What We've Been Up To

Kennedy generously tried all of her safety biking gear on Aly which was adorable...until Kennedy decided to take it all back and Aly cried :( So much for "sharing"...


Papa John showing Kennedy and Kohen his guitar and letting them give it a little try...



Blowing bubbles with Papa Dixie (or "Pixie" as Aly has shortened it too, so funny)...

Kennedy and Kohen after I told them what the surprise was that we were going to go see...

Go Diego Go, Live! Came to Boise and we went with "Pixie" to see the show...

Although it was 'strictly prohibited' I lived on the edge and broke the law for all of my blogging readers by taking pictures of the show...your welcome :)

Papa Dixie even bought the kids T-shirts and a cool light up toy from the show which was a huge treat, very fun...
More updates again soon. Though if any of you are like me, blogging takes a bit of a back seat in the summer because there is so much going on...which is kind of a problem when we usually blog about all the stuff going on, not a great cycle...anyway, hope you are all enjoying your summers!!!!

Aunt Ashley's Birthday

Aunt Ashley's Birthday, Kenna and Kohen "help" unwrap gifts

Aly being held by "Pixie" which is what she shortened 'Papa Dixie' into

Kennedy and Kohen were chasing Ashley around pretending to be "her kittie's"...

All the while AlyCat -legitimizing her namesake- was tasting the cat food in the kitchen...mmm, fiber...

A Message From Idaho

Happy Birthday Nathan!!!!!!!
We miss you....

Those Pearly Whites

Since we have been at my parents house Aly has been out doing herself getting into mischief as she discovers all the new things she can gain access to. Exhibit A: Aly has realized that if she climbs up on the toilet in our bathroom she can crawl on to the counter to get the toothpaste. I had already caught her eating it earlier but when Kennedy came and got me to show me what Aly was up to a little later, I found Aly had decided to go all out and really own her rascality this time around.Two final thoughts: I love Kennedy's 2 cents in the video and yes, child locks have since been purchased and applied with varying degrees of succes. Turns out the doors have to be closed for the locks to work...

Kenna and the Two Wheeler

We had last Saturday to recuperate a little bit before we packed up our bags again on Sunday and headed out for the Bi-annual Jensen Family Reunion. This was the first one where I wasn't ridiculously heavy with child or where I had a new born less than two weeks old so I was definitely looking forward to hanging out with everyone at the 4-H camp up at Donnely that we go to, more than I had in previous years.

Kennedy and two of her cousins, Spencer and Caleb are all born within about 3 months of each other. When we got up there and there were kids bikes everywhere we realized that none of the 3 cousins were riding bikes yet, though the boys both have them and have worked with training wheels on and off but still weren't riding without help. Kennedy didn't have a bike yet and had never tried riding a bike sans training wheels but was as eager as the boys to give it a try. I think the key to their success that night might have had to do with Uncle Taylor and Aunt Tara helping them rather than their own parents. All three of the kids learned how to ride a bike! Poor Taylor was soaking with sweat by the end, having run back and forth with the kids spotting them. Thanks Uncle Taylor!!!

Of course I am most excited for Kennedy- she pretty much hopped on the bike and rode off...on gravel no less, cuz thats the easiest place to learn. Nathan and I were planning on getting Kenna a bike sometime this summer but this new development kind of threw things into high gear. When we got back Nathan and I took Kennedy to get her very first bike. She rides it like a speed demon, so I guess it's fair to say she takes after me in that area...The video is of Kenna up at the camp riding her cousins bike and it is only 15 seconds long or so, enjoy :)

The Long Drive

Aly being a little Peach

My cousin Shelly and her daughter Hailey and husband James

Using a Wheat Thin to make sandwiches

The great M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I River

Aly painting her toes with water and a brush

They weren't pleased that I was taking pictures of their tantrum...

A picture I would like to title: Glory, Glory Hallelujah

When we drove from Boise to VA a couple of years ago, I swore I would never do it again...NEVER. I was so traumatized by that trip I can't even tell you. Kennedy was just shy of turning 4, Kohen had just turned 2 and Aly was barely 2 months old and colicky as all get out. For some strange reason none of the children slept at all on the trip and if one of them fell asleep someone else would wake them up with their fussing and they were so overly tired and needy and...well, it was awful. So when Nathan and I realized the best plan would be to have us drive back out to Boise (before we finish our move down to Cali.) I knew that it was never too early to start preparing. I was determined we would have a better experience this time.

