what a beautiful mess

Trevor actually texted me during dinner "Why do you hate me??" I thought the zucchini noodles were delicious, at least they were the first couple of bites and only as long as there was bacon in it. No worries though cause I fed him dessert: Zucchini cake. But that, at least, was good. Emily has decided to play the violin. Doesn't she look adorable and happy? And Annabelle looks scared....and adorable. It's a great picture, right? Emily seems to have grown 3 inches over night. She's growing up! Painting is just about done. I have put off mowing the lawn for 3 days now but tomorrow I have to do it. When you have to hike through the grass, then it's time to get to work. Speaking of hiking, Josh and I hiked the "R"  mountain today with some friends. And it was just as beautiful as before. And we plan on doing it again tomorrow.... I cannot wait!

And that's really what the kids named this little guy after they found him. I think it's alluding to the fact that we say Josh looked like a frog when he was born... He was a tiny little guy and the kids had fun playing with him for an hour or so. They even built him a castle. I love having a yard again.... Church was.....good today. Through all the meetings, the subject kept coming up on how to be a better person. And how we need to change ourselves and make ourselves open to loving criticism. It was a bit of an awaken-er to me. I often go through the motions of trying to be a better person but it's a little half heart-ed. I know there are times I hurt peoples feelings, I'm not as kind as I should be, I'm too sensitive and I can be annoyingly mopey. Those are things that I need to change and it was just reiterated to me today. The Relief Society lesson was given on this  talk from last Aprils General Conference and I plan on reading it and studying it more...

They aren't quite red but they're getting pretty close.  Near our house, we have awesome hiking.  Did I say awesome italisized?? That's cause it's  awesome .  We hiked the Rexburg mountain today or the Buttes.  Don't let Emily's happy face fool you.  She was miserable. She drank all her water halfway to the top and ended up throwing the water and her oatmeal up.  Not a pretty sight.  It's uphill the whole way and I think the "whole way" means about 2 miles.  But once you reach the top, it's so completely and totally worth it. I know Trevor doesn't love hiking (although he does like it a lot) but he totally knew what he was getting into when he proposed to me on a hike~Angels Landing in Zions.  That was the best hike ever.  EVER. This evening we had a barbque at some friends house. And that brings me to the point of the title of this post.  We find ourselves saying "ain't" and "worth a lick"  and "ain't wor...

My goofy boys. (oh yeah, don't look up his nose...gross.) And I'm not gonna lie.... I had three of them today. And lots of water flavored with this: It's delicious. Painting makes me really thirsty....

I'm pretty sure they'll all be needing new shoes again before too long... And we're now back to a regular schedule  of waking up early and going to bed early. I'm already exhausted.

Trevor always has the best ideas.  We started with some yummy food, then went and played some games outside. Our kids favorites; a spelling bee and truth or dare.  (isn't it hard to believe, judging by the picture, that they actually fight and argue and are mean to each other? well, believe it. they really don't always get along.) Josh's first word to spell: ABC.  He did fantastic... What better way to celebrate going back to school than by watching High School Musical? I love that move... And it was the first time Trevor had ever watched it all the way though. Between you and me, I think he really enjoyed it. The kids go back on Wednesday.  That would be the day after tomorrow.  Holy cow.

That's okay cause it's given us lots of free time to do as we please (and actually we would have done all this had it been working also but for this posts' sake....) We had lots of fun on Friday at Rigby Lake; our new favorite place. We played in the sand and practiced our swimming and had a grand time. Look at these girls thinking they're sweet stuff. Of course, that's cause they are. The sweetest of all... I'm not sure what Emily is saying or maybe yelling. We'll pretend she's saying how much she loves her brothers. (ha ha.) We then went and enjoyed Rexburg, Idaho's county rodeo. The kids got tired and we left during the barrel racing but everything up to that point was great. Stephen even went out and chased a calf for cash with a bunch of other kids but didn't end up any richer than he already was, dang it. It was fun watching though. Saturday our internet went out and didn't come back until Monday afternoon (I have a feeling that m...

or sometimes it needs no words at all.... (our loot from the grocery store yesterday)

Annabelle was begging me to do this! We just might have to make it a tradition. We put on some good music and the kids took turns stuttin' their stuff! And so...without further ado, I present to  you Emily Delight: Annabelle Jeanette: Stephen Scott: Joshua J: (who will not be going to school but I couldn't leave him out!) School starts next Wednesday and these kids are very excited. They get to take the bus since we live 5 miles from town and there's lots of kids on our street who will be on it also. We had a bad experience the last time they rode the bus but I think it will be okay this time around.  It's been a long, busy summer with not a lot of fun involved. We had a good time at our family reunions but most of this summer was spent house hunting and moving.  There's always next year, right? P.S. Trevor's finger is fine. Is it bad that I still ask him to do stuff around the house? He doesn't seem to mind.... Also I have debunked the myth that col...

