The Big Game

I will just prefice this post by saying, Jason and I love college football.  Doesn't even matter who is playing, we love to watch it.

So, last night was the BYU/Boise State game here is Boise.  Of course, we are BYU fans since we went there, but we have always really liked BSU, even before we moved here.  Like most people in Boise, we had looked into tickets to go but had never found any, so we were resigned to watch it at home.  About 3:30 yesterday afternoon, some friends of ours called...they have season tickets but had been invited to sit with other friends at the game.  They wanted to know if we wanted their tickets.  Seriously??  We were so so excited.  It's been a long time since we've been to a college football game and this was a pretty hot ticket here in Boise! 

So we jumped at the chance.  We are lucky enough to have great family that was willing to watch the girls and we headed  to the game. 

Fast foward 4 hours....so the game was hard to watch, frustrating, infuriating at times and BYU lost but we still had a great time.  It's always fun to be there in person and take in the atmophere.

As a side note, Boise State people really love their tailgating.  I have never seen anything quite like it!

 

 

Going in for our only school....if only we could have just kicked the extra point!



Love Notes

Like most kids, my girls love to write little notes to everyone.  Yesterday, Lauren spent a good portion of her afternoon writing a little note to each person in the family.  They were so cute & she worked so hard on her handwriting! 

After she had gone to bed last night, I found this note on her own bed!

I think it's my favorite!

Her Spot

This is Abby's spot.  If you attempt to sit in her spot, she gets pretty bent out of shape.  While in her spot, she needs the three B's: blankie, bottle & binkie.  And then she'll tell you exactly what cartoon she wants.  A little pathetic but so hard to resist!

 

She can thank her Great-Grandpa Madsen for her spot.  This chair was his for years, until we inherited it as newleyweds.  If it's up to Abby, it will stay with us for many more years!

Classics

You know how some things never go out of style.  I always think I should save all my clothes because at some point they'll come back in style, right?  Well, we discovered one of those classics in our house last week.  As my parents have been cleaning out their house to move, they've naturally passed on many gems to us kids.  I have been on the receiving end of quite a few articles of clothing.  Most of them dont' seem usable but Lauren picked this cute green dress out last Sunday and really wanted to wear it.  Initially I thought it had been mine as a little girl, but then as we looked back through pictures I found it had been my older sisters when she was Lauren's age.

This little Nordstrom Best dress has stood the test of time and still looks amazing!  Lauren thought it was so cool to be able to wear something of her Aunt Deborah's!

 

City of Rocks

At the end of August we went to Southern Idaho for the Polson family reunion. It was in the tiny town of Albion at an old teacher's college (now used for reunions). We had a great time visiting with family we haven't seen in a long time. 

One of the days we went to a nearby destination, City of Rocks. These pictures do no justice, but the place was amazing.  Rock structures sticking out of the mountains everywhere.  The kids had a fabulous time climbing and the adults loved the views. 

We had a great time until we got a flat tire and had to head out (thank you very sharp rocks!)

 

 

 



Surprise!

• After everyone left from the 4th of July, we packed ourselves up and headed to Seattle.  Jason's mom was celebrated a big birthday and we had decided, with the other siblings, we would surprise her for her birthday.  So instead of going to Jason's parents house, we all headed out to the lake house.  We arrived there Wednesday night & Jason's dad brought his mom out Thursday for her big surprise!  She had no idea & she was super surprised.  It was so fun.  Our girls love having their little secret & being part of such a fun surprise.  We stayed and play for several days at the lake and it was perfect.  The weather was perfect!  And when I say perfect, I mean I even loved the random rain & lightening & thunder storms!!  We spent the week playing in the water and spending time with cousins.  We could hardly get our girls out of the water.  They are now in love with the jet ski & think they are so big since they got to drive it.  Since the it was the middle of the week we basically had the lake to ourselves which was amazing! 
• Thanks Grandma for having a birthday!

 

 



Visitors!

This has been our summer of visitors & we have loved it!  We have had more people stay at our house this summer than we've had our entire married career.  I have to say, it's nice to be in Boise and be on the path of so many friends & family.  We have loved our visitors (you know who you are) and hope we continue to have more!! If you're ever on the road and passing through Boise...stop and see us, we have a room for you!

4th of July!

I don't think it's any secret that I LOVE the 4th of July!!  I think I post about it every year!  I love that we celebrate our amazing country & freedoms & I love that we spend it with family every year!!  It's been a major family tradition for us since I was a kid and I hope I'm able to always continue that same tradition with my kids.  This year we stayed home and celebrated the 4th Boise style! My sister and some of married kids and their kids joined us and we had a blast.  Sadly I didn't take nearly enough pictures but it was so fun. 

We started the 4th off with the Boise 4th of July parade.  It was so fun. We literally sat on the stairs of the state capitol, it felt very patriotic.  The parade was cute, with lots of candy...just what the kids go for. 

