What a long, wonderful trip its been

Here are the pictures from our wonderful trip to Idaho (there are a LOT of pictures) we had such a blast! There were motorcycles everywhere. I hadn't realized what a motorcycle family we had but almost all of our nephews and a lot of our neices have bikes. When there was any down time, there was riding, all weekend. Paxton was in heaven!

We also hit Cascade Lake, which was just BEAUTIFUL. Our trip just couldn't have been better. Paxton and Gauge were so good for us in the car and they loved camping. Paxton keeps asking me if we can go camping again. It was also good timing, just when we were really needing a break from the grind.

This first picture is Paxton with one of his oldest cousins Carly. She took him everywhere on her motorcycle!

If you look closely you can see some of the smaller boys riding through the field. Ryan's mom lives on 54 acres and she remodeled this old little house that was already on the lot. It is so beautiful, I tried to get pictures of the land around

I can't even begin to tell you how beautiful it was there. The mountains are rugged and green. There were some fire restrictions which meant no fires at all on our camping trip. There were blazes and haze that could be seen from where we were. We also endured a huge rain storm. The thunder rolled right through the valley and the lighting seemed to be directly over us. It was quite an experience!

Later the second night a bunch of us got out and passed around a frisbee, while others played catch with a football. Ryan and I played together for awhile and we laughed our guts out as we tried to remember how to throw a frisbe and while we teased each other. It seems like its been a long time since we have been able to relax and play like that.

Ryan's poor mom sprained her ankle pretty bad right before we all arrived. She was tough though and got through it. Here she is after a day of work and still beautiful... hanging out with Gauge, who by the way, is officially 9 months old now.This is Ammon. JP and Christi's dog. He is HUGE! Ryan helping Paxton on his bike. This kid actually rode himself a few times but we missed it on the camera. oh, hey there!
Ryan warming up his bikeBelow is a picture of all of the cousins going for a ride. If you look closely you can see all of the kids starting to file down the lane. There were so many of them! Jp took Calvin and Ryan took Paxton on their bikes so that they could go too. Later that day, the big guys went on a ride Paxton pretty much sat on every bike, with everyone who had a bike. Usually he sat up front but I only had my camera when he sat in back.
Dan and Paxton Calvin and PaxtonSyndney and Paxton (she was so cute, she made me want a little girl) Paxton and Sydney just kept hugging each other every chance that they got. She is about a year older then him. Oliver hanging out on a motorcycle, he was making motorcycle noises the whole trip...he knows!These are my tough guys Sarah tearing it upDaddy and Gauger at camp, our tent in the background was referred to as the Marriott a few times. We like to camp in style.Cascade Lake, BEAUTIFUL! Paxton and Calvin hanging out on Grandpa's boatAfter camping Sarah and Dan let us hang out at their house before we headed home. It was a nice night to un-wind. Jp & Christi, Lee & Athlyn, Dan & Sarah, Ilene and ourselves, talked and laughed for a few hours after we had a BBQ. It was nice to be with them all.
Next morning I was able to get a picture of the boys sleeping together. I just love that!
The next day, our last day we had to head back up to Grandma and Grandpa's for a few things. They are quite a few hours away from Boise round trip, so when we got back to Boise, we realized we didn't have 6 hours more of driving in us. We decided to kick back, get a hotel and get some sleep. After a few hours of sleep we headed to some different areas around Boise. I have to say, I love it up there. I really think that I want to move to that area. It is so beautiful. We also wanted to visit Ryan's dad, we hadn't seen his grave stone yet... and last but not least, my sister in law Beth was in town. Oddly enough her family just moved to this cute little town and she was here while we were, so we stopped to say hi. I wish I had more pictures of our last day in Idaho. The boys had a blast at the hotel too. They swam and cuddled on the bed with us. They were all smiles.

We really didn't want to come home. It was so nice to have a vacation and to just spend time with family. We already miss everyone. Thanks guys, for such a wonderful trip!

Fiesta Days Rodeo

We were so excited for the rodeo! I have only been to a rodeo once, and it was YEARS AGO. We couldn't wait! Paxton talked about it all day... horses!Ryan's face is fried from working in the sun all day long.
and somehow, we didn't get any pictures of Paxton AT the rodeo.

Paxton loved the horses the most

and Gauge ate up the camera!

My 100th post

Today we were able to get the boys pictures taken. It is such a big ordeal getting these done, but I am always so happy with the results.

On another note, Gauge is officially crawling!

Happenings

I thought I would update everyone on what's going on with us these days. It has been so busy that its been hard to stop and blog. We are looking forward to a break this next week, we are headin' up to Idaho for a family reunion. I can't wait! It will be three days of camping with people we love. I have been so worried about not being prepared that I have followed Sarah's example (to the T girl!) I bought a big storage bin, a huge tent and we are putting everything in there that I can think of so that we can be prepared for the outdoors. I can't even lift the thing. I even copied her and bought an air matress--he he! ITS KING SIZE! WOOHOOO!!

