Jacob's Baptism

Family is such a blessing.  And on an occasion like this, I felt abundantly blessed.  Jason is the eldest of six siblings, and all but one were able to coordinate their summer travel plans to attend Jake's baptism.  Not only that, but Nana and Papa made the 12 hour trek on Friday for the baptism on Saturday, then drove back again on Sunday!  It was pure joy to have them here!  (I still can't believe they did all of that driving!)  I love that everyone just loves being together.

 
Cousins are the best kind of friends-- both 8 now!

The cousins sang "I am a Child of God" for a musical number.  Bray and Ethan were feeling tired and a bit shy.

  
Having fun with monster hugs from Papa!

After the baptism, I decided to keep it easier on myself--haha-- and instead of hosting the crowd, we all went to Macayos!  Jacob received some very special gifts after his baptism-- I new suit from Grandma, his own scriptures from us, a scripture case from cousins, and a box of goodies-- tie, tie tack, zipper charm, CTR ring, etc. from his aunts and uncles!

Then later, at our house with Nana and Papa, it was birthday central!  Brooklynn got a Frozen game, Ethan got a flying Batman toy, Jacob got a Rainbow Loom, Suzy got a bubble maker, and Braden got a Lego Star Wars ship and cruiser set!  It was kid heaven!  They played with their toys non-stop for the rest of the weekend.  It's always a little tough for Braden in July when everyone is having birthdays except him.  He especially, was in Lego heaven-- built his set with minimal help that evening!  (Since Jake got some Lego sets at his "Minute to Win It" party, Legos have been a big deal around here lately.)

Jacob is EIGHT!!!

This boy is so amazing.  I can't believe he's eight years old already!  Jacob is kind, compassionate, smart, and in Braden's words, "makes everything fun!"

Instead of cake, Jake requested strawberry pie for his birthday!  Yum!  Boy after my own heart! Family parties are the best in my book.  I am every day grateful that my kids have grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins close by who love them so much and make them so happy.

This being his 8th birthday, Jacob decided to have a "Minute to Win It" party!  Thank you to Jason for filling over 100 water balloons, and a HUGE thanks to all the friends and moms who helped me with all the games and kiddos.  It was a BLAST!  Love these happy faces!

We're FOUR!!

Mini-me and mini-Jason are getting soooo BIG!   I can't quite wrap my mind around the fact that when we first moved to this house, Jake was four, Bray was two, and I was hugely pregnant with the twins-- and now, Brooklynn and Ethan are FOUR.  It's like all of a sudden they are becoming big kids--stop growing!!! 

Here are some fun facts--

Brooklynn:

Favorite Color:  Pink and Purple

Favorite Activity:  Coloring;  Play with Ethan-- one of my favorite things about Brook and Ethan is how well they play together-- favorite games are "mom and dad" or "princess and guy."

Favorite Food:  Green peppers, Macaroni and cheese

Favorite Quotes:  "I'm not a pwincess, I'm a Bookie-girl!" She still has the cutest little squeaky voice and subs "w" for l and r.  She gets very upset and growls loudly when her brothers interrupt her!

What do you want to be when you grow up?:  "I have a idea!  When it's Halloween I wanna be a witch!"

Ethan:

Favorite Color: Black

Favorite Superhero:  "All of the superheroes!  I like Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman... Green Lantern."

Favorite Game: Super Mario Smash Bros  (at grandma's house!)

Favorite Food:  Noodles, Tacos, Ramen noodles, Macayo's macaroni and cheese (pretty sure it's the same box we make at home)

What do you want to be when you grow up?:   "Hmm... how 'bout.. six, or seven, or eight!"

Sooo..... I had great aspirations for birthday cakes this year.  I thought it would be fun to layer up some cake and carve it into a princess gown for Brooklynn's princess Belle doll.  Then I'd use the pieces I carved off and oreo crumbs to create a hilly terrain for some new cars for Ethan.

Unfortunately, I think I used the wrong type of cake...  At first I tried to frost and patch, but when Brooklynn came up and asked what I was doing with her doll, it was over.  At least she enjoyed licking it off!    

In the end, it was a pile of cake pieces, goopy frosting, and oreo crumbs with cars on it.  I wanted to cry, but we had to laugh!  Do I get a prize for the ugliest cake ever?!  Good thing the kids didn't care too much.  We served it in "wads." 

Silverwood Theme Park - Our 1st REAL Family Vacation

It was time... time to take our first real vacation as a family.  And our location was perfect.  Last week Drew and I loaded up the kids and drove to Post Falls, Id to spend a week with Matt and Kimbre.  We had plans to spend time at the cabin on the lake, bike the Hiawatha Trail, and play at the Silver Wood Theme Park!  A whole week of fun and adventure with my family and my sister's family! 

The Cabin at the Lake

On our first day in Post Falls we traveled to the Zirker cabin on Lake Coeur d' Alene.  (It's not really the "Zirker" cabin but it's in Matt's family.)  We love coming here.  It is peaceful, beautiful, and full of toys.  It is the perfect place to relax and also have a ton of fun.  We are so fortunate to be able to come here at all because are very, very extended family to the owners, if you can even call us that.  I guess it's just really nice to have good connections.  :)

It was a perfect day too.  The weather was beautiful and the water wasn't even that cold.  The heat wave in August lately had provided perfect conditions on the lake.    

