1st Day of School!

It's finally here- School! Back to schedules & routine! We had a fun summer but everyone was ready to start school & have some time to theirselves. I was pretty happy & even made up a song about it!

Aundrea is in 7th this year! You look beautiful Drea!

Gabe is now in 1st grade! What a handsome guy!! Gabe loves taking the bus with all his friends.

Elena is home for another 2 years but Grandma & Grandpa Evans asked her to spend the night so she would have a special day too! She packed her bag & waited an hour for them outside on the bench. Grandma & Grandpa fell asleep but finally came & picked Elena up. She was so excited to say the least!

It was just me & Zander at home on the 1st day of school! He was pretty happy to have me all to himself!

Grandma & Grandpa Hill's SPECTACULAR Yard!!

What can I say? My parents have the best yard in the world! It is a childrens paradise! Mom & Dad love having their grandchildren over to watch them enjoy themselves swinging, slip-n-sliding, eating popscicles, climbing trees, roasting hot dogs & marshmallows, jumping on the tramp, riding the blethera of big wheels, digging holes in the sand & basically just running around having the time of their lives!

Katie, Aundrea, & Carmen enjoying some quiet time up in the tree house

Gabe with pure joy written on his face!

Z may not be able to drive them yet but he sure loved to pretend!

Elena waiting for the famous swing ride up into the trees! You know the one where all the moms have to avert their eyes or go into panic mode when they see their children touching the leaves of the trees a 100 ft up (or at least it seems)!

Elena, Natalie, Carmen, Zander, & Katie going for a wagon ride! Out of all those big kids guess who pulled it?... Natalie (1-1/2 yrs old) The red hair must give her strength!

Zander again digging holes, & eating rocks! He tried to hide from me behind the bush thinking he might be able to get away with it this time! Learn now Z, Mom always finds out!! :)

Nothing sweeter than your childern helping each other out!

Z's 1st controlled slide! The first time he went down it was an accident & didn't know what to think...but he loved it & ran up the hill for another turn. This time I got it on camera!

I'm sorry Katie but I had to put this on! They may be playing in water but the landing is full of grass & mud!

Zander & Gabe couldn't run fast enough up the hill to slide again & again!

Run Boys Run!!

OH YEAH! THIS IS GREAT!! Watch out Z!

Elena being safe or just plain silly with her construction helmet!

You can't get much happier than this!

Zander & Natalie playing on the tramp. Natalie would jump & Z would run around scary the crud out of us thinking he was going to fall off. He absolutely loved it!!

I came outside to check on the bon fire & found Elena talking Grandpa's ear off! He's such a great listener & gets a kick out of the things she says!

"I love you Grandpa! You're the BEST!"

Z ate two hot dogs right out of the package. Then he stuffed his mouth with marshmallows! Look at those cheeks! Elena & Z were in pure Heaven!

Aundrea giving Z a ride on the tree swing

You would think after such a big & fun day of playing the kids would be exhausted but there's always enough energy for a fire!

Gabe & Elena roasting their marshmallows & hotdogs- who knows how many they had already had?!

Thanks Grandpa & Grandma for the time & effort you spend with all of us!

We love you so much!

Eagle Island Take 2

My sister Heather & her daughter Carmen came for a visit so we hit Eagle Island again along with Cassie & her kids. We had so much fun! It really is a fun & inexpensive place to cool off on the hot summer days!

Again Zander found a hole to stick his foot in! He loves to dig & play in the holes! Do you like the too small t-shirt!! He looked so funny but he didn't care...!

Now here is Elena modeling her beach attire! Swim goggles & all even though her face never went under the water!

Carmen & Aundrea had so much & would've stayed for hours upon hours!

I'm not sure if Gabe is giving Dallas a fun push or trying to get his boogie board back!? Natalie is taking it all in though & if she could get out there, she would push them both off!

Elena wanted to buried in the sand- this is as far as we got! Good thing she kept her life jacket on! We had a great time & I even saved a life! A boy fell out of his raft & couldn't touch. He was yelling help & at first I didn't know if he was playing but then realized he wasn't. The skills I learned through the years kicked in & I was able to grab him & swim to the shallow water. Luckily I wasn't too far from him cuz man after I was panting. It was quite the adrenaline rush! Interestingly enough he was a boy we knew the first area in Nampa we lived in. In fact Aundrea went to his birthday party 5 years ago! Small world!

