the mister was able to take a couple days after the semester ended and go visit his family with the girls.

i had to stay and work.  the first day was nice and quiet - then it was too quiet the next couple days!

 

they've been building a pond (zip line and all!) and so they had to go check it out.

m and cousin j had a blast throwing dirt into the water.

they also got to celebrate a birthday while there.

cousin s turned 5!

i'm not sure if this is a look of guilt or not.

either way, he's a cutie!

i know they enjoyed their time with family.

i enjoyed my time with no little ones to chase after.

but i was sure glad when they came back home!

lava

the whole k family got off for a couple days to go camping this past weekend.

but my family had already planned on going up to the cabin that weekend, so we went with the original plan and got to spend a little time with the m clan.

friday, the girls had a blast with some of their other cousins running around and playing.

we sneaked out of the cabin and went to the swimming pool in town to play on their speed slides while grandma and grandpa watched the girls.

so. much. fun.

i can't wait to do it again.

saturday we just hung around until it was time to go home.

only we decided that we were going to stay another night.

so we did.

and on our way home yesterday, we got to stop and see my brother and sil's new baby girl.

such a cutie.

then we stopped in twin to see shoshone falls.

we had so much fun and can't wait until we have another chance to go back and have some more fun!

yesterday, b and suzi were playing in b's room while the grown-ups were playing games.

one of us just happened to overhear the following conversation take place:

suzi:  that's my castle!

b:  then take your castle and get outta my house!

that's the way to make and keep friends, b.
tell them to get out of your house.
nice.
good thing those two love each other.

b's birthday trip to the zoo

for b's birthday, we went to the zoo.

enjoy the pictures!

click to enlarge

a day of fun

today, we went for a day trip up in the desert/mountains with some family and friends.

she wouldn't look at me for the picture

m in all her bald glory

grandpa got the pickup stuck in the sand.

it took another pickup and suburban to get him out.

on the way back home, they found snow...dirty snow, but still snow!

b and s had a fun time playing in it.

b waving at mom

they really were happy with their sunny d.

they just don't look like they were.

perhaps because b kept getting in trouble for trying to play in her drink instead of drinking it!

pool parties at grandma's

s got a kiddie pool for her birthday, so b got to have a couple pool parties at grandma's house with s.

this girl sure loves the water!
i'm thinking swimming lessons next year.

my crazy child

b never ceases to amaze me.
it's crazy to me how much she seems to comprehend lately.
a couple weeks ago she was so tired so i put my arms out like i usually do to pick her up and take her to her crip for a nap.
she instead started running to her room and tried to climb into her crib by herself.
 igot the hint loud and clear!

yesterday, i said to her as she was running away from me, "do you want to go for a walk with daddy?"
she didn't stop running, turned around and ran back to the door.
i have no doubt that she knows the meaning of the word "go."

she's also recently found out that gum tastes good.
whenever she can get her hands on it, it goes right into her mouth, wrapper and all.
i think that i have the gum put up where she can't find it and she still finds it.
i'm not sure how many pieces she's actually swallowed.

she also found out that mascara doesn't go just on mommy.
we were over at grandma and grandpa's house while d & s were here and one of these two partners in crime found aunt shanny's mascara and then proceeded to paint themselves and then the other.
i'll let you decide who opened the mascara.
i personally think it was the two year old.
luckily the mascara came right off because we found them before it dried.

cute aren't they?

baptism and 4th of july

i've been a slacker and haven't been taking pictures since our camping trip.

we had to cut the camping trip short to drive to rexburg for m's baptism.
it was fun to be able to see marissa get baptized.
we're so proud of you m and the choice to made to get baptized!
we got to see all of my brothers and sisters and my grandma.
it's been a couple months since we've seen them all, so that was fun too.

the next weekend, shannon and the girls drove up (j has been helping uncle paul on the farm) and derek flew into boise, so we had fun with them.
for the 4th of july we all went out to the owyhee dam and spent the day on the water.
b had fun playing with grandma and aunt shanny (she didn't like the water this time....silly girl).
when we got back, we went over to the froerers to eat yummy food and have fireworks.
b liked the fireworks (i swear nothing scares this girl) and stayed awake almost the whole time.
i'm so glad that i live in this country and have the freedom that we have.
thank you to all those that have sacrificed so that i can have those freedoms!

for those of you who know her

my little sister had her baby!
it's a healthy baby boy and he's a cutie.
from the one picture i have (on my cell phone) he looks just like his brother.
i'm so glad b has two cousins so close in age to her.
it's going to be so fun!

grandma and grandpa m's house

my brother-in-law, z, is going to hate me for posting this picture of his son, but i couldn't resist.

this is my nephew, who as a two year old, didn't know any better when i put the headband on his head.
sorry k, but it was just too cute!

b is now old enough and sturdy enough to use the exersaucer.
she tried it out for the first time at grandma's house.
she loved it there....

but not so much when we got back to reno.
this was the result:

look at how tight she is holding onto those toys!
she did NOT like it!
i think it was because we didn't have the stabilizers on the bottom out and it scared her.
it took the mr. a good 15 minutes to get the poor thing calmed down after this.
we've since tried it again (with the stabilizers) and she loves it again.
thank goodness!

idaho reception

we were able to make it up to idaho for my brother and his wife's reception.
here's a few pictures from the reception:

the happy couple

two of my neices - aren't they cute?

one of my nephews - love the look of mischief on his face!

my other nephew - doesn't he look handsome with the flower??

that's about as long as the flower lasted though!

the reception was alot of fun.

until i realized that i can't move around as much as i used to without everything aching!

welcome to the family s!  i'm not sure you know what you got yourself into!