It's Great to be eight!

Happy Happy Birthday to my sweet little KJ! I know I say this every year, but how in the world did the time fly by so fast that you went from this....

(the day we brought him home from the hospital)

to this.....

so quickly?!?!

It's crazy, but we've loved every minute of it. He really is the best 8 year old I've ever met. A well mannered, sweet boy who is an amazing big brother, son and friend. We are SO lucky and blessed to have him in our family. He has been such a JOY! Although he's getting to be at the age where we have to force a kiss on him, and he gets totally embarrassed with our dancing and singing around the house, he's still our sweet little guy that loves to snuggle up with mom and dad and can't sleep without his Curious George that he's been sleeping with since he was a new-born baby. We hope you had a fabulous Birthday today! We really Love you bud.....

To the moon & back!

Here are some pictures of our full day of birthday fun! The best gift he received was a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Howard!! We love it when they come to visit!

(click to enlarge)

*Breakfast in 'bed'*

*Shopping trip to Target to pick out some gifts*

*Open Presents*

*Cracker Barrel for dinner (kj's pick)*

*Arcade*

*Go-Karts*

*Bowling*

*Cake and Ice-cream*

*Annual Spanking Machine*

*Slumber Party in the basement*

Pheww.....we had a full and fun day today and Keaton really had a great day!

Good-Night!

9 years ago...

we had just 'tied the knot' & we were dancing to this song at our wedding...

You & Me ~ Kenny Chesney

Ordinary no, I really don’t think so

Not a love this true

Common destiny

We were meant to be

Me and you

Like a perfect scene from a movie screen

We’re a dream come true

Suited perfectly for eternity

Me and you

Every day, I need you even more

And the night time too

There’s no way

I could ever let you go

Even if I wanted to

Every day I live

I try my best to give

All I have to you

I thank the stars above

That we share this love me and you

Every day, I need you even more

And the night time too

There’s no way

I could ever let you go

Even if I wanted to

Ordinary no, I really don’t think so

Just a precious few

Ever make it last

Get as lucky as

Me and you

And 9 years later I love you more than ever. Thanks for giving me all and more than I ever thought possible. I love you as big as the beach! Happy Anniversary!

What the 'hail'.....

Well, we were welcomed to Colorado and it's crazy weather patterns today! We had a huge hail storm tonight while we were lighting our fireworks....it was definitely an exciting 4th of July!! We broke out our mini-grill and made hamburgers on the driveway, and it was HOT. Then we saw the storm coming over the mountains and BAM, it hit us fast! Our cars were dented, and my hood looks like a golf ball. I've never seen a hail storm like this, but it was pretty exciting! The kids loved it. Ice cream bars, bbq's, blowing things up, getting to know our neighbors made for a great day. Living in a military town on the fourth is a wonderful thing, everyone is so patriotic and we love that! We are grateful for the opportunity to live in this great country.

"The land of the free because of the brave."

Do you think Dan was having fun?? A little bit too much fun....

And for a couple of other things we did this week---

We went to a beautiful wedding.....

A Primary trip to the Denver temple.....(and Buca afterwards!)

We have really been enjoying our time here so far!

Happy 4th Everyone!

We made it....

Our family just started a brand new chapter in our lives. We said "good-bye" to Boise and all the wonderful people there last Saturday and made the long trek to our new home in Colorado Springs. There were many tears shed, but we are also excited for our new adventure.

