What You've All Been Waiting For!!!!!!

I have to go back quite a ways to get to my last update.... about 15 weeks I think!!! YIKES!! SO I am going to attempt to do it in as few words as possible (I have lots of pictures to help me out!). I know I've attempted this several times before... but have faith... here goes...

June - Summer began (the girls got out of school the end of May), Kailey got a FABULOUS haircut (or did I post that already.. I don't remember... so I'll do it again!)!!
From this....

to this!!


Grammy and Papa came for a surprise visit (bearing gifts of course)... well, it was a surprise for the kids, and I kinda kept the date a secret from Ceej too, he tends to make secrets not so secret.

(Canyon got a bike, Ash an Ipod and Kailey a camera)

Ashlyn had a dance recital, I think I have shown enough of her dancing, and I am going to have to Photoshop these pictures because they are pretty dark, but this was the first time she performed this particular dance... it was really fun and the girls got to pick their own costumes... way cute!!




We also made a trip to the Hogle Zoo...


complete with a train ride


(and pre-zoo food...)


Once we left for our annual trip to Spokane, Kay turned 6!!! I cant believe she's 6!!! She had a party at Grammy Bev's and we went strawberry picking with Grammy JoJo

a cake from the strawberries we picked!!

July- was spent in Spokane. It was going to be a 2 week trip, but it ended up much longer. Our days were really full and we ONLY saw family.. .so if we didn't see you.. I sincerely apologize... you weren't left out, I promise! Here are some random memories of this summer in Spokane...











And the most memorable part of our vacation was the 4th of July



August - I had a birthday... yep... I turned 30.... ish and our little Buddy turned 4!!! I attempted to, once again... make the perfect cake... AND... I failed... miserably... so, no, you will never see a picture of the cake. However... his birthday was on a Thursday so he had a birthday weekend and a birthday day. For his birthday weekend we went "fish hunting".
And after a long hard wait... Daddy and Canyon caught a fish... but "it had a cut in its throat so we had to let it swim back to its home".

(apparently where we went you cant keep cutthroats is what it all boils down to. )

We also caught and ate crawdads
(which we decided wasn't worth the trouble so we are just going to save up for a lobster next time)

The only downer part of the entire day was the bugs. Every once in a while these little flying, biting ants would SWARM us. Having the hair that I have I have always had a little phobia of bugs and birds (weird, I know) so I stole Ash's shirt and was dubbed "pirate mommy" for the day

(assembling a bbq... cuz thats how I roll)

Then on birthday day we opened presents from Grammy and Papa (he got his present from Grammy and Grampy Larson while we were in Spokane)... ate his special birthday dinner choice (french fries & chicken nuggets)... had a little fun with the cake (this will be the only picture ever shown). (yep... laughing!!)



(oh... and Kailey started dance too!!)
Canyon also got to do some bonding with Daddy and went up in the mountains on the 4 wheeler!

What a great birthday!!!

And last but not least SCHOOL!!!

5th grade


1st grade



and yes, pre-school


SO how'd I do!! I managed to get 3+ months wrapped into a nice little package!!! Now, if only I can get back on my weekly schedule...


Oh, and did I mention a move??? Yes, we moved... and CJ did most of it while we (the kids and I, he didnt come along) were out of town. The house is still too unsettled for any pictures, but as soon as we have boxes out of the way I will show you our new little humble abode (same neighborhood and everything!!) What I can show you though... is that THIS is about 1/3 of our view... every morning!!

Just So I Don't Forget

There are so many things my 3 children have said over the years that I wish I could remember or would have written down... and didn't. So I am going to try to start keeping track of the extra special, super cute things... I know I wont get them all, but if some day I can look back and laugh and say "oh, I remember that".. it will be so worth it!

Last night CJ was feeling exceptionally bad. Sometimes it really helps him to have a meal full of antioxidants and when we lived in Spokane he would go to a Mongolian grill and get these SUPER stir fry meals, made to order. We've been here 2 years and haven't found one yet, that may be the only draw back of living here :) . Anyway, we live down the road from a nice little Chinese restaurant and decided that maybe some Moo Goo Gai Pan would help his body try to recover just a little bit. So he grabbed Canyon and off they went. By the time they got back CJ was obviously feeling better and Canyon was talking 90 miles a minute! They got to drive in a rain storm... and drove the LOT of SPLASHING PUDDLES... and Canyon got to eat a cookie!!!! He proceeded to tell me that his tummy wasn't hungry but his heart really wanted a cookie.
CJ said one of the best parts of their hour together was when our publicly shy (EXTREMELY shy) 3 year old looked at the waitress and told her "dat is a bery cute dress"... he was speaking of her apron. We explained to our dear sweet boy how happy it made OUR hearts for him to say something so nice... he went on to tell us we were two of his best friends (sorry Andrew... you've been away too long now I guess).

Precious AND sweet!