4th of July

Highlights of our weekend in Boise with Melanie's family:

Taylor receiving his Eagle Scout award at age 14.

Xaden getting baptized and confirmed.

Blessing Baby Boston.

Swimming, swimming and more swimming. Roaring Springs Waterpark, neighborhood pool, our hotel pool, and Grandma and Grandpa's hotel pool.

Listening to Clare talk herself to sleep everynight. And Breah telling her to be quiet over and over everynight.

Eating Phillips out of house and home!

Lots of cousins to play with.

Driving around Boise looking for a twist ice cream cone. Not vanilla and not a shake. We ended up at Iceberg. We ordered four mini cones and a shake for Collin and I. The cones were HUGE and the shake could have fed our entire family.

Going home through Craters of the Moon. The kids saw volcanoes and lava for the first time.

Clare stayed awake the entire drive home and through the fireworks.

Rolling into Idaho Falls just in time for the big firework show!

Thanks for the great hospitality Melanie! We had a blast!

swimming lessons

To Bone and Back

This year Collin did To Bone and Back with me. It was so much fun! We were on a team with our friends Chris and Bita. I ran the same leg as last year. Last year I was not as prepared as I needed to be. I did not run my leg once before hand, or even drive it. I was very surprised to have so many hills. As soon as I was done last year, I planned to do it again and be able to run the entire leg. This year, I was so happy when I ran my entire 5 miles, even up the huge hill! I did it in about 57 minutes too! I was so happy! It was a lot of work training for it, but totally worth it! Collin did awesome too. He ran the last leg and cruised down the hill, passing everyone!

Collin, me, Bita, Chris, Valerie, Katy, Diane, and Brooklyn were on our "just for fun team". We had so much fun with everyone. It is fun to meet others and cheer them on. And it is a great way to spend time with friends. Collins parents brought the kids to cheer us on too. At the end they had a jumping house and face painting for the kids.

Clare was taking a nap during the facepainting. She loves her baths. And this shows that she is finally growing a little bit of hair at 22 months old!

fun family photos!

summer 2011

bird watching

just for fun

Sand dunes

When Collin is left to plan something, it is all or nothing. This time, it was all! He planned a day at the sandunes in St. Anthony and rented a Razor. He even got a babysitter. (Thanks, Susan!) Man, he was as excited as a little boy at Christmas. I, on the other hand, was just trying not to think about it. I have never been a big fan of snowmobiles, jet skis, four wheelers, or motorbikes. I have also never been to those enormous dunes past the Egin Lakes. Well, put the two together and I was scared to death! I had to close my eyes and duck my head several times. After a couple of hours, Collin was getting braver and closing my eyes was not helping. I had a breakdown. I had to get out of the Razor so I could breathe! Poor Collin. He settled down a little after that, but I was still ready to go home. Hopefully, it was enough thrill for Collin for a while. If not I will definately send him with someone else next time!