Barry's Hike

Barry's brother hike this year ended up just being Charles and him. They hiked for four days through the backside of the Sawtooths. The first night they wanted to hike as far as they could go and went about 9 miles, which almost killed Barry, but they enjoyed the rest of the time with shorter distances and more fishing. The pictures show how beautiful it is. They hiked over 40 miles with lots of fishing, cramping, bushwhacking, and crazy rainstorms. I'm always happy when he makes it home safely.

Last Days in Mountain Home

As we've been getting ready to leave our home for the last five years, we've been getting in some of our favorite things to do here. We had treats at the library...

Sawyer made a lot of messes.

Played lots in the sprinkler in the backyard.

Had Snow Cones by the swimming pool.

Quinton and Clara did great at swim lessons.

I had one final hurrah with my book club friends at Smoky Mountain.

Barry took the kids fishing at Legacy Park.

Our friends, the Rekows, put on a really fun Amazing Race date where we had to run around town doing fun challenges like dressing up at the thrift store, counting trees, eating spicy pizza and ice cream, and more. And guess who won? Barry and me, of course!

Saywer's first sympathy sucker at his one-year shots.

Warren in nursery.

With our neighbors Courtney and Chad.

Three Island Crossing

We had one last fun weekend with our friends the Jaramillos when we went to stay in cabins at Three Island Crossing in Glenn's Ferry. We had ice cream at The Stop, had a campfire, played games and frisbee golf, went fishing on their boat, and went swimming the next day. I love it when the kids all pass out within five minutes from all the fun and excitement. We will definitely  miss all of our friends in Mountain Home.

Sawyer's 1st Birthday

This little guy turned one! He's such a fun addition to our family. He crawls everywhere and loves to play with his brothers and sister. He definitely has his own feisty little personality and has a little red in his hair to back that up. We had a quiet celebration together with just our family.

We took him to McDonald's for his first Happy Meal!

He loved his presents!

We had a fun trip to the park to celebrate and cupcakes, too, of course!

The Famous Potato Half Marathon

This time last year I was VERY pregnant with my fourth baby. I was so miserable physically that I dreaded going up and down the stairs. I promised myself that after I had Sawyer I wouldn't take my health for granted anymore and worked on getting in shape. I lost over 30 pounds from August to January and ran my 1st half marathon today! There have been a lot of ups and downs, but it feels great to achieve those goals! 

I had a lot of fun training for and running the marathon with my friends Shanna Rekow and Valerie Montero. I'm sure I would have wimped out of it without them!

After the race that day we took the kids to Settlers Park in Meridian where they have an awesome splash pad.

Katia, Evan, and Ava came to our house that night for a while, too.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had double the fun this year for Memorial Day weekend because we went to Oakley and got to see not only Grandma and Grandpa Jenks, but Grandma and Grandpa Packer and Shari's family came to stay there for a night as well! We wanted to go to City of Rocks, but it rained and poured on us. We did manage a break between downpours to go fishing above the Oakley reservoir. The kids didn't catch anything, but they sure had fun! Clara fished for rocks with Grandma Packer.

 

Sawyer likes going on adventures with us, too.

 

And there's always a bit of drama whenever we go somewhere. Clara didn't want to wear wet socks.

 

Sawyer tried to keep everyone's attention.

 

We got home Sunday night and then on Monday we went to the Bruneau Sand Dunes with our friends the Dorseys and the Rekows. We had a picnic and played in the sand. The kids had a blast running up and down the big hill.

End of School

 

Quinton and Clara (and Mom and Dad) survived the school year! They had a tough time getting up to go those last few weeks, but they made it and did great. Clara had a kindergarten graduation where she sang songs and did a little skit. Here she is with her teacher Ms. Mosley. She learned so much this year including math, penmanship, and is an awesome reader!

 

I didn't get a picture of Quinton, but he was definitely relieved to be done with the first grade. He is becoming a very smart kid and can do math problems very quickly and read all sorts of big words. I think he will miss his teacher Mrs. Gaines next year.

Barry's 32nd Birthday!

 

Barry turned 32 this year, but he's still definitely a kid at heart! On Friday night we had a campfire in the backyard and he got a soda/candy bar cake. On Saturday we went to the Boise farmer's market and had lunch at a restaurant near there. Then we had fun playing at PoJo's that afternoon and the kids (that includes Barry) raked in the tickets and prizes!

 

The kids played air hockey for the first time, but smashed their fingers a couple times. Barry whooped me at our game, but I'll get him next time!

 

We sure love Daddy!