A Hunter's Widow

Well, Brad is gone for 10 days to go hunting in Canada for Ducks and Geese. Soooooo that means I am here with a baby that doesn't sleep through the night, and 2 kids, one whom I have to shuffle back and forth to school 2 times a day ! Oh the fun :) See, before he left he would get up with Sawyer and put him back to sleep for me so I could get at least 4-5 hours of straight sleep every night so I wouldn't be exhausted the next day. (What a Great Hubby) BUT it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. I am actually very glad that he can go on this trip because that means when Sawyer is done nursing, I will go on my week vacation to somewhere warm and enjoy a nice sanity break! I say that because I think mine is almost, or already is gone!:) It is nice because when he does leave, I can get us on a very good schedule and we stick to it. It makes life easier! When Brad is here, his schedule is so different day to day that it's hard to stick to a schedule and make sure the kids get enough Daddy time with him! I sure do miss him! Before last years hunting trip we had never spent a night away from each other since we were married. It was really hard on the kids last year because they didn't understand that when he goes he WILL come back. They kept asking me if he would ever come home again! Jarrin even got sick he was so worried :( This year is much easier on them, now that they understand that he is coming home again, though Jarrin did make a picture for Brad so that he" could remember him and not forget about his Jarrin". So this is my life right now, a Hunter's Widow for a while! At least he doesn't go away all winter like some hubbys do! I am thankful it is only 1 time a year:)

Fun Jarrin Videos

Jarrin has so lovingly let me post some videos of him and what he has learned and experienced at school thus far!! It's hilarious and the first one about the fly was so gross and so funny! Yum! Enjoy!


This is the grey squirrel song! I love the way he shakes it, his hand shakes more than his bum and his scrunched nose just is too funny!!

Happy Birthday Brad!!!

Brad has almost hit his 40's!! 39 years today!! Can you believe that!! Although if you didn't know it you'd never think of him as old as he is! He's not the type to just come home and hang out in front of the T.V. or wake up and read the newspaper guy!! He's such an active guy, always wanting to try new things ! He'll have to be in a wheelchair with no energy before he stops or dead (but we don't think that way!)! That's what I love about him!!Sure love my old man!! I love sooooo much about him! I love his love of the outdoors and the respect he has for everything in nature and the fact that he teaches our children that also! I love that he plays so much with our kids and is always willing to stay up all night with a sick or fussy baby or the kids so I can sleep! I love that he is always trying to make things better for us, working so hard to do that! I love that he helps with the dishes(one of my most hated chores!) and other chores around that house! I love that he has a great sense of humor and that we can sit and watch the most wacky weird movie together and just laugh ourselves to tears! I love so much....but the best part about him is the fact that he has such a strong testimony of the Gospel and he is worthy to use his most wonderful gift of the Priesthood to bless our family, and he teaches our children how important it is to live the gospel and is such a great example to all those around him!! He's the best man ever to be married to!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAD!!! We are going to go fish for a while and then enjoy a yummy goose dinner and some home-made apple pie! (Apple tree is ripe and ready!!YUM)

Family Fun

Well it was a fun day for us at Coeur d'Alene.We decided to take a trip to CDA to enjoy an afternoon after school. We went to the Park and played at the beach! It was a lot of fun! The funniest thing happened though. After the kids played at the park we took them to the bathroom before we got too far away and I decided to check Sawyer's diaper and realized he needed a change(you could smell him) if that tells you anything. So I laid him in his stroller and proceeded to take off his overalls and his onesie and found as I removed his diaper that he blew all the way up his back!! None of my kids have done that!! So luckily he was layered with a long sleeve and a short sleeve onesie so I knew all I had to do was take off his bottom one and bag it! Well, as I was cleaning I also realized that my kids had used most of his wipes and so I had 1 to work with and that didn't work , sooooo I had Brad take him into the bathroom to wash him in the sink. Brad wasn't as amused as I was ,I could tell, my hysterical laughter didn't get joined in with as usual! So he cleaned him and came out holding him naked over the stroller while I rushed to grab the diaper out I went to put it on him when I also found wet dribbles down his leg and I asked if he dried him off. After he said yes I asked him to put Sawyer in the stroller to put his diaper on him.....That's when I saw the puddle!! He's peed all over it!! I was laughing soooo hard! I couldn't believe it!! So after Brad went and REWASHED him! :) we diapered him and changed him back into his non-pooed clothes!! and I proceeded to take apart the stroller so I wouldn't forget about it when we got home!! What fun!! Brad couldn't help but join in with all the laughter!! I knew he couldn't hold out long since the kids and I were all in tears!! :) It was fun! Then thankfully it's a stroller that the car seat hooks onto, we proceeded to the beach!! Afterwards we went and enjoyed the new bakery downtown! It was good times!!

