Thanksgiving @ the Starks!

We were invited to a friends house this year. It was a very relaxing and fun change to the normal large family, lots of people, Witte Thanksgiving.
 Don't get me wrong, we love Witte Thanksgiving - but - this was a nice change.

I wish I took more pictures. I thought I did, but when I got home - not so much.


Nathan went shooting with Sean's brothers. He had a great time. Sean even snapped a picture for me! LOL

While the men were gone we had activities for the kids.






It was really fun to get to know Sean's family. The kids played the women cooked, and then there was a small fire.
 

It is okay though, because it peeled right off, I topped it with pecans and brown sugar and it was so good. I mean, really good.


We were stuffed and went home with leftovers.
Lucas really liked the stuffing. He told Jessica it was the best he has ever had!

The kids had fun, the adults had fun. It was really mellow and relaxed.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Potato Museum

We don't have school this week, so we decided to take advantage of the time off and visit something "Idaho-like" So, the Potato Museum is what we decided to do!
It was a 30 minute drive, and no traffic.
This was a very small museum, and it was so cheap.
The kids thought it was cool that we were the only ones there.
 W also crossed off a cub scout requirement, so Lucas was thrilled.

 World's largest Pringle/Potato CRISP
 Watching the video.





 Mashers:
 There was a lot of memorabilia. The kids tasted a raw fresh potato and the actually liked it!
We took home spud pins, dehydrated potatoes, and some other cool, free things and then went to lunch at Artic Circle.
 
Another new place to us.
It was nice to be back to normal. :)
 

 
 
 
 

Pack Meeting!

What a fun night!
 


 

Lucas earned his Religious Knot, and a Citizenship/Flag segment.
 
We love how many boys there are here.
Lucas has been really enjoying the program in Idaho.


30 Days

It has been an entire month here in Idaho, and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

The last time I was this happy about making a major life decision, was the day I got married.
And -  I am still very happy about that decision. 

To my children who were a little nervous about this major change, I wanted to let you know how happy Mommy really is, Daddy too.

Since I print this every year, I wanted to write you a little note about this shift we made, because really, we made it for you.

Daddy worked so hard getting his degree, and finally was rewarded with an amazing opportunity.

Our family goals and happiness factor were the number one reason for leaving.
Church was fine, but not great.
School was fine, but not great.
Our neighborhood was fine, but not great.
Our family was great, but not awesome.

We knew we needed to do this for you. For us. For Mommy. For Daddy.

We prayed about leaving Colorado many times. We tried selling our house when Mommy was GIANT pregnant with Bridget, but nothing ever happened.

We talked about moving often, but the timing was never right.

This time was different. We knew we needed to be in a place that was better than where we were.
Don't get us wrong, we really enjoyed our time in Colorado. I mean, every single one of you were born there. We brought you all home to that house, we had so many memories there. 

But - there were a lot of things that were not good there, and when we prayed about leaving this time...we got a very LOUD yes!

Leaving Colorado was as painless as possible.
Getting to Idaho was a complete nightmare, but we are here.

We are in an awesome ward. We are not only loved, and celebrated, but fit in beautifully.
We already have a place and have fit into a groove that has just made this transition seamless.
The school is superb. They offer many things that the Colorado school didn't offer, and even better - the middle and high school are excellent. Don't forget, you get to take a bus!!!
Our neighborhood is 95% LDS. We couldn't ask for a better neighborhood. We have already made some friends and love the homey, just run down the way for some eggs kind of feel.
It is a little weird and stepfordy how we all leave for church at the same time, and all pull into the garages at the same time on Sunday, but it is also really nice too.
Our family is so much closer, Daddy is home 80% more (minus the calling) and his being here and being able to stop and eat lunch, or play trains, has been a long time coming. We are excited for the many adventures that we will have in the future, and love that Idaho has given us the room to stretch our legs.

Sometimes we are faced with doing what is easy and doing what is right.
Sometimes it is hard to just to take the leap, to have faith.
Sometimes we are given trials to see how strong we really are.

We want you to know that we love you, and that we are so incredibly happy that we moved.
We believe that you are too. 

Love,
Mom and Dad
(mostly mom)




Have an Ice Day!

It has been snowing since Thursday Morning.
The kids have LOVED how much we have received because Colorado (at least where we lived) hardly got this much accumulation.
 




 We live in a small town and it is absolutely gorgeous here.

 Bridget is on this cartwheel kick lately.
I can't get her to stop, ever.

 Then Nathan came out to pull the kids on the sleds. I love having him home all of the time.


 Scarlett was trying to sneak by me, so she could ride her bike.
She didn't think I would notice her helmet.

 Static bangs.
 

The kids are really embracing Idaho like I hoped they would.
They think it is so cool that school lets them play outside during the snowy recess.
 
 
What a fun Friday! We were outside together for 2+ hours.
The kids loved having their Daddy at their side, ready to play.

Bridget is 7 - part 2

We have had some awesome snow and below zero temps, so our internet was wonky.


My girl, is so beautiful. She is so funny, and enthusiastic about everything.
Which means when she is upset or hurt, she is overly dramatic and feels like you cut her to the core.
She is totally unlike any of my other children, in some ways, I love that about her.
In other ways, it makes it difficult to reach her when she is FREAKING out. She is not logical, at all.
Everything in Bridget's life means a lot to her. She is extremely loyal, and in that same breath - won't be the girl with a "best friend" she likes to be alone and do her own thing, and if you want to follow her that's great, if not - oh well. She has made a lot of friends and has been invited over to play and invited to birthday parties and we have only been here 3 weeks.

She has an incredible laugh. She is funny, and has a lot to say.
She is always writing in journals or on scratch paper.

She was very sad to leave her room in Colorado. We had just repainted it, and she was really sad when we couldn't paint this house. But, I found a way to Bridg-a-fy her room here.

 She got the full, since her room will be the guest room when people brave it up here.
*eyeroll*


I was anticipating a larger than life reaction, but...

She DOES love it!

At school, she was the star of the day. She brought treats, got a song, and a special prize.
 For dinner, we tried something new. Chuck-A-Rama. (A buffet) The kids first time EVER at a buffet. Of course they loved it!

 Loved making their own dessert!

Bridget is always mid-outfit change. This is just one half of a weeks worth of outfits.


She wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up.
She also wants to be a dancing actress.
She will be successful no matter what, the girl has gumption - and that is just not taught.