This is when we went to the Grand Tetons, and I thought that it was a fun experience. We all got to go to different places in the Tetons, and we got to see lots of animals. I thought that it in all was a fun experience. So, this will talk to you about what we did.

We drove all the way to the other corner of the state, and we got really close to the Grand Tetons. We went to the Grand Tetons before Yellowstone, and it was very hazy. But I thought that it was still an amazing sight. We got to see lots of bison, and I thought that it was fun to see bison for the first time. We also went on a hike and saw some cool cabins and nature that we asked some questions about.

Again, we got to go to the Grand Tetons, and we got to go on a hike. I got to go into Jenny Lake, I thought that it was fun to play in the water and it was very cold too. We also went on a hike that we got to see more nature and I thought that it was also colder to go further into the water. We also took lots of pictures of us doing random things and in one of the pictures we were on a rock, and we also got to see some pikas and I thought they were cute. Some of the family liked the hikes that we went on and some did not like them as much as the others. Some of the hikes were too short but some of them were too long Cecilia said. Mom thought that the hike up to Inspiration Point was ok, but she did not like all the drop offs. Everyone thought that the waterfall was the best part, but me and dad thought that inspiration point was better. Ephraim thought that he did not like all the hikes but a couple he did like.

Everyone liked going to Jenny Lake because it was beautiful. Dad’s least favorite part was that we did not get to stay in Jenny Lake as long as we hoped. Everyone thought that the water was colder than we expected, and we didn’t get to swim as much as we hoped, but we got to swim for a little while. Ephraim liked the lake for a little bit then he didn’t like it because it was too cold. At Jenny Lake we did lots of hiking and we got to do a boat ride and I thought that it was some fun. The boat ride was a thing that was short, but in my opinion, I thought it was a bit expensive. 

The family thought that all the animals we saw were amazing to see and lots of the family thought that the moose was the coolest animal, but dad thought otherwise. He liked the bald eagle the best thing to see because it was the countries national bird. We all liked the elk and the pronghorn that we saw but what was surprising is that we did not see many deer maybe we saw one but that is all that we saw. I thought the bever were kind of cool to see. I think all the family would like to go back to the Tetons again someday.

I think that our trip to the Grand Tetons was fun, and it was cool to see. I think that I would like to go back to them again. We had lots of fun at the Grand Tetons. For some weird reason I think that we will go to the Grand Tetons again at some point in time. I do not know when it could be in the next five years or when I take my kids there.

We went to Yellowstone the day after Grand Teton, Yellowstone was also gigantic we had to drive through Grand Teton to get to Yellowstone. We got to see Old Faithful geyser go off it was cool and tall, but we wish that the Grand geyser was still going off. It goes like 250 feet in the air for 1hr to 1hr30min long. Gideon’s least favorite part was the fact that it was so hot every day we were there. He liked Yellowstone because he got to see all the cool things and that it was fun.

        When we were at Yellowstone there were bison right in the middle of the road it was cool. I took selfies with them from in the car it was hilarious, and one crossed the road in front of us then ran back. Mom and Dad said it was neat to see the bison in the road and one bison crossed the road and on the other side another bison confronts that one and it runs away to the opposite side of the road from it. Gideon said the funniest thing he saw was the bison pooping with its butt towards the road.

Gideon said the animal that was the coolest was the elk right next to the road, but he really wanted to see a bear. Dad said his favorite animal he got to see was the elk next to the road or the eagle flying. Mom said that her favorite animal was the elk. My favorite animal was the elk right next to the road. Ephraim said his favorite animal was the bison and the elk.

        I did not like the places that had Sulphur smell, but the geysers and mud volcano/mud pots were stinky. God made Sulphur to smell like rotten eggs and it is not healthy if you smell too much of it. Mom said she did not like the smell of Sulphur, and it smelled like rotten eggs. Dad said the part that he did not like was that the Sulphur smell got strong at some points.

        Some facts I learned about Yellowstone are that Yellowstone is the world’s very first national park. It is made of a super volcano and you must stay on the paths, or you might fall in. Did you know that bison have fallen into new hot springs and stuff? Ephraim said he remembered that it was a volcano and we had to stay on the paths or if we went off, we might fall in. Bison have fallen in because they did not know and weren’t being careful. Mom said the hike to the canyon in Yellowstone made her feel nervous to do it.

