6 Years Old

Rook is 6. It almost makes me sad, but then so glad because the older he gets, the more I enjoy him. He was such a sweet baby, with the worst skin rashes/eczema I had ever seen. After about 18 months, the sweetness was gone and he had a rough 3 years or so. There were a few good times here and there in between. (no joke) He was a pretty intense little guy. However, the older he gets the more I see how much I am going to enjoy him being my friend forever. There are lots of things I appreciate about Rook. I love his age. Kids say such funny things when they are in kindergarten. I love that he isn't so picky like his older brother. I love that he has such a great imagination. He can play all day long with a friend or by himself and I hardly hear from him. I love that he always tells me that he "loves me one-hundred"....I'm hoping that means a lot. :)

We had our family and friends over after conference for dinner and had a fantastic time! Rook got such fun things that will keep him busy for very long time! Thanks to You All who came.

3rd Day of School

Rook started kindergarten and Carter is in 3rd grade. That seems so crazy to me. I am not very good at remembering to take pictures, so 2 of the photos were taken the 2nd day of school and I took this picture of them getting off the bus the 3rd day of school. I figure they will never know what day it really was and they probably won't ever care...so oh-well. :)

Lots of Driving & Lots of Fun!

We've been busy these last couple of weeks. Last week my family drove to Twin Falls to see Shoshone Falls and City of Rocks. It ended up being a chilly weekend, but the scenery was pretty amazing. The boys loved staying in a hotel and had a great time swimming. They always love to spend time with their cousins.

A week later, we got back in the car and drove to Boise. Jared's sister Jamie got married and they had an open house. Once again...it turned out to be a chilly weekend! We all had such a great time being with family and seeing lots of friends and shopping for awhile. I really like Jamie's husband, Jamon. He's very down to earth. Carter can't remember his name and usually calls him Jason. Korbie is Jared's other sister in the last photo that is 'expecting'. She is having a little boy in November! We stayed way too late at the open house, we ended up pulling into our garage at 3:00 AM this morning!! I had a meeting this morning so I needed to get home.

Hopefully we can catch up on sleeping tonight.

I LOVE SUMMER

I haven't updated for way too long. We've been busy along with everyone else with baseball and t-ball this summer. Carter played coach pitch this year. He had a Great season. Jared was their coach, so that made it fun for him. This was Rook's 1st year of t-ball. He did a good job and never complained, so I was happy. Actually, I was shocked.

Jared also plays in a city league team and will have their tournament next week. You'll notice I never took and pictures of him. (sorry Jared)
Other than that, we've been busy swimming...playing with friends...out of town...and enjoying the Beautiful weather. I LOVE summer!!

Island Park, West Yellowstone..& The Proposal...not the movie

We went to Island Park this weekend to hang out with Jared's mom and family. The boys had a great time playing with their cousin and getting to see their Grandma, aunts, and soon to be uncle! Yes, Aunt Jamie is officially engaged! She is marrying a great guy and we are soooo excited for them.

We went to "Footloose" at the playmill Saturday night. We had front row seats (on the side), and I have never witnessed a show there that close before. My feet were right on stage, so I had to be careful not to get in their way. During the pre-show, during two different songs, a few girls went over to Carter and put their arms around him and sang to him and just embarrased him to death!! He pretended to hate it, but later asked if we could go back next year. He even woke up this morning and told me he had a dream about it. Rook was sure the girls loved him so much because of the way his hair was done, as you can see in the photo above that it was a little crazy??

We had a great time with everyone and missed the rest of the family that wasn't able to come.

T-Ball & 2-Wheels

Life is pretty exciting for Rook right now. He graduated from pre-school a couple of weeks ago. He and his best buddy went to Janet Rigby. Those kids just love her. I signed him up to play t-ball. They've had 2 practices and it's pretty interesting to watch. :)

He seems to enjoy it so far. But the coolest thing for Rook is that he just learned how to ride his bike without training wheels! He has been pretty hesitant about learning and says he only likes his scooter, but just yesterday after church he was determined. It didn't take long and he was up and down our sidewalks. I am really going to have to keep my eye on him this summer, because now he seems to think he is big and can go anywhere! He rode one last ride on the bike last night about 9:30pm until we made him come inside to go to bed. I have a feeling that he and I will spend most of today outisde....with that bike. This is going to be a busy but funfilled summer. I can't wait!

LAGOON

Every year in May, we get to go to Lagoon with Jared's family. We went yesterday and had a fantastic time. The weather was perfect...hot, but not too hot. I love riding the scary rides, but my kids are horrified of them. Rook rode the little train 4 times to see all the animals. Carter did better this year than last, so he is making progress. We didn't stop until they closed all the rides, so we got home around 2:00 am! It was worth it because the boys loved being with their Grandma and cousins all day.

Birthday with the "boys"

My birthday came and went. I had a nice day. My mom gave me the day off, so I was able to be home and relax (not really). The kids both had friends over that day and then Carter had scouts. It was a nice day. We did get take out at Cafe Rio, so that was exciting and delicious! Jared took this picture of the boys and I while we played Qwirkle after dinner. I got that game for my birthday. It is one of my favorites! Carter won...

(I promise Rook doesn't always look so "special")

Easter....A week Later

We went to my parent's house for Easter this year. The weather was great for the kids to be outside most of the time. That's always nice. We had a delicious meal and a great time visiting with our cousins. It was a Great day!!

One of my favorite things...Owls!

My sweet little friend Jenna made cupcakes the other day and thought she would make a special one just for me! I thought that was so nice of her. My boys each spoke for an eye and eyebrow, and I got the rest of the owl. It was still pretty tasty. Thanks Jenna for thinking of me.

