Getting away

July started off with two weeks of spending time with family. We went down to Raft River to spend time with the Darrington clan over the week of the fourth, followed by a week in Logan with the Loosle clan.
Monday the 1st we spent lunch with Uncle Arnold and Margaret. Arnold has called us his Idaho neighbors since we moved to Idaho and it was good to see them. Monday afternoon Kendal got a tractor ride with Grandpa. That night we spent time with Grandma and Grandpa Darrington.

On Tuesday we went to Twin. Casey spent the day helping to put up gutters at Brett and Vanessa's. The kids played around and had fun together. We looked at a couple of places then went to Burly to shop and take dinner back to Casey's parents.

On Wednesday we spent the morning cleaning windows and playing outside. Kendal has been so curious lately about where the food she eats comes from. She was interested in seeing the cows getting milked; none where in the milking barn when we went so we just wandered around and visited the baby calves also.  Kendal didn't want to go near the cows, but thought they were great from a distance. Brett, Vanessa, David, Becca, and some of Vanessa's family joined us Wednesday night. The household was getting busier, nosier, and funner. Casey has been running the past month or so to stay active and prepare for the fourth run. His knees aren't the best, and his foot has been hurting him on and off, so when his foot was hurting he decided not to run on the fourth.

 Thursday we woke up and went to cheer on those who ran in the race. We had some free time between then and the afternoons activities so we decided to go to the Rupert parade. The parade lasted 45 min. (sooo long) and the kids got to see tractors, floats, cars, ate plenty of candy and got a lot of sun. We had a few minutes of panic after the parade when David went missing. Luckily he was found safe and sound. I think we all gave lectures to our kids after that. We ate lunch at Carl's Jr with Terry, Sarah, Bryker, and Keegan than headed back to Raft River. Nicole, Hunter and Jaxson soon joined us. We collectively decided to go simple and instead of hauling everyone to the slide and going up and down the hill all afternoon we would set up the kiddie pool and water at Grandma's. The kids had fun, they got so wet, and everything so sandy. We headed over to the Steadman's for the community dinner and entertainment. Unfortunatly after we got there and were ready to head up to the house Sarah got bit by a dog. She was trying to steer Hunter away from it and she got bit. I felt so bad, and I know she had some painful repercussions from the incident. Aunt Vanessa was kind enough to take Kendal down the water slide a few times since we missed it that afternoon. We ate lots of yummy food and listened to music. Kendal got to participate in some of the festivities this year. She joined in on the pinata, the treasure hunt in the sand pile, and the pie eating contest. At first she was wolfing her pie down, then she looked over at David who was only licking his so she just licked hers. Bryker was looking up and down the table with a confused look like they where all nuts. Casey participated in the toilet toss this year. He placed fourth amongst the guys (did pretty Awesome if you ask me : ). After a dust storm blew in and almost ended our night we got to watch fireworks. Peter slept through his second year of fireworks and Kendal loved the "Boom Boom's". 

On Friday everyone was either gone or left so we had a relaxed day at the Darrington house mowing the lawn and spending more time outside. Pete loved the freedom all week going wherever he wanted and getting into more than he should have. Kendal still gets into things she shouldn't. Grandma opened the pantry to see Kendal covered in flour eating it out of her bin.
Saturday we hung out with Grandma, Grandpa, Brett, Vanessa, and their kids. Played crochet and other games.

Sunday we went to church in Raft River and then we took advantage of nap time and drove down to Logan to my parents house.
Monday the 10th. I started out my day going to the eye doctors. We pulled out the kiddie pool at my parents and Kendal and Campbell had fun playing with Aunt Katherine. Pete joined in the pool time for a bit, then he had to go to his one yr. doctor appointment. At one yr Peter is 19 1/2 lbs, and 28 1/2 in. tall. He's a small fry if you go by the charts, but the doctor feels he's doing just fine. Peter is a wonderful eater, he's just so active that he doesn't pack on the weight.

 On Tuesday I mixed some sidewalk paint so Kendal and Campbell could have some fun outside. We went to the Research park after to feed the ducks. Later we got together with family at Andy's house for a hot dog roast. Kendal got her first four-wheeler ride in the fields behind Andy's house and she loved it. Pete's still a bit young for it.

