A month into it and I need a vacation!

Wishing I was here . . .

Sunset on Payette Lake in July

Just a note to let you know that all is well at the Hilburn house.  The girls are well.   Katy has a lot of work to do to prepare for Junior High.  A's in all but reading--go figure!  Emma is enjoying 3rd grade.  100 % on all of her spelling tests so far!  Eric is working long hours but business is picking up, especially on BSU game days.  Me, I am pulling an A in all of my classes and it is killing me!  Well, not really, but it did take a few weeks to get my rear in gear.  Managing my time is the biggest challenge I have right now.  I do enjoy my courses.  Very interesting topics.  Especially enjoy reading about how infants learn to speak.  We parents/caregivers are more amazing than you know.  Without any special training, we manage to provide the foundation that guides our newborns as they navigate the world of communication.  Fascinating stuff that I won't bore you with here.  I'll be sure to tell you all about it next time I see you!!

We hope you are all enjoying this overly hot start to autumn!  Snow is sounding pretty pleasant right about now . . .

Speaking of cheese . . .

Amen to that!

Cheesy . . .

A shot from our 2008 summer vacation in Oregon.  Drove several hours just to take the tour (3 or 4  from Newport).  We saw little loafs being cut and wrapped and sampled a whole lotta cheese.  Even stood in a longish line to buy a scoop of ice cream!  It was so worth it! Of course, seeing the lighthouses along the way really sweetened the drive. . .

The Tillamook Loaf Love Tour hit Boise a few weeks back!  Check out the super cute VW Vans.  Click on the link and read about how the vans were made.

We love cheese!  Especially Tillamook Cheese.  (My personal fave is the sharp cheddar loaf and any flavor of their ice cream)  We were sooo excited to see that the tour was stopping by our neck of the woods.  They were hanging out at an Albertsons near our house so we took a little trip to see them.  It was a much shorter drive than the last one--
The "tour" guides were talking with us and noticed Emma had bright orange socks on.  They asked her to pose in front of the bus.  You can see the picture here, if I get the link right.  Hmmm, it looks like it won't let me just link her picture.  After you hit the link, click on the "Loaf memories photo album" and then patiently scroll to the right.  About halfway through, on the bottom(or maybe the top) and next to a picture of a guy with the state of Idaho tattooed on his arm, is Emma.  She has her foot kind of kicked up behind her to show off the socks.  If you can't find her, call me and we'll look together. 

Busy, busy, busy . . .

Looks like my fair photos are out of order.  So sorry.
Her cookie was the spiderweb design on the left.  She won a ribbon and a Hover Disc!  Woo Hoo.  Emma entered the contest also.  While she did not win a prize, she was able to eat her cookie before Katy.  (Katy had to wait through three rounds of decorating before an overall winner was chosen!)

Katy won second place at the impromptu cookie decorating contest.

What a nice looking harvest!

Grammy is not baaaashful!

Emma is so corny!

Fun at the Western Idaho Fair!(it's an onion)

While watching the pig races at the fair, Katy was chosen to be a cheerleader  for contestant  # 1.  It won and so did she!  The prize--a pig nose!  I'll try and add a photo of her wearing it later.   

Here it is! 

I am finding little or no time to post anything!  My classes are in full swing and I am really trying hard to stay one step ahead of the test deadlines.  So far so good, but I need to work on my time management skills.  Once I get a handle on that, it will be smooth sailing.

The lessons are very interesting, sometimes confusing, and definitely challenging.  My focus for tomorrow will be studying the respiratory framework of speech.  I have to know all of the body parts/muscles/bones that contribute to a persons ability to speak.  Seems to me it is every piece of us from the diaphragm up!  Who knew it was so complicated.  Call me and ask me how many sections we have on our vertebral column, how many segments make up each section and why this chapter will take us 3 weeks to cover.  Too many parts, I tell you.

In the meantime, please enjoy a random selection of photos from the last month or two.

Getting ready to spend a day with Aunt Starla at her job in the Hagerman Valley.  The were able to help out at the fish farm and get an inside look at how it all works.  I keep trying to get Katy online to tell you all about it, but she is pretty busy with her work in 6th grade and at the horse barn.  I do know that both girls throughly enjoyed the time they spent with their Aunt.  She is one smart Auntie and they love her!