August 2021

                                                  

                              Yes, William can walk. But why does he need to with Spencer around?

Discovered a fantastic bundt roll recipe taht has changed our lives and the kids eat it in five seconds.

Regular silliness

Fun park days! The kids made friends with some random kids and made a game. I love how kids just make friends with each other!

We went to dinner at an Italian place on the river. Sadly, I can't remember it's name but it was fantastic! Whenever we try somewhere new, I wonder why we don't just go to new places anytime we go out! Loved getting to know Courtney better and see Jordan in a good place.

We went over to Swan Falls to mess around one day.

Hailey is in 11th grade! Can't believe it!

4th grade for William in the funniest shirt ever!

Hailey drops Spencer off at the middle school then goes to the high school. Spencer is more excited about it than she is but they do get along great!

Spencer in 8th grade! He was making fun of me for being teary when the kids go to school. Reminds me so much of Daryll!

Brooke is in 6th grade! Prepped with breakfast, lunch and water bottle.

We took some cake over to Bri for all her help.

Burning stuff!

Happy 12th birthday Brooke! She is an energetic and fun part of our family! She is usually happy to help and is always creating something. She made her own peanut butter chocolate birthday cake! 

Not the most beautiful outcome but man, it was delicious! I would go to the fridge and find forks in there because the kids were just taking bite after bite. We can always depend on Spencer to finish up the rest of everything!

Brooke is a fan of all soft stuff! She was so happy to snuggle up with this blanket. Brooke is an adventurous girl and loves to help people out. She loves to read and jump on the trampoline and make imaginary games. She loves to snuggle up in bed with me.

Classic Brooke face.

Brooke is a big fan of decorating. She looks at Hailey's example and likes to add things to her walls. She is great with young kids, even if they are difficult, she is patient and nice to them. Brooke loves organizing and playing games! We are so grateful she is in our family!

Back to school night! We were a little nervous after homeschool but it worked out perfectly.  Everyone came home feeling ready to go back to school!

William in his new clasroom.

Art by Spence?

Rejoicing in all the awesomeness of life!

German pancake for birthday breakfast outside! What a great day! I wonder how many German pancakes I have made for birthday breakfasts over the years?

The pumpkin patch has gone bonkers!  I don't have to do anything. It just grows from last year's seeds. 

Chicken watching is seriously so entertaining and also relaxing. I'll find the boys out here after school a lot hanging with the chickens.

"Billy, the bully. Trouble. A deal is made."

These two are the ultimate brothers. When we go to Roaring Springs, they do the wave pool and the lazy river and blow stuff up the whole time. If we ask if they want other friends to come, they say, "I'll just hang with Will/Spence." It's cute.

Ah, Belle and Brooke. Such cute friends.

Found this heart rock and pretty sure I'll keep it forever.

Swan Falls dam. These pictures are out of order. Oh well!

The level of excitement is palpable.

In case you're wondering if the kids wanted to go.

Ordering ice cream from William.

Courtney and Jordan agreed that Lovejoys is amazing!

We went to a rock store at the Village. Lots of cool rocks out there.

Used the get out pass for an American Ninja Warrior gym. Looks like Spencer mostly blew stuff up and beat down the punching bag.

Those rings are harder than they look!

Pearler beads never get old. Also, very loud when they get sucked up in the vacuum.

Back to school family dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Nobody whines about awesome rolls and fried stuff.

Back to school shopping. I was still exhausted from Covid so I mostly laid down/rested while Brooke tried stuff on and worked on being excited. She was a good sport and we found some clothes.

Saw the preview for Jungle Cruise one day and told the family we were going to see it for William because he has watched all our movies. It actually turned out to be funny and pretty great!

Idaho Museum fun times

Caught William playing with the little store at the library. Pretty funny!

No comment!

William earned this lego set!

More puzzles. I love that it brings everyone around and that it's a way to get through boring times. Plus, the kids start chatting. Tee hee, I'm so sneaky.

Middle school buddies! 

The face of Covid. Not pretty. We did watch most of Outlander (edited yikes) and that was fun. Hailey and Spencer joined us too sometimes.

Spencer came in and watched Nacho Libre with me while I was sick and we laughed a lot.

Cindy sent me Get Well flowers. It really did help my mood!

Seriously, the family that Covids together, stays together. William didn't get it and ran wild for days mostly eating cereal, ice cream and watching movies. Brooke had a bad respiratory. Spencer had it a few days. Hailey (she started it all) had it for a short time. And Blake and I suffered together for weeks. Thankfully, I got some cough stuff that helped me not break a rib during coughing spasms. It took a month or more to feel better! And not smelling or tasting was weird. Also, meat tasted like poo to Hailey after. Such a strange sickness.

Covid tests are like unwanted pregnancy tests. The weird thing is we were a real part of pandemic history. I remember when I heard about it in January of 2020 and thought "Man, that's awful." A month later, life totally changed. Pretty amazing that we made it over a year without getting it. Then right when we're finally ready to go to Coeur d'laine on our family trip, we get it and have to cancel. When Covid happened, we washed our hands like crazy, cleaned our groceries, would only let certain people go to the store, walk a fair distance from others. It's amazing that we aren't insane after that!

Blake doing a creative FHE lesson.

Back to school lunch at Panda, Spencer's favorite.