The Simple Life

can you spot our kids in "the hole?" 

since i had been working so hard, and crammed to clean the house, (see the previous post!) we went out to dinner, no sense in messing up a spotless kitchen!! took a few selfies, while we waited for dad to run into the hardware store, "i'll be just a min..." 45 minutes later! heard that one before.

end of soccer...

we survived another season of soccer...isabella is such a character to watch, she's more aggressive than gulianna when she plays but then her class clown act kicks in and she's a goof ball out on the field! 

soccer time...

we love soccer! i debated whether or not to have anthony play this year...but i opted out, with all the running around for games, and then chasing jeremy. next year for sure.

isabella after her first game. she didn't want to take the masking tape off her shirt!

gulianna and georgia

they love to be on the same team and play together!

summer fun: ward bbq

 

today...

we survived soccer camp last week! it would have been no big deal but i had a rush of orders every day! thankful...not complaining! it was hard to get home, feed kids and fight jeremy's nap time, and try to get everything done so orders could go out by 4pm. i definitely let the house go and i hated every messy disgusting minute of it! but there wasn't anything else i could do. now everything is back to normal. clean house, messy scrapbook room... STILL! but i am getting right on that NOW :)

love these old school lunch trays for meals and camping too!

jeremy getting ready for his nap. he says "peees watch tigee!" he falls asleep to watching his favorite show daniel tiger's neighborhood. but like i said, naptime has been difficult for the past month now, since he can open doors! makes him want to go explore and he could care less about falling asleep, even though he's so tired.

lunch time is over, jeremy is ready for his nap, and now i can focus on my room yay!

saturday night...

after yard and house work today we drove to the drive in to have dinner and to finally test out those cheeseburgers that everyone says are the best! and with high hopes of having them taste like a Gladys burger from the spud...it was just ok. really!! levi even compared them to burger king! oh i was disappointed over a cheeseburger, but at least there was always fries, NOT! say what! seriously no fries or milkshakes? what kind of show are they trying to run here! i did have a cup of chili that was pretty good, however would have given them more points if they had cheese and onions. any way still had fun, and i didn't have to wash dishes after dinner so there!

super happy and tells me "i love you mom!" after a box of peanut m&m's :)

this is how we do young women activities with these little ones, lock them up in the nursery room with toys and check up on them every 5 minutes! the girls had to pass off camp activity stuff today.

explore...

sunday up the canyon. my kids love to explore and run wild. and i enjoy watching them play together and just being happy!

 

heritage day...

we met in the morning for food prep. our youth is in charge of the lunch at the park for heritage day every year. we added sandwiches to go, to the usual sanpete bbq turkey. people would freak out if we didn't continue the tradition! i helped with sandwiches and wrapping. i love assembly lines and packaging. must be the repetition and bulk quantity, so fun!

 

balloons, because every day is a party!

 

he just loves this truck.

 

 

 

 

and the lunch fundraiser was a success! 

 

 

super excited to go home and finally play with the balloons! and i envision a new polka dot seat cover on this old truck. i don't think levi would go for it. but can't you see it?! 

and just after this...chaos started. fighting over the white balloon? geez. made some muffins. i think i need to be endorsed by lehi roller mills!

 

finally got to sit down for a minute. tried to take a picture with jeremy and he turned around and punched me in the face! one of these days i'm going to have a broken nose. it was funny that i got a picture of the action...

 

happy home. 

 

 

enjoying popsicles while we watched gulianna at field day...

after school we went to soccer camp practice. not sure if i'll put anthony in, but he sure enjoyed today!

errands...

went to civilization today to pick up tires and a lift kit for levi. lots of driving! i miss having gulianna with me, we left her at school since she's missed too many days. chick fil a, hobby lobby, visited with nancy, in n out and of course a late drive home!

