Island Park

We just got home a couple of days ago from a wonderful trip to Island Park, Idaho. If you have never been, I would highly recommend it. It is so beautiful there and so much to do. We had all of my immediate family there--12 adults and 18 grandchildren!! We rented this gorgeous cabin. It was huge and accommodated us all really well. I have to say a huge thank-you to my sister-in-law Andrea for telling me about this cabin.
We all arrived Thursday late afternoon. The kids were dying to get in the hot tub. Soon after they got in, Uncle Kevin joined them. He is a kid himself and this is why all the grandkids love him so much! Soon after Kevin got in, Aunt Laura did too, but not by choice!! She was a good sport and the kids had a blast with her too!!

We spent all of Friday at Yellowstone. I haven't been there in years, so it was nice to go back . The kids loved yellowstone and thought Old Faithful was especially "cool". We also hiked through the paint pots, and took a break for the kids to play in the water at firehole flats. Our only animal sightings were a bald eagle and buffalo(which were responsible for a 40 minute traffic jam).

Saturday was spent exploring Island Park. We went to Big Springs, equipped with a loaf of bread to feed all the trout--which were basically non-existent--but the seagulls sure enjoyed it! Then it was on to Henry's Lake for fishing. Thanks to Uncle Brian the kids were able to go out on the lake in his fishing boat. My kids weren't lucky enough to catch anything, but some of their cousins were and we enjoyed a delicious meal of trout that evening. We also went to Mack's Inn to do some canoeing, kayaking, and paddle boats.
We enjoyed hikes, sightseeing, playing games, watching movies, smores, and just being together. It was a blast!!

On our way home Sunday we stopped in Rexburg so I could visit my old stomping grounds. It was really neat to drive through the town and see what has changed and what hasn't. It was neat to be there, it brought back so many fun and wonderful memories.

My sister and I outside our old apartment in Rexburg.

The new Rexburg Temple--amazing!

Time to Catch Up!

I have been such a slacker at my blogging lately. We have been so busy and had so much going on. I realized that since I am sooooooo behind I will never catch up, so I thought I would just mention some of the highlights of the things I have missed!

**Ethan began walking about 6 weeks ago!! I think this is one of my favorite milestones. I always look forward to it, it is so neat to see them learn and grow and discover what they can do on their own! I know so many who say they think it is harder when their kids start to walk because they can get into everything and it is more work for the parent, but I think I am just the opposite. Ethan was already into everything so it didn't change much!! Now he is onto climbing!!




Ethan with his vacuum in hand--definitely his mother's son!

**A very exciting, emotional moment for our family came a few weeks ago when my mom recieved her mission call! She was called to serve in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia mission, and she leaves September 8th. I am so excited for my mom. She is going to have an amazing experience and I know she will be blessed for her service. I can't tell you how hard it is going to be for me to not have her here for the next year. That may sound crazy to some because I know many of you don't have family nearby, but I have been lucky enough to have my mom close by, so it will be an adjustment for me and my family. My kids are very attached to my mom and it will be hard on them too. Ethan is especially attached to Grandma. She is the one person that he will choose to be with over me--and if you know what a momma's boy he is that is pretty big! After my mom opened her mission call we were all just sitting around talking about it and didn't realize that Cassidy had left the room. Awhile later we found her hiding behind a chair in the living room crying because she is going to miss Grandma so much. It broke my heart, but I know that the example my mom is setting for my kids is worth it! Congratulations Mom! We know you will do a wonderful job, we will miss you, but know you are doing the right thing! GOOD LUCK!!

**We have had a fun couple of weeks with family in town, a vacation to ID(post to come very soon!), and two more trips coming up! My brother David and his wife Carrie came to visit from AZ for a couple weeks before our big family reunion to ID. We always look forward to their visits. They have a daughter, Rachel, who is just five months younger than the boys and they play great together. They also have a 3 year old girl, Becca, although you would think she is much older, she just fits right in with the big kids. She is so smart and says some of the funniest things I have ever heard! We were extra excited this year to see them all because they now have a sweet baby boy, Nathan. We haven't seen Nathan since Christmas when he was just 6 weeks old. He has changed a ton and was so much fun. I was anxious to see how Ethan and Nathan(we constantly called them the wrong names) would react to each other. They did really well together. Ethan was always patting Nathan's head and rubbing his hair. Nathan didn't seem to mind except for the times when Ethan was a little too rough. It will be fun to see them be little buddies as they grow older, we only wish they lived closer!

Ethan giving Nathan a hug!

It was nice to have them here for the fourth of July holiday. We had a great family BBQ and went to fireworks together. It was so fun to watch Ethan enjoy the fireworks. Last year he slept right through them, but this year he absolutely loved them! He couldn't stop pointing at them.

