything that was really worth writing about. School has been really stressful this semester for me and it takes up almost all my thoughts and energy. Brett has been busy with work and with picking up the slack around the house and with the kids. He is a really great cook in case any of you didn't know that. We got a lot of snow this winter and the kids went out and played almost everyday after school. Their snow clothes were constantly wet it seemed.

In January Sadie and I sang a duet at church and everyone was really impressed that Sadie was such a great singer. In fact I could hardly sing because I was choked from hearing her do so well. It was fun to do that with her.

In February I (and all the other dental hygiene students from my school) had the opportunity to go and volunteer at the World Winter Special Olympics that were held in Boise. They do all sorts of health screenings, and I was able to interact with athletes from all over the world. I had the chance to make them mouth guards, apply fluoride varnish to their teeth, and screen for any emergent care needs they may have so that we could take care of that. A lot of them had never been to a dentist or other health care provider and they were very grateful. Overall it was a life changing experience that I am very grateful to have been able to participate in.

A couple weeks ago Cody had his first Blue and Gold banquet for Cub Scouts. He finally received his bobcat award (he earned it back in May - but leaders didn't get it recorded) and he felt really proud helping with the flag ceremony. I will post the photos when I figure out how to get them off of my phone. :) He has been busy trying to earn his wolf badge before his birthday in April.

Jackson and Greg have been keeping busy being first graders and learning to read. It is amazing how different identical twins can be, even when it comes to how they learn. They are doing well and both of them love math. Greg's teacher told him he should be an engineer someday because of his math skills and the fact that he is the only kid in his class who organizes his desk. Jackson is anxious for summer and the outdoor adventures that will accompany it. I think we all are though.

Hopefully I will do a better job at updating this in the future, but for now please accept my apologies. I hope that all of you are doing well.

Happy Holidays 2008

2008-12-23T11:55:00.003-07:00

Well, as the slide show above shows - we have been busy having fun this year. For those of you who haven't been here to our blog before feel free to view previous postings to really see what we have been up to. I tried to post something once a month and because of that I am not going to go into a long post of what we have done. Just to catch you up though, Brett is still a Regional Fisheries Biologist for the Idaho dept. of Fish and Game. I am currently a full time dental hygiene student at Idaho State University and have 3 semesters left there. Sadie is 11 now and is excelling at school and dealing pretty well with the drama and emotions that being an adolescent brings. Cody is 8 and loves to push the limits - he loves our animals and is usually very helpful when we have chores to do. Jackson and Greg are 7 now and feeling like quite the big kids. They are in different classes at school but play with each other at each recess and miss each other if one is gone.

We hope all of you are having a great holiday season and are enjoying the presence of family. We love you all and would love to hear from you. Love, The High Family

Turkey anyone?

2008-12-06T10:32:00.006-07:00

Just a quick post to show the world Sadie's first hunting trophy! She shot it all by herself. Now that is an animal Brett hasn't even conquered yet :). Ask her about it next time you see her, I am sure she will have a lot to tell.

Birthdays, Costumes and Awards

2008-11-06T18:58:00.010-07:00

All the kids helping Brett stack the wood. What good helpers. Sadie turned 11 years old on October 18th.

Pumpkin carving was fun. The kids had "pumpkin guts" stuck to them everywhere!

Sadie the black cat, Jackson as Spiderman, Cody the pirate "ARGH" and Greg as "The Thing" from Fantastic Four.

The kids all drew pumpkin designs and then we used one thing from each drawing. The top pumpkin has Cody's eyes/brows and Jackson's mouth and the bottom one used Sadie's eyes and Greg's mouth.
Sadie holding her awards. One from the Post Register and the other from the school board here in Rigby.

