What should I post about?

I feel like I should post something because it has been so long, but nothing really exiting has happened lately. Just day to day stuff --- so I guess I'll post about that. We are finalizing our house plans this week and we found a builder. Now we are trying to convince the builder that we can build the house for what we think we can :) We'll see - we are finding that building a house is a lot more expensive than we thought it would be. We knew it was expensive but we thought that it would be different for us. I don't know why I thought that, but I did. Needless to say, it seems to cost us the same amount that it costs everyone else - imagine that. So we are working on the budget. We got the permit for the septic system and we will probably start digging that in the next week. Then we need to finalize our financing and get the building permit so we can start digging the foundation. It has been fun and not fun all at the same time!
Kaydra had her baptism interview today and she passed. She will be baptized on Oct. 2 (Friday) at 11:00 am. If you are coming, please let me know. We are having lunch afterward and I am trying to get a head count! We are so proud of her to make this decision. She is such a great girl and she is really excited to be baptized.
Len shot an elk this month and it is wrapped and in the freezer. This is where I should post a picture of it but I haven't downloaded the camera lately and maybe my blog readers don't want to see a picture of a big elk. It was a five point bull and he shot it behind the house in the woods. He was excited but it took he and his dad about 8 hours to get it down and home. Len was pretty tired the next day.
The kids are doing well in school. Kanyon was the "special person" this week and he got to take a treat and a show and tell item to school. He took some peacock feathers and the kids loved it. He told them about how he lives on a farm and that we have a peacock. The teacher even kept them to show them to the morning class as well. Kaydra seems to be doing pretty good too. We went to back to school night and met the kids teachers and saw their classrooms. It was pretty fun and the kids liked to show us around.
Len has been working a lot and I have been working a little which is just right for now. I think that's about all for now. At least it's something! :)

The end of summer

We spent our last weekend of summer in Idaho Falls for my sisters wedding. I flew on Monday with Miranda to help my mom and Courtney finish up the planning and buy all the food! It was fun to spend time with them and with Markell before her big day. Mom and Courtney had done so much prepping already that we just had to pull everything together. And we had to decorate....and decorate....and decorate! It was fun though and it looked beautiful. The only decorating flaw was that the paper lanterns fell on the crowd during the ceremony! At least it was memorable! After all that decorating and preparing, guess how many pictures I took?! Not a single one! Can you believe it?! It just seemed like there wasn't any time to pull out my camera. I know that lots of people took lots of pictures so you will just have to wait for now. :)

Markell looked beautiful. We love her so much. I am so happy that her and Andre will be close to us here in Coeur d'Alene. I hope we see a lot of them both! As a side note, when we were in Idaho Falls we had a chance to talk with the architect for our new home. We went over the blueprints and they are working on our changes! It's a step forward on our new house!

We returned home on Sunday night and then Monday I had to work all day (7:00 am to 7:00 pm). It was a long day and when I got home my kids were worried about all their school supplies being in the right place. We went through their lists and filled their backpacks and pulled out clothes for them to wear the next day. They were so excited to start school. It made me remember about my first days of school and how some years made me more nervous then others. I never had to start a new school where I didn't know hardly anyone though, so I am sure they were more nervous then I had ever been. The next morning they were both up early. Kanyon said he was the first one awake because he was so excited. He was dressed and ready to go when I came upstairs at 7:00 am. Too bad I put him in afternoon kindergarten! He was very disappointed that he couldn't go to school with Kaydra. We waited for the bus at the neighbor's house and met the bus driver who said he would pick Kaydra up in front of our house from now on. I also told him to expect Kanyon that afternoon. I then got Miranda ready and we headed into town to make sure that Kaydra would find her class okay. We missed the back to school open house while we were in Idaho Falls so I wanted to go and meet her teacher. We found her classroom and put her stuff away and then we left her there! She was happy to be sitting next to Makenna - her friend from church. Makenna had saved her a seat - so nice!

