summer ends

We were lucky enough to get a whole month of summer break this year. While that may not seem like a lot to many, it could have been worse. His boards were the first day which meant while others were still taking the test, we were in Idaho spending time with our extended families. Since returning we have been able to spend a lot of time as a family. Last year Chad worked all summer, plus we had a new baby so we didn't get this kind of time together. In the last two weeks we have done almost everything together. We have done the regular stuff like go grocery shopping, go to church, craigslist (yes the fast is over, and he is going full force), and clean (but the truth is Chad has done most of the housework. He said that this is his way of giving me a break too. I am pretty much the luckiest girl ever!) We have also done a lot of really fun things like go to Chuck E. Cheese, the Children's Museum, and of course, the Zoo. Today we went there to have a picnic. On our way to the playground\picnic tables we stopped at one of our favorite exhibits, the Budgie house. Porter did really good feeding them for such a little tike. Aimee loved it as much as ever. There's just nothing like a giant cage full of trapped birds to keep a couple of kiddos entertained! Tomorrow we jump right back into the grind. I have no idea what the next school year will be like. I love schedules and predictability. It will have neither, but we are still excited!

vacation

We made it! While we had been looking forward to our trip back to the gem state, we had been dreading the driving. We thought we would be brilliant parents and start in the afternoon. The kids would then take their nap in the car and then later also fall asleep for the night while we drove the 1000 miles to cross Nebraska and Wyoming. Well, it was all good in theory. It took us 19 hours to get there. Chad made a small error that took us toward Denver rather than Pocatello. It reminds me of that talk by Elder Uchtdorf where a flight plan was off by two degrees and it ended up putting the plane way off it's destination. It also crashed into a mountain, but we faired slightly better than that. The kids did great while they were awake, but had trouble every time we stopped for gas, or to switch drivers. Chad could only stay awake while I was awake, and I could only drive for an hour or so while he slept before I started to get sleepy. It was a very long drive! We found that going by day not only saved us five hours, but also many miles and a lot of stress.

While we were home we had a lot of fun with both of our families! Sadly, I didn't take as many pictures as I should ha[Image]ve, but i did manage to catch a few. One of the best things about the trip was that Porter turned one! He is such a little squirt it is hard to believe. We had a birthday song and cake with both families, and I don't think Porter minded making a tasty mess twice! In fact he had a great trip all around. Since the tubes, he has been the happiest kid ever! He went from whiny and clingy to smiley and adventurous! Just today he went back to the ENT to have everything checked and for the first time in 6 months everything looks great! It just breaks my heart that he felt so crumby for so long.

Despite the weather, which was much cooler than it is here, we had a great time. We had a lot of family dinners, rode hourses, bowled, played at a gymnastics[Image] gym, went to the lake, played with cousins, and a lot of other great activities. Aimee loved all of the attention she got from so many people, especially from her aunts. She couldn't get enough of the horses, and Porter loved having some great baby friendly dogs he could torment all day long. We feel so lucky that we are able to make it home a couple of times a year to spend time with the people we love the most!