Camping with the Boys & Aundrea!

Brian took Aundrea & Gabe camping up to Cascade along with Kade, his 3 boys, Dustin & his 4 boys! Aundrea didn't seem to mind being the only girl! They got rained on but had a great time sleeping in tents, riding around on the 4 wheeler, & sitting in hot springs!

Kade Porter & Dustin Aldrich hanging out by the fire after the kids were in bed! I did hear Dustin gave out early though! Brian, Kade, & Dustin have been best friends since they were 12. It's wonderful for them to have each other & it's great that they're willing to take all the children with them camping so us moms don't have to!

With all the rain it was nice that Brian had this tent for his truck for him, Aundrea & Gabe to sleep in.

I had a great time at home in my nice warm comfortable bed! :) Elena & I had a special night by painting fingernails & toenails, & eating carmel popcorn while watching Pinnochio!

Go to sleep Gabe & Aundrea!

Gabe, Dallin Aldrich, Riley Porter, & Spencer Aldrich trynig to get warm by the fire. Jacob & Garret Aldrich, Carsen & Colt Porter & Aundrea must have still been in bed.

Gabe trying to teach Kade how to be cool!

Fun & Lazy Summer Days!

It's been a pretty easy going summer this year! We've had a lot of days of just hanging out! Gabe had his mind stuck on bobbing for apples so he filled up the pool with water from the house- not irrigation water like I usually have them do, because I knew they'd be drinking it. He & Elena were outside bobbing for a couple of hours!

bob, bite, bob, bite, bob, bite etc!

The days we stayed home- it obviously didn't matter what we wore or didn't wear!

I love those relaxing days!

Z looks cute in anything he wears! He has learned wave "hi" like a star!

One morning we woke up to a flood in our backyard! The ditch in the field was plugged which overflowed into our yard- that grass hadn't been getting enough water anyway plus the boys were in heaven!

Love the mud on the eye!

Z found this hole & stayed there forever pulling out the grass & throwing it!

Z was so captivated that when he sqozed the muddy grass, brown water would pour out! Wow!

AAAAHHHH- I'm stuck!! Still lots of fun though!

Eagle Island!

Tuesday we met our friends the Pittman's at Eagle Island. They were our neighbors when we built our first house in Nampa 7 years ago. It was fun getting together with them again- it's been a long time. We've both doubled our families since we saw each other! The kids loved the cool water & warm sand. It was a fun little place, clean, close, & cheap!

Elena loved riding on the blow up toy. Riha P. loved getting her picture taken- it was so funny! Aundrea & Alexis stayed in the deep the whole time- they had a great time getting to know one another again.

Kaylee, Elena being pushed around by Jayden. Gabe's in the background swimming all around- he had a life jacket on cause it did get a little deep back there.

Kaylee & Kobin fed Zander grapes one after another. Amazingly he didn't choke- He loved the special attention!

Z's hands were so sandy he couldn't feed himself even if he wanted to! Zander was in heaven with all the sand to dig in!

Eagle Island was a hit- We all had a great time & the kids are already asking to go back!

Reminiscing With Friends

This week I got to catch up with friends from the past! It was so great! I forgot how much I missed them & how much fun we had growing up. We talked about old times & some of the crazy things we did. :) We always had fun & lived life to the fullest! I'm so grateful to have created such wonderful relationships-we were able to pick up from where we left off 20 years ago!

My 2nd cousin Kimberlee Relyea McWhorter came by Wednesday for lunch. We were best friends growing up & have so many fun memories! She always made me laugh! We did a lot of crazy things but thanks to guardian angels- we were kept safe! :)

I thought this was just a cute picture of Zander- he's getting used to smiling for the camera!

Wednesday night we met at Marie Calendars with Clark Johnson, Holly Peterson Deim, Kimberlee, & Matt Howard. We've all known each other since 2nd grade (app.30years)! We laughed so hard remembering the funny things we did together! We're all grown up now & have families now. All of us but Kim live here so hopefully we'll get together more often. I had so much fun!! I love these guys!! Thanks for the memories!