OK, so here I am working on a blog post instead of studying for an exam I have on Monday. Don't worry, I think that I have my priorities right where they should be for the moment. There is always more time to study. As you can see from the photos above, we have definitely been keeping busy. At the beginning of October Brett and his Dad went and cut a ton of firewood and the kids spent an entire Saturday morning helping to get it all stacked. Sadie's birthday was spread out over an entire week. Brett was going hunting on her birthday, so we did gifts Friday night, she spent her day with her friends, and then on Sunday we did her favorite meals. The next weekend I took her and a friend to see High School Musical 3 in the theater. It was a fun girls "date". Halloween came and went without too much to complain about. The kids were really good about costumes. Jackson said that he didn't care that he was Spiderman last year, we live somewhere new, so nobody knows. I thought that was pretty good thinking. Greg was pumped that we got his costume off of eBay. I tried to convince the kids to be the Fantastic Four, since we have 3 boys and 1 girl, but they all looked at me like that was the stupidest idea ever. Oh well, a mom has to try right? Most recently, this past week, Sadie was recognized for an essay she wrote. The Idaho Falls newspaper (The Post Register) had an essay contest on diversity. Her language arts teacher told them that they could enter it for extra credit. Sadie, being the student and writer that she is (her goal in life is to be an author) entered. She wrote the essay without any help from us or her teacher. She received an honorable mention in the 6th grade division. You can read her essay online at http://www.postregister.com/essays/.

As for Brett, he is almost in full swing with his trap line. He has been concentrating on getting his bait caught first. Now he is focusing on his hunts. He has a pretty good deer and elk hunt this year, so he has been going as much as he can. He has been great getting the kids off to school everyday and helping around the house so much. I don't know how I could do this without him. I have been kept busy with school. I am finally learning how to use all the instruments that dental hygienists get to use. It is a bit stressful, but exciting too. Truly, school has been flying by. I only have 4 weeks or so left in the semester and I will be 1/4 of the way done with my program! It is going really fast.

I hope that all of you are well and, in this season of Thanksgiving, that you are beginning to focus on all that we have to be grateful for. I, for one, am grateful that I don't have to listen or view any more political adds for a while. Keep in touch!

Oh! Also, for a good laugh, check out my Brother/Sister in law's blog which is linked on the right side of my blog - living the high life. They have a hysterical video of our neice.

Fall is in full swing

2008-09-14T19:30:00.005-06:00

The kids enjoying some play time with a box - it takes so little to amuse them eh?L to R: Greg, Sadie, Cody, Jackson
"Sprout"

So, it has been three weeks since my last post and it seems like a lot longer. So much has been going on that I don't know how I could possibly tell it all. We have gotten into the swing of school, and me being gone all day. We spent two weekends in Blackfoot attending the Eastern Idaho State Fair, including going to the demolition derby. (Cody wanted to know what a redneck was, so we went to that so he could see some for himself) ;) This past week and a half we have had kids sick, then Brett came down with it too. I was so happy that I hadn't gotten sick because I can't miss school (seriously, if I miss more than one day they can kick me out of the program), but it finally hit me yesterday while we were up cutting firewood. So I got to have a stomach flu in the forest (not fun) and Brett got to haul wood by himself. I am grateful that it hit me on the weekend though.

It seems like everything that could happen, has happened, since school started. The fuel pump went out on our Suburban, our dryer died, sick family etc. etc. So we fixed the car and finally after three weeks without a dryer, we bought a new one. So the kids took the box out on the front lawn and had a blast. I had to take some pics. The photo of the dog is another one of those things I was talking about. We got notified, this past week, that one of the people that we had sold a puppy to last fall had surrendered it to the animal shelter in Idaho Falls. Since she is papered they contacted us to let us know that we could come and get her if we wanted her. Well, we really don't want another dog, so we contacted another person that we had sold a puppy to, and he wants her, but he lives across the state and is still trying to figure out how to get her. So Brett picked her up on Friday and we temporarily have two dogs. She is really lovable and hasn't been aggressive at all. We called her Sprout before we sold her, so we are calling her that again. Hopefully we won't need to have her here too long because she is all ready getting attached to our family.
As far as school is concerned, I am loving it. Don't get me wrong, it is probably one of the hardest things that I have ever attempted, but it is also really gratifying. It is so nice to sit in class after class and learn things that directly apply to what I want to do. It is also really interesting to note that it is coming really easy for me. I am remembering things without effort and I haven't had to study nearly as much as I expected. I got elected the Dental Hygiene Jr. class president, so that will look good on resumes and scholarship applications. I love the people in my class and I think the next two years are going to fly by. Now, being away from the family like I am is a challenge. Everyday I get up at 5am, leave by 6am (before anyone else is awake) and then am gone for 13 hours almost every day M-T. Fridays I get home earlier so I have made a habit on Fridays of crashing for a 30 minute power nap until the boys get home from school at 3:30. The kids think it is cool to have me working on homework at the same time they are.