Kanyon and I messed around the house. I tried to keep him busy so he would quit asking when he could have lunch and go to school. Finally, at 11:30 I fed him lunch. We had to leave at noon. I made him a sandwich and then went downstairs to finish a few things and get ready to go. About 15 minutes later I came up to find Kanyon SOUND ASLEEP on the couch! I had been trying to get him to take a little nap without success. He finally decided he needed one when it was time to go! Crazy boy! I had to wake him up and get him in the car. He did say he felt better after taking a little nap :)

Kanyon following his teacher's directions

They both had a good day and I was relieved to see that they both made it on the bus to come home. Happy Fall!

8 Years Ago....

This is where I was eight years ago....

Today is Kaydra's birthday. I can't believe I have an eight year old. She is more than I could have ever imagined. I remember when I was pregnant with her and I wondered what she would look like. I hoped that Len and I would make cute babies and I was not disappointed. She was born with very dark hair and the most beautiful skin. I remember thinking that there wasn't a single mark on her. My other children (especially Kanyon) had issues with their skin and coloring when they were born, but not Kaydra. She was perfect. I remember being so excited to show her off. I think she was born on a Monday and by the next Sunday I was in church ready to show her off to everyone. I think I must have been crazy!

Kaydra is a joy to have around. She is so helpful with Miranda and I am always amazed at how well she and Kanyon play together. I know that is mostly because Kaydra is so flexible in her playing. She loves her brother and sister and isn't afraid to show it. She is a good friend to others and very forgiving. I love her and I am so proud of the girl she has become. I hope only the best for her.

Today was a good day. We sang happy birthday and opened presents first thing this morning. Kaydra said she could hardly sleep last night because she was so excited. She got some new crocs and some cute boots from Grandma and Grandpa Fitz and she got a cute skirt and blouse from me. She got some soap for the bathtub from Kanyon and a new blanket from Miranda. We also got her a new camera and her dad got her a pink B.B. gun. It was very weird for me to see my daughter with a gun in her hand -- even if it is pink! She was excited and they had a gun safety class this morning. Tomorrow they will start shooting at some targets!

We went to the school and registered the kids today. They also did pre-screening for Kanyon for kindergarten. We found out that they don't have a kindergarten teacher yet. They are interviewing right now. Hopefully they will find one soon!

Later in the afternoon we went to the Lake. It is starting to get cold again. The weather outside was warm but the water is a little chilly. The kids didn't seem to mind too much but I opted out today. Kanyon and Kaydra have both really taken to snorkeling and they find all sorts of treasures under the water. Miranda is not afraid of the water at all and I have to watch her like a hawk. Luckily this jacket works great and if she happens to fall while in the water it flips her on her back immediately until someone can grab her out. LOVE IT!

We ended the day with tacos for dinner and "Better than almost anything cake" which is SO YUMMY. I highly recommend it. Kanyon said, "We are definitely having this for my birthday next time!"

We love you Kaydra!

Not my baby anymore

Okay, so I know that this isn't really all that impressive but I cannot believe how fast my baby is growing up. I swear, two months ago I took her to this same park and tried to get her on the slide and she would have nothing to do with it. I had to drag her down it ... This time I couldn't get her off it. She just kept going around and around. They grow up so fast!

We are HOUSE-LESS

I am not going to say homeless because we have a very accommodating home right now with my in-laws -- BUT WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!!

It is closed and recorded and no longer ours! I was only this happy about getting rid of something when our house in Twin Falls finally closed! We do miss the people there and a lot of things in Idaho Falls, but we are so glad to be able to really get going on building our house here. We may not be able to really start building until next spring but we are going to do as much as we can. We got the permit for the septic system today and we are also working on getting power to the home site. It is all exciting but I wish there was more that I could physically do! I am sure that it will come but I feel like it's a lot of waiting....