 

On Wednesday we took the kids to the Logan Aquatic pool. The kids were free (sweet!), and they have a big and wonderful kiddie pool that the kids enjoyed. Campbell does so well in water we were trying to get Kendal to copy some of the things he was doing. We went during nap time so Peter didn't last long, luckily my Dad was just watching on the side so he could take Peter. Kendal enjoyed going down the slide with Casey but didn't enjoy going under the water at the end. When were were done and I got Kendal dressed I took Kendal towards the door and told her to join Grandpa outside. I go out a couple of minutes later and Kendal was nowhere to be found. Luckily the pool was empty (for their routine checks), and Kendal walked past less than a minute later holding the hand of a life guard. She couldn't see Grandpa so she found a life guard to help her look for him. 

Thursday was a chill day. We ran a few errands and hung out at my parents house. We took dinner to my Nana on Thursday night, and enjoyed some time with her. 
Friday we took Peter and Kendal to the local splash pad. Kendal loved running around, and Peter wanted to wander and explore more than get wet. Friday night after dinner we went up for Aggie ice cream (very yummy, and a good memories of Papa). We got back and we had a movie night of Peter Pan, and after the kids were in bed we played games.

Saturday we said our goodbyes and headed home to Challis. Casey and I love our families so so much, and we were happy to get to spend some time with them these past two weeks.
We still plan on moving at the end of the month. We have A LOT on our to do list, and still need to find an apartment. Wish us luck as we enter these next few weeks.

Darrington Camp out / Peter's 1!

Last Thursday we packed up and drove down to Pocatello to see my parents and sister for dinner, and spend the night at Nicole and Jordan's. We got to hang out for a bit, and my parents treated us to dinner. Kendal is still scared of Chester (Nicole and Jordan's dog) but she was willing to touch him and be outside with him towards the end of our visit.
Friday was Peter's birthday! We headed to soda springs after lunch and set up camp. Family rolled in throughout the rest of the afternoon and by dinner we had the whole Darrington clan together. I love the fact that the grandchildren are all so close in age. (8 kids age 3 and under : ) It makes things so fun, and entertaining at times. We had tacos for dinner and banana cupcakes with glow sticks / balloons on them for dessert. Pete enjoyed and ate every last crumb of his cupcake. We then opened presents and spent some family time around the fire.

Saturday we ate breakfast, played around a bit, and went for a walk. We then ventured to Lava to go swimming. There was a new kiddie area (not yet complete) that the we spent most of our time in. Once used to the water all of the kids enjoyed themselves. There were little fountains at one side of the kiddie pool that all of the kids had fun with. Aside from the price we paid to swim it was a great time. We ate a picnic lunch and headed back to our campsite in Soda. The kids played some more, the adults played horseshoes / games, and we all took rides on Grandpa Webb's gator. We had delicious dutch oven food for dinner and spent some more quality time with the family.

On Sunday we took our time packing up in the morning while the kids played some more. The kids got super dirty, ate lots of treats, and probably found every stick possible over the weekend; but that is what made camping so fun : ). It was wonderful to spend time together. We were all sad to leave each other, but grateful to head home to our own beds and comforts of home.

- I will post more pictures of everyone on facebook : D

Peter at age One:
- Has two bottom teeth, and his two top are making there way out (this kid is not a great teether)
- He is walking, not 100% of the time, but he's making more and more progress everyday
- This past weekend he's learned to stand on his own
- As always he is still a great eater, but he's starting to favor some foods over others
- He loves to babble, blow raspberries, smack his lips, and make funny noises
- He likes stacking cup toys and likes to investigate toys and other objects
- When his teeth aren't bothering him he's a decent sleeper
- Peter is generally an easy child. Unless he's super hungry or tired he's easy going.
- He likes to explore and is finding more things to get into and take apart daily.
- He is a climber. We've had to keep our eye on him because he will climb boxes and books to get higher.

Over the next five weeks we have to find a new place to live, have two weeks of family vacation (Raft River, then Logan), then move!

Good bye baby boy

Before

After!

Peter turns one in a couple of days, and he is long past due for a hair cut. (I've been procrastinating, I just couldn't do it.) I love Peter's hair; it's long, fluffy, and soft. I cut Casey's hair regularly so I figured I could read a couple tutorials about cutting little boys hair and I'd do OK cutting Peter's hair. I was very anxious to cut his hair. I've never done a scissor hair cut, and I am just so sad for Peter to loose his sweet baby locks. So with some major trepidation I began his hair cut. I ended up using a razor on the sides and scissors on the top. Apart from the ear area I like how it turned out.

Kendal also got a summer trim

At one year Peter is currently 20 lbs and is  about 28 1/2 inches tall (I'll post exact numbers after his one yr. appt. next month). We'll be on vacation during Peter's birthday so I'll post next week. 

