The Iron Man!!!

On Saturday we went down to the half Iron Man race. We started out with the idea to just look for Blake and Brigham while they were on their bikes riding in South Boise, but ended up going to the finish line to see them both finish the race! It was one of the rainiest days ever (Makenna calls it the rain race)!

This is where we say Blake riding his bike (we missed Brigham). On the left is Grumpy, Travis and Duncan. As we were watching for Blake we could see lightning that looked like it was touching the long rode they were riding on. I was very worried about all of the bikers. We were so amazed at the different people who were in the race... there were lots of women and older men. It made me think of how out of shape I am, hopefully I can do better!

The kids all had fun with their cousins watching for their uncles. John couldn't stop running around! They were even passing out little bells that all of the kids loved to ring. I could feel the peoples pain as they were coming down the last stretch before the finish line!

After awhile we figured out that each runner had their age written on the back of their leg (in black marker). It was fun to see every one's age, there were some old people who finished the race really fast!

This is Blake (right next to the person in the bright yellow shirt) making the turn to run some more! I can't imagine seeing the finish line and then having to turn and keep on running!

Here is Brigham finishing the race!

We were all sooooo proud of both of them! They did such a good job!

Elaina's Activity Day Field Trip

Elaina's activity day's group went on a field trip and I got to be a chaperon!!! I had a fun, full van of girls! We went to the Anne Frank outdoor memorial in downtown Boise. It was a beautiful day and the girls all had a fun time. One of the leaders first talked with the girls a little about Anne Frank and her life and how lucky we are to be free and worship the way we want. Then the girls went around to the different stations and listened to more about her.

Then over by a beautiful water fall they had quotes from different people about equality, one of them from Gordon B. Hinckley.

Then we walked on the bridge that leads over to BSU. We had a great time!

Cousin Camp

We just celebrated Makenna's birthday!!! I had mentioned having a cousin sleepover sometime this summer. When I asked Makenna what she wanted to do for her birthday she really wanted to have a cousin camp and sleep outside. Well, we didn't have nice enough weather for an outside sleepover but we still had such a great time.

We started out in the backyard playing in the water and then ate pizza and cupcakes.

The kids then came inside and had lots of fun playing upstairs. We did this on Monday night and so I wanted to have family night with everyone.

While the big girls went swimming with Jake, the little ones took turns painting prayer rocks. For family night we talked about prayer and did a little scavenger hunt.

The kids were really good and it was nice to sit down with all of them. We then went outside for our family night treat and the kids played on bikes and jumped rope. Then we watched TMNT and then put everyone to bed. The boys all slept in Travis and John's room. The big girls slept in the girls room and then the little girls slept in the play room. It was nice and snug!
In the morning Jake had to go to work early and so we had waffles and eggs in shifts. Everyone was so patient and such good helpers. We then cleaned up and the kids played together. The boys had fun with the little legos and the girls played with make up and did each other's hair. Then they played outside at the park. It has been so nice to have the park so close by! When it was lunch time I had Amber come help with the kids so we could all go to Storeys park for lunch. The free lunch in the park is so wonderful!

When we got back home I had everyone lay down for a nap! I think Makenna shows how hard we played!!!

Makenna is very excited that she is 4 now! She can't wait for preschool in the fall and loves to do "homework" just like the big kids! She is so smart, she knows all her alphabet and each of the letter sounds. She loves to sing and dance and just be a girl!

Some of Makenna's favorite things right now:

Color: every color except black, gray and brown

Food: applesauce

Toys: Barbies

Movie: "Spirit"

Book: Strawberry Shortcake in Cinderella

Makenna is growing up way too fast! She is a beautiful girl and we are so blessed to have her in our family! I love her laugh, especially at night when she tries to get away from our goodnight kisses. I love how she picks out her out fit each day that doesn't match to all of us, but it matches to her. I love how she can get Johnny giggling and how cute they play together. I love how she asks before she does things, she asks permission to go to the bathroom, eat, get a drink....

