Fun "Family" Pictures

One of our first adventures out together after having Roslyn was to a health and beauty boutique here in Rexburg that a few of my friends were hosting. Our Saturday morning was open before I had to work and Paul had been working all morning so we decided to try braving town with the three of us and do something different. On our way to the boutique we drove through a neighborhood that was having a huge garage sale. I didn't plan on stopping and picking anything up but I wanted to see what was out there. I just happened to pass by one of the homes that had a table with a bunch of random items on it and I saw this huge pink sun hat that I thought Riann would love to play with at home and at the park. I had also been keeping my eye out for costume items because I've been trying to build a dress up box for the kids and thought it it would be fun to have it for that. I backed up and asked her if she wanted me to go see how much it was. She was very excited and said she wanted it. I figured spending a dollar or two on something like that would be fun and probably worth it for the right price so I got out of the car to check it out. Fortunately for us they were actually wrapping up their sale and the table we were looking at was full of things they just wanted to get rid of and everything they had set was free!! I picked up the hat and looked over the rest of the table thinking I should see if they had something for Colby too. Right under the hat I was getting for Riann was a simple cute "Newsies" style hat and thought that it would be cute on Colby so I grabbed that too. After checking out the rest of the sales on the block we headed over to the boutique to see what was going on.

When we got there things were a little crazy because I had borrowed my neighbors double jogger and while I was so glad I had it to pin the kids down the room the boutique was in was a little cramped and we took up a LOT of space. Everyone was so nice though and helped us get through the tight spaces and they all had a fun time cuddling Roslyn, as she wasn't the happiest baby about being out and around town during her nap time.

As we looked around, I had forgotten that one of the vendors at the boutique was a local photographer who was doing a photo booth. When we finally got to her booth we thought it would be fun to get a few pictures. She had a couple of props in her booth and of course Riann got into them before we even introduced ourselves. As soon as Riann spotted the boa's they were around hers and Colby's necks and she was ready to go. After talking with the photographer and getting her the information she needed to send us the pictures, and sign up for her give-away, we got our pictures taken. They turned out GREAT!!! I didn't think we'd get pictures this good but she did a fantastic job. I just wish I would have thought to have her take a picture of Roslyn separate. Oh well, they're doing another boutique in a few weeks and I'll make sure to get it done then. Haha.

Here are the photos we had taken. Don't I have the cutest kids ever?!

Riann, age 4.

Colby, age 19 months.

All of use together. Roslyn, age 1 month.

It ended up being a pretty fun day, all stress considered. I wish we would have had more time to check everything out and even to have made a few more stops that day but we did have a good time. The kids loved being out and it was nice to change up our schedule for a day. I'm excited to take them out and do it again soon.

**All photos were done by Aly Willis

Cookies with the Kids

The other day the kids and I decided we would make a treat and since I can't eat chocolate right now, because I'm breastfeeding Roslyn, we decided we would make some kind of white chocolate cookie. I've been working over in my mind some kind of cookie with Craisin's for a while now and since we were looking for a snack I decided we would try combining the two. We decided to do oatmeal Craisin and white chocolate chip cookies and they were wonderful!! I didn't have any battery left on my camera so I had to take pictures on my phone, sorry they aren't that great but I'm glad I documented the afternoon because we had a lot of fun.

All of our ingredients, minus the salt. I forgot about it until it was time to actually add it to the cookie.

My little helpers.
Colby didn't realize what we were doing until after we got started and he wasn't too happy to be put in his chair before he figured it out.

Adding the good stuff!!

After mixing I gave each of the kids a beater. Colby wasn't sure what to do with all of his cookie dough.

Riann knew right away what to do with hers and she enjoyed it... a lot!!

YUM!!! I love cookie dough!!!

Getting ready for the oven.

And they're done!! We had a fun time playing with the recipe and I can't wait to try something new later, but for obvious health reasons we're gonna have to hold off on that.

The kids and I had a great afternoon and I'm glad they're getting better at baking with me. I think we'll have lots of fun doing more treats and different kinds of treats now that they can help me more. After we ate dinner and enjoyed a few cookies for ourselves and then ran out and delivered the rest of our cookies to our neighbors. We considered it an impromptu FHE and it ended up being a GREAT night. I love it when we get to play together!!

New Side by Side's with all 3 Kiddos

Apparently I was terrible at taking pregnancy pictures this time around. I knew that I had missed the ones at the very end because we didn't plan on going to the hospital when I did but I didn't realize I had missed the month or two before that. I'm really bummed. But I did have a few fun photos to match everything else. I gave Paul the responsibility to take most of the pictures of Roslyn at the hospital this time around but forgot that he didn't really know what pictures he was supposed to take so there are a few that don't match but were still close enough to make them work. I was a lot of fun for me to look back on these pictures and remember the kids as they were. It seems so long ago that Riann was this small and I can't remember her even being that tiny. I'm grateful that I have the pictures to prove it!!

