Knapp Kousins Kruise 2010

This is a photo of the Knapp Kousins who attended the annual Knapp Kousins' camp for 2010. We all went on a cruise to Hawaii and the jungles of Africa. We even got to shoot animals (which they made and were taped to the fence)with our marshmallow guns made by Grandpa. The dates for this year were July 7-9. We hope they all had as much fun as we had!

Don 't we have some of the cutest grandkids ever?

Red pepper dip from IDAHO

Hey this is a recipe for an amazing DIP-

One tall jar of roasted red peppers (found by the pickles) 16 oz. Save juice.
An 8 0z. cream cheese
1 package of Ranch Salad Dressing (powder)


Mix in your blender and eat with corn chips.

If it is a little too thick, use some of the juice from the peppers to make it thinner.

You're going to love it!

Happy Easter from Idaho

Do you like our "new" Easter outfits? It has been a great day here with a little sunshine, but I don't know if it is cold or not--been inside watching conference all day. Grandpa and Jo came for dinner between sessions--he couldn't chew the meat (it was kind of tough) and Jo couldn't eat the pie! Oh well, at least they came to enjoy the time with us. We are glad to be able to have some company once in a while.
We apologize for putting Pedro on the answering machine. His Spanish was a little better than ours or was he really speaking in English?
Conference was the greatest. Don't we all have a lot to live up to. If we just put our lives more in focus with the Savior, all things are possible--even being good parents and grandparents!!!
It was fun for me (Grandpa) to be with most of you for a spell last week. Laurie, when I see you again I hope you can play me a couple of tunes on your piano and have Hyrum eating mashed potatoes, so that when he comes to Idaho we can spoil him on real "spuds." Janie, the bread turned out awesome. It was the best bread mom has ever made! We are looking into opening a Yogurt Vibes franchise here in Idaho Falls, so be ready when you come up this way. Amy, I was so impressed with your family reading the Book of Mormon each morning....keep up the good work! Seriously, if you need us to start saving money for a fund to keep Dallon in pants that are long enough, let us know. Doug, I don't know how you do it! With all of the extras living at your house and the mold trying to push you out...hang in there! We would be happy to come when you need to "move back in" but we can talk about that later this week. Darin, I am anxious to see your legs in a couple of weeks when you have worn your new birthday shorts for a while!
It was a fun Spring Break for me even though the weather did not cooperate. We love you all and look forward to seeing you. With the good weather coming, we will have to come to Utah more often and play together. We love you all and wish you all the very best. Mom and Dad

Cheek to cheek...

Hello all--from the sunny state of Arizona! I don't know who designed the Cabbage Patch dolls, but REALLY????
I just thought I would take a moment to update you all on our "exciting" lives here in AZ...not alot going except beautiful weather and the intoxicating smell of orange blossoms :) It is heavenly!!
Tessa is a busy body--in to everything...except her own toys of course! She loves to play outside and always wants to go to the park. She has officially learned my least favorite word of all time "swinging?"--and just recently learned to say "Zip it!"....thanks to me. Lots of "TUDE"--but we were expecting at least a little. She's hilarious!
Christopher is our rock star! He loves to rock out--playing Rock Band with Kelly and the others. He's quite the little dancer--and LOVES to run, jump, and tackle. He's learning about reverence--hmmmmmmm....and can't wait for the water in the pool to be warm enough for a dip!
Carter is doing really well in school--just has a problem with talking too much--surprise, surprise! He is also enjoying playing flag football--and the coach just put him in as the starting quarterback for every game. He's doing really well and LOVES it--of course, it's time spent with dad and his best buddies. He's getting tall and growing up way too fast!
Kenna is all about sparkles, jewelry, and karaoke! She is in a gymnastics class right now and really loves it. She has finally mastered her splits and is working on her bridge and back walk-over (what?). She cracks me up with her fun fashion sense--which is basically that anything goes. She can't wait to come for Kousin's Kamp and talks about it all the time!
Kelly is keeping up with all that's going on! He's enjoying school, loves serving with our Bishop, and is plowing through things at work. He tries to be at Carter's football practice, wrestle with Chris, listen to Kenna's stories, and tickle Tess--and has no choice but to listen to me yak--because I do it whether he's listening or not :).
And I am doing GREAT! I just ran a 4.6 mile "mom's race" this morning and ran the entire distance in 50 minutes...a huge accomplishment for me--it's the farthest I've ever run and my mile was just over 10 minutes. I can't believe I did it--but there are pictures to prove it! Girl's Camp is coming along really well. It is interesting to watch the Lord's hand in the planning and preparation. I work with a neat group of women. I am also working of the US Census right now and it's been quite the learning experience and I have definitely come away with a greater appreciation for my life and how blessed I am.
I do have one goal though--I am going to try to be better at staying in touch with all of you! I am not so good at it--and have no great excuses! If I can worry about getting my visiting teaching done each month, surely I can make time to see how you all are doing--after all--family counts most...right!? I love you all and can't wait to hear how you are doing!