So far, this fall has been really crazy, but I know that if we stay strong as a family and stay close to the Lord that all will work out. I wouldn't be able to do this without Brett and the kids taking over so much around our house, I am really thankful for them - Oh, by the way, today is Brett's and my anniversary. 13 years!!! Pitifully enough though, we have been so busy we both totally forgot about it until this morning. I guess that says something about our relationship, we are comfortable enough with each other to say, "Happy Anniversary honey, I totally forgot until just now!" And that is a good thing, of course I will try not to forget any other important days like kids birthdays or Christmas. I would definitely be in trouble then. Hope all is great for all of you. Keep in touch.

Sadie takes on the County Fair

2008-08-22T21:51:00.008-06:00

Sadie and "Buddy" waiting their turn
Sadie during the market class showing
Sadie and Buddy's backside (sorry) notice the blue ribbons?

Sadie and one of her blue ribbons

From the 11th of August through the 17th we were involved with the Jefferson County Fair in one way or another. A totally new experience for us all I promise you. Sadie did 4-H - Lamb, Dutch oven cooking and a cooking day camp. She showed her lamb and got a blue ribbon for showmanship and a blue ribbon for the market class. Her lamb started out at 81lbs. in June and ended up weighing 141lbs. at fair. Pretty good rate of gain! When she showed him for the showmanship he got away from her (they aren't supposed to use the halter) and it shook her up a little. But once they caught him again she took control and did her best. Through out this experience she has pretty much hated her sheep and told us repeatedly that she wanted to quite. Of course, we didn't let her and I think that she is grateful now. She had a good time. Overall she got 4 blue ribbons and one BIG rosette chamion ribbon for a poster she made at the cooking day camp. We decided that the fair is so small, next year we are going to enter something in every category (not every animal category though) and see how much money the kids can make! You get paid like 3 dollars for every blue ribbon etc. My green peppers totally would have won this year, oh well.

I started school today with an orientation. It opened my eyes as to just what a hard two years are ahead for us (That and the twins crying last night as I tucked them in asking me "why do you have to go to school mommy? Is it because of us, don't do it!"). I know they will be able to handle it once we get into the rutine. I will try to keep posting somewhat regularly but we will have to see. The kids also started school this week and they are all loving their teachers and the twins love being there all day and being able to eat lunch. Hope everyone enjoyed their summer as much as I did.

Kelly came for a visit!

2008-08-11T08:28:00.006-06:00

Sorry I am a bit of a slacker, my sister came like 2 weeks ago and still haven’t posted anything about it. Like I said, my sister Kelly and her family (husband Bob and kids Brett and Allison) came to visit us from Oregon. They were here for about a week and we loved having them. We took a trip into Yellowstone and to Jackson Hole so I have posted some photos from that trip. The family photo of us is taken in front of the Tetons right at twilight. It was really beautiful, those mountains are so awesome. We spent a lot of time visiting and the kids had a blast having their cousins here to share the pasture with (they made some cool forts). It was awesome to have them make the effort to come so far just for us. It is the first time any of my siblings have come to see us (except when they might have been passing through) and it meant a lot to me (no this is not meant to be a guilt trip guys, just an observation. I know how far it is.). Thanks again Kelly. Anyway, the county fair starts this week so I am sure I will have a long post about Sadie and her sheep experience for you next week, not to mention my brother is getting married on Saturday (congrats Joseph) so check back then and enjoy the rest of your summer.