And a good day it's been. Although there have been a few hiccups. Like when Trevor drilled through his finger and had to be taken to the emergency room. It was nice to be his nurse for a bit though; cleaning the blood, wrapping his finger up.... You know, that kind of thing. We got locked out of the shed and now don't have a key to unlock it. We had a few minor arguments about who hit who, who was being annoying, "he kicked me" and some "she sat on me"s. But other than that a really good day. The lawn is completely mowed, edges trimmed, and our big deal of the day (and the reason behind the drilled finger): The stove is gone! (not really gone, just stored in the shed until Scott wants it) It's silly how happy that makes me. But it wasn't really a heat source and would have only added an extra payment each month and I didn't really want it for the "looks"  of it. And so now we have added a little bit more extra room in here an...

I have picked a wall color. Yep, I sure did! It's about time, right? I mean, we've only lived here for two weeks.... Before I make the big reveal, let me say that many of you wouldn't pick it and that's okay with me. I did samples on every wall in the house. And I've liked it more and more as the day went on and the light changed. Keep in mind that the picture makes it look blue. It's not really blue but it is a cool, grayish-whitish color. And by cool I mean totally rad (not really). TA-DA!  It's pretty, right?  Tonight we tore down wallpaper as a family. Have you ever done that? It's so totally satisfying. But that's coming from someone who likes to peel sunburns and do gross stuff like that. I'm hoping that we'll be painting in about a week. (Trevor's hoping for like..never) Wish him luck.

During the "boys afternoon" on Saturday, while they watched Star Wars for the zillioneth time, Joshua decided to make a jet pack. I'd say that's getting pretty creative with all those * nasty soda cans... He of course had to test it out. And he was pretty pleased with it. He thought he really flew through the air. How sweet is that? (please excuse the nasty bottom of the flip flop; it's gum with grass clippings stuck to it. And yes, I did allow him to wear those shoes in the house... oops! *delicious

MiniBoden  has these really cute sandals on sale right now for 13 dollars. It's a steal, trust me. I bought the girls last years sandals from them and they still look brand new and they wear them a ton.... I'm hoping these ones last just as long.  Also for all you doing school shopping, Forever 21  now carries girls clothes.  Cute girl clothes, believe it or not.... My girls are looking forward to mail time around here...

Some of you may know that I like fire.  I love birthday candle lighting time. So when Trevor brought home a weed burner/torch, I had to use it. And I did... for about 3 hours.  It was so dang rad.  And now I'm going to go finish watching Sleepless In Seattle until Trevor gets out of the shower.  I may shed a few tears.... Good night.

Remember that line from Field of Dreams where the baseball player asks Kevin Costner if this is heaven? And Kevin responds "No, this is Iowa."? Here is our heaven or what is commonly referred to as Idaho: It may not look like much in a picture but just come visit us and you'll see what I mean.... Things are going perfectly for us in our new home. And by perfectly I mean that we love it cause it certainly isn't trouble free... For example, our dryer doesn't work yet, it's taken me two days to just get the very front lawn mowed, there are bugs everywhere that have to constantly be smooshed, we have a den full of stuff and weeds that have to be pulled/burned. But we can sit by our front window at the end of the day and watch the sun set while the kids get ready for bed.  And leave our windows and doors open and still feel safe. On Sunday we had one of our neighbors bring by some huckleberries. I thought it was nice at first but wasn't sure what to do...

It was a blast... camping for four days, with partial rain/thunderstorms and lots of kids. What more could you ask for?? How about seeing Amy and Jessica?!? I haven't seen Jessica and her family in 2 years.  We were all so excited to see them! Here's the back of Amaya and Gabe, her two youngest. And one of Amaya.  Isn't she the cutest little 6 year old? She's got a sweet little Texas accent~ I loved hearing her talk!  We got to see PJ and McKenna! And eat McKennas yummy food...one of the best cooks ever! We did lots of talking and standing around, just enjoying each others company. The kids all had so much fun playing together. All 16 of them!  They all got along so well... Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of them all together....big bummer! Grandpa took us all for a ride in his raft. I think he had more fun giving us rides than anything else... And here's Amy and Tim's little Brooklyn. She is such a sweet baby.  Almost makes me want another one. ...