Natalie brought a friend to Idaho!

This weekend we had such a fun surprise! Natalie brought a handsome man to visit us! We played all weekend. Friday we had homemade tacos, board games and chips and dips and cadbury eggs (eat your heart out Amy). Saturday we had fun treats a new hangout called Bambinos--next time you come to Idaho, we promise to take you too. Then we had dinner and went to the school musical "Secret Garden" and then Darin and Natalie taught us how to post a blog. Are you impressed or what?? Well, time for pillow cases, let the party begin!! We love you all and wish you were here to enjoy the fun.

Love Mom and Dad

Hello All!

Hi everybody,

I just wanted to take a minute and say hello. Hyrum & I survived the week of Dan being gone by keeping busy getting the brakes fixed on the car, taking my wedding ring in for its semi-annual inspection, grocery shopping, watching Olympicsand finding Hyrum a pediatrician in Riverton. It was nice to have so many things to do to help pass the time. Dan got home Friday afternoon and it's been great having another adult around to talk to!

We are loving our house and are making plans to paint the kitchen. The whole house is the same color (except for the basement--and that hideous yellow will hopefully soon be gone) and we've been wanting to spice up the kitchen a bit.

I hope you enjoy this little video of Hyrum. He's really been laughing more lately and I think it's hilarious:

We miss you all...

So long time no write...sorry! It seems like my calendar was blank on January 1st and by January 2nd, I was booked through June. Scarey how quickly we commit ourselves...
Things are going well here! I was actually hot while waiting for my kids after school today. Is that crazy or what? We are enjoying some truly wonderful weather here this week and I can't wait for the pool to start heating up! We probably will start swimming in April--that doesn't seem too far from now.
Kelly is staying busy with work, school, and church stuff. We get to see him on Mondays--but it's all good. I can tell he is enjoying working with the people in our ward--and he's doing well in school which makes it easier for him to stay motivated!
Mackenna just started up gymnastics at a local gym. We've not put her in sports much (tried soccer--it was a disaster), but she really wanted to try this so we thought we'd give her the opportunity. So far she really likes it--and is determined to learn how to do the splits--hopefully genetics don't get in her way--I've never been flexible :)
Carter is gearing up to start another season of flag football. He seems to enjoy running mostly--whether he has the ball or not. It's something that he and Kelly have fun doing together. He's really into reading right now and has a love/hate relationship with mystery books--it can't be too scarey!
Christopher is writing his name now--and tormenting Tessa as much as he possibly can! He's a good boy and much too strong for his own good. He and I have fun together during the day while the kids are at school. It doesn't take too much to convince me to make him a treat!
And Tessa--she's growing up too fast! I gave her a drink of soda last night and she sips and says, "Yum, that tastes good"--Kelly and I just looked at each other--where does this gift of gab come from? (As if we don't know--wink, wink) She is hilarious and is quite the little mother to her dolls--it cracks me up to watch her wrap her dolly and say, "night, night" and give it kisses. It's so sweet...of course, then Chris yanks it away and slams its head to the floor...what would life be like without her older brother?
And I am keeping busy with camp planning (I know you are all still laughing about my calling), school for the kids, reading, and laundry. I just finished reading "The Hunger Games", "The Uglies", and "The Lightning Theif", and just started "The Anatomy of Peace"--I'm waiting for the next 3 books in all of those trilogies--I have been LOVING reading lately--and I highly recommend "The Anatomy of Peace"--it's all about resolving conflict--it's a great story that teaches how to deal with conflict, etc. It's by the same group that wrote, "The Bonds that Make Us Free"--anyways, it is short--so if you're looking for a quickie--I recommend it! Anyways--we miss you all and wish we could see you--well, we wish that you could come here since it is still cold there! Really I think we'd take whatever we can get! We hope all is well with you and please know that we LOVE you!