Lagoon vacation

2008-07-15T12:19:00.002-06:00

All right, so we finally took our kids on a vacation that did not involve fishing, hiking or huckleberry picking. Although we love doing those things, we loved this trip so much. We left last Wednesday and went to Downata hot springs and spent the entire day playing in the water and going down the water slides. It was fun, but the pool was too hot for me. Ya know when it is 90 degrees outside, you don't really want to swim in a pool that is warmer. It didn't seem to bother the kids though. They loved the slides and slept hard that night. Thursday morning we headed out early down to Farmington, Utah where there is an amusement park called Lagoon, for those of you not from around here. I had never been there before but Brett had gone a lot when he was a kid. There are rides of all kinds there and even a water park. We avoided the water park, since we spent the first day at one, and concentrated on the rides. Now for those who aren't aware, I have never been a roller coaster type person. I have vivid memories of riding the kiddie coaster at the state fair as a kid and feeling sick. I was so scared of throwing up on someone that I never even tried any other roller coaster since then. So going to Lagoon I knew that I was going to have to suck it up and just do it. Well, we started out slow, carnival type rides and then worked our way up. On the first day Sadie and I went on the "Jet Star" a short but totally fast roller coaster. I screamed like a little girl, but I loved it. We also went on the original roller coaster which was rickety and I didn't like that so much. By the end of the first night Sadie and Cody were set on the idea of going on Colossus, one of the BIG coasters that has a double loop-de-loop (yes you go upside down twice!). I was unsure. So as soon as the gates opened the next morning we ran to Colossus because the lines could get pretty bad. Brett took Sadie and Cody on it since Jackson and Greg were unsure if they wanted to try it yet. Well, they got off it laughing and telling us how awesome it was. I couldn't let my 8 and 10 yr olds go on a ride that I was unwilling to, so I did it. Humbly I admit that I was wrong. Roller coasters rock. I guess that the feeling of terror you get standing in line, is part of the fun. Sadie and Cody ended up going on Colossus 8 times that day, myself 6 times and the twins both rode it at least once. Jackson wouldn't go on it after the first time though because, as he said, "I screamed like a girl". Apparently, that was humiliating for a 6 yr old boy and he didn't want to repeat it. Brett was the only one of us who rode all the coasters, see there is the newest ride called "Wicked" which the kids and I just refused to try. You shoot out of the launch building and go straight up, no joke and then go straight down and then it shoots you through a corkscrew. NO THANKS! Brett liked it, but admitted that it was kinda freaky. The kids all enjoyed the big swings and we all laughed when we looked over and Jackson had both hands in the air as we soared over the park. He did that on almost every ride. Overall, we were exhausted after those three days, but had just enough energy left to take in the sights of Salt Lake City. We had a tour of the conference center and walked around temple square. We even watched the featured movie at the Legacy theater on Joseph Smith. It was really good and stimulated some good questions from the kids. Hope all of you are having fun too. Enjoy the slide show. The first slide shows the slides at the water park, and there is one of the Colossus. If you look close you can see Jackson and I in one row and Sadie and Cody behind us. The photos of dirty faces show us eating the traditional ice cream from the pioneer village. I might try to post some video later if I can figure it out.

