Another year begins. . .

Today was Kelsie's first day of 2nd grade. We've been gearing up for the first day of school all month. We bought the supplies we needed and also did a little fun shopping for some new school clothes too. When we would ask her to make sure she really wanted to go to 2nd grade, her response was,

"I've got to go to get my brain working!"

(I'm not sure how that reflects on me.)

She spent the better part of yesterday figuring out the right clothes to wear on her first day, "maybe my pink skirt with a white shirt. No, I think my white skirt with a pink shirt. Maybe my pink shirt with my brown pants. I just can't decide!". Yes, we're still in the pink trend here. I was also instructed to curl her hair in curlers so she could be "beautiful" on the first day.

Her alarm went off at 7 a.m. this morning and before we knew it, there she stood all decked out in pink and with curly hair. She was so excited! We got everyone ready on time and started our walk to school, where I continued to ask her if she really wanted to go. That I could teach her everything she needs to know in 2nd grade. Would you PLEASE stay home with me? I might miss you too much! To which she replied, laughing, "Mom, I just have to go!".

So, there we were, standing outside her new classroom, waiting for her new teacher to open the door, and looking at all the new friends she is going to make. I think she looked a little anxious, but very excited. As she entered her new classroom, she turned around real fast and gave one last wave good-bye.

And that's when it hit me.

My little girl is growing up.














And then I cried, just a little.

Sunday Night Ritual (SNR)

After spending 3 hours at church every Sunday, we come home to a "quiet" afternoon with the kids. Kelsie and Brandon are really good about our quiet time and we usually only hear them fighting just as we're waking up from a good nap (or maybe we're being woken up?). We have a nice Sunday dinner, where we try to convince our kids that pork is, in fact, the other white meat and that peas will not kill them. Sunday is a pretty uneventful day for us, just the way we like it.


Then, the kids go to bed.


And our night begins.


We have a fun little game at our house that Wally and I like to play every Sunday night. It is a game where wit and strategy are not necessarily enough to bring to the table. You also need some thicker skin and immunity to spite and malice! We were given Carcassonne from Wally's parents for Christmas and it has quickly climbed to the top of our favorite games. It involves placing tiles together to form cities and roads and getting points for those things that you complete. The secret weapon of the game is the farmers who can help you win the game at the end if they have been placed just right, or totally throw it for you.




There are a few RULES (in addition to the rules of the game, of course) that we have when we play:

1. I am ALWAYS BLACK, no matter what.

2. We have to have some type of game food; popcorn, ice cream, usually both.

3. Plan on playing at least twice.

4. What happens at the table, STAYS at the table.

5. BRING IT.











I have also learned a few noteworthy things:

1. Farmers are a good thing, not a waste of a man.

2. Don't try to help anyone out, unless you're helping yourself. You won't get anywhere with that kind of attitude.

3. Don't try to farm in the middle of a circular road.

4. Finally, if you ask Wally what his strategy is and then try it on him the next game, 9 times out of 10, you'll WIN.

This is a "super-galuper" fun game to play, as Brandon would say.


Especially for me.


Because I usually win.


Yeah, I'm competitive.

I've Been Everywhere, Man!

We recently drove to Eastern Idaho and Utah to visit some family and friends that we haven't seen in a while. We were able to take about a week and a half for our trip and we really had a great time. We started out visiting a couple of my sisters, Whitney and Shayne, and Wally's brother, Nick, in Idaho. We had a fun time with all of them and showed our kids our old stomping ground, Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho). We played at the splash park, rode the carousel, and ate dinner at Craigo's, where Brandon was so tired he could hardly stay awake for the meal! We drove up to Mesa Falls the next day, and Nick's wife, Angie, showed us where an old train tunnel was that we could hike through. It was really fun being in the mountains and hiking around.

After spending time in Rexburg, we drove down to Idaho Falls and spent some time with our good friends from Pennsylvania, Natalie and Corrie Nichol. We taught them how to play Carcassonne, have a great bbq, and let our kids play for a while. Unfortunately we couldn't stay long and after saying our good-bye's, we headed on down to Utah where spent the next few days with my sister, Kelby and her family. While we were in Utah Valley, we went to BYU, saw a bunch of friends from PA (the Gee's, Katy Knight, and Dan Heist), and hit a few of the water parks around the area.

We caught up with Wally's sister, Danelle, and her family one day and hiked up to the Timpanogos Caves. It was a tough hike, but the caves were pretty cool and we were really proud of Kelsie for hiking the whole way by herself. After our hike, we drove to Bountiful where we stayed with Wally's brother, Christian, and his family. We had fun swimming again with cousins and went to the Handcart Days parade and fireworks.

