Grandpa has arrived amidst shouts of hurray! Our journey begins tomorrow... ...pray for Grandpa!

Bathing Beauty Brielle

I think this picture proves just how much time we have spent in our swim gear this summer. Brielle used to spend all her time dressing up as a princess or wearing my shoes. These days, this is what makes her feel pretty.... ...a good look, No?

Partyin' in San Angelo

We were lucky enough to convince some of Jody's family members to come and visit us here in our tiny apartment last week. Veronica, Shane, and Jaeli were driving through on their way home from Tennessee, so Cam, Michelle, and kids drove up here to hang out with all of us. The few days that their visits overlapped, we had 15 people in this little two bedroom apartment--that's an adventure in itself! We divided most of our time between the swimming pool, the lake, and the park in an attempt to just get enough air!

The kids had a blast on the tube ( I even hopped on a couple times!) and Jody was just thrilled to finally get a chance to wake board and ski.

We hauled all the kids to Brielle's favorite park -- this park has a special slide that she could spend all day on. The rest of them liked it quite a bit too.

Eventually, Uncle Shane found a way to make it even more fun. It was his bright idea for the kids to "surf" down it -- they caught on pretty quickly, but I'm not sure if the other playgroup moms are going to be happy with me.

Kutter looks so tough now that he's got it down, and can you see how happy Brielle is in the background?

Who could have fun at the pool without chicken fights? Not our group!

When we were all crammed into the apartment because of bad weather (or sheer exhaustion) we spent most of our time just watching the kids play together. Brielle and Shayla finally spent some quality time together....

...even though I'm pretty sure that Andin will always have her heart.

At one point, I think even the little kids noticed how crowded the place was and they retreated under the bathroom sink. It was actually quite adorable. I caught Brielle and Shalya trying so hard to hide under there, but they would climb in and not be able to shut the doors. Shayla would get in and say, "will you please shut the door?" Brielle would say "sure" and hop out to shut it, then promptly hop back in and say "will you please shut my door?" Shayla would hop right out and they started the whole thing over again. This went on for probably ten minutes before Andin discovered them and came to the rescue!

This place sure feels empty now!

Oh Yeah!

Apparently, I am not the only person in the world that believes ANYTHING can be made better with chocolate.

My prayers have been answered. Intoducing ....

That's right, people. Water now comes in chocolate! Happiness. Joy. And seriously, it doesn't even have calories! The world is now a better place.

Thanks, Michelle, for introducing me to this new little treat!

Just in case anyone's needing a little silly in their day!

Once again, my mom found a way to make sure we all felt a lot of love while we are so far from home. We got a lovely "little" package in the mail full of lots of goodies to make us smile. It really did feel a bit like Christmas. Jody got his big fat birthday check. Brielle got this adorable new sundress which she couldn't wait to model. I asked Breje to choose the best picture -- but it was tough, so here's the top two! Please excuse her cleavage. We're working on it, but dontcha love her tan line? I'm loving Breje's new dress, but isn't she looking just way too grown up? I got an adorable new shirt, you'll just all have to believe that I look totally hot in it, as the pictures were terrible and I deleted them all! (sorry mom, I just couldn't do it) I do seriously love it -- almost as much as the bagfull of quarters she sent! Yep! Quarters are the new IT thing around here as they have become such a necessary part of our routine. These should keep us in clean clothes for the rest of the month! The boys each got these giant Bakugans. I really have no idea how to spell that, but it sure made them happy! They're extra great, because they are actually big enough not to get lost every other minute! Brielle also got this cute doll with snap-on/snap-off clothes. Think she likes it? To top it all off, Grandma slipped in a couple sets of marker paints that have brought us hours of peace and harmony. We know have DOZENS of pictures similar to this one to bring home for Grandma! Thanks Grandma Linda! We love everything!

Happy Birthday Jody!

I had to take a quick minute to celebrate Jody's 38th (that's right kids, he's getting up there!) birthday! I had to laugh as we sat around our little apartment doing our best to make the most of this day. Jody's definitely done his best to make sure that our life together is never dull! We've celebrated birthdays in at least 6 different states, and more than double that number of homes. I'm pretty sure this isn't exactly how my husband pictured his 38th year, but I love that he makes sure that we are always right where we should be -- even when that's not the easiest thing to see. I also love that he makes sure it's never just about him. He asked for a wake board this year-- mostly because that will make us more fun to visit!

The kids told him he could choose how to celebrate his birthday, so yesterday he took us all out for steak and then we caught the 3D version of Ice Age 3. Today he made us all ice cream and then took the kids to the park (it was 99 degrees!-- that's love!) For him, it's ALWAYS about having fun together!

