Q's 4th Birthday

Yeah, so I'm only like 3 weeks late posting this but Quinten turned four on September 29th! I still can't believe I have a four year old, or more surprising that I've survived four years of that kid! He was so excited for his birthday this year. At first he wanted a Star Wars cake, so I was all motivated to make my best attempt at making one, but then he decided it was more fun to go to Walmart and pick one out there. Trust me, fine by me, so he ended up choosing an Ice Age one. He was so excited that he got Star Wars presents. Yes, my kid is a Star Wars junkie.

The last couple of weeks have been busy ones. Josh has been out hunting almost every chance he gets. In fact, tonight he came home and told me that he didn't see a single deer out on the desert, but almost stepped on a rattlesnake. I told him there aren't any deer out on the desert because they have all willed themselves to die because they realized that they have wandered into the middle of nowhere and are now in hell on earth (rattlesnakes included). I told him if he got bit that he would probably die out there because no one in their right mind is going to go traipsing out through rattlesnake country to find him.

I spent the past couple of weekends at my mom's house helping her paint. Sounds easy, right? That is what I thought until I realized that almost her entire house is covered in oil paint from when the house was first built 33 years ago. So that lead to a very long weekend of priming. Not only that, but when we decided to "paint" the bathroom, what we really ended up doing was ripping off wallpaper, tearing out old caulk, recaulking, spackling the walls, putting up molding, put up crown molding, and trust me the list goes on and on. It wouldn't have been so bad if the whole process wouldn't have been one step forward and eight steps back. To make a very long story short, let's just say that non-paintable caulk is a whole lot different than paintable. And maybe, just maybe, my mom should look at the label a little bit closer before she hands me a caulking gun and says "Don't worry about getting it all over the walls because we can just paint over it." Needless to say I'm smearing this crap halfway up the wall, before we realize that she grabbed what she thought was paintable caulk. Not so much. The next day consisted of me, about 40 straight edge razors, and a metal cleaning brush. Long, long weekend.

And these pictures just go to show that boys will be boys. Gross, gross boys.

Tonsils & Preschool

So I've kind of been slacking lately because I had my tonsils and adenoids out a couple of weeks ago. It honestly wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. I'm probably the only person who has actually gained weight after getting their tonsils and adenoids removed. What can I say, not even getting my body parts ripped out will keep me from eating! The first thing I wanted when I woke up from surgery was sherbet. The only downside to the surgery was the pain medicine made me sick so I wasn't able to take very much, but other than that it went good. It was way nice having someone watch the kiddos while I recovered--thanks everyone.

Quinten started preschool again. He loved going back and now goes 3 times a week instead of 2.

The boys showing off their muscles on Q's first day of preschool

I bet you can't guess what they learned about their first day...

Johnny Appleseed!

Top of Utah Half Marathon

I did it!!! My sister and I ran the Top of Utah Half Marathon this weekend. It was so awesome. The course was amazing and it couldn't have been better weather. The whole first half you run through this canyon with gorgeous views. It really made the time fly by. This is something I never in a million years thought I would (or could) do, but I can honestly say I loved every second of it. Thanks sis for the great memories (and very sore legs)!

Camping Trip

So we finally got to take a camping trip this year! We went with my brothers and dad up to where they go antelope hunting. We spent the time four-wheeling, hiking around, and fishing. The boys loved it! Even when it was down pouring and we still had to four-wheel miles and miles back to camp, they had ear to ear grins. Here are some of the pictures from the trip.

My nephew found a horned toad and Quinten wasn't too sure what to think about it stuck to his jacket. (Great mom that I am, I forgot to bring baby wipes, so Josh is in the background changing Gavin on the four-wheeler using shirt sleeves as baby wipes--way to sacrifice hun!)

Josh and the boys found some pretty cool caves to hang out in.

We took the four-wheelers up to some really cool petroglyphs. I've seen pictures of these before, but seeing them in person was way awesome.

We also went up to an old mining ghost town.

I couldn't believe how far back in the mountains this ghost town was.

Part of the mining operation.


Josh and Quinten fishing.

Quinten checking out his catch!

Fish fight!!!

So Proud!

Josh reading to the boys before bed.


So this is pretty much where my kid spent most of his time when we were back at camp.

Nothing 35 baby wipes won't clean off.

These are the boys back at home--they are such little partners in crime!

I'm not 100% sure if Gavin drew on himself or if there was a reason Quinten wouldn't look at me.

Atomic Days

It was a crazy, busy past weekend, but so much fun. We went to Arco for good old Atomic Days. Josh went to his 10 year (yes! 10 year) class reunion on Friday, while I drove over to Hailey to take pictures at my cousin's wedding. It was so awesome to get to see family that I haven't seen in years. The wedding was beautiful and a lot of fun.

