Good-bye Preschool--Hello Kindergarten?!

Meet Napolean.

Here is Abby on her last day of school making funny faces with friends, Matty and Harris.  They got to have an ice cream party to end the year and say good bye to Napolean.  He is the door greeter by day and great jazz musician by night.  He landed the perfect job working at the school b/c they will give him months off at a time to tour around Europe where he is quite popular.  Arlitt is one of the happiest places.  Abby loved going and always got to do fun things, read great books and even try new foods.  I am sad that our preschool days are over.  It makes me feel old.

4th of July Festivities

Our cute garden on the 4th of July.  Our corn was definitely taller than knee high...always a good sign.  We have enjoyed our lettuce and cucumbers, though still waiting on tomotoes and corn to fully ripen.

Lame fireworks...oh well, we enjoyed some fun ones in Idaho.

A small parade around the yard.

The kids also learned a new trick...if they took the wagon to the top of the hill, it made for a fun and fast, bumpy ride down.

Tommy is a family friend who is so good with kids.  My kids love when he comes over!

The kids enjoying breakfast in their red, white and blue.

When we got home from our trip out west, David gave me the okay to host a 4th of July Breakfast.  When the Blackham's used to live here, they had hosted a few and they were so fun, relaxing and then you still got to enjoy the rest of your day.  Anyhow, the past few years our yard has not been up to par.  As I have mentioned before, we have cut down 10 trees in the yard and cut back shrubs/roots that consumed a 1/4 of the yard.  There is still a lot to do, but it looks better and better all the time.  We bought our house from the original owners who had lived here for 50 years and they were older and unable to care for the yard as much and for any of you not familiar with the midwest...instead of watering and trying to get things to grow, it is constant battle to try to stop things from growing!   We knew we had our work cut out for us, but we've learned a lot.  

Lucy

My girls are good at finding cute little babies in the ward to fall in love with and attempt to be their moms by trying to pick them up, help them walk and coo at.  Anyhow, there was a cute little girl named Kaylie who moved a few month ago.  The girls were initially really sad to see her go, but it didn't take long for them to find a replacement.  Lucy is this really cute little redhead and is just now learning how to say fun words like  "Abby" --very cute and my girls love it.

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa Noakes

What would a summer in Idaho be without a snow cone or two or three?

While it town, Kristal was kind enough to take us swimming at her parents house.  The pool was a lot of fun and the girls had a blast!  Thanks again Kristal and family!

Splish Splash

We took a few cool pics of Jarom showing off his skills.  This one was the best.  Nice air...now try to land it!  :)

For being safe in the boat, Jeana and Abby both got a free ice cream cone from the Sherriff.

She must take after her dad, cause mom would never do this!  :)

The girls made bracelets at the camp and some fun magic camp wands that blew bubbles.

Silly girls.

More fishing...this time with Uncle Jarom.

Jeana quickly grew attached to my cousin Amy and they played pinecone baseball for quite some time together.  Later that day Jeana also got my dad to play baseball with her and it was amazing how many home runs she hit when she was the her own judge!

Grandma Noakes pulled out some of her old, antique dolls for the girls to play with.  So, they built their own house with blankets and pillows and I think they played with those dolls almost the whole time we were there.  They thought those dolls were a very special treat.

The girls really wanted Grandma, instead of me, to cut their hair.  They definitely got a really good cut.  I think both got at least 6 inches cut off.

Abby practicing guitar hero at Corinne's Apartment.

Girls driving grandpa's boat.

It was close to July, so again more fireworks.  We had to leave Grandpa Simpsons house before they finished the fireworks, so he was gracious enough to send some with the girls.

Abby's thought process..."Hey, I have an idea...while my mom is trying to take pictures of everyone up here for my grandparents, I will play in the mud...I'm sure she won't mind THAT much and even if she does, by the time she find out, it will be too late! hee hee."

My uncles couldn't bear the thought of carving a watermelon in the traditional way...but it did turn out much cuter because of their efforts.

Uncle Jarom and again, cute Rylee...no one can seem to get enough of her!

Aunt Corinne and Rylee

More Games...

Nothin' like some fun games on a rainy, muddy day.

Could she look anymore like she has Idaho Blood in her?  What a cutie.

Arts and crafts and I guess according to Abby...silly time too.

Though we didn't get to see Darin and Stacia and their family for long, it was still fun to visit with them.

Abby...just your feet.  Abby...don't go above your knees...Abby your skirt is soaked...Abby you are soaked!

At the camp, there is an obstacle course, the girls had fun on it...until someone got hurt.

After lots of fun with the Simpson family, David headed back for work and the girls and I headed for Boise.  The first weekend we were there, we met up for a Huckstep Family reunion.  My mom's sister wanted to throw my grandparents a surprise family reunion for their 60th anniversary up at the campground where they volunteer for a service mission.  All my mom's siblings were able to come for a short time and it was really fun to see lots of cousins I haven't seen for a while.  Again, it rained on us the whole time, but we still had a good time.  We got to stay at my parents cabin b/c it is only a few minutes from my grandparents cabin and my kids were loving imitating grandpa fishing.  They caught all kinds of pretend fish.  It was really cute.

President and Sister Simpson

Here is the group standing in the hall by the offices of the first Presidency.  Very fun.  While waiting we were also able to shake hands with Sister Beck and Sister Christiansen.

Here is a picture of the group.  Margy and Craig were able to have at least one representative from each family.  The only two who were MIA were David (who tried really hard to make it, but with unexpected weather conditions and plane issues, got in several hours late...in fact by the time we made it to Elder Oaks office, he was sitting at the airport...very sad, but cute he tried.  Becca, his sister was the only other one not there because she had a baby only days before.

We were able to be there when Elder Oaks and President Snow set them apart.

The main reason we went home earlier this year, was to spend some time with Grandpa and Grandma Simpson.  Last fall, they were asked to serve as mission presidents, it was a very long process for them to get everything ready, but I think in the end, they were honored excited and nervous all at the same time.  We were actually hoping they might move closer to us, but instead they moved about the same distance away, just in the opposite direction.  We are excited for them and though it sounds like life in the mission is keeping them busier than they would have ever dreamed, I am sure they are doing great.

A Walk down Memory Lane

Jeana made herself a crown and was pleased with her work.

Every time we go home, we always end up in the emergency room.  I just go in with that expectation so I am not shocked by the idea.  Luckily, it is usually fairly minor things...stitches on fingers, pink eye, the flu and the latest was a UTI.  Poor Abby gets them quite a bit and I can't help but feel sorry for her.  No matter what we try to prevent them, she just seems to be more prone to them. 

We even stopped for a brief time on what is now BYU-I campus, though it was still Ricks College when we were there (though it changed shortly after.)

While in Idaho, we met up with our friends, the Flamms, it was a very short visit, but still fun and my girls had a great time seeing Kaylie, though she isn't quite as little as they remembered. Her hair is as gorgeous as ever, which of course she gets from her mom.