May and June

 Hello!

This photo of TJ mowing the lawn with little Isaiah on his shoulders is the perfect photo to represent the past few weeks for us....crazy busy, but loving every bit!

So this is what we've been up to...

 Trever turned 9!!!

How did that happen?!

I'm still in shock every time I say he's nine!

 For his birthday breakfast, he chose Bacon and Waffles,

for lunch, a "Son of a Baconator" cheeseburger from Wendy's,

and for dinner, bacon flavored hot dogs--chili dog style.

What can I say? The boy loves bacon! hahaha

But don't worry...that's not bacon on his cake, 

it's crumbled-up Twix candy bars...his other true love!

 He also spent a lot of May working towards earning his "Wolf" in Cub Scouts.

 And was able to receive his new badge at the end of the month, along with a gold arrow point plus 3 silver arrow points, and 11 belt loop awards!!!

 And on the last day of school, he received a hard-earned certificate for accomplishing the "Presidential Fitness Award." Only 22 kids in the entire school of 350+ earned this award and he was one of them! It was something he worked very hard for and tried again and again until he accomplished it. Perhaps that's why he was also chosen as "Athlete of the Month" for May!

He also said goodbye to his awesome teacher Ms. Anderson.

AND brought home a fantastic report card!

He is such a great student and we are so proud of him!

(I can't believe he's going to be in 4th grade this fall!!!)

~

 Nathan had a great school year, too!

I got to come see him present his animal science project and was so impressed with how much he was able to tell me about Penguins.  :)

 On the last day of school, I also got to bring donuts to share with his class to celebrate his upcoming summer birthday.

 With a mouthful of donuts, he said goodbye to his dear teacher, Mrs. Crooks. She was Trever's first grade teacher, too and we were so impressed with her excellent teaching that we requested Nathan to join her class for first grade. We are so glad we did, too! She was so willing to wear the FM System that transmits her voice to an attachment piece on his hearing aid so he could hear her voice directly. She wore it every day of the school year and made an extra effort to ensure he was able to have as much opportunity to learn as the other students in class. We are so grateful for great teachers!

Nathan also brought home a fantastic report card!

He has to make an extra effort to learn and keep up with the other students and we are so proud of him and how hard he tries each day!

 And then Nathan turned 7!!!

(I don't know how that happened, either!! haha)

He was so excited for his big day!!!

 I always let the boys choose what kind of birthday cake they want, and this year, Nathan chose my homemade apple pie!

He also requested homemade German Pancakes and bacon for breakfast,

hot dogs for lunch, and homemade biscuits and sausage for dinner.

So, I spent a lot of time baking on his birthday. In fact, he fell asleep before I even got his pie baked, that evening. We tried and tried to wake him, but with no luck. So he didn't actually blow out his candles until the next morning! hahaha

~

Some other things we did in May:

 Chuck E. Cheese's for each of the boys' birthdays.

And movies for their birthdays, too!

 Crazy drivers in Toys'R'Us, picking out toys with their birthday money. 

(not the car, though, haha)

 Wild "Slip and Slide" rides!

 Fun with Maunya in Estes Park.

 And enjoying the Colorado views.

~

Then, in June...

 We packed the car and headed for Idaho to find a home.

~

But we took a little detour along the way....

 And spent the day fishing in Warm River with TJ's family.

 Isaiah jumped right in, like a little pro, following in his big brothers' footsteps.

 TJ took the boys out on the river for the full experience.

I wish I would have had my camera when Trever started fly fishing on his own for the first time. He's a natural!

 The boys had a lot of fun on these kayaks, too.

 I just enjoyed the views and seeing my boys so happy!

 Timeless Beauty.

~

We had a lot of fun at Warm River.

Then, back at the Martin home, we had a lot of fun, too!

 Just look at all those cousins!!!

It was so great to see them all!

~

Now for the romantic part....

 One morning, TJ and I took the boys up to the College Gardens at BYU-I.

A place they've never been before, but somewhere that TJ and I went often as a young, courting couple.

 It was quite romantic, returning now, ten years later, with three children of our own.

And I think the boys found it to be just as magical as it was to us.

~

Okay, haha, back to the fun!

 We always have to go to "Fat Cats" for bowling with Maunya!

The boys' cousins, Jaydon and Andylin joined in on the fun, too!

 Since my mom was there,

she offered to take a photo of our family, 

which happened to turn out surprisingly well...considering we're at the bowling alley! hahaha

~

And we can't go to Idaho without having a good ol' dutch oven cookout! Yum!

 I love candid shots like this that capture the moment so perfectly!

 See what I mean?! hahaha!

~

In between all of the fun, 

TJ and I did manage to secure a home for us to move to this summer. 

We're so excited for this next chapter of our lives....

especially living closer to all of our family that we've missed so much over the years!

~

 One last hurrah, spending the day at Rigby Lake, before heading home to pack for the move.

 What fun we had!

 Eager for our next adventure!