We Finally Made It

Our summer kicked off with a big move for us from our apartment in Shelley...

...to our house in Mountain Home...

...and boy are we exhausted.

It has been a long road through school, but Barry officially graduated and is no longer working his tail off for free. We're in the middle of his second week of officially bringing home the bacon as a post-grad. It has been a different kind of routine for us, but we are definitely liking it. We actually get to eat dinner together and there aren't any papers to be written or tests to be studied for. Barry is doing great at his new career and getting settled in to being treated like a professional. Heather is adjusting to being alone with the kids all day and is missing the family she used to see all the time. Quinton and Clara seem to like our new house, especially the back yard!

We moved the last weekend of June but turned right back around and stayed with my mom for a week in Rigby while Barry finished up his internships. It was nice to spend time with them before we really had to go. We were there for Independence Day and had fun at the Rexburg parade and celebrating with food and fireworks. We were all over the place and didn't take very many pictures. Then we came back Saturday night and Barry started work Tuesday morning. Our ward is really nice and so is everybody we meet in Mountain Home. 

Clara and Connor at the parade.

Playing in the water with John and Mackayla at Aunt Jeni's house.

We also had one last hoorah with all of our friends and family before we moved on June 19th. We ate Cafe Rio and enjoyed everyone's company.

Heather, Erin, Cachea, Megan, Mistri - High school friends.

And all of our families!

Tonya, Heather, Brittney, Hailey - friends from Princeton Ward.

Eating some ice cream in Idaho Falls.

Visit to Rexburg

We made it up to Rexburg to visit Aunt Jeni one day and had fun playing at the park and riding in her awesome bike.

Sunday Best

Random

One day Daddy taught Quinton and Clara about growing things and they planted seeds. Clara ended up eating the dirt, but they were fascinated!

Here's a random picture of Quinton and Clara eating bananas. They sure do like fruit!

Eating Suckers

Going "night-night" in Mommy and Daddy's bed

Sleeping Angels

Clara's first hair accessories

Jumping

Quinton and Clara absolutely loved jumping on Grandma and Grandpa Jenks' trampoline. The played nicely with each other for a very long time. Might not be a bad investment...

Daddy's Happy Day

The weekend of Barry's birthday we went to Oakley and spent some time with Barry's family while he and his sisters pitched in with their parents' garden.  After a day of hard work we celebrated Barry's and his nephew Gage's birthdays with a wiener roast. It was nice to get away and see family for a weekend.

We also had a picnic and went bowling, but I forgot the camera! Happy birthday honey!

Barry's Graduation Day

The day finally came and Barry was hooded a Master of Counseling. We're all so proud of him and his hard work to get through school after years of tests, papers, and dirty diapers. He still had some internship hours to finish up, but he got to walk with the rest of his class on May 8, 2010.

A few nights before his actual graduation his department had a nice dinner that our parents were able to come to.

I didn't get a good picture of him walking on stage, but I'll blame that on the Holt Arena's fabulous lighting.

Barry caught this enormous fish that week!

Second Chance Prom

My sister Jeni talked us into going to Second Chance Prom, a mock high school dance for those of us who are post-grad. It was awesome to see people of all ages (the best couple must have been in their 80's) getting their groove on. Barry and I aren't big into dancing, but it was fun to get dressed up and go to our first dance together.

Josh, Shari, Trent, Sheryl, Brian, Teresa, Barry, Heather, Jeni, and Nolan

Mommy's Happy Day

 Mommy turned 24 at the end of April and was thoroughly spoiled by Barry and family. Barry took me out shopping, to dinner, and to Fiddler on the Roof on Friday night. He even made me the most magnificent ice cream cake out of everything good and right in this world. Then on Saturday he, along with my mom and sisters, surprised me with a party at Krupp Scout Hollow. We braved the wind and had a fun Easter egg hunt for the kids and a hot dog roast afterward. It was a wonderful birthday.

Quinton loves birthdays and he has taken to calling them Happy Day. He gets really excited whenever it's someone's turn for a birthday and even told a complete stranger, "It's Mommy's Happy Day!" His favorite part is the Happy Cake. I think that's what we'll call it forever.

Clara loves collecting and putting things away and probably picked up the same Easter eggs 5 or 6 times. She just loved it more and more each time.

Bring on the Happy Cake!

Clara and Connor chowing down.

Why you should never separate a girl from her ice cream cake.