Oh how I dread school!!!!

First day of school
Emmalee: 5th grade, Blake: 3rd grade, Addilyn: Kindergarten

Made it!

I set a goal to blog at least once a month. Looking good so far!
So for the rest of our summer:
JULY

Was a crap month. It was hot. It was boring. We went nowhere. The End.

AUGUST

Was super fun! I went for a week to awesome girls camp. I kid you not, I did not need to come home. It was the ultimate girls week with good people and good food! I didn't have a worry, well, besides the class I taught and making dinner for members of just our ward, no cleaning, no whining, no cooking. I was over the 2nd years along with 2 other leaders. Our junior leaders were awesome. They did a fantastic job of taking care of everything. As leaders, we just got to enjoy the girls, the activities, and the spirit that was there.

All of us from the ward

awesome 2nd year leaders

beautiful alturus lake

all the 2nd years and junior leaders

We also celebrated my birthday. 34! I'm still young, right??

The last 2 weeks before school started we celebrated each last day of freedom! The kids and I went to Hansen for a week to play with grandparents and cousins. There was lots of swimming, 4wheeling, hiking, playing, and pure laziness. (that was mostly me) It was the best. We came home to visiting family and played some more! Lucky peak, going to the movies, bike riding, tennis, LOTS of swimming, and lots of friends. August was good.

Pictures to come....

A dedication to my sister....you know who you are

Let's go back, shall we??

Family Picture 2000 (taken by Jerek??)
You know, one of those weekends I bring the boyfriend home and he takes the family pictures.

Seattle 2001
Trenton & Tiffany's wedding trip
I love that Grandma came with us.

Now let's go WAY back. 

I'm the cute one with the knee high socks. Cousin Margaret on the end wanting to be in the family picture. Remember those lamps??

Ah, this is a good one. Missing one still, though....

There he is! I remember this day so well. We all just wanted to hold our new baby brother.

See?? I still just wanted to hold him.

 I just love this picture!!

And one more

And a little more updated of the sisters & mom...

Can't wait for next year...

Another good time.

                                                      I win.

Being 8 is AWESOME!!

First comes the cake:

Pinata cake. Celebrating with cousins.

Then some scouts:

And then top it ALL of with a special evening of being baptized:

Science Camp Week

Always a fun week for me and my kiddos. This year in Burley. Theme of week: inventions. It was awesome.  I teach and receive university credit that goes towards my re-certification. My favorite day? Mr. Egg. Inventing a contraption to keep Mr. Egg safe from a drop from the firetruck ladder. The kids had a fun ride up!

We are on the road!!!

first outing of the summer: memorial day May 2013

Went to Black Rock, North of Idaho City. Beautiful and LONG drive on gravel road. Sprinkled during dinner and then poured all night. Thank goodness for a roof over our heads!! (and for a heater!!) So much fun and looking forward to many more trips!

And some of my projects

Yes hanging pictures on the wall is a project for me. This wall is new cause we took out the closet that was there to make our master shower bigger. This is what I decided to put there. 

Saw this on Pinterest and wanted to make it.

And hanging, again..

I just love how this turned out. I've had this table in the basement for a couple of years. When I first finished it, I didn't like how light the top was so when I had a lot of leftover stain from our bathroom cabinets I knew I wanted to use it on this table. Thought of the checkerboard idea when I started on it. It works perfect cause our game board is now broken and in the trash.

I got some old doors from my parents. They were on the original house that my parents had when they first moved to Hansen. I love them and wanted to do a full length mirror on one of them for our master closet. I had so much fun with this project. Mixing paints, glazing, waxing.....everything I ever wanted to try on a piece of furniture. I love how it came out and saved a ton by buying a mirror at restore. The color turned out so beautiful! 

This door bought at restore. Jerek didn't want anything TOO creative, or at all. Solid piece of alder that matches our cabinets in the bathroom and our bedroom furniture. Used the same stain as the cabinets also. I love how it came out. This will be used as the door to the bathroom. Just waiting on some barn door hardware.

And this is my catch all bench. Same color as my full-length door/mirror. Really had fun glazing this with all the lines on the legs.

Phew! I think that was it for May and June! Already starting my list of projects for the fall!

Proud mom moment

Emmalee was awarded a certificate for an essay she wrote. The Boise Arts & History commission asked 4th graders in the Boise School District to write an essay for the Boise Sesquicentennial. Hers was picked along with 41 other essays out of 505 to be put in the Time Capsule to be opened on Boise's 200th birthday in 2063! Her subject title: What do you like best about living in Boise in 2013? She also had 2 other classmates that had theirs picked too. We are so proud of her and her achievement! Here's her essay:

Boise is a fun place full of wildlife. We have the Greenbelt, Boise River, Bogus Basin, and much more.

Boise's nickname is "City of Trees". We are lucky to have many trees and plants in such a dry environment. If you get high up and look at our city, you are going to see mostly green. The plants give beauty to our city, and the trees give plenty of oxygen. Trees are also very fun to climb. You can build tree houses in them. There is a lot of wildlife in Boise, which makes Boise a clean and beautiful place.

I like to bike on the Greenbelt near the Boise River. Whenever I see a trail I stop and explore. Usually, it leads to the Boise River. On one trail I found led to a fallen tree near the river. It was fun! I threw tons of rocks into the river. There is also another place that has a tree bridge. I have never fallen off of it. The Greenbelt and Boise River are fun and enjoyable for Boise citizens.

There is another place not far from Boise. Bogus Basin is not just a ski resort, it can also be a place for snowboarding, snow shoeing, snow mobile riding, and much more. Bogus Basin has lots of shelter and trees where squirrels and birds can be. There might even be foxes, coyotes, and a wolf or two. Bogus Basin is a fun and exciting place for lots of people.

Boise has many things that other cities do not have. We are lucky to have Boise as our city.

Her teacher came as well to celebrate

all the essay writers

given the award