We started out Wed. morning and it didn't seem like our children got the memo about how this trip was supposed to be different. They had figured out that I had some surprises and activities and they would NOT stop asking for them. Not to mention a few, "are we there yet?'s and even one "can we go to the airport now and fly to Boise?" which at that point Nathan and I were wondering if that wasn't too bad of an idea! Anyway, it was coming around to lunch time and I happen to look down at our GPS and I realize we are going to go right past Pittsburgh where my cousin Shelly lives. So I grab my phone and call and totally enact everyones worst fears, a surprise, no warning, pop-in visit. When we arrived they were kind enough to let us use their facilities before heading over to a park for a quick picnic. Having forgot my plastic silverware I had to go all McGyver meets Martha and use a Wheat Thin to make our sandwiches. Anyway, it was great to see Shelly and James and have a reprieve from the car even if it was short.

When we got back in the car I started my schedule with the kids and both Nathan and I were shocked by how well the kids did with it. They were quiet and/or slept during nap time, played well during activity time until it would be movie time. They did great. We drove clear to the western side of Iowa that first day, no, no, please hold your applause cuz there is more. The next morning we crossed the great Mississippi which was fun. Let's see, how to describe it?? Um.. it's big. By early afternoon we were in my old stomping grounds of Omaha and though the weather was crummy it started to clear just a bit so we decided, again -last minute- to go to the Henry Doorly Zoo. This zoo is the 4th best zoo in the world, if I remember right, and it is so amazing. If you are ever travelling through it is worth spending an afternoon there. We stopped and went on our way out to VA but the kids are all two years older and we knew they would love the zoo and the break from driving.

After the zoo we were back on the road. I was reading, trying to use the last of the daylight and when I finally looked up my stomach dropped. Ahead of us there was a huge black wall of clouds coming towards us. Having lived in Neb. for 10 years, I knew how dangerous the storms could be and even more so when you are just in your car and vulnerable. We turned on the radio and sure enough there was a thunderstorm warning for pretty much right where we were. Reportedly the storm was producing hail an inch in diameter, winds of 75mph and the possibility of tornadoes. It didn't take me too long to convince Nathan we needed to pull over. We waited out the storm with quite a few other people in a rest stop and though we had crazy wind, rain, and continuous lightening and thunder, we gratefully did not have any hail. The storm went on to knock out all the power in Omaha for a week, and even had two casualties. So needless to say, we were grateful to have gone through the storm unscathed.

We made it to my parents house late Friday night and we were so grateful to have made it safely. I am already missing my friends from VA but looking forward to getting to play in Boise. We hadn't hardly recuperated Sat. when we had to pack up again and head out for a family reunion for Nathan's side up at a 4-H camp in Donnely. So there will be pictures of that soon. But in the mean time, we made it here safely!

PB&J Wedding

Peter & Jen

Taylor, Kysa, Me, Nathan

Katie, Marianne, Kim and short Me

The girls with Rosie

Jen, her neices, sister and SILs

Over looking the reception area

Decorating the car

Nathan and I have been so excited for Peter and Jen's wedding. We flew out to Salt Lake City together just the two of us and getting to just sit together for hours on a plane undisturbed by children was such a treat (another one of those sentences I never thought I'd write). Peter is Nathan's cousin and he and Jen have been a part of our children's lives pretty much since they were born and even more so because we have all been living out in VA near each other.

When we first got to SLC a car picked us up and took us out to the car auction because Nathan's bro. Taylor who buys cars from there to sell at his car lot in Boise- had thoughtfully offered us one of the cars he had purchased so that we would have a car for the weekend before he drove it home. So we get the paper work in order in like 2 min. and Nathan commented "well that was easy" (famous last words) and go out back to this sprawling car lot to get the car. Long story short, can't find the car until 45 min later after walking, driving and having others drive around looking, the car was located. So exhausted (having been up since 3:30 am Eastern time) we open the doors to put our bags in the car and are totally shocked with how dirty, grimey, gross the car is. Now, I know that many auction cars come this way and Taylor's shop has them spiffy-ed up in no time but I was too tired to deal at the moment. So we get in the car, go to turn it on and...it's dead. We go back inside and without batting an eye an employer points us to a corner full of dollies with batteries and jumper cables attached, so apparently this happens regularly. Nathan jumps the car and we are on our way. The comedy continued for us when the AC was less than cooling, the car was on Empty and a giant moth was flying all over the inside of the car and we could not get it out. We even decided to leave the car running while we put gas in it so we didn't get stranded there. It was quite the comical adventure.