Anyway, thanks to everyone who kept us in your prayers for the past few months. We feel very blessed with the way things worked out. And thanks to our realtor, Tina Miller, who did a great job! I recommend her to anyone looking to sell or buy a house in Idaho Falls. She worked really hard for us. And last but not least, thanks to my mom and dad and Jackson who checked in on the house since we moved and took care of the yard, you guys are awesome!

Better Late than Never

So Jodi and her kids came to visit us for about two weeks. They left last Thursday. We had so much fun with them while they were here. I think we went swimming every day (except Sunday, of course) for at least an hour. The kids played and played. We set up a HUGE tent in the back yard and the kids all slept out there. At least they all started out there. Dillon only lasted a few hours and the kids took turns sleeping in occasionally for one reason or another. But at least two kids slept out each night. It was so fun to have them here. We did a lot of Coeur d'Alene touristy things while they were here.

We took the kids on the Millie and Mudgy Walk in Downtown Coeur d'Alene. A local author wrote a children's book about a mouse and moose and their day in Coeur d'Alene and then a local sculptor made bronze statues that are at various locations to simulate the story. There is a walk that you can go on and follow the same course that they took in the book. It's kinda fun and you get to see a lot of downtown. Here is a picture at the first moose we stopped to see. It is near the library. The kids were really excited to find the first moose - Anna is holding the book with the map inside that we followed. I love this next picture because you can really see the personalities bursting! This next one is the moose statue near Tubbs Hill. All the kids with Grandma! Yup, there were five adults and eight kids staying here. We've had more in the past- but it was still tight! So much fun though! After the walk, Grandma went and picked up lunch for all of us and we ate in the park. We then let the kids play at the City Beach. We don't go there very often because it is so crowded with tourists, but the kids think it is really fun and they are always begging to go there! It's nice and shallow and the water is warmer because of that. Plus, they love to play in the sand. I think it's fun to watch all the people down there. It's kinda crazy how many people come here on vacation. In fact, I think that some of you should come here on vacation -- I hear it's a good place to go. Plus, I live here so I could tell you all the fun things to do! Come see us! When our house is built I will even have a place for you to stay! Plan your next vacation to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho!

Okay...Back to Blogging! We also went to a pioneer day celebration while they were here. The kids had a good time but they liked the tug of war the best. This is picture of all the young girls tugging against all the young boys. The girls won, of course! Kaydra is in the purple shirt (third one) She is followed by her cousins Cora (in red) and Anna and Emily, who are both about to fall over. Fun times! We are so glad that they came and we miss having instant companions first thing when we wake up. We were glad to hear they made it home safe and sound, even if they had a few "pit" stops on the way! :) They started school this week so they had to get back home. My kids don't start school until September 8. I love that. The best part of summer is the month of August, in my opinion, so I am happy that they don't start until after Labor Day. Of course, they have to continue school through the first week of June - but it usually rains in June here - A LOT - so I'm sure that this is better way to go! Happy Summer!

House stuff

This isn't really that exciting but I thought I'd share how we are progressing on our house. We put in a culvert this past week. When I say we, I really mean Leonard and his dad, of course! This is required by the county to go under our driveway. It has to be 40 feet long. We had a neighbor dig the hole for us and Len and his dad brought in gravel. It's not much to look at but to me it says that we are moving along - even if it is slowly! :)

Happy Birthday Leonard!

So today is my fabulous husbands birthday. The poor guy has to work today. When you get older, birthdays are just like regular days. We did our best to make it a good one this morning. I made biscuits and gravy for breakfast and then Jodi and I took the three older girls (Cora, Kaydra, and Emily) school shopping for clothes while he baby sat the little kids (Kanyon, Anna, Dillon, and Miranda). Not too much fun I know BUT while we were out we picked up a little surprise for him. We came home and sang happy birthday to him and he blew out the candles. Then we sent him on a scavenger hunt that ended in the back of Jodi's van. This is what he found: It's a Husqvarna 455 Rancher chainsaw. Thanks to the love and support from SEVERAL family members, we could afford it and he is now the proud owner of this new saw. I don't know which delighted him more, the saw itself, or the fact that his wife bought him the saw. Anyway, he says THANK YOU and he really likes it! I figured that if we are going to live on a tree farm, he better have a good saw.

