A year in the life...

So, finally decided I should get back to the blog. Not that anyone will read it anymore -- HELLO! It's been over a year.  So here is a year of our life in pictures...

Camping near Spokane

Block party at the Library in June - I think.

Phin's post swimming attire

Splash park fun...

Fourth of July fun. We finally found a parade to go to.

Trip to Utah -- Here we are at Promentory Point. Phin and Spencer were so

excited to see a real steam train. That's Jupiter behind us.

Where they drove in the Golden Spike to connect the east and the west.

Hogle Zoo

We climbed Mt. Timp with some friends from American Fork. The boys did awesome.

I forgot how cool (both literally and figuratively) the cave is.

Adam's trip to climb Mt. St. Helen's. He got about 500 feet from the top. He'll try again this summer.

George and Dad looking good for church.

Our trip north to Silverwood - kind of like Lagoon, but not run as well.

 Adam spent the day with the little boys at the kiddie rides, which was good since

he was so doped up on Dramamine he couldn't see straight. George and I went on the big

roller coasters and he loved it.

Lake Couer D'Alene

August is fair time. Mom braved it again alone. Adam hates the fair. The boys love

that we get to take the bus.

 Colin had just enjoyed the last of our end of the day ice cream treat.

First day of 1st grade

Aunt Carri and Aunt Dani came to visit in the fall. We had lots of fun playing and going out to McDonald's

where Aunt Carri bought the boys Happy Meals, a special treat.

Hanging out in Spokane before Aunt Carri and Aunt Dani flew home.

I think Phin found the winter clothing box and was excited for the cooler weather. 

Frankly, I just love this picture.

In October, Grandmom and Pop Pop came for a visit and we all headed west to Mt. Rainier.

We did some hiking and took a train ride. We also had grand adventures at the Lodge near Mt. Rainier.

See below...

Hiking the Grove of the Patriarchs. It reminded me of the Redwoods.

These are the roots of a huge fallen tree.

So here's the story of the Lodge Near Mt. Rainier. The name didn't lie. It was right outside the park. However, the whole place hadn't been updated since the 50's, including the electrical. SCARY! We got to our cabin and settled in. But when we went to go to dinner, the door handle to the outside fell off! We were trapped. Adam ended up climbing out a window in order to let us out from the outside. It was crazy. We obviously complained to the management and they moved us to "The Chalet", a huge cabin that could easily sleep over 20. But it was warm and the door opened. In the basement was this HUGE rock. They had actually decided against blasting it away and just built the cabin OVER it, making it part of the foundation. The boys had a blast climbing and sliding down it most of the night. By the way, we did get a full refund for our stay. But I wouldn't recommend it.

Mt. Rainier

Spencer found this bug and insisted that I take a picture of it.

Mt. Rainier scenic railroad. Definitely worth it. The boys had a blast and the ride was quite pleasant. I'm afraid Phin talked non-stop to anyone who would listen about Thomas and Hiro and James and on and on and on.

A photographer from Houston took these pictures while we were stopped on the train ride.

It was great! It helped me convince Adam to get our family photos taken professionally and not at Walmart.

Breakfast fundraiser at Appleby's. How often do you get a pancake breakfast served to you by your teacher?

The Country Mercantile in October. We have to go to the pumpkin patch every year.

Spencer's big news was being potty trained. Here he is getting his big prize - a Spencer train.

Halloween - Phin was Wolverine, George is a ghost, Spencer is Tigger and Colin is the Duck.

Christmas in Boise almost didn't happen. We arrived back at Jim and Gail's house around 9:30 after a wonderful dinner at my sister-in-laws. We put the boys to bed and then got out the presents. 

"Where's the other bin?" I asked Adam.

 "What other bin?"

"The other bin with all of George and Phin's gifts."

"I don't know."

And in my minds eye I saw it sitting peacefully in our basement bedroom at home. I freaked! After a little bit of a Jerry Springer moment where I tried to run away from Adam, shrieking that the boys wouldn't have a Christmas if I didn't drive back and get their gifts right now, we came to a decision and drove the 4 hours back to Richland to recover the gifts and then headed back to Boise. We arrived about 1/2 hour before the boys woke up. Little did I know that as we walked out the door Gail had called all the siblings to let them know what was going on and they were all praying for us. What I DID know was that I felt an amazing sense of peace and security as we got onto the highway and I knew that we would be safe and everything would go smoothly. And it did. We had a fantastic Christmas. The boys were pleased with their gifts and we were pleased to see their happy faces. However, we will be spending Christmas at home this year. I can't face the drama again.

I thought the best part of Christmas was my gift from Adam. The day after Christmas he arranged for family to take the boys while we went shopping, out to dinner and to a hotel for the night. It was AWESOME! Even if all we did was sleep because we were both exhausted from the night before. Love you, Adam Gaul!!

So the New Year brought birthdays for Phin (5) and Spencer (3). I think we went swimming for both of them. Always a treat when the weather is 27 degrees outside. For April General Conference we tried something new - an activity for each General Authority. The boys loved it and actually were looking forward to Conference.

Easter in Boise was lots of fun - except for George. He was sporting a 105 temperature as we pulled into the drive and didn't shake it all weekend. He bravely went to his birthday dinner at the China Buffet, but only drank some Sprite. He threw up and rested a lot, but after a couple of days was able to keep fluids down. But the fever just wouldn't go away. When we got home on Monday we took him to the doctor and it turned out he had a urinary tract infection. A day or two of antibiotics and he was back to his old self, but about 7-10 pounds lighter.

Phin wanted to make sure that George got his Easter basket.

Easter egg hunt!

Colin doing his best Stevie Wonder impersonation. 

Back at home, George was feeling better and we were able to celebrate his birthday for real.

New "Tin Tin" shirts. He loves The Adventures of Tin Tin and now will only wear collared shirts. 

At the end of April we had an incident on the way to school. We were in a rental for over two weeks. I almost kissed the girl behind the shop desk when she handed me my keys to the van when it was all fixed. I love my van.

Colin gave me the best Mother's Day gift ever!

And here is Spencer singing -- so cute!

George's class did a "sound play" of Chicken Little. George played Foxy Loxy and was the star of the show. It's really shaky, but if you just listen to it, instead of watch it, it's a little better.

And Phineas graduated from preschool - here's part of the celebration.

So our cute family has enjoyed quite the year. And I will be better about keeping this updated.

We are looking forward to an awesome summer and many more posts.