State Fair

We went to the East Idaho State Fair to watch Rachel model her dress, she won first place!

We stayed after for a few hours to torture ourselves with the crowds.  Actually it was pretty fun, better then I remember it being.  We let each kid pick a ride, Eloise LOVED the ponies.  She stood and watched other kids ride for a while, then I mentioned riding them and she started hyperventilating because she was so excited.  She giggled and giggled while they walked and screamed and screamed when it was over. Hehe

Teagan ended up getting two rides because someone sold us tickets for cheap.  After analyzing the options he picked helicopters and the giant slide.

We were there for about 2-3 hours and that was just right.  It's good for us to take time off from the house and spend time together as a family.  Now back to the electrical...

First Day of Kindergarten

Teagan was so so excited for his first day of kindergarten!  He was ready to leave the nest and went without a struggle.  

He didn't want me to walk him in:

T: mom I know where to go, you don't need to walk in with me.

M: I know, YOU know where to go, but I need to walk you in so I won't feel so sad and so I can see what it's like.

T: ohhhhhhhhhh, I see.  You can walk me in and watch me play on the toys.

M: thanks

His school and teacher are awesome.  His school was one of the few 5 star schools in the area and he's already learned so much.

They all waved goodbye to the parents as they walked into school. It was adorable, Teagan was so anxious to get into class.  

I think teagan's favorite part of school is riding the bus, followed by TWO recesses, PE, snack (candy) time, and trips to the library.  

I'm so proud of Teagan!  He comes with great stories and he's learning so much.  Love him!

Good bye House

We loved this house so much, it was sad to see it go!  So many fun fun memories there.

My Patriotic Little Boy

Teagan loves this song and has been singing "I'm proud to be an American" ever since we saw Lee Greenwood sing it in person at the firework show.  We've been spending a lot of time in the car and Teagan has been wanting to hear stories from history.  The more he learns about the nasty bad guys, Hitler, King George etc., our soldiers protect us from, and the freedoms we enjoy that others don't get, the louder and prouder he sings.  

We are going to Hawaii next year with Zac's family so I told Teagan about Pearl Harbor and how he'd get to see it.  He was so sad for the soldiers who were killed and is looking forward to visiting Pearl Harbor.  History has an interesting way of teaching compassion, I was amazed at his little heart understanding and feeling for people that he'd never met.  

I've always wanted to teach my kids honesty, faith, love, charity, courage and such, but I'm pretty sure patriotism should be added to the list of virtues too.  In watching Teagan experience being truly patriotic for the first time in his life, I've noticed a big, positive change in him.  I don't quite understand it, but I like it.  

Rock Pickin

We took a Saturday to go up to Teton Valley and get rocks for the outside of our house.  It was really hard work, but I was glad that we could be there as a family.  We went to the creek that Zac used to play in as a little boy and used rocks from there.  I love that we were able to get rocks that he played on as a little boy.

The kids were troopers.  We picnicked in a little groove of trees for lunch and Eloise survived no nap.

I ended up wading for some of the rocks so Teagan came with me, it was so refreshing.   Zac was too busy working himself into a heat stroke to take pictures of us, I can't imagine having to do it without him!

I wouldn't let Eloise near the creek, even though it was really shallow so I filled a bucket of water for her to play in and cool off.  She loved it!

This was just the beginning of our rock picking, we ended up filling the whole trailer.  

Kurt and Shelly came to help, right when we were running out of steam and gave us a second wind.  It is so nice to have so much family close by that can help us!

This is the beautiful view from grandma and grandpa's house, right before a crazy rain storm.  So gorgeous!

We went to the Huntsman Springs annual "Freedom Celebration" that night for the best fireworks I've seen in a long time.  There was a per-fireworks show that was a Beach Boys concert.  I LOVED it so much!

Getting a Strong Foundation

We are all working hard trying to build our house.  The last few weeks we've dug the foundation, gotten walls poured, and we're hoping for the basement and garage floors to get poured tomorrow.  

When my dad lowered the "mini" excavator into the basement with the big one, I about had a heart attack!    It did make smoothing things out 10 times easier.  I'm slowly learning to trust him.  LOL

We (mostly my dad) spent hours working out the plumbing for the basement, but we passed the inspection first try!  I was so excited!  

Lots of late evenings and pretty sunsets at this house.  It's really coming together!

Vacation with Grandma Packer

We had such a great time on our trip to California to see Grandma Packer!

We spent a ton of time playing at her park and going to the pool, and just enjoying each other's company.  But on one of the days we got to go to the beach with her ward.

We brought an inflatable boat for Eloise and she pretty much sat in there the whole time.

 And then Grandma took her to the water and it was like she had entered her own little heaven.  She LOVED the water even though it was really cold.

 Teagan loved jumping the waves and splashing around.

 I love the beach, it is so relaxing and sunny and it is just incredible to see that water go on forever.  My mom spotted some dolphins and we got to watch them swim by.  SO COOL!  

 It got a little windy and Teagan discovered that laying in the sand was a fabulous way to warm up.  He played in the sand for a long time before we had to head back home.

I didn't take near enough pictures and it kills me!  Here are some of the fun things we did that I didn't have pictures of, hopefully I'll be able to add them in later if my mom got picture of them.

-The tree house/fort that my mom built for Teagan in the garage.  It was awesome and he could haul stuff up and down and across the room with a pulley system.  Grandma of the year award goes to her for the hours and hours she spent making it!

-The arts and crafts we did.  My mom spent so much time with Teagan making these fun wooden superhero guys that he loves.  

-Our handmade painted T-shirts.  We got to choose our design and my mom actually painted us each a shirt.  Teagan has been begging me to do wash so he can wear his again.  I think she should make a business out of it!

-Time spent at the park.  Teagan was so friendly and just made friends with whoever he met at the park and had so much fun.  Eloise learned to go down the slide by herself and loved the swings.

-Our water balloon fight on a hot day.

-Stonefire Grill, the best food ever!  I look forward to eating there every time we go to visit.  My mom's "birthday carrot cake" was so so yummy!

-Playing Karat Carrot, my mom's new game that she designed.  We were either really tired or that game is hilarious because we couldn't stop laughing that night.

-Relaxing and reading Anne of Green Gables again.

-My mom's school had graduation so we went without the kids and had a fun little date.  Later that night we went to one of the most fun wedding receptions I've been to in a while.  Live music, yummy food, and tons and tons of great company.  I got to catch up with high school friends and watch my kids play with their kids (Adam and Lisa), see my piano teacher from yesteryear and so many friends from the ward.   I love California and the people there.

As you can see, it was a full, fun week.  I hope that we can make it a yearly tradition to go visit every summer.  Something about going back to where I grew up is really nostalgic and we of course love getting my mom to ourselves without having to share with my siblings.  Thanks mom for the amazing visit, it was so fun!