 

jeremy LOVES his new car seat! and i love my new polka dot sunglasses that i picked up in st george!

oreo shakes and chicken sandwiches at chick fil a!

my milkshake brings all the girls to the yard!

have you ever seen a rose as big as this?! and i just noticed that isabella is carrying a bride booklet!

swinging monkeys!

isabella preschool graduation...

the usual: pick up the sibling act!

group hug!

mrs. sue and chelsea

anders and isabella

the preschool graduate!

anthony was curious to what she was even wearing! ha ha!

isabella...

when did you get so big?  she has been trying to be more of a helper than a "pouty girl" but of course she still pouts :) she's very independant and likes to do things her way or not at all! she's been sick, so she missed her last day of school and her field trip. but sleep and resting was much more important. she was excited for her preschool graduation!

kindergarten field trip...

isabella had a field trip today...getting ready for kindergarten! oh my! she was excited! anthony and jeremy got to join in too. storytime about butterflies, and then they got to do a little project on butterflies and their chrysalis.

jesse...proud that i was in his class! "hi aunt alicia!" 

strap that kid in the stroller! he was about done at this point.

sunday...

while the girls are still sleeping

the boys are outside playing early this morning.

they were playing on their "rides" better than disneyland, no long lines!

anthony said "this is my airplane!"

"and this is jeremy's tractor."

gulianna's reading spot, so jeremy can't grab her book.

back at it...

i unpacked, got a few loads of laundry done thursday. etsy orders out, ran to moroni for some ballet tights, grocery store. and then friday morning we went straight to work in the yard. lot's of raking, picking up branches, pulling weeds and my favorite: cutting the grass! 

the older three got to haul off the big branches to the big hole, where are root cellar is going in. 

and they all had to fill up ten wagon loads, each! except for jeremy he got to pull them :)

ice cream sundaes...

we LOVE ice cream! but we've been pretty good and haven't had any for a good while. so we decided to have a little ice cream party after conference on saturday. and sunday too!

it's all about the toppings!

my favorite is always oreo. i don't like to eat them plain. i can handle about 2 before i start to get sick to my stomach! but crushed up on some french vanilla ice cream is perfect ♥

 

weekend memories...

rainy carefree day...

 

we were suprised when we woke up to rain yesterday morning, i rarely check the weather. always seems so unpredictable close to the mountains any way. spring break does not always mean warm sunny weather! i did some prep work on my easter banners. the kids put together puzzles and played with toys. watched a few movies. played outside in the rain, jumping on the trampoline. that was one of my favorite things to do when we were growing up...as soon as it would downpour or hail we would run out to the trampoline! it's like jumping in huge puddles but even better because your on a trampoline. we went for a snow creme run, well the kids had ice cream cones. 

(old photo...i didn't take pictures.)

read some books...

had tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches...our dinner actually matched what was on the chalkboard. that's been on there for a year!

and last baked some banana bread. one of our favorites! 

today we woke up to snow...do you want to build a snowman?! 

hmmmm...no. not with slushy wet, heavy snow. 

our not so quick trip...

i had planned a "quick" trip to civilization...meaning we left early and we were going to be back by 3pm. did all my errands and then we had lunch at panda express...a bit chaotic and several tantrums from jeremy. he spilled a lot of rice on the floor.

 

and then went to our final destination: hobby lobby. and in the first 5 minutes we were there, this happened...

let me back it up.

before we even got there, i was already annoyed in my head that hobby lobby has the smallest shopping carts ever. they might as well be toddler sized. this is the only thing i dislike about their store...otherwise i love hobby lobby! so yes...me thinking, great...anthony will barely fit in the basket, and i can't have him running around the store breaking things. so i let him take his little fire truck in, because he promised me he would stay by my side. WRONG. well i tried.

so i grab a cart, buckle jeremy in. specifically told isabella and anthony that they can't ride on this cart because it was too small and it will tip over. then went straight for the bead aisle for cherrie. jeremy weasled his way out of the tight buckle, and stood up. i unbuckle him just so i can get him to sit down, then re-buckled him up. i can't make it any tighter or his face would turn blue. i then proceed to grab a couple items on the list, tell anthony and isabella to stay OFF the cart. so anthony starts to run down the aisle racing his fire truck on the ground. isabella is being loud and rambunctous as usual. i tell both of them to quiet down. jeremy got out of the buckle again for a second time and i scolded him, and unbuckled...re-buckled... then i got my phone out to text cherrie and before i knew it jeremy got out for a third time...and just as he stood up, isa and anthony hopped on the cart, he went flying head first for the floor! took out two glass shelves with his head and before i could pick him up it was a murder scene on aisle seven. blood and shattered glass every where... i didn't have wipes, he was screaming. i think mostly because he was freaked out that blood was gushing down his face and into his eyes. literally crying blood tears. that and isa and anthony were freaking out that they "cracked jeremy's head and he was dying!" they made the scene much worse. poor kid! a few swear words and no one to stop and help i was feeling annoyed. yes customers passed by the aisle and never stopped! finally an employee noticed and quickly ran for some paper towels. we made it to the classroom to use their craft sink and i got jeremy all wiped up and calmed down. had to fill out an incident report...then went to the nearest hospital...to just make sure he didn't need stitches.

