Park and Pansit

Aug 5 ~ the kids and I packed a picnic dinner and went to an historical park in nearby Melba... we love to explore new places!  This place was called Celebration Park and was once a pathway for the pioneers to go on their journey "west".

 Katie Rose and her adorable cousin, Jackson

 The week before Meredith left for her big move to Washington DC I had her over for dinner and made a big filipino dinner for old times sake.  It took me all day to cook but we enjoyed the feast of pansit, eggrolls, adobo, rice and Marie's yummy cupcakes! (My parents, Marie and Jackson came for the dinner too)

First Haircut

It only took 3 years but, Kristiana finally got her first hair cut!  A couple of weeks ago I gave her hair a good trim.. it had grown almost to her bottom!  A hair cut certainly made her look older!

Our little cutie pie!

First Day of School!

Our fun, care free summer days are over... the kids began school today!  They'll be attending Lakeridge Elementary this year... a reputable school just minutes from our house.  Casey and I have met with each of their teachers and feel that each of them will be great for each child.  They were alittle bit nervous to begin but, came home with lots of great stories and Tys said he already made "five new friends!"  I plan on helping in their classrooms every Tuesday and will join the PTA soon.  The nice thing is they get to take the bus! :) 

 Katie 3rd grade. Teacher Mrs Obert

 Tys 2nd grade  Teacher Mrs Riley

 Trenton Kindergarten  Teacher Mrs Pallesen

Each year Casey and I reflect on how much they've grown!  We mark their height on our growth chart, buy clothes that fit and prep them as best as we can for challenges they'll face outside of our home.  Most importantly, we pray for each of them and guide them the best that we can.. that they'll grow for their love, faith and knowledge of Christ.

Here's to a fabulous 2014-2015 school year!

Rodeo and Thunderstorms

On Tues. afternoon we met up with my mom to finish school clothes/supplies shopping... then, we headed over to the Canyon County Fairgrounds for our fav. yearly rodeo, Caldwell Night Rodeo.  It was family night so we spent the first half hour playing kiddie games and brushing the horses.. Then, a BIG thunderstorm rolled in and we got drenched! We made a mad dash back to our vehicle and decided to go to ice cream instead of the rainy rodeo!  Thankfully, we hadn't paid for our rodeo tickets yet... and, the kids had fun at the little kiddie rodeo carnival so, it wasn't all a "lost evening" :)

 Amazing thundercloud!

 It wasn't the rodeo but, DQ ice cream is just as good!

The perfect end to a fun evening....

Last Week of Summer Break

We are in the last week of summer break and have had a busy, fun-filled week trying to get in all of our last minute "summer fun"!  My mom took some days off from work so she could join in our fun :)  On Mon we went to the Lakeview Water Park (public pool) We recently just found this pool and it's now on our top 10 list of fav. places to go... very affordable and shallow waters so all the kids can swim without me having to constantly assist them.  Over the summer, each child has greatly improved on their swimming.. Katie and Tys especially.

Last spring Katie and Tys participated in the Roaring Readers program and earned our family 3 free tickets into the fun water park, Roaring Springs.  Friday, we got to spend the entire day there.. riding rides, swimming in the pool/lazy river, enjoying yummy treats and playing in the kiddie land.

All smiles at the end of the day... 8 hours of fun in the sun!!  We all slept GREAT that night :)

Janelie's Birthday

Katie's dearest friend, Janelie, celebrated her birthday last week (Wed) and she invited Katie to a fun "girls day" and to spend the night.  They got to have pedicures and massages at the beauty salon and have yummy ice cream!

Tys' Birthday

We had a blast celebrating Tys' birthday!  It fell on a Wednesday this year so, we kept the day fun but also low key.  At noon his friends (and our neighbors) Dillon, MaKenna and Ellie came over for lunch, games, gifts and cake.  Then, around 3:30 I took the boys on a fun "boys outing" to Wahooz.  It's a local game/ride family fun zone place in Meridian... the boys have never really gotten to go and play before and, well, they were all SO excited!  I got them unlimited passes for the go-carts, laser tag, game card to play the video games and the 3D Dark Ride.  We were there for 5 hours and only stopped once for pizza and soda :)

 Games included... bobbing for mini donuts... pin the tail on the donkey...

 And seeing how could roll their balloon with just their heads to the finish line first!  Dillon won that one..

 Gifts included from friends and family included Lego sets, binoculars, Transformers and two water guns!

Tys on his first go-cart ride!! It was a blast!!

Family Tys' Birthday Celebration

The Sunday before Tys' birthday, we went to family lunch with my parents and Jake & Krystal at Tys' choice restaurant, Idaho Pizza Company.  We love their pizza!  I brought Tys' cake (chocolate) and he opened gifts from his family.

Happy 7th Birthday Tys!

Happy 7th Birthday to our sweet, funny Tys!  We are so blessed by your daily laughter and love you more than words can say!

Meredith

My dearest, longtime friend is leaving me and I'm so sad!  Meredith and I have been friends since we were just little kids living in Battle Mountain (since we were about 7 or 8 years old) We have many, many fun childhood memories together! And, as adults we've lived by each other in Boise for about 14 years... again, we've had many awesome times together! I can always count on Meredith to make me laugh and be my true friend who's always there for me.  I'm going to greatly miss her!

However, I'm also super excited for her next adventure in life.  She's taking an amazing leap of faith and fulfilling a long time dream by moving to the big city of Washington DC!  I truly wish her all the best and am looking forward to seeing her in DC in the future. Love you Mere :)

 On Saturday evening we went to Meredith's going away party at her friend, Stacy's, house.  It was fun to hang out with all of our mutual friends and family and, had a fun evening!