Remember the time...

When we went to Boise for summer 2011 and it was AWESOME!

















We get to Boise and Lars and I can't get enough of the cool grass that you can lay on for hours - something I took for granted growing up out west but will never again! There are NO fire ants there and we spend hours in the grass for that reason. We can't get enough of cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma and PaPa - and that goes for all of us. I get to spend time with my cousins - JK and E even went to a princess camp that my cousins girls (who we LOVE) put on. We spent time on BSU's campus and the boys will do a sports camp there this coming up summer - we play outside - make crafts (you should see JK's pillowcase dresses that my sister 'taught' us to make)- every night is a slumber party - we swim - we laugh - we do photography sessions - we walk to Powells candy store - we get snowcones - we spend time downtown at the farmers market and at the fountain - WE LOVE SUMMERS IN BOISE! This year we planned a wedding (Kelsey I need some photos) and then added a new tradition - a reunion in Kanab! I think Kanab may be Lars' second favorite vacation destination now because of my family there - he thinks they are the greatest. My cousins take him on 4 wheel rides even if it is at 11pm. And then he gets to spend a day riding which is his favorite - weanwhile my kids get to do all the things that we don't normally do (shoot guns, ride horses, etc). Even now as I write this post - it is Christmas time - and I am aching for carefree summer days surrounded by those we love! Good thing it is only 6 months away, but who's counting!

Soccer 2011

I NEED to post about this summer and our new house but for now - I have a couple of boys that are tearing it up on the soccer field. If you had told me last year that Toby (the boy that spent last season prancing around the field - honestly he could have put many dancers to shame with his sa'shes) would be the same kid sometimes scoring 6 goals a game this season, I would not have believed you. But there they are loving every minute of it. Our family spends 2.5 hours on Monday and Friday and 2 on Saturday at these soccer fields so I am glad they are liking it. The boys have also loved that the Tennessee Longneckers, Hall Family, Pa, Grandma and Aunt Natalie and baby Kenedi have all been able to watch them play - thank you all for coming, it really does make them so excited to play with you watching them!

Funny Toby

Before I forget:

On the morning of Toby's birthday Lars brought out a new uniform polo for Toby to wear. Toby said, "You shouldn't have, No really daddy you shouldn't have"

Since Toby was little he has struggled with croup and always has to get a steroid shot. This week I had to take him to the doctor and he was HYSTERICAL about getting a shot. The doctor told him he doesn't give shots (technically true -- the tech does) Toby started yelling at him, "you're a liar, you're a liar. you're a liar!"

The next day Toby had to go to the dentist and on the way he started (in a sing-song sort of way)saying, "please Jesus please don't make me wear the gas mask". Good to know the South is rubbing off on him!

Heaven help me with this little guy - I am either laughing, screaming or saying my own 'please Jesus' comments with him nonstop!

Then and Now

I can't blog about our summer without finishing up our crazy May. In the middle of school ending, packing up our house and moving all we had into storage space -- I flew across the country to hang out with these girls! Just thinking of it makes me smile and relax. Amanda kicked her husband out of their beautiful home for the weekend and us girl lived it up. Talking until 3am, laughing NONSTOP, laying out by the pool, EATING, shopping and JUST BEING TOGETHER was heaven for all of us. I am blessed to have each one of these women in my life and I can't wait for this years trip (watch out NYC:))

Last of the house

Since we are currently homeless (I am in Idaho and Lars is bachelor padding it with a friend who's wife is doing the same as me in Montana) I felt I needed to finish the posting about our first home. Some memories of all these rooms include Lars redoing the kitchen and bathroom by himself (completely infuriating and impressing me all at the same time), the family bed also known as our bed:), the boys room and our nightly cuddle parties and the books we read on the bottom bunk together, and how awesome is that crooked tree in our back yard!

I'm not sure that we will ever be able to recreate the charm that our first home had on its own not to mention the boys' BFF's (the Campbells) right down the street. We are excited however and feel like we have another dream team of neighbors in our new location - so on to the new (even if I feel a little bit of sell-out for moving from a historical district to a new construction). We'll miss you old home but maybe not our 300 dollar heat bill in the winter....

Memorial day weekend

After closing on our house we headed to the beach for a wonderful weekend with friends. The house we stayed at was fantastic (fantastic as in Tim McGraw and Faith Hill have a beach house in the same neighborhood - we sure appreciate our friends who made this house a possibility for all of us!). We saw dolphins each day, the kids got to try a little fishing at night, and only once did I put on something other than a swimsuit and pjs. It was heaven. Toby's favorite part was the outdoor shower, Trey's was the boogie boarding and JK liked the sand this year - progress! Lars and I loved being with friends and each other after all the craziness of moving.

Mothers Day

It looks like all is a go for our house selling - which means we have 20 days to get ourselves out of our first home and into.... still don't know yet.

In honor of Mothers Day I am posting this room. Back when we bought this home we just had Trey and Toby - we knew they would share a room and so the extra room would be our guest room. At that time Lars' mothers cancer had come back and I wanted this room to be a room that if she ever needed a place to 'get away' it would be hers for the taking. It is bright and airy with tons of light looking out to a lavendar tree and our neighbors "popcorn trees". Although she did not live to use it more than 4 or 5 times, I constantly think of her and feel her love in this room. This room has also been a place where my own mom has stayed for weeks at a time - when she is here our own bed becomes so much roomier because the kids find their way into her and love to cuddle with her each morning. And now it is JK's room - and if I had a wish for her it would be to always know the greatness that she is named after. She bears the names of the two best women I have ever known - EVER. I hope that she lives a life full of love, happiness, and purpose just like her grandmothers have.