4th OF JULY

We had such a great time this year on the 4th. We have a tradition that our friends the Lowthers come from Salt Lake and stay a few days with us. My friend Rhaelene has 3 adorable kids. Siobhan is 11, Duncan is 7 ( 8 in August) and Rory is 5. Harrison and Siobhan have been friends since they were about 2 years old and the friendship is still going strong! Every year we wait to see if things will get "weird" between them and so far the only thing they think is weird are their mothers wondering when things will get weird! Claire and Duncan are also great friends and Carma and Rory follow them wherever they go. With all the kids playing all weekend it was really like a vacation for me and Rhaelene!

Rhaelene brought all of her fancy tie dye supplies and the kids made adorable shirts! They showed them off at the parade in the morning.



Idaho falls is famous for their fireworks show at the falls every year. The show is put on by Melaleuca and brings people from all over. We braved the crowds and went down this year. NEVER AGAIN! At least not any time soon. After a near death experience ( long story- Large fireworks being thrown in the river 5 feet from my children) and plenty of drunks, I have had my fill for a while.

Pine Basin Camp

We are so excited to have Harrison home! This last week Harrison was able to go to Pine Basin Camp with a few of his friends. The camp is put on by our school district and is basically a nature camp with classes and lots of fun. This is Harrison's second and last year to go. The camp is offered to grades 4-6. This year Harrison went with 3 of his favorite friends-Kaiden, Chance and Marissa. The boys are goofy and Marissa is so great to put up with them ! They are all such good kids and they had a blast together. Harrison came home tired and very dirty.Notice Marissa doesn't look nearly as gross as the boys. She obviously took advantage of the showers at the girls camp while the boys let us know that showers were "optional".

The "Circus"

Okay, so I am using the word circus but I am not really sure what to call what we witnessed one night last week. My dear friend Niki had free tickets to the Shriner's Circus and invited me and the girls along with some other friends . I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Yes, that dog is dressed like the lady and there were 7 other costumes changes. Yes, those poodles are actually pink and blue. Yes, those are 80 year old women in mini skirts. Thankfully there was cotton candy! You can't go wrong with cotton candy and friends.

T Ball

Claire is playing T Ball again this year and loving it! She is on a team with kids from our neighborhood and that has been a lot of fun for her. Her coaches are great! They both have children on the team and the kids love them! They are better women than me. It is not uncommon for our head coach, Mikki, to be on the field directing the team with her baby in a sling and her 3 year old hanging on her leg! She is amazing.
Check out the dad in the picture where Claire is almost to first base..... totally sleeping through the TBall game!

Burley, Idaho!

One day last week we were totally bored and the only thing I had to look forward to was cleaning, weeding and laundry. I was not in the mood. I was trying to figure out how I could get out of these chores when Grey walked in the room and I noticed he was in desperate need of a haircut. It hit me- Road trip to Burley! One of my best friends, Danelle Blettenberg is a hairdresser and recently moved to Burley which is a small farming town about 2 hours away. We love the Blettenbergs. Danelle has 6 children that all fall in similar age categories as my own. The kids were thrilled that we were being so spontaneous and that they were going to get to play with their friends that they miss dearly. Danelle welcomed us with open arms! We had a great day.Charlee, helping Greyson look good for his "before" photo! Like mother like daughter!I love how they match! Greyson was so good for his cut. He loved it!Greyson after his cut! He looked so much older! Most of the red in his hair got cut out, it is so sad!TROUBLE! Charlee and Carma helped themselves to ice cream while Danelle was cutting hair. They didn't need any help. They found ice cream, bowls, and a scoop all on their own!Claire and Brookel being goofy girls!

6th Grade graduation

It is official: Harrison is done with elementary school! This is weird since I am sooo not old enough to have a child in Jr. High. Harrison had a great year this year with his 6th grade class and his teacher Mrs. Suitter.
We are so proud of him. He had awesome grades and worked really hard . I can't even talk about Jr. High yet. It makes me sick just thinking about it.

The Garden

This year we went a little crazy and decided we wanted to move our garden AND expand it. What were we thinking I wonder now that things are coming up and I am having to weed! A bigger garden? Who needs that? We hired our dear friend Eric McGary to cut out our plot and get it all ready. Imagine my shock when he informed me that it needed some good dirt the first year and that it was going to cost money. What? Yes, dirt costs money and it is expensive.! Oh, and the kids loved playing in the expensive dirt. Every time they came in from playing I wanted to scrape all the dirt off their little bodies and take it back out to the garden!
We spent a good couple of days planting and now we are just weeding and waiting. I will keep you updated. Oh, BTW, yes Greyson is wearing pajamas, a girly hat, and winter mittens to do his gardening.