Happy Father's day!

My Father and Father-in-law are wonderful. I look up to them, and love them so much. I couldn't ask for a better father for my kids than Casey. Just watching him with our kids makes me love him more and more everyday. Happy Father's day to you amazing men, and my brother and brother's-in-law!!

Week in review

Last week Casey wanted to see how well Kendal would do sleeping in a tent in preparation for our camp out this month. They set up a tent and spent the night in our yard. Kendal loved helping Casey put up the tent, and we were hopeful that she would go to bed decently since she skipped her nap that day. It was still light out when Kendal and Casey went to bed, and Kendal was so excited about the tent that it took about an hour to get Kendal to go to sleep. At one point Casey came out of the tent and looked at me through the window with his hands in the air like "what do I do with her?" It was a long night for Casey. As much as we're anticipating the Darrington camp out and spending time with family; we're not anticipating two nights in a tent with Kendal and Pete.

Casey's had basketball practice this month. The boys have two tournaments and a basketball camp this month. Friday and Saturday Casey went with a chunk of the team down to Arco for a tournament.  The boys did well on Friday winning three out of five games. Unfortunately they fell short during the tournament games on Saturday and their day ended early.

We've figured for a while now that we were going to be in Challis for this next school year because jobs just weren't showing up. In the last couple of weeks a bunch of job opportunities came available, so Casey sent out some applications. He scheduled two interviews one for high school in Oakley Idaho, and one middle school in Kimberly Idaho for Monday. Casey's has two brother's living in the Twin Falls Area and his older brother Brett teaches at Kimberly high school. The kids and I ended up joining Casey for his trip. I wasn't looking forward to so much time in the car with the kids (7 + hours), but we couldn't resist seeing family. While Casey went to his interviews the Kids and I spent time with Vanessa, Sarah, and their kids. We played, ate lunch, and went to the lake. The kids had so much fun, and I got a glimpse of the fun we'd have living close to family. Peter did awesome at the lake. I wasn't sure if he'd like the sand or colder water, but he enjoyed himself, ate sand, drank the water, crawled around the water, and splashed. Kendal had a blast chasing her cousins, getting sand in every nook and crany of her body, and playing in the water.

After the lake we headed back for dinner joined by Casey, Brett, Terry, and Casey's folks. (all four kids in the car conked out in minutes - didn't stay that way, but it was a blissful few minutes). While there Casey got a call from Kimberly and was offered and accepted a new teaching job. (Thanks Brett for putting in the good word for Casey : ) Casey will also be coaching freshman girls basketball and could potentially do football. We are very happy with this move. Moving closer to family will be wonderful! Challis was our starting point, we are thankful for the opportunity we had to be here this past year. Looks like our next couple of months just got busier : D

Summer break begins

We had a good start for our summer break. Kendal is loving having her Daddy home so much. We've enjoyed loads of Daddy time this week; especially outside. We ventured to the park this week. Peter was having fun crawling all over, going down the slides, and swinging. Kendal used to be terrified of slides, but Pete loves them. Kendal loves the park and is always wanting to meet new friends there.

We've thought about swim lessons for the kids this summer, but price and a few other factors helped us decide well try next year. We still want to take the kids swimming throughout the summer, so when the weather was good today we took the opportunity to go to the Challis hot springs. Kendal was jumping for joy and over the moon to go swimming. The hot spring pool maintains an average temp of 102 degrees so the kids were loving the water. Peter was overwhelmed with the over sized life vest he got stuffed into. He did ok with it, but we took it off after not to long. Kendal was in a vest also. She didn't trust the vest to keep her up at first and took a while to warm up to swimming without mom and dad constantly holding her. After a while she finally warmed up and was doing very well. She was so proud of herself in the end, because she got the courage to swim on her own. The pool is four feet deep the whole length, and the bottom was covered in rocks (so the spring could continuously flow and renew the pool). We've never really had Kendal in a pool where she couldn't run or play on part of it. Thankfully there was a ledge near the stairs that was about a foot into the water that the kids enjoyed hanging out on. (Thank you so much Sarah and Terry for the certificate to the pool!)

 June is a busy month. A few teaching job openings have popped up, and Casey has applied for them. So we may or may not be staying in Challis - we will see. Casey will start basketball practices next week, and has a couple of tournaments this month. We have the Darrington reunion in a few weeks! Also Peter and I celebrate our birthdays. A good start to what promises to be a fun and busy summer!