After the parade, in the afternoon, we had a barbeque with family and just hung out all day.  The kids played in the kiddie pool & did the slipe n slide, played basketball and enjoyed cousin time!  We ended the day with fireworks in the cul-de-sac.  Between our men & the neightbors, we had a great little show!

 

I love, LOVE the 4th of July!!!

First Day!

I have so much to post to get caught up on summer, but I couldn't pass up posting abouth the first day of school.  To say that my girls have been excited about today would be a severe understatement.  Emily has been waiting for this day since school got out in June & I think Lauren's been longing to be in kindergarten since the day she was born!!  Needless to say, there were no nerves in our house this morning! 

 

The girls were up bright & early, we made a fun breakfast of crepes together & got dressed in their new first day of school outfit!! First day of school outfits are a bit like Easter dresses for me, I love them and I love that I have girls to buy them for!! Someday I'm sure I'll lose control over getting to choose their clothes but for now I'm loving it!

 

Our big 2nd grader!

 

 Kindergarten and can hardly contain herself!

Abby not going to know what's hit her when she realizes she doesn't have her buddies around to play with all day.  She had to be big and have her backpack just like her sisters!!

I know I should be sad that Lauren is a kindergartener but she is so stinkin' excited, I can hardly be sad. 

 

Since we're lucky enough to have cousins at the school, we like to go over on the first day of school and walk with them.  Both Lauren & Emily are so excited to have a cousin in each of their classes this year.  Since Lauren is in kindergarten, I thought I should walk to school with her, in case she might need me.  Well, I couldn't have been more wrong...she didn't need me, in fact right after we took this picture, she & her cousin (also a kindergartner) took off & led the group to the school.  She never looked back!  When she got to the school, I barely snapped a picture of her dropping off her backpack before she took off to the playground.  I caught another glimpse of her just as she went into class... I think she'll be just fine.  

Hope all our friends & family had great 1st days too!!!

I promise...

This is totally for me, but I am making this committment on my blog, so hopefully I feel some pressure to keep my promise.  I will be better at my blog!!  I will take more pictures.  Two years ago, my first blog was hijacked.  Our email was hacked and since blogger is connected to gmail, I lost access to my blog.  While I can still view it online, I have no access to it.  I am glad I can still see it but it breaks my heart that since I can't access it, I will never be able to make a blog book out of it.  Today, I went back to that old blog and I loved looking through all those events, some of which I had even already forgotten about.  I am so glad I have that blog and this one, but it made me want to do better.  I don't journal and I'm lousy at scrapbooking, which means this blog is my journal.  I want my kids to be able to have these memories.  I will be better at posting but most of all I am going to get all these great posts off of the internet and into a hard copy, before I lose my chance!! 
P.S.  I am also going to be better about making scrapbooks online too!!!

A Special Visit!!

At the beginning of June, we had super special visitors.  The Scotts came to town!!  We've been friends since we were both first married, lived close to each other in Cali and while we only live 8 hours away now the last year & a half has been busy for both our families.  There's been moves, new jobs to start, new babies to raise & new cities to explore.  Thus, sadly, it had been 18 months since we had seen them.  The drought is over and can I say how so great it was to be with great, old friends!!  Lucky for us, after we moved to Boise, the Scotts moved to Salem, OR and on their way to Utah they came to play!! It was so so fun, just like old times. Ok, maybe not like old times, since we now have 6 kids between us but it's amazing none the less. 

While they were here we ventured down to our local Cabelas and lucky for us they were have a kids day!! It was super fun.  While I don't have the pictures to prove it the kids fished (but caught nothing), shot bow & arrows, learned to fly fish & got to see all the animals Cabelas has on show.  We followed it up with some Cafe Rio (for old times sake), put the crazies to bed and played games late into the night!!  So fabulous!

The next day Jen & Tyson continued their trip onto Lake Powell...

But not to be dissapointed, Jen & the kids came back to us on their way back home (we missed you Tyson!!!)  We had 2 more days of crazy kids & fun! 

Our fun group!!  Aren't they cute!

Thanks for coming Scotts!  We will return the favor, promise!

This is the Life!

Eating large muffins for breakfast...

wearing big sisters clothes...

throwing back some root beer on Father's Day..in just a diaper no less...

beatin' the heat with a Creamy!

It's a good life...

(Just for the record, she refuses to wear a bib & destroys her clothes, thus the lack of clothing!)

Got Milk?

Each year, Meridian has a Dairy Days Celebration.  We've heard a lot of great things about the parade so we decided to partake of the festivities this year!!  The parade was so fun!  It goes right through the center of downtown Meridian and had tons of fun stuff for the kids.  They went away with tons of chocolate milk, string cheese, candy & t-shirts!  After being in Los Angeles, which is so so big, it was fun to experience a smaller community activity!  We sat and visited with total strangers and the girls saw many of their friends in the parade,which they thought was amazing.

We loved it.  Yeah for new traditions!!

Tennis Anyone?

