look who came to visit!

mom and dad graf came down the last weekend in july so we could all celebrate dad's birthday.  chelsae & spencer, shawnae & baby brielle came too!  it was fun having some company.  mom and dad stayed at a hotel so we enjoyed several hours in the evening and the next morning swimming at the pool.

we had a pool-side pizza and birthday party with cake and ice cream for dad.  don't ask me why i didn't take pictures....?  shawnae if you have any....

i got to hold this chubby cuteness while everyone swam!

chelsae and spencer entertained the kids for hours in the pool and grammie got in on a game of marco polo too!

the next day, on sunday we took a walk around temple square and visited the exhibits there. unfortunately later on in the evening both zach and grammie got really sick.  i think we had a combination of a stomach bug and some dehydration going on.  we had a long, hot weekend combined with not drinking enough water and swimming in the steamy pool room.

thanks for coming to visit!

easter 2014.

we had a last-minute change of plans and easter dinner at our house this year.  the last event before we moved.  boxes were piled everywhere but we had no furniture left in the living room so we set up two long church tables and had a feast.

the kids also had a big easter egg hunt in the backyard which was a lot of fun.  

we were all so excited because shawnae and tim got to bring home their darling baby, brielle after a week in the NICU.  they surprised us by showing up to dinner with her!

the kids in their sunday best.  grammie morgan was here visiting for the month and she loved filling their easter "buckets" (i get my kids a new beach bucket or some other container every year instead of a basket).  zach loved his "cool dude" glasses.

we got a bunch of pics with my mom because after dinner she headed down to SLC with chris, nick and nickie to catch a plane early the next morning back home.

my pretty girl

it was a beautiful day.  we had lovely talks at church and focused on the resurrection of the savior.  everything was so busy i didn't get to spend as much time as i usually do talking with the kids about easter and the real meaning, but we did watch the video the church had up on lds.org.

chinese and the polar express.

after the bridal shower the party wasn't over!

some went shopping, some went sleeping, and some went playing.  i enjoyed a few moments with my niece evy, her monkey "tags" and my camera.

                        


once we all got rounded up again, we headed out for chinese dinner...

topping it off with some del-i-cious ice cream cones, ahuh

time for bed, right?  oh no, we still have a surprise in store for you kiddos! 

head back home, get kids in pj's, set up choo-choo train seats, stoke the fire...and presenting...

the 1st annual cousins' polar express

first grandpa, uh i mean "the conductor" handed out everyone's tickets and made sure they got punched to ride the express!

now we're all aboard!  time to start the ride!

during the movie where the waiters come aboard and perform a dance while pouring hot cocoa, all of the adults ran downstairs with hot chocolate for each of the kids and fresh hot popcorn made by uncle tim!  the kids got a kick out of us singing and dancing away!



this was good, cozy snuggle time!

(and since i'm behind on the blog and he hasn't been introduced here yet- this is uncle spencer!  he and chelsae got married in july, stay tuned for that post!!!)

 

grandpa did a great job as the conductor, and even put up with that silly mustache that kept falling off!  he also had a very pretty little mrs.!

at the end of the movie the conductor handed out these magical bells!  if you believe in santa you can hear them jingle!!!

this was a fun treat for the kids and a great memory that we will continue each year with the cousins!

(all auntie nickie's idea, want to give credit where credit is due!) 

summer fun!!!

We had a beautiful summer here in Idaho.  The kids and I hung out at Rigby Lake as much as possible and enjoyed meeting up with friends and family too!  Mom, Dad, Chelsae and Grandma came up one weekend when Chris and I gave talks and we enjoyed the day before at the lake.

We went several times with our pals Ethan and Porter.

I made sure to lather up Zach's head extra good when he decided that he didn't want to wear his hat anymore!  This little boy was like a little fish!  He absolutely loved the water, and although he had a special floatie he preferred to be held and swim with mommy instead.  He also loved playing in the sand and "bear crawling" all over the place!

                                                                     

               

We met up with our friend Melody and her kids, Emma, Maddie and Briggs at Jensen Grove and then she came up a few weeks later to Rigby Lake.  It was so fun seeing our friends!

Zach and Briggs are about a month apart.  

At the end of August, our friend Charlotte met up with us, Melody and another friend, Mandy at Rigby Lake.  Brady and Olivia had a ball with Sam and Alivia of course!  I'm sad that I didn't get a picture of us "girls"

So much fun with friends! I love seeing how much they change every time we see them!

We also had some great times with our "besties" the Thibodeaus.  A few summer BBQ's, a Saturday afternoon at Heise Hot Springs, and sushi/Chinese night at our place just to name a few!

We enjoyed a few sunny afternoons at the splash park in Rexburg as well.  The kids loved playing in the water, but what they loved even more?  Laying on the warm sidewalk to dry off!

And what would a summer be without finding a good hill to roll down?  

Bye-Bye summer!  We've had so much fun!  We're looking forward to pumpkin pancakes, apple sauce, cider, pumpkin patches, Halloween, crafts, crisp fall air, the changing of leaves, cozy sweaters, snuggling in blankets, chocolate chip pumpkin muffins, hot chocolate and lots of steamy hot soup!

virginia city. montana.

when we were in Montana the kids and I went to Virginia City with mom, Aunt Linda and Megan for the day!  Brady enjoyed taking pictures of things he was interested in, as did my mom and I!  We all shared the camera, so I can't credit for all the pictures.  In fact, mom took most of the second half of them from the train ride and on.  I think we have the same "eye."...

Virginia City is an old abandoned mining town just west of Ennis, Montana. It is kept up beautifully and has some modern day conveniences like some small cafes and an ice cream parlor!  There are also guided tours like the stagecoach and train ride.

I just love the detail of everything...

We took some "old-time" photos.  One of the three kids and one with me and my mom.  The kids came out adorable! Me and my mom...well, I am glad that we have make-up and don't have to wear those clothes!  Thank goodness for digital and photo editing!  

I tried scanning and uploading the pics but it said the file was too big...may have to try again later

the candy shop is always a hit!  The kids each got to pick out a big lollipop and a few candies

                  

we all enjoyed some home-made ice cream at the ice cream parlor.  The fresh, warm waffle cones were amazing!

(yes, i have a thing with door knobs! or any hardware and detailing for that matter!)

when the kids were starting to get fidgety we sat down and made letters for their names out of small stones.

time to board the Hogwarts Express!

the train ride went for about 3 miles through the little canyon from Virginia City to Nevada City. 

                   

on the way home as we came down from the mountains there were beautiful, dark storm clouds all over the valley.  I have come to love the wide expanses in the west and how remarkable to views can be!