He's Legal, and other things

The kid is finally a legal driver!! He passed his written test the second time around yesterday, and having already passed his driving test, Josh became a legal driver!


So what else have we been up to? Trying to pack as much into the summer fun as possible!

We've been playing at the lake.


I've been traveling for work & going to some of my favorite towns, seeing some very cool old buildings!


I got some gorgeous new lily plants for my garden!!





We've been going to wedding receptions, which is the summer norm! Such a fun way to hang out with friends and enjoy a great party! Of course, nothing beats a back yard bbq reception put on by the Wahlens!!

4th of July Weekend

Happy 4th of July!! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and has the opportunity to spend time with family, friends, and loved ones. I am looking forward to good food, good company, and awesome fireworks here!

I hope we remember the reason for this holiday. We celebrate the birth of our country this weekend. While our country isn't perfect and has it's problems, it is the greatest country on this Earth and I am thankful for my citizenship. I am thankful for the long history of patriotism that my family has. I am grateful for the brave men & women, including some of my ancestors, who had the courage to leave everything they knew and travel the oceans to this country. I am thankful for the incredibly brave men, including some of my ancestors, who fought for freedom and founded our country. My mom told me once that in our family, we have men who have served in the military and fought in every war since the Revolutionary War. I am proud of that heritage. I am thankful to the men and women who dedicate their lives to ensuring the continued freedom of our country. I am proud of my brother, who has dedicated over twenty years of his life to serving our country and has served in two wars. I am proud to be an American.

We kicked off our weekend with a 4th of July breakfast at the church. Other than it being so cold, it was a wonderful time to visit with friends and a delicious start to the day! Angie asked Josh and two of the other older Scouts to take responsibility for the flag raising. I was proud to watch Josh participate in this and see the respect that he has for our flag and what it represents.

MORP

I know I'm a little slow, but a couple of weeks ago, Josh had MORP. I miss being home for these dates!  Thanks mom for the pic of Josh & his date, Mandy.  Then I lifted pictures of the whole group off Facebook! Josh said that they had a really great time--a fun group to go out with & a great dance!

Spring Break Fun

Josh is on Spring Break right now. Yesterday, I took he & Emmett to Idaho Falls. I dropped them at James' apartment & they hung out with him while I did some actual work, in the form of three inspections. We all met up for lunch, and then the boys went to see Percy Jackson & The Lightening Thief. Not having any interest at all in that movie, I took myself to see The Last Song. I have to say, I loved it. It is a movie I will be watching again & probably buying on DVD. It was a sweet love story, a father/daughter story that I found extremely personally touching, and really, could he be any more adorable????

Emmett's a goof



So after the movie, we went to this candy story called Sarah's Candy Cottage. The store is entirely devoted to candy. I hadn't been there in awhile & I knew that neither Josh or Emmett had ever been there. We walked in the door and there were shelves of candy EVERYWHERE. Josh & Emm's eyes got wide and they got these huge smiles on their faces! They were so cute picking out their candy choices and charming samples of just about everything from the lady who was helping us. The size of these lollipops made me laugh!


And since I had some grocery shopping to do, we ended our day at Wal-Mart. I swear, walking through the door turns Josh & Emm 5 again. But they make me laugh so hard. They head straight to the toy department. After playing a little bit of baseball with the bouncy balls, they found a couple of little kids who were willing to play with them. I think it's fair to say that Josh & Emm lost & the little kids won.







This was the two of them in the car on the way home. How do they always end up asleep at the end of a trip?

Stake Prom

Last night was the Stake Prom. This is something that was started about 5 years ago for the kids in our stake. James went a couple of times & always had fun. This is the first year Josh was old enough to go. He took a friend, Desiree, and they doubled with one of his oldest friends, Jaiden and his date, Ariel. The kids all looked so good last night & they had a great time!! I remember teaching Josh & Jaiden in Primary when Josh first moved here. They were 7 years old and became very fast friends. They sort of raised trouble in my Primary class & have been close friends and causing trouble together ever since! I can't believe how old they are!!!

Little bit of this, little bit of that, and the family artist

Life has been insanely busy the last few weeks with work. I've been traveling at least two days each week and often more, and been putting in a lot of late nights and weekend time writing reports. In fact, I should be writing a report right now! I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything I've got going on & not sure how to handle it all and get it all done well and attempt to stay on top of things. And then I heard about a friend who is waiting to hear if her job is being cut and if she'll be let go from her company. And that made me stop feeling sorry for myself for being so busy. I am so grateful for a good, steady job that I really enjoy. I'm grateful for the chance I have to work from home and be here for my family and be involved in Josh's life and activities to the extent that I'm able to be. I'm grateful to be associated with companies in my job that are strong and solid. They have ethics and integrity and are like families. I'm grateful for their confidence and belief in me.

The one benefit of traveling is that I get to see some pretty things and places. And when I go to Sun Valley or Jackson, I see some ski hills that I would much rather be skiing down than working!











Josh is taking Ceramics at school this trimester. I have to admit that I have harassed him a bit about it. But he's really good. I picked up a couple of his pieces for him and brought them home last week. I was really impressed at how good they are. He's just a fount of hidden talents! The tall red piece is going to be in the local art show at the library sometime next month. I'm really looking forward to going in to see it on display!!

Simplot Games

Every year, there is a huge high school indoor track and field competition in Pocatello. The Simplot Games is the premiere high school event in the country. Josh decided to run this year and did the 1600 meter(also known as the 1 mile). There were 19 kids from Snake River running. Two of them were running the mile--Josh & Tylo. As Josh found out more information about Simplot, he realized that this was really a big deal. The Simplot Games record for the mile is 4:10, which is crazy fast. He decided he wanted to use the experience just to set a baseline to start the Track season with. Probably wise, since Josh talks about running a whole lot more than he actually does run. He ran on Thursday night and set a starting point of 5:38 for the track season & has set a goal to finish the season at 5:00 flat. He did a great job & I was proud of him! Track starts next week...I can already see that those first track meets promise to be as cold as they were last year!!

All is Right in my World Again....

This was the scene around my breakfast table this morning. After 2 weeks of restriction for both Josh & Emmett after a New Years Eve incident, Emmett was back at our house for the weekend. My two favorite teenage boys are back, eating all my food and making me laugh almost non stop! And since there's no school tomorrow, I get them for another day.

Winter Fest & Birthday lunch

Yesterday was a good day. It started off with lunch with two of my best friends. I have known Jenni & Amy half my life, since my parents moved me to Idaho in 8th grade. I met Jenni my first day at school after we moved here & we because immediate friends. One of the biggest regrets in my life is that Jenni and I drifted apart after high school and lost each other for a number of years. And one of the biggest blessings in my life in the last few years is that Jenni and I have been able to find each other again and settle back into our close friendship. So the three of us went to Bajio's for lunch. If you've never been there, you should--it's a really good Mexican grill. Lunch was good, but the company was awesome! It was fun to be able to sit and relax and have some girl time! Thanks guys--I love you!!

Last night was the Winter Fest dance at Snake River. Josh took a good friend of his, Hannah, and they doubled with Josh's best friend Emmett and his date, Whitney. They went bowling & then came here for diner & to Emmett's house for dessert. They were such a fun group--they laughed the entire time they were here.

They enjoyed dinner & then decided to play "the spoon game" which isn't really so much a game as it is a chance to pick on the one who doesn't know what the joke is. Emmett was the "dummy" last night. Once he realized he was being conned & whacked on the head by Josh, he decided to try to get even.