so we went through the side entrance of the hospital, and a nurse that was just leaving suggested to just go "next door" to the clinic. which i didn't see when i pulled in the parking lot. so we got back in the durango...drove around the building to the clinic just for a snotty receptionist to tell me that if i didn't have a doctor here to just go to the instacare. grrrrrrr. jeremy was asleep when we finally got there. then we had to wait a good 45 minutes. as i signed in, i snapped a picture of this:

by this time i was clearly frustrated and was ready to go back to hobby lobby for some super glue! no joke! long wait...errand to run! ha ha!! yes.

so when we finally get called, the nurse cleaned up his head more...crusted over blood. and his cut was only a centimeter. i can tell you it was much bigger before. must have been those angels stitching him up already! geeez. obviously with head wounds...they bleed soo much! but i really just wanted to double check and make sure there wasn't any glass stuck. because there were shards every where. my poor little jeremy. what a day. 

sunday happenings...

happily going to church on sunday.

 

the primary room had the cutest little kid size pews. so i had to get a picture after church was over. i envisioned a cute photo with all four sitting in order. well...you know that's nearly impossible. 

 

so this is what we got. 

gulianna...always ready.

isabella covering her face with her paper. (she wanted it in the picture.)

anthony ready to leave. (he's getting hangry)

jeremy just wanted to be set free and make a run for it.

then of course isa starts pouting and getting dramatic. levi intervenes. and this is what i get. typical photo.

after church we had lunch and then the kids played outside for the rest of the afternoon. jeremy took a nap, levi and i snuck away to urban renewal just to look. then later we had a dutch oven dinner at lana's uncle's house. it was super good! chicken and potatoes. that's all i need. 

jett also got the legos out. anthony was in heaven!

then all of a sudden he was playing with this little truck and i asked him who built it. "i did, it was me, mom!" he even had a little chain for towing. that's our boy! he was so proud.

gulianna begs all the time for a teeter totter! i thought this was pretty smart to put the lounge chair underneath. i almost got down and sat in it. didn't want to put my back out though. they had a blast playing with alea.

so there was a fence next to the slide that alea would climb up, and gulianna tried but couldn't quite get up, and then isabella jumped in and said "i can do it gulianna, WATCH AND LEARN!" and of course she just climbed right up. little stinker.

 

 

emry showed me their fort that they built in the backyard. it was pretty cool. i loved to build forts! they did a good job with the floor too, i was impressed!

we went swimming as soon as we got to st george, with aros and lana. actually...first rock climbing. because that's all that matters when we are in st george. being outside and rock climbing. 

{this was in the parking lot}

later that night, after we put jeremy to bed, and the kids were somewhat settled in their cousins awesome teepee...we snuck out to get some ice cream at cold stone! i can't believe jett is old enough to babysit now. 

so i guess you can count that as a date night? no kids right?

for the love...

another round of valentine's this year!

what the february!

gulianna was excited to go thru all her valentine's. she weeded out all the sugar crap and just kept the chocolate. levi got home this evening from his trip.

 

 

 

 

 

these girls love to pick up jeremy like this into some cheerleader pose, it's so funny!