The next morning we drove to a cabin near Evanston, WY where we met most of the rest of Wally's family. We spent t he last few days of our vacation at the cabin where we got to visit, relax, and ride motorcycles and the 4-wheeler. Kelsie was especially proud of herself for learning how to drive the 4-wheeler, and I did an impressive jump off the motorcycle when I tried to drive straight up a hill. We had a really great time visiting all of our cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends. The time seemed to fly by and we were ready to head home.

All in all it was a really great trip, but as it goes, every good trip has to have a little downside to it also. On our last day, Kelsie and Brandon caught some kind of bug and were sick with the stomach flu, throwing up and sleeping most of the day. Luckily, it turned out to be only a 24-hour bug, but unluckily we passed it on to some other family members. We're all fine now and happy to be home. We had a great time playing with cousins and visiting with family from both sides of our family.

I confess...

I am a Harry Potter fan. I soared through the previous six books and was anxious for the last installment in the series to debut. We picked it up on our way up to a cabin with Wally's family the day it came out. It took all I had to leave my copy in the car so I could be sociable with the rest of the family. I even controlled my urge to pick up the book after we got home until we had finished unpacking and got through the rest of the birthdays for the month. Finally, I picked it up and couldn't put it down until I finished it. It took me about 3 days to finish the 759 page book, hence the delayed posting to my humble blog.

I had a hard time putting the book down, which resulted in very sore eyes. I eventually had to put my glasses on and Kelsie told me that I look weird, probably my out-of-date frames. My poor kids weren't really sure what to do with themselves while I was reading, but they at least decided that it must be "quiet time" so they picked up their books and started reading. Kelsie was especially interested in what page I was on through out the book and would frequently ask me where I was. Finally, she told me (in only a way she can say it),

"I can't believe an author could write a book that long and that scary!"

Brandon, on the other hand, thinks that Harry Potter is cool. So, what do I think? There were some parts that were a little slow for me, and some parts that I feel like I need to read over again, just to make sure that I'm following the story right. All in all, it was a good read (obviously) and another book would probably just put it over the top. It was a good time to end the fantasy of Harry Potter.

I think I finally convinced Wally to read the books so I can talk to someone about them. I would love to hear your thoughts from the series. What did you think? What did or didn't you like? Try not to reveal the end, if you can help it, for those who have not read it yet. Feel free to comment if you wish. And with that, I say, farewell to Harry Potter, on a most appropriate day.

Fireworks Galore!

Fireworks are always a huge thing for us on the 4th of July. Anyone who really knows Wally (and me for that matter) understand what I mean. We have noticed that "pyromania" is being passed on to our children too, well Kelsie at least. Brandon still isn't quite sure how he feels about sparks flying everywhere. Caleb really didn't know what was going on, but had a great time watching the fireworks and would kick his legs every time, as long as he could see around the big towel we used to cover his ears. I was really excited to try out some of the stuff that I have been learning about by taking some cool pictures of the fireworks and sparklers. I'm pretty pleased with the results. We especially had fun actually seeing our names with the sparklers instead of just pretending like we've done for so long! We were even impressed with Kelsie, who wrote her own name clear enough to read.

We had a really fun 4th of July which included sleeping in, a bike ride, 100+ weather, a BBQ with some friends, and fireworks at night. We had a great time together and hope that everyone else had fun too.



































Our names are not all perfect, but we had fun doing it and think it's pretty cool.

Four months old

Caleb is now four months old and we aren't quite sure where the time went! He is now 12 pounds, 7 ounces and has grown 4 inches since birth (for all those statistic people out there). Overall, he is measuring in the 10th percentile for height and weight. For those of you who know us, we're still not expecting a basketball player, but you never know!

Caleb has been such a great baby. He is sleeping through the night (started around two months), smiling ALL the time (unless he's hungry and tired), and is so interested in everything! He loves to watch Kelsie and Brandon play, especially when they interact with him. He's so much fun to have around!

I decided to take some updated pictures of him to share. He was in a really good mood, mostly, and I was able to capture some great expressions from him. The second picture looks like he's trying to play peek-a-boo and I was just having fun with our editing program in the last one. Thanks for looking!

Enjoying the River

We went down by the Columbia River to play at the park and celebrate the last day of school last Friday. We had a lot of fun on the zip line (a favorite of ours) and playing at the park. After a while, we wandered down to the river and got some fun pictures of the kids being silly and one of Brandon contemplating the world around him (probably just watching the motor boats going by). It was fun to see the boats and people fishing while we were out on the dock.