I love my husband and I hope that he has a great day. I have told several people this recently but I am finding myself very blessed to be with this man lately. He shows me such love and support and I don't know what I would do without him. When we got married (11 years ago this Saturday) I was excited to find out more about him. Now that I know more about him, it only makes me love him more. Thank you for a great 11 years babe, and here's to many, many more!

I love you! Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY too! :)

May Reunion

I should have posted about this awhile ago but things have been busy as usual. Two weekends ago I decided, last minute, to go to the May reunion in Baker City, Oregon. My dad's mom is a May and I haven't seen many people from that side of the family in awhile. Since we are closer to them from here than we were in Idaho Falls I thought we better head on over. I am also sad to say that my kids had never been to my grandparents house in LaGrande. I can't believe that it has been so long since I went there! I am sorry, Grandma and Grandpa. We will visit more often! Anyway, I decided it was time to show my kids their house. Len had already planned to be gone for the weekend on a fishing trip so it was just me and the kids.

We headed out on Thursday afternoon. We took our time and made it to LaGrande around 6:00 pm. We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house and visited with them and with my Aunt Ruth's family. It was good to see them all. My grandparents live on a beautiful farm with a large orchard. It was good to be there again!

The kids and I stayed the night in a hotel with a swimming pool. We swam that night and then again in the morning after breakfast. Then we headed to Baker City for the reunion. It took us about 45 minutes to get there. We checked into our hotel and then headed to the park. It was the Miner's Jubilee that weekend so there were games and booths set up in the park. I have to say, for a small town, they sure know how to put on a good show! They had free games and activities for the kids set up in the park. The usual things like a fishing pond, bean bag toss, cake walk ... but they had awesome prizes. Kanyon got a stuffed moose and Kaydra got a watch that changes to match the outfit. The kids made out like bandits! They also had free snowcones (YES, FREE!). We had lunch in the park and met my dad there. It was good to see him again. We went to the library where they were having a book sale and then we drove around Baker and Dad showed us all the places he used to live and go to school. We went to a little diner that had a train theme for dinner. A train went around the restaurant on a little track. The kids thought it was pretty cool. Finally, we went to a downtown hotel for the reunion which consisted of cake and punch and everyone catching up on everybody. Miranda won a prize for being the youngest May present at the party. She was her typical self and difficult to watch while we were there. She loved how everyone would leave their half eaten cakes and punch cups on the table so she could climb up and help them finish them. It's a wonder that girl isn't sick all the time!

The next morning we went to the Jubilee parade where the kids came home with about 5 lbs of candy. It was a pretty good parade and lasted about an hour. Then we headed home because I had to work that night. We made it home and quickly unpacked and then I headed to work. Things went pretty good that night but on the way home my car broke down heading up the hill to home. I had to call Len and Neil to come and tow me home. I am SO glad that it didn't happen on my drive with the kids. I had somehow managed to blow a spark plug out of the engine. I don't know how that happens but the car does not sound very good when it does. Lucky for me, my husband was able to fix it. Always nice to have him around! Anyway, we had a good weekend and I am so glad that I went. It was good be reacquainted with family members. Plus, it was really fun to spend time with just me and the kids. I have really great kids and I had a lot of fun with them! After all, who knows how long it will be before they don't even want to go on vacations with me?!

Emotional Roller Coaster

What a crazy week it has been. I just need to ramble on a little bit. You have been warned.

You have already heard about the well so as you read this, remember that these two things (drilling a well and selling a house) have been going on at the same time this past week - no wonder I feel like I am going crazy!

