JUNE

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL - Just like that another school year has come and gone!  This year went so fast!  I know I write that every year, but I mean it more than ever before with this school year.  It was such a fun, special year for these three kids.  It will be the only time during their schooling that they will all be at the same school at the same time.  I loved that they were just a block away and they were able to walk together.  Below are there 1st & last day of school pictures.  They all three look so much older at the end of the school year.  :(  Ava's legs grew again and she grew out of her shorts from 1st day of school.  Her hair grew a lot too.  She also decided she didn't like wearing glasses anymore and started wearing contacts full-time.  She definitely looks ready for middle school now.  Kasen grew out of his 1st day of school clothes completely.  The shoes still fit though.  He looks older now too.  I didn't even realize how much Kinsley grew up this year until I saw these two pictures side by side.  Her clothes got a lot smaller and she looks a lot older.  It is an exciting and sad time for me.  Dallin was equally as excited for the last day of school to be here.  He finally gets his favorite people home with him all day!

On the last day of school there was an awards ceremony for 1st - 4th graders.  Kasen didn't get any special awards like the girls which he was pretty sad about.  However, he still got an award for Creek Cruisers and running 75 miles this year.  He had 97 miles so it's a little annoying to me that the PE teacher wouldn't give him a chance to run 3 more miles to get to the 100 mile club.  He said when we went to San Diego and he missed some days of school she wouldn't let him make them up.  He was excited about his classroom awards though: amazing athlete, radical reader, & awesome artist.  He really wanted to get the amazing athlete award.  All the kids in the class voted for 2 boys and 2 girls for each category.  After the awards ceremony we went out for Lunch on the Lawn.  Kasen finally brought along his kite from last years birthday and opened it to fly on the field.

All the kids wanted to stay for the whole day (like usual) on the last day even though they could leave early after lunch.  Kinsley wasn't feeling good so I made her come home, but the other two stayed as long as they could.  Ava's friendships with this group of girls got stronger this year and it made me sad that she won't go through middle school with them.  She is going to the self-contained GT program at Heritage and she is pretty nervous about not knowing anyone.  She is so much braver than I ever was.  I really hope when we move she can make good friends.  I hope they all can.  That is the scariest part about moving for me.

 

START OF SUMMER BREAK - The day after school got out, Jed had to volunteer at a children's race downtown.  Ava & Kasen went with him and even got to wear the foot costume.  Kinsley continued to not feel well and one night Jed fell asleep on the couch luckily, because in the middle of the night Kinsley started screaming.  He heard her and raced upstairs and she was choking on blood.  He got her into the bathroom and she was throwing up blood.  Ava came and woke me up and we were both freaking out a bit.  Jed finally decided that what happened was Kinsley got a bloody nose and it drained into her mouth and she started gagging on it which made her throw up.  It was a pretty rough night.  For the next 2 weeks everyone in the house besides Jed got sick with horrible coughs, throwing up, and feeling totally awful and weak.  Ava only got it for a couple of days.  Kasen and Dallin for at least two weeks.  Even I got sick for about 5 days.  It was not the most fun way to start summer vacation!

On June 4th the Idaho Falls temple was rededicated.  All church meetings were cancelled throughout the whole state and 3 sessions of the rededication was broadcast.  Anyone 8 yr old and older could attend the sessions with a special temple recommend for that event.  None of us had gotten sick yet besides Kinsley so we took turns and went to the sessions.  Ava & I went to the 2nd session and Jed/Kasen went to the last session.  It was a pretty neat experience.  Sometime over the last month Ava finally inched past me in height.  On June 6th she was really excited to find out she is already to her dad's mouth.  She thought she was only up to his chin.  Her volleyball coach said we should do an x-ray on her femur to see how much of the growth plate is left.

BAKE SALE & BABY COUSIN WEEKEND - The first weekend after school got out, Trevor's brother got married here in Boise.  So the Monson family came for a visit.  The boys stayed with us all day on Saturday during the wedding and the luncheon.  We finally got to see sweet baby Aiden for the first time!  Kinsley was so excited, but she could only hold him for a few minutes because she had just been sick.  Kinsley and Kasen loved playing with James and Liam.  The only bad thing was the weather.  It had been rainy and cold so the kids couldn't really go outside for very long. Dallin was now sick so he had to hang out mostly with Jed for the day.  It sure was fun having the boys over for a day.