        The mud volcano was not a volcano anymore because it had blown itself up a couple years after it was formed. The geysers were still working, and we got to see old faithful geyser and other small geysers. They smelled bad everyone thought so. They were cool to learn the history of the mud pots and mud volcanos. One it said that it blasted up the trees like how fire works go up into the air if you put fire on the end.

Mom said that it was nice to walk around the geyser basin and see old faithful go off from the back. Ephraim said he remembered the geysers were still working, and we got to see old faithful geyser and other small geysers. The Grand Geyser was the tallest geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin

        Gideon said that the mammoth springs were his favorite because the white and that I was complaining that it hurt my eyes. Dad said his favorite part was the hot springs with the different colors that were caused by the minerals and heat. Mom said that her favorite thing was that she got to learn about the different dynamics between the geyser basin and mammoth springs, how hot the water is and why, the coolest thing she saw was a spring in mammoth springs that looked like ice on the side of a mountain, and it was all white.

So those are the things we did at Yellowstone and some facts on Yellowstone. There are more parks that are stories for other days. Well, I will tell you what else we have been doing next time. I cannot wait for the other parks we are going to go to in the future and to write about them.

As I look back and reflect on the summer it has had its ups and downs. Overall though it was a good fun and successful summer. I started the summer by laying out our schedule. It was full almost from the start between baseball for Gideon, gymnastics for Cecilia, and several already planned trips. But we had set a goal when buying our camper last fall to try and go camping at least once a month during the summer and so we put some weekend camping trips in there and then also added a week long trip on the only week we had left between end of activities and start of school.

I tried hard to be intentional about enjoying the time I had with my kids since I know it is going by really fast. I was working during the days so the afternoons and evenings and weekends were the time I had. Looking back I feel I did a pretty decent job of making the most of that time.

Some of the highlights of the summer for me included:

• Having fun at Great Wolf Lodge with the family. Riding the slides with the Gideon and Cecilia one at a time most of the time. Thankful for my mom being able to come watch Ephraim so I could focus on them.
• The multiple camping trips. None without some sort of excitement: The first one being early May when and it being right after returning to work. I thought I was a little crazy but it turned out to be good as it forced me to take time and relax in the outdoors one of my happy places. Our second trip in early June was marked by a fridge that popped open sometime during the drive and drained our battery. So while the older kids fished with Adam, I drove an hour into town with Ephraim to get a new battery. The third trip, my mom and grandpa came along. We went fishing again although we still didn’t catch anything. That trip was marked by forgetting plates so we ate from bowls instead. The fourth trip was the annual trip to the Sand Dunes with my parents and brother. I got up early with Gideon to hike to high dune, then we played a little in the water before the girls took a trip to attempt to hike Zappata falls. We didn’t manage too because the crossing the creek was more like hiking up the creek and the water was too cold for that. Then my parents, Adam, and the older two went for fireworks while my brother and I stayed back. Me so I could put Ephraim to sleep and my brother so he could get extra rest.
• Simple afternoon fun: Running in the sprinklers, bike ride to the park with Gideon, art with Cecilia, painting with water with Ephraim and Cecilia, and just enjoying spending time outside watching them playing and listening to Ephraim giggle.
• There was also the baseball games where Gideon did really well and had lots of fun.
• Cecilia learning to ride without training wheels
• The rained out Sky Sox game which we are going to try to go to again Labor Day weekend.
• Girl Scout camp with Cecilia where I got to enjoy the weekend with her and meeting some of the other moms
• The trip to New Mexico with visits to Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, and Bandelier. Plus fishing at the stocked pond so the kids finally caught something and were so excited.

As many of you know reading is something our family loves to do. Adam and I have been avid readers most of our lives. More recently Adam has embarked on a career as an Author when the job market proved saturated here in the Denver/Colorado Springs areas. This love for reading and learning is something we strive to pass on to our kids. We’ve read to them almost every night since they were babies, we visit the library regularly, and we are always looking to build our home library.