My side of the family

On Saturday morning, I ran the 5k Fun Run with Josh's cousin, Tosha. All I have to say is thank heaven she was there to push me because I had zero energy that morning. It is amazing though how much of Arco you can cover in 3.1 miles. While we finished running, Josh went and played softball. In between his softball games, we also played volleyball. We had an all family team of Josh, me, both of Josh's brothers, my sister-in-law, and Josh's cousin. We actually ended up taking 2nd place--even with me on the team! I think we ended up playing something like 7 games, and by the time we were finished my arms looked like somebody had beat them with a bat. I took a couple hard hits and had a lot of broken blood vessels and bruising. It was pretty fun though.

We also went to the parade. The kids loved it and I'm sure we have enough candy to last us for years.

The next day Josh finished playing in the softball tournament and then we went for a four-wheeler ride. I probably could have done without the rattlesnakes, but other than that, we had an awesome time. My kids are absolutely addicted to anything with a motor. I couldn't even believe how wiped out we were when we got home.

I had to throw this picture in to show exactly what it is like when Quinten gets in one of his moods and then you tell him to go get dressed.

What we've been up to...

Well nothing too exciting has been happening lately. We spent the Fourth in Soda and had a great time. I had to laugh when we took the boys to the foam in the park, because they would play in the mud puddle right next to it, but hated the foam. Leave it up to my kids to be grossed out by the highly concentrated soap, but love the mud puddles.

My sister, mom, and me at the park

The parade on the other hand, they LOVED! Quinten would squat down in this goofy looking football player position and when they would throw the candy he would get so excited he didn't even know which direction to move in.

Gavin was pretty much just hanging out until he figured out they were throwing food, then he was all about it. He would just squeal and take off into the road.

Hanging out at the cabin after the parade

I lucked out this weekend and got to see some of my all time favorite girls this weekend!!! I'm glad we get to go home for the Fourth so I can see everyone.

My kids would spend every waking second outside if they could. They love to help me outside. I planted raised gardens this year and Gavin loves to sit out there with his shovel and dig it all up. Luckily my garden has survived all this crazy weather (and Gavin) and is doing awesome.

I had to put these pictures on because Gavin is absolutely obsessed with his shoes. He even wears them to bed at night over his footed pajamas. Sometimes I try to slip them off at night and he'll wake up and scream until I put them back on. He'll even collect all of my shoes and I'll find piles of shoes in different spots throughout the house.

Quinten's new loves are Star Wars and swimming. He definitely got the Sci-fi thing from Josh because I just don't get it. He loves to go swimming. He'll sit in our big old jetted tub with his goggles on and swim along the bottom like a fish. He must have got that from Josh too because I am not a huge water person. I can vividly remember Kristin trying to teach me to dive at 23 and ending up doing nothing but belly flopping the whole time and us also going off the rope with life jackets on (wow--were we dorks or what).

Josh has so far spent most of the summer playing in tournaments. We've been able to escape a few times and go four-wheeling with the kids. My dear sweet sister somehow convinced me to train for a half marathon with her, so my summer has pretty much been spent trying not to kill myself. Anybody who knows me is totally laughing right now. I know, I know, ME trying to run a half marathon. Trust me, no one thinks it is funnier than me. I told her that if we had another sister, she would be the one who gets the joy of running it with her, but there's not, so it's all me. At least I'm finally past the part where I feel like my lungs are bleeding and I'm going to pass out, stumble into Jensen's Pond and drown. I'm actually starting to enjoy it, but I have yet to actually run the full 13 miles. I don't think I'll be enjoying it on the day of. At least there's one reassuring though--the first aid station at mile 3! So wish me luck because after August 29, I may be blogging from a hospital bed.

Picture Deal

I've had a couple people ask me about doing something like this so here's my new deal for the months of June and July (and probably August since we all know how crazy busy summers are).


$50 Package Deal
-This includes an indoor, outdoor, or combination of both photo session.
-I have no limit on the session time, number of poses, or outfit changes, so things are pretty flexible.
-I will edit your pictures however you want at no extra charge.
-I give you a CD with all the original pictures on it, plus the edited images. This CD is yours to use as you would like. I release my copyright to you so you can put them on your computer and print them as you would like.


$75 Package Deal
-This includes everything in the $50 package but also includes:
(2) 8x10
(4) 5x7
(8) 4x6
(12) Wallets
-All prints are professional quality. This means they are printed on a heavier paper with a lustre finish. (They look great and I always guarantee the print quality).

If anyone is interested in family pictures, give me a call at (208) 221-3923 or email me at echo24@hotmail.com. I know summers are crazy for everyone, so if people are visiting their families in Soda, I would be happy to meet up there for a session.

Here are some of the pictures I've done lately.