Carter-Man

Riley, Cole & Kimbre

Drew, Braxton & Matt

Mandy

Kimbre & Mandy

A new addition since the last time we were here were these great paddle boards.  I've never been on one before and it was a lot of fun.  Especially with my sister.  This really was the perfect day and the perfect way to start our vacation.

The Hiawatha Trail

We love the Hiawatha trail.  We have biked this trail once before but Brycen was only 6 months old at the time.  Now that the kids are older, it was more fun to get them on their own bikes for the journey.  Carter remained in the trailer, so I guess that means we'll have to come back one day so he can ride it too.  

Ava

Brycen

Group shot: Matt, Riley, Cole, Kimbre, Mandy, Carter, Drew, Ava & Brycen.

We are headed into the first tunnel.  It is 1 mile long... the longest tunnel on the trail.

Family photo.  I'm not sure what this structure was for, but looked pretty cool!

Riley & Ava

Halfway through the ride we stopped for lunch.  It was a great time to refuel and sugar up the kids for the rest of the journey.  Surprisingly, these kids did an amazing job.  There was very little complaining and a lot of smiles.  Ava and Brycen turned out to be a lot tougher than I thought they would be if I'm being totally honest.  They were outstanding!

Family pic

Brycen, Ava & Drew

Also along the trail we cross several trestles.  These are bridged suspended hundreds of feet in the air.  It's actually a little scary looking over the edge, but the temptation to drop a rock is totally worth it.  

Matt & Riley

We did it!  With no casualties!  What an awesome day.  It started out very cold and then warmed up to be another perfect day.  

Silverwood - Boulder Beach Theme Park

 Days 3&4 took us to Silverwood.  This theme park was awesome.  We spent 2 whole days riding rides, and trains and just played hard together.  The 1st day we had Carter with us and the 2nd day, Kimbre watched him for us so that we could take Ava and Brycen on the bigger rides together.  I must say, that was a very smart idea!

We had our tickets and were ready for action - the only thing we didn't plan for was the heat.  It was so HOT.  I mean dripping, stinky, melting HOT!  Over 100 degrees all day kinda HOT.  But it didn't hold us back.  We just spent a little extra time on the water rides.  

This water ride, for example, was a treat.  We got into a large raft and headed down a river with waterfalls at rapids and lots of splashing.  Everyone loved it except for...

...CARTER!  The pour guy got soaked first thing and it scared him to death!  But at least now he was cool. 

Well, as theme parks go, we spent a lot of our time in lines, but it wasn't really that bad.  Since this was our 1st of 2 days planned in the park, Drew stayed with Carter while I waited in line with the big kids.  Carter and Drew played in the playground and the kiddie section of the park.  He loved it.  

When we weren't waiting in line on screaming on a roller coaster, we were chugging water.  I was so worried about getting dehydrated in the heat that I kept stopping to fill the kids up with water.  I was not going to let heat stroke ruin our family vacation, and it never did!  

Carter - cutie-man!

Kiddie-section.  Perfect for Carter

Brycen

Brycen & Drew

Of all the rides in the park, Tilt-a-Whirl was one of the favorites and thankfully Drew was okay on this one.  I would never be caught riding this ride because I get sick just looking at it.  The other favorites included the roller coasters and the water rides.

Boulder Beach

 On the other side of Silver Wood is the water park called boulder beach.  It is awesome.  There is a huge water playground called kiddie-cove and then there are large water slides, wave pools and a lazy river.  In the heat, this was the perfect getaway.

Kiddie-cove

Yes - I did this one!  I was scared to death but I knew I had to do it or I might never get the chance again.  What a rush!

After a long day in the sun, it was time to return home to Matt and Kimbre's house.  When we arrived, there was a suspicious note hanging on the front door that instructed us to head into the backyard.  When we rounded the corner of the fence, there was a water balloon ambush waiting for us!  Kimbre had spent the day with the littles filling 500 water balloons!  I must say that while the theme park was a total blast, this was the perfect ending to a fabulous day!  We all got completely soaked, except Matt and Cole who stayed inside :)  I loved it, thanks Kimbre!

Downtown Coeur d' Alene - The park and the water front.

Day 5 - I love this park.  It looks like an old fort and makes my 34 year old imagination drift back to when I was much younger (no jokes please!).  If I could, I think I would bring my kids to this park every week.  There is so much to do and explore here.  Drew was even analyzing it's construction and made mental notes to build a fort in our own yard one day. 

Brycen

Ava

Carter

Cole & Riley

Carter

Drew & Cole

Then we took a walk along the lake and out onto the boardwalk that winds it's way around the hotel.  As you can see, the weather is a bit windy to day - but that also means cooler too!

The Waterfront - Riley, Brycen, Carter & Ava

The Docks around the Hotel on the waterfront

At the end of the week, it was hard to say goodbye.  I was worried in the beginning that an entire week would be too long for Kimbre to have us in her home, but it went by so fast.  It was truly a perfect week.  A perfect 1st vacation for my little family with the perfect hosts.  I am so grateful to Matt and Kimbre and their great kids for welcoming us into their home and taking such good care of us.  This trip simply wouldn't have been as good as it was without them.  We love them all so much!

Brycen, Carter, Ava & Riley - Best friends!