A few years back while trying to build our home library we came across Usborne books thanks to one of the daycare’s teachers. (Yes, their sales model is largely direct marketing.) Some of these books, such as “You Choose” and “Fairy Ponies” have become among the kids’ favorites. In the last week or so I attended a virtual party on Facebook and found many new books I wanted to add to our collection, as well as gaining more Christmas gift ideas.

With our current financial situation, it’s proving tough to find the money for all of the books we want to get. This party included a little more information on the business side and becoming a consultant than previous parties I’ve attended have. What I learned is that the discount could really help us afford the purchases we were looking to make. In doing the math I figured that even if we end up only getting the discount for a few years we’ll probably break even on the start-up costs. That said, we like the idea of getting some extra income on the side while simultaneously sharing our love of reading and learning with others.

If you haven’t heard of Usborne books I understand. It seems most schools out here use their competitor, Scholastic, for book fairs. Usborne is very similar in what they do. They concentrate on books for kids in Elementary or Preschool. They have exclusive books that aren’t available elsewhere. Their prices and quality levels line up with each other. Usborne even has a school book fair program that we would love to learn more about so we can share. (Maybe next year.)

As we head into the holiday season we’d love to help you find some books to give out as gifts, whether to your children, grandchildren, or friends children. The primary marketing method, and the one that gives the best discounts for everyone involved, is the party method known by us all. Usborne allows not only on-location, but also Facebook parties so we can do this from anywhere and include friends from all over. As new members of the Usborne team we are allowed to offer an extra discount to hosts for the first couple of months so please contact us to set something up as soon as possible. If you could also keep our family and our new ventures in your prayers, we would appreciate that as well.

Our storefront: https://1106185.myubam.com/

We’ve been busy spending time with family such that we didn’t get this posted right away but for those who we don’t have address information for.  Here is our Christmas letter and a hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas.

Dear Friends and Family,
We hope this letter finds you and your family doing well this Christmas season. 2015 has been a year filled with growth and change for our family. The two largest changes were our move to Colorado at the end of June and Adam’s new job in August. For those who don’t know the story we have been looking at moving to Colorado to be closer to Heather’s family for a while. Last year’s move to Circle Pines was part of this process. Finally, this April, after finding out that Boston Scientific would allow Heather to work remotely for a period of time we decided to make the move. We started making plans and although there have definitely been moments of needing to trust God it has been good for our family overall and it is clear that God is working.
Other Highlights of the year include:
* A family getaway to Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Waterpark over Valentine’s Day weekend which was a wonderful decision. We were just about able to pretend it wasn’t winter for the weekend. The kids have been asking to go back since we left. One is supposed to open in Colorado Springs in 2016 so we will see.
* Gideon’s first year of Little League baseball, which he really enjoyed from March to June. These four months were a little long but worth it. It was coach pitch and Gideon was telling us he was ready for kid pitch partway through the season.
* Cecilia participating in Gymnastics and loving it in May and June. She seemed to like this more than the dance class she had been in previously. We really need to find time to let her do it again.
* Gideon’s Kindergarten Graduation in June.
* Cecilia’s Preschool Graduation in June.
* Annual Camping Trip to Great Sand Dunes the end of July.
* Start of First Grade (Gideon) and Kindergarten (Cecilia) in August. We were a little wary of the school at first since it uses a style of teaching we weren’t sure would be good for Gideon. Cecilia appears to be thriving and Gideon is doing well. He says he prefers it to the one in Circle Pines. The biggest thing they miss in terms of school is Love To Grow On.
* Attending the wedding of two of Heather’s cousins (1 in April and 1 in September). Heather also attended a third cousin’s wedding in December. We wished the whole family could have gone but between the cost of airline tickets and missing school we just couldn’t pull it off.
* And lots of family time going to parks, on bike rides, and just enjoying being together.
As we look ahead to next year we look forward to seeing what else God has in store for us. And pray that he will bless you and your family as well.
With Love,
The Myhr Family (Adam, Heather, Gideon, and Cecilia)

Dear Family & Friends,

Merry Christmas! We hope this letter finds you and your family doing well. 2014 has been a full and busy year for our family.

January and February found us trying to survive the record breaking cold temperatures while preparing to put the house back on the market. On the bright side it made finishing some projects around the house easier as we didn’t want to be outside.