So we accepted an offer on our house at the beginning of June. All month we have been worrying about it. Will the inspection be okay (it was), will the buyers financing work out (it did, then it didn't, then it did again, then it didn't), will we be able to close on time (originally June 30th - on June 29th we agreed to move it to July 10) and finally will we close at all? Well, today we found out that it will not close tomorrow or ever with that buyer. It basically fell through with financing. What a mess we have worked ourselves into in our economy! A couple years ago, my dog would have qualified for a loan and now you have to practically sign away your first born child with your signature in blood to make a sale go through to closing. I have several friends who have blogged about their houses falling through at the last minute. IT IS SO FRUSTRATING! My emotions cannot handle it!

Yesterday, when we got wind that the deal was pretty much dead, we put the house back on the market. Today it was official. In the last 24 hours we have shown it 4 times and most likely have an offer on the table to discuss in the morning. Don't get me wrong - this is great news -but how can one facet of our lives control so much? I just want this roller coaster to end -- or at least continue to bring me good news until the house closes - no more of this up and down stuff. Just tell me when it's over!

P.S. If you want a house in Idaho Falls in a great neighborhood that we miss a lot (there's another set of emotions going on there too!) or you know someone that does - take a look HERE and call my realtor. :)

The good, the great, and the sad

Sorry in advance to all those that read this post. Miranda is asleep and the kids are playing outside. I have had trouble finding a time to blog lately so this is going to be a mega-blog. Everything that has happened lately will be here, so it may take you awhile to read. Feel free to stop at any time!

This past week (June 29th to be exact) we got a call from the company that is drilling our well. They said that they had an unexpected opening and they could start drilling the next day. We were expecting them sometime around the 10th of July so this was a pleasant surprise. The contractor and the drill foreman came out to the farm and took a look around. They "witched" a spot they believed had a supply of water. This is where they take two rods (copper I think) and hold them parallel in each hand as they walk across the land. When the two rods cross themselves in front of them they figure they have come perpendicular to a line of water underground. The object is to find a place where two lines of water intersect.

I said, "You know, at work I have access to a machine that I can place on your bladder and it tells me how many milliliters of fluid are in there." They said that there are companies that use sonogram to find water as well but it will cost me $5000 and there would still be no guarantee. I told them that "witching" would be fine with me.

Anyway, the next day they showed up about 8:30 and started drilling. It was pretty interesting to watch. Even the kids liked it for a little while.

It seemed like a pretty messy job and we wondered what it took to be able to graduate from the guy standing in the mud with the shovel to the guy standing on the platform running the drill.

It did not go as well as we hoped. They found some water around 100ft but it was only 1 gallon per minute. Not really enough to run a house. They drilled to 160ft that day and then they hit some clay. The problem with that is that the clay was collapsing in on itself and wouldn't stay open. That is when the drill foreman told us that they would have to "case" the entire well until they either hit water or granite. This nearly doubled the cost of our well and it didn't even guarantee we would find water. We were sick. But they recommended that we keep going - after all, if we want a house, we need water. The next day they came back and started casing the well that they had already drilled. They worked all day and one of us was nearby pretty much the whole time. and then around 5:00 they hit another layer of basalt. This was good and bad. Good because water is often found in basalt. Bad because they thought they would be hitting granite so it meant that they had no idea what was on the other side of the basalt. It could be more clay or the basalt could go on for a long time. It is really hard to "case" basalt so they had to decide what to do next. They all slept on it and in the morning decided to continue casing through the basalt. This was hard work and took a LONG time. For example, the previous day they had run 260ft of casing and on that day they only ran 40 ft. BUT the good news is that they found water in the basalt! Half way through the day they found about 5 gallons a minute. Not great but good enough to supply our house if we had a holding tank. By the end of the day they had found about 15 gallons a minute. That will be plenty to run our house and water our lawn! We were so happy! The tension around the farm had been so thick you could taste it! We also said A LOT of prayers for good water. We were relieved to finally find some. Plus, we got the invoice today and it wasn't as bad as we thought. Thank you United Crown Drilling Company! You guys did great!