Jarrin took this picture of us! We have very few so I had to post it! :) Brad is camera shy!! ;)




They even found a new friend there!! Which is always fun!!
Someone got really tired! I love when it's an obvious sign!! So much easier to put them down to bed!!
Jarrin took the last pictures and requested that the get put up!! :) He loves taking pictures! At the lake here I guess they have swim classes! BURRRR! Jarrin thought it was pretty cool. I had to delete about 20 of these pictures!!
Good old CDA Resort
Jarrin took a picture of the smoke in the background. It's burning season and the reservation was burning their fields. It's such a beautiful Lake though!
We have to enjoy the sun as much as we can now! Winter is coming and luckily it's warmed back up for now. This week we'll actually be in the mid 80's! So you'll see a few more outing pics before the freeze comes!! :)

Forgotten

I hope I am not the only one to have done this. She was sent to the timeout spot and....well Sawyer was ready to feed so I fed him and came out after the feeding and burping and forgot that I sent her there, so I went to get here out when I realized she was asleep so I woke her up. She was so cute and thought she had fallen asleep and didn't hear the timer go off ( which I forgot to set) So I had to tell her not only did she get her time out, but a quick nap also! I would have let her sleep but I felt bad that she was still there 30 minutes after sending her there!! I love my kids!

Labor Day

Okay...I know it's been a while since Labor Day, but I wanted to post these pics! It was the last time in a long time that we will be seeing Carisa,Tim,Corbin and Tekara, and it was nice to hang out for a bit. We just went to a park and had a BBQ. It was nice to say goodbye before they left.

Brad & Keeley, what a cute pic.
Keeley lovin' on her cousin! They really love this little guy! :)
Sariah, I am sorry I had to post this! She has the most awesome poses when we take pictures!! Not to mention her totally hot new glasses!! ;)
Just a few of my sis' , I love Carisa's expression in the background!
Got to love sisters!
Here's a good one for you Carisa :) and Maranda! Love you 2 !
Corbin wasn't looking at first and Brad wanted me to take the picture of him "going in to steal a bite" but as sweet as Corbin is, he saw and was ready to share ! He's such a cutie!
G Carisa, I wonder if you take a lot of pictures of him :) This little guy loves to pose for the camera! Don't you just want to kiss that yummy catchup face? As a matter of fact, speaking of posing, Corbin was in mid fussing when I pointed the camera at him and he instantly stopped and smiled! That was too perfect!
It was a yummy good BBQ, but it was good to be together, even though it was a short party!
( Got to love strict baby bedtimes!!Well, and nap times for that matter!) So I guess we won't be seeing anyone until Christmas. Boo! It's just Maranda and My Family and my Dad now!

Little Clara is finally home...

Well it was a long haul for our good friends the Wildes, but their daughter Clara is finally home. She had to have a blood transfusion, but they think she got it(HUS) from the beach, her little sister, Samantha,was playing with the duck,goose, and seagull feces. BLAH!They think she still had some on her hands and she touches everything, including the drinking cups and that may be how it got into their systems. The HUS happened because it went into her bloodstream. Samantha got sick also but it didn't get into her bloodstream so she was fine in a couple of days. So, I think my already super protective friend will be 10x's worse this winter about leaving the house when the "bugs" are going around, but who wouldn't after having a child that close to the end? The good thing that came of this though, is that Samantha wouldn't go to anyone before this besides MOM, now...she'll go to anyone! So Holly couldn't be happier about that!! We are all very grateful to the Lord for blessing Clara with a body that is healing well and for the good things that came because of this situation.

Jarrin's First Day of Kindergarten

What a wonderful day! I am so weirded out that I actually have a child in Kindergarten! He's has grown up so fast. I really am so excited for this new step in his life! We got up Tuesday morning and Jarrin came into the bathroom where I was getting ready ,before he woke up, and said "Mommy my tummy doesn't feel very good" so I asked him if it was hungry hurt or a sick hurt. He told me it wasn't either. That's when I knew that "feeling" was a new thing for him. He was nervous!!!:) It was the cutest thing ever to teach him why he had such a funny feeling in his tummy! I love it!! He didn't eat much breakfast and he was ready to get into the car 30 minutes before we had to leave! On our way there he was so excited until we got into the parking lot....then he expressed that his tummy felt really icky and nervous! So Brad and I reassured him that it would be okay and that he was going to love it!