March brought an offer on our house after just one fairly quick showing. That showing? A day early while Heather was home with a very sick Cecilia due to a scheduling mix-up. They didn’t leave the house and hadn’t done last minute cleaning. The accepted counter offer started the process of looking for a place to rent and getting ready to move. Thankfully Heather’s grandparents and mother were able to come help finish packing. They were able to stay and help with most of the unpacking and setup in our new place as well. Gideon’s 5^th birthday also fit in to the craziness of the month.

April brought our move and a month of faith stretching. Literally hours prior to closure we found out we were not going to close on time, and likely not even that day. Everything had gone smoothly to that point. After we were moved leaving an empty house in Elk River it seemed like the deal would fall apart. Our buyers were not able to close on the house they owned and thus couldn’t secure financing to purchase ours. We hadn’t even realized they had a place they were selling. Thus began several weeks of praying for things to come together after deciding our best option was to try and stick it out with them rather than putting an empty house on the market. God came through and we finally closed right before the end of the month ending up with a couple extra weeks interest rather than a full month’s mortgage.

May was spent getting settled in to the new location and schedule. Heather enjoyed a much shorter commute to work and daycare as the new place is literally 5 minutes from the daycare and about 10 minutes from her work.

June saw Gideon graduating from preschool and starting the school age program at Love to Grow On’s other location. It kept him extremely busy and made him tired as well. He played t-ball and we spent lots of time-park hopping. This was to compensate for the rental townhouse’s lack of outside space. We must have visited almost every park with a playground in a 20 minute drive.

As June shifted to July we drove to Colorado for a two week vacation. The first week allowed Adam and Heather a couple of nights away while the kids spent time with Grandma and Grandpa. Next we all went camping at the Sand Dunes for a couple of nights before heading to Longmont for a Shutts family reunion. (Heather’s mom’s side of the family.) We had a chance to see all of Heather’s extended family from that side, even her aunt Nancy when we skyped with her briefly. We briefly got to meet Felix, Erin’s (Heather’s sister) little boy, who was born mid-June. Activities with extended family included a BBQ, the Zoo, a ride on the Carousel, and shooting off air rockets in the park. While in Longmont we also had lunch with as many of the Reed side of the family (Heather’s dad’s side) as we could. Then we finished off the vacation with a few down days in Monument at Heather’s parents place.

After we returned from Colorado we had a couple of weeks before we headed to Osh-Kosh Wisconsin for AirVenture. The biggest air show in the U.S. The kids loved seeing all the airplanes and we got a chance to hang out for a while with Heather’s cousin Nathan who was there with work.

August highlights included the State Fair with good friends and then again with Heather’s parents.

The first part of September brought Cecilia’s birthday, Heather & Adam’s 10^th wedding anniversary and Gideon’s first day of Kindergarten.

The rest of September and October were spent trying to find a new rhythm with school. This was difficult while trying to make going to the park a priority. After all day at school Gideon definitely needed the outside run around time. Halloween at our house included a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and Princess Elsa. And 5 people at the door. 2 of which were coming home. The kids were bummed and wanted to know why people weren’t coming to our house.

November brought the start of cold and attempts to find indoor places to run off the afternoon energy. We settled on a local community center which includes a water park. A low-key Thanksgiving out with Adam’s brother (plus family) and parents was a nice way to not worry about cooking and cleaning in a small space, and a nice gift from Adam’s parents.

December looks to be relatively full as we look forward to celebrating Christmas in a few different ways.

Overall it has been a year full of change, fun, and growth. 2015 looks to be full of the same.

If you want to keep up with what we are up to a little more often feel free to check out our website, myhrfamily.net, where there has been at least one post a week for the past year giving glimpses into our family life.

We would love to hear from you as well and hope you have a wonderful Christmas season while you celebrate with family and friends. May you remember the reason for the season is Jesus’s birthday!

Love,

Adam, Heather, Gideon & Cecilia Myhr

Well so much for blogging weekly.  Once again time flew by and it’s been over a month since I last wrote.

We have been fairly busy enjoying life since I last wrote.  I had hoped to have pictures for this post but seeing as our main laptop is in for repair they will have to wait until next time.  So this will be a little bit of a steam of consious recap of the past month so I apologize if things don’t flow well.

