A Glimpse Into Our Summer

 

We had a really great summer!  Besides the fact that we moved into our new house (woot woot!) we also went on some great family vacations!  Our first real family vacation, other than camping, was when we went to McCall Idaho and spent Reese and my 5-year anniversary at the place where we spent our honeymoon.  It was great and the kids loved it!  Lots of hiking, swimming, eating, hanging out with just each other, and Mulan (Mason watched that movie because of the dragon in it at least 5 or 6 times in 4 days).

We also found out that Mason really, really, REALLY, loves blue ice cream.

 And melted marshmallows out of Dad's hand.

 My mom, my Aunt, my kids, and I also made it down to Arizona to visit my grandparents (my mom's parents).  It usually takes Mason a little while to warm up to Grandpa Matthews but then he doesn't want to leave him.                     
                 Mason with Grandpa 2010

Mason with Grandpa 2008

 

 (Sorry the picture is a little blurry but it's too cute to not post.  Mason was practicing his photography skills.)

 
  Grandpa was also Jaylee's best friend while we were driving.  They were able to sit next to each other and he would hold her hand or play with her the whole time.  He even shared ice cream with her.  If you think that grandparents spoil kids then Great-Grandparents REALLY spoil kids!

 

 Jaylee really liked Grandma too.  Here she is showing off a train.

Once we got back from Arizona, Mason started Preschool!  He LOVES it!  He hated homework at first but now he loves it!  I'll post about that later though. 

 Here's Jaylee's 9-month-old picture.  At 9 months she had 4 big Schroeder teeth (Lacey's family), crawled everywhere, stood up next to furniture, and, much to her older brother's dismay, started really loving trains.  She is 75% for height, 50% for weight, and 15% for head circumference but her cheeks make up for the lack of head size.

 Here she is at 10 months with 2 Pig Tails!!  She wants to walk Sooo Badly but just stands at furniture instead. 

We have the MOST AWESOME neighbors in the WORLD!  We went with a group of just adults...No Kids...to Lake Powell on a houseboat for one whole week!  (I must also mention that the kids stayed with Nana and Papa Schroeder and loved every minute of it as well.  So a public shout out to my parents who took the kids so that we could go.  You are the BEST!)  It was the best trip I think we have ever been on.  Super fun, stress free, and very entertaining!  We have a whole slew of pictures but I thought that I would just share a few.

 Meet my 4th love after Reese and my kids...Surfing!  It's awesome and really addicting.  I wouldn't be opposed to surf all day.  Reese says that if I'm not good at something the first time that I then hate that thing.  Well I guess it's true because I got up on my first try.  Whew!  Good thing because I would hate to hate surfing.  I must also mention that Reese is an amazing Wakeboarder!  I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of him jumping and clearing the wake.  What a stud!

On our last day we were fortunate enough to hike Hole in the Rock.  Zoom in on this picture to read the caption. 

If you ever have a minute, do some research on the pioneers who hiked with their wagons down this...

 We weren't even to the top yet.  We also started hiking at the shore of the lake.  The pioneers had to travel this BEFORE there was water there, which equals harder, more steep terrain.

No this is not a postcard.  It was our home for the week.  It was so amazing!

And that was our summer!  I'll try to stay more current with our Hulbert happenings.

Jaylee 8 Months Old

 Jaylee at 8 months old

 We sure do love this girl!

Even when she gets stuck in her table-jungle gym.

Fourth of July Weekend in Idaho Falls

I have catching up to do so here is our 4th of July weekend.

We went to Idaho Falls for Independence weekend in July to spend time with my (Lacey's) brother and his family.

Mason and his cousins Elise and Mckaylee walking around the zoo in Idaho Falls.

Jaylle likes tigers as you can see.

Checking out the monkeys.

Don't you love how chill Jaylee is in the stroller?

Mason stared at that Boa Constrictor for at least 10 minutes.  He really likes looking at snakes apparently.

 He liked the penguins.

We were also able to comb the goats.

Cousins also combing goats.

Jaylee wanted to be in the goat pen so bad but Grandma just helped her stand and get a good look.

Mason liked the zebra and he also made sure that I remembered that there is a zebra on the movie Madagascar.

 The kids loved the airplane ride at a nearby park. 

 There was also a carousel.  Mason shed some tears over the train ride being broken.  It broke down just before we got there.

 Jaylee loving the stroller.

 And she liked watching Mason swing on the swing

 All of us ready to watch the parade. (Reese is taking the picture)

 My sweet Jaylee.

 And super cute cousin, Mckaylee.

 Waiting for the amazing Idaho Falls fireworks.

 Mason enjoyed the sparklers.

She's the One

It's been confirmed...Jaylee will be the one that gives me the most trouble.

See previous post for explanation.

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Lesson Learned

I'd like to say that I was being a good mom/wife this evening because I was actually making a nice, made-from-scratch dinner for my family and this is what I get. My kids pretending to be tornados in my pantry. I guess it's frozen dinners from here on! Lesson Learned.

At one point the conversation went as follows:
Me: Hey you two, just remember that you have to clean all that up.
Kids: (Mischievous looks)
Me: Mason, Jaylee, do you understand?
Mason: OK
Jaylee: (Burp)
Then they both started laughing! So who do you think will be my most troublesome child?

Just as a side note: Jaylee was the one who first started ripping up the pantry.

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Around the House - June 2010

Nothing like getting the camera out and taking pictures just because.

Hanging around the house...Jaylee likes to help me type on the computer.

Mason and I making banana bread.

I love this picture of Mason and Jaylee playing with Mason's trains.

Even though Jaylee just likes to eat the track.  Look at those chompers!

 We had quite a wind storm in June.  Main street and people's yards were littered with broken branches and other debris.  The trees at our rental house had some branches that were about to fall at any moment and since we didn't want our kids hurt by falling branches, Reese scaled the tree and started cutting.

Reese had to climb pretty high.

No Title

I don't have pictures off the camera onto the computer just yet of our many adventures of the last month.  The adventures of the Hulbert Family, which I know you are all just DYING to see and read about including Reese and my 5 year anniversary, a family trip to McCall, the moving into our house, the making our house a home, 4th of July, 24th of July, and all the other random pictures that you are can't wait to see, right?

Anyway, until all the pics get onto the computer and blog ready I just wanted to post SOMETHING...
ANYTHING because I knew it would make me smile.

So that was it.

I hope you enjoyed today's post.

Just make sure you do something today that makes YOU smile.  :)

Back in June...

Over a month ago, our little family of 4 went up the canyon for the day.  This secluded spot is only 11 minutes from our house and we LOVE IT!  We have been up a couple more times since then and find more fun things to do every time we go. 

Just hanging out by the fire

The messy faces of Jaylee

High Creek

Jaylee enjoys pulling Reese's hair for some reason.

     Nothing better than roasting Marshmallows up the canyon.

We had to drive through the river, which passed over the trail.  Good thing we have the jeep!

I just got this email

I just got this picture sent to me from Reese while I was out having a girls' night.
There's nothing better than just having a bath and then playing with trains with your best friend.

VID 00007

Jaylee and broccoli
Sent on the Now Network? from my Sprint® BlackBerry