What A Summer!!

Hey Everybody!

We're back!!

Sorry for the looooooong wait--we had a looooooong summer break!

Between packing up for the big move, moving, unpacking, visiting family & having family visit us, enjoying what was left of our summer, and adjusting to our new home, I've been too scatter-brained to keep our blog updated. 

But the older boys started school last week, so I was finally able to unpack the rest of our boxes, get my house back in order, and now post a new blog.

So, here are a few highlights from our summer this year...

~

Most of June was spent packing, packing, and more packing...

 But, finally, July arrived, and before we knew it, 

we were celebrating the Fourth of July in Idaho!

 We joined TJ's family in Menan for a fun little parade that morning, 

and ended the day in Rexburg for a rodeo and fireworks.

 After our fun Fourth of July in "East" Idaho,

we drove to our new home in "West" Idaho:

 Isaiah made himself at home right away,

and the older boys did, too.

Trever and Nathan were super excited that 

we got to buy our first FLAT SCREEN TV!!!

We've finally joined the rest of civilization! hahaha!!!

 So, here are a few photos of our new (rental) house:

The Dining Area and Family Room

 The Kitchen

 The Living Room 

(haha...we finally bought some more furniture for this room, 

but I still need to fill the blank walls, 

so I'll post a new photo once I get it all decorated)

 The Upstairs Loft 

(with our cute little old TV...this is the boys' play space)

 The Guest Bedroom

 The Boys Room

(sorry, for the eye sore...it's another work in progress...)

 The HUGE Master Bedroom

(and that's even a king size bed!)

 There are also 2.5 bathrooms, a laundry room, a pantry and an office, plus a 3-car garage! 

Needless to say, we have plenty of space! 

It's been a nice change from 10 years of small apartments and homes.

~

But the best change is being so much closer to home.

We actually got to attend a family reunion this summer!

(Something we haven't been able to do in years!)

It was my mom's Hathaway family reunion in Island Park.

We just spent a day there, 

but we had a great time and were glad we were able to go.

 The boys had so much fun with their awesome cousins!

 Back in West Idaho, I decided to take the boys exploring our new area, 

and we came upon this perfect little place called Duff Pond.

 The boys had a lot of fun trying to catch minnows...

 And Nathan even built his own fishing pole with a stick and a weed tied to the end.

 It was nice to get the kids outside, take a break from unpacking, 

and enjoy a little bit of summer bliss.

 Another fun place we discovered was Middleton Place Park.

The boys got skateboards this summer 

and decided to practice their new hobby at the new park.

 Isaiah enjoyed the playground the most. 

And I, once again, enjoyed the break from unpacking.

 We also had our first visitors in July!

TJ's parents came to stay for a weekend, 

so we all went to the Canyon County Fair!

Isaiah LOVED the livestock barns!

 He may not be smiling in the photos,

but he was in complete awe!

He LOVES animals!

 

The older boys enjoyed the animals, too.

They got a kick out of seeing the big pigs,

since we had played "Pass The Pigs" the night before.

 In August, we were pleased to have TJ's sweet niece Kaity 

and her adorable daughter Halle come visit.

It gave us an excuse to check out the Boise Zoo...

 Trever & Nathan loved the moving, growling Dinosaur models...

 And Isaiah loved feeding the goats!

(Trever and Nathan discovered a broken goat food vending machine that would give you back your quarter along with a handful of food...and sometimes you'd even get 2 quarters back! 

So we spent a long time feeding goats! haha)

 Then we got to enter the amazing butterfly house!

It was so shocking when you first entered 

and butterflies were flying all around you! 

But once we got used to it, 

we didn't want to leave!

 The butterflies would even land on our shoulders!

 Or our shorts...

 The boys tried to hold still, 

so the butterflies would land on them.

 These butterflies had stopped to snack on the fruit halves.

It was so much fun to watch them. 

We could have stayed there for hours!

 But, there was more to see...

Like these "Ninja Turtle" boys:

 Trever & Nathan are really into Ninja Turtles right now, 

so they thought it was really cool that they could crawl into these big turtle shells.

 We didn't want Isaiah to feel left out,

so we put him atop this big lizard model,

but he was pretty nervous that the creature was real.

P.S. This was his first zoo visit ever!

We had a great time,

and were so glad Kaity & Halle came to visit us.

~

Before we knew it, it was time for school to begin once again!

And it was time for Nathan to get a haircut!

 Ta Da! Doesn't he look so handsome?!

 The boys were a little nervous to go to a new school,

especially Nathan, who begged me to home-school him instead,

But we were able to take them to their new building a couple times before school started, 

and that eased their nerves a lot---and even made them pretty excited!

 So, by the first day of school, 

they hopped out of bed, eager to start the day!

I was actually pretty nervous for their first day, too,

but they came home with big smiles on their faces 

and were excited to tell me all about their new adventures. 

So now, we are all happily enjoying our new routine,

and looking forward to our new life back in Idaho.