The Zoo... another check on the list!

This last Monday the kids and I hit up the Idaho Falls zoo. It was so much fun to see all the animals, and cross off yet another fun bucket list activity. Grace couldn't always see the animals, but the ones she could see made her crazy excited. At one point we were by a little play area and they have some chickens wandering around loose. Grace waved and called out "hi" to one chicken for like 10 minutes. whether she saw the animals or not, Gracie loved riding in the stroller and making a mess with her graham crackers.

all grown-up

Do you ever look at your kids and all of a sudden they seem so grown-up and tall and mature? On Saturday Joe took Jace and Hyrum to register for soccer, and I had one of those moments. These boys have really grown up on me. It is crazy to realize that we are already halfway to Jace's mission. Where does the time go? It definitely puts things into perspective. Sometimes motherhood seems like an endless job, but in realty it is such a short time that we actually have these kids at home with us.

Park and Picnic Tuesday

This summer each day of the week we have a fun activity or theme planned for the kids. Tuesdays are our park and picnic day. I love having the kids eat outside... it really saves on sweeping and dish time. I try to rotate the parks we go to, and most of the time we meet friends there. Jace and Hyrum have mastered all things climbing and love to make up relays and compete. Now that Grace is finally wearing shoes, she loves to walk around with her lunch in her little sticky hands and watch the kids play. I love this cheesy picture of her at a park with some grapes. What goofy little teeth!

Boise Vacation

Each year Joe has to attend a continuing education seminar to keep his chiropractic license up to date. The last few times we have been tagging along and making it a small vacation. This years location was none other then exotic Boise. The kids were so excited about "going on a family vacation" they helped me pack and clean and get special snacks for the car. We were able to stay at the same hotel that the seminar was in which helped us to see Joe a little more. We went swimming, and had picnics at a park. We watched movies and ate tons of treats. It is always fun to sleep in the same room, Jace kept saying it was like a big family sleepover. The crowning event of our Boise trip was on Saturday night when we took the kids out to eat at a restaurant... a rare thing for us. We took them to Golden Corral. They were in Heaven! I used to love that place as a kid, so many choices, so many desserts, i could eat as much as I wanted or as little. I wondered if it would still seem so amazing now that I am a grown-up. Good old Golden Corral did not disappoint! I still felt the same way, so much goodness all in one place. The kids favorite food... the cotton candy from the dessert bar. Item number two on our summer bucket list, Boise vacation...done!

May Birthdays

We had a busy month in May with both Joe's and Rebekah's birthdays. Surprisingly no cake was had... Joe chose apple turnovers and Bekah requested cream puffs. Rebekah loved the butterfly decorations, (I spent forever hanging them all over the ceiling, the things we do for our kids :)), and Grace loved the balloons. Of course, a birthday isn't a birthday in our home with out a little "heavy heavy hang-over". ( For all who are confused by that last part, see below pics of presents being bonked on top of the head... thats pretty much the gist of it, a little song and a little bonk before you get to open your presents. The kids love it) P.S I apologize for the dark pictures, without air conditioning we pretty live in a dark cave for the summer.

Mothers Day

The Saturday before mothers day we headed over to Nana's and Papa's house, ( aka Joe's parents) to celebrate mothers day. Nana is one incredible mother. Miriam, one of Joe's sisters planned a special song with all the kids holding roses to give to Nana. It was so adorable.

Bucket List

A few weeks ago before the kids were out of school we gathered as a family and came up with our summer bucket list. You know, all the fun things we wanted to do as a family before school starts up again. The kids have taken the list very seriously, so we have been busy having fun and crossing things off. We headed to I-jump to get the ball rolling. I-Jump is this fun trampoline park with tons of trampolines and foam pits to jump in. The kids loved it!! They especially loved the foam pit, and doing flips and twists into it. It was an excellent way to start our summer. <