After we rested for a bit we went and met with our very favorite friends the Furni (again, that is the plural version of the name, lol) who recently moved down to the area. Of course we didn't get near enough time hanging out with them, never do...then we headed back to the hotel where the Bell/Jensen party went on until late. Seriously, there couldn't be a more fun group of people, Nathan and I always feel so blessed to be a part of it.


So Saturday afternoon we headed over to the beautiful Salt Lake Temple. Are you ready for the best story ever??? We were in a waiting room before the wedding when I decided I needed to use the RR. Nathan walked out into the hall with me and we asked a temple worker (who are there to answer these types of questions) where the nearest RR was. He was kind of distracted as he was helping someone else too and he motioned down the hall. Seeing a doorway a little ways down I hurried that direction. As I turn into the doorway a man had been hurrying down the stairs and with our combined momentum we about ran into each other, both took a step in the same direction trying to avoid the collision but ended up totally running into each other. The handsome man whose face is literally right above mine, says kindly "Excuse me, sorry" in a German accent and is on his way. I stood there and could not believe it... I just did a chest bump with Elder Uchtdorf! This was confirmed as I turned back around (realizing this obviously wasn't the RR) and headed back down the hall, Nathan was like, "Hey, Elder Uchtdorf just walked by!" and I was like, "yeah, I just ran into him...literally."


Anyway, the wedding ceremony was beautiful. Peter's grandfather married them and he had so much good advice for PB&J that I wish I could have sat there and taken notes. It truly was beautiful. Later we all headed up to Midway to this unbelievable mansion on a hill where the reception was. I don't think I have ever had dinner surrounded by such beautiful scenery. And before the night was over we decorated the car and filled it with balloons. It really was so much fun....and over far too quickly. Congrats PB&J!!!!!

Poor Guy!

Well, Nathan and I are back. We went to S.L.C. for Peter & Jen's wedding. It was such a great weekend and I will have lot's of pics to come but for now I have to post this picture of Nathan's eyes. Poor guy has been trying to fight off a terrible cold for almost a week now. After feeling so crummy, yesterday his eyes both turned blood shot and green goop started draining out of them...that can't be good. So anyway, Nathan has an appointment this afternoon so, as Kohen put it, "The Doctor can get the fwog outta his mouth". That's good cuz no one likes a frog in there!

Alyssa Turns 2!!!

Aly J. officially turns 2 today! No, I'm not that amazing of a blogger to already have this posted, we had the party on Monday. Aly walked around all day repeating, "Ah-yee Bursday!!" translation: "Aly, Birthday" pretty cute. The Bell's came over for dinner with us then we opened presents. She knows what a gift is now so it was really fun watching her open them. Of course we sang her the Happy Birthday song as well as one in Indonesian, a Bell tradition that we have grown accustomed to living here by them. Aly loves both songs and Marianne took video of her loving everyone singing to her... I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty proud of the Baby Einstein Cookie Cake I made. Aly was really cute trying to blow out the candles. She was making a lot of sound but no air was coming out, lol, so Nathan and I eventually gave her a little help. Anyway, Happy Birthday AlyCat!

Going Away Party

Some of our friends were kind enough to have a going away party for us this past weekend. The party was great though I wish the theme would have been something other than 'Farewell' :( The plan was to have this bbq in our friend's back yard but about 45 minutes before the party was to start the heavens parted and let loose. The Ramsey's were so great though, they invited all of us indoors even with all of our kidlings. That was super nice because let's face it, inviting a bunch of families over for an outdoor bbq is quite different than inviting a bunch of families to run around inside of your house for several hours. Since it was raining out they couldn't put up the giant Moon Bounce for the kids out back so the men folk decided it would be awesome to put it up inside...and that is exactly what they did, it was awesome and the kids went nuts over it.
Eventually things settled down and the kids all went and watched a movie in the theatre room while the husbands played pool and us girls got to sit around and chat.
We have made so many awesome friends here and met such amazing people. I am so sad to have to just turn around and leave already...it really stinks. At any rate, thanks guys for such a fun evening and for supporting us as we get ready to head out.

"Yips"

A friend gave Aly a chapstick and the girl couldn't be more thrilled. There was pretty much no actual chapstick left which of course is fine with me. Aly doesn't seem to notice though, because in a matter of days she has developed the addiction that comes with habitual chapstick use. She calls the chapstick her 'lips' but pronounces it "Yips" and she is constantly asking for her "yips", inviting you to try her "yips", and shouting at anyone who tries to take her "yips". Well, it's understandable, really. Cuz it's important for a girl to keep her lips moisturized...even if it is all in her head.

