Roaring Springs

Took the kids to roaring springs this summer, a local water park here in Boise. We had a great time! Looking forward to going again next summer.

Surprenants

In May of this year the Surprenants came out to see us. What wonderful friends they are and are so dear to us. We are so happy they made the drive to come visit. As usual, we had a great time. The weather was good, we played and relaxed, and the kids had so much fun together! Below are some pictures of the things we did together.

Had to go shooting, of course!

We went downtown to the Boise Sat. market and had a great time walking around. So much to see and do. It just so happened that on the weekend we were there, Lainey's (and mine) FAV book character was at the local book store. Lulu Lady Bug Girl!!! We LOVE her books and it was so fun to take a pic with Lady Bug Girl. Lainey was a bit taken back as you can see. :) The book series is so cute but I think the biggest reason we love these books is because ever since Lainey was born we have called her "Lainey bug"! It's her nickname and now there is a cute book series out about our little Lainey. Love it!

The girls were not to happy to say goodbye. I love how they pick up where they left off when ever we see them. I know they'll be friends for a long long time!!

Can't wait till we see you guys again! Thanks for coming :)

Fall Soccer in Star

Both Abby and Wyatt played fall soccer here in Star last year. It's so much fun to watch them play! I can't believe it but I think I only snapped some pics of Wyatt playing and totally missed getting any of Abby. Sorry Abb's! I'll make up for it this next fall! They both played great and had a good time. Can't wait for fall this year!

Preschool Graduation

At the end of May Shane finished up his first year of preschool. He had so much fun! His school is called Little Learners and his teachers name is Mrs. Robin. She was wonderful and Shane is excited to go back for one more year before he starts kindergarten. At the end of each year the students work on a play and perform it for all the parents at their little graduation ceremony. Shane's class performed Brown Bear and Shane got to be brown bear. It was so cute. Here are so pics from his special night.

Shane and Mrs. Robin

Great Potato 1/2 Marathon

Up until now most all of my running has not been alone. I have had such amazing running partners and friends who have been through countless hours of training with me and race after race, and we did it all together! Those months, and years of running with them are a gift I will treasure for ever. It is not easy to find running partners that you can run with for so long, have similar paces and similar enough schedules to be able to run together 3 or 4 times a week, every week. What a rarity that was. I have truly missed each of those running partners, and you know who you are, for their support of me, their undying commitment, their endurance, and strength! They have each taught me so much! Since our move in August I have been running on my own, with no partners. What an experience it has been. I have learned so much about my self and have grown in many ways. If you ever want to learn a bit about your self and see if you can do really hard things on your own, move away to a place where you don't know anyone, sign yourself up for a half marathon, or longer race, train for it for months on your own, and then show up on race day all by yourself! I have to say it was quite lonely running by myself and I found myself at several points through out the race looking around wanting to talk with someone about how I was feeling, how my body and mind were talking me out of keeping up the pace, and how great the feeling was going to be at the finish line. But there was only me and you know what?...It was ok. I had a goal in mind and I knew I was going to make it to the finish line and I kept telling myself, "You can do hard things, keep going!" And that's just what I did! I wanted to finish the race in under 2 hours and I came across the finish line at 1 hour and 52 minutes!!! It's so amazing to me what we can accomplish when we put our minds to something. A good friend said this to me and I think she said it best, "I think there is something really incredible about having to take some of life's very difficult journeys alone, it really shows you what kind of stuff you are made of and what you are capable of accomplishing! Not that you would always choose it, but I think it's just like life that way, sometimes we have to walk (or run) alone!" Well said Suzanne. I love ya! Something I am trying to remember in any situation where I may feel alone is that we are never alone. We may be alone where the world is concerned, and like at the start of this race, have no physical person near us that we know, but no matter what, we always have the Savior with us! It may sound silly to some but I know he was with me for this race. I prayed daily that my training would go well, that I would have the strength and stamina to complete the race, and he answered my prayers. It was such an amazing experience for me and one that I won't soon forget! A new friend of mine here in Idaho was running the 5k with her daughter that morning. She surprised me and she and her family hung around to see me cross the finish line! That small gesture meant so much to me. I don't think she'll ever know just how much. I heard her call my name as I crossed the finish line and then to see her there and have her to hug and say, "wahoo, we finished" was so wonderful. Thank you so much Kiersten! Thank you to my friends who supported me from a far, and for Jeff and my family who love me enough to let me keep running life's races!!

