Life is not measured by the moments we breathe but by the moments that take our breath away

Catching Up

2009-08-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

So it has been a very, very busy summer. It started with Colton's graduation and hasn't stopped (and school is just around the corner-aargh) Colton graduated the end of May with a 3.98 gpa. He was class salutatorian and gave a very brief speech at graduation. He is headed to BSU much to the dismay of his UofI father, but we are excited for our family's next adventure. He went to work for Perry about the middle of June and will move to Boise Sat. the 22nd. I didn't cry at graduation, or even when I made his video for his party, but I think I will cry Sun. night when we come home from Boise. He is a good kid and we know he will continue his good grades and meet his goals. (So I guess I can't sing the Vandal song anymore!!)

I-D-A-H-O IDAHO, IDAHO, GO, GO , GO! (ok one more time)

Sr. Project

2009-05-12T12:49:00.001-07:00

Every senior at Gooding has to do a Sr. Project. This takes the whole year and involves a tri-fold presentation, powerpoint presentation, thesis paper, product and graphs, surveys, etc, etc. Colton did his on superheroes. He is a fanatic for Superman and X-men. So for his product he asked Cory to help him make a comic book. I think he thought it would only take him one weekend-well it didn't. Not only did he spend a weekend up in Boise but Cory came and spent another weekend in Gooding with us. Cory is a very talented artist and we were so thankful that he was able to put aside his college work and help his cousing out. It was a great comic book but the title needed some help (colo-girl) Not very appropriate this day and time!!

Desert Time

2009-05-12T12:40:00.000-07:00

After a very hectic week, we were invited to go out to the desert and enjoy a bonfire, golf and drinks. It was so much fun to just relax and be ourselves. We danced by the moonlight, cooked hot dogs in the fire, and lit off a few fireworks. Perry has a good crew and they are so much fun to be around.

Up late-waiting

2009-03-30T01:30:00.000-07:00

I have a minute to catch up on my blog since it is 2:30 a.m. and I am waiting for my son to return from his senior trip. They left Thur. at 9:00 p.m for Monterrey Bay and are getting back this a.m. They had plans to go to Six Flags, the aquarium, Jelly Belly factory and pizza for Sr. dinner. Colton said the aquarium was really lame, "There was nothing there!" I can't believe in 2 months he will have graduated.

The rest of the weekend was very busy. McKenna had a volleyball tournament in Valley and they were seeded in the top 8 (which is good for them) but didn't get farther than that. She was really tired (as was I). We left at 6:45 and got home around 4:30 but my day didn't end there. Perry and I had tickets to the hockey game in Boise. His employees gave them as a gift and I was really dragging my feet to go. If you have not been to a hockey game-GO!!!! It was so fun. Not only did they score 6 goals and keep Ontario scoreless, there was a fight!!! We were in the 1st row next to the fiberglass, right next to the Steelhead dugout. I can't wait to go again. But make sure to put your parking ticket in the left side of the window. We paid $10 to park right next to the arena, but Perry put the ticket in the wrong spot so when we came out there was a $25.00 parking ticket.

2009-03-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, so life for us has been hectic since my last post!! As you know we moved out of our home into our trailer one week before Halloween. Dave & Steph were gracious enough to put up with us-I just don't think they knew how long it would be!

Nov-in a trailer
Dec-in a trailer
Jan-in a trailer,move in, stop moving in, in a trailer, move in.
Feb-unpack, dust, clean, find photos, computer stuff, etc.... etc....etc...
Mar-settling down

In between all of the above my son celebrated his 18th birthday, we celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years-in a trailer! Went to girls basketball games, boys basketball games, snowmobiling, sr. night, working, divorce lawyers (while in the trailer). We have had a very busy winter (in the trailer)!!

But now we are in our beautiful home (Troy & his crew did a fantastic job) and look forward to spending more time, out of the trailer, with friends and family. All is welcome-Happy Spring.

(p.s. just kidding about the divorce lawyers)

Senior Pictures

2008-10-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

The phone rang at 6:30 from Becky wondering if we were still going to Idaho Falls to have sr. pictures taken. We decided that it would not be a good day so Steph came over with breakfast burritos and we watched a show. When we were done we looked out the window and decided that the weather wasn't so bad and we left. The weather was perfect!! Robin is so awesome and I love all her angles. I can't wait to get the complete c.d. but here is a taste

To see more go to Robin's photography website at www.heartfelt.typepad.com

Fall

2008-09-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. Not only for the autumn colors, harvest smells, football, etc, etc.. but for the return of our favorite shows

Grey's Anatomy

Survivor, Amazing Race, Biggest Loser, Project Runway, Top Chef, Top Design

We watch more t.v. now with DVR but they are all worth it! Happy Watching

GO FAVRE

Sexy Savages

2008-09-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

I met the boys at my shop at 7:45 for a costume session. It was "Sexy Savage" day and they were being auctioned. So we gathered the feathers, poured the paint and slicked the hair. It took us 2 hours to create the savages and I had to push my clients back 1 1/2 hours. It was worth every second. I am lucky that my son and his friends like to hang around me. They made the most money out of all the savages.