This picture was set up because I was trying to seem who Roslyn resembled more. They are all pictures of the kids at about 2 months old. Everyone who commented on Facebook said that from the nose up she looked more like Colby and from the nose down more like Riann. It's funny that they all have the same nose. They may all look like Paul but at least they have my nose!! When I do Roslyn's set of 12 pictures for her first birthday I'll have to do a side by side collage of all 12 months for each of them. That would be fun to look at!

Instagram Envy

Paul got an iPhone "for work" sometime earlier this year and one of the apps available for smart phones is Instagram. It's a program where you can edit your photos directly on your phone and add lots of fun filters and post them to your account/social networks immediately. I'm not super excited about switching to a smart phone anytime soon but I really do want this app!! As you can see below Paul has gotten some really cute pictures of the kids and then they get even cuter when you add the filters.

Here are just a few of my favorites.

This was the sunrise as Paul drove to work one morning.

Colby and his 'stash.

Roslyn and her adorable smile.

Crazy hair Colby.

Riann drawing a picture for Daddy.

Colby trying to be just like Daddy and fixing his truck. I don't think Paul eats his tools though.

Buddies for life. Watching a storm roll in. I LOVE this one!!

Three of the four most important people in my life.

Colby working on his "internal artwork".

So sad his crayon was taken away. This guy has perfected crocodile tears!!

Sweet Roslyn playing with Daddy at church.

The most handsome boy in the whole wide world!! I love this smile and am SO grateful I get to see it every day!!

Summer Days

This summer we are trying to get out and play as much as possible. I really want to make sure that even with the new baby the kids get to get out and having fun because they don't need to be stuck in doors. We've finally been getting brave and venturing further than our backyard and I've got some great neighbors and friends who are helping us get out as much as we can as well. I was really afraid to have a spring baby because I know I like to lock myself in doors and just hang out for as long as I can. Colby was great for me because he was born right at the end of fall and I had all winter to adjust and hangout inside. I was worried about having Roslyn in the spring because I know how reclusive I get and I knew the kids wouldn't allow me to fall into my natural habits. I'm so grateful that this summer came on gently and that we were able to adjust to getting out and taking adventures slowly. We've had a great time so far and have found that getting to various places out in town is a lot easier than we expected. We've had lots of fun playing out at the splash park and slowly working into days at the park.

We are so lucky to have good neighbors like Jake and Adele and that we have kids almost the exact same ages. Getting to go out and do things with them as often as we can has been a blessing and Adele has helped me get past my "spring baby" fear and get out so much more than I would have without her. It's been a great summer!!

We even got brave one day and decided to take our kids and Jake and Adele's oldest two, Taylor and Kamdyn to the splash park with us (yes Paul was with me that day and he is the only reason I was that brave). This is everyone in the van. Paul and I thought about it on the way there and if the oldest two were twins, Riann and Taylor, the whole age scenario you're looking at here would be completely possible... 5 kids in 4 years... no thanks!!! Haha.

We were even blessed to have Paul join us for an adventure a few weeks back when he didn't have to be at school. It was so fun to have him around and the kids are still adjusting to his full work schedule because they love spending as much time with him as they can.

Colby had a blast with Paul and really enjoyed his one on one guy time. This was also one of the few adventures we've had where Roslyn didn't sleep the whole time so it was fun to get her in some pictures too. This day Riann made me laugh because she wanted to wear her goggles SO bad and they're just cheep $1 goggles and don't really work but she had to have them on the whole time we were there. She's so silly sometimes.

Our Second 4th of July Celebration

After our fun day on the 30th I was still excited for the actual 4th of July celebrations we try to do each year on the actual 4th of July. I was a little weird celebrating everything on a Wednesday this year because the 4th has fallen on a weekend for a few years now. Having the holiday in the middle of the week made parts of the celebration a little hard but still very much worth it.