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-05T11:46:00.006-06:00

Well, the past couple of days have been BUSY! On the 3rd, we had several friends over for a BBQ (of course we really didn't BBQ anything). Three of Brett's friends from high school and their families came over. There were 8 adults and 13 kids here and boy did we have a good time. It had been a long time since we had seen them and it was great to catch up. All the dads and the kids even floated the canal that is close to our house and they all got wet and cooled off pretty good. On the fourth we met up with Brett's brothers and families at the river. Brandon brought his boat out and we all did some fun stuff in the water. I attempted water skiing for the first time ever (shown in the top photo). I almost got up on the third try but tried standing too soon and lost it. Oh well. I was a lot better at knee boarding. When it was done though, I was totally pooped out, as you can see by my lovely photo above. After fun in the river we headed to Cameron's (another brother) and we had a yummy dinner and played on their new Wii "rock band" which was pretty funny to watch. Cameron could rock the drums pretty good. We watched the fireworks from Troys (another brother :) ) and finally headed home around 11:30pm. Needless to say, we were really tired when we got home. The boys slept in until 10:30 this morning which, if you know my kids, is totally late for them. The bottom two photos I took while we did the fireworks thing. It is hard to take photos at night without a tripod so excuse the blurry nature. The one with Greg swirling the sparkler is my favorite photo though. It turned out exactly like I wanted it to.

Hope all of you had a great 4th and took a moment to recall why we celebrate it. I am truly grateful for the men and women who had the foresight (or was it the divine help?) to fight for the freedoms which we now posses. May we try not to take those freedoms for granted, that is my prayer for us all. Have fun.

Airplanes and trails

2008-06-26T15:45:00.005-06:00

Just a note to show some of the fun we have been having. A couple weekends ago we went to a free air show up in Rexburg. It was a beautiful day and the planes were amazing. I think all the kids left wanting to become pilots, and so did I. We left the air show and went up in the hills to do some fishing and hiking as a family. We had a lot of fun being outside and together. Sadie helped her brothers by putting the worms on thier hooks. The photo is a silly one on the trail by a cool tree we passed, the kids called it the "U" tree. By the end of the hike they were all pretty worn out from a busy day. Our family was asked to speak at church last Sunday but somehow there was a scheduling mix up and we were only left 15 minutes for our entire family. None the less, the kids all spoke individually on Fathers and the priesthood and Brett and I had a little time left to say a couple things. The bishop said that he would have to ask us to speak again soon since we really didn't get to give our talks. One can only hope that he forgets, hee hee. Other than that we are just busy taking care of our animals and our property - no automatic sprinkler system here, so that keeps us hopping. I was so spoiled in Nampa. This last photo is taken from our front porch of the sunset last night. Makes me grateful for all the beauty that surrounds us. Enjoy the wonders around you.

Busy Spring

2008-06-02T11:25:00.009-06:00

Hello all! Spring sure has turned out to be a busy one for us. The snow finally left us alone and the sun came out - temporarily (it has been raining for weeks it seems). In early May my parents came out from Stayton, Oregon to visit. We arranged to have Cody’s baptism for while they were here. It was cool to have all of Brett’s family and my folks all there for that special day. Cody really loved having them there for that. A couple days after his baptism we had a birthday party with his friends from school. He wanted a “cool” cake so I whipped this one up for him. He has skateboarding aspirations - which I don’t know if I am too excited about.

We haven’t decided if we are going to get TV yet (no reception without cable) and so our evenings have been all about playing or working outside together. Here are some photos of Brett playing football with the kids. He and Greg against Sadie, Cody and Jackson. The photo below is of Greg running in for a touchdown. They have a lot of fun. I spent last week building our raised bed gardens and then we got them put in this past week. I am going to finish planting them today. We also got our cow last week. Brett’s brother Brandon got him for us before we moved and has had him at his place. They called him Donkey and our kids decided they like that name, so we have a cow named “Donkey”. Weird, I know. He is missing his herd though and will follow us around the pasture. It is pretty cute. Sadie will be getting her sheep for 4-H this week and we are all excited about that. None of us have ever been around sheep before. It should be fun. We are also going to be getting a bunch of chickens next week. You can call Brett “Old MacDonald”. Another thing that we have enjoyed has been bird watching out our back window. We have several feeders out there and even the kids have gotten into it. In fact the boys just got back from a bike ride and told me that they had seen a new bird, described it and then they found it in the bird book. They were so excited to have found it on their own. I have been trying to get everything ready for school in the fall. I went and got a bunch of vaccinations today and get to do CPR certification on Saturday. I also just got called to be the Sunbeam teacher in our new ward. It will be perfect for while I am in school because the 3-4 yr olds won’t know if I am prepared or not as long as I bring something to color. Well, hope all is well in your neck of the woods. We love where we are and feel so blessed to be here and have so many wonderful friends and family out there who care about us. Keep in touch.

