Boise Hawks Game

The kids also earned free passes to the Bosie Hawks baseball game. They like to read. And I couldn't be happier about that. Kids who love to read? Awesome.

When Howard, or Malfoy, er.....Harry, the mascot came in our section, Dawson started out scared. Maybe shy, or not-so-sure. Not ready to leave the comforting grip of his "favorite babysitter".

Then it turned into embarrassment.....

And then, finally, he saw that the giant beak was NOT, in fact, going to hurt him. He agreed to a picture. Look at his smile.....a little pride, a little excitement and a just a little bit scared.





We had lots of friends there rooting for our home team. "Our home"...still sounds so weird. This is so NOT my home, yet it feels as if I've always lived here. Dylan seemed quite interested in the COKE in his bottle. The things that amuse boys.

I don't believe you'd see a "Potato Race" anywhere else but Idaho during warm-ups. A potato race? I believe the three who competed were...Spud, Gem and Fry.

As they rounded second and came tumbling down around third, I caught Dawson's expression....

I think this was one of the FEW times he actually looked at the field. I guess baseball is pretty boring for an almost three year old. Except when creatures with very large beaks come sauntering by.

Hair Do's.....and don'ts

I've noticed in my recent pictures....that Karly's hair is ALWAYS the same. Bangs pulled back in a little clippie. The reason being...I'm trying to let her bangs grow out and I don't have a whole lot of choice. It got me thinking about all the different hair do's she's had in her short little life....

I believe she had a bow on her head before she took her tenth breath....well maybe not that soon, but shortly thereafter.

You didn't see her without a bow on her little (and I mean little) head ever. This would be her and her cousin Madison, or Maddy Rae, or Maddy Raisin.

People use to ask me all the time..."How do you get her to keep her headbands on? My little so and so will NOT leave hers alone"! She was so used to them by the time she figured out she had hands, she didn't bother with them. And...she really didn't have a choice. But sometimes, after awhile in the car, I would find it like this. I call it her hip-hop bow.

I really just posted this one because I think it's an awesome picture. And I love her eyes. And...I just love her.

Can you say C-O-R-N-W-E-L-L?

Whoa...now THAT is some crazy hair. If you don't believe me, click on this picture and see up close.

Yep, we tried piggy tails....

and we tried....Oh, don't even ask

I think with her being my only girl, I just got carried away sometimes.

I'm sure I had something to do with her ever growing love for fashion and girly things...although, she is WAY more into shoes and do-dads than I ever was...so I don't know, I think it's just in her.

Hammin' it up...

Oh mercy...what do we have here?

Some days, it was so much easier to just slap one of these babies on her.

But it was so much more fun, to do this.

Her 'flip-do' has got to be one of my favorites.

Although it doesn't get much cuter than this, in my opinion, of course. Her 'pony' look.

Her grown-up look

Her usual precious look.

I'm sure I've overwhelmed you with Karly do's....but I couldn't help myself. Once I started looking, I had to share them. I'll leave you with this...this look of "Mom, if you rat, pull, tease, comb, or spray my hair again, I'll....I'll...I'll love you anyways." Because she's that sweet.

Oh ya....

Happy Birthday Lukas!





I can't believe your 17. It's scary and sad at the same time. Scary, because I know you will soon be DRIVING...need I say more?

And sad, because...well....because you're growing up!

Sorry I didn't post a picture with your fro. This was the only one I could come up with in a short time.

Happy Birthday!!!!

Roaring Springs

This past school year, Dylan and Karly both earned free Roaring Springs passes by reading!

As you can see, it's a water park.....here in Meridian. Compared to those that we're used to down south, it was pretty small. But, still fun.

This was the new ride that they've been advertising. We were really excited to check it out. And very disappointed when we saw that it was just a little slide in the kiddie section. You forget how small towns do things.

We didn't bring Lil' D with us...because, well...you know. He stayed with one of his favorite babysitters ;o)

All in all, we had a fun day. I would have taken more pictures of the kids on the rides...but, I was on the ride with them. And that just wouldn't have worked very well.

Little Miss Piggy

Ever since Karly was little, she's made this noise which she thinks sounds like a piggy? You know when your ear or throat itches, and you use some crazy muscle in the back of your throat to itch it? Well, that's what she discovered around age two...and has proudly entertained us ever since then.