 

later we made oatmeal cookie bars for our family and a few neighbors. the girls came with me and brenda to go visiting teaching. well actually we secretly dropped off a plate her awesome sugar cookies. the second house was isabella's turn to ring the doorbell. but then she pouted and started crying because she wanted to say hi! we quickly tried to shut her up, so they wouldn't know we were hiding!

then after we went again to do the same thing but with our little family. when we went to jeremy's house, isa was laughing so hard when we were running back to the durango and then i realized it was because her boot was stuck somewhere in the mud! so i had to go back and look for it.

this was at rebecca's house. we left her a dictionary garland too. she wasn't home, and then i remembered that there was a valentine's dance as we passed the church. oops! 

 they had fun! we had planned to do it as a family, but anthony fell asleep waiting for me to go visiting teaching. and levi was tired. so it was just us girls. gulianna said "let's do this for every holiday!" so we just might.

writing valentine's...

isabella writing her name on the back of her valentine's. she did hers right before school, because i kind of forgot the day before. 

gulianna came home and worked on her valentine's after school. when she left in the morning, she said "mom you better have everything ready!" i wanted to have them work on them on monday but i forgot to get them printed. then anthony felt left out because i didn't really print anything for him. dang it. next time bro.

♥ ♥ ♥

dinner time...

since levi is gone...i had to make dinner. (*key word had) obviously not my favorite thing to do. but while i was cleaning up my scrapbook room i put on rachel ray's show on hulu, just so i had something to listen to. she was making a shepherd's pie. so i thought, why not, i have a few ingredients. mine was more basic. i looked up in a cook book that we had to see what they used for their shepherd's pie, and they mix in a can of tomato sauce...which sounded weird to me, and i couldn't imagine if it would actually taste good. so i just seasoned my ground beef with seasoned salt, and taco seasoning. when in doubt, i always just use taco seasoning! and if i have to make anything it's mostly just meat and potatoes. that's all i like! after i threw the casserole in the oven, i went out to get some wood. jeremy likes to escape and go straight for the mini waterfall that is dripping off the roof.

back inside 5 minutes later and he's messing with the lights. 

huh? that looks different!

homemade shepherd's pie in my polka dot casserole! #livingapolkadotlife

gulianna, just eating without a fight. she's a good girl and always listens.

these two on the other hand, are like little parasites that feed off each other. always into mischief. and isabella always has an eye on me, to make sure i know what she's up too! she purposely plans all her drama.

see that look? she snuck anthony some of her play teaspoons under the table, as if i wasn't watching. "here bro, drink your water with this, it tastes much better." she "whispers." 

she doesn't know how to whisper. she was two levels of loud. loud and louder.

 

here's me telling anthony every ten seconds to eat his food. he just wants cereal. no i don't give in. so he either goes to bed hungry. or he'll come back and eat his food.

jeremy...standing on his high chair. 

he has no boundaries and risks every thing. 

the high chair can be 2 feet away from the table and he somehow stretches that little body of his and barely makes it to the table every time. 

and he's back on the table messing with the light fixture again...

is it bedtime yet? i don't like bedtime.

 

family outing...

since i bought a pass for the fitness center at snow college, i got free tickets to one of their home basketball games...so we did this for our family home evening activity.

they played against the team from twin falls and got killed...go idaho! ha!

 

 

and this is how we kept jeremy entertained and from running onto the court. the last half was a bit of a struggle. we took turns holding him down!

 

got camo?? just noticed that he had an camo from head to toe! was not planned. poor kid. we grabbed whatever and left. and he never keeps shoes and socks on so we don't bother. 

 

utah county trip...

the last time we went to civilization was end of november and first of december when we met my parents in salt lake! see...we really don't get out much.

first stop: fleaology in payson.

we love antique shopping!

i really wanted to buy this little truck for bro...but we passed, after all we just had christmas and spent a small fortune on their early broncos! it was sure neat and a great price too.

jenn's booth from 3 dotters is always the first one i go to! super cute vintage valentine display. we bought the gas can. (the one right behind the cute typewriter that i passed up!) necessities over wants, that is how you live the simple life. 

 

dthe girls got their faces  painted. isabella went first, she chose a butterfly. the lady did a good job painting!

ggulianna chose a swan, she said "that was the first thing i could think of!"

 

 

second stop: lunch at texas roadhouse!

 

third stop: finally...IKEA! this is actually what the kids were waiting for all day! and anthony's first time getting to play in the play area. he couldn't wait! and one full hour and a half of free babysitting! other than family, i believe ikea is the only other "babysitter" we've had. really.

 

in my shopping cart.

1. black and white striped fabric (that i've been needing forever now) to finish up curtains.

2. down comforter. much needed because i had finally thrown away our old one a few months ago after sewing it up multiple times to keep the feathers in!

3. wok. (i donated our last one, because it was super scratched up.)

