Thing after Thing

I've been wanted to blog about our latest trip to the lake for over a week now. But things just kept coming up one after another that kept me from blogging.

Things like the fire by near the INL that evacuated Scott and all other non essentional personal and curtailed him an extra day. Two bonus days in the middle of the week with Scott really threw off my schedule and the last thing I wanted to do was blog while he was home. We were able to get some work started for the flooring project and began taking the trim off the walls. He has pictures of the fire, but has to have them approved from his superiors before we can share them. So hopefully more details to come.

The other thing that has kept me busy has been non stop phone calls with window people. Allow me to explain. As Scott was tearing down trim, I asked what he thought about buying a smaller couch for upstairs so could we push our dinner table out a little bit to open up our dining room. He said that was fine, but we would have to sale one of our couches first. I knew we could get more money for our basement couch, so I planned on selling it and moving the upstairs couch downstairs. I listed it for sale online for $1,000 but Scott told me that wasn't enough. I raised the price to $1500 thinking that no one would be interested. I was wrong. The couch sold four hours later for the full price of $1500! I was ecstatic! Later that night we started to move the couch downstairs, but we got stuck. It won't budge. The couch is too big! So basically we're down a couch for nothing. I sold the good couch for nothing. Absolutely nothing! Feeling frustrated and defeated we went to bed. The next morning we decided to call some window places to see if they could remove the window so we could put the couch in through the window. We're waiting back to see if that will pan out, and boy oh boy am I crossing my fingers!

The last reason I've been so busy is my favorite. My brother has been in town. I have spent every waking hour I can with him. I've taken all of one picture, but it sums up his trip perfectly! My boys can not get enough of Uncle Justin. Especially Kyle. He loves him so much. My brother can't go anywhere with out the little side kick following him around. It makes my heart so happy!

But here I am, with a quiet few minutes to finally post pictures of the lake. We are falling in love with this place more and more. So much so that there is talk about buying some land of our own. We would co-own an acre with our good friends, the Snarrs. The land is completely undeveloped and there is a lot of work thats needs to go into it. But the thought of our boys helping clear the land and help build a home away from home is extremely appealing. And having a place for our family and future generations to gather at is dreamy. We have been researching it out and the more we think about pray about it, the more it feels like the right thing to do. We will begin negotiations with the land owner soon and I'm hoping it pans out.

Week long Fun

Isn't it funny how fun seems to sneak up on you. I had no idea that last week was going to be so great. I mean, I knew it was going to be good, but I didn't know how good.

Wednesday: The week started off with a spontaneous trip to the water park in Rexburg. We went with a group of friends, so everyone had someone to play with and everyone was happy. I love this water park because it isn't too big and the water isn't too deep. The big boys were able to go off and play with friends. Even Cache could go in the lazy river without me, as long as he was with someone. The kid area is great and Kyle had a blast hanging out there. As for me, I enjoyed some friend time myself. I love this group of ladies!

Qwayde and Beckett

 Drake, Tayden, Mason and Luke. 

Kyle and Norah 

Jodie Hansen, Stacey Packard, Meghan Fransen, Kristie Denning, Calyn Peterson.

We played longer than I anticipated and had the sunburns to show for it. We rushed home to see Echo and the kids. They were only here for a few short days so we didn't want to miss out on a minute. 

Thursday: The next day we took the Mennears to Rigby Lake to go kayaking. My kids could not have been more thrilled to have another fun day in the sun. The whole time, I kept mentioning we needed a picture with all the kids, but do you think that happened? Nope! I was bummed, but we had a blast with Coda and Gracie. They are growing so quickly, but they are so great to hang out with their little cousins. And my boys absolutely adore them. Coda had a secret hand shake with Ky, played non stop with Tayden, indulged Beckett and laughed at Cache. Gracie was equally as great and kept the peace between all the boys. She kept up with them and played just as hard and made sure they all felt special. They are the best kids around. My favorite part of the lake was watching Kyle paddle with a shovel! 

Friday: We said good bye to the Mennears and went on with our day. I had to run an errand and as soon as I got back, Scott said, "Hurry and pack. We're going on a date." The kids were ready to stay with my parents, the dogs were situated and everyone was waiting on me. I threw together a quick overnight bag and we were off. After about an hour of begging him to tell me what was going on, he finally conceded. He was taking me to see HUGH JACKMAN!! Now, its no secret I love Hugh Jackman. Alot. He is my all time favorite male actor and just so darn handsome. So to say I was thrilled, is a huge understatement. Scotts company bought out some box seats for the show, so he was able to get a great deal on seats. We watched the show, ate good food and enjoyed our time together without the kiddos. And I especially enjoyed Hugh. He was incredible. Best show ever. 

Saturday: To end the fabulous week, we got to see our good friends the Turneys before he headed back to Idaho. It just so happened that our paths would be crossing in Utah and we were able to meet for breakfast. It was a short hour, but worth a million dollars. I love these people!

It was a wonderful week! 

First Harvest

Every morning, Cache and I tend the garden. Most mornings Ky will join us and occasionally the bigger brothers, but always always Cache. We pull weeds and check on the plants. Our zucchini have been growing like crazy and I told Cache as soon as we get one 6-8 inches he could pick it. This morning, when I told him one was getting close, he ran inside to get his measuring tape. He measured that little baby zucchini to make sure it hit the mark and sure enough it did. If you look close in the plant, you can see his measuring tape. 

It was definitely Christmas in July for my Cachee Boy. The other boys were excited and begged me to make zucchini bread. 

I’ll tell you what, I sure love my little garden. Turns out gardening is kind of my jam. 

7.04.19

As always, July 4th was wonderful. We started on the third with some friends and a neighborhood party. Our friends bought some big big fireworks and lit them off with everyone. The kids ran around with friends, the grownups chatted and everyone had a great time.

The next we headed to Inkom for our annual festivities. We missed Grandma and Grandpa Packard, but still enjoyed the Candy Parade.

After the parade we tried for our annual family picture. It did not go so well. Ironically enough, as we were driving to Inkom I was thinking how easy the picture should be because our kids are getting older. Not the case this year. Scott had everyone worked up and the kids were not cooperating. 

All I wanted was one family picture!! 

So I tracked down all the kids, calmed them down and told Scott to stop talking and smile. Ha! We got our family picture and they started liking Scott again!

We spent some time helping Grandma and Grandpa Great around the house while the kids fished with homemade hooks. 

We stopped at my parents on the way home and headed up to the fireworks. They were great and the kids loved them. We payed for parking this year so we could get home quick. The plan was great until we ran into some friends with a dead car battery. We jumped their car and got out later than we would have liked, but it was a great service opportunity to share with the kids. Even though everyone was tired and thirsty, we were able to help someone that really needed it.