Since that Saturday was our neighborhood yard sale, Ava and her friend Lily had decided to do a bake sale to try to earn money for the summer.  Ava baked her little heart out all Friday and then went over to help Lily bake.  Ava has become such a good little baker, but she is still learning how to clean up. lol  Lily's family had this little carnival booth stand so they set that up Saturday morning at 8am.  Ava also made the poster.  It was rainy and cold so we didn't know how many people would be out for the yard sale, but around noon Ava came home with $25 in her pocket.  That was after she had split the money with Lily.  I couldn't believe how much money they had made!  Ava was pretty excited about it. 

The next day was baby Clancy's blessing in Gooding.  Jed stayed home with Kinsley, Dallin, and Kasen (who was now also starting to get sick.)  Ava and I woke up early and drove the 2 hrs to the church just in time for it to start.  It was a really good meeting and both Austin & Sydnee shared their testimonies.  It was a little emotional for them because they knew they were moving and it was pretty much their last Sunday there.  It is crazy to think that the Rasmussen family started out with 4 when they first moved there and now leaving they are a family of 7!  Almost doubled themselves.  Ava got to hold Clancy during church and back at the house afterward.  His little hand looked so little next to Ava's.  We were all visiting and eating after church when in walks Heath in a tanktop tucked in with his belt buckle and cowboy boots.  It made me laugh so hard, mostly because of the creepy smile he kept doing and had been doing all day.  :)  It was really fun to go to the blessing and visit for awhile and see all the good work the Rasmussens had done on their house to get it ready to sell.  Driving home my co-pilot fell asleep and later that night she got sick too.  The whole month of June it felt like someone was sick at some point.

DALLIN 13 MONTHS - Dallin is getting the hang of this walking business.  He is still very robotic, but he's getting there.  He is getting pretty brave too and trying to walk farther and farther.  He gets so excited when he does it too as evidenced in my picture below.  His first full walk across the room was somewhere around June 2nd.  He is also becoming quite the chatterbox and likes to copy my sounds.  If we try to hold a sound out he will copy - I think he thinks it is a song or something.  He has also started giving kisses when we ask him to.  They are big, slobbery, open-mouthed kisses which are so cute.They make us all laugh everytime.

He still has cute little  chubby, round cheeks and cute pouty lips.  Everyone says he looks just like Kasen.  I think he looks a lot like both Kasen an Kinsley at times.  He loves being around his siblings for the most part.  He definitely has a time limit and a bubble area that after so long he will let them know they've either exceeded their time with him or his space.  He lets out a yell and charges.  He has bitten Kinsley a couple of times too.  :(  Probably because she is the one who is always wanting to cuddle him.  She sneaks into his crib and reads or plays the ipad with him and likes to just follow him around and join in on whatever he is doing.  All my kids (including Dallin) are pretty independent, but Kinsley is the one the who likes being alone the least.

Dallin still loves his Baby Einstein movies.  It is pretty much the only time he sits still for longer than a minute.  I still strap him into his bouncer chair, but now he is so big and heavy his bum touches the ground and I have to prop something behind him in the back so he doesn't lean too far back.  lol  We have tried the rocking chair a few times and he will sit for a few minutes.  This kid just can not sit still in one place unless he is tied down!  He also learned how to clap this month.  Ava taught him how.

Dallin really likes bath time, especially when he has some company.  I'm glad I was able to document this because it is one of those things I would definitely forget about.  This month Dallin has rediscovered his tongue and loves to stick it out and curl it up.  He does this all day long.  It is so funny and weird at the same time!

GIRLS NIGHT & BOYS TRIP - Ever since we went to Avery's "late night" Ava has been wanting to have one at our house.  We finally did and it was fun.  Ava invited 3 girls over, but one girl couldn't make it so Kinsley volunteered to take her place.  We bought some facial masks and the girls put those on with hot washcloths.  Ava had made lots of treats so I'm sure everyone left in a sugar coma.  They played some games and there was lots of giggling!

