Looks like the summer ran away from me again without a post.
So here's the run down of our goings ons since May:
May 30th found us in Pocatello where we began our road trip to Texas...
We drove to Colorado and added to our caravan my sister, Kari, her 3 kids and our sister Kourtney and her husband and daughter. From there we drove 17 hours down to our sister Kelli's in Dallas by way of New Mexico. From Sunday to Friday, we had a 60th birthday party for my mom, a graduation for Kelli's daughter Morgan and a wedding for Kelli and her husband Robert. Not to mention a few shopping trips and a late morning spent in the swimming pool. Friday we loaded back in the cars and drove 16 hours back up to Colorado by way of Oklahoma\Kansas. Mom, Dad and Me and the kids drove to Pocatello on Saturday. We stayed there for a couple days until Jim made it back from a business trip and we headed home on Tuesday. I think next time we visit Texas, we will be flying. That was a heck of a lot of driving!
June was pretty uneventful. We just kind of took it easy for a while, slowly getting stuff boxed up to move to our new address and the girl went off to Girl's Camp...without me. First time in 8 years I didn't get to go. But I think she had more fun without me there...you know, the whole "my mom is watching" thing. For her sake, I've hung up my GC ways...for now. She graduates in 4 years ;)
July 13th found the kids and I back in Pocatello for Mom's surprise birthday party on her real birth date. We, the sister's (minus Kelli), managed to get to Pocatello without Mom knowing about it. Kourtney and Kari stayed at a hotel and I camped out at my in-laws house the night of July 13th. On the morning of July 14th, we got to Perkins and hunkered down in their back conference room and waited for Dad and Morgan to get Mom there. It took some convincing and a whole lot of texts, but she finally showed up and was completely surprised to tears. Even the waitress was in tears by the time she left the room. Mission complete :)
We also got to celebrate baby girl Avery's 1st birthday!
Kendrie also got her braces off this summer! :D
The next few weeks of July found us moving to a new location. Same school. Same ward.
Better location :)
A couple trips to Eagle Island State Park (4th of July):
We also managed a road trip to Vegas! We wound up driving to Wells, NV late Thursday night and spent the night in one of the scariest, most disgusting hotel rooms we have ever encountered. We tried not to touch anything and as soon as the sun was up we were outta there! Nasty. Better than falling asleep on the road, I suppose. Anyway, for breakfast we had McDonald's with a side of $800!! That's right, while waiting for our food, Jim turned the 4 $1 bills in his pocket into $800! Because of the company we were in, we tried to stay quiet about it until we got to the car....but that was hard, because how often do you win $800??!! :)
Best hot cakes ever!
We got into Vegas Friday afternoon and checked in. The pool was our first stop.
We did some shopping at the outlets and downtown on the strip. The kids LOVE M&M and Coke World! Kendrie was introduced to H&M (she's pretty excited about Boise getting one now). And of course the Stratosphere where my brave family went on the rides while I stood by with my camera shaking my head as to the craziness of such activities...
After getting back from Vegas, a more full time position at the credit union became available to me. I now work 30+ hours a week instead of 15 to 25. It has been an adjustment, but we have made do and we pick up the slack on the weekends. It's been good to have a second income and the benefits are great!
Not to mention I get banker's holidays off (like today) Happy Columbus Day!! :)
School is going good for the kids. Both of them are in a grade that requires more responsibility and homework, a tad frustrating at times, but they are getting the hang of it and are doing really well! Kendrie is on her way to straight A's and is a squad leader on one of 4 cheerleading squads at her school and is loving that!
Kort has worked so hard at getting his PE requirements met and surpassed! He is now able to hang on the bar for 51 seconds! That's 50 seconds more than he could last year. So proud of his determination and commitment to achieve! He is also doing great in swimming lessons. Just needs to pin down the timing on the breast stroke and we've got ourselves a level 5 swimmer :)
This summer we have also discovered that Kort is susceptible to head-to-toe hives and has been in the ER twice already for it. The first time he had an ear infection with it, but no known allergies. The second time, they just popped up. No ear infection. Just a slight fever. So he's on a daily dose of Zyrtec and so far hasn't had them again. (Good thing! Since when did ER visits get so dang expensive?!)
This picture doesn't show how bad they were, but you can see the swelling. Poor little boy :(
So here we are in the second week of October and our next adventure begins on Thursday as we begin our journey North to Seattle! So excited about this road trip! I haven't been up there since high school and my family hasn't been there ever. Can't wait to get them up there to experience Pike's Place Market and the ferry's and the Space Needle! I'm sure there will be plethora of pictures taken as well. And I'm pretty sure I will have to post them ;)
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