Aly being Aly

Aly has discovered her last name -mainly because that is what she hears when she is into mischief so often. But she says it so dang cute! I was trying to capture it one day but she only says it in a weird voice and super fast, too busy doing other silly stuff for your enjoyment. And in the second video she is being a frog or a 'Ribbit' as Kohen calls them. Anyway she is being wacky, enjoy!

Kennedy's 1st Graduation

Kennedy had her very first of what I know will be many graduations. Granted, this was her preschool graduation, but it could not have been any cuter. Kennedy has gone to a Preschool at a high school (Briar Woods, where the Bell twins rock Varsity B-ball and V-ball, go Falcons!!) there is the main teacher and then a bunch of high school teacher aides. So the kids get a ton of one on one attention which is great but they have quite the set up for a preschool, complete with a jungle gym right outside the door.

They have gone all out for everything else this year so I don't know why I was so surprised at the graduation ceremony. But the 'graduating' students who will be moving on to Kindergarten next year all wore real caps and gowns fit to their little size and they each got called up for a diploma. And what is a graduation without throwing your hats? It was super cute. Then there was a big BBQ and all of the h.s. students are there to help so someone took Kenna and another took Kohen to get their food and I hardly knew what to do with myself just getting my own food- that was a treat.

Then they had a big ol' treat bag and a framed collage of pictures they had taken throughout the year during different activities which is a really sweet way to help remember her year there. There was a ton of 'congratulations graduate' type stuff in Kenna's bag, my favorite being the Graduate Bobble Head that had Kennedy's picture on the face, so funny. She has truly been spoiled this year. But barely missing the cut off for Kindergarten this last year, she is so looking forward to getting to go this year. I hope she continues to love learning as much as she has this year!

Tub of Laughs

Update from last post: Today when Kennedy got out of the car for school the little girl who had her party last friday was getting out of hers and the first words out of Kennedy's mouth to her were a sincere, "How was your birthday!!". As I drove away I was so proud of her. I never told her to do that, but I was so impressed that she did. Sweet girl...

Okay, two funny things that cracked up Nathan and I lately.

1. One of Kohen's responsibilities every morning is that he takes out a bag of diapers to the garbage in the garage. The other morning the kids and I were all going downstairs together to leave. Kohen was carrying his usual bag-o-diapers and on our way out when I saw another bag with a few diapers in it (no idea where it came from or where my perfect diaper disposal system broke down but I am guessing it started with my 3 yr old) I handed it to a willing Kennedy to carry down. Kohen turns to Kennedy and excitedly says, "you have a bag too?! Let's do a 'cheers'!" and so right there on the stairs my cuties -who have always been big fans of 'cheers!' at the dinner table for some reason- happily did a 'cheers!' with their bag-o-diapers. Boy is that ever Nathan's ridiculously positive attitude shining through in his son, I love it.

I didn't realize both of these had to do with chores, it sounds like we are doing them all of the time, but if you could only see through the computer right now at the mess that is our home...I swear, every item we own is out of it's place and lingering on any available surface...Serenity Now!

#2. Saturday I was working in the kitchen while the older two were doing their Sat. chores. I had swept up a pile in the kitchen and it is Kohen's job to vacuum it up. When Kennedy got out the dust buster she walked by the pile and without saying anything she vacuumed it up. When I went upstairs a few minutes later I told her how proud I was that she did that for Kohen just to be nice. Thinking of a line we like from the movie Robots I said, "It's like 'See a need, Fill a need' and that's exactly what you did, thank you." and Kennedy says, "Well, 'See a need Fill a need' is from Robots. I like to just call it 'service'."

A Little Rant On A Saturday

The hardest thing for me as a parent (so far) is to see my children in pain. Yesterday when I picked up Kennedy from school she asked if we had gotten an 'inbitation' in the mail from a certain friend in our ward who is also at her preschool. When I told her we hadn't she burst into tears, and not the fake kind either. I knew what the problem was. She had been telling me about the birthday party this little girl was going to have off and on for about 2 months. And Kennedy was sobbing because 'the birthday party is today and I didn't get an inbitation!' It broke my heart to see her so sad. It was a good opportunity to discuss how we can't all go to everything, though.

