We're Back!

Oops! Three months since my last post! Sorry everyone!

But not to worry: We're back! And I have no intentions on quitting my blog.

I suppose I just needed a vacation from the blog world for a while. haha.

But now that the kids are back in school,
I'll be able to keep up with more regular blog posts, once again.

Now, where do I begin?!

So much has happened since May 30th....

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Nathan turned FIVE! 

Holy Cow! How did that happen?!

He was SUPER excited, too! 

Nathan has got a HUGE sweet tooth,

so he got plenty of his favorite foods to enjoy on his special day. 

He's also a very creative thinker...

The night before his birthday, he suggested that we could tape some presents onto the ceiling for him to find in the morning. haha! So, I wrapped a few small gifts and did just that. But, by morning they'd fallen to the floor. He was still happy to find them, though.

And what could be in those ceiling surprises,

but gobs of bouncy balls!!! As he had ALSO requested...haha! 

A few other "requested" gifts.

Silly kid. 

TJ was able to spend the morning with us before he had to go to work,

so we took the boys to a little movie theater in Fort Collins that plays free cartoons every morning. 

And what do you know---we were the first ones there, and the only ones for quite a while.

So the boys got to pick the cartoons: Looney Tunes! And we got to sit in the front row of comfy old sofas! 

\

Then, Dad went to work, so the boys and I came home and painted some little ceramic "bobble head" football figures that Trever had picked out just for Nathan's birthday. 

After all their hard work,

we decided a nice ice cream break at McDonald's would be the next fun event of the day. 

Then, it was back home to build Nathan's requested birthday cake:

Mud Cake! Complete with Oreo dirt & plenty of gummy worms! 

By then, TJ was back home to join us in singing our sweet boy

"Happy Birthday!" 

And it was definitely that! A Happy Birthday!

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Our next big event was.......

MOVING INTO A REAL HOUSE!

Finally! We had outgrown the apartment life, for sure!

We love our cute little house and look forward to a couple of very happy years here.

~

During our move,

we were also "full swing" in the middle of

BASEBALL SEASON!

Yay! 

Nathan played on the "Cheetas" T-ball team. 

Those little kiddos were so cute & funny to watch. 

And we all had to watch out for Nathan's killer swing!

He could really hit that ball!!!

His coach was really impressed with his natural talent & so were we!

~

Trever played on the "Rockies" coach-pitch baseball team:  

He was pretty proud of himself for suggesting the team's name,

which won the votes. Who wouldn't want to be a "Rockies" player?!  

Trever took the game very seriously and expected himself to be the best player he could be. 

And all his hard work payed off, when he hit a HOME RUN on his last game of the season!

He played an awesome last game & my heart swelled with pride, watching him do his best!

~

Another fun summer event was receiving a visit from the boys'

Grandma & Grandpa Martin! Yay!

They took us to Denver and we stayed the night in a hotel, which was SO exciting to the boys, especially since our little Lucy dog got to join us. Can you tell she's excited?! haha!

But we had a lot of fun in Denver, and in all of our adventures while TJ's parents were here.

We are always so happy to have family come and visit!

Thanks for coming, Grandma & Grandpa Martin! We love you!

~

Some other fun summer events were...

A backyard camp out!

It was really exciting, setting up their little scout tent, settling in, and listening to Dad's silly stories,

but once the fun was over, Nathan decided to join Mom in the comforts of our home. Trever fell right to sleep, but TJ had a hard time getting comfortable in the small sleeping quarters, and once the wind picked up, he thought I had decided to sneak out and shake the tent, so he started hollering at me to knock it off, only to unzip the tent and discover no one but the innocent wind. So TJ, picked up sleeping Trever and heading indoors for the rest of the night. hahaha! Not the most successful first backyard camp out.

~

One event that's ALWAYS a success, though, is visiting Chuck E. Cheese's!

The boys never tire of that crazy place!

~

Another fun summer event, was going to the Greeley Stampede Rodeo.

It's a national Rodeo, so they get all the pro's and it's always a great show!

The boys were old enough this year to really enjoy the rodeo sports, too!

But I think they liked the country western band that we watched afterward a little bit more!

~

Then came the 4th of July! Hooray!

The boys were SO excited for the parade to start,

so they could start catching candy!

It was really neat watching the beginning of the parade,

which started off with a heard of 50 or so gigantic steers being herded down the crowd-lined streets.

