Labor day Weekend

On the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, the City of Boise held their annual Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic.  It actually starts on Wednesday and went through Sunday.  They start inflating the balloon right at Sunrise (around 7:00).  On Saturday I bravely woke the boys up before 6:00 in the morning, got them dressed and grabbed some breakfast on our way downtown.  It was a fairly nice morning (last year was really cold) and the boys had a lot of fun.  I was so glad that I had my camera ready and was able to capture these pictures of the boys being very entranced and in awe of the balloons as they started inflating. 

Bauer pointing to one of the balloons.  I just love the face  he is making. 

Deker.  I love how bright blue his eyes are. 

Keagan looking quite entranced.  When I told the boys on Friday night we were doing this, Keagan told me that his technology teacher would be there.  I didn't think we would see her because there are so many people.  But she was actually a crew member for one of the first balloons we saw as we got into the park.  Keagan said hi to her and she showed them the inside of the basket and how the balloons inflate and what her job is.

The balloons as they started inflated and lifting off. 

I love this picture of all the boys as well. 

The Mickey Mouse balloon.

The Balloon Festival is at a park that has a stream running through it.  So of course on our way back to the car the boys had to play in it with sticks and talk to the ducks that are there.  

As we walked back to our car, Deker walked along the water with a long stick dragging in the water. 

I was really looking forward to Labor Day this year.  With Keagan now in school and Andrew's work schedule, there are very few days that we have an entire day to spend together doing fun stuff as a family so we took this opportunity and went to the zoo.  We packed a lunch as well so that we could take as much time as we wanted. 

Here are the boys in their favorite "hut".

This was the last weekend of the Butterfly exhibit.  It costs and extra dollar to get in, but it was really worth it.  The boys and I went last year, but this was Andrew's first time.  It is always fun to see the different colors of butterflies.

This is one of my favorites.  When the butterfly is open like this, it is this pretty blue color, but the other side of its wings are brown. 

Usually when we are there this huge turtle is just sitting there.  This time, it was quite entertaining to watch.  It was trying to climb up on the wall. 

The birds nest.  I love looking back at other pictures and seeing how the boys have grown. 

Next to the zoo is a rose garden that is free to wander around in.  We decided to go look at the flowers (the boys, of course only cared about the water fountain and going through the different paths.   Here are a few pictures we took of the flowers.

We had such a wonderful day and really enjoyed having a day to spend together as a family.

Our Recent Happenings

With all that has been going on lately, I decided that I needed/wanted to work on some projects.  I am so grateful that Andrew was so willing to help me out with them.  I absolutely LOVE how they all turned out. 

Deker and Bauer (Keagan was at school) were so excited and couldn't wait to help paint. 

Here are the finished projects.  These first two pictures are of things we put up in the living room.  We had gotten an old window from our friends who were remodeling a house.  I finally got around to cleaning it up, painting it and adding vinyl.  I also found this quote "Family, like branches on a tree we all grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one."  I also remembered that I saw a metal tree at a new store and thought it would go well with the quote and I had a 20% off coupon.

Next, I wanted to make this sign.  We had some boards in the garage that were cut too small when the bunk bed was being made and they worked perfectly and we used paint that we already had. 

This one is at the end of the hallway which I always thought needed something.  So, after looking at things I pinned on Pinterest, I decided on doing this with the 6 "B"s from President Hinckley. 

This one was all pretty much Andrew, but we finally got around to building this teeter totter that my sister Vera showed us several month ago.

Now, for some other random happenings in our house. 

Last Sunday when we got home from church, I didn't put my shoes away right away.  This is what I found Bauer doing after lunch.

Last Wednesday evening, we were all out in the back yard.  I was reading a book, Andrew was working on a project and the boys were playing.  Bauer was at the swing when he started crying.  I had figured he just fell of the swing and that he would be just fine, but when I went to check on him he was bleeding really bad from his mouth.  After getting him inside and looked at where the blood was coming from, we realized that he had knocked out one of his front teeth.  We took him to the dentist the next morning to make sure that it hadn't been pushed up or broken off or anything.  They took X-Rays and much to our relief it was just knocked completely out.  He will now just have 1 front tooth for quite a few years. 

What a Weekend

As you all probably know, my little brother has been living with us this summer while he attended the Northwest Lineman's Collage (where they teach them about electrical work on power poles and stuff) which is about 5 miles from our house.  This past weekend was his graduation so my parents and my sister Vera came and visited for the weekend.

First of all though...Last week Neal asked Bauer if he would carry him upstairs, Deker decided he wanted to help.  Here is how it looked: 

Now onto the graduation festivities.  On Friday morning was the Lineman's rodeo.  There were 4 different stations that each crew had to do.  Here is a picture of Neal doing the Pole Top Rescue (rescuing someone, in this case a dummy, who got hurt at the top of a pole).

