Trip - Part One

We made it to Alabama safely!

We got to the Boise Airport at 6am and THANKFULLY they gave Sam a pass to go through security with us; because getting 4 kids, the double stroller, 12 shoes off and on, declaring the diabetes supplies, 3 backpacks and the tickets.....well.... I NEEDED HIS HELP!! :-)

I had reserved the last row on the plane and that was a GREAT choice! It was right in front of the potty!! :-)

The boys sat together across the aisle, and the girls sat with me.

Kaebrie was more interested in Baby Rosie getting to listen to the headphones then she was.

Delta was so nice and rearranged our travel plans giving us a WONDERFUL 4 and half hour layover in Atlanta instead of the original hour and a half that I bought the tickets for. I thought I would find an empty gate and let them play, but it was SO crowded there wasn't one! We eventually found an empty corner and that is where we parked ourselves for several hours. When it was time, we went to our gate, only to have them change it FOUR TIMES over the next hour. Then we were an hour late leaving. Everyone except Kaitlynn slept the entire flight to Montgomery!

Sunday morning we went to church with Poppa and JuJu (aka Sam's parents). Everything is so pretty and green and there are trees everywhere!

Here is Kaitlynn with JuJu.

The swing in their yard has been a favorite for many many years. Kaebrie is finally big enough to enjoy swinging in it all by herself.



And KitKat enjoyed pushing her!

Bumps, (aka, my dad), enjoyed bike riding with kids. Christopher is so strong he can peddle the adults around!

Hey Dad, how many years has it been since you have been on a bike? :-)

Trike and Bike races down the driveway was a lot of fun too!

Our niece, Brooke, arrived on Monday to join in the fun! She is 6 and filled in the "missing" age! Now the 5 grand kids are ages 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10! :-)

Poppa has his first tea party in YEARS! :-)

This is a little off the subject.....but when each child is 2 years and 7 months old, I take their portrait with them wearing all white. As you can see, it was finally Kaebrie's turn!! Here are a few of the many that were taken!

And that is all the pictures so far! Right now I am at my mom's house where the little 2 will stay for a few days. Collin , Kaitlynn and I leave for Savannah first thing in the morning. I will update again when we get back!!

Memorial Weekend Back-packing Trip

A very successful and very beautiful hiking and back packing trip!

We are going to start a collection of pictures with Sam and Collin on scenic mountain tops.



Collin wanted pancakes really badly for breakfast. They stuck to Sam's pot, so then they tried cooking the batter on a rock. It didn't work well either.


Toward the end of the day Collin got tired, so Jesse hooked Collin's backpack onto his and carried them BOTH!

The campers returned, tired, but happy. Sam and Collin and several members of our FCA group took off early Saturday morning for the White Cloud Mountains.

Unfortunately, there was much more snow then they anticipated, so they were not able to camp where they had planned on going. They tried walking, but sinking up to your armpits every time you take a step is NOT fun.

Here is a self-timer picture of the whole group.

(If you click on any of these pictures from here down they will open up to a very big size and you can see all the details).

Sam and Collin with all the Saw Tooth Mountains behind them. Mommy LOVES this one!

Two more shots of the father - son campers. Both these pictures are at about 10,300 feet.

Collin did not make it all the way up this peak, he sat and waited while Sam and 3 others attempted the climb.

I love all the snow and his SANDALS! :-)

Sam stopped here, at 10,800 feet, wanting to get back to Collin, but the others made it to the top!

I asked Collin what what his favorite part, he said,

"Climbing up to the peaks."

They had another great weekend together. The FCA group treat our kids so well.

I am supposed to be getting more pictures later today, so I will add on a few if there are some great ones!

Boise Rock Gym Field Trip

We had a great "official" last day of school.... A field trip to the Boise Rock Gym.
The first part was held in the gymnastics gym and team building exercises were a LOT of fun!

Then it was into the rock gym where everyone was fitted TIGHTLY into a harness, given instructions, and UP they went!

Even Christopher was old enough to try!

We left Kaebrie at home at Tabitha's house.

It was a LOT harder then it looked and Collin and Kaitlynn got a bit frustrated.

They enjoyed the rope climbing more then the wall climbing.

Christopher didn't like the harness. I think the pulling and the pressure bothered him. He climbed higher when he WASN'T hooked up!

A fun field trip! After it was over it was lunch in the van from "Old MacDonalds", then a quick trip to the bookstore and the outdoor store.

Sam and Collin and the FCA group leave EARLY tomorrow morning for a 3 day 14 mile back-packing trip in the White Cloud Mountains and they had some last minute supplies to buy.

Check back early next week for pictures of the back packing trip.

Kaitlynn - recital

Here is her YouTube link if you can not get this to work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3RUQ7jg_b0

Collin - piano recital

If you can not get it to work, here is the You Tube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUu-4WhA07Y

Piano Recital

Last night was the end of the year piano recital and it went REALLY well. Collin was upset he had to miss a baseball game for it, but he had 14 other games and only one recital, so Mommy had to put her foot down on this one!

They both did VERY well. They each had 2 songs to play and did a great job. The next piano teacher for the second semester was very tough. She pushed them and challenged them and though they were not happy at times, they learned!!

I have videos of the performance and I will attempt to upload those as well soon.

Build - A - Bear

For Kaitlynn's birthday, three months ago, her friend Madison gave her a gift certificate to take her to Build-A-Bear. Well, her mommy and I FINALLY found a time to take them to the mall in Boise.

For those Louisville friends, who might remember this story..... when Kaitlynn was 6 years old and we were going to go to the mall in Jackson, and she asked.. "What is a mall?"

Well....... things haven't changed a lot since then. Because I think that was the last time she has been to a mall. :-)

Boise has a fairly LARGE mall. WAY bigger then the one in Jackson or in Montgomery. She has not been to it ( this was only my third time since we have been here ). We drove up into it and the surprised voice from the back seat says.... " Is that WHOLE building connected?"

We parked in the Macy's parking lot and walked through the store, coming out into the mall on the second floor. I wish I had had my camera ready then. Her eyes were huge and her mouth was hanging open. She could hardly believe what she was seeing! She had SO MUCH fun!!

She was hoping to build a HORSE, but they didn't have any, so she picked out a puppy. Here she is holding the puppy shell.

Then she had to step on the pedal to blow in the stuffing...as much or as little as she wanted.

There is Madison!!

Then she kissed the heart and stuffed it inside her new puppy.

Then it was off to the FLUFFING machine to fluff up all the fur in the warm air.

Then to the grooming station....

And there they are!! Kaitlynn and "Nicki" ( named after Madison's middle name)!

I have never been here. What a CUTE CUTE place!

I just LOVE this picture!!! Thanks Madison for a WONDERFUL birthday present!!!!

Washington D.C.

Our base, Mountain Home Air Force Base, was picked as the BEST Air Force base of the year! There is actually a committee that visits EVERY base in the world to decide, and this year, we won. The base commanders chose 11 people to go to D.C. to pick up the MILLION dollar reward check, trophies, and flag and Sam was chosen to go!

Here is our group with the Washington Monument in the distance.

I like this picture, of Sam in his blue's on the Capitol steps. :-)


In the Pentagon!



With the award trophies....

With the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force....

With the award flag that will fly on our base for the next 12 months...

This is the United States Air Force Memorial. I have not seen this before and I really like it!

I like this one because you can see Sam's reflection as he is taking the picture.

This one too....

I have been waiting to post these because I been waiting for the official pictures that were taken with the generals and Secretary of the Air Force at the Pentagon. I will post those later if I ever get them!