PS - If you click on the photos they will come up full size so you can see them in better detail.

We have arrived in Rigby Idaho!

2008-05-01T16:35:00.005-06:00

Well, I am sorry it took me a month after moving to get this posted but moving is a busy event! We left Nampa on April 4th and stayed with Brett's brother Troy and his family for about 3 weeks while we waited for the purchase of our home to go through.(We are so grateful to them) We have been in our new place now for a week and we are loving it. The house is older, and the same size as our old place, but it sits on 2.27 acres that are beautiful! There are cottonwood trees all over and we are very secluded. It is on a road that pretty much dead ends so it is wonderfully quiet. Well, I should say that it was a nice and peaceful road until our family moved here. Now our kids ride there bikes all over and make all the noise that kids do. Oh well. So far Rigby has been very welcoming and we are loving it here. The kids have made some good friends all ready and their new teachers are great. Cody turned 8 yesterday and we will be having his baptism later this month. I will post photos for sure! We know that we are truly blessed to have had everything fall so perfectly into place like it has. Here are some photos of some of our property that I took this morning. Yes, we woke up to this on May 1st. That is crazy! Definitely not typical weather, but as people say here, "if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes, it will change". Well, I put our contact info on the e-mail I sent out. I didn't really want it posted here for the world to get a hold of. Keep in touch!

GOOD NEWS!!!

2008-03-27T16:51:00.002-06:00

Sorry, no photo to accompany this post but I have great news! I found out today that I have been accepted into the dental hygiene program at Idaho State University!!! Only 26 people get accepted every year and hundreds apply. I will be starting school in the fall and it is a 4 semester (2yr) program. Sadie has all ready told me that she needs to learn how to cook better so she can help out more when I am in school. I am so excited I don't have words to express it! Brett has all ready started calling me his "sugar momma". Anyway, I promised that I would let you all know. Also we will be leaving Nampa forever as of April 4th. We don't know for sure where we are going as of today but we will let everyone know our new contact info as soon as we have it. Our love to you all!

Greg has lost his first tooth!

2008-03-03T10:21:00.004-07:00

Just a quick post to let Greg show off his new smile! Of course it doesn't really look like he's smiling does it? Well, every time he smiled for a picture his lip covered up his new hole! So he kind of ended up grimacing at me while I took the photo. He was really excited about loosing it, but when the tooth fairy left him a half dollar coin he thought it was just a quarter and was quite disappointed. I explained to him that it was a really cool coin worth 2 quarters or 50 cents and he cheered up immensely! Well, still no offers on the house. We will keep you "posted".

House For Sale Nampa Idaho

2008-02-13T16:11:00.004-07:00

After working my tail off (not literally, of course that would be nice- I could do with a little less tail LOL) to get our house ready to sell, it is finally on the market. With new tile in the bathrooms and laundry/storage (which we did ourselves), new paint throughout and cleaner than we have had it since we moved in. The trouble is that there are like 200+ homes on the market that are comparable in price and size to ours, so it will be hard to get people to come look at it. Anyway, we are not giving up faith. Meanwhile Brett is working in Idaho Falls already and coming home on the weekends. My thanks to all you family members who have had him in your home. I know he really appreciates it, and me too. If you all could keep us in your prayers as to our home selling quickly, we would sure appreciate it. Being apart is something that we have done a lot of in our marriage, but it never gets easy or enjoyable.
The kids are all keeping busy with school. Sadie is doing basketball again with her school team. Cody has decided that he wants to be a vet/animal rescuer when he grows up and has been spending a lot of time studying animal books. Jackson is still a mini version of Brett and can't wait until he is old enough to go on the winter campout. Gregory is my little collector. It is almost impossible to keep his bed cleaned off, he constantly has a shoe box of some kind of collection going on.
If you are interested the MLS # for our house listing is: 98345813. Hope all is going well in your lives. I will post more news as it comes.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-24T11:59:00.001-07:00