It was a good weekend to have our girls night because Jed and Kasen were gone to a roping.  Kasen called it "father/son time."  They went to Reno, NV and had lots of fun with Jason & Will.  Jed said Kasen just wanted to rope the dummy the whole time and Will was super nice to him.  Kasen said he had the best time of his life.

FATHER'S DAY - The Friday before Father's Day I got a call from Jed (who was still in NV) telling me that Tyler had been taken to the hospital.  Tresa and Jeff were gone to China and had been gone for awhile and still had 3-4 days before they got home.  Before they left they had moved Tyler into his own home with 24/7 staff to care for him.  Unfortunately, things hadn't been going so well and the staff didn't have enough time to get used to Tyler before Tresa and Jeff left for their trip.  They had asked us to go visit him daily while they were gone.  But like I said earlier, we all had gotten sick and only Jed had been able to go over there a few times.  So the entire week the staff had been having "problems" with Tyler and claiming that Tyler was being abusive and hurting them.  They ended up calling the police 2x during the week and then again that Friday night.  The ambulance took him to the hospital and the staff said that he was too aggressive and mean and they wouldn't take him back.  Jed was gone so no one could release him from the hospital, so Tyler stayed overnight.  I was super sick, but I loaded up the kids and went to the hospital to see how things were going.  Poor Tyler - it was so sad to see him.  We visited him the next day and then when Jed got home he took Tyler back to his house and stayed overnight with him.  The next day was Father's Day and so we went over to celebrate with Jed.  He didn't get any sort of special treatment on his special day because he had to stay with Tyler, but he didn't complain.  That is just how Jed is.  We stayed for awhile and watched a movie and had some treats and then we left and Jed stayed another night with Tyler.  I can' remember now how many days 1 or 2 before Tresa and Jeff got back, but there were a couple other little fiascoes with people showing up to work and friends who had volunteered to stay with Tyler telling them they couldn't stay and so forth.  The kids and I took some shifts to hang out with Tyler.  They had a lot of people that immediately offered to help which was so nice.  Then when Tresa and Jeff were on their way home, a few of their flights were delayed.  It was crazy.  I know it was so hard on them too worrying about what was happening from the other side of the world!  Luckily they made it back and Tyler was so happy to see them!

I had to take some pictures of this wonderful dad my children have.  He is such a good person and amazing father.  We are so lucky to have him!

The weather had finally started to warm up, so while at Tyler's we were able to hang out outside.  The kids liked bouncing him on the trampoline and making playdo animals.  I am proud of my kids.  Initially they weren't thrilled about having to go over and sit at Tyler's house during their first real week of summer break (finally people getting better and good weather), but they only complained right at first and then I didn't hear another word about it.  They love Tresa, Jeff, and Tyler and I'm glad that they were able to see that sometimes doing the most important or the right thing isn't always convenient or work on our time table.  They are good kids.

CAMPS - Ava & Kasen both did a session of art camp with Sarah Hillbig.  They signed up for the Superheros class which by the description seemed like it was studying famous artists of the past and learning their techniques to paint modern superheros.  Turns out it was not that.  My kids are not that into superheros, but we decided to all have a positive attitude and learn as much as they could about drawing people because they don't do that often.  Here are their pieces: Ava's are the first 3 & Kasen the last 3.

Kasen also got to go to his first scout camp this summer.  Last year it was on his baptism day so he was pretty excited to go this year.  His favorite things to do there were shoot bb guns & real archery.  There was a big group of boys that went from our ward which was also fun. Not related, but still a good picture: on a bike ride one Sunday afternoon, the kids couldn't help but stop for a quick rest on the grass. 