We had talked about it a little while ago when there was another church friend whose party she didn't get invited to but whose party details she had been told all about. Get this, her mother walked around church and into Kenna's classroom handing out (what I assume were) invitations to some kids/parents. When we didn't get one I preemptively took the opportunity to explain to Kennedy about party's. Even though inside I was thinking how uncouth that Mother had been flaunting the party (unintentionally I am sure) in front of uninvited kids. Of course you can't have every child to a party, and I certainly don't expect young kids not to talk about parties they are excited for. I do however, hope that the parents would at least attempt to be discreet. Anyway, yesterday I reminded Kenna of how party's work and tried to console her and tell her that even though she hadn't been invited it doesn't mean that her friend dislikes her etc. And again, this rant isn't about my child not being invited to something so much as her pain at being left out, which I know inevitably happens in life.

I always used to think parents in movies and stuff who talked about wanting to just 'take the pain away' from their children were cheesy. But that is exactly how I felt yesterday- my sweet little girl in the back seat of the car just sobbing while listing off all of the fun party activities she would be missing out on. I had the weirdest pull of feelings going on inside of me. Wishing so fervently that there was some way I could completely take this emotional pain from my child, and yet at the same time being grateful there wasn't actually a way because I know how important it is to have these experiences and to learn and grow.

Anyway, I took her with me to go see some friend's new baby. They used to be Kennedy's awesome Sunday school teachers and they named their new daughter Kennedy as well so it helped Kenna to forget the other stuff. Brooke (the Mom) and I were looking at baby Kennedy's cord and my Kennedy was totally taken aback by the whole thing. Oh, if you could only have seen the look on her face...That night when I was putting her to bed she was asking questions about belly buttons and the cords on the baby and then she put an end to the conversation by telling me, "Mom, let's not talk about baby belly-buttons anymore...it weirds me out."

Parks and Pools

So they didn't lie. I'm impressed. When Nathan and I were looking to build a Van Metre townhouse in our neighborhood they tried to sell us this one townhouse that a couple had built that was totally pimped out and then the couple decided to get divorced and so they were backing out of the house. So of course the Van Metre people are itching to move this townhouse. One of their selling points was that they were going to build a 'Tot Lot' right across from it. Fast forward two years, we now live 4 houses down and when Van Metre tossed up another row of townhouses where this supposed Tot Lot was going to be, I got cynical. "They totally lied to us trying to dump that one townhouse on us! Remember the one Honey?" I probably brought this up a half dozen times since we moved in. If I am being honest it had more to do with me being bummed that there wasn't a park a couple houses down.


Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I notice some trucks and workers doing something over there behind the townhouses where our road dead-ends. So the kids and I decided to go check the last peanuts we left for the squirrels over there about a month ago and it was such a fun surprise to see them discover this new playground! They had a million questions about when "Bob the builder" (aka: any construction worker) had come and built a park. (please note Kohen's outfit: Cowboy hat, Spiderman dress up, belt to hold his sword which has been duct taped several times, and his new 3 sizes too big galoshes/fireman boots...)


Then on Saturday Nathan was home and the 3 pools we have access to opened up. It was a balmy 70 degrees with a nice cool breeze but no amount of convincing was keeping the kidlings from going to the pool.

It was cold. Kennedy was bummed cuz she really wanted to practice diving down but it was just too cold. We went over to the kiddie pool and since it was the first day and we were the only ones in there I felt fairly certain that the urine to water ratio was probably still in our favor. Check out Kohen behind Aly below...that is not what I would look like if I had to submerge myself into chilly water. But alas, Kohen is an optimist like his father.

Nathan was a good sport to get in with the kids but I thought it was really funny when they were playing Ring Around The Rosie and no one, not even Kohen, was willing to fall down at the end.

Two randoms:

I was getting the kids all ready for bed the other night, Kohen got frustrated and shouted at me and I quickly skimmed through my archives-of-scoldings-past and pulled out a classic from my younger years. I came back with a solid, "Hey, that's disrespectful to talk to me in that voice. You can tell me what you need to in a different voice but not that one. Not in this house." (Not in this house? I don't know, it just sorta came out! Don't judge until you've been without husband/Dad help for several weeks!) So Kohen, who generally doesn't get too worked up about stuff thinks about what I said and comes back with, "Fine! Then I'll just go back to our old house!"

Another time the kids were playing and Kennedy comes and tells me, "Mom, we need to have a few more kids before we can really play Cinderella." I've heard a lot of reasons to expand ones family, but this one was new :)

So You Think...

I could literally not be ANY more excited that my favorite show has started again. Seriously. I have waited all year for this. Tell me you saw the last performer tonight "Robert"....It was insane...INSANE. Tell me I'm not the only one who saw it...