Ag Days

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

On Monday, June 24, Blaine asked me to get the mail while he was gone to school.  I went out to the mailbox and found a letter that said the following:


Dear Murray Family,

Congratulations!  You have been selected to visit our prized farm operation.  The selection was made on the basis of how very cute you all are; others are jealous but they just can't compete.

Your celebrated visit is scheduled for Wednesday June 26, 2013 at 11:30am.  Your tour will begin from your home.  We trust your visit will be a delightful experience as we celebrate you.

Be sure to wear whatever helps you feel comfortable while being out of doors in a farm setting.

We can't wait to welcome you!

Sincerely,

Celebrate Farm Tours, Inc.


On Tuesday, Blaine told me that Celebrate Farm Tours, Inc. called and left a message for me to meet at the round-about on campus instead of at our house.  I was feeling excited!  I know Blaine knows I love surprises and things like this make me fall even more in love with him.

On Wednesday morning, at 11:32 a.m. Hyrum, Afton, Blaine and I were at the round-about.  We spent the rest of the afternoon on an adventure.  Follow the pictures below and go on our adventure with us and you discover what took place on Wednesday, June 26, 2013 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.


We climbed in a horse trailer and rode up to an open field on campus.


We got out to find this....a sign welcoming us to the first ever "Ag Days" celebration at BYU-Idaho.


We walked through the cattle guard fence and read these fun facts on the way in.  I found all the ones I read interesting, so I just picked a few favorites.








Then we walked through a food demonstration booth.  There Hyrum got to cut his own own potatoes that turned into french fries right in front of our eyes. We tried carbonated grapes which were delicious!  We learned that just like humans, cows have a preference for certain types of feed.  

We then found a spot on the lawn enjoy our hot, fresh and very home-cut french fries and lemonade.  Afton just hung out and enjoyed the sunshine while we ate our food.



I laid down on the grass and enjoyed the sunshine, hearing my Afton coo, watching Hyrum try home-made french fries for the first time, and seeing my handsome Blaine sitting next to me on a perfect, hot summer day.  This is the view I had of my handsome husband.


I was then given a tutoring lesson on how to lasso a cow.

Hyrum's favorite part of the day was getting into all the tractors that they had set up there.

 

I got to check off one of my bucket list items:  Milk a cow by hand.  Honestly I was a little scared Afton and I were going to get kicked in the face.  The udders felt weird, but we Betsy and made it out alright.



We got to make our own homemade ice-cream and eat it!

 

We are so spoiled living here in Rexburg!  I feel like there are always free things like this going on.  Ag Days was a celebration to let the community experience and learn more about agriculture and where food comes from.  Some other things that were not pictured were free hamburgers, milking a goat, and seeing all sorts of farm animals. It will always hold a sunny spot in my memory and I will be hoping to experience another Ag Days Celebration!  Thank You BYU-Idaho Agriculture and Food Science Department, and Thank You Blaine for planning a great surprise family outing for us!

Murray Family Get-a-Way

 Friday, June 21, and Saturday June 22, 2013

While Blaine's sister Jena was in town, we had a Murray family get together.  We spent Friday night at Mama and Papa Murray's house.  We had a Dutch oven dinner, made camp fire eclaires over the campfire, and slept in tents in the backyard.

On Saturday morning, we headed up to Buttermilk Campground.  The weather cleared up for just enough time to enjoy the canoes on Island Park Reservoir.  It was a fun to get together and be in the great outdoors.


 Hyrum and Baby Afton


I love pictures where Hyrum is looking away like this one above!


Cousin Zachary enjoying some chips


 Blaine, Zachary, and Jena enjoying a canoe ride.  When Blaine and I went on a ride later that day, I couldn't get help but sing the song, "Just a boy and a girl on a tippy canoe...they're going fishing!"


Paige and Rylee Sue (above)


 Hyrum ready for his first canoe ride


(Above)  This won our personal picture contest photo of the day.  This is Eli.  Isn't he adorable?  There is something about little boys that I just can't get enough of!

