Cousin Sleepovers

We all got some good rest last night and were excited to head to Boise for a family reunion and hopefully some relaxation! We made it by dinner time and our kids have been loving being with Max and Maila, whom they haven't seen for over a year! They ended up having their first little cousin sleepover tonight all in the same room. I hope they sleep well and sleep in!!
Tomorrow we head up to a lodge in the mountains where we won't have internet service. It will be nice to have some unplugged time!

Safety

We've been excited to move to our new home in Great Falls, but it ends up our home won't be ready for us to move into for a several weeks so we had planned to put our things in a storage unit while we go visit family until our house is ready. I was so excited to get to Great Falls, have professional movers unload our things, go to Cafe Rio for dinner, and then spend the rest of the evening in the pool with the kids at the hotel. But it didn't turn out that way at all.

We got an early start on our drive to Great Falls this morning because we needed to be at a moving company's storage unit by 4 PM in order for them to unload our things out of our moving truck for us. Well, with road delays our ETA changed to 4:50 and since they close at 5 they were unwilling to unload the truck, and wouldn't be able to until Monday. Well that was going to cause problems because we have to leave for Boise tomorrow in order to get to a family reunion.

So after some thinking and phone calls back and forth in horrible reception areas we thought we could just leave our things in the truck for the two weeks and then unload it in the house. When we got to the UHaul store we asked if that was possible and they said they couldn't do that for us because they had the truck rented out for Saturday. Ugh...strike two. 

We called around to several other storage units to find a place to store our things and most everyone was booked! With the big military presence in Great Falls and the many Summer transfers that they have, storage and moving companies are really booked up! We finally found a storage unit with  two small units available that would hopefully work. So we picked up fast food and headed over so Brad and I could unload all our things by ourselves. :( We decided to call our future new Bishop to ask for some last minute help, but there was no answer and his voicemail wasn't set up. So it really was just going to be Brad and I. 

We started transfering everything to the storage units at 8 PM. Space was tight so it took Brad's strategic thinking to get everything organized just right to maximize all the space. He really did a great job though and we barely fit everything in! But it was exhausting work. And it was so overwhelming and miserable. Ryder wanted attention and he definitely wanted/needed his bed. Kade and Tenley got pretty bored, but they tried their hardest to entertain Ryder by throwing rocks or playing the IPad. 

We finally finished at 11 PM, made it back to the hotel, bathed the kids and got them to bed by midnight. My back is so sore. But I'm grateful we didn't have car problems. And I'm grateful we're all safely here in Great Falls together. We can do hard things!

Family and Friends

Today was moving day! It was a lot of work and Brad and I didn't expect to have any one there to help us, but when we pulled up with our moving truck after we had dropped off our kids at a friends home, my sister in law, nephews, and a friend were there to help! It made everything go really quickly and I was so grateful!

This evening our friends (Kade's BFF's family!) had us over for dinner. It was so nice. Kade's friends had an impromptu baseball game together and they had the best time. We will miss them!!

Patient Children

These past few days have been super busy with packing. My sweet kids have been doing a good job at entertaining themselves but I sure do miss giving them more love and attention! Tomorrow we load the truck and then I'll be giving them all lots of cuddles!

Callings

Today was our last Sunday here in Lewiston and our last day at church in our ward. We've loved it here and I have especially loved my calling as primary pianist. I've loved being in primary with Kade and Tenley, I love playing the primary music, and I love being a fly on the wall as I watch the kids learn about the gospel and participate in the activities. It has been my all time favorite calling so far. The children are all so sweet and precious and innately good. I love them all! One sweet girl came and gave me a hug after church. It was sweet and she made me cry. I will miss my calling and all the primary kids from our ward. I'm so grateful that I was able to serve as the primary pianist.