Emily got a chance to expand her athletic horizons and take tennis lessons for a couple of weeks.  I was pretty excited...I played tennis and I think it's so fun and would love for my girls to play!  She had a blast...of course it helped that she had 4 cousins in her class.  For her first time, I think she did quite well!

Emily & her cute cousin!!

Babies & Backpacks

Besides her beloved binkie & blankies, Abby has a few other loves in this world.  First, she absolutely loves babies.  She almost always has a baby with her & loves to push them in the stroller.  She is always trying to put real diapers on them, feed them and as pictured here, add a little diaper rash ointment.  Baby was one of her first words & she's gotten a lot of mileage out of that one.  But her love of babies doesn't stop at dolls.  She is obsessed with real babies.  Fortunately, she has a couple of baby cousins she gets to see often to get her baby fill!

Taking in a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse(her only T.V. love) with the girls!

Next to babies, bags & backpacks are her other love!  She loves to carry a little purse and has most recently taken a liking to the Strawberry Shortcake backpack!  It's pretty darn cute.



Last Days!

The end of May brought the end of the school year to our house!  It's been a great year and both of the girls have adored their teachers!  I am so grateful to people who choose to teach.  I know it can not be easy but I am so glad there are people of there willing to give their time to my children. We are now looking forward to fall! 

Emily on the last day!

Lauren cute class!

It Should be a Glorious Day.....

For most Mormon parents, your child reaching the great age of 18 months is a glorious occasion!!  On that special day, your sweet child can enter the wonderful world of nursery and you are free to join with the other adults in church for spiritual nourishment!!  Not us, not our kid....

Abby turned 18 months back in May. Despite Jason's efforts of taking her into nursery for a few weeks prior to warm her up, she's not having it.  Oh, she'll go....as long as Jason stays with her.  The second he steps out the door, she loses her little mind.  I am in primary and not able to help with this process, so Jason takes the brunt of the Sunday time with her!!  A few weeks ago, he took her in, she seemed to be doing ok and we needed help in primary so he snuck out of nursery to come help with Sunbeams.  Not a mere minute later, I am sitting at the piano and I hear a child SCREAMING...not crying..SCREAMING...I went down the hallway and stood outside the closed nursery door.  Sure enough it was Abby....at least she looks sweet!

Dance Show

I think I posted earlier about Lauren taking dance classes, well in May was the big show!!  Here she is in her cute costume!

Lauren & her cousin during the performance.  After a bit of stagefright before the recital, Lauren went out there and did great!! She was so cute and seriously can't wait for classes to start again in the fall!

Post-Performance!

May Birthdays

As most of you, Emily & Jason share a birthday so May 13th is always a very exciting day at our house. Added bonus, it was also Mother's Day on the 13th this year!  It was a great day! At this point I have to say, I am so sad....in preparation to get caught up on the blog I uploaded all of my pictures from the last couple of months from my camera.  I checked to make sure all the pictures were there and then deleted them off of the card.  When I came back to my picture file, somehow all of the pictures got uploaded except for all of the birthday pictures!!  I am so sad!  How does that happen? 

Anyway, this year was a Lego year for Emily.  Lego has just come out with the CUTEST girl Legos and we couldn't resist!  Along with gifts of Legos from Grandparents, Emily now has a great little collection of Legos!  In case you're wondering, they are so fun & cute and we rebuild them all the time! 

Jason always says he gets a little overshadowed by Emily's birthday but we always try to make a big deal out of his day too!!  He got breakfast in bed, a Sunday afternoon nap and great gifts!  Jason has been asking me for about 6 years to make him a denim quilt.  Well, this so happened to be his lucky year!  Super top secret like, I was able to get his quilt done without him even knowing.  It was an awesome surprise.  Just to lament my lost pictures a bit more, this is the picture I am most sad about.  I got a picture of him right as he opened the quilt and realized what it was....it was the best expression on his face!!!  Oh, I am so sad I could cry!!  If only that picture was on good old roll film, sometimes technology is a blessing & a curse!!

We topped off the evening with this bad boy!!  I know it doesn't look super pretty but this is now our new favoite cake!  Thanks Pinterest!

Why?

Really, why?  Why must this be the scene on my kitchen floor every night when I make dinner?





 P.S.  What you can't see in the picture is the bag on frozen peas she threw on the floor in her rage.

Spring Sing

Lauren's cute preschool held their annual spring sing last night.  It's always such an entertaining little show. The songs are fun but the real show is the kids...you have to love kids this age.  There was one little girl in the front row that stood with her arms crossed the ENTIRE show...seriously never even mouthed a word.  It was hilarious!  Lauren, on the other hand, knew all her songs and did a great job.

Somehow we didn't get our other cousin in the picture..so sad!

 Lauren has loved her preschool, especially being able to go with cousins!  It's a little sad that we won't have a preschooler for two more years....I just love preschool kids!  But, she recently had her kindergarten registration and she is out of her mind excited!!