4. mini striped bowls. 

5. a fold up box to keep the puzzles in.

6. mint plate set. (got lucky and found it in the clearance section, i already had a set of 2 plates, dessert plates and bowls from the last time i was there that i also found in the clearance!)

7. black and white striped blanket! splurged on this one...because i was frugal and did wait a whole year to buy it.

 

fourth stop: the "ice cream tower" ...at thanksgiving point. we always stop here for ice cream! love this place.

 

bathroom time with everyone!

 

 

and my kids always climb on the tower. 

  

monkey 1 and 2...

 

 

fifth stop...the disney store. because we did promise isa could pick out a disney princess coloring book "just like the one grandma bought for gulianna." 

first we had to eat at chick fil a. we love sitting at the little kids table. 

 

isabella's 5th birthday...

isabella is FIVE! she had a frozen birthday. i had asked her what kind of birthday she wanted and she didn't really know. she just wanted the same things that gulianna had at hers. that's all that she could remember. she did pout for a bit because she said i didn't pick up treat bags for everyone, but we already did that for her preschool. i guess i should have done it again for her "birthday party!" oops!

she was excited to open up the boxes that grandma and chelsey sent, i didn't open them up til we started setting things up otherwise anthony would have had her presents all ripped up in a second! isabella got cute mini princess books, a princess coloring roll/activity sheets and crayons, a polka dot shirt, all from grandma. she also sent 5 balloons with dollar bills inside each one, so i could blow them up and she could pop them! chelsey got her a cool tin robot, and she received bracelets and candy bars from georgia. we got her the princess cash register, and a pink & red dress that she wanted.

 

she wanted to put the candles on herself.

"i'm five!"

 

we went to papa murphy's to get some pizza, and i asked him if he could make a snowman one. here is her "olaf pizza." they gave it to her for free because it was her birthday!

her last day...

of being FOUR!

 she has been counting down and asking me every day since august. literally. i have to tell her when it's winter. when it's snowing. but as soon as we get the first snow fall and she sees those sparkly snowflakes fall down, she gets her hopes up and thinks it's her birthday. so the last 2 years i had to tell her...first school starts, then we have to celebrate all the holidays: halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, new year's AND THEN ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY!

today she went to preschool and brought peanut m&m's in hello kitty treat bags. they went on a field trip to the post office. she was so excited to take treats that she woke up early and got ready on her own. usually we have to wake her up a million times because she's out! (only on preschool days) if she would just go to bed on time! and every other day we try not to wake the beast :) she gets pretty grouchy.

she played outside with anthony. jumped on the trampoline. caused some usual mischief. and now she's begging to open the boxes that grandma and aunt chelsey sent in the mail! 

 

my dream bus...

since we've moved here to this quaint little historical town, i've had this dream to travel the open road. it's the perfect time. are kids are still young, we have minimized all of our debt to the basics. (home, power, water, + phone) well let me back it up for a bit. it's not my original idea, it was levi's. i'll give him the credit. but i then modified it to make it work for us. now we just need to put it to action. 

you see, before we actually moved here, we were looking for property. and we were nearing the end of not finding something that would work for us. so levi's other "option" was to put are stuff in storage and take the money we had saved and just go travel in an rv across the states. basically for 3 or 4 months, maybe longer until the money ran out.

and here was my response: and then what. so we have fun and live it up, but then in the end we are homeless! maybe something would have came up. or not. i just can't risk that much! i like to think that if we did do that we would have missed out on this opportunity here. who knows. i felt that we had moved so much in so little time, i was not going to risk anything for a place of security for my family. 

so now that we have it. we can go!

when we moved here i came across the love of my life. 

isn't this the most awesome-est vintage bus ever?! and it's pink. AND it has a wooden balcony in the back. i keep dreaming of this! i want it! i will get it! 

last year gulianna said "please, when are we going to get the pink bus? then when school is out you can pick me up, and i'll say, oh gotta go, my mom is here in my pink bus!" she has been wanting to ride a school bus since forever. and then both gulianna and isabella were dreaming of singing and dancing in the back on the "stage." 

do you see how perfect this is for us?

doesn't this make you want to pack up and be a hippy?! only we would be clean hippies and shower every day.

just think it will have enough seats for all of us. we can put a little kitchenette in the back and it's perfect to take camping and traveling! 

i have been numerous times to talk to the old guy that i think owns it, but i can't seem to catch him. i won't give up on the dream bus! 

gosh i LOVE it!

and we're back...

thought i would do a quick video for fun...

yep i sound weird as usual. and isa is growling the whole time. and i never fixed my eyeshadow. so don't mind that either!

happy new year...

