Thursday, June 28, 2018

Jackson is 10

Jack turned 10 on the 18th.  He was able to go to Krupp Scout Hollow during the day, and we had a family party that night.  He wanted smoked ribs and short strawberry cake for his birthday.  I decided to try smoking the ribs, and they turned out great.  I was glad because I wanted them to be good for his big day, and I want to learn how to use the smoker.




Jackson got a pellet gun and was really excited about that. :)




This kid has kept us on our feet since he was born, and I don't see that changing any time soon.  He has a very kind heart and loves giving, whether it's something he's bought or just sharing a little bit of his money so someone can buy a treat with him.  He adds so much to this family and loves being close and cuddling still.  I love that.

At 10, Jackson loves:

Baseball and pitching
His Nintendo DS
Spending time with Grant and his brothers
Legos
Shooting his new gun
Riding his bike into town from "the farm."
Summer
Writing notes to people
Writing Comics
Reading graphic novels

We love:

His giving heart
His gentleness (when he wants to be)
Watching him play baseball and pitch
The friendship between him and Caleb
His Cuddles
His Hugs
The notes he writes Mom and Dad
Watching him grow into a great kid

Jackson, we love you!  You add so much to our family and can't imagine life without you.  Keep up all the good you do, and it will really take you places.  Can't wait to see what life will bring you!

Father's Day

We had a fun Father's Day this year.  Nothing too out of the ordinary, but it was nice to be home celebrating this awesome Dad.  The kids had lots of notes and pictures for Bo.  I've wanted to get him a smoker for a while now and finally did.  We had a tasty dinner of smoked chicken thighs and legs and have used it a few times since then.  It's been fun to try it out. 




Thanks, Bo, for being you.  The kids love you and love spending time with you. This spring, you have taken so much time coaching them in baseball and attending Hailey's vocal performances.  I'm sure these will be some of their best memories when they're grown.  Things are always busy with work, but it's so nice to see you take the time for them.  You are a great example, especially in patience with each of us.  You are a great provider and make sure we are well taken care of.  We enjoy all the fun adventures you take us on too.  To the best Dad, we could ask for, we love you!

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Hailey's Still Singing

Hailey was in voice lessons all year, signing is the Rexburg Children's Choir, and in her third trimester at school, she was in a choir.  She got a solo in the talent show. Hailey also sang in the talent show and tried out for the play Annie. This made for a very busy May, but she loved it.

Here are some pics and 3 links to her songs she performed:








  I am amazed at her bravery and confidence.  I definitely didn't have that at her age.  She sure has been fun to watch this past year.

Sunday, June 24, 2018

Some Changes to the House

It took 18 months, but it's finished, and I couldn't be happier at how it turned out!

Getting started, building the floor

After we took out the wall.

You can see how small it really was when you look at this pic

Making progress

We got the window!
 And the finished project!



Now to decorate the shelves!

We also got a trampoline, and it's a hit!

Hailey won $100

Hailey has had a 4.0 GPA all year, and all that hard work paid off, literally.  Zions bank pays $1 for each A a child gets, and then they enter their name into a drawing.  Well, Hailey won the raffle!  How exciting for her!

This girl works very hard in school, and we're so proud of her work ethic.  It will take her places.  Woot!  Woot!  Way to go, Hailey!

4th Grade Idaho History Project

Jack made a dream catcher for his Idaho History Project.  He had a lot of fun putting it together.  I think it turned out pretty cool.




The kids put on a presentation too.  Jack really doesn't love stuff like this.  Even in Kindergarten, he wouldn't participate in singing and making motions.  I told him if he wanted me to come, he had to do something for me to watch.  I had a great time giggling to myself about his over or under exaggerated motions.  This kid is definitely his own person.  :)

NYC and Boston Girls Trip

My Mom, Sister, and I had never been on a girls trip before and kind of got a wild hair.  We decided to go to New York for a few days.  We had a great time!  We ended up staying in a great location that made our activities pretty convenient.  Here are the highlights!
Our View from the hotel

We left Thursday and got in late that night.  It still amazes me that in a short amount of time, we can cross the US and be in the hustle and bustle of one of the biggest cities in the world.  I love NYC.  Friday morning, we went to the Metropolitan Museum.  A person could spend days there, but we spent a couple of hours just looking at the things that interested us.  The Romans and South American artifacts.  I took lots of pictures, but I can't put them all on the blog.  Here are a few.

The Met
 Some of my favorites from the museum


This is made from tiny feathers.

I love this picture



Friday night we went to the Phantom of the Opera.  I was excited about this show.  I used to play this music over and over for Brooke while we were growing up.  But I hadn't seen the show, and the Phantom exceeded all expectations.  Christine had such a lovely clear voice.  When it was all said and done, I wanted to see it again.  My Mom said that was awesome!  I want to see another one.  But that wasn't in the plans, so we all just kind of giggled.




Saturday, we woke up and hopped on a city tour bus and drove south to the Financial District.  It was fun to ride around and see the city.  We have usually walked or taken the subway, so it was neat to see it all.  I love walking around this part of NY and realized this time that I always want to stay near Time square, but the financial district is my favorite.  I just love the feeling there, and I love the buildings.  (Not to mention it's way less crowded.) We visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum.  I loved it the second time too.













We stopped and got some great treats from Carlos Bakery.



On our way back, I kept thinking we should go to Wicked that night because we didn't have any set plans.  I checked to see if they had tickets.  They did, and we decided to go!  It was great, as well.  But, the more I think about it, I think I did like the Phantom better.


Sunday was a travel day.  Brooke had to get home for work, so we parted ways and hopped a train to Boston.  Boston is also such a cool city.  Getting there Sunday afternoon and walking to our home for the next few days, I couldn't help but notice how quiet it was.  There was hardly anyone out and about.  We had a spectacular walk, and I really enjoyed seeing all of the old and new buildings.  We stayed in Old Town, Little Italy.  It was really cool.  I also had to look up the population of Boston because I had pictured it much bigger.  It is only about a quarter of a million and much more family-friendly than NY.





Right outside our Air BnB
Monday morning, we started our walk on the Freedom Trail.  We had many cool stops.  My two favorites were the Paul Revere House just because it's crazy old and the Old North Church.  The Old North Church was impressive.  If you look at the pictures, there are little box pews (I call them).  Many of the close ones had names on them.  I found it funny that nowadays, at church, many people would rather sit in the back while those that had names on them were all in the front.  It looked to me that those with close seats paid for theirs.  They also had places for people of color. 
Paul Revere House

Paul Revere Statue



Old North Church "One if by land..."









This red brick trail is all over Boston.  We followed it to see all the sites on the Freedom Trail

A very cool old Cemetary



 We also stopped for some Fish n Chips (yes, I went off my GF diet while we were gone.  I paid for it, but it was worth it!)



We also went to the Boston Tea Party Museum.  It was really cool, but I couldn't take very many pictures.




Tuesday, we took a cruise of the Harbor and shopped a bit.

Here we are on top of the cruise ship.




Just a really cool street we walked past.

A great pizza place

I'm so glad we decided to split the trip between NY and Boston, I love seeing new cities.  Send me to a city over the beach any day.

Walking around this old city that's been around since before the revolution made me realize that nation is old, but the US isn't old compared to the rest of the world.  Our country isn't even 250 years old.  The Eastern world is thousands of years old.  Rigby was only established 134 years ago.  It was neat to see all the ancient artifacts at the Met, but I need to go travel the other side of the world, haha.

It was special to spend those days with my sister and Mom, and I think we made some good memories.  Family is the best!

These kids liked their new shirts too! 

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