Summer fun with friends!

There are all kinds of fun activites to be a part of at the parks around town. We went to a free outside family movie night, there was a giant blow up screen as well as a ton of people. The idea was intoxicating for the girls, but the excitement wore off and we were a little too far away to hear the movie, so Addellyn ended up being wild and we had to leave after only about 45 minutes :). (Makinzie was watching intently and I had to promise we would rent the movie another time.) They still had fun eating snacks and playing with Ben and Cate.

The days have been hot, but there is plenty of free water around here! It's wonderful!

We left a lot of good friends behind this summer, but during July we were able to spend some time with our good friends from NC: Kaye, Ben, Cate, and Oliver. We are so glad they are around. Hopefully we can play more as soon as summer travel wraps up...we have missed them this last month.

Ready to go and lookin' good!

Getting ready for church is quite the event around here. However, this is one time that we were all ready soon enough that I could snap a few pictures before we headed out the door...it is a lot easier when church is only two blocks away rather than 15 miles...


Coleson's favorite riding toy and a great place to keep him still and away from the stairs while the rest of us try to get ready to go (one of these days he is going to flip his whole body over the top of it...he's quite the dare devil...or maybe he's just a boy!)

Makinzie and Addellyn love going to church...Makinzie really loves to learn and SiNG. Addellyn loves to "play with friends." They sure are adorable!

a Few of our FaVorITe Things!

Popiscles are WonDeRFul on a hot sunny day! We enjoy every moment of the entire popsicle experience!

Bike riding has also become a family favorite. We can create quite the fun parade through the neighbrohood.

Wii be playin'!!

I don't think we have EvER had more Birthday parties in a row...And the girls are LOvIng It!

Logan turned 15. We had a blast singing songs, playing a bean bag toss game (Coleson got more enjoyment out of banging the "toss" buckets together than throwing the bean bags), and of course singing and eating cake!

Logan opened a GrEat gift that we have all been enjoying, the Wii! We are now a family of mini miis.

Even though Papa is the best at most of the games, as you can see, Chantelle got the best of him in this boxing match.

The 4th...

We didn't get very many pictures (which I am bummed about), but we definitely had a BlAsT on the 4th of July. We began the day parading to Grandma's for breakfast in our pajamas...then we paraded to the park to play our annual baseball game.

From there we made some very amazing puppets, then re-gathered for lunch/dinner-YuMmY FOoD (breakfast and dinner were amazing, love to eat)! We put on a wonderful puppet show--musical instrument parade--scarf dancing celebration! We have never partied harder...:) Then we ended the night watching a few neighborhood fireworks and doing a some random sparklers and snaps of our own.

The day was pretty magnificent, thank goodness for America (and one more birthday party to celebrate in style)! It was also very fun to be with Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Ben one last time before they head for Texas...we already miss them!

Dairy Days

Before Tyler started his intern year, we figured we had better get as much fun in as possible. Lucky for us, Meridian Dairy Days was just down the road!

The girls loved doing the crafts and seeing the animals. Having never lived for very long anywhere close to animals, the kids always get very excited about seeing them.
Coleson is just happy to get outside and is still enjoying the pinwheel he received.

Still Catching up...Another "Happy to You!"

"Happy to you, me, Ad-yan" She's the big 2! She even stubbornly picked out her outfit for her big day...I guess at least it is color coordinated :). Addellyn wouldn't be Addellyn if she wasn't so stubborn and independent, and she's so cute at it too!

Addellyn absolutely adores birthday parties, so life was GRAND when it turned out that it was her very own birthday, June 14. (Even in spite of the fact that her face was swollen due to some sort of allergic reaction to living in Idaho---weeds, grass, who knows...)

She had a blast dancing around like elephants, walking to the park and swinging, eating "wild animal" cup cakes, and especially having everyone sing the Happy Birthday song to her several times throughout the day.

Coleson enjoyed the festivities too!

CrAzY JuNE CaTch UP

About 5 days after flying in to Boise, we loaded up the family (in, yes, OuR newly acquired minivan) and headed for the Ogden canyon to spend some time with Ty's Family...

It was a little bit too chilly and rainy for swimming and some of the other activities, but it was fun to have everyone together again. The kids were especially happy to play with their cousins. Addellyn keeps asking if we will ever be going back to Ady's house. (Too bad we live so far away from eachother, the girls are in desperate need of some playmates...)

Thanks everybody for a fun family retreat, we were well taken care of by all of you (and we didn't do much to pitch in).

Happy to you Nana!

So, now that we are finally attempting to be settled in I decided to recap our lives this past month...We are really glad now that we took full advantage of Tyler being home the first three weeks of June because we hardly see him anymore. (Tyler started work on the 25th and has already been on call twice, tonight included, plus he had to cover on Saturday and Sunday from 7 to 1 and he will have to do the same this weekend...oh the life of an intern, woohoo!)

The Birthday Party was tons of fun! Addellyn sang "Happy to you" the entire time and for days afterward.

We were in Boise on the 1st of June and then we had a big party for my mom on the 4th, that's right, she's 50, she looks amazing...

Six wonderful years

Well, it has been six years since Andrea and I were married and I thought I'd better take advantage of this chance to tell her how much I love her. She truly is wonderful. She sacrifices so much for me and the kids. Her patience with us is amazing. As I look back on the time we have been married, many things have gone quite differently than we originally had planned, usually with her getting the short end of the stick.

Even with all that she endures, she continues to keep a good attitude and work hard. She does such a spectacular job as a wife and mother! My love for her keeps growing every day. Thanks so much, sweetheart, for all that you do!

A busy month

Thought we'd better give a quick update, as we haven't posted anything for a month now. Not long after graduation, we packed our suitcases, finished putting our stuff into storage, and flew to Idaho. Soon after we drove to Utah to spend time with Tyler's family. It was good to see everyone and hang out some, even if the weather didn't cooperate as well as we had hoped. We are now back in Boise. We are starting to get settled in, hoping everything will continue to work out as well as it has been. Tyler starts work in less than a week now, so that will be a big change from the last several months of having him around most of the day every day. Fourth year sure was nice! We'll post some pictures soon! Hope everyone is doing well!