I know what you're thinking -- you're dying of jealousy that you missed out on this flashy little shindig! Eat your hearts out!

Girl's Day Out

Finding 6 hours to spend at Ross and the Mall, WITHOUT the boys? Darn near impossible.

Keeping Brielle in the cart/stroller for the majority of the time? About a dozen mini cookies, 4 pennies to throw in the fountain, and LOTS of begging.

Drinks and appetizers for the entire crew? Way more than you'd think!

Having a day to bond with my beautiful daughters and getting pics like these? PRICELESS

July 4th -- The Sequel

I couldn't quite wrap-up my 4th of July weekend posts until Michelle was kind enough to email me the pictures she snapped while we were waiting for the fireworks to begin. I couldn't help sharing a few because this has always been one of my favorite days of the year! This picture pretty much captures what I remember most about the fireworks growing up-- all the kids sitting on blankets or running around, eating whatever they can get their hands on and acting as silly as possible.
Brielle definitely got into MY favorite part of the holiday spirit! Seriously, I don't think she spent a moment all weekend without both hands full of junkfood!

She thought that she couldn't wait to see the fireworks, but she completely freaked when she heard the first one and spent the first half with this look on her face ....

...totally refusing to watch. About halfway through, she turned back around and started oohing and ahhing with the rest of us. Whatever kid!

Although the show was better than we had expected, we all headed back to Cam and Michelle's house for our own little fireworks display. Once again, Brielle was terrified and kept saying, "No, Daddy, not more!"

I also couldn't help sharing a couple more of the kids on the four-wheeler. They spent tons and tons of driving around in that heat!

Breje even spent plenty of time driving Brielle around, since Daddy proved early-on that he couldn't be trusted to go slow enough for her taste!

Also, since I so appreciated all of your concern over our current binkie situation, I thought I should let you know that she merely played with it for a couple of hours and then, happily, forgot that it had ever existed! Whew!

Our 4th of July Weekend

Jody was able to get some time away from class for the holiday weekend, so we were able to take a min-vacation to Cameron and Michelle's house to celebrate the fourth with them. It was a min-vacation because we only had four days, but we sure packed a lot in to them!

We spend our first full day visiting South Padre Island -- soaking up as much sun and sand (and food, or course) as is humanly possible! I got a little camera-happy. Please forgive me.... I'm pretty sure that Brielle and Shayla could've played in the sand for a week straight!

Except Jody and Breje kept snagging Brielle to play in the fun waves!

And then she had to make time for eating all of that sugar!

I love the way she looks at Andin like he is so soo lucky to be graced with her presence! He totally lets her play the role of princess to her hearts' content!

I love this one -- The kids had those looks on their faces for the majority of the weekend!

We filled the rest of the time with more good food than I can even begin to talk about, tons of movies, shopping, playing games (yes, there was Phase 10) even more food, and kids running around everywhere! My kids had forgotten what it was like to have so much space to move around in, and cousins to play with and they revelled in every moment.

They spent tons of time riding the boys' four-wheeler in the backyard. I snapped this when they got tired of waiting for the adults to come start it (it was seriously HOT outside) and so they were taking turns pushing each other on it. Is that fun? Apparently, yes!

I think the best part of the weekend (yes, even better than sleeping on a bed, eating at a real table, doing laundry IN the house, etc) was watching the kids' bonds with their cousins be strengthened by all that play time. They normally live pretty far away and it was good to see how quickly they become close when they do get a chance to be together!

#@*%##@*!

Brielle was not easy to ween from her pacifier. We made several, I mean SEVERAL failed attempts to rid our home of that thing! Each attempt began with a frenzied search for the missing binky that she so desperately wanted, led to an adamant refusal to spend another penny on those blasted things, at least one sleepless night while she begged and then screamed for one. Each attempt finally ended with her cheerfully finding at least one of the missing binkies the next morning. Not fun, people!
We finally did it, though. Months ago. We routed them all out, stood firm, and refused to buy anymore. Then we packed up a very small portion of our belongings and we moved to Texas. We've been her for a month and we can practically name every single belonging that we have with us. Brielle has completely forgotten all about her beloved binkies. So how in the #%@*#*! did this happen?! Seriously! How did it get here and where did she find it? I asked her about a million times. Each time she says, "Ummm. It's mine!" *#@^*!

Pool Pics

I know, I've got tons of time to blog, now and I just plain haven't. The thing is that we just don't do anything. Really! We are about as boring as it gets around here. I've looked through my camera, and these are pretty much all the pictures I have that I haven't shared. I'll try to do better in the future. Really, I will! In the meantime ... you get a few of my favorite pool pics. Enjoy!

Weekend Fun

First of all, I want to thank everyone for their comments on my last post. It makes me feel so loved to have all of your condolences!