I, personally, don't have the skill to do this. She giggles at me every time she asks me to try and I fail....but then again, I can't whistle either. I've got problems.

Here is a little clip of her talent...

Glenns Ferry

This past weekend, they had the yearly re-enactment of the river crossing in Glenn's Ferry, Idaho. For all you history buffs, you can read more about it here and here.

It may be a bit hard to see this...but here you have the wagon and several on horseback coming down the side of this mountain.
This is the snake river that they are entering...They will proceed to show the large crowd how the old timers use to cross back in the day.

Right about this time, it got pretty exciting. This is where they hit the current and had to use the skills that they had acquired over the last few months/years of practice. There was someone on the shore with the rest of us narrating through a (very loud) speaker. He explained what was happening all along the way and told us some interesting facts throughout the demonstration. Like for instance, once the wagon hits the current someone has to be right behind it with a rope to keep it from jack-knifing per se. Is that even a word? Otherwise, as the horses are swimming across, the wagon would decide to go a different way and cause problems. He also mentioned that horses don't have any way to plug their nose. When they get to the point where it's too deep to walk, they must swim and if they don't keep their noses out of the water, it obviously gets in their nose and then they give up. If you'll notice on the very right hand side of the picture, there is a horse, or mule rather, demonstrating this. Since I don't have a 'special' camera, I couldn't zoom in very far. If I had, you would see that the poor thing is fighting and struggling big time. The announcer then got even louder telling the rider to "Let it go! You need to turn 'er loose and let 'er go!" It seemed like the rider decided to hold on for a bit and try to get the horse to swim UP stream, which apparently is a big no-no. The Coast Guard was a little bit down stream, just in case something were to happen. Well, it seems that while trying to help the poor thing, one of them sucked up the reigns in their Sea Doo (per the Narrator). They continued to float downstream as we continued to wonder what happened to the poor horse. The announcer said that everything was fine, but we later found out that everything was NOT fine. Not fine at all. You can read about that here.
Thinking that they were rescuing the one that went 'off course' and seeing the rest of them cross safely...we were able to enjoy the whole re-enactment.
It wasn't until the next day or two that we heard what really happened.
Although this wagon doesn't look very big, it was big. We stood and looked at those two white horses for awhile.....they weren't your average horse. Thick torsos and stocky legs. They definitely looked like work horses. She wanted SO badly to get on this horse. All she wants to do is ride a horse. Here's an up close shot of those stocky horses. I guess they would have to be to pull all that lard huh?
There were really big red ants ALL over and the two little girls spent a lot of their time stomping (and crying). The ants were not afraid and crawled all over our feet...it didn't help that most of us were wearing flip flops. Some of us were bitten and let me tell you, it does not feel good. It's been four days and I'm still suffering from the little booger.

Ahhhhh...we finally found some shade and relaxed for a few minutes. I had never wanted to feel a breeze more than at this moment.

I'm not sure if this guy was just in costume, or if his eye patch was for real. He was making strikers. He was using an old fashioned heating mechanism...I'm not sure what you call it. It had a foot pump that would keep those coals red hot. We walked around the park and saw different ones making things and/or explaining the different ways of living back then. When we saw this cool little train ride, the kids HAD to do it. I think I wanted them to do it more then they did. In fact, I wanted to ride it too!

They had a blast. They were all hootin' and hollerin' as they bounced around on the very long ride. It was definitely worth the 2.00.

All in all in was a really cool experience. It makes me sad to think that two horses died all for me. All for money. I'm sure there are some VERY unhappy people out there. If I think about it like that, it's hard to enjoy it. But when I think of another piece of my 'history puzzle' being put in place, it's easier.

Shoshone Falls

This past weekend, we joined the Kurrles for a sleep over in Twin Falls. We haven't ever seen Shoshone Falls and boy was I impressed. I've heard it often referred to as "The Niagara of the West" and now I understand why.

Not that I've ever SEEN Niagara Falls up close, but...I have seen pictures. They say that more water comes through here than Niagara Falls itself. I haven't done any research on this, so me and my pessimistic self are a little apprehensive to believe it. I'm sure some of my...ahem...readers reader will update me on the truth behind this rumor. Probably in a matter of seconds.

It was quite unfortunate that we couldn't get a little bit closer....but, it is Idaho after all.