Seasons Greetings
Hopefully this post finds all of you healthy, happy and enjoying the holiday season. We have been so busy this year that it is hard to believe it is already Christmas time again. I guess we must be having fun because the time is literally flying by!
As we look towards 2008 we are excited by some changes ahead. Brett just found out that he received a position/transfer with the Idaho Dept. of Fish & Game in Idaho Falls. For those of you who don’t know, Brett is from that area of Idaho, so this will be like going home. It will mean that his summers will not be so hectic (he was gone 14 weeks last summer) and that we will be close to Idaho State University for my (Katherine’s) schooling. I am applying, as we speak, for admittance into the dental hygiene program. My application is fairly strong so we are hoping that I will be starting there next fall.
I figured that since I am posting this letter to our blog that I could kind of do a photo journal of our year to show you what we have been up to.

Last winter found me in school and pretty busy. Spring rolled around and the kids and I finished up school and we were busy with baseball/softball/t-ball (yes, all four kids in sports at same time - insane), fishing for crappie at CJ Strike Res. (Sadie was catching one on every cast) then we took a family trip to Oregon in June to see my family. We spent a week doing all sorts of fun things including a trip to the aquarium and the beach at Newport and seeing family like my Grandma Hawkins.

July found us really busy. First we spent a week near Denver with Brett’s folks and had a lot of fun. Photo of kids at Denver, Broncos Stadium.

Towards the end of the month Brett went to Martin’s Cove Wyoming with our ward, and Katherine stayed home and delivered puppies. Yep, Jessie had 7 puppies in July and yes we planned it. Only 6 survived, but they were still a lot of work. Of course they were pretty adorable. Thankfully we sold them all to great families.
Brett was able to reenact the handcart trek of some of the LDS pioneers. He took a year to grow his hair out so that he could be more true to his character.

In August we took the kids on their first rafting trip. We took them on the south fork of the Boise river, a fifteen mile stretch. I had never been on it and trusted Brett’s opinion that it wouldn’t be too much for them (that‘s the last time I will do that:) ). Well, it was way too much for them. The first half of the day was great fun, but the last 6 miles was non stop white water, in a cold shaded canyon. The kids were soaked and freezing by the time we got to the car. So the kids now tell us they will never go rafting again! This picture tells another story though don’t you think?

September rolled in and brought us school once again. Sadie (10) started the fifth grade, Cody (7 1/2 )is in the second grade and Jackson and Greg (now 6) are in Kindergarten. The twins are in separate classes and each love their teachers and all that they are learning. (photo of J&G 1st day of school)

Katherine began her last semester at Boise State University (little did I know it would be my hardest). September also brought Cody’s first experience playing flag football. He loved it and dreams of being in the NFL someday. (photo of Cody playing QB - he was usually on Defensive line)

Brett, as I mentioned, was gone A LOT! The kids and I missed him terribly while he was out in the field.
I posted Halloween photos and Thanksgiving took us back to Oregon. We saw almost all of my family and it was nice to be able to see them and catch up. Here is a photo of three of my four sisters and myself.

This fall also brought Sadie a new sport to excel at. She played basketball for the first time and is planning on sticking with it next year.

Now we are in the middle of the holidays and Christmas is right around the corner. Brett has been going trapping twice a week and takes the kids with him occasionally. Him and his partner have already gotten 20 Pine Marten. It is a fun hobby for him because it gives him an excuse to be outside in the middle of the winter. (Yes, I still occasionally call him Davy)

This is a photo of when Cody whent with him, don't worry, he is holding the trap not the marten.