2014! can you believe it?

we did some sparklers to ring in the new year.

and no one got burned!

 

happy 2014!

our newest family photos...

i am going to be better! i always regret not taking family photos. i always said i would yet it never happens. so here is are most recent family photo taken on christmas evening!

this is one of my favorite little buildings...i would love to own it someday, it would make the perfect little shop! i love this wall. the colors, the painting, it's perfect! 

now if this was planned i would have swapped the girls so we would have opposite black and white, and i would be holding jeremy, so the stripes would be separated. but...

isabella was pouty the whole time. even while she was getting ready. she didn't want to wear tights and insisted she would be warmer with no tights. then of course we get outside and she pouts because she's freezing and still says it's because she's wearing tights!

anthony is freezing to death and wouldn't stop shivering.

but we got a few photos! and that is what matters right?

we aren't perfect. nor do i expect our photos to portray that. our family is crazy. we are real. and we love our lil rascals!

christmas eve...

gulianna and isabella really wanted to sleep by the tree on christmas eve!

 

and santa came shortly after they had fallen asleep...

photos by the christmas tree...

attempting some more family photos, this time by the tree. 

including the outtakes and blurry shots.

i really need to learn how to use my camera!

our visit to This is The Place

my parents took us to This is The Place Heritage Park in salt lake, we've always wanted to go but never been! i love to see all the old cabins and barns from the pioneers that settled here. 

no more complaining of no room and living in a small house! some raised 11 kids in these one room cabins!

 

gulianna loved this rock!

 

what the hairy cow?!

 

my mom, taking pictures...

 

oh, that's over a hundred years old? sure we'll climb all over that!

 

gulianna wanted to pose by one of the cabins. she loves watching my favorite show, it's hers too, little house on the prairie.

 

i loved this old mill. i think it was my favorite structure on the whole place! we had fun walking around. i guess they only do the renactments in the spring/summer? so most of it was closed. you can still walk around though. we tripped a few alarms breaking into some of the houses! ok not really breaking in, but they didn't lock the back doors :)

 

life happens...

we celebrated twelve years of marriage.

summer birthdays. jeremy is ONE!

school started. preschool and first grade.

ballet, soccer, young women's. 

suddenly we have a full schedule on the calendar! 

i'm tired. we're all tired. and sometimes cranky.

i have sleep problems now. i can't fall asleep! 

i love my family. 

just got back from moab last night. 

we threw our clothes in a suitcase and jumped in the durango. 

followed our neighbors as they were moving to texas. 

we will surely miss them.

someday i will post pictures.

it's so hard to say goodbye...

we had to say goodbye to our awesome neighbors this morning! we stayed in a cabin together, just outside of moab, it was beautiful. 

come back soon josh and mineko...we will miss you guys and your cute kids!

idaho trip...{day eight}

june29th

and finally the evening that the kids were waiting for! fireworks!

our new tradition...fireworks at huntsman springs, this was our second year, we missed the very first one with glenn beck. anyway this is the best fourth of july show ever! very impressive, and of course patriotic. next year we will be more prepared with food. we always think we are just going to eat there...but the lines are crazy long, and our kids are just hungry! and with a million people in town, eating out isn't much of an option. so next year for sure. i did luck out with the jamba juice line. so we loaded up. then anthony threw a tantrum at the top of the hill. that and carrying everyone's jamba juice, and no cell reception...was almost too much! but it's always worth it. we enjoyed the beach boys! days after it was over, gulianna would say "and the rockets red glare! ahem...I SAID and the rockets red glare!" she remembered from the announcer. coolest show ever, we are so lucky to have it in driggs!

idaho trip...{day seven}

june28th

my mom had the day off again so she took us to rexburg. we had lunch at sammy's. such a fun little sandwich shop! they have one in provo too, we just haven't stopped in. i love all the decor, colorful and retro and eclectic! the girls had fun singing and dancing on stage, they're favorite thing to do! afterward we went to the spray park and rode the carousel. i love being in rexburg!