Some of 'us' got a little queasy looking over this edge. It seems the fear of heights reared it's ugly head at a very inopportune time. It is a LOT higher than it looks. Not me...had it not been for Keith holding me back, I would have jumped from that there rock.

Why do all little boys this age make these kinds of faces? I just don't get it.

Before we went down to the falls, we went up to Dierkes Lake, which feed them, and let the kids swim.

They had an inlet of the lake sectioned off with a high dive and all. Dylan tried it out several times.

Although this looks as if he would win the goober of the year award, it actually looked pretty cool. You know, the touch-the-toes-and-then-dive dive? Keith was SO excited when I showed him this picture that afternoon.....because he knows whatever gets captured on my camera gets posted on my blog. Sorry hon. It looked cool in real life, really, it did. Vary manly....very cool ;o)

He wasn't too crazy about the floating docks...

This was the first time he actually swam (floatie free) in a body of water other than the bathtub. He was very proud.

I just love this little smirk. He raises his shoulders and smiles in a way that melts my heart.

This is the closed mouth version.

The next day, we went to Glenns Ferry and watched a re-enactment of the old timers crossing Snake River. Part of the Oregon Trail. It was very interesting. More on that later.

Bring the Rain

The words to this song mean a lot to me...especially the chorus.

You can go over to my player and click on the song by Mercy Me while you read them. Or not.

"Bring The Rain"

I can count a million times

People asking me how I

Can praise You with all that I've gone through

The question just amazes me

Can circumstances possibly

Change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was changed

Long before these rainy days

It's never really ever crossed my mind

To turn my back on you, oh Lord

My only shelter from the storm

But instead I draw closer through these times

So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace

Bring the chance to be free

Bring me anything that brings You glory

And I know there'll be days

When this life brings me pain

But if that's what it takes to praise You

Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of

The clouds that may loom above

Because You are much greater than my pain

You who made a way for me

By suffering Your destiny

So tell me what's a little rain

So I pray

Holy, holy, holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Bike Riding

We recently made a trip to Cali and inherited something that has been a long time coming. I've wanted one of these guys for a long time.

Craig and Mendi were moving into their new house, and it was time to 'clean house' per se...and I scored. It seems Craig bought this here burley cart not very long ago and has just realized that they don't really have a use for it. Since his kids are between the ages of 5 and 17, I would have to agree. I believe he finally realized it when Meg just couldn't squeeze in there.

Ever since we brought it home, it has been put to use. We ride up to the gas station and get treats, we go up to the little pond that is in the middle of our sub-division, or just cruise around. Dawson absolutely LOVES it. And Karly, well riding a bike is her favorite thing to do right now.

Here is Dawson getting ready to go for a ride. I think if you'll look real close you'll be able to hear him say...or rather yell "Thank you Uncle Craig!!"

Tickle Monster

My living room hasn't been 'my living room' in quite some time. The kids seem to have a very keen interest in games involving pillows.

As you can see by the following video, they gather all, and I mean all the pillows in the house, including the twenty six that are on my bed and drag them downstairs. They pile them up in the corner between the two couches and begin their childish game. This game is just plainly called "The Jumping Game". Pretty self-explanatory...they stand on the arm of my couches and jump as high as they can onto this mountainous pile of cotton. Or they stand at the opposite end of the couch and jump, jump, jump across the couch and one final big jump onto the pillows. "Doesn't that make you nervous?" You ask. Ummm...yes. This particular "game" doesn't get played all that often.

The other game that gets played here is "Tickle Monster". This game consists of three (or more) giggling children and one really cool Dad. The kids ask him multiple times a day if he'll play and usually a couple of times a week, he does.

The monster, and a monster he is....hides under the pillows and when said children jump onto them, the monster reaches out and tickles the snot out of them. Why this is considered fun I will never know.

But then again...so many things were fun as a kid and just don't do a whole lot for me now. I always wondered why on earth 'old people' didn't like roller coasters. How can that be...they are the greatest thing. Or water slides? Come on people...those are GREAT! Now, not so much. I now understand what they meant when they said it made them dizzy, lightheaded and felt like they needed to hug the trusty porcelain bowl. I SO understand.

Oh to be a kid again...

Just so you know....no children were harmed in the making of this video.

Frogs in the house...

