Klamath Falls

Kylie and Carson had a few days off of school in October, and Kyle had some time off work too, so we decided it was time for a mini vacation. We went to the Klamath Falls area to visit Nonna and pop pop, and aunt Wendy too! As soon as we woke up the morning after arriving, the kids were anxious to go swimming. We saw these deer right outside the window of the pool. Very cool.

Lexi loved the kiddie pool, and it was just her size
Carson and Kylie got to practice their swimming skills in the big pool
Aunt Wendy (my sister) brought some great presents for the kids. This was her first time meeting Lexi! Kylie was attached to her from the moment she opened her presents. ha.ha
We all went out to lunch and then bowling. They had these ramps for the kids. They worked great.
Wendy, Donna ( my birth mother) and I
The next day we went to see Crater Lake. It was beautiful, and we were lucky to have such great weather. It is the deepest lake in the U.S. Carson still talks about it, and everytime he sees a mountain, he asks if it is a volcano.

My munchkins in front of the condo in their Halloween gear
Aunt Wendy taking the girls for a spin at Nonna and pop pop's cabin. They were in heaven hanging out with her. They think she is pretty special. I wish they got to see her more often.
Carson was amazing at driving this thing. He felt like such a big kid. It was super cute to see.

Catching up!

I have been behind on my posts lately, so here is a couple of months all in one.......

A picture of my kindergartners waiting for me to pick them up. I walk them to class as much as possible, and I am always sure to give them a great big kiss. I know someday that will embarrass them, so I take advantage of it now.

My Birthday! My two wonderful friends made my day. While I was dropping off my munchkins at school, they quickly decorated my house, and brought home-made cinnamon rolls. They are awesome. September was a really hard month for me........one of the hardest I have ever experienced, and I was so glad to feel so much happiness that day!
me and Keri
Me and my BBHAnother friend brought these awesome cupcakes
Kyle picked me up the coolest cake ever, and we had friends over to watch our team play!
My kids helped decorate, and even colored pictures to hang on the walls. Love them!
Kyle's parents were in town that weekend, so they also came over to celebrate with us.

Kylie and Carson's school has a walk each year, where the kids ask family and friends to sponsor them. Lexi and I went to cheer them on. Kylie takes after my athletic capabilities. ha.ha. Her friend and her held hands and walked pretty slowly the entire time. They would even stop to pick flowers. That's my girl!!

Carson on the other hand had me worried about how much I was going to have to pay. When I got there, I noticed that he was cutting across the field and making some good time. I explained to him the rules, and he went around the track after. ha.ha His face was red from working so hard. I was glad to be his cheerleader.

Here is a picture of Alexis helping her daddy with some canning.

My dad asked us to go to an Oktoberfest with him on the last day of September. Funny that they couldn't wait until October 1st to have it. ha.ha. Anyways, we had a great time. We loved the music. Lexi was especially enjoying it, and even dancing to it.

We were so entertained by this group that was dancing in a train form. It was really funny. This elderly lady in the front knew how to have a good time;0)

That same weekend, I celebrated with my Idaho B.F.F....Melissa! Her and I have so much in common. Our birthdays are exactly two weeks apart and we are the same age, our daughter's share the same birthday, we LOVE shopping and makeup, and we have a great time together. For her birthday I took her to lunch at Cafe Rio, where we can never get enough of their chicken salad! Then we went to have our makeup done at MAC. It was a fun day. Here we are showing off our makeovers, and trying not to laugh. It took a few tries to get a decent picture without us cracking up! Melissa and her seductive pose.ha.ha
Kylie, my mom and I went to the farmers market one Saturday morning, and had lunch at a cute place downtown also. I love to see the fresh flowers, and all the homemade things that are there.
Kylie and I enjoying the most delicious warm donuts with caramel dip. Kylie just looked at this picture, and said " I wish I could go to that place and get those again". I agree with her completely. I wish the same!
I love my family and friends all the fun things we are able to do together. I feel so blessed=0)