Paul gets a little cranky with me each year because I'm always super gun-ho about going to our community breakfast. Growing up Paul's family always hosted the 4th of July breakfast for our ward and he's been "4th of July Breakfast'ed" out but because my family always went to the Oregon Coast for the 4th I was never able to attend. I went to one when I was younger but it was hosted at Lake Washington and I have just a few memories of it, like who our bishop was at the time and that it was really cold... that's about it. So when I found out they did one here in our area you better believe we were at it the following year!! Well, with the 4th falling right in the middle of the week this year, Paul REALLY wanted to sleep in and get some good rest before he had to be up early again for work the next day. I originally wanted to sleep in because Roslyn was still pretty new and wasn't sleeping long stretches yet and when we went to bed I told Paul I wouldn't set an alarm and we'd just see what time it was when Roslyn got up... um, I kind of lied. I got so excited about the breakfast that I couldn't sleep because I was afraid we'd miss it, so I went ahead and set an alarm. Roslyn didn't wake up early enough to get to the flag raising ceremony but she did wake up shortly after my alarm went off so I decided to go ahead and get up. When I originally asked Paul to get up he still was set on not going so I figured I wouldn't push it and decided I'd just take the kids by myself or just simply go by myself. After I got myself ready I could hear Riann awake in her room so I went in and got her ready to go. When I told her it was just us going she didn't like that idea so I told her if she could get daddy to agree to go then I'd wake up Colby too. After getting the go ahead from me to go in and jump on Paul and basically force him out of bed I left her to work her magic and got Colby up. He is NOT an early riser and you can see in the first few pictures he was just as thrilled as Paul about getting up so early.

For the breakfast I tried to make sure the kids were all in the best and warmest 4th of July attire I could manage. I think we did a pretty good job.

This was right before we left. You can tell Colby isn't too thrilled about being up and had a hard time getting ready. But he did a fantastic job once he realized we were going to go out and have fun!!

While we were at the breakfast Riann found some Friends to play with and spent hardly any time with us. The food was pretty good, although a little cold, and Roslyn was a sweetheart and slept through the whole thing making the event just a little easier.

After we went to breakfast Paul decided he wanted to go shooting with some of the guys on our block. I didn't want to take the kids out for that and I didn't want to sit at home alone with the kids, since that's what we do every day, so I got brave and decided to take everyone to the parade. On my way out the door I talked to some of our friends and talked them into joining us while their husbands when shooting with Paul. It was a little crazy when we got there but we all made it in time and we found some pretty good seats. And thanks to the Wolfley family (I used to work with some of their family members) who sat in front of us, and graciously helped with the kids, we all had a great time. The kids aren't quite old enough to understand where to stand and how to strike gold with the candy and treats they toss out but they were pretty happy with what they got and they certainly know how to dance!! It was so much fun watching them because I know in just a few years they're not going to be interested in this kind of stuff anymore and I have to take them whenever possible.

Everyone had a great time watching the floats come down the street and getting candy as they went. This year they passed out a lot of Otter Pop's and I think that is what the kids enjoyed the most. The parade was a little long but I'm so glad we went. It was fun listening to Riann tell Paul all about what she saw and what she thought was the best afterwards.

These were just a few of the floats we saw. We loved the Zombie group at the top. They danced to Thriller the whole way down the street and did a great job. They were advertising for the Corn Maze in town this fall. The kids also loved the big tanks that ended the parade because they shot water all over us and just a little bit further down the road from where we were sitting one of the city fire truck opened up their hoses on the tanks and they had a water fight that lasted almost 5 minutes. The guys driving the tanks didn't expect the water fight and it was fun to watch them get caught off guard and try to fight back. That was the one things Riann was most excited to tell Paul and when we got home.

After the parade we came home and got cleaned up. Colby was pretty cranky from being up so early and because of the heat so we went ahead and put him down for a nap and headed over to our neighbors house for lunch. I thought Colby would have only slept for an hour or so but he was TIRED and slept almost the whole afternoon, almost until we had to leave for fireworks three or four hours later. (Don't worry. We had the monitor with us the whole time we were away. He was safe.)

While we were there Riann and Taylor had a great time being silly and playing in the bags that hold their camping chairs. They also had a great time playing in the water.

After lunch we went home and cleaned up... again. I think each of the kids changed clothes three times that day and we showered once or twice too. After a short rest we headed off to Idaho Falls. The fireworks out there are a pretty big deal and they have people EVERYWHERE set up to watch them from ANYWHERE they can get a seat. In years past we've always managed to get down onto the green belt right on the river to watch them but this year we met up with Jake and Adele, along with Adele's parents, and found a spot just off the highway on one of the medians. I've watched people sit in these places in years past and thought, "Man they're crazy!!" and I was right!!! We had a great time though!!

This is the group and a shot from both directions on where we were sitting. You can see the highway to the left and the on ramp to the right on the top picture and then vice versa on the bottom. On the bottom I'm taking the picture looking back at the group. The kids had a blast playing on the hill side. They also did a pretty good job listening to us and staying close. That was probably the most stressful part of the whole day.