Well, not frogs...but certainly A frog. As I was working at my computer this morning, I noticed something dark on the floor a few feet from my chair. With Dawson at my side, I said...

"What IS that?" I, on my tiptoes, carefully crept over to it. Me, being very apprehensive...Dawson, not afraid at all. Before I could even make it out, he says...

"A fwog".

Me, not really believing him said "What! A frog???!!!??" So, I slowly leaned in a little closer, and sure enough it WAS a frog. I got my camera out to take a picture, but I was having difficulties getting it to focus on it and didn't think anyone would believe that it REALLY was. It was dead, of course...but still a FROG was in my house. How does that happen?

Making Memories...

I'm sorry it took me so long to get you these camping pics...I guess that's what happens when you go to get your camera because you REALLY want to get this shot...and you realize....the battery had died. Not even enough life to power on.

If I had a lot of time...I might spend some of it arranging these pictures so they made more sense...and then maybe rearrange some more. But, I don't have a whole lot these days...

I see it all so different in my little brain, but...I just never can present it in such a way...
Miss Donna Lee insisted that this would be the most horrible picture ever because of this and that but I think it's pretty darn cute of her...Not too bad of Patsy either. Although, she may just kill me when she see's that I've posted this. I really hope that doesn't happen. I don't think she'd be able to live with herself.



We would have loved to have had some orange juice...but this being our only pitcher....didn't happen. It seems this here 'outdoor kitchen' puts off some mean heat. This would be the mean outdoor kitchen in it's entirety. I have to say, cooking and cleaning was actually fun. I really enjoyed our outdoor kitchen. And when I say "our", I mean Jason and Donna's.

Although there were no 'hook-ups'....we were hooked up
He just gets cuter and cuter....and more and more ornery. I never knew that THAT was how you spelled 'ornery'. Seriously, doesn't it just look weird?

Just the three of us...
Triple trouble...the littlest monster, Caden is missing. We're really in for it when he's big enough to wander about with 'the boys'.
Theresa, Pat, myself and Donna....The brute in the back?? Oh no you di'int


Mmmmm....smores. Seriously, I had NEVER seen so much dirt in my life. This campground was covered in like silt. Not normal dirt, not normal at all.
Aubrey Rose
See! My feet looked like this the entire weekend. Is that disgusting or what? I really had to just let it all go about 5 minutes after we arrived. You know, after I had just cleaned our tent (yes, tent) and Dawson (looking like this here foot) came in and rolled all over our beds...I had to just let it go...
This REALLY could have been a nice lil' family picture.
Oh my. I can't even begin to express myself with this one.

He was very proud of his tatoo AND his owie. He was having a hard time doing the muscle pose. Keith and I tried and tried to show him how to pose the correct way for me...but this was all he could give us. Good enough.


This really could have been a nice lil' family picture too. What's wrong with me? Oh yeah, it's called getting old. Hag, dirty, no makeup, and in dire need of a hot shower.
Remember when you didn't care about getting dirty? About totally sticky hands and smeared faces. When you could totally devour a smore in like 26.8 seconds and lick every finger in under a minute? I can't either.

Is she not the cutest thing?
A widdling woe...That would be Jason's leg


At this particular camping spot, we had our own little inlet of the creek. It was really cool. We were able to set our chairs right here in the middle of the chickens and watch them play. It was SO cool, in fact....that the snakes even decided to join us.

Yes, yes....It was right under that there umbrella.....I sat looking downstream and dangled my feet in the water as it ran through my toes...moving them back and forth as I watched my spawn fighting, arguing, splashing, crying...and then there in the back of my mind I was thinking "eeeew, seaweed. Must. Get. It. Off. My. Foot." Only it wasn't getting off. And then I looked down and realized it wasn't seaweed. No, if only it could have been. It was indeed a snake and for some reason, it decided to linger right there around my foot for much longer than I would have liked. So, needless to say, I screamed. Really loud. Keith, who wasn't far from me, tried to grab it by the tail...but it quickly escaped into the bushes. Definitely not a highlight for me. Maybe for some of the others, but not me.
These boys thought they were SO cool to be 'balancing' on these intertubes for like 867 (of their) seconds. I just couldn't burst their bubble by telling them that the tubes weren't really floating, that they were actually standing on the ground. I wouldn't do that. That would just be mean.