All About The Nelsk

Spring-Summer 2013

The Nelsk, Nelski, Hybernelski, Hyber, Stinky Pete, and Peter are all nicknames for the little boy that rocks my world.
 
I find myself thinking during little moments of the day "I just wish that my Hyrum would freeze and never grow out of this darling stage that he is in."  I also find myself wishing that some days and some moments would just last forever.

I guess so many of these have happened recently that I feel like I need to record some of them so I won't forget them.

Can I just tell you how lucky I am to have a darling little boy named Hyrum?  He warms my heart when I see him smile.  I love how creative he is.  I love his sense of humor.  I love his laugh.  I love his big eyes, the shape of his nose and the way his lips pucker when he is deep in thought.  I love seeing him love Afton.  I love that he is tender hearted.  I love that he loves his mama.

This blog post is dedicated to my firstborn, the little boy I love more than any little boy in the whole world.  He makes my day every day, and is a big reason I chuckle and smile a lot during the day.  Here are some of my favorite pictures of Hyrum and little phrases that I just never want to forget!



Phrases that are SO HYRUM:

"Hit the road Jack!", "Get out of Town!", "Do you see that Da-doo?" (Da-doo is Hyrum's word for tractor, not to be confused with "Doo-da" which means birthday!

"Shall We....." This is a phrase that Blaine uses when he is in a goofy mood.  Hyrum has picked up on it and will say, "Mom, shall we go outside and ride my bike?"

"45:6!"  We try to say a scripture each morning before Blaine goes to work.  Sometimes Blaine will ask Hyrum, "Hyrum what scripture should we say today?"  Hyrum almost always says "45:6!"  I guess we need to find and memorize a good scripture that is in the 45th chapter of some book, 6th verse.  I haven't found a good one yet :)

"Aye-soup-see!" This is Hyrum's word for "Excuse Me!"  A lot of times he will just say "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" as he is pushing his way past somebody.  I think he gets that from me.  Ever since he has started doing this I realize that I do this a lot.  Isn't it funny that you learn all about your habits and mannerisms, both good and bad, when your kids start to mimic you?

"I found my faa-thers!" Hyrum uses the words faa-thers for his crocs sandles.  I don't know where he got this phrase.  It took us forever for us to figure out what he was looking for each day.  You pronounce faa like the word fat without the t.  Kind of like feathers, but faa-thers!

"What's that fing?"  The first time he said this, there was a loud noise outside our window.  He is saying, "What's that thing?"

"Are those frinklers on?"  I love when he sees the sprinklers on.  He always asks this when he sees them.  He can spot "frinklers" from a mile away!


 One of our favorite past times lately has been da-doo drives and walks where we search for all kinds of da-doos around Rexburg!


 Hyrum trying his first "Eye-sype" Cone!  That is how Hyrum says it!  May 2013



Recent Conversations at Grandma Munns House

"Pa-pa-pinana bread!"
  • Grandma Munns: "Hyrum would you like some pinana bread?"(pineapple banana bread)
  • Hyrum: "Mom should we have some cranana bread?"
  • Grandma Munns:  "Hyrum it's pinana bread. Can you say pa-pa-pinana bread?"
  • Hyrum: "Yes let's have some pa-pa-pinana bread!" After trying it, "I like this pa-pa-pinana bread!"
"Text Me Grandma!"

Blaine and Grandma Munns were talking.  Hyrum picked up a little soft computer toy that Grandma Munns has.  He held it like a phone and acted like he was texting.  He looked at Grandma square in the face and said "Text me Grandma!" with a goofy grin.  Now whenever he is being silly we will look at him and say "Text me Grandma" and he says it back to us, usually along with "Get out of town!" and "Hit the Road Jack!"

China
  • Hyrum: "I am taking the da-doo four-ye-er trailer" he says as he pushes the tractor hooked to the four-wheeler trailer across the kitchen floor.
  • Grandma Munns:  "Where are you taking it?"
  • Hyrum:  "I am taking it to China!"
Are you Done?

Grandma Munns was reading the paper when we got to her house to water our garden.  Hyrum was excited to see her. After a few minutes of her reading, he walked up to her and said, "Grandma, are you done yet?  I want you to come sit in the kitchen...."  He pulls Grandma's hand and points to a chair in the kitchen, "Right here!"