First was Halloween with our Ice Cream Cone (or Cupcake) depending on what she felt like calling herself and our Fireman with the fire hose that made noise.  Daddy and Gideon had fun putting that together.

Then the first part of November the kids had a day off school so Adam and I took the day off and we went to the Children’s Museum for the day or at least most of the morning.  That was one of the days that Cecilia’s knowledge and understanding blew me away.  We had grabbed Subway on the way back to the car from the museum and Cecilia had helped Daddy pick out chips.  However, since it was a rather late lunch she fell asleep before the chips were opened.  When we got home she wanted chips so we told her we would have to go get more.  We went to the store and she informed us when we got there that she was going to ride in the cart to go help daddy get the chips.  The fact that she put it all together and had a fairly complex statement blew both Adam and I away.  We knew she was smart but that type of statement isn’t typical for a 2 year old.

November also included voting with mommy.  Gideon was interested in what Mommy was doing and actually got mad that Daddy had already voted so he couldn’t go help Daddy too.  And Cecilia liked the I Voted Stickers.  She ended up with 3.

Stone Soup lunch at school was a fun highlight near the end of November.  Both kids classes helped in preparing the soup and lunch and we joined them for lunch.  Of course they were so excited it took them a really long time to eat.

Then came Thanksgiving which was a somewhat quiet day at home.  We ate Turkey or Turtles as the kids called them rolls for breakfast while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade.  Then Grandma and Grandpa Nelson came over for lunch.  And our first snow occurred that day too so the next day we spent some time playing in the snow even though it was really cold.

The day after Thanksgiving was also the big decorate the house for Christmas day.  I mentioned on Thanksgiving that we should get the decorations out so that we could put them up the next day and the first thing Gideon said was let’s get the train.  The things they remember.  Although I may end up having to buy a new one this year as two toddlers can be a little hard on it.  But hey they enjoy it and that is what it was bought for.  I did manage to get most of the decorating done on Friday although some went into Saturday because some of the lights weren’t working and I needed additional garland which took Adam and the kids two trips to find.  Cecilia went in the morning while Gideon helped Mommy.  Then Gideon and Daddy had a special treat of a movie followed by errands.

This weekend was spent choosing toys to give to a toy drive which took almost 45 minutes.  Gideon wanted a fire truck but wasn’t finding one he liked.  In fact at one point when I showed him a lego one he said “It wasn’t perfect”.  We finally settled on Sarge fom Cars.  Cecilia had an easier time and picked a baby to give away.  We then got to see Santa (Cecilia didn’t want anything to do with him) and have cookies before getting our anual tree fom the realtor.  We then stopped for lunch at a restaurant.  The kids are getting so much better at restaurants which is nice.  While we were there we were having chips and salsa (it was a Mexican restaurant) and it was a little too hot for Cecilia so Adam gave her a plain chip to help cool her mouth.  Her words were “Feel me better”.  It was so cute.  The turning around of making her feel better.  Then after church yesterday we stopped at a live “Bethlehem” at another local church.  The kids were a little overwhelmed but seemed to have fun.  I think Gideon seems to understand the true meaning of Christmas though as the main thing he wanted to do was go see baby Jesus.  And yes we had to go at least 3 times.  Cecilia also liked that part and sat there just looking at him for several minutes.  I only pray they continue to keep that as the focus as they grow.

Finally today we put the tree up on the front porch and baked Christmas cookies.  We made some Gingerbread people and lots of sugar cookies.  The kids helped a fair amount although when she was done Cecilia started taking the cookies off the cookie sheet (before I could cook them) so I got to redo some.  Also unfortunately Gideon had a tumble while trying to decorate and a whole tray had to be picked up from the floor.  In fact the floor still has sprinkles but at least he was ok just a little scared.  Overall it was fun.

Oh and as I was making dinner I had the following conversation with Cecilia that made me smile:

Me: You’re a pickle.

Cecilia: You’re an olive.

I just had to laugh.  To her it seemed like a logical response.

Well that is all for now.  Until next time and in case I don’t manage to post again for a while.  Enjoy the Christmas season with your friends and family but remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

Heather