Vikingman!

Neil and some friends from work decided to to a triathlon together.  They assigned Neil to the swimming, so throughout the summer, he trained at good old Seven Peaks in the wave pool!  Funny that he had to train there but it was a good place to hang out as a family!  So I guess you can say he didn't get too much training in, but he's a great swimmer!  Above:  This is Neil in the hotel trying out his wet suit... Yeah, you're thinking right... He walked down to the hotel swimming pool with that on and went swimming with all of the other family and kids staring and laughing at him!! He's too cute, I love the guy!

Paul (Runner) Neil (Swimmer) Doug (Bike)

Neil is in the bright yellow cap, this is him just getting out of the Snake River after more than a mile swim. He finished his swim super fast, being in the top 5 to finish!

They had to run up the ramp to switch their timing chip to the next person.

Neil is laying on the ground exhausted, while Doug is getting ready for his ride.

And unfortunately there was a small crash!

Doug was amazing, even though he crashed, he rode another 30 plus miles to finish so that Paul could finish the race.  After the race, Doug went to the hospital for stitches.  

But over all the boys did amazing and had a great time! 

Yeah, I Cried. . .

Carter went to preschool today, and you'd think I'd have a picture, but not with Carter.  That would have made him more embarrassed or sad, so I stayed far away from that one! 

 I had to take him to the doctor before his preschool, and the Doctor basically diagnosed him with Asthma. Which we've been assuming for a few years now,

But that was really hard to hear.

 There is a chance of him growing out of it, so I'll keep my hopes up.  The doctor said, he thinks that it will mostly be Exercise Asthma as he grows up.  Which made it even more sad to hear because he LOVES sports so much, I hope that it won't interfere too much.

 I decided to take him to lunch because there wasn't enough time to go home and make it to preschool.  We had the best time just him and I chatting over a happy meal. 

 What a sweetheart. 

  Then on the way to preschool, he asked me if I was going to drop him off.  He immediately cried and didn't want to go thinking of how scary it would be to have to go to school without Mom or EmmaLee. 

It made me sad, because it is such a scary thing, but we talked about how he has to go to preschool and he has a choice to be happy there or sad there.  So I would hope that he would choose to be happy.  He agreed, but still fighting me a little bit. When I dropped him off at school, he was very hesitant.  And of course cried!

  It's a good thing I had sunglasses on because I told him I loved him and cried too! 

 Geez, I love my kids so much, why do they have to grow up and go to school!?

Missionary!

 Waiting for Chad at the airport... on August 1st.  Everyone was in their best New York attire!

When is he coming?

 Lots of hugs!

 We missed you Chad!

EmmaLee would fit right in, in New York, Yo!

WiCkEd!!

Jennifer and her friend Beth at Olive Garden before the show!

At dinner, so excited!!

 We had the best time, I seriously love Wicked!  It's my second time, and so I had to take Neil.  And he loved it as much as I did, so that made it even better!  Such a fun date.

Shh... A picture inside the Capitol Theater

Back to school

 My sweet little girl is now going to school ALL day!  I don't know what I'm going to do without her all day, she sure is a great helper.  This is Em when we met her teacher last Friday, at her new desk!

She helped me pack her lunch, she picked out her clothes and filled her backpack, ready to go!

 At the school, waiting for the bell to ring.

Standing in line with all of her classmates, waiting to go inside.  She was all smiles!  What a sweet girl!  I'm going to miss her during the day, that's for sure.

80 Years!

Congratulations to my Niece Lindsey and Greg who just got engaged!!

 My Dad turned 80 on July 21st and we decided to have a HuGe surprise party!  With the help of my mom we were able to make it all happen. I had the best time planning such a fun party.  We were able to get all of my family together, which was a miracle in itself! With ten children, spouses, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, Aunts, Uncles etc. etc...  It was a huge party! This is a few of us waiting for my Dad to show up.

My Dad getting lots and lots of hugs!

My parents and all 10 children! From L to R: Judy, Janet, Jill, Jean, Joleen, Jennifer, JaNeal, Jodie, Joseph and Jana

My parents will most of the grandkids

L to R: Top: Aunt Genae, Aunt Margene, Uncle Victor, Aunt Beverly Bottom: Mom, Dad, Aunt Betty

 

All ten kids and spouses

For the party we had the best time playing volleyball!

And horseshoes!

I even won second place in the horseshoe tournament, me with my prize!

Watching horeshoes

Happy Birthday Boys!

 Ironically enough, my parents had only one son out of ten children, and my Dad's only boy was born on his birthday!!  How perfect was that!  This is them blowing out their candles!

Hanging out!

After the party in Pocatello, we all spent the next few days in Utah. 

At the Alpine slide!

Carter wasn't sure about the slide, but ended up loving it!

The Hutchson's getting ready for their ride!

EmmaLee riding with her Aunt Jodie. She loved it too!

What's a trip to Utah without going to Leatherby's and getting their biggest table?

Still not enough room, so we had to add on another table!

We also had to go to the Pioneer parade!

Wes, Joe and Neil, so cute!

Some of my Nieces, Shanna, Lindsey, me, Kalee and Brittney

All of my siblings!  Love them! We never get to see each other, so it was awesome to spend so much time together!

Lagoon!

Cousins: Eyrnn,Christi and EmmaLee!

I started planning this Birthday party back in January, and I can't believe it already came and gone!  We had the best time hanging out, I just didn't want it to end.  I wish we all lived closer together so we could do this every year.  Happy Birthday to my Dad who worked so so hard to support his ten children.  He, at some points, held two to three jobs to support all of us. And a Happy Birthday to my Brother who also is a hard worker and the sweetest, most caring brother any of us girls could ask for! We are so blessed to have such an amazing family!