 

Hyrum loves Baby Afton.  In the morning, when he can hear she is awake, I am always asked, "Mom, Afton's awake.  Sha we go check on her?"  When we brought Afton home from the hospital, her name was first Affit, then Affin, then finally Afton.  I am happy, but sad he can say her name right now :(

A couple of weeks ago, Hyrum looked at me and Afton and said, "Mom, Afton's a pickle!"  I asked him, "Dill or Sweet?" He said, "Sweet!"  The last few days he will look at Afton and say, "You're a dill pickle!" and then start chuckling.

 Hyrum at his favorite "Fire Engine" park in St. Anthony.


One trick I have learned that gets Hyrum to eat is to turn foods into something that looks like a food he does like.  This day for lunch, all he wanted was popsicles.  So we put his banana and "peanut butter bread" (peanut butter sandwich) on a popsicle stick and he gobbled it right up.

Hyrums favorite food, and I mean favorite food, (he would eat it for every meal and snack if I would let him is "O-me-no" a.k.a. Oatmeal.  "Mom, sha we make some O-me-no?" is a phrase I hear almost every morning!


One of Hyrum's favorite thing to do lately is to hit the tennis ball with a tennis racket out on the sidewalk.  Blaine tosses the ball to Hyrum and then Hyrum hits it up in the air.  He is getting pretty good.  I love how his left leg raises almost every time he hits it!  Notice the facial expression that goes with it!  Blaine's favorite part of the experience is that Hyrum always grunts a "hut, hut" when he is hitting the ball!



 Hyrum in his new summer p.j.'s. (above)  This is the first picture where he has ever smiled by himself, without me tickling him.


 Today, when I was getting ready in the bathroom, Hyrum came into show me his "New Do."  He had put Afton's headband on and was twirling around with a goofy smile.  You know how you can't ever capture something as good a second time?  I made him put it back on so I could get a picture of it, but the goofy grin was missing.  Glad I have a good memory!


I love Hyrum's creativity.  I was sitting in Hyrum's room just watching him, and I noticed him putting books side by side.  Apparently he was making some "train tracks" for his "Da-doo" to ride on.  I love seeeing him make things up and use his imagination.  Frequently I will hear, "Mom, would you like a cookie?" or "Mom, sha we make a sa-wutch?" (He always says sa-wutch with his lips sticking out as far as they can be.)  If I say "Yes" then he brings me a bean bag or block or just pretends to put something in my hand.  We then gobble up our fake cookies and sandwiches together.

These are just a handful of my favorite moments with Hyrum lately.  If I had 10 hours a day to blog, I don't think I could tell you all the things that make me smile and laugh that come from this little boy!  I really am the luckiest!

Utah Trip

June 14-16, 2013

We took a trip to Utah on Father's Day Weekend.  We went down primarily for Baby Clara's blessing, but it was so good to be able to be with my dad on Father's Day. Some photos that  highlights our trip are shown below.


 We went on a nature hike in Kaysville at the "Utah State Botanical Center".  Hyrum had a ball with my Dad.


I love seeing little boys do what their dads and grandpas do.  This photo above warmed my heart.


We all wore one of Papa Dave's hats to keep the sun out of our eyes.



 This photo above won our personal photo contest for the weekend.  Taken by Blaine.


Afton was a good little trooper and found her fingers today!


 We got to spend part of the afternoon with Big Afton.  Isn't it cute their outfits are matching?  I promise we didn't plan this!


We went to an outdoor festival at a park in Kaysville on Saturday evening.  There, I got to check off one of my bucket list items:  To dance with my Blaine to our song which is "All I Need is You" while Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band was performing it live!


Hyrum had a great time running around with airplane wings!  He is the funnest little guy!


On Sunday, we got to be with family on Baby Clara's blessing day.  I always forget to take pictures when I am in big groups.  I didn't even get a picture of Clara, but I did get this one of Afton with her cousin Emme!
Ended up being a fun trip, can't wait to be with my Dad and our family again!