Tyler (Colton's oldest friend)

Curtis being his usual self.

Ethan

They liked their costumes so much they wore it to the powderpuff game where the srs. lost in the last 2 secs. of the game (sorry Brit.) Curtis commentated and he was the best sports announcer ever.

McKenna Volleyball

2008-09-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

8th grade volleyball is going good. They have only lost 3 games, but they went to 3 matches each time. (Sorry I can never get good gym pictures.) McKenna played spring volleyball and enjoyed it so much, cheerleading went out the window. She has a wicked serve and for her 1st year is doing really good (I can brag-I am her mom)

Homecoming

2008-09-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

Gooding vs. Buhl

Our football team has been struggling the last year with 0 wins and only one so far this year. It is tough to lose all the time but we try and keep the spirit up with a busy week of homecoming. It started off with powderbuff. They had enough jrs. & srs. to split into two courts and Colton's team won all their matches. He even had a little bit of a jump serve (it only hit the net a couple of times.) I can't believe he is a senior still.

Senior boys of 2009!!!

(Robin, sure could use some hints on how to get good pictures in the gym. Somebody told me to change shutter speed but I don't know how.)

Addition

2008-09-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Our addition

The guys hard at work (Thayne said he is absolutely done tearing down the brick)

Colton hard(ly) working

Sorry I have been so lame at journaling lately, but we are extremly busy and dwelling in a mess. We have decided to add on and have completely gutted (almost) our entire living area. More pictures and details forthcoming but we are very excited to have it completed. We have great construction workers who are very patient with us.

Thank You

2008-08-25T09:56:00.001-07:00

Thank you Amber & Jen for getting me started. I love you both so much and am very proud to be a part of your lives.

ME

Back To School

2008-08-25T09:49:00.001-07:00

School officially started and my son is a senior. I can't believe how fast the 13 years have come. I am excited for the upcoming changes that our lives will be taking over the next years but saddened by how different home will be. He has been a great kid and I hope his senior year will be one for the memory books.
Colton is not running cross country (much to my disappointment-but looks forward to basketball) He is planning at this time to go to ISU (stay with Jason & Hailey although I am not sure they know that) and go into denistry. He has several years to decide though.

McKenna is in the 8th grade and I am finally seeing her as a teenager. Which she will be happy to hear. She started volleyball and is glad to be the head honchos at her school. I think she is glad to be back because she has been going to work with her dad the last 2 1/2 weeks working 10 hour days. She was a real help to them.

Road Trip

2008-08-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

We decided for a break to road trip. Steph's mom had told us once about the best pie she had ever had was in Mackay. So we decided to head that way.

We started off in Richfield. We looked at the 2 bars and went to the one that had the most cars parked by it-walked in-no patrons. It was a repair shop. So we had our first beer there (which Steph and Jen hate, but were good sports.) We played a little foos-ball and played some juke-box music.

After that we went to Carey. The 1st bar we stopped at was shut down so back tracked to the Sports Bar. There were 3 patrons there. We had our 2nd drink with more foos ball. We tried to call Tom & Jody but they didn't answer our calls so we kept going.

Our next stop was Arco (and Dave was really hungry at this time but we pressed on.)
We stopped once to dance on a dirt farm road and take fun pictures (check out Steph's blog)

and then we finally made it to Mackay.

What a beautiful town. We went in for next drink and asked them were the best place to eat was and they said next door. There we met London & Lee who joined us for a lttle dancing.

However, the pie shop was closed so I guess that means another road trip.

Hawaii

2008-08-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

This is a late post, but I wanted to share with everyone some beautiful pictures from our trip to Hawaii. We went from May 30 through June 6. When we arrived at the airport and e-checked in we realized we were a day late (we were supposed to leave on the 29th and I thought the 29th was Friday-which was actually the 30th) Not a good start. The good thing though we were able to update our tickets and get on the next available flight. There was a delay from Boise to San Fran, but other than that no problems. We did miss our 1st night in Honolulu and Pearl Harbor because our connecting flight was that night to our island of Kauai. We loved every minute of our vacation. We bought a book that told us where to go and what to see, eat, etc...don't always believe the books. But we snorkeled, body surfed, took a helicopter ride, catamarran ride, hiked, and ziplined. We loved our condo and can't wait to return. The best food was Scotty's barbeque. Loved our summer vacation.

On the catamarran in and out of the tunnels. During the winter the water is so high they can't boat in to the crevices. This is also the part of the island that you can only see by boat or flight.

Waiting for the boat (This was also our last day on the island. Our flight out was 6:00 p.m. and so after we were done we were wet and sandy with no place to change or shower. It was a long ride home.)

Our helicopter ride was so fun. It was cold and drizzling a little and we had no doors. This is something Perry has always wanted to do and it was worth every dollar.
On the helicopter (I couldn't believe how many canyons were on this little island.)

On the zipline.

The peacocks were beautiful. This is on the shuttle ride at the Smith's Plantation right before the luau.

The roosters are everywhere on the island.

At the luau.

First Post

2008-08-11T16:31:00.001-07:00

Okay we helped get your blog up and running, now it is all yours! Hope you like it!
Love - Jen & Amber