My Mom and two of my boys watching. 

There was a Bucket Truck that we could get rides in if we wanted to.  We all did, with the exception of Bauer.  Here is Deker and I ready for our ride. 

Keagan and Aunt Vera ready for their ride.

Bauer trying on Neal's hard hat.

Here is a picture that my Dad took from up in the bucket truck.  I included this because when Deker and I were up in the truck, there are several things to look at.  All of a sudden Deker says "Mom, I see a farm tractor".  If you look out at the top right hand of the picture, you can barely see a Farm Tractor. 

That night was the actual Graduation.  Since Andrew was working, I got a babysitter to watch the boys so that I could go.  Here we all are outside our house after we got back. 

Neal's favorite dessert is Striped Delight.  So I made that for him.  The top is cool whip and I wasn't sure what to use to pipe something on top because he doesn't like frosting.  So I tried using chocolate syrup.  It didn't turn out the greatest, but it was worth the try.  (You can get the recipe Here on Smithalicious.)

Saturday was another fun filled day.  When I was getting my boys ready for the day, Keagan asked for a Mohawk, then Deker decided he wanted one and of course Bauer didn't want to be left out.  So,  here are my cute Mohawk boys. 

We decided to go to the Farmers Market in downtown Boise.  Vera, being the wonderful aunt that she is got "animal balloons" for each of the boys.  They all chose swords. 

Keagan has really outgrown his bike, but we were going to wait until Christmas to get a new one, but a neighbor of ours who has older boys called us earlier in the week and gave us this bike.  Keagan took a few days to figure out how to ride it since it is bigger than he was used to, but he finally got the hang of this on Sunday.  Neal got on it play with Keagan.  Keagan saw him and said "Neal stop you are making my tires go flat". 

I had read earlier in the week that the city of Boise was hosting a Celebratory ride and birthday celebration with Gold Medalist Kristin Armstrong (she is from Boise and won the gold medal in 2008 & 2012 in the Time Trial).  Being the cyclists that a bunch of my family has become, we decided to go and participate.  She lead a short 1.5 mile ride from the Boise Depot to the Idaho Capitol where the celebration was held.  They had cake to celebrate her birthday and she signed posters that they gave out with a picture of her on the medal stand with her son. 

Here is Kristin talking to us for a minute before we started the ride.  She also talked at the celebration.  One thing that she said was something to the effect of when she was on the medal stand she wanted to show her son that dreams are possible and she also wanted to show all the moms that you can have dreams and goals and it is all about having a balance.  That was something that I really needed to hear. 

I was able to get a picture with her.  Then we all got a group picture with her. 

I don't have any picture of this, but Friday was also my Dad's birthday.  Because of all the stuff for graduation, we didn't really get to celebrate until Saturday.  We all got to go do dinner then came home and had Black Forest Cake, which is one of my Dad's favorite desserts. 

Up, Down and Up again.

Up:  

In July, Andrew's parents took the boys for a week.  We met them in Twin Falls one Saturday afternoon so that they wouldn't have to drive all the way to our house.  Andrew and I decided to rent a Hotel in Twin Falls and stay there for the weekend.  We went to the temple, relaxed and discovered a little of Twin Falls.  Here is a picture of us by a waterfall we happened to find. 

Down:
We were so glad that we had that weekend to spend together because a lot of crazy stuff happened during the week.  On Thursday of that week, I excitedly went to an OB appointment where I should have been 10 weeks along.  During the ultrasound, it was discovered that the baby had died about a week before.  I ended up going in the following Thursday for a D&C.  It was a hard time, but thanks to all the many wonderful prayers and the support from our family and friends (both near and far), we have made it through. 

Up:
The kids have been having lots of fun playing outside, swinging, riding bikes and any other activities that we have done.  Here are some pictures my sister took while she was here of the boys swinging and Keagan jumping off the swing (his new favorite thing to do). 

Up for Keagan, I am not sure for me:

Keagan started 1st grade this past Tuesday.  He was so excited for 1st grade and eating lunch at school and it has definitely lived up to his expectations.  He loves 1st grade, being gone all day, eating lunch at school and his teacher.  He actually told me that he loves school because it is less time at home.  I still don't know how to take that comment. 

While Keagan was at school Deker, Bauer and I made him his giant first day of school cookie.

Up:
Last night, we took down the crib and put Bauer in a big boy bed.  He was so excited and kept saying "mine, mine" while pointing at his bed.  When we put him in bed last night, he didn't try to get out and just went right to sleep.  And he didn't even fall out of bed at all.  He was all smiles when I went into his room this morning.