Images of Summer

Plenty of ice cream...

Plenty of water...

What more do you need?

Maybe some mad bumper car driving...
I had to add this video because it cracks me up! Last week my mom took us to Pojo's. We didn't know if Ethan would be able to figure out the bumper cars, I remember being confused on how to run these when I was 14...well apparently Ethan is a bit more mechanically minded than his momma. Not only did he figure it out, he was a wild man! He would pull those levers back, eye the person he wanted to bump and go after them with a vengeance. My mom and I were giggling so hard we were crying. Good thing we've got a few more years until he gets his license.

Disco Fever

Uncle James and Aunt Erica came to visit this past weekend. When they pulled out tonight Ethan was so sad, "I want them to stay!"
On Thursday we went to a disco party to celebrate Erica's parents birthdays.
Ethan was in on the preparations:

Our groovy outfits. Erica and I did a little thrift store shopping that day and made my bell bottoms.

My mom won the best costume award.

Shakin' a groove thing or two!

Western Idaho Fair

Last week my mom and I took the boys to the fair. It was a fun, hot day - we were there from 1:30-10:30. We enjoyed the animals, the food and the entertainment.

My favorite was when this lamb came and tried to blow a zerbert in my mom's ear while she was taking pictures of the boys. She didn't appreciate the lamby love.

Caden getting ready to watch the pig races.

Ethan watched some kids do a pedal tractor pull and wanted to join in, so we went back a few hours later to sign him up and discovered it was for kids ages 4-12. So I signed up my "4 year old Ethan," and hoped he wouldn't correct the announcer about his true age.

He loved it! He was able to pull the 200 lb. tractor and trailer about 15 feet, not the 25 feet he needed to do to qualify for the next round. When he finished he was grinning even though he said, "I didn't make it to the right number mom."

Ethan joining the performers dancing on stage.

That evening we bought a plate of mini donuts and decided to go to the free Kool and the Gang concert. By the time we walked over to the Grand Stand both boys were fast asleep.

We found a good place to park the strollers, Caden woke up as soon as the announcer said, "hello Boise!" but Ethan slept through the entire concert. We finally woke him up for the last song.

Can you spot Grammy Tammy and Caden in the mosh pit?

Not quite the Iowa State Fair...but definitely a memorable day!

Basic Math

2 new "Grandpa hats" brought out on the boat to surprise Grandpa

+

8 pieces of fried chicken

+

1 boat

+

1 lake ready for swimming

+

1 orange flag

+

3 able boat drivers

+

1 red ski

+

1 Grammy who preps to ski listening to Billy Idol's "Mony Mony"

+

0 fish caught

+

7 hungry ducklings

+

= My Perfect Summer Day

Ethan's Surprise

Coming to Boise last Sunday Ethan knew that Tuesday morning he was going to have a surprise!

On our way to the big secret...

For Father's Day my dad got a helicopter lesson/ride package, and he decided to use it while Ethan was in town. As we got closer Ethan saw a helicopter fly overhead and once he saw the helicopter sign on the building he knew that his surprise was a helicopter ride and he was thrilled!

Literally skipping to the heli-pad.

Since there were no doors in the back Ethan got to ride in the front with the pilot.

Ever since Christmas when he saw us take a helicopter ride he has been really into helicopters, so it was a dream come true for him! What an adventure!

R.I.P. Brown Dog

If you follow my blog at all you've probably read about Brown Dog. I even included him on our blog header this year because really he was a part of our family. That is why I am so sad to announce the end of Brown Dog. Ethan left him in a park in Provo and after returning to search for him high and low he was gone (hopefully someone else is enjoying little Brownie).

The last picture of Ethan and Brown Dog.

He is trying hard to be brave, but it still breaks my heart to hear him say, "I miss Brown Dog Mom." He's still clinging to the hope that Brown Dog will come back!

Clark was flying in that same night that Brown Dog was lost. He had bought a new house for Brown Dog to bring to Ethan as a surprise. He ran to Toys R Us on the way to the airport and found a new Brown Dog to go in the house.

This was the new little buddy waiting that night for Ethan to come find him the next morning:

Ethan was happy with his new pup, and insists that we call him Brown Dog. But its not quite the same, he won't sleep with him, and is not quite so attached.

Tonight I realized this love of Brown Dog is probably genetic.

On the left is Clark's beloved brown dog Joseph from when he was a boy, and on the right is my Dad's brown dog from when he was young.

So we say good-bye to Brown Dog, thanks for the memories!

Celebrating 6 Years

Late Friday night Clark flew into Salt Lake City so we could celebrate our 6th Anniversary! Crazy how fast 6 years have gone by.
The boys were so surprised to see Clark Saturday morning and trailed him around like little shadows. That afternoon my parents gave us the best anniversary gift ever, they took the boys with them back to Boise...so Clark and I had 24 wonderful kid free hours together.
We met my brothers at the Olympic Park in Park City.

Practicing for the skeleton

The last time I saw this ski jump was during the 2002 Olympics when there were competitors flying through the air.

After checking out the Olympic Museum we took a chairlift to the top of the mountain above this ski jump to ride the Extreme Zip Line.

This scary wink was just the sun in my eyes.

It was AWESOME! They strapped us into the harness, opened the door and we flew (up to 50 mph) down the hill right over the ski jump.

Weston and Erica just waiting for the door to open.

James took a little video on his way down, somehow his wife Erica went SO much faster than him, it was awesome:

Me and Clark - he was ahead of me the whole way until right at the end:

What a great anniversary to celebrate 6 years with the best husband I could ask for!

Adventures of the Homeless

I refer to August as our homeless month! The last 15 days have been an adventure. Clark is currently living with his brother Rex and their family while he works in Greeley, CO. The boys and I stayed there a few days and then hit the road with our Jeep literally loaded to the brim. Thanks to wonderful family and friends our homeless month has been a blast, I had so much fun socializing I even lost my voice.
Our first stop was Vernal to visit my wonderful Grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins. The boys loved having so many kids to play with. Ethan asked everyone, "who are you? and what are you, a cousin?"

The boys loved scootering and riding bikes on Great Grandma's backyard sidewalks.

On Sunday night Grandma had an ice cream social with the family. 22 of the 30 grandchildren were there, and 15 0f the 16 great-grandchildren. There were 4 little one year olds running around. It was so fun to see everyone!

After a few days we headed to Salt Lake and stayed with my Grandpa Turpin and Nada. The boys loved staying in "the boat house," as Ethan calls it.

We were busy while were there. One day we went to Thanksgiving Point with Kelly and Sara.

Cute cousins only 5 months apart.

We loved hanging out with all of the kids when Matt and Kate got home from school. Caden mostly loved Gabby (the dog) and kept giving her big open mouthed kisses.

We were able to catch up with some of my high school friends and their cute kids again the next day at Thanksgiving Point.

I was so happy to be able to go to my brother James and my sister-in-law Erica's college graduations from BYU. I was thrilled to be able to go without my boys thanks to Aunt Peggy and our wonderful nephews that watched my boys all morning!!!

Erica graduated in Flute Performance

James graduated in Civil Engineering

I found this awesome fat cat for James and it ended up in 80% of his graduation photos.

Can you spot the college graduate?

Not bad for the first part of our homeless month!