The Red Fox... read by Aidan Sampson

HArVesT HouSe

We love Green Bluff Farms... summer with rolling hills and U-Pick fruits of every kind (yummy for home made jams)... fall harvest with pumpkins, fresh apple cider, hay mazes, apple orchards, and who can forget hot pumpkin doughnuts... YUM!

We're so glad to have shared this years Harvest with Athena and Dax.

How do you know it's time for a haircut?...

When tOweL-DrIEd hair looks like this :)

Daddy's Shoes

Mike's in Seattle...

This is what we do when we miss Daddy.

Why I loved Hope, ID...

...because this was the view of Lake Pend Orielle from out deck

...because Liz made us laugh

...because Gary took us on a Sunday drive and we saw this

... because we got to appreciate nature

...because I loved being with my kids

...because we got time away with Mike

and the kids had fun with DAD!

Thank you Liz and Gary. We had a great vacation!

TuRniNg TwO

So, what did we do on this special day?

- We picked up Mike from the airport (yeah!)... after a long working weekend in UT.

It's crazy how much we miss him when when he's gone.

- Jack and I enjoyed a little 1-on-1 time at the library

- Jump and Bounce and Krispy Kreme

- Presents and Cookies

Little known facts:

LOVES: anything sweet. anything resembling something sweet. honking "semi". his Babas (grandmas). curious george and the firefighters. animals. following aidan. breakfast cereal. "wipeout".

STILL HAS: big blue eyes. "little feets". his "ribbits". sleeping in a crib. toehead. sweetness.

A few unknown facts:

NEW THINGS: VoCAb! new words.words.words. leaving the ground entirely while jumping. drinking from open cups. uses the potty... but has yet to actually "produce" anything into the potty.

THINGS LOST: the binks... due to an accident... but, not too difficult to over come

Pre K

There he goes... One more year of preschool. Very politely he told me... "Mom, I can go in by myself. " Good luck, Kiddo, you're ready AND... have fun!

First hint of Fall

...here in Liberty Lake

The DesTrOYerS...

Meet the Purple Destroyers, a group of 8 fearless soccer boys...

Today they suffered in 90 degree heat to play their first game of soccer. Countless goals were scored, mostly by Isaiah (the boy in the yellow t-shirt who is seriously better than me), but a couple by the other boys, including 1 by Aidan. In most cases it's hard to tell who actually scored the goal, seeing how the boys become a huge moving blob after the ball is put into play. However, we'll count one for Aidan.

Included in the game, along with the goals...

- a single looking mother (since Mike's out of town), attempting to carry a lawn chair, diaper bag, snacks, gatorade... all while pushing a toddler in a jogging stroller through an old field towards the soccer grass. I hope I looked like a trooper "soccer mom" rather than a frazzled, struggling young mother.

- 1 bee sting, taken by Aidan, unfortunately. Getting A. back in the game took about 20 minutes of coaching and ended with me finally threatening him we'd go home if he didn't. To which Aidan replied while crying, "I want to go home." I'm glad I could make a good first impression with the other soccer families.

- 1 train with multiple freights (which I was praying he wouldn't see) but for which after he did, A. put the soccer game on hold for about 30 seconds as he attempted to run to each player and coach informing them of how cool it was...

- and an appearance on the field by Jack, whom I swear I only took my eyes off for one minute to get a drink. It was 90 degrees after all!

All in all... a great victory for the Purple Destroyers!

Luckily, Mike will be back next game!

Yet another reason we love Manito Park...

English Garden in August

Some of our favorite UT things

What do you do with 25 days in UT?...

*Eating:

Our favorite pizzeria

JaCK's oREos

AiDAn's SMorEs

CoUSins CHeeTos

* Fishing Our Favorite Spot

* Picking Sunflowers

* Willow Park-ing with Cousins

* Roller Coaster-ing

* Corn Dog, Cowboy Hats, and Parades (Preston Night Rodeo Style)

AidAN MiCHaeL

Today is A.'s 5th birthday. I feel like he's reaching a milestone... but all I want to do is freeze time. I want to appreciate his developments and relish that I get to watch him grow and learn... but I don't want him to age AT ALL! Is that possible? So today all I want to do is walk down memory lane...

Fun FAcTs:

- A. was born in UT on July 24th, Pioneer Day. In Logan, it's celebrated with fireworks. And, appropriately so, at 10:22pm Aidan was born into the world with fireworks.

- A. always smiled as a baby, was always content. He skipped the terrible two's all together. And today when I see his funny, energetic personality... he still reminds me of the baby and toddler he used to be. Aidan is seriously funny and enjoys anything that makes him and others smile. He is a very active, all around energetic kid. I love and appreciate the boy in him :)

- A. was a toe-head until he turned 2. He was so, so blonde.

- A. was a terribly picky eater that luckily has gotten better with age

A.'s "FaVOriTeS" StaGEs: (In chronological order)

- dogs

- buses

- fire hydrants - In fact, he almost had my dad talked into buying one... seriously, what won't grandparents do?

- sprinklers

- trains, trains, trains - From "Thomas and Trains", to Train Tables, to Geo Trax, to the History Channel's "Extreme Trains." He can tell you a fact for any train.

FavE FOoDs:

pancakes, PBJ, choco milk, bananas, cheese, and yogurt until he was seriously 3...

NOW he loves corndogs, corn on the cob, fruits, and anything sweet.

Some foods to AvOId? Meatballs, potato chips, and soda ("Too spicy" he says)

MEmOraBlE WorDs:

- vroo vroo (early stage for a car)

- eye-da-bah (fire hydrant)

- sislas (sprinklers)

- duses (bus)

- Nama and Gampa

- wurget (yogurt)

AND... I'm glad I can still claim: "basghetti" and "Hevenwy Da Fader"

So... I'm pretty crazy about this kid. I love his big blue eyes, his ability to make new friends, his smile, his snuggles every morning, the sweet unsuspected kisses on my cheek. I love that he tells me I'm pretty and Mike is cool. I love that he's smart and that he's always trying new things.

AiDAn, we love you! Happy Birthday kidd-o.

Thena, Thena, Aunt Bena

Wow, our summer is full... and we wouldn't want it any other way! My younger sister (by only 15 months) flew in from ID with her son Dax to spend the week with us in Spokane. Because we had to share our time with her (thanks to a work related conference :) we took advantage of every hot, sunny minute.

Of course Green Bluff, Spokane's beautiful agricultural tourism location, had all the U-Pick berries you could imagine. The kids all agreed the raspberries were warm and yummy...

and we stocked up on freezer jam :)

Athena and I were thankful to soak up some sun after discovering a new public swimming pool (I don't know how I never knew it existed after the 3 years I've lived here)... and at $1 admission you can't beat it. However, the kids kept us too busy for sun bathing. Jack was a little too fearless for my taste. He loved, loved, loved walking off the waters edge to dunk his face in the water. And because he thought going under water was hysterical, he required every second of my attention. Aidan was a fish, of course, practicing his swimming abilities. Dax was content walking around where he could touch, lucky Athena!

We also enjoyed dinner out at Hu Hot (Spokane's local Mongolian Grill), BBQ-ing in the backyard, talking, relaxing, staying up way too late... and watching the kids play hard.

Thanks for visiting... see you again soon Aunt Bena!