Home Progress

 Here are a few pictures of rooms we painted to prior to moving in.  The entire house was Contractor White--booooring.  I tried to be bold, especially for me.  (I am used to white or light tan walls.)  The "Cranberry" accent wall we did in the Master bedroom is my favorite so far.  Oh, and I'm excited about the "Blueberry" in the kitchen.  Kylene and the cousins came up with food names for all the colors:).

 Above are a few random shots I took during the move-in process.  The refrigerator was the biggest feat, I think:).  Kyle and my brother, Alva, painted the entire garage, which still had the sheet rock exposed.  They primed it and painted it eggshell white.  It is so nice to have a completely finished garage!

The biggest transformation has been in the backyard.  It had never been landscaped, so was full of weeds as tall as me and lots of left over construction "junk". Oh, and a "cute" little family of mice.  Ugh.  It is still very much a work in progress but it is starting to look like a backyard.  I am so excited!

We started by doing LOTS of weeding and digging out the huge weeds.  Then Kyle used Round-up to kill the weeds....three times.  Then weed whacking, more weeding, and lots of moving rocks.  Spokane's soil is VERY hard, rocky, and made of hard clay.  Perfect opportunity to build muscles:).

 The next step was to purchase a trampoline and put it together--no small feat, I might add, if you've never had that particular experience.  The base of the trampoline was work, but pretty straightforward; it was the safety netting which was particularly confusing and time consuming.  But, we did it, and the kids are very excited to have something they've been asking us to buy for a very long time.

 The next step was to dig the hole in which the trampoline now resides.  First we tried digging...then using a pick axe...but with this soil, the process was back breaking and painfully slow.  Finally, we rented a large rear-tine rototiller and hired two young men so we wouldn't break our backs (as much).  Finally, the hole was ready (and we really were only digging out one side, since the yard is sloped).  It was so exciting to put the trampoline in place.  (And from where it will never be moved--I promise!  Hee hee)

We have since built the retaining wall, brought in 50+ yards of dirt to level the yard, and planted 37 trees!  Irrigation will be installed starting this week!  More progress pictures to come.

I have to send a shout out to my amazing parents, especially my dad for his incredible landscape design and amazing help. He has led us through every step of the process and it has been invaluable.  My parents spent a week helping a TON with the labor and we got soooo much done in a very short period.  Such a blessing and gift to us!  Thank you, mom and dad!

July, in Part

For the Fourth of July this week, we went up to Sandpoint, Idaho to play at Lake Pend Oreille with our friends, the Lathen's.  The kids had a blast playing in the sand and swimming in the lake.  Kylene and I even swam out to the logs bordering the swim area and got up on the logs.  It was very crisp (cool) water, but felt good in the warm sunshine.  We had a picnic and played for a few hours.  Then we drove home and got showered and cleaned up, then went over to the Lathen's house for a barbecue and fireworks.  Practically no fireworks are legal in Spokane County (quite the opposite of Washington fireworks on the west side of the state!), but the kids had a ball doing the sparklers, snakes, and a few other little ones we lit.  Then we went home and watched the impressive (illegal) fireworks our neighbors were putting on all around our house.  I fell asleep while my kids stayed up late watching it from their bedroom window--ha ha, that's the way to go!

The little girl in the chair next to Andon in the picture above is his best little friend, Julia.  Even though they don't actually play a lot together, he loves being with her, either at her house or ours.  He asks almost daily to play with her.  One day she was over at our house for lunch (with her two older sisters), and I offered her some hummus.  She loved it.  That also happens to be one of the few healthy foods Andon will eat.  The kids started saying that means they are going to get married some day and have a hummus cake at their wedding.  It was pretty funny.

My kids all got to go to the dentist this month, but it was Andon's first time.  He performed like a champ and even let them do x-rays!  I think it helped that every sibling took it upon themselves to tell them what the dentist was like and how "it isn't scary" and they are "super nice there."  It is so cute to listen to your 9, 7, and 5 year old explain something to your two-year-old as if they are total experts.

We went to our first Rodeo as a family the second weekend in July.  Our dear friends, the Edges, invited us to join them and it was a great night.  The Cheney Rodeo is a small, hometown rodeo, and it was a great first rodeo experience for our kids.  We had seats on the front row and the dirt would fly up on us as the horses ran past.  The kids loved watching all the events and especially loved the shaved ice and other treats they got to eat.  They did a balloon popping event for the youngins', and Skyler and Andon got to run out in the arena and try to pop balloons stuffed with money and prizes.  They each got a free ice cream cone at McDonald's and a dollar or two.  It was darling.

The last week of July, Kyle's sister, Christine, and her family came to visit.  Alyssa was the only one that didn't get to come.  It was our first time meeting Dallin and Maggie, Scott's children (Christine's husband).  It was quite an exciting night when a thunderstorm came through an hour after they arrived and we lost power for six hours.  We played "Ticket to Ride" by flashlight, the kids played outside until dark, and then ran all over the house in the dark with flashlights.  By the time we got them all ready for bed and tucked in, the power came back on.  They ran around the house so excited, like they had just won the lottery, and it took awhile to calm them down again.  But it definitely was a night to remember.  We have loved having family come to visit us!