Fortunately, we were able to get away from our cramped living quarters this weekend, and meet up with Jody's brother and his fam in San Antonio! Warning: This post is positively bursting with photos. My apologies!

This is us when we arrived Sat morning -- just before we completely melted! Seriously -- it was so hot that we finally gave-in and changed into our bathing suits for the rest of the day. This definitely helped our attitudes.

This is our poor clan trying to entice the dolphins to come a little closer. They were having none of that -- as you can see I couldn't even get one close enough to get them in the shot. My kids were hugely disappointed and it was all I could do to convince them this was not my fault!

While the dolphins fell a little short, this trip, the spooky 4-D movie was such a hit that we had to see it twice! The bonus to this one is that you got wet. (Did I mention that it was HOT!)?

I have to admit that Seaworld, San Antonio was a bit of a disappointment. The one in Orlando is much more family friendly, but Shamu (Or "Shampoo" as Brielle calls him)was definitely as cool as ever. For us, the very best part of the trip was getting to see Cam, Michelle, and kids. We haven't all been together in awhile and it was fun to see how close the kids still are. I was planning on Brielle and Shayla, who is only 4 months older, becoming really close, but they mostly admired each other from afar. The fun surprise was watching Shayla's older brother, Andin with Brielle. She figured out pretty quick that he worshipped the ground she walked on and she took full adavantage. It was so cute watching how attached they were to each other.

On Sunday we took a trip to the Alamo to see the sites and give the kids a little history lesson. (They had never even heard of Davy Crockett -- what are they teaching our kids these days!?)

I thought it was pretty cool and it's actually really beautiful up close. Can you tell that the kids are not nearly as impressed?

They were a little more appreciative once we got inside-- especially the boys. Nothing like Bowie knives, old guns and ammo, and some ancient cannons to get little boys interested in history!

Finally, we headed over to the Riverwalk since it was so close by. Since I was so excited-- the poor kids thought they were going to see something really great. Apparently, even the waterfalls and riverboats were not enough to make them walk around in that heat all day. We finally gave up after we snapped this quick photo. They look pretty done, don't they?

Thanks, Cameron and Michelle -- for all the fun, the water, and the ice cream!

Now who wants to come visit?

PS Hayley, now that I'm blogging again, don't you think this page needs a face lift -- you know, if you get bored .....

Home Sweet Home ... Sort of!

I kind of feel like we're living in some sort of freaky, alternate universe, or something. No aliens or cute vampires or anything -- just a surreal place that's missing most of our things and all of the people we love! Do I sound homesick? I really didn't mean to. This post is supposed to satisfy all of you who have been dying for a peek of the glory that is our new home. Here goes. This is our spectacular front door. It actually looks much nicer in the picture. I feel like I should get on Picnik and edit-in the dingy factor. You have no idea how badly I want to splurge on a welcome mat and a flower pot, or something. This proves I have a problem!

Notice our folding chairs for relaxing outside in the 108 degree weather -- they also double as our "company" chairs -- if anyone comes to visit we have to drag them inside so there's enough places to sit!

This is our cozy front room. The kids think that they have to sit right in front of the tv since it's so small. We have two of the fancy chairs that Trayson is lounging on in this pic. This has sparked numerous battles in our apartment. Good times!

This would be the boys' room aka, the dining room. Did I mention this place is cozy?

The girls actually get to share a bedroom, but Brielle is on the floor. We still don't trust her with a cot. The gray rubbermaid tub doubles as her nightstand and the boys' dresser. We are nothing if not resourceful!

Last, but certainly not least, is the master bedroom/office. We are currently on foam pads -- our fancy air mattress started leaking 4 days into this experiment. NOT my favorite part of this adventure!
While this experience has me desperately missing our actual home, it has already served to teach us a few lessons. First, I appreciate Idaho way more than I ever thought I would, if for no other reason that my bed is there!

Second, it really makes us realize how many great people we have in our lives. I thought I appreciated you all -- but I had no idea how much! Especially as I look around and see that so much of the few possessions we have here are actually donated by friends. Most of our furniture was generously donated by the "L" family -- you guys rock! and all of the rubbermaid bins that got us here and are now housing our clothing were furnished by the "w" family. Throw in everyone watching our yard, our animals, our house, our mail and I know that we are really really lucky to have you all!

Third, while I have spent most of my time complaining about how expensive it is to rent this nasty little apartment when we own a home -- it just occurred to me that it is seriously amazing that we can do it-- especially when it wasn't long ago that we wouldn't have even been able to imagine affording the rent here (anyone who saw our basement apartments will understand!)

We are also having tons of new experiences, so for now, we are just making the most of it and hanging in there.