False Alarm

Okay, to those of you who are deeply concerned about my last painful post...false alarm. My tooth is no longer killing me. I did go to the dentist Saturday morning and of course the pain had subsided a little bit and the only thing that was really bugging me was a headache. My dentist ran a few tests to see how bad the pain was, and it wasn't bothering me enough to be a problem right then. I was almost angry about it not hurting like it did because I had made the appointment, paid for the appointment, and was an hour late for work!! He decided that the pain and sensitivity was probably coming from a sinus infection?? I guess that's better than having to get a root canal. So, now I am using my prescription toothpaste for sensitivity and not chewing on that side to give it a rest. Sorry about my whining last week. There are worst things I am SURE!
Also, I LOVED conference this last weekend. I think the messages were exactly what I needed to hear. I can't wait for my Ensign next month so I can highlight all my favorite parts. :)

My Tooth Hurts!!

I've known for about a month or so that I have a tooth that's been bugging me every now and again. It will hurt really bad for a few minutes and then the pain usually disappears! However, today when I was on my way home from work, I got that terrible toothache back and it won't go away. I had the same thing last year on my other side and ended up getting a root canal, so round two. Thank goodness for insurance!!!! My "emergency" appointment isn't until Monday morning, but I am going to call again tomorrow to see if I can get in at least by Saturday. I hate it mostly because it makes my head hurt, therefore I wasn't very nice to the little boys at bedtime. (but they weren't listening very well and were taking their sweet time doing every thing But getting ready for bed). Maybe I will be nicer tomorrow?

Rook's Food Storage for the year!

Rook's favorite thing to eat right now is peanut butter and jelly (jam) sandwhiches. He asks me for one for every meal. So, as long as I am stocked up on peanut butter, bread, and jam...he's good to go. Now all I need is to dry pack some chocolate milk!

Finally Baptized!

Carter has been counting down the days until he gets baptized. Today was the day and he had so much fun. He started his day with an early morning basketball game (playoffs), which they were tied with 3.9 seconds left of the game and his friend Ethan made both of his foul shots. Therefore, they won the game by 2 points. Then he and his Dad rushed over to the church to get changed into their baptism clothes. Most of Jared's family and my side were there, along with some of our good friends. It was so nice to have so many people come to support Carter. He loves a crowd. We all came back to our house for a big dinner afterwards. It was all delicious. Thanks to those who contributed. Last but not least, Jared and Carter went to Pocatello with some friends and went to the ISU basketball game tonight. He is going to be one exhausted kid when he gets home. I hope Carter had a special day and will be able to remember it for a very long time. He's such a good boy (when he wants to be), and he makes my life so much more "interesting"....in a good way!

Undefeated...so far

We have had a lot of fun watching this team play basketball this season. This picture was taken right after their game last week, so they all look like they are exhausted. They have their playoff game this weekend, so we will see if they can keep their winning streak alive. Carter is also getting baptized that same day. It is going to be a busy one!

Turning 8 is Great!

It is Carter's 8th birthday today! He had a Great day that started with a basketball game this morning at the Apple. He scored 16 points! He thought it was pretty cool that he made 8 baskets and turned 8 all in the same day! His team did awesome...the score was 56 to 27. Not so good for the other team. After the game, we met all of Jared's family, took the kids swimming and ate pizza & cake. It was all I could do get Carter out of the water to let us sing to him and have him open his presents. He wasn't all too interested in that part of the party. Maybe that's not such a bad thing though. His cousin Jaida is having a birthday very soon, so it was fun to celebrate their birthdays together. One of his best buddies came along for the fun. We love that kid too. Now we get to look forward to cub scouts. Hhmm--

STEELERS WIN....again

For those of you who don't know Jared that well, he LOVES the STEELERS. He loved them when we was young and when he served his mission in Pittsburg (where he wasn't allowed to attend a football game), but was excited about being there anyway. He is a true fan of this team . He's not like those guys who decide they like whoever is winning at the time.
It ended up being a great game with a even better ending! Jared still has a huge grin plastered on his face. He got many calls and texts during and after the game. I am happy for him :)
As for me, I had another fantastic rich chocolate brownie for desseret made by my friend Carrie. It was a perfect treat to eat while "enduring" the football game.

Heaven on Earth

I know I've already confessed my love to everyone about how much I love brownies. So, here I go again. I love brownies...frosting or no frosting. I have been thinking about making these for days. So, today after church I whipped up a batch. Mint brownies are my most favorite. They turned out pretty good, however next time I will go a little easy on the frosting. The only bad thing about these brownies is that each layer has a cube of butter = total of 3 cubes!! Maybe that's a good thing?

My "OH-NO" Moment!

Does the pictures say enough? I was in Atlanta with my mom this last week,

having a great time. We were at market for about 6 days and the 1st morning
there.....I saw a bowl of pretzels that looked identical to the ones in the photo

and popped that sucker into my mouth. As I bit down, I noticed that it was

a little hollow and then I immediately knew I was in trouble! I could feel and

taste a very familiar creamy substance. Yes, it was Peanut Butter!! Luckily

my fear and panic kicked in and I didn't swallow anything, I spit it all into my

hand and found a sink to wash out my mouth and gargle water. My heart was

racing, my body was shaking, my knees were weak. ( I am feeling like it all over

again just thinking about it) My mom kept asking me if I thought we needed to

leave the market and run for the nearest hopspital. I considered it but knew

it would seriously cut into our shopping time. That was WAY more important.

So, to shorten it up...it gave me quite a scare, but I am okay and now I hate
pretzels. The next time I walked by the bowl of pretzels, I noticed the lady

put a sign by the pretzels saying that they contained Peanut Butter. HA!