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We are still working on our projects. I gotta tell ya, when there is a wall missing out of your house and your husband has so much on his plate (worked to the bone at home and at work) that the one night off you have together he is trying to patch up the mess that you made...and make it beautiful like only he can...it kind of takes the wind out of your sails. I was so excited to be getting things done only to realize that I have just opened up a bunch of cans, full of worms, that Ryan has to fix. In my mind I am helping. Truthfully speaking I have gotten in way over my head and Ryan is left with the stress of solving all of these problems. My personality would allow us to sit with a wall out and beams exposed for quite some time and I would be living quite happily just knowing that I could see my living room through my kitchen and vice versa. Ryan on the other hand is the type of person who takes on the responsibility and stress of it all. It constantly weighs on his mind until it is finished. The worst part is that he is really the only one who can fix the hole and make it pretty. I feel so terrible. I am so sorry Ry!

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The boys are doing great. With mommy on a graveyard shift they are learning patience. Paxton is still my little helper and my little side kick. Something that I just love about my graveyard shift is that I am always home for the boys. The only time they don't see me home is right before they go to bed when I leave. This has created quite the bond for us. IN FACT, the other day when I was leaving for work Paxton cried and wouldn't let go of my neck as I tried to leave. He has never done that. I have seen a lot of mom's have to try to calm their child when they've tried to leave but for us, Paxton has always been pretty independent and its never been an issue. As terrible as it was that he had to cry, it really made me feel needed. I loved it. I even told everyone about the milestone when I got to work. "Hey everyone, my kid cried when I left, itsn't that wonderful?!" I know, nerd---->Whitney.

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Paxton is currently in charge of everything, and everything is his. There is nothing that he can't do by himself. He has definitely hit that stage. He talks like crazy too. When he doesn't know the words he uses gibberish, but he can pretty much say everything he wants to. He also copies us. The other day I was calling Ryan from the other room and I said "Hey baby, can you whatever it was I was saying" next thing I hear is Paxton calling Ryan "baby". He still calls him Daddy, but every once in awhile he throws it in there. Ryan will come home from work and when Paxton hears him I will hear him say...Baby? Baby home work?! as he yells to Ryan. He also says "thanks Mom" every single time I do something for him. Or, if I ask him to do something, "o'tay mommy" I LOVE it!

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Gauge is just a cool kid. He is so mellow. He just waits for his turn for the attention and then he eats it up. He is trying so hard to crawl, he gets around everywhere he wants through shuffles and rolls. I really wonder if he will do the army crawl before he actually crawls. He is on all fours all of the time and he is so close, he just hasn't gotten it yet. Whenever I start wondering if he should have already been crawling I realize that he really is quite large. There is more weight for this poor kid to move then most 8 month old's have to move. He is doing just fine.

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For me, just tired. I don't know when I have ever been this tired in my whole life. I am happy though, and the hard work makes seeing and being with my family that much better. I really do value the time that I have with them. This weekend I am MAKING Ryan and the family go to the rodeo. Its a day away from projects which is really going to stress Ryan out, but I think we need it. I can't wait. Hope you are all doing well and enjoying your summers!!

A few pics

I didn't take very many pictures this week. Ryan was able to catch a few of the boys. In the first picture Paxton puts on the hat then he decides to help Gauge put on the hatthen Gauge decides he would rather EAT the hatGauge is also getting pretty close to crawling. I tried a few times, but couldn't get a shot of him on all fours. He kept stopping his attempts to smile at me
I also got a haircut this week, Woohoo! I was told I don't post enough pictures of myself, so I thought I would post a few of the new do!

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Me sporting my new hairdo....

Me sporting my new hairdo...fighting crime!

When Ryan and I came up with that, it was much funnier...

What's wrong with this picture?

Of course he hammed it up when I was taking the picture, but we're starting to wonder if we have a problem...

I am happy to announce...

The Seats are in!

Ryan just brought home the back seats for the FJ-60. A 60 with leather...NICE!

Celebrations

We started the 4th with the well known Provo Freedom festival parade and the Mobbs family.

Below is a picture of cute little Alex Mobbs with her mom To be honest, the parade started out a little bit rocky. I couldn't get Paxton to smile, and he threw a million little fits, which isn't like him. As the day went on, he finally turned into his happy self, which was nice. I hate it when the kid has attitude, I never know what to do.

Gauge hanging out with his cousin Kyra...and drinking some MT Dew...What?!

I am afraid that Gauge didn't make it this late into the festivities, but we had a good time. This is Paxton's first time with sparklers. Here he is actually trying to blow it out... safety first, thats what we always say!

Ryan lit off a few of the flower fireworks for Paxton. He was actually pretty nervous around the fireworks and Ryan didn't help much when he would jump back and freak him out!

After our little fireworks show we hit the BBQ for some hotdogs. Then we laid out on the trampoline in the back yard, just the three of us, and watched the fireworks. We could just see them over the top of our fence. It was a nice ending to a great day.