http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tPa_vi7XTg

I miss you Idaho

This summer has gone by so quickley. I wanted to catch up in one post, but was quickly overwhelmed. So here is my tribute to Idaho edited down to "my" three favorite highlights of our trip.

#1: The views from my parents yard

#2: Visiting with long time friends

#3: and of course....Family!!

Aren't they all beautiful.

What's up with MapQuest?

So.. before we left I got directions to the Bellevue LDS Temple off MapQuest. The directions led us here.

Not quite what we were expecting. Thank goodnes for the Angel Moroni :) We could see him throught he trees and finally made it. This is more like it.

Everetts Birthday Trip

Weeks before Everett's Birthday we told him we were going to Seattle for his big day. We promise him lots of swimming, a cake and presents. He was really looking forward to it and couldn't stop talking about Seattle, swimming and Anjuli's house. So you can imagine my surprise when he woke up the day of our trip and told me we were going to... Hawaii. Huh. He and Tristen dressed themselves in these outfits and stuck to their story even when I dropped them at a friends house for a few hours. Porter was not enjoying the ride so we stopped in Vantage for a few minutes. Wind anyone? They took full advantage of the hotel pool, swimming till close the night we arrived and being the first in the pool the next morning. We stayed in Bellevue so we could take the boys to the Temple the next day. I was surprised at how many trails they had on the grounds. It was beautiful and peaceful and a joy to be there as a family.

We had a great time at my brothers place and as promised opened gifts and ate cake. On the way home we stopped in Vantage again (this time sans wind) and they swam in the river.

All things considered it was a success and we are now looking forward to Tristen's birthday trip.

Rexburg here we come!!

Meeting the Cousin

Guess what we found?!!! I can finally post some pics from the past month. Here are a few photos from our trip to Seattle and the #1 motivation for taking three boys over the mountain pass to Emerald City.

Baby Olan. Isn't he the cutest.

He and Porter where born 13 days apart.

The last two photos are of Porter at the "Baby Spa". I told Josh one of my worst fears was once we saw my brother and his new baby we would realize how neglected our poor third child is. Sure enough their first born smelt sweet as can be, had his own bathing station, changing station and sleep area, new clothes everyday, etc. etc.. Porter on the other hand had taken five baths since his birth, gets changed on the carpet and sleeps on top of one blanket that I think I've washed maybe twice (it's his favorite and there's not time to wash the darn thing between naps). So sleeping in his cousins crib with matching bumpers and mobile, then bathing and getting dressed on the deluxe changing pad was a luxury for our little Po.

A thousand words Lost

We've lost our camera, can't find it anywhere. Which means I can't blog about Everett's birthday, our fun trip to Seattle and the Fourth of July. I'm learning that a picture really is worth a thousand words. Our friend Mandy says we have a baby stamp, so in the mean time try to guess which baby is which (I pulled these photos from our digital archives)
Answers at the bottom.


A.

B.
C.
D.

E.

F.

A.Everett B.Tristen C.Porter D.Porter E.Everett F. Tristen

Summer Hike

Having a baby around has really forced the two older boys to become more independent. Things they usually would have asked mommy for help with get done in very interesting ways. For example, picking out their PJ's. Matching tops and bottoms are not a priority in a 4 years olds eyes. Tristen has even been mixing sizes, wearing a top from Everett's drawer and a bottom from his own or vice versa. A tight top makes him look pretty studly, tight bottoms on the other hand...

The boys and I made a summer calender with activities they can look forward to every day. The first activity was a hike out to Deep Lake. The morning of the hike I had to take care of Porter and again the boys got very impatient and therefore very independent. They dressed them selves, packed their backpacks and even got their own lunches. This is what Everett packed: A tomato and five slices of lime in a glass mug. Yummy!!

The hike was an absolute blast. The boys took turns being leader and at one point we started going in circles because of their path choices. Every time we came to a fork in the road they had to stop and discuss whether the path led to danger or safety.

Everett is not only "potty" trained but can now pee in the woods like a manly man.

This is the best picture of Porter I could get. He slept the entire time in his baby carrier. He is a very easy baby to take out and about. I guess you could say Porter is very portable.

The hiking trip plan did not originally include Ki, but as we were going in and out of the house packing the car he snuck out. We found him cruising the RV park and decided we would take him with us. This is a picture of him post swim cooling the boys off with a big shake. He's not wearing a leash because Tristen threw it into the lake. Of course every time I hiked past someone with two toddlers, an infant strapped to me and a dog in toe they had to make the comment,"My...looks like you've got your hands full." I've been hearing that a lot lately and I'm not convinced it's a compliment especially when it's over the phone and they say, "Sounds like you've got your hands full."

We ate lunch by the water, enjoyed the beautiful day and survived our first outing for the summer. Here's a few more pictures until next time.