Vacation 2016

 Day 1 of Vacation we spent in Meridian, Idaho.  We had dinner with my brothers' families and my parents.  The kids got to play with their cousins and the adults got to catch up.

Day 2 my dad took us out to Black Canyon Reservoir near Emmett, Idaho for some boating.  I was super excited because it had probably been at least 8 years since I got to out on a boat!  Growing up we had a boat and almost every weekend each summer our family went and played on the lake.  The three older kids all went out on the tube.  The boys loved it, Alaina liked it fine but she enjoyed riding in the boat more than a behind it.  Tony got a nice battle scar across his nose when he wiped out while tubing.  I did some water skiing and showed the kids that their mom still had it!  We had so much fun!

 Day 3 the kids all had their haircut at Vidal Sass-grandma while I cuddled Lincoln.  He had thrown up the night before after we got back from boating and ran a fever for the next two days.  That evening Tony and the kids went a visited with the Fosters while I quarantined Lincoln so no one else would get sick. 

 Day 4 we visited Tony's sister Jana's ward for her baby's blessing.  After lunch we hit the road and traveled to Rexburg, Idaho.  We spent the night at Tony's cousin's house and enjoyed seeing how much Rexburg had changed since we had moved away.

Day 5 We had lunch with Tony's old boss and some old coworkers from Premier Powder Coating.  The kids requested eating at Pizza Pie Cafe which we all really enjoyed the food and the company.  That afternoon we traveled to Pocatello, Idaho and visited with Tony's grandma.  We went out to dinner and enjoyed spending some time with her.  After dinner we hit the road again and traveled to Syracuse, Ut and stayed with Grandma Deb and Grandpa Berry.

Day 6 we visited Hill Air Force Museum.  I had no idea it was so big!  There were so many planes to look at!  The kids even got to make their own gliders out of Styrofoam plates.  I always knew that planes were big but I was amazed at how huge some of the helicopters were.  

 Family Picture

We had to get a picture by this plane because it's a lot like the ones that Uncle Brian works with!

Day 7 we spent the entire day at Lagoon with Tony's brother's family.  I didn't get a lot of pictures because we were busy playing all day.  I even got to ride the new Cannibal ride which was awesome!

Day 8 we traveled to Logan, Ut to spend some time with my Sister and her family.  They live on the outskirts. It was so nice to visit with them for a short while and as always loved the artery clogging food they cooked for dinner!

Day 9 we traveled to Bear Lake for the Foster Family Reunion.  We were able to stay in some cabins and the kids loved spending time playing with their cousins.

Day 10 we spent the good part of the day at the lake.  Tony's brother Davin rented a water trampoline for the day and it was a lot of fun!

Lincoln taking a nap with his little cousin Jocelyn

Day 11 we traveled all the way home!  We spent twelve and a half hours in the car that day.  We watched 4 movies and had two meals on the road that day.  But surprisingly enough to kids did pretty well and we made it home!  We really enjoyed all the time we were able spend with our families and making memories together! 

Summer 2016

Yesterday I was asked what we had done this summer.  Well...

 Alaina's been sewing her little heart out making outfits for her doll, an apron for herself, baby blankets, and headbands.  Really anything that strikes her.  She has little to no direction from me and has learned to use the sewing machine quite well.  We've done sporadic organized sewing lessons.  But mostly she's done it on her own.  

 Carson had a skin lesion removed from the side of his head.  The dermatologist used a laser to remove it, which made Carson a bit nervous.  When all was said and done Carson did great and I think he was relieved to have it gone.  I took him to the store to pick out a treat later that day and he pick out cream puffs.  Which proved to be quite messy. 

 Charlie turned 5 years old!  We celebrated with pizza and a rainbow cake.

 The kids did the summer reading program through our local library.

 We visited the farmer's market where Lincoln enjoyed a cucumber.

 We played outside.

Lincoln is growing, though he's still our shorty and measuring in the first percentile.  His little personality it showing more and more.  Lately he enjoys wresting in the beanbag with his siblings, eating cheese straight from the block (unknown to mom) and putting whatever hits his fancy into the garbage can.  He also went to his first week of Nursery!

We also went on a Vacation...but that deserves a post all on it's own!

Happy Independence Day

This year Tony's parents and his brother's family came to visit us for the 4th of July weekend.  It's become a tradition to make our own patriotic shirts each year.  This year we made shirts for the family that visited too.  It was a lot of work, but it was fun and they turned out great!  The weekend included a visit to the farmer's market, the pool, and the lake.  We had good food and good fun.  We enjoyed watching the city fireworks over the lake.  Each year I miss not doing out own fireworks.  Fireworks are banned inside the Moses Lake city limits.  But we still had a great time with the family.