We drove up to Idaho City on the evening of the fourth to watch the firework show. Well, more so to have some ice cream probably...but to watch the show too ;o)
We had no idea what we would find...
Now this town was very old and extremely small. Picture Tombstone, the movie. That's what this place looked like, no joke.So we just followed a few cars, thinking "they must be going to see the show right? Where else would they be going?" Indeed, they were. We ended up on a football/track field with many others who were ALL lighting their own fireworks. It was like a war zone. Kids holding bottle rockets as they lit them.....many with the totally illegal ones. You know, like those you see at Disneyland. Right behind us. And in front of us...and on the side. It was craziness. "Why did you stay?" you ask. I. Don't. Know. Really, I wonder now. Some of our kids crying because of all the smoke in their eyes...us ducking every few seconds. Let's just say that a few of us were VERY eager to leave. Us Nervous Nelly's.

What would camping be without a guitar?

This is his passion....his joy....his escape
The girly pose? There it is.

Dylan decided to do a cartwheel over a chair....not realizing the chair might collapse. That's just what it did. That's where the shiner came from.
Sometimes when I tell Dawson to "smile", he looks at me like this.
Peek-a-boo
How cute are they?
Dawson and Lexi.

Other then being covered in dirt and being visited by the devil, I mean, the snake, we did pretty good. Laughed, ate, made some memories, ate some more...that's what camping is all about.

Tears, Fears and Oh My's....

A few weeks ago, Karly decided she wanted to ride a bike with NO training wheels. Keith decided to take on that challenging task one evening.


As you can see by this picture, what started out as an exciting adventure, quickly turned into a terrible thing.

It ended (after a few short minutes) in tears and "I'm scared"...She then got on her bike with the training wheels and she was happy as can be.

Recently, I had playday here and she saw Brandon riding a bike with NO training wheels. When I told her that even Aubrey could do it, the look in her eye was clear that.....It. Was. On. Since Brandon and Aubrey are both younger than her....there was no WAY that she wasn't going to conquer it THAT day. So with the help of her mama and Sister Donna (trading off running down the street), she did it...in a very short time.


And ever since that day, she wants to ride it ALL the time. Just look at her beaming smile...as if there would be any other look on her face. And yes, I know...a skirt and boots does not go well with the whole bike thing...but hey, the girl is into fashion. Very much into it...and she's making a statement.


Why is it that this picture makes me so happy and yet so sad? I've heard all my life about the rate at which kids grow and how "time flies" and "enjoy every moment, they'll be gone before you know it". I've always heard this and I've always thought that I WAS enjoying every moment. But moments go by very fast. It's as if I've blinked and my babies aren't babies anymore.


This is a happy time, but I can't help but be a little bit sad too. I wish I could squeeze them really tight to keep them from growing. I've tried a few times. It doesn't work.

Birth Order (or Birthorder?)

I'm sure it has something to do with being the third child. The whole wanting-to-be-big thing. Today Dawson came to me and said "Okay Mom, get my teeth out"...just out of the blue, we weren't even talking about it...just a random request.

He's heard Dylan talking about losing his teeth, which by the way is quite a slow process. He's only lost two and one of those I forced out because the new one was coming in BEHIND it! He's had several loose for a few years (it seems) now...but he's so afraid that it "will hurt", he won't work with them. Almost eight...isn't that a little old to not have lost his teeth? At least the front four? But then again, Dylan is definately NOT excited to grow up. He wants to be a kid forever, because "being old is not fun".

Dawson, on the other hand is SO excited to be big that he thinks he can do everything the others do. Whether it's swim with no floaties (or for all you Idahoans - water wings), stay up, ride a two wheeler, loose his teeth...Being a third child myself, I sure don't remember that. Wanting to be big...although, now that I think about it, my mom has told me many times that I HAD to do everything myself and was very independent. So, maybe it is a birth order thing...or maybe he just inherited it from me?

About those camping pictures? I would SO love to see them myself, but haven't yet. I'm afraid it just might be December before I do...

Away for a few days

We will be out of town for a few days...so I won't be posting for awhile. Sorry Valerie. BUT, when I return...I will post a bunch of pictures from our super duper fun camping trip over the fourth. Since my battery was dead when I pulled my camera out...I had to use another camera to capture all the fun. Once I receive those pictures from....ahem....someone, I can post 'em.

Come back next week ;o)