A Quick Trip

We made a quick weekend trip up to Idaho Falls and Star Valley Wyoming.  Our great uncle Steve passed away this week and we wanted to attend his funeral.

We left after work on Friday night and made it up to the hotel in time for some video games and reading before bed.  

After a quick morning shower we got ready to head to the funeral.  Sam loves to wrap up in a towel skirt after a shower.

The funeral was really nice and as they took his casket to the hearse, some firemen/bagpipers played.  Uncle Steve was a volunteer firefighter and it was really nice of the firemen to be there.

Here we are with the bagpipers.  They were really nice to talk to.  

They even let us climb in to the firetruck.  

We had some lunch after the funeral.  Cousin Jocelyn was there and we loved visiting with her.

And cousin Josh was there too.  

There were some geese outside as we were getting ready to leave.  We fed them and then left them to nap.

Mom showed us around Idaho Falls a little bit before we headed to Wyoming. 

Here we are at the falls.  

And another picture of the falls with the IF temple in the background.

Here is the water tower that mom remembers seeing every summer.

And she took us past her grandparent's old house.  There was even a train going by down the tracks just a few blocks from the house.  

The wind blew us to Wyoming - but we did manage to stop in Swan Valley for square ice cream cones.  

And once we hit the dirt roads near the cemetery, mom turned over the keys to her car.  I got to drive - full control of both the steering wheel AND the pedals.  Of course dad was right behind me in case he was needed.  But i drove the car, completely by myself - - - and I LOVED it!  Check out the smile on my face!!!

The graveside service was very nice too.

The wind followed us to the valley but we were able to keep from blowing away.

Here are cousins Jeremy and Mike - Steve's sons.

And here is a picture of the cousins that were able to be there.  We're missing Uncle Carl, Aunt Jen Jen, and cousins Sandie and Dan.  

And a picture of the extended family.  Grandma G is now the only sibling left in her family - and she is the oldest sibling.  She managed to outlive them all.  We're missing her and Grandpa - they weren't able to make it up this time.

Here's a pic of dad and mom.  There isn't a more beautiful background than the Star Valley mountains.

On the way back down to the main highway, it was Sam's turn to drive.  His legs aren't long enough yet to reach the pedals so he had full control of the steering wheel.  Dad let him switch out at the end and control the pedals.  Can you tell this is one of our favorite activities in the valley - - the smiles on our faces tell all!  We stayed the night in the valley and then headed back home early this morning.

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - Sam here.  I'm throwing in a couple of cute pics from the week.  

First - here I am hanging out at the family lunch this weekend.  Have you ever met such an easy going and happy kid?

And here's one of me and Mason having dinner tonight.  We have a big week of testing coming up at school so we're eating healthy and getting lots of rest.

Have a great week!  Sam Out!

Having Fun

Life is busy and we're trying to enjoy every minute we can.  Homework takes up a lot of our free time but we're doing so well in school - its worth it, mostly.  We've been having a lot of family game nights.  This was an UNO night.  The Longhurst family rules for UNO are the best and we've turned into quite the UNO players.  Dad won this one - but he doesn't win them all.

A weekend ago, mom had to attend a work meeting on Saturday.  So we got to go stay in a hotel with her.  It wasn't far away - but it didn't matter.  We had the best time ever.  There was some time spent on computer games.  We did some swimming with dad while mom was working.  And we relaxed and had fun!

Oh - and there was some reading in bed.  Nothing better than reading in a big soft fluffy hotel bed!

It seems like we're always eating ice cream.  But who can complain!  We've taken to loving ice cream sundaes.  Yum!

I snuck in a selfie with mom and dad at the ice cream place while Sam was washing up.  Give that boy chocolate - and it ends up all over him!

And check out this great pic - I took it of dad and mom the other day as dad was getting home from work.  Hugs all around.

We've starting playing chess with dad again.  He's so good that it's super hard to beat him - even when he lets us take some of his pieces off the board before we even start.  But he's teaching us.  Sam came really close to winning this game.

And I won this game.  Wa hoo!

Mom was out of town this weekend visiting Grandma and Grandpa G.  So, you know how it goes - while the cat's away . . . we went mini golfing.  And this is the picture we texted to mom.

Of course, she texted us back a picture of a giant plate of fresh sea food from the fish market in Redondo Beach.  Not fair!

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - Sam here.  Mason and I insisted that we have sushi for dinner the other night.  It was the best.  We've both turned into rather adventuresome eaters!  

Sam out - have a great week!

Racing, Reading, and Creating

We've had a good few weeks.  We're playing catch-up again, so hold on!

First up, my recent cub scout pack meeting.  We had a Cub-anapolis 500.  Scout power cardboard box cars.  It was so much fun.  You can see me right there in the middle with the dark blue car.

Here I am at one of the pit stops.  Dad and Sam were my pit crew.  This is the "changing of the tires".  They had to take my shoes and socks off, switch my socks to the other feet, and then get my shoes back on.  On the other pit stops, they had to clean my windshield and I had to refuel.  

I came in 2nd place for my den.  And I got a certificate for "most artistic" car.

We finished up our Read-A-Thon at school.  Both Sam and I worked really hard and read . . . a lot!

Here I am reading one afternoon - please don't disturb me!

I ended up winning first place . . . for the ENTIRE SCHOOL.  

I do think it's important to note, for the official record, that my school goes all the way up to 8th grade.  So that means I read more than every other kid in the whole school, from kindergarten to 8th grade.  That's a lot of kids.  I was very proud of myself!

Sam came in 2nd for 1st grade.  He worked hard too.  Good job Sam.

Here was how we spent about 45 minutes on Saturday.  Hunkered down in mom's car . . . waiting for dad.  He was in the bank and we were hanging out (waiting) listening to some Harry Potter.

We also got some good quality time with dad on Saturday.  We went to the Kid's Workshop at the local home store and made some super cool bookends.

Here's Sam working away.

We hammered, we painted, we glued . . . we had fun!

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - Sam here.  Mason got to go to a fun, fun birthday party on Saturday afternoon - and I got stuck with the parents.  We went out to lunch - I was still a little bummed about not getting to go to a party.

I cheered up a bit as lunch went a long.  Hanging with the parents wasn't too awful after all.

Oh - and enjoy another  picture of me from the week.  Yes, thank you - I know I'm cute!

Sam out - have a great one!