I love my Mom

Happy birthday, Mom!

You are such a great example of kindness and service.  I am so glad you are my mom and I love you!

Here is an essay that Mackenzie wrote at school about you:

My Grandma

My grandma makes me the most happy because she takes care of me.  She loves me.  She plays with me.  She taught me how to ride my bike without training wheels.  She is my best friend.

Vacation ala quad

 I love that my dad built a special handlebar for kids to hold on to.

He's the best!

Henry asks me every day if we are going to Grandpa and Grandma's house and then he tears up when I say no.

(yes, that was a shameless plug for family to move closer to us, but it's the truth)

Vacation ala slip 'n slide and slide

 One day, Erik and my dad set up the slip 'n slide.

It proved to be too short, so my dad made it longer.

The big boys still ended up in the grass.

Vacation ala sparklers

 Sparklers are magical.

 Sparklers are sparkly.

Sparklers are magical sparkly sparks of fire that you hold in your hand and close to your grandmother's feet (according to Henry).

pictured above are Erik's sister, Hope and her 2, Chase and Sarah

It was a great 4th of July.  We loved getting to visit family!

Vacation ala zoo

 We spent one afternoon at the Boise Zoo.

The snake exhibit was awesome, I told Sam this is where Harry Potter was filmed and sometimes the glass disappears.

Then we saw a crane, and I told the kids it was the crane from the Kung Fu Panda movie.

 Then we saw a giraffe so large that we put a ladder up and slid down it's neck.

 Then Sam was swallowed by a tiger.  Just kidding, it's not real.

 Then Henry's lifelong goal of riding a tortoise became a reality.

Then we went to the exhibit where they shrink you to the size of baby chicks.

 

Then we saw a sleeping beauty.

 Then we saw a sleeping lion.  Lions sleep a lot.

It was amazing.

vacation ala marbles

One day at my parent's house, I was all, "Why don't you kids build a marble maze thingy that goes down the stairs?" and they just starred at me.  I got to building and then they were like, "Aha, OK, let's build this thing." It went all the way down the stairs and we made lots of marbles take the journey.

It was awesome.  It was so awesome, the boys needed shades to protect their eyes from the rays of awesomeness shooting forth.

P.S. Sam didn't grow a mustache while we were there, I'm just weird like that.

Dazy days of summer

I feel dizzy.
We drove from Twin Falls Idaho to home today.
13+ hours in the van followed by: unpacking, bathing, eating, cleaning, grocery shopping, cleaning out smelly fridge, catching up on mail, email, and blogs, going cross-eyed, and still need to get my stuff together for church tomorrow. Busy Saturdays will never be a complaint of mine again.
We are alive and well and tired.
And that is my vacation report.