New Household Pet

We have a new animal in our home. Adam finally got his elk mount back from the taxidermist and we now have an extremely large elk head mounted above our fireplace. Mason keeps saying "Elk, elk, elk" everytime he looks at it. Adam asked Cole what he thought we should name it and Cole thought Friendship was a good name. Adam was looking for something a little more "manly" so he asked Cole to think of another one. His next answer was Lover. So now we have an elk head named Friendship:-)

Summer activities

We've been enjoying the nicer weather and have been out and about. We enjoyed Dairy Days in Meridian last weekend. There was a parade and carnival that we walked around and the boys thought that was pretty fun. We've been at the splash park a few times which is always a hit too. I've been watching Gage (Keith and Michelle's little guy) about once a week while she watches my boys once a week and he is very much into the splash park. I'm sure we'll hit it up many more times!

Mason waving at the parade.

Our adventurous carnival ride rider!

Just thought this was cute of Mason reading:-)

McCall Weekend

We headed up to my parent's cabin a couple weekends ago for a bit of fun! We had a great time playing and getting to see family. Casey and Kim made it along with Kim's friend, Joanna. Jenny, Chad and their boys, and my parents were also up there. It was fun and relaxing and I can't wait to go up there again!

Our little robin family...

We have a robin that built her next on top of an exhaust vent on our patio. It's a nice sheltered place for her nest and it has allowed us an intimate look at her building her nest, laying eggs, and now taking care of her babies. It's been really cool for Cole to get to watch this whole life process and he thinks of them as our very own. He's gotten really good at being calm and fairly quiet around the next when the mommy bird is there so she can keep her babies warm. There are three babies and though they are precious, they are about the ugliest things I've ever seen! It'll be fun to keep watching them as they grow!

Date Night Exchange

It's been really nice to have a few date nights lately! We've decided to do a kind of date night co-op with some friends and it's been great. We watched the Dayton's girls on Saturday night and got to experience having girls! Rylie is 4 and Ella is 2 so they are perfect ages to play with our boys and Cole and Rylie have so much fun together. We had a picnic on the patio, played in the back yard, took a walk to the local elementary school to play on the playground, and the older two got to have a movie/popcorn night after the little ones went to bed. Can't wait for our turn to come around again!

Garden 2010 Update

My garden got a little bit of a late start this year but is doing well. I have corn, onions, sugar snap peas, green beans, lemon cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and spinach, and some herbs. I also have a small strawberry patch and a rhubarb plant that were my first products of the year. I also had to share a picture of my beautiful peonies, one of my very favorite flowers that always bloom right around Memorial Day. Looking forward to a fresh garden salad!!!

Memorial Day Camping 2010

We always do a camping trip over Memorial Day weekend. We go rain or shine and this year, as usual, was rain. We had bits of sun here and there but mostly clouds and sprinkles. The only downpour we got fortunately was on our way home so I think we lucked out. We went with our friends Jason and Christy Huszar and their two boys, Emery (2) and Owen (8 months). We tried a new place this year which turned out to be great. We went to Lost Valley Reservoir. It was beautiful with the lake and some snow capped mountains in the back ground. The boys had a great time playing in the mud, climbing the pile of rocks by our camp site, 4-wheeling with daddy, and making smores by the camp fire. We had a great time and hope to have more camping trips this summer, hopefully with some sun:-)

Mason and Emery had so much fun together!

Emery thought the fire pit was a good place to hang out!

Our campsite.

Climber Cole!

Christy and baby Owen.
Smores, yummy but very messy... leading to the next picture

Yes, a family of 4 can fit on a 4-wheeler!
The boys loved riding the 4-wheelers.

Modern day camping:-)

8th Anniversary

I missed posting on our 8th anniversary on May 25th but wanted to give a shout out to the occasion! I'm so blessed to have such a great husband who supports me, is my best friend, is such an incredible dad, and an incredible man of God! We have had such a good marriage so far, not without it's bumps along the way, but we've learned from mistakes and grown as a couple because of them. We've had 2 beautiful boys and are learning to parent them together and work as a team. I look forward to many, many more years to come and getting to grow old together!