Here is a picture of the finished well and my happy husband: Here are some pictures that the kids took with the camera while they were bored watching the drilling!Hiawatha Bike Trail

For the 4th of July we decided to take the kids on a bike ride. Bike riding and running are SO popular here. There are designated trails everywhere and there isn't a day goes by that I don't see someone running or biking on my way in to town. We decided to take them on the Hiawatha Trail. You can see more about it HERE. We had been on the trail before but it had been about 11 years so we thought it was time to go at it again. The trail used to be an old railroad. It has about a 3% grade so it's a pretty easy ride. At the bottom you can ride back up or you can hop a shuttle and get a ride back to your car. You have to wear helmets and headlamps. You go through tunnels and across huge bridges. It's awesome! I recommend it to anyone traveling through the Idaho/Montana state line.

Neil and Kay have a bike trailer that we used for Miranda. They also decided to buy a tagalong to have on the farm. They figure we'll get lots of use out of it with all the grandkids. Kanyon rode the tagalong behind me. I have to say that it was awesome. It took a little getting used to at first but then I hardly pedaled the whole ride. He seemed to be pusing me along the way! It wasn't much exercise for me though! Kaydra rode her bike and probably had the toughest ride of all of us. She had to pedal twice as fast to keep up with us. She was a trooper though and did really great!

This is before the ride:

Here is a picture near one of the tunnels. They are all about the same other than the length of each one varies. There are signs at the opening of each tunnel telling you how long it is. That helped me decide if I would need my light or not.

The Taft tunnel is right at the beginning. It is 1.8 miles long and pitch black inside. Thus the headlamps. Kanyon was a little scared and started whistling so I enjoyed "Mary had a Little Lamb" while we rode along! The trestles are huge and so awesome. We loved to be able to look down on the trees. It was beautiful. As I said, I highly recommend it!

Here are some pictures of us at a trestle. What a view!

This next one is Miranda after the ride. It's hard to tell but she is covered in mud. On the way through the "Taft" tunnel to our car it was really wet and she got all the mud that spun off Len's tire. She was so good all day, hardly a peep out of her until she went through this tunnel. Then she was saying "mama, no no" through the whole thing. It wasn't until we got through to the other side that we realized why she was upset! It was a good day. That night we let the kids do some "poppers" in the yard and then we drove on the hill to watch the fireworks in town. We were a little disappointed because although Coeur d'Alene puts on a pretty good show, it wasn't much of a comparison to the Idaho Falls one - even Leonard said so!

Miranda's tooth

Now on to the sad part of the post. Yesterday, after dinner, Len gave Miranda a bath. She was all finished and playing with the kids when we heard a thump and a scream. Never a good sign. She did one of those cries when you wonder if they will pass out because they are not breathing for so long. Len was comforting her and Kaydra said, "What's wrong with her tooth?" I got that sinking feeling in my stomach. Len said, "Oh man! She chipped her tooth!" So yes, my baby girl is now a regular red neck, country girl. She chipped her right front tooth. I know that it looks like I am torturing her - and I was. I HAD to get a picture for the blog! We are waiting to see if she damaged it bad enough that it will die (turn black). Hopefully she didn't and then when she gets a little bigger they can file it down and it won't be so bad. If it does die, then it will have to be pulled and I will have a toothless daughter until she is in second grade :( I feel so bad. It's not really noticeable until she gives you her cute "cheese" grin. Then you can see it really well. I guess I really am raising country kids!

As a side note, some of you may have noticed a kitten in the picture with Leonard at the new well. We walked over there today to take the picture and we found two kittens. We are pretty sure that someone just dropped them off. They followed us to the field and to the well so we thought we'd bring them home. They are both males (no more kittens) and the kids were really excited. However, I have just learned that Kanyon is allergic to them. He came inside sneezing and rubbing his eyes which were all red and swollen. I have given him strict instructions not to touch them anymore today and to wash his hands any time that he does touch them. We'll see how that goes!

Ahhhh, I can finally relax tonight knowing that my blog is updated!