As we prepare for selling our home, moving and all that that entails, we are comforted in knowing that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us, that He is mindful of our needs and that He wants the best for us. Christmas is such a great time to reflect on the fact that Christ makes it possible to return to our Father again. What a blessing that is! May all of you enjoy this time of year no matter what your beliefs are. Cherish your family and every minute that you have been blessed to be with them. Have a Merry Christmas and know that we love you and hope for all good things to come your way in this new Year.

The High Family

I love my kids!

2007-11-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

About the photos - Jackson and Greg decided to wear mine and Brett's shoes outside before church one Sunday morning so I took a photo out my bedroom window- silly kids. And the other is Easter of '06 - old photo I know, but aren't they cute?

So, posting every week isn't happening right now. Oh, well. We are just surviving life one day at a time. All the boys had a weird bug this past week where they got a fever and felt yucky for about 24 hours then felt fine. Don't worry, I am not complaining. I wish every time they were sick it was that easy. Sadie is in Basketball right now and loving it. At her game this past Saturday she made a basket (first time in a game). She isn't very aggressive yet so the coach yelled to her to just take it in to the basket and shoot, so she did. She was so excited! She just turned 10 in October and I can't believe how fast she is growing! And with how fast time seems to by flying by, pretty soon she will be dating and then graduating then going off to college! OK, I am getting ahead of myself, but it does seem like that sometimes. When the twins were little and I would go into public with all four kids, grandmas would come up to me and say, "Oh, enjoy this time. These are the best days of your life." And I would be thinking, "Are you insane? I want to sell them half the time and you think this is great?" Well, now that I don't feel like selling them on a daily basis, and they are getting pretty fun, I realize that this is the time when they believe everything we tell them. This is the time when we as parents actually have a big influence on what they do and what they learn and believe. This is the time when they want to hug and kiss us and be sung to at bed time. This is the time when mom and dad are bigger heroes than Spiderman! (OK, that may be stretching it a bit) Point being though, I love my kids and am trying, despite being busy with school, to be that mom who is enjoying it. So that someday I won't feel the urge to tell a young mother to enjoy it because I feel guilty that I didn't.

Sorry for spelling

2007-11-02T08:17:00.001-06:00

I just have to post an apology for not doing spell check on my last post. I was putting it together when I had a minute before the kids came home from school and was going pretty fast. Have fun!

Halloween! Oh cursed Day! :)

2007-11-01T14:14:00.000-06:00

So, here I am, starting a blog, and I figure that Halloween would be a pretty good time to start since there will be photos to share. Yesterday was the cursed day. I say that because unfortunately for my kids sake, I am a halloween scrouge. I know, boo all you like, I just have a hard time getting into it. I think in the past (like when the twins were toddlers) Halloween was only good for me because it meant that Brett would take the kids out, while I stayed home and handed out candy (a quiete house was hard to come by in those days). But now it just seems like one more thing to stress me out. I know it is because school has kept me so busy, I wasn't able to help my kids with their costumes (they all got bottom of the barrel store bought ones, except Sadie who was thrilled to be a cheerleader in my old uniform). Cody got a ninja costume that didn't have mask or belt or sword, Jackson got to be Spiderman and Greg (as he is now being called) was a knight. The amazing thing was that they had a blast, despite mommy being embarrased at her ragamuffin kids, they thought it was so cool to be in a "store bought" costume. Isn't that funny. We moms are so worried that the other moms will look down on us because our kids aren't in one of a kind, made from scratch, homemade costume, that we actually think the kids are going to care! Anyway, the night went well. We went out to several friends who live out in the boonies and don't get any trick-or-treaters and are always thrilled to have us come. And then we crused around to our nieghbors that we know. All in all, we had a good time, the kids got a ton of candy (and as I am going to be a dental hygienist, I am like the toothbrushing natzi after they eat candy). I feel sorry for the teachers at the elementary school though. I was in volunteering today, and all the kids are just tired, and wiggly and none of them want to be at school.