Wonderful Article

Confessions of a "Too-Busy" Mom

I recommend this article as a good read for busy moms.  It really hit home with me and, I must admit, gave me some guilt.  Hopefully it's the good kind of guilt that spurs me in to action and improvement because I really am a "too-busy" mom.  I am so thankful for the reality of hope, improvement, and the Atonement.

This article also reminded me of President Uchtdorf's recent Conference talk: "Of Regrets and Resolutions".

I'm looking forward to tomorrow, a day "with no mistakes in it". (As Anne would say:).)

I Love My Family

Photo Update on June

It's hard to resist including these silly pictures of Andon.  This little guy has so much personality, spunk, sass, and love!  He is giving me a "run for the money"; it seems any parenting "trick" I learned with the other three doesn't work on him, so I have to figure out something new!  He can be stubborn and oh-so-tender-hearted from one moment to the next, and he always finds a way to melt my heart no matter how naughty he has been.  Actually, he pretty much pulls the reins on everyone in the family.  Lucky guy!

We picked 50 lbs of strawberries in the rain.  I left Andon with a friend, and the other three kids and I went to work.  They did a great job (especially with not complaining too much in the rain) and it went quicker than I thought it would.  We only made five batches of freezer jam, then froze the rest for smoothies, salads, etc.  I can always make more jam if we run out over the winter, too.  The kids helped with the jam for a little while, then my friend Sara came over and helped me finish while the kids played. It was fun visiting.

We started swim lessons the Monday after school got out.  Kylene started learning to dive, and Spencer started swimming on his own for the first time!  Skyler got more comfortable in the water and did some floating.  They all passed to the next level!  I was especially grateful for Spencer's instructor who worked miracles on getting him to relax in the water.  The first couple of days he wouldn't even put his entire head under the water and by the end he was holding his breath to the count of 20+.  He has always been so nervous in the water, but on the last day he even jumped off the high dive (to his coach waiting at the bottom).  I enjoyed swimming lessons as well because there were three other ladies from our ward who had kids in lessons at the same time, so we enjoyed the time visiting.  

 Tutu and Grandpa and cousin Alohi came to visit and help us with the ward luau.  They were a huge help getting things moved over, weeding and doing work in the yard, and playing with the kids.  The adults went out for a yummy steak dinner one evening and Alohi babysat.  Kyle's mom played the ukulele and sang at the luau and Alohi performed a number with Kylene (Little Brown Gal) and did a solo (Beautiful Kauai).  We loved having them here!

 June 7 was our Ward Luau.  The young men and young women were in charge, so Kyle did a lot of work getting it ready.  There was a great turnout with TONS of yummy food for the dinner.  (The ward provided the Teriyaki chicken and rice; everyone else brought salad, rolls, or dessert.)  Kyle then emceed the program.  He taught the Young Men the Haka (Maori war dance) and I taught the Young Women the Hukilau hula to perform.  Some High Priests did a hilarious Elvis/Blue Hawaii number, Alohi and Kylene performed a hula (I was so proud of her for getting up in front of everyone!  She looked beautiful.), and Alohi did a solo hula.  Kyle had Hawaiian trivia with candy leis for in between the numbers.  It was a huge success and was so much fun to be a part of!  It was a beautiful summer evening. 

The last day of school came and went.  It's hard to believe how quickly a school year passes.  They held an awards assembly on the last day.  They call the school-wide student award the "Grit Award" and both Kylene and Spencer received one.  Kylene also reached the TWO Million Word Club for Accelerated Reader!  There were about 10-12 kids in the one million word club, and only three kids in the two million word club.  The kids were happy and sad school was over.  I was mostly happy:).  Fourth Grade, Second Grade, and Kindergarten (Skyler), here we come!

We said goodbye to our wonderful neighbors this past year, the Applegate's.  They moved back to Tennessee to be closer to family.  It was only a short time living next to them, but we enjoyed having neighbors we could trust and count on for help and play time with the kids.  Jennifer and I enjoyed walking and doing yoga together (she patiently taught me; it was my first time!) and sharing goodies we made:). 

We celebrated Kyle on Father's Day (June 15) by giving him breakfast in bed (homemade cinnamon rolls), and a few presents.  He got to wear his double ties to church (made by Kylene and Spencer), and then we had all four Elders serving in our ward over for dinner.  (He was nice enough to share his Father's Day with these future fathers.)  I decided to try a Thai-themed dinner, and I think everyone enjoyed it.

We love our daddy and are so thankful for all he does for us.  He has worked SO hard the last few months, and gotten little sleep and few breaks.  Work has been pretty much non-stop stress (the good and the hard kind), he has been very busy serving the Young Men, and he has worked tirelessly on projects at both our rental and new house.  I do as much as I can without him, but it seems I inevitably need his help for some part of every project.  He is always willing and I love him for it!  He has built an awesome bike rack in the garage, done tons of yard work, moved a zillion boxes and furniture items until I decide where I want them, etc. etc.  We would truly be lost without our daddy!