And here is a random picture from our day :)

A Baptism

Tonight I was asked to play the piano at a baptism and Kade and Tenley decided to join me! It was a great way to end a super busy and exhausting day of packing. Kade loved being there because his classmate was the one getting baptized and he was anxious to see what it would be like when he gets baptized in a few months. He's excited for his special day and so am I!

The Aquatic Center

We have made a lot of good memories at the Aquatic Center here these past few years. It's been our favorite summer activity together. We enjoyed one last afternoon there and we will miss it!

America's Got Talent

Our favorite show to watch as a family right now is America's Got Talent. The kids look forward to it every week and it usually takes us a few nights to finish a whole episode. Tonight we watched it with popcorn and the kids loved it. And they always tease me when I cry at all the emotional parts.

Packing is coming along pretty slowly it seems. We have one more week!!!

My Little Rascal

Ryder is my youngest so he seems to get away with a lot more already than Kade and Tenley did when they were his age. This morning I caught him on the counter taking out the cookies and really took in his outfit for the first time that day. I had changed his diaper at least, but left his pajama shirt on and helped him put on his flip flops for no reason at all beside the fact that he really loves them right now. But, hey, he's happy! And if the two year old is happy, then mom is happy!!

Rec Mobile

One of the best things about Summer time in Lewiston is the Rec Mobile program. Kade loves it! He begged me to take him this morning, so I decided that packing can wait. Tenley and Ryder had fun playing on the playground while Kade took off to play the rec mobile games with a bunch of strangers. I love seeing him be so outgoing, friendly, and playful.

Silverwood

Kade earned a ticket to Silverwood Theme park from school again by reading for 10 hours, so we had to go before moving further away from it. It wasn't too crowded there, but it was pretty hot! We still had so much fun though! We spent the morning on the roller coasters and the afternoon at the waterpark. Kade, Tenley, and Brad rode a lot of roller coaster together! And Ryder was my little buddy. We had fun playing on the grass, walking around, and looking at gift shop toys. Such a fun day!

Fathers

Today was such a good day. I love celebrating my amazing dad and my amazing husband all in the same day. I have the best men in my life and I'm so lucky.

The primary kids sang for all the Dads during Sacrament meeting and during primary the Dads came in to do a fun photo booth with their kids. It was so cute and fun and Kade and Tenley were so excited to see Brad come in to hang out with them for a minute.

After church Kade and Tenley helped me make a yummy feast for dinner. We had steak, baked french fries, salad, sticky rolls, fresh watermelon, and sparkling cider. It was delicious! While we cooked, Brad and Ryder watched golf together. Ryder loves to watch sports with Brad.

For dessert we tried something new and made fried ice cream! It was so, so, so delicious! We were afraid it wouldn't turn out, but it did and we all loved it! I've never seen Kade eat a dessert so quickly.

We also got to talk to our Dads today which was nice. I love our Dads. I love Sundays. And I love Brad so much!

Kade's Elementary School

We got some more packing done today. I packed up all our wall hangings so it looks pretty bare in our house now. It's weird, but it's an obvious reminder that we are moving really soon! We're excited.

After packing we took the kids out to have some fun. Kade wanted to play at his school's playground. He loved school here. He had great teachers and great friends. I can't wait to see him make new friends at a new school.

We also took the kids out to a 'train' restaurant that they love. Ryder loved seeing the train ride around. When it would stop he'd slam his hand on the table and say, "Dang!" It was hilarious. He has red hair for a reason! His little temper comes out too often these days. But we sure love him so much!

The Movie Theater

We love the movie theater here in town. It's been fun to go to so many of their Children Matinee movies during the Summer and Winter time. We wanted to take the kids to the movies here one more time and since Cars 3 just came out this weekend, it was perfect timing! Ryder did pretty well sitting still through almost the entire movie. He loved seeing Tow Mater and Lighting on the big screen. He even brought his Tow Mater car with him.
Brad spoiled us and bought us popcorn as well. The kids ate way too much! But we had a lot of fun and made good memories.