WAY BACK WEDNESDAY - DAWSON'S FIRST FOURTH

These are Dawson's 9 month pictures. He did such a good job and was such a fun chubby baby!!!

VACAY 2012

We LOVE going to Boise/Meridian to visit with my aunt Sondra. She is so much fun and we really enjoy being able to visit and hang out.  This year, the 'vacay'was just that.  Visiting, hanging out, watching Dairy Days Parade and seeing Robyn and Jason's new house.

We took the scenic route Thursday through Filer to pick up equipment that was headed to Boise.  It was quite a quaint little town.  We even saw a sign for 'Jolley Acres' near Buhl Idaho.  It was fun to see something with your name on it.  Too bad we didn't get a picture.

Thursday night we played a couple of phases of Phase 10 and headed to bed.  Friday, Sondra worked in the morning and Brandon and I ran to drop off the equipment and see if we could find a white shirt for Kate and a book about our camera at the mall.  We were not successful in the later.

Friday night was good 'ole Dairy Days parade that we LOVE! 

 

Brady, Dawson, Faith

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Sondra, smile and look at the camera!

The girls!

 

Royce family plus Kate

 

Brandon and me

Colt and Jason

The girls loved waving at the princesses!

Kate even said, "Hey everybody!  We're here for candy and toys!"  It was so funny!

Dawson was really getting into it.  I wish that I would have gotten video of him dancing to the drums.  It was awesome!  He grabbed so many string cheeses.  \And then he hooked on his ziplock to his shirt so he could scoop up even more candy.

 

Fun ride on a float

This is always my favorite float every year.  Their youth usually sings and dances along the route.  It is a local church.

I couldn't help but share this one.  It reminded me of what Texas looked like everywhere!

Kate was excited to see a little school bus like the one that she rode for school this year.

 

Bristol was getting so many things too!  She was more interested in seeing what she had than seeing what was coming up next!

Kate had a sleepover at the Royce's new house.  The next day we went to say hello and see their new house.  I am bummed that I didn't get any pictures.  We stayed for a couple of hours visiting.  Her house is looking great and they are making quite a few upgrades and updates.  The kids played and Jason (with a little help from Brady) burned quite a few things ...

I did not get a picture in the height of it, but it was VERY hot and had flames going.

 

The kids kept coming to 'check it out'

Colt and Dawson

Brady is SO great with my kids!  They had so much fun playing Life and with their DS'.

 

We attend sacrament in their ward and took baby James to Sondra's house.  We bathed him and got him down for a nap.  Kate was 'in love.'  On the way home, she said, "How did you know I wanted a baby brother?"  It was too cute.

One the way out, Dawson just started crying so hard.  He really likes it here and feels comfortable with Aunt Sondra.  I had all of the kids take their going goodbye pictures in the car.

Don't worry Buddy!  We'll be back soon!

PASS REWARD FOR FAITH

Phil Meador Toyota has run a program called "PASS" (Perfect Attendance Spells Success) for the last couple of years for the 5th graders in Southeast Idaho.

This year, Faith became a 5th grader and with that had a chance to earn the PASS reward, a new bike.  The rules are that you have to attend every day ... bell to bell attendance.  No doctors appointments, no dentist appointments, no leaving early.  The challenge?  What if you become sick? 

In 3rd grade, she missed 17 days.  We could not keep her healthy, so we decided to take out her tonsils (aka throat nuggets).  In 4th grade, she missed 16 days because we took out her tonsils (aka throat nuggets). 

We were unsure of how the year would go, but this was a good goal.  I am not a fan of perfect attendance because of the kids that go to school sick.  I was one of those kids in 3rd grade.  I barfed all over my desk and then refused to go home.  I'm sure Mrs. Chambers was so thrilled I wanted to stay.  Faith made it with just a couple of colds.  She never had a fever, never had the stomach flu.  So, she went everyday. 

Phil Meador had a BBQ to reward all of the kids with their brand new bikes.  Chubbuck Elementary was well represented and many of the kids were in Faith's class.

The police department tagged all of the bikes for free.  If it gets stolen and recovered, they will know where to take it back to!  All of the kids also receive a new bike helmet!

My take?  Well, Faith had an incredible year and ended with all A's.  On her ISATs, she scored high proficient in everything, except language, which she scored advanced.  I think that it helped that she was there everyday to learn.

Faith, we are so proud of you for achieving perfect attendance!  Give yourself a pat on the back and then take a nice bike ride!

MWA MATCHING FUNDS YARD SALE 2012

This year, our little youth service club decided to help a local woman in need of help covering medical expenses that her insurance would not cover.  She has MS.  Our youth service club sponsored though Modern Woodmen of America would match the first $500 raised!

We started gather items for the sale about 2 months ahead of time.  Anya, our club leader, was great about taking most of the donations to her house.  Needless to say, her garage was packed!  Others in our neighborhood and club came to help organize Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, the chaos started.  My Grandma, Zoey, donated so much too, which really helped out.

Image my surprise when about a week before, I found out that we were doing this project for my old roommate and coworker, Stephanie Bearnson.  I could not have been more thrilled because I love this woman!  She has the most positive attitude in life and always is smiling.  Life may have handed her lemons, but she has definitely had lemonade.

 

Stephanie and I worked at AmeriTel Inn together and roomed together for a short period.  It was then that she fell madly in love with Brad and became engaged.  She started having a few problems and symptoms and thought that it could be MS.  It was only a week or two before she was married that she received the diagnosis.  

Although I have not stayed as close to her as I would like, I continue to be in awe of a woman that does anything that she sets her mind to.  She is truly amazing! 

It was a very cold day, in the 40s, with wind.  We had several things knock over and some glass did break.  By noon, the weather was threatening rain.  Our information did not make it into the paper, but we did do fairly well considering. 

The kids put together a cupcake and lemonade bake sale.   I didn't not get a picture of how cute it was.  The adults did most of the work for this project though!!!

Anya

Kendra sorting clothing

Trent hauling away tables

Towards the end of the sale, we saw this monkey.  It was truly creepy, with matted hair, half cut off eyelashes, and yellow underwear.  Occasionally it will even blink.  I was trying so hard to get someone to take him home because it was just unreal.  I couldn't let him go to the DI ... we have big plans for this monkey.

I dropped him off at Kendra's house and when she got home, Reagan, her little girl, had him in her playhouse.  It's her monkey!  Very funny and just so glad he's not at our house!

2 YEARS

Faith has braces! This has been a long time coming.  It's not really about the straight teeth, but the severe overbite.  Over time, this would wear out the gums and a few of her teeth.

I hope that it works well and that she keeps her end of the bargain (brushing and flossing.)

Cheers to healthy teeth!

WAY BACK WEDNESDAY - SHORT HAIR

I believe that this is before I had Dawson. Megan cut my hair short like this. It was a very fun hair cut that I kept for a bit!  This is proof to all of my high school classmates who think I look like when I graduated ... gulp ... 16 years ago!

SUMMER REWARDS

The day after soon ended, we started summer workbooks to keep the kids on track.  For doing 7 days in May, each kid could pick up a reward ~ either skip a chore or a shaved ice.  All 3 chose shaved ice.   Our favorite place is in Smith's parking lot. 

They were so excited about our reward, but this was the best that we could do to take a picture.  Crazy children!!!  Kate and Dawson picked rainbow, Faith bubblegum/rootbeer, and I had strawberry kiwi.

Hope to continue the motivation for me as well as the kids because the rewards keep getting bigger and better!