Out on the lake again.... wahooo!

Boating twice in one week...how lucky are we??!!! We had a fun time on the lake last Thursday night. We went with some friends Brandon, Natalie, Chelsea & Shane & of course all the kids. It was windy and the water was choppy so it made for an exciting ride on the tubes. The guys went tubing and I am pretty sure Jared did a full cartwheel on the water. They were flying across the water. Then the girls went together. At first we thought Brandon was purposely trying to drench us because we were getting water sprayed right into our faces, but apparently the ropes were twisted along with the wind blowing the water right up our noses. After we got untangles we had a great time. A few times I went airborne and held my breath while I was in the air because I was sure I was going to wipe out when I landed, but amazingly enough I always landed back on my tube. The guys were laughing that every time we made a turn they would hear high pitched screaming. The kids also went out on the tubes. I took Lucy on the tube for the first time on my lap. She loved it. So..THANKS Brandon & Natalie.

Jared's sister Collette & her husband Curtis visited us last weekend. (Isn't Collette's little pregnant belly adorable?). We had lots of fun with them. Alivia also had a fun tea party on Monday with some friends from preschool. It was pretty cute.

Rex likes Jared to put him up on the wall so that it looks like he is walking on the floor. He gets a kick out of it.

Boating!!

On Monday night we were able to go boating with some friends. The weather was perfect and we had a blast. Rex and Alivia had so much fun on the tube. Lucy loved throwing rocks on the beach and eating the sand. She was super dirty, but she loved every minute. We love having a lake 3 miles from our house. Thanks Brent & JaNeale :)!!

A week of fun!

What a week

We love having visitors. This past week we had a fun, packed week with family. My sister Rebekah & her husband and kids came from Texas on Monday. On Tuesday my brother Steve & his wife & family came from Utah and then on Thursday Jared's parents drove up from Utah and stayed with us on their way to Washington for a wedding. It was a lot of fun. I like having people here. My sister and her family stayed until Saturday. We had a blast. We did all sorts of fun stuff. We went to the wildlife refuge, the waterfalls. Rich was brave and dove right in the icy water. Jared would have if he had brought his suit. The kids loved throwing rocks and climbing on everything. We also went to Swan Falls which was beautiful. Alivia had her Preschool graduation while they were here. Her teacher told me over & over what a sweet little girl Alivia is and how much she loved her. It is what every mother wants to hear about their child :). We will miss Alivia's teacher. She has been teaching at Alivia's school for 27 years and is retiring this year. We are proud of you Liv! We were able to go to the zoo. It is a smaller zoo which was nice because it was the perfect amount of time for the kids. Rex loved all of the animals except the Kimono dragon. Wow! He was really scared of that. He started crying and jumped right into the stroller. Of course we stayed up way toooo late talking and watching movies & ate way tooooo much yummy stuff. We had a great time!
On Saturday a friend of ours had a yard sale at her house and Alivia & Rex had a bubble gum/lemonade stand. They took it pretty seriously. Rex was in charge of the gum and Alivia was in charge of the lemonade. I think they ate 10 pieces of gum each and drank half of the lemonade. They earned $7 thanks to some heavy tippers. They are saving their money to go to Build a Bear workshop.
On Sunday Jared's parents came back into town and we were able to spend the morning with them and have a Father's Day lunch together. It was nice to have them here. So... the house seems quiet now and we miss our visitors. If you are ever our way, come on by, we would love it.

We love Daddy

I just wanted to write a little something for Jared for Father's Day. Those of you that know Jared know what a great guy he is. I have known Jared for 10 years and we have been married for 6 1/2 years...let's just say..he is very patient:). During that time I have learned so much and have grown to appreciate and love him more & more. He is a very kind person. He does thoughtful stuff for me like mowing a heart and I love you in the grass. He rarely gets upset and he a good dad. The kids love him so much and love spending time with him. He knows how to get me laughing and boost me when I need boosting. I feel very blessed. We love our dads and appreciate all that they do for us. Love ya dads &Happy Father's Day! Love ya Jared! You're zee best!!

our family of five

Our great friend Natalie was brave enough to take our family pictures the other day. THANKS NATALIE!! It is quite the job to get three kids to smile and all look in the same direction. She did a great job & we love the pictures. Here are a few of my favorites. The entire time we had to bribe the kids with fruit by the foot and a trip to McDonald's to get an ice cream cone when we were done. Lucy was pretty content eating whatever we gave her or whatever fell on the floor. I love how Rex's eyes disappear when he smiles. The kids change so fast. It is so fun to watch them grow up, but wish they would slow down a bit. We had a fun time and are excited to get some prints made.

Field trip

Alivia's preschool took a fun trip to a really cool place by the lake by our house. It is a designated place for wildlife and all sorts of birds. We saw a lot of cool nests and birds. The kids have been learning about habitats so they had a lot of fun exploring. I always enjoy going on the field trips with the kids. I think we will go back soon and take Rex this time.




Alivia's school is moving to a new location so they are trying to earn money for the new school. On Saturday they had a fundraiser.
We had breakfast and each class performed musical numbers. It was really cute. One of the little boys was singing his heart out. He was so loud and so off key...it was adorable! They also had all sorts of drawings and auctions. We had a great time.

Where are all the socks???

Ok so I am not going crazy! For a few weeks now, whenever I put the laundry away, some of the matches to the socks were missing. I checked the washer & the dryer and the washer again & still no socks. So I kept a pile of all of the socks that I couldn't find matches to. Well, the other day I was cleaning up Rex's room and I saw a bag back behind his bed. When I look inside I found a stash of socks...but not just socks...a load of bouncy balls as well. I laughed out loud when I saw them because Rex had stuffed a bunch of bouncy balls in the socks and decided he would keep them in a safe place. It was pretty funny. So now I have the matches back to all the socks....just in time for summer when the kids won't wear socks. If you have been to our house you know that we have 4 years worth of bouncy balls. Jared usually finds them at his store and occasionally the kids will get one out of the machine, so I hadn't noticed that a bunch of balls were missing. I love Rex's little creative mind. I can't remember what he called the bouncy sock balls. It was something funny:).

The other picture is what I find in Rex's room EVERY day, I swear. I will hang his clothes in his closet and come back a few hours later and they are all over the floor in his closet. When I was pregnant with Lucy we didn't find out if we were having a boy or a girl, but we had a boy & a girl name picked out. Jack or Lucy were the names. Well, obviously we had a girl, Lucy, now Rex saves all his stuff for baby Jack. So the pile in his closet is stuff for baby Jack. He is saving it for him. If I try & put it away, he puts it right back. It is pretty sweet. He also has a pile of stuff that he has outgrown that he is saving for Jack. The only problem is that he has to have it in his closet in the corner. Just a little bit of pressure to have a baby boy next.