Ammon's Big Ride

Ammon wanted to go to the park, so Dad made a deal...we'd go to the park if Ammon would take his training wheels off his bike. So he did! He took off on his first try, with Daddy close behind. He rode straight down the road and he was so proud, so was Dad! We ended up going all the way to the park, about six blocks from our house. After some swinging and sliding, the ride back was with a little less confidence, but with Dad's hand on his shoulder, Ammon made it all the way back home. Yay Ammon!!

Great shot!

One of the best pictures ever taken of me.

What a MAN!

(Disclaimer: This is Josh, not Laura. Laura is not a man.)

Together again

I am awaiting the return of my camera from Josh's backpack. He took a lot of pictures during his recent motorcycle trip with his buddies down along the Columbia River. He promises me a great picture of him doing something he guarantees was safe and sound. I believe I heard the word "wheelie" mentioned, hmm.. :) That's not safe, but he said he looks awesome so I will have to post it when I get a chance.

While Daddy was gone, we went to the zoo with Aunties Jessica and Anna, saw the Flanders (another motorcycle widow), and went to visit family for Grandma B's 78th birthday party. The weather was cool, then hot, then in the middle, with of course some rain sprinkled in. Why not? This is Western Washington!

Now Daddy is back home and we are SO excited to be together again. We sure missed our husband and Daddy!!!!

Dontcha just love IF?

We are back from hot and sunny Idaho Falls, and it's nice to enjoy the cooler weather here. We did lots of fun things with Aunt Rose and Uncle Jeff and the girl cousins. We went four wheeling (which Ammon LOVED), to the zoo, the sand dunes, the park, and rode bikes a lot. We also went to the dump (transfer station, for the PC) and Ammon said he wanted to drive a bulldozer when he gets bigger. Did you know that my sis can take whatever she wants to the dump for FREE?? And her garbage and water bill combined are $25 a month?? Let's all move to Idaho Falls!The kids had fun playing with their cousins 24/7 and it was sad to leave, but we had to come back and see Daddy!! We missed him too! We were gone for almost three weeks, and had a great time. I finally got to meet Alicia, who is my sista for sure! We had a girls night with Alicia, Leslie, and my sister Rose and I, which was fun. There was talk of reviving the Golden Girls in our later years, but when I heard I had to be the tall manly one, I was out. :)

Josh had the house all nice and clean, and we immediately trashed it, so I've been working on it (slowly) and getting caught up on emails and blogging. I had to give my sista a bad time for not having a computer, but after the first few days of withdrawl, it was nice to just be "disconnected" for awhile. Speaking of withdrawl, I think Liam is going through w/d from not being held and adored 24/7 by his girl cousins and aunt and uncle. Poor guy, he deserves to be held that much, cause he's so dang cute (of course!) but he just isn't receiving that same attention from his brother and sister at home. :O)

I was teasing my sister that her backyard was like a park (see the girls in the top of the playhouse), with a huge playground structure, an in ground trampoline, and lots of bike riding space. The kids had a blast there, and we are already planning a time when we can get together again. :)

Family

Isn't family the greatest? On Fridays we meet Josh for lunch at his work, and today it was the pizza buffet, Ammon's choice. Lunch was nice, with lots of pop ("soda" for you picky people) and different kinds of pizza. Dessert pizza is my favorite! So Josh went back to work, and I decided to take the kids to the mall and get a little birthday shopping done for August birthdays. What was I thinking? Taking my poor kids to the mall right smack dab in the middle of naptime? Am I crazy? We all do fine for the first little while, and I decided that one trip around the mall would be plenty for us all. But after two lengthy trips to the bathroom, a spilled pop, a couple meltdowns (one by me), and a lost old lady trying to explain the busing system and it's flaws to me, we were all ready to go home. On the way home, I realized if the kids sleep now, then they won't want to take a nap when they get home...so I tried to keep them awake with my enthralling storytelling skills. We started with the Three Pigs, and at the end I had Ammon saying "huff and puff" in his sleep I believe. I was pointing out everything I thought was exciting, trains, big bulldozers, anything...tall trees...but nothing was working. Luckily when we got home, the two big kids grabbed their blankets and happily went to bed, and when they wake up the world will be well again. Each day is such an adventure! Meanwhile during all this, little Liam is in his carseat, either sleeping or watching the kids or squealing (he's taken to doing short loud bursts of squealing mixed with yelling, which is rather loud when he does it in Relief Society) or playing with his burp rag. Ah...to be 6 months old.

It's great being a mom!!! :)

True Love

"I got you something," was the first thing I heard from my sweet husband of 11 years when he got home from a trip to Oregon this week. Hmm..what could it be? Flowers? Chocolates? He points to the kitchen, so I know its something yummy, a weakness of mine perhaps? It has to be something like chocolate right? I open the fridge and see a brown paper bag...Inside a small white package wrapped tightly. I pull it out and read the label: Fresh ground pork sausage. My husband scores a home run! This is what true love is all about my friends. With my husband, not the sausage. Many of you know I love pork, and I guess in Yelm there's a fancy butcher place that has great sausage, so he stopped by on his way home. What a guy! Something I love, PLUS it doubles for a dinner main dish. He should get extra points for that. He knows how to get on my good side. Then he mentions that he has the receipt for me to subtract from my household budget. After he sees the look on my face, he quickly stuffs it back in his wallet. Good choice. :)

Fourth of July Madness

What a fun filled and patriotic day we had! First the pancake breakfast at the church, with lots of good food and friends. Then the kid parade after that, with Ammon and Shayla going round and round and round the church parking lot with all the other kids on their bikes. Even Liam went around a few times with me running and trying to keep up with the bikers. Josh was happy to admire the chaos from the sidelines. Smart move Josh.

After a quick mid morning nap, we were off to a small town for the little fair they put on each year. There was a ton of stuff for the kids to do for free, the favorites I think were the inflatable jumpy toys and the pony rides. I was a little partial to the mariachi band that was performing. Viva la wait...isn't it the Fourth?

Then the parade, which was so small town it was great! Horses, kids on wagons, people throwing lots and lots of candy, especially Melanie Roach, we hit the jackpot with her. Actually, Liam showed me that I hit the jackpot when he squirted me with his...uh...well, lets just say we had to change his outfit and mine. It was quite the job. After a dinner at McDonalds, we sensed we were all a little on the tired (and may I say the tiniest of the tiny bit grouchy?!) side, so we got a few little fireworks and headed home to light them off in the driveway. The kids loved the fireworks, especially the snakes (one of my favorites) and the fountains. Then our neighbor Mark came out with his very large haul of fireworks and lit up the sky for the next hour or so. The kids LOVED watching all the fireworks, and being able to help pick out which firework was next was just out of this world. I retreated to the house after a mosquito attack, and watched the end of a firework show on tv while the kids finished things out. All in all it was a great day from start to finish and we all went to bed absolutely dog tired that night.