 Our family

 Everyone

 Cousins

Nathan's family

 Tony's parents

Charlie and Mack are best friends!

A Wonderful Evening

Tonight was one of those evenings where nothing really of consequence happened, but I thourouly enjoyed my family.  Tony and I enjoyed a little chat in our front room while testing out our new camp chairs.  We all had sandwiches, chips, and cantaloupe for dinner which means easy dinner to prepare and cleanup.  Plus no forcing the kids to eat.  Unloaded some free sod and loved seeing the transformation our house is undergoing with new paint and landscaping.  Laughed with the kids as they took turns being rock guitarists with Alaina's pink ukalae.  And now I get to tuck each of my kiddos in bed and then spend some alone time with my hubby! I love my family!  

A Little Blessing

As many know the bane of any women's shopping experience are bras, jeans, and swimsuits!  I needed a new swimsuit but was trying to make mine last one more year.  Last week I went into Marshalls to kill some time until it was time to pick up Charlie from Preschool.  I saw a bathing suit that was on an end cap that caught my eye.  I thought what the heck, I'll try on a couple of suits.  I picked 4 suits to try on.  The original suit that I liked was horrible once I put it on.  Surprise, surprise. The second one was just weird and meant for a women that must be all torso.  The third one was super cute and I would have considered it if they had had it in a bigger size.  So I put on this stripped suit.  Usually I'm attracted to flower or tropical pattern suits.  So imagine my complete astonishment when I put the suit on to discover that it fit and it looked good!  I don't normally just go out and buy stuff without talking to Tony about to first, but I just had to buy it.  I know it'll probably sound silly but I totally feel like it was a blessing from my Heavenly Father that I even found a super cute and flattering bathing suit when I wasn't even looking for one and in a matter of 30 minutes no less!  There a times in our lives when little blessings are sent our way that may not even be spiritual in matter at all, but are just for our pure enjoyment and happiness.  Thankfully last week I was the recipient of one such blessing.

Piano lessons for the Kids

Tony and I have always regretted that we quit piano lessons as kids.  Both of our moms play the piano and we had ample opportunity that we just didn't take advantage of.  I always said that I wanted my kids to be able to play the piano.  If nothing else than be able to play the hymns in church if need be.  Then came the realization came of how expensive music lessons are, especially when you have multiple children.  About a year ago we discovered a piano curriculum online.  All the videos are free we just pay for the accompanying materials.  Last week be bought the program and put together notebooks for each of the kids.  I'm really excited for the kids and am quite impressed on how quickly the they are picking up on it, even Charlie!  

Mother's Day

Growing up I never understood why my Mom really didn't like Mother's Day.  Why wouldn't she like a day dedicated to her?  When I became a mother myself I understood a little better how she felt.  There have been years where "Mother's Day" didn't feel so different from any other day of the year.  I would "see" mom's posting on social media about getting breakfast in bed.  Homemade gifts from their kids.  Elaborate gifts from their husbands.  Being waited on hand and foot and not having to lift a single finger all day.  Not to say that I didn't get some of those things myself each year on Mother's Day, I did.  But many times I would feel a bit of disappointment at the end of the "special" day.  This year I decided to take a different approach to Mother's Day.  Instead of comparing my family's outpouring of love toward me to other families, I gladly accepted each little show of affection directed toward me.  I tried to graciously accept each compliment and mention of mother's personally.  I tried to spend my day doing Motherly things maybe even better than I do on a normal day to day basis.  I spent my afternoon playing games with my kids instead of busing myself with my own projects or another futile attempt at a nap.  Yes, I was still the first one up on a Sunday morning to get myself and my family ready for church.  Yes, I still did the dishes.  Yes, I still changed dirty diapers.  Yes, I still played referee among the kids.  Yes, I received sweet hugs and kisses for my family.  Yes, I got little homemade gifts from my kids.  Yes, I got lots of "I Love You's".  Yes, my husband picked me some flowers.  Yes, I got a little treat at church.  Yes, my family cooked dinner.  Yes, my 11 year old son did a sweet family home evening lesson on motherhood.  Yes, I got to pick out some flowers for our yard.  So I'd say it turned out to be a pretty awesome day and I'm thankful to be a mother and enjoyed the day celebrating my role.