Paul found our location on Google maps and took of picture of it from his phone.  We are the blue dot and as you can see we're right in the middle of that median just off the highway. You wouldn't believe how many people were sitting on the large green patch behind us on the other side of the highway though. It gets crazy out there!!

After watching everyone around us we realized we were very unprepared for the amount of fun we could have while sitting out here waiting for the fireworks to start. The grass around us was pretty dry but that made it really slick and very easy to slide on. Everyone around us came out with cardboard boxes to slide down the hill on. After watching everyone play for a little bit the kids improvised with what we had and started sliding down the hill with one of Jake and Adele's blankets and the chair bags we had with us. A few of us, Paul and I included, even took a few turns down the hill ourselves and we were both surprised at what kind of speed you could get. It was a lot of fun and if we sit there again next year we'll be MUCH better prepared to enjoy ourselves.

Paul and I each with the kiddos. Roslyn was sleeping during Paul's picture so she's not pictured there. I also told Paul that he couldn't be in my picture because he wasn't wearing any red, white and blue. I kind of took over all of our patriotic shirts for the day, I too had a few "wardrobe" changes and didn't leave him with anything he could wear so it's kind of my fault that he didn't have anything by the end of the day. I feel kind of bad about that now. I do wish now that we would have gotten one of all of us together. Next year we'll plan that better.

We don't know this lady but she passed us and I told Adele that her and Roslyn were wearing the same outfit and we decided we should see if she'd be willing to take a picture with her. So as soon as Roslyn woke up we took her over and she was so nice and was very happy to take the picture. Aren't they cute together?! Roslyn's very first twinner!!!

I'm a little bummed I didn't get any pictures of the fireworks show but my camera was about dead and I didn't know what else I needed pictures for at the time. I think Paul got some on his phone and I'll have to check and add them later if he did. We had a great time this year and we've never spent the 4th with the company we had, which made it even better. The 4th of July is my most favorite holiday, with the exception of Thanksgiving, and it gets better every year as I get to spend it with my family and teach my children how amazing our nation is. We truly are blessed to live here and to call America home. I'm already excited for next year when we get to do it all over again!!! Maybe with a little better preparation though... Haha.

Our First 4th of July Celebration

Because the 4th was on a Wednesday this year we got to celebrate it on two separate days, instead of trying to put a ton of activities into one day. For our first adventure we headed out to Driggs, ID and celebrated the 4th at the Huntsman Springs’ Celebrate America festival with some of our friends on June 30th. There are a lot of people that travel for this event and the event host, Jon Huntsman, said that many of of his good friends contacted him before the 4th and asked him to hold it on a Saturday so they would have time to travel out and and get back home as opposed to holding it on a week day and not being able to come. He felt like that was a reasonable request and so they hosted their event on the Saturday before the 4th and we are so grateful because we had a great time!!

One of my favorite things about where we live in Idaho are these mountains. I love that I can see them from my backyard and I love that we can go to places like Driggs which is just at the base of the mountain. They are absolutely beautiful and this is the view you see the whole time you're out there. One of the items I have on my bucket list out here before we move is to catch a close up sunrise over the Tetons. They are amazing!

Once we got to the event, we parked and found a place to sit. We weren't too close for the shows and they were hard to stay focused on but we were in the perfect spot for the fireworks and it was one of the best shows I've seen. It was LOTS of fun!! The kids had a great time playing together and running around. They pretty much took full range of the gold course and enjoyed every minute of it.

Our view of the stage from where we were sitting.

All the kiddos playing. We had a pretty fun group.  It's great watching these guys grow up together.

Colby is in love with airplanes right now and while we were out there were lots of them flying in and out of the airport in Driggs. Paul picked him up to check them out together. I love how excited Colby gets about the life around him.

Roslyn's first 4th was pretty fun. She did pretty good for being out the whole day and thanks to her grandma's she looked pretty cute the whole time.

It was just about time for the fire works to start and the kids got focused. They were so cute all sitting together.

Like I said before the show was pretty amazing. I love this setting on my camera! Can't wait for more fireworks to see what else I can get!!

While everyone was watching the show I snuck in a few photos. I love all of my friends SOOOO much!!!

We had a great time playing together with our friends and it was a wonderful way to celebrate the 4th of July. It's always hard for me to not spend the 4th with family... or at the beach... but this was a great alternative option. This was one of the best shows we've seen since being out here in Idaho and I'm grateful that there are people out there who still have such a deep love for our country and all she stands for. I love this land and I am so grateful to be an American and a day doesn't go by that I'm not grateful for those who are currently serving or who have served to keep my family free and safe. Happy 4th of July!!!