idaho trip...{day six}

june 27th

we stayed another night with cherry, did the park lunch again, came back and let the kids play while we packed up. then we took off to drop a trailer off in firth. stopped at hidden treasures in shelley, and found out that they had a fire. so sad! they had such cool stuff. drove back to meet grandma and grandpa at green canyon. poor jeremy fell out on his face in the gravel when i opened the door. the kids had fun swimming!

jeremy looking so big!

on the road again!

waiting in the durango while levi unhooks the trailer...

too much driving=lot's of fuel!

idaho trip...{day five}

june 26th

today we went to stay with cherry! we went to the elementary school (our old high school) for free lunch at the playground, who can beat that? of course are kids are always more interested in playing than eating. definitely brings back memories walking through the halls. 

 

we went to broulims to grab a few things, the essentials: chiz's ranch and milk! gosh i miss this stuff! 

as soon as cherry noticed why her kids weren't fighting, she realized we left stephaney at the school! oops! she even tried to call but cherry's phone cut out on her. i ran back to find her mad and swinging on the swing by herself...poor girl! 

madhouse with our kids in broulims...hurry and check us out!

we came back and let the kids play, while we took some photos of cherry's jewelry for her etsy shop!

then later that evening we went to see monsters university and the drive in with grandma and grandpa. our kids were super excited and really hyper! 

the girls thought the bathroom was the coolest ever! "we can both pee at the same time!" ha ha!

idaho trip...{day four}

june 25th

we finally made it to bear world, after all these years of being so close, and now so far! thanks mom for taking us! it was neat to see all the bears, they have a lot! gulianna got a bit scared, she wanted to make sure we followed the rules. "no stopping grandma!" and "we can't open the windows!" we told her about the time RJ went on a field trip to bear world and some teacher/or chaperone can't remember, put the window down where he was sitting and a bear climbed up and broke the window. RJ ducked down and was scared for his life! he also got the blame for it...shame on that adult! so she was pretty scared. every time we camped at rigby lake we always joked about not having to put our food away, "there's no bears around here! oh wait, bear world is right across the river!" 

'

the baby bear cubs were so cute and playful to watch!

and oh my gosh this kid! he was on this train before we were all out of the gift shop! where's anthony! and he did try to climb in with the baby bears...jumped over the fence and was almost in, i can't remember if i got a photo on my camera. (i'll upload those later)

then we went to see the deer and anthony escaped and i found him riding by himself on the rollercoaster! after that we let him ride whatever he wanted (well he already did!) by himself while we checked out the animals. i gave up keeping track of him! 

the peacock scared my mom!

jeremy, such a good boy!

thanks again grandma for taking us to bear world!

idaho trip...{day three}

june 24th

we drove to west yellowstone for the day and walked around town. had ice cream cones, went to the museum, had pizza. it was perfect weather. thanks mom and dad!

sure miss those views of the tetons! 

i love all the old and vintage pamphlets and such, isn't that bear so cute?

anthony played with the trains of course, while we walked through the museum.

i want a mint milkshake mixer! or a pink one.

all i wanted was a photo of anthony holding the ford belt buckle...it didn't happen!

i spy an early bronco!

 

idaho trip...{day two}

june 23rd

we had perfect timing with being in rigby, the stampede days parade was in the morning! sure made me miss everything here.

that's one lumpy horse we saw! it was neat to see a camel in the parade.

i had to take some photos of our little rascals in front of my old store. isa wasn't cooperating as usual.

then we were off to the family reunion. nothing beats aunt tonya's homemade rolls and cherry's no bake cookies! we sure missed grandma king, such a good lady.

i walk away for just a minute and jeremy helped himself to the last of the no bake cookies, mmm! 

the long line of culbert levi king's...yes i broke the chain. 

cherry, katie, levi, daniel

claudia suprised daniel with a birthday cake and rootbeer floats! 31 years old!

after the reunion we went to the mall and then to dinner at johnny carino's. 

presley, isabella, and elley

we sure miss hangin out with you lorinda!

idaho trip...{day one}

june22nd

leaving for idaho! first stop, big o tires for maintenance on the durango. anthony was so fascinated, we had to stand outside in the hot sun to watch the entire process! he loves anything with wheels.

made it to idaho...and i missed the idaho sign again! for the love! 

stopped at the rest stop to play in the bathroom...

and made it to idaho falls to barely make it to cafe rio for dinner, everything was closing! we stayed the night at lorinda's, (thank you!) so that we didn't have to drive right back to idaho falls for the king family reunion.