Kindergarten and Labor day

Kindergarten!!!! I can't even believe it is that time already. My little babies are off to school. Here is my handsome little man all ready for his big first day!and my beautiful princess all dressed in purple.........of course!
Carson let Lexi borrow his backpack, so that she could be a big girl too. Kyle took the morning off so that he could be there for their big day. I was sooo grateful for that!!
We were all off to a great start, but I felt a lump in my throat as soon as we got to the classroom. Kylie did too, because as soon as the teacher told the kids to say goodbye to their parents, she became very upset. I held it all in until I got around the corner in the hall, and then I lost it too. I felt so bad having to leave her when she was scared like that. Not to mention I just felt so sad that my little side kicks are now in school. I was also so excited for them. It was just a mixture of emotions. So again, thank goodness Kyle and Lexi were there to help me out! Kylie actually cried everyday of that first week. I got teary eyed the second day too, but I was good after that. She did fine from the second week on. I CAN'T believe how much they are learning and how smart they are!!!
I couldn't be more proud of these little cuties!

Kyle was feeling pretty bad about the traumatic morning too, so he asked us to meet him for lunch after I picked the kids up from school. That made things much better!

We went to Eastern Idaho the following weekend to visit Kyle's family and watch the BSU game. I got to go out with my BBH (Melissa) the night before we left. It was a much needed night out, we got our nails done and laughed (uncontrollably) like always!! The next morning we took off early so that we could see the hot air balloons on our way out. They were amazing. They have so many different shapes and colors. Really beautiful. The rocket ship was one of our favorites.

It is always fun to see and ride the horse's in Kyle's parent's backyard

and go for a spin on the four wheeler too

and play with cousins of course!

We had a rough couple of weeks after that last camping trip, but it seemed like we would at least have one or two days off in between the next person getting sick. One of those days off, we went to a Hawks game. Kyle got the tickets from work. They get season tickets each year, and share them. We had the BEST seats. This was our view, we were right above the dug out.

The mascot and my cuties. They loved watching for him walking around the stadium. Also this is the spot they did some of the fun contests in between innings. My kids got to do a macarena dance right here. It was so cute!
I made my mom some pretty cupcakes for her birthday. We went to dinner and had a great night.
Lexi and Carson snuggling......this is while she was still not feeling too good.

We got a visit from nonna and pop-pop (my birth parents) in August. It is always like getting a vacation ourselves when they come, because we do so many fun things.......and they always bring presents! They brought all the kids new backpacks filled with goodies.

We had a movie night in our backyard that night
and the kids got to go swimming at the park where they stay with their trailer
We went to Chuck E. Cheese one day.....
and then to a 3D movie. Lexi was pop-pop's side kick the entire time. Carson was funny to watch because he had that huge popcorn bucket between his legs and ate it the whole time.
We were so glad to be rid of that horrible flu bug!! I think we had it for a total of 2 1/2 weeks, between all of us.

Hot springs and Canning

Kyle is the canner of the house. He is really good about doing it, and he also enjoys he.I don't mind it, I just feel like it takes up a lot of time that I don't always have. He makes great pickles and beans. He also does lots of fruit. He has a great system down. He also found that having the kids help makes it go a lot faster. Kylie seems to have the most patience for it. Her hand fits perfectly in the jar and she gets everything packed in there really good. It is cute to watch.

In between canning and all of the other fun summer activities, we got in another camping trip to some hot springs.

Carson found this great rock, that we later used as our table. This was our first time camping at a place other than a campground.

The pool was so warm and relaxing, we all had such a good time

in between swimming, we did some exploring

and ate lots of yummy food at our rock table

We had so much fun, up until our last night. Right as we were getting ready for bed......Lexi started throwing up! The flu and camping are not a good combination! As we were swimming, I was getting a little creeped out about germs......and sure enough I was right! I am pretty sure she caught something in that water. It lasted for several days too......just as she was getting over it, Carson got it, then Kylie, then me. It felt like we were sick forever.

As we were leaving we spotted two deer by the road. Pretty cool! Glad we ended on a good note.