This is before school. He was so happy to be finally old enough to go!
He held do tightly to Brad's hand down the hall!
He thought it was really cool that the table had his name on it where he was to sit...AND he even got a name tag to wear!! He was getting less nervous!
He gets to be in morning kindergarten with his friend from church Issac and his locker was right next to his. can you believe how short Jarrin is next to his friend? :) Issac actually lost his loose tooth the first day by banging his face on the playground! What a first day to remember!!
This little guy is he neighbor at his table!
So we went into his classroom and had a brief visit with his teacher, Mrs. Bartelle, who might I add is a beautiful lady....ask Jarrin ;) She looks like a Barbie! , and then we kissed him goodbye and left. AND THERE WERE NO TEARS ! I actually am just so happy that he gets to start the next phase of his life!

When I came to pick him up he was so happy and couldn't wait to tell me everything! He said he was nervous until his teacher started to teach him and them he was just fine! He is excited everyday to go back to school the next day! He was even more excited that he had homework to do! ( I wonder how long that is going to last) :)

Now Keeley has missed him even though it is only a few hours in the day but I am sure she will be just fine. We play "preschool" when he is gone! She has been more open to learning from Mom since she wants to catch up to her brother. So whoo hoo!! It's been a great week of newness !

So good to be together

Well yesterday Brad and I got to have most of the day to ourselves! It was GREAT!! HE took me up to Gliden Lake,a high mountain lake, and we had such a great time! It was so beautiful and extremely peaceful there! The drive was nice also, as we had great 2 person conversations with no interruptions! Oh don't get me wrong we love and missed our kids greatly, but it was some much needed time together!!

This was the road up. It was bumpy but nice!
The weather was suppose to be sunny but cool..... and this is what almost always happen to us when we go anywhere together...this cloud of rain follows us:) We are used to it now, I always pack something warm and thankfully I did. As soon as we got up there it started to rain and the wind picked up and it must have been 50 some degrees! Whew...burrrrr. The rain stopped soon though and we had our picnic lunch in the truck to stay warm! It is such a pretty place!
This is one side of Gliden Lake! We were going to fish over here but we couldn't get close enough to the shore line....we would sink into the grass because it was all marshy!! So we decided to pack back up and go to the other side!

This was our fishing adventure! Brad got this shot....it's my ....OHHHHH shot. I messed up my cast and he got a great shot of the reaction! Thanks Brad :)
Brad like to pose for the camera more than he likes to admit! It was a great time!! I really love this man!! He brings sooo much laughter into my life!! What a great Husband and Father!!
Oh yeah!! The fish were biting like crazy!! We got our limit in no time!!
Yummy fishy!! :)
We were waiting to get slapped in the face with the fish, which would have been really gross, but no such luck...actually I was hoping it got Brad!! :)
These are just some nature pictures of the mountain. We packed up and got out just in time for some more rain, but on our way down it calmed down so we decided to stop and pick huckleberries since they were still ripe and the size of blueberries!! It was great! It was the most huckleberries I'd seen on one mountain in my life!! They were everywhere!! We grabbed a bag and started picking untilll........oh yeah we got nailed with hail!! Hey that rhymes...but we kept picking a little longer and then the thunder came!! It was cold and wet now...BUT we had a big bag of huckleberries to nibble!! What could be greater than that!! :)
There were some cute baby waterfalls up there!

This was great!! As we were driving down the mountain, Brad had his window open, and because of the the extremely bumpy road, we took Brad's truck with his big treaded tires on, and those tires shot up a rock into the window. Brad felt something land on his shoulder and though it was a bug, but when he looked it was this little rock that flew in and stayed right where is landed!! :) That was a first!
So to sum it all up, we plan on spending a lot of time up there and taking the rest of the crew for some camping next year when Sawyer is bigger!! Brad and I had great reconnecting time and had a great quiet morning and afternoon, which hasn't happened in a while! So THANK YOU Nana and Papa for watching Jarrin and Keeley and A HUGE THANKS to Sariah for watching Sawyer!! They are the ones who made it happen ;) I love my family!!