 

weekend trip...{going home}

levi took anthony out for a ride on the sand rail, he couldn't wait! this is when they got back, he was so happy!

photos with cousins! (i can't believe these were the only ones i took!) 

emry, alea, gulianna, isabella, aria.

their wild, crimpy hair held in pretty good from sunday!

how cool would it be to have your house on your own private/shared runway?!

stopped in to say good bye to aros. jeremy had a massive crap again...this whole trip was pretty gross with this boy. we blame it on the hot weather.

tony, daniel, levi

made levi stop at urban renewal, my favorite store down there! i can't wait to fix up my little barn!

stopped in beaver for some gas and ice cream! and a photo op on the huge rocking chair, isa pouting of course :)

and then she said, mom, i'm ready for my picture now!

splitting an oreo and butterfinger blizzard!

on the road again...

stopped at palisades. can't wait to camp here! it was super windy.

pictures with my girls! my arm is not long enough for these!

weekend trip...{day two+three}

levi and aros rode their dirt bikes with daniel, and tony. claudia went with the kids and i to st. george for the day. we had lunch at the brick oven, i love their pizza! 

then we took the girls to get their nails painted at a beauty school. cheap is best! especially since we were taking them back to the splash pad, yes it all came off right after.

it's always a circus when we walk into a place! anthony wouldn't stop running around, i used up all my quarters on reese's pieces. then he got the royal treatment to get his ha

this is where claudia and i thought we could sneak in some vintage shopping in before we went to the splash pad...yep, not so great when you have the circus with you. i pictured it better in my head! anthony was all over the place, the girls were fighting, (alea was good) and it was crazy! 

anthony venturing out where no one is allowed. yes i crawled right through that clothes rack blocking the stairs! at least i got to see their hoard of old doors! i was in heaven!

jeremy, silly kid!

we went back to aros and lana's and then came back with lana and caught tai pan right before they closed, and tj maxx. we ate dinner at cafe rio outside amongst the cockroaches! we had some good laughs and screams! sick!

sunday we went to church and then came home. the girls had fun playing with their cousins and anthony loved playing with all of jett's cool toys! later i played sorry with emry. we were playing outside, but brought the game in after a huge cockroach crawled over my foot! ahhh!

weekend trip...{day one}

we had a quick road trip down to st george this past weekend, and somehow we always go when it's the hottest!!! seriously! at least this time i wasn't pregnant! temperature was rising fast!

we stopped at ate at irmita's...the cutest little place! this time they had fun animals out...but it was too hot for anyone to want to pose for a photo, they ran for air conditioning! makes me want levi to have a little cafe or restaurant.

i always get a kick out of the salsa bar, so funny!

we stopped at an antique store...(i desperately wanted to go to all of them, but with my circus, and the heat, it was nearly impossible!)

this candy dish reminded me of when i would visit my great grandma, except she had those old fashioned candies. i love the strawberry ones!

we stopped at the splash pad downtown, and i forgot everyone's swimsuits and shorts at aros'...so i just told them to get in with their clothes...anthony thought it was too HOT to play! but then i got him in and he was running around, "mommy i'm having fun!" well finally! 

loved these signs, but they weren't even metal!!

the cutest little shop! ahh, i want a store!

loved all these labels. i'm gonna carry a few in my new old retro fridge ;)

levi got the maple and bacon soda...i can't remember what it was called. so weird! and i forgot to have him keep the bottle dang it, he threw it away.

we took a drive up snow canyon, it was nice to sit and cool off with the AC!

isa finally fell asleep...standing UP!

 

snapped a few photos of me and jeremy! 

he sure is a funny kid, his laugh is hilarious! these photos crack me up! love his sweet little face.

we went back to aros and lana's, had a bbq, alea was back so the girls played all night, i was so tired and wanted to go to bed but the kids were wired and way to hyper! we had a fun day, just too dang HOT! holy moly.