To make a long story short, I'll briefly summarize our move! We had 2 large U-Hauls each towing car transports behind them. (Yes, I had to drive that beast about 1,000 miles) Right before we were leaving we noticed a flat tire on the car transport...4 hours later, we finally had Les Schwabb come and change the tire since U-Haul was taking their sweet time figuring out what to do. After finally getting on the road we made it just past Twin Falls when my truck overheated. Yes, a huge pain! U-Haul sent a mechanic out to check it out and turns out he didn't think it was safe to continue on, so we headed back to Twin Falls and checked in to a hotel for the night. The next morning, Dan had to unload the whole U-Haul in to a new U-Haul and a few hours later we were on the road again! Phew....luckily, this was the last of the truck troubles! We made it to Cheyenne, WY and stayed another quick night in a hotel but didn't get much sleep because we had movers scheduled to be at our new house the next day. So we woke up and made it to our new place just in time for the movers to come help us unload! We have been playing a little bit too much and haven't been very quick about unpacking, but it'll still be there next week right?! It's hard when the weather is so beautiful and there is so much about this new city to explore. So far, we really like it here. The neighborhood is very friendly and we've been spoiled with a few plates of delicious cookies! The best part is that there are Lots and Lots of kids in our area! So, if anyone is ever in this area....COME VISIT!!!! We miss you all.

Olivia was great company in the car!

And this is what we stared at for days....the back of Dan's truck!

Here I am, exhausted on day 3 of driving! Olivia had fun with the camera!

We were SO excited to see this sign!

And even MORE excited to see this one!

The kids were SO ready to get out of the van and jump!

Mikey was excited too!

And THIS is the reason we haven't done much unpacking....the POOL!!

And of course, since it's Father's Day weekend....we HAD to make it to a baseball game!

It's been an exciting week if I do say so myself!

Happy Father's Day to all the 'Father's' in our lives!

Wrapping things up....

This is the time of year where everything seems to be wrapping up and coming to an end. School, preschool, graduations, class parties, field days, school picnics, piano lessons all ending for the summer! The past week has been ultra busy with 'stuff' going on every day and night and I really haven't had the chance to pack much. I'm hoping that somehow I get a 'second-wind' and get the odds and ends all finished up because I'm down to having less than a week left until we load the moving van. But hey, sometimes I work better under pressure! Here are some of our 'events' of the past week.....

There are a lot of pictures, but this may be the last post I get in for a while.

Jesse's Surprise Birthday Party

Class Roller-Skate Party

My baby brother's high school graduation....

Last field trip with Jack's preschool

squeezing in as many family dinners as possible before we move....

End of year class parties!

Enjoying the neighborhood pool...

I am so ready for a day where I don't HAVE to do anything! Summer here we come!

But until then....this is what my house looks like....

Stay posted on our big move to Colorado.....and wish us luck on our new adventure!

Good-bye Boise.....we will miss you and everyone here dearly. It's been a bitter-sweet year but we are excited to get Dan back and be together as a family again. We all missed him so much. But we've also had so much fun being surrounded by SO much family here in Boise.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Brittany and Shawn Gilley....

My little sister is now a married woman as of last Saturday!! Although the wedding and reception didn't go as planned, it was still a beautiful day. They waited until the end of May so that they would be able to have an outdoor wedding in my parent's backyard, only problem was that we had record lows and lots and lots of wind and rain. The ceremony was held outside under a tent but it was only 41 degrees and the wind was very cold, so after the vows were exchanged we moved everything inside. It's a good thing my parents have a big house!! The photographer had to get creative indoors because the rain was pouring and we didn't even have a 15 minute window without rain all day. I felt bad for Britt because it wasn't going as she had always planned it to go, but she held herself together and I still think she had an amazing day. I do have to say that she was the most beautiful bride I've ever seen. She was just glowing!! We are also excited to have Shawn as part of our family, he's such a good guy and after meeting his family we know where he gets it, they are all so nice. They have that 'southern charm' about them being from Louisiana! Congratulations to Britt and Shawn on a beautiful wedding and best of luck on a beautiful life together!

(Be prepared for a lot of pictures)

Getting ready....

She is stunning....

Jack was the ring bearer...

Abby and Olivia were the flower girls....

Here comes the bride....

The bridal party...

First time as Mr. and Mrs. Gilley!

The candy bar....

Abby and Olivia became good friends....

The groom's family....

Groomsmen....

Cutting the cake....

Trying to stay dry....

Waiting for the rain to stop....

All that was left of the wedding set up....

A new son-in-law!

Sisters!

We moved the dancing inside to my parent's entry.

And they're off!!! Headed to Cabo for some sunshine!!

Congrats you two love birds!