ACTIVITIES - With all the sickies and sore throats we went through a lot of popsicles this month!  Nobody complained. :)

Because of all the craziness with getting the house ready to sell and then the random showings, Kinsley's kindergarten home school classes really fell by the wayside.  We got a little behind, so we finished it up the first week of summer since we were home bound anyway.  She did awesome and has turned into a good little student and reader.  She really enjoyed learning about the life cycle of a frog during the last bit of school.  All my kids have loved that part and I have pictures of all of them demonstrating the different life stages. lol  On another note, one day Ava was complaining that she had loose teeth that had brackets on them.  I knew they were wiggly, but thought she was being a bit dramatic.  Then with her insistence on wiggling them, she pulled the wire out so I had to call the orthodontist and have them squeeze us in.  They were very understanding and said they would take the brackets off of the loose teeth and the hygienist kept saying, "But they aren't that loose, so they probably won't fall out too soon."  As she was squeezing her tool to pop off the bracket, the tooth popped right out.  She was so surprised.  The same thing happened with the other tooth.  It just goes to show you that you know your own body better than anyone else, even if they are a health professional.  Ava knew her teeth were coming out soon even though no one else took her seriously.  It was the first time the Tooth Fairy got teeth with hardware!  She left Ava $5 a piece for the bling.

JACKSON ROPING - Towards the end of the month we were all feeling good!  So we decided to go with Jed to the Jackson Hole roping in our new trailer for the first time.  I wanted to make it really fun, so I bought lots of food and snacks and made sandwiches.  We packed toys and blankets.  The Jackson roping can get really long and hot so I wanted to be prepared, especially with Dallin.  We ended up having a great time!  The trailer was so nice for someplace to go for shade and to hold everything.  The kids all wanted to ride the horses, even Ava who had to ride with short kid's stirrups!

Kasen and Jagger had the best time roping the dummy.  Kasen even roped with kids he didn't know outside of the arena.  He really thinks he is good and so he enjoys it.  The big boys had no success (I don't think they ever do at Jackson), but it was a fun day.  Still long - I wish someone would figure out that ropings are boring! Then maybe they would provide softer bleachers and figure out how to speed them up!

Here are some pictures of everyone trying to stay entertained during the day.  It was so fun to hang out with our Firth Erickson cousins.

Jed always does his best to try and make sure everyone of his kids gets the horse bug so he never has to give it up. 

Saturday Jed went back up to Jackson to rope again, but we opted to stay at the ranch and play with more cousins.  This time it was the Rasmussens!  Ava was the only one Dantzel would even glance at.  They became good buddies even though you wouldn't know it by the glare Dantzel is giving the camera.  lol  We love going to the ranch in the summer.  June is my favorite time up there.  Everything is green and beautiful.  The flowers are all over.  It is really a piece of heaven on Earth.

Grandma turned on the waterfall for the first time of the year for the grandkids.  They loved it, they all cut their feet open playing in it without shoes, but they still loved it.

We stayed until Sunday afternoon and then headed back to Boise.  This time though we left Ava.  She had worked out a plan with my mom to stay for the week and go to work with her each day at the Lofty Treats to earn some more money.  She wanted to save up enough to pay for writing camp.  It was actually pretty sad to say goodbye to her.  She got pretty teary too.  She said, "This must be how hard it is to say goodbye to your family when you go on a mission!"  Jed and I both didn't have the heart to tell her it was like this but 1000x worse. haha  She ran alongside our car as we pulled out and she was trying hard to hold back the tears.  We knew it would be a good experience for her, but like I said it was still hard drive away without her!  We got a picture the next night though of her doing the water bucket swing that Grandpa had taught her.  She was having a great time so that was good to see.  Plus my sister Sydnee and her family were living at the ranch while they were moving into their house that week so she had lots of distractions when she got home from work each day.

END OF MONTH - The week that Ava was gone I had decided I was going to really get going and pack up the whole upstairs.  Of course as it turned out I ended up getting severe food poisoning on a Tuesday evening after eating a Sonic cheeseburger.  I probably threw up 15x that night alone.  The next day I could barely move.  I was so weak and exhausted.  I have never been so sick before.  It was the worst thing ever.  I could have really used Ava that week to take care of Dallin.  Instead Kasen & Kinsley were in charge which was pretty scary.  However, they did good considering Dallin didn't die. It took me 2 full days of doing nothing besides sleeping and laying around to gain enough strength to do things again.  By Friday I was feeling a lot better. I tried to spend a little time each day doing some boxing even if I wasn't feeling great.  Packing is already hard enough, but add in a 1 yr old and it is pretty impossible to get stuff done!  I would pack something and turn around to find it unpacked courtesy of this cutie.  With that face it was hard to get too mad at him.