We were also lucky to be able to spend some time with my Dad. He came up the day after the fourth. We ended up taking the kids to the AF pool to enjoy some time in the water and with Grandpa. We had a great time!

Ethan loved being able to stand in the water by himself. We had to watch him very carefully though because he loved to let go and go under the water. He is such a little fish!

Of course the waterslide is always a favorite!

We just love summer and all the fun times together!

It just isn't summer without. . . . .SWIM LESSONS

The kids just finished up their swim lessons last week and I wanted to post some pictures we got of them. They did really well this year and are getting so good in the water. Cassidy loved doing all the different floats she has learned--especially the watermelon and jellyfish floats. In the boys class they learned to dive under the water and retrieve the diving stick. They just did awesome!!
I was afraid that Ethan might be hard to keep away from the water during lessons because he has this serious obsession with water and just can't get enough of it. Luckily he was just perfect and stayed with me the entire time.
Can't wait till next summer and more swim lessons!







The last day of lessons was the most fun for the kids because they got to go down the water slide!

Our Camping Weekend

The kids have been wanting to go camping for a while, so last weekend we headed into the treacherous mountains of. . .Morgan, Utah. We found an ideal spot. It had a nice, level, no rock campsite. There was a fire pit, trampoline, swimming pool, indoor plumbing, and most importantly a nice king size bed for Linda. Now where was this great spot that we found?? This was in Andy's parents backyard!! We really had it rough! We actually headed up to Morgan to spend a night and celebrate Father's Day with Andy's dad. The kids have been wanting to camp forever so we figured that was as good a time as any. My mother-in-law even made tinfoil dinners so we felt a little more like real campers. We had a great time. The kids swam a ton and loved it. We had a campfire and roasted marshmallows and made smores. Then Andy and the three older kids headed off to the tent to sleep, while Ethan and I headed inside for a nice quiet night. We had a really good time and I prefer this kind of "camping"!

Just some fun pictures of the kids enjoying the pool!







The kids outside the tent!


My mother-in-law was prepared with a fun craft for the kids to do the next morning!

My Little Criminal

A couple weeks ago we were out back doing some yard work after dinner. Andy and I were up on top of our rock wall pulling the weeds and the kids were down below on the grass just playing around. Ethan had been playing with his toys and just crawling around exploring. After a while, Ethan found our phone that I had set out on the steps. He LOVES the phone and began pushing all sorts of buttons. I let him go ahead and play, he does it all the time. While playing with the phone he happened to hit a button that transfers one phone to our other phone. It makes a beeping noise and won't stop until you either pick up the other phone or turn it off on the actual phone beeping. So I climbed down and turned it off. As soon as I did that the phone rang. It came up with some weird ID that I didn't recognize. I almost didn't answer, but decided to. Boy was I surprised when the lady identified herself as a dispatcher for 911 and said that a 911 call had been placed from our house and they were calling to see if everything was all right. I told her that my baby had been playing with the phone and he must have dialed it. I apologized and hung up. Neither Andy or I could believe that Ethan had done that. What are the chances that he would dial those exact numbers in that exact order. Crazy, but unfortunately not the end of the story. After I had hung up with the dispatcher Andy commented that it was a good thing that I had answered or else they would have sent an officer out to check on things. Well, to top things off a few minutes later there was a police officer in our backyard. He had come to make sure everything was okay. Luckily he was very understanding and even offered to help with the yard work! Let's just say that Ethan no longer plays with the phone!

Christmas in June

For Christmas we got the kids an air hockey table. The idea was to put it in the basement, along with some other big toys that we keep down there for them to play with. Well, if you had seen my basement a few months ago you would understand why it has taken this long to make room for the air hockey table. We had so much stuff down there and it was taking up so much room. For the past couple months we have been working so hard in our basement going through each and every box. We organized everything that we are keeping and set aside everything we don't want for a garage sale that we are having at my mom's this weekend. Well, the good news is that we finished, the basement looks awesome, but best of all the air hockey table is FINALLY assembled!! The kids were so excited that they had half the neighborhood in the other day to play!

Bragging Rights

We all have those moments when we really want to brag about our children, and as parents it is definitely our right to do so. So indulge me for just a minute while I take my turn. There is a test that is given to 3rd and 5th graders called the IOWA test. It is given nationwide and covers just about everything. Since Cassidy is in 3rd grade this year she was one of those who had to take this test. Cassidy's school had an awards assembly a couple days ago and she received an award for scoring in the top ten percent in the NATION on the IOWA test. When I saw the award I seriously started to cry (I seem to do that a lot ever since I had kids). I am so proud of her!! Way to go Cass!!
But I think the most important thing we learned from this is that she definitely gets her brains from her mom!!