Easter

Gma and Gpa Cribbins sent a fun package with some Easter treats and gifts! Thank you!!

The Friend Magazine this year put out a really neat little article/lesson for Easter. It was a reading of scriptures for each day leading up to Easter morning. So for the 7 days before Easter Sunday as a family we sat down and read the daily scriptures and discussed and learned about the events in Jesus's life leading up to his resurrection. It was a wonderful week and the kids really looked forward to our readings and discussions. My hope is that it helped instill in them a feeling of thankfulness and gratitude for all that the Savior has done for each of us! I am keeping this years Friend magazine and I think we will make this a yearly tradition so that we can better focus on the Savior during this special time of year!

On Saturday morning, the day before Easter, the Bunny came and filled our baskets! The kids had so much fun and they sure loved the yo-yo's that the bunny brought this year. :) Candy is always a hit too! After we opened our baskets we set up out side on the front lawn to decorate eggs. Later on we had a really fun Easter egg hunt in the back yard, where there were plenty of great places to hide the eggs. I hope we found them all...I guess if we didn't then some wild animal from our pasture will find it and have a fun little treat!! :)

Jeff's 33rd Birthday

Jeff turned 33 this year, on April 14th! We had a nice celebration with our family. The kids made him posters and I made him a chocolate chocolate cake, per his request. It was super yummy! For his birthday this year all he wanted was to get his dirt bike in good working condition so he had some work done on it. It runs great and he is having fun, when he gets to, riding it! I know he wishes he had more time to play on it so we try to let him go when ever he is able to.

Happy Birthday Jeff! We love you :)

Thorpes for a visit!

Rick, Becky and the kids came to visit last month and it was wonderful! Of course it always goes by way to fast but we had a lot of fun while they were here! First of all I have to say what good sports they are and what great friends...they drove very late in the night to get to us so that they could spend as much time as possible here playing! We are so glad you guys made it safely here! :) A good nights rest after their long drive was what they needed so we all slept and couldn't wait to get up the next day to play. Our kids were asleep when they arrived so the morning was such a sweet and fun reunion! The kids jumped right into playing. While they were here we went bowling, out to eat for yummy food, the guys went for a drive, Becky and I were able to run, the kids played and explored out side, and we had a fire to roast marshmallows by! It wouldn't be a weekend with Becky if we didn't do some cooking/baking of some sort and boy did we have some good laughs! I have been doing some changing to our families diet and so I've been trying to make our sweets, when we have them, as healthy as I can. We did some experimenting with chocolate chip cookies. As you can see from the pics it didn't go so well! We finally gave up and made them the good old fashioned way and they were DELICIOUS!!

It was such a wonderful and cherished time! Thank you Thorpe's for coming to see us! Can't wait till the next time. Love you all!

Pony Rides

Our friends, Nathan and Kiersten Walker, invited us over a while ago to have an afternoon of fun with pony rides, games, and dinner. We had so much fun! Every single one of the kids LOVED the pony and loved riding in the cart. Of course the whole ride home that evening there was talk in the car of when WE could get our own pony!! (Not going to happen by the way...we'll just ride Nathan's brothers for now! :) It was so nice of them to have us over and I know it was a fair amount of work for them. We loved it and after the sun went down and the ponies went home, we ate dinner and played games. The Walkers have been so kind to us and we are so thankful for their friendship. They are a busy family with 6 kids ranging from 11 yrs. old down to 2 yrs. old. Each of our kids match up to a friend and they get along so well. We feel so blessed to know them and call them our friends now. I know Heavenly Father places people in our lives for a reason and I know that it has been no accident that we have become friends with them!

Thanks for a great day Walkers!!

Grandma Mary for a visit

Jeff's mom came to visit a few months ago and I am so behind that I am just now getting to post this! We had so much fun with her and we are so glad she came...In fact it won't be more than about 3 more weeks and she'll be back visiting again. :) Whenever Grandma Mary comes to visit we know we'll be having fun. This time we went to a really fun indoor pizza and game joint. It was a hoot! We also went to the Birds of Prey wildlife refuge and were able to see some pretty amazing birds up close! The kids got to dress up like birds and try on some California Condor mock wings. They liked them SO much that we stopped by a fabric store on the way home and bought the material to make our own for here at home! There's nothing better than being a kid and pretending you have wings to fly!! We played lots of games here at home too. Gma Mary is a great game player and the kids love it! It was a wonderful time and we are counting down the days until she returns! Love you Grandma!