It's been awhile

I'm going to spend a few minutes catching up from March. I guess you could say it's been a little busy around here, if that's the last time I was on here. I'm going to back date them so they will be in order.
Two wasn't really my goal, but there is a lot to catch up on. I'll keep trying to catch up over the next couple weeks.

Skipping ahead

Trying to catch up might need to wait a bit, so I thought I'd just jump to a more current time. Here is one picture from our trip to Boise. I had planned on putting a few more on, however, the air card is not cooperating and will not upload at the speed in which I would like. I'll add more later.
Rob and I were able to fly down for the weekend to attend the opening exhibition game of the Boise State Bronco basketball team in the Taco Bell Arena, to support Coach Rice.

Needless to say it was nice to get away, and to enjoy being with friends and family.
The kids stayed close to home with Aunt Diane, Uncle Jeff and Grandma and had a good time! We missed their Halloween, but they didn't seem to mind. Aunt Diane went to the school and attended the class parties and then later that evening took them to their ward party.
Back in Boise, Rob and I stayed with the Rice's in their beautiful home. Boise was beautiful and WARM at that time of year. I was tempted to move us down. However, coming back to our home in CDA convinced me that we should just stay put, not necessarily for the beauty of it, (although I do love this area) but we have too much junk for me to have any motivation for moving!
That first night there we went to the game and on Saturday we stopped by practice for awhile. It was great to see the coaches and players in action.With as much as I have always loved basketball it was probably one of the best parts of the weekend!!
After that we stopped by to see Rob's Aunt Irene (actually Rob's great-aunt) who is 95 and just fun to talk to. She had so many great stories, I could have listened to them all day.

However, I have my own uncle in Boise as well, and I wanted to visit with him too. So we left Aunt Irene and went to see Uncle Dennis. Unfortunately we didn't get to visit with either of them for very long, but it was still great to see them.


We also took some time to drive around to look at a home Rob's mom lived in when she was in high school.

It would have been nice to have a little more time to take a leisurely drive through the area. The only times I've ever been to Boise I was just passing through, usually at night and shooting too fast down the freeway to see anything.
It was a fun trip and maybe we'll do it again sometime. I'd love to take the kids down in the summer and float the river down to campus. We shall see.

Pieces of August

A little more before August was over.  Makenna turned 9!  Where has the time gone?  My girlie girl wanted a mermaid cake this year.  So, I scoured the internet looking for a plan that wouldn't be too complicated, but would hopefully look like a mermaid.

My mom, Jonathan, Melanie & Siena came for the weekend.  Thank goodness!  Tante Mel helped make the mermaid and Jonathan kept the kids entertained and out of our hair.  We had a nice family night at home, celebrating the arrival of my firstborn, 9 years ago.

Our attempt at a mermaid.

 One of the things Makenna has been working on is this sewing project she received from Great Grandma.  The deal is Makenna does the stitching on the squares and then sends them back and Great Grandma will make them into a quilt for her.  Makenna really enjoys learning new projects, and wants to be an artist when she grows up, so this is right up her alley.  She's done a great job with them, so far.

 My gift to Makenna this year was this lap quilt I found at Michaels.  I worked on it secretly at night.  Trevor and Ashley were both aware of it, but they did a great job keeping it a secret!  Don't look too close, it's not completely finished.  It took a couple more nights to get it completed, and now it's just waiting to be hung on a wall in her room.

 Makenna, dressed to the 9's for her 9th birthday.  Celebrating with her little cousin, Siena.  They all had a good time playing together.  I love to watch my kids interact with younger kids, it's good practice for the arrival of Tummy Dude.

August in pieces

A lot went on in August, I'm going to try to break it up so it's not so overwhelming.
We said goodbye to Anthony and Laura as they moved to Missouri to finish school. I'm looking forward to the day when they move back and I can take my kids to their Uncle Nee for their eye appointments!! Good luck Anthony (and Laura!)
On the 17th Rob and I went out on the town. With Grandma and cousin Julianna to watch/play with the kids, we had a nice evening out to celebrate our 14th anniversary. We had a nice dinner at Red Lobster and then a nice walk around the boardwalk at the resort. It was such a nice night, perfect weather. The only complaint is I get tired very easily so we didn't stay out past 10 or so, which isn't really like us. As I've told others, I don't think I've gone to bed before 10 since middle school, but I have found myself in bed as early as 8 lately.
My birthday was great. Rob made a fabulous dinner, steak and potatoes. YUM. The kids, Roma, Rob and I celebrated quietly at home, which was perfect.
One of the most exciting things in August was the ULTRASOUND!! We took Rob's mom with us. She was ready to go early, I think she may have been a little excited, it was her first ultrasound, can you imagine?
Here are some pictures. A 4D profile picture. A small footprint, and the little turtle that says "I'M A BOY!!!"

1st Trimester

I spent the first days of summer vacation flat on the couch with the worst head cold I have ever had. It never turned into a flu or bacterial virus, but a head cold with morning sickness is not my idea of a great start to summer. I am so grateful I have such a wonderful husband that steps in and takes over all my motherly roles so the kids can eat and be clean! I definitely know that he is a keeper!!!
The poor man didn't even get Father's Day because I was so sick. I still owe him for that one!
Unfortunately the morning sickness didn't limit itself to the first trimester. I spent most of the summer limiting my dietary intake. Nothing ever sounded good, except strawberry soda, and sugary candies. Needless to say this kid should have an interesting diet.
The worst was Mexican food was disgusting, especially anything with cumin (which I love!!!), and chocolate. Amazing. I couldn't even eat my lovely girl scout cookies. :( So, for our anniversary Rob bought be the biggest bag of Starbursts! YUM!!

Summer in General

Summer went pretty quickly this year. I don't know if it's a function of age or things going on. Probably a little of both. Rob and I decided to finally, after 6 years, take some time to have the laundry room finished (from the original addition in 2004) meaning the water heater and pressure tank moved out and a laundry sink put in, plus a lot of other little things that add up. And to finally put some sort of deck at the front door, instead of some unsteady stairs. Thanks Keith! Granted those were both big projects to do in a weekend, but they were started off enough that Rob was able to get them finished on his own. He really is handy to have around. The deck still needs stain, but it looks great (sorry, no pictures,) and the laundry room feels larger! Yeah!
You may think we're crazy to start home improvement projects during the first trimester, but you haven't heard anything yet.
That same weekend we had my mom visit, Ashley's birthday party, and Rob's mom move in for what was going to be a few days, but we decided to make it a few weeks. It sounds crazy, and yet it all went great.
Anthony, Laura and the boys came to visit for the annual Thunderbird airshow. I do have pictures of that! Although, the best shots are video. I am my fathers daughter after all.

Birthday Party

Papa got to come over for a short visit just before Ashley's birthday. He's been working so many hours that we hadn't seen him in months! For her birthday, I lucked out and didn't have to do the Dora cake. Thankfully! However, I did have to do a bunny. I found a couple ideas on line and went with the bunny face. She loved it. Thank you to all the friends that came to celebrate with us. Mamie and Grandma were here the following weekend so we got to celebrate twice with a family birthday party on the 3rd of July.


How did she get to be so grown up?