Swimming Lessons

The past 2 weeks Hallie & Janessa have had 8:30 swimming lessons every morning. I don't know what I was thinking signing up at that time 'cause they had a heck of a time waking up, but once they got there they were OK. Hallie is a fish. She'll do anything the teacher asks and every year moves up to the next level. Janessa is a different story. This is her 3rd year at the beginner level and she still didn't pass!!! She tries, but can NOT float on her back for 10 seconds. Luckily she'll be in a whole different set of classes for kids over 6 next year, so she won't be in with the 3 year-olds :).
Riley & Hallie-

Jordi & Janessa-
The spectators-. Tyson and Emery were so good to sit with us and watch. The last day Andrew and Thomas were able to be there to see the girls jump off the diving board-

Hallie's love...

My parents were handed this dog a few months ago and they tried to give her to Hallie for an early Christmas present & I said HE** NO!! They ended up with her, but they tell Hallie she's her dog- she just stays at Grandma & Grandpa's :) Anyway, my parents are out of town this week so Gizmo's at our house and Hallie is in heaven. She carries her around like a baby and takes really good care of her. I know I'm a mean mom.... I told her maybe when the basement's finished and she has her own bedroom to keep her in then "MAYBE"...!

4-Wheeler Fun

Andrew fixed this 4-wheeler this weekend for a guy he works with and we had a little fun with it while it was here-! Hallie LOVED that she could ride it herself and never wanted off! Ness and Ty had several rides and thought it was great. Tyson kept getting mad and saying "MINE" whenever it wasn't his turn. Typical 2 year old :). Then came the real entertainment! My 12 (I mean 20-somethin') year old husband was out there putting on a great show. He had grass flying all over the place (which would have been a huge NO NO if it were the kids!), hardly ever had all 4 tires on the ground, and yes, those are his feet above the handlebars! Well, atleast I never have to complain about him being boring, right??

New Cousin!!

This is our kids' 1st cousin on Andrew's side! Isn't he adorable?! Connor Nathan was born last Thurs. the 10th and weighed 7lbs. 15oz.- perfect! We are so sad we aren't closer so we could see him, but they've been great about e-mailing lots of pictures! We're SO excited for them! Congratulations Nathan & Lindsay!!!

4th...

If I wasn't such an idiot I'd have more pictures from the 4th, but I tend to forget my camera ALL the time! We were actually traveling the morning of the 4th so we weren't able to go to a parade this year, but while we were in Boise for the reunion, we made a quick trip to Deena & Rod's for some fireworks! This was the first time we've seen their new house & it was -of course- beautiful! The kids had a great time and didn't want to leave. Luckily Deena sent me the pictures she got (although the camera didn't like the dark for some reason) but they're still really cute of the kids. Tyson & Carson rode these little 4 wheelers all night and every once in a while they'd stop to watch a few fireworks-
Janessa & Maele playing their hearts out-! They wanted to do this instead of fireworks-
Hallie & Mya- teenagers in the making! (or so they think) Tyson's first year doing sparklers, he was braver than his sisters :)

Family Reunion

Last weekend (over the 4th) Andrew's mom had a first ever family reunion! She was so nervous and excited, but it turned out great! She had a great idea of celebrating every holiday because everyone lives to far away that we never see them for holidays. Everyone brought a birthday present for someone else, we had a Thanksgiving feast, Easter egg hunt, fireworks, Christmas ham, and didn't quite get to making the Valentines-! She and the girls made these flip-flops with yarn that were wild but cute! We stayed in the trailer in the back yard because there were so many people inside, but it turned out great! The kids loved it and it was nice and cool at night.

Hallie's Braids

We have been gone (off and on) for a week and a half and this has been great for Hallie! She has loved to not have her hair done every morning. My sister and I spend an hour or more braiding the Sunday before last and it still looks OK! I think we'll have to make this a summer tradition. It totally reminds me of girl's camp when I was younger-

Hallie & Mauri- they kept saying we look like twins you should take our picture! Pretty cute!!