I just love her and her cute personality and her smile!!!

Here are some fun, cute baby pictures of our Makenna!

The beginning of the SUMMER....

For the summer we are having COUSIN DAYS! Wednesdays are the Martin cousin day and Thursdays are the Farris cousin day. Everyone is very excited about spending lots of time together and just having fun!


We kicked the summer off with a big bang at Amber and Blake's house the day after school was out. We thought it was going to rain but the weather was perfect until it was time to go home and then a storm came in. We were so lucky! We played in their backyard - played in the little pool with squirt guns, jumped on the trampoline, played water balloon volleyball, and had fun on the slip and slide. The cousins all have a great time together and look forward to seeing each other.


Elaina loves playing with the "girls". She even got to spend the night at their house that night!


Travis loves to tease and really enjoyed playing in the water!

Suzanna is such a cutie and loves to play with all of the girls. (there were 11 girl cousins and 9 boy cousins there!).

Makenna was a bit grumpy when we got there and so I rocked her and she feel asleep! I don't know how, but she managed to sleep the whole time (even with all of the noise!).

John hasn't really gotten into the whole water thing yet this year. He had fun outside but really wanted to play inside. I finally let him play inside and he was so excited!

It was a great day!

I was out watering the garden the other day and noticed that something was eating our brussell sprout leaves and found a caterpillar. Travis' class each got a caterpillar to watch eat and grow and then turn into a butterfly. Every one's caterpillar ate, made a cocoon and then turned into a butterfly except Travis'. He was so excited and wanted to keep it. It was so interesting watch it make a coccon. We put it outside and we're still waiting for it to come out!

Last days of school!

Wow! I cannot believe that this school year is over! We had a busy month of May but full of lots of fun! The last couple of days of school were very fun. Monday was field day at the school and I was able to volunteer. I was at a water station where the kids got to fill the bucket with a sponge full of water. The kids all had a great time getting wet and for the most part were good! Elaina, Travis and Suzanna enjoyed all of the stations but said their favorites were the shoe kicking station and the water sprayer station. We were lucky to have really nice weather, not too hot!

On Tuesday, Suzanna's kindergarten class had their graduation. They were all so cute! We had the ceremony in the classroom, which was really nice. First Mrs. Stred read "Oh The Places You'll Go!" and then the class sang some cute songs.

Suzanna is such a sweet little girl and has done so well this year. Isn't she cute?!?!

This is Suzanna with Mrs. Stred, her kindergarten teacher.

This is Suzanna and Mrs. Squire (Grace's mom) who was their back up teacher while Mrs. Stred had her baby. We just love her!

The last day was short and sweet, as usual! We had a picnic out in the field with families and the kids wanted Wendy's. It was really hot and so we ate really fast and then went home and played in the water!

Camping!

Jake and Travis had a father/son camp out over the weekend. They had a really good time. When they got home I asked them what they did and they said, "Everything!" They camped by the Givens Hot Springs. Friday they went for a bike ride around the camp ground, walked down to the Snake River and say some really old airplanes, roasted marshmallows for smores. Grumpy even came for a little to hang out and sit around the camp fire and go on the walk with them. Saturday they ate a pancake, sausage and egg breakfast with all of the guys from the ward. Then they went swimming at the hot springs and had a scavenger hunt with the ward. I am so grateful that Travis just loves hanging out with his dad! Travis said his favorite thing to do was roast marshmallows over the fire!

Well, since the boys were gone camping we decided to camp here at home. First we went to a dance rehearsal for some of our cousins at Centennial High School. Then we rented some girl movies that we could watch without the boys. We set up the tent and got out the sleeping bags and tried to roast marshmallows but ended up just using the microwave (the M&M smores were really good!) We had fun.....

Even though John got to stay with us!!! He kept making this funny face by sticking out his lower lip. He really loves when everyone laughs at him!

The boys came home sooner then expected so we all went bike shopping at some garage sales and ended up finding some really good deals! Travis and I both found some really nice bikes - now we have to find Elaina a new one!