It was quite the sight to see! And everyone was pretty quiet, probably hoping that none of the steers would get startled and head off into the crowd. (At least, that's what I was hoping. haha) They were huge!

Trever & Nathan weren't as impressed, though.

They just wanted some candy...

Lots of patriotic bands,

crazy paraders,

and cool "floats" too,

BUT no candy!!!

That's right: NO CANDY!

Trever and Nathan were so disappointed (and TJ and I were, too, honestly)

that we only stayed for the first 2 hours, which was still pretty long, considering the baking hot day it was, so we called it a day, went home, had a backyard barbecue and then joined the town of Windsor for a nice evening of Fireworks and patriotic band music by the banks of the Windsor Lake.

All-in-all, a pretty nice fourth of July.

~

Now, on to the best adventure of our summer....

Our trip to IDAHO!

~ 

It's always fun to go to Idaho and visit all of our dear family there.

We had so many adventures, one of the first being "Glow-In-Dark Mini Golf." 

And hitting the arcade with cousins! Cousin Jaydon got a Jackpot!

~

Now back to nature... 

Another adventure to start off our Idaho trip was taking a hike with our Ploc-her family, 

one warm sunny day. 

Actually, it was a pretty darn hot day...haha.

So the boys cooled off in the mud, 

and took breaks along the path to play in the dirt. Of course.

During our Idaho visit,

we were also able to visit all of our wonderful grandparents (the boys' Great-Grandparents),

which is always a special treat!

~ 

Another EXTRA special treat was getting to see my newborn niece!

Baby Asha was born while we were there!

She is the first of my siblings children that I've actually got to see as a newborn.

Living far away from family, I haven't gotten to see any of my other siblings children until they were at least 3 to 6 months old. Trever and Nathan really enjoyed seeing their tiny newborn cousin, too!

~

Family canoe trips are always something to look forward to, as well.

We spent one evening on the river... 

and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the water.

It doesn't get much prettier than that.

~

With the Martin's... 

There's always fun to be had with 4-wheeler rides!

~

And there's nothing like camping in the great outdoors!

We camped out with all of TJ's family at Mack's Inn,

where most of the bunch spent their time in the river. 

Fun times with cousins!

~

Another fun spot: 

Moose Creek.

Er, I mean, FREEZING Moose Creek! haha

The water was SO cold! But as the afternoon sun heated up the day,

the icy water water a brisk refreshment to the feet.

We all had a wonderful time. 

& After a day in the sun and "surf".... 

Nothing hits the spot like a famous "Big Jud's" burger!

(Can you tell TJ was hungry?! haha!) 

And sweet, creamy ice cream to top it off! YUM-O!

~

Well, we said our goodbye's and thought we were heading home,

when TJ suggested that the boys and I spend a little more time in our homeland.

He knew his schedule was going to be extremely busy and thought we'd have more fun finishing up our summer vacation with family.

So...

our trip continued for another 2 weeks!

~

Including, but not limited to....

Cotton Candy at the Rexburg Splash Park, 

Dinner at our favorite Frontier Pies restaurant, 

St. Anthony's Pioneer Days Rodeo, 

AND their Pioneer Days Parade with the best floats ever,

PLUS....TONS of candy! Yay! 

Aunty Candice's Birthday FUN, 

Winnning the 500 Ticket Jackpot!!!! 

Having a BLAST at Leo's, 

Welcoming home-grown chicks into the world, 

and guarding them from the "mean ol' pudy tat," 

adventures in bowling, 

and so, so much more that this tired out mom forgot to take pictures of.

But you can believe that we had the best summer ever!

Thanks for everything, Grandma & Grandpa Martin and Maunya & Grandpa Chad!!!

We LOVE all of our family SO much and were SO grateful to see everyone this summer!

~

We had one week after we got back to Colorado to get ready for school.

Before we knew it, we had a Kindergartner, a Second Grader and a regular routine up and running.

Two cool kids! 

Our big 2nd grader! 

And our brave Kindergartner!

~

AND, our upcoming arrival.....

Still in my belly....is baby #3!

Due January 20th!

We are SO excited and SO grateful!

We'll find out the gender of our baby at the next ultrasound appointment,

in about three weeks, so stay tuned and I'll keep you posted!

~

Love, Shilowe