AUGUST

SUMMER WK 9 Continued - Aug 1st already!  We got a picture from Grandpa Foster this week showing the beginning of grain harvest.  It made me itchy!  Also we've been having a visitor at night.  Jed's spotted a raccoon and one night he spotted 3 babies with her too.  He took this picture as he was driving in from roping about 10 pm.  He didn't zoom in or anything.  Times like this I wish we had a dog...

The kids played outside a bit this week when it wasn't too hot.  Friday was a little bit breezy so I told them they had to go play outside with their imaginations instead of staring at screens.  They were playing pirates I think.  After a while, Kinsley came running in to find me.  Kasen had climbed a tree and was stuck.  I had to laugh when I went out to find him.  He was just a few feet off the ground.  Kasen and Kinsley played really well together that day, or so I thought.  I found a note Kasen had written to Kinsley earlier so apparently there was a disagreement at some point.  His note said: 

Sorry Kinsley, Here are some words that describe you. I hope they make you feel better.  Words that describe Kinsley: amazing, awesome, courageous, kind, helpful, great, obedient, sister, the best, brave, leader, friend, good person, and astounding.  I could keep going till I had 1 million words on this list.  I'm so sorry I was being so selfish and bad to you will you forgive me?  From Kasen

This week at scouts Kasen learned all about geocaching.  I had no idea what it was and my first thought was it was something with rocks.  Kasen taught us though that it is like treasure hunting.  So we downloaded an app that shows all the caches around us and we went and followed the clues to find them.  We found the first two right away - one had a few toys inside and the other was just a paper log.  Then we couldn't find any for the next 5 spots or so.  We talked Jed into going with us on Friday night.  We went  to about 5 spots and only found 2 boxes.  Each cache is different and can be micro in size to big.  We found metal tins, old cans, tiny rolled tubes, tupperware, etc.  The spots they are hidden can be anywhere too.  We found some under bushes, under rocks, under sidewalks, tied to trees, attached to fences, etc  Initially the kids were so excited to find treasure, but they are finding we find a lot more log books than anything else so they lost some interest.  It was pretty fun and maybe we will be able to do some more before school starts. 

We had told the kids during FHE that week that on Saturday we had a big surprise for them and tell them what it was then.  They were so excited all week and kept asking and talking about it.  We had decided that after all the chores were done inside and outside we would tell them.  They worked really hard outside that morning doing all their weeding and yard chores with Jed.  They had to do all their inside chores too.  They had all woken up around 7:30am to get done as soon as possible too.  Jed hadn't told me, but he had made arrangements with some old friends from our last ward to come out and ride his horse that morning.  They showed up about 10am and stayed until noon!  The kids were sooo disappointed but still tried to be friendly.  Kinsley kept coming inside where I was cleaning and whispering to me, "How can we convince them to be sick of the horse already and go home?!"  Ava had been invited to a puppy party at noon until 3pm so she had to leave and we couldn't do the surprise reveal.  So it was pretty torturous for Kasen and Kinsley to have to wait until after 3pm.  Finally Ava got home and we announced to them the big surprise...A TRIP TO CALIFORNIA!!!  Jed and I decided after he won in Vegas at the roping we wanted to take the kids on a fun trip to Disneyland.  So we have been waiting for 7+ months to tell them.  Well Jed has probably forgotten many times about it, but I have been bursting inside dying to tell them for the entire time.  :)  We are going to Disneyland, Universal Studios, the beach and Aquarium of the Pacific, and hoping to drive through Yosemite and the giant redwood trees.  I have been dreaming of taking my kids to Disneyland since they were born.  I'm so excited and they were too!  I found some little surprises for them that they each opened their eyes to that gave them clues about where we were going.  Everyone got something Disney themed and they got a big bag of Swedish fish.  I thought they would be really upset to have to miss school (especially Ava) but no they were screaming and jumping up and down.  Even Dallin was screaming, "YEA YEA DISNEYLAND!" Then they all ran and tackled their dad with hugs.  Only 4 weeks to wait now... It's going to feel like an eternity!

 SUMMER WK 10 - Sunday we got together with Tresa, Jeff, and Tyler for dinner.  Summer has flown by so fast we've hardly even seen them!  We went to their house for dinner.  Dallin was so very interested in Ryan's high school pictures - especially the basketball ones!  I haven't done monthly updates on Dallin since he turned 2 which means I've probably forgotten by now all the cute things he says and does.  Things still change so fast for a 2 yr old and you think you are going to remember everything!  But I know I won't so I'll write down a few things he does now that are so funny.  
1- He is still super obsessed with basketball.  He loves Space Jam and could watch it on repeat all day long.  He knows all the words to every song from the movie.  He practices slow motion dunks all the time because of the movie.  His new favorite dunk is two hands backwards.
2 - If you tell him no or explain to him he can't do/have something he says, "AWWW" and drops his chin down to his chest.  It is super cute.  He's also started saying, "AWWW MAN."
3 - He is such a tease.  He always wants to hold my hand.  He will yell to me, "A'mon (C'mon) Mom!" and reach out his hand to me when he wants to go anywhere, but then as we start going he will stop in his tracks and say, "Help Help!" and I'll say "Oh you're fine." and he will start giggling and giggling.  He thinks he is so funny because he knows he doesn't need help and he thinks he is really tricking me.  He does the same thing when I lay him down in his crib.  He will yell "Mom wait!" and when I turn around he will laugh and laugh.  
4 - He talks really good!  He gets frustrated at times when he doesn't get what he wants, but I've found that if I explain to him why he actually calms down and says Ok Mom.  He will sit still longer and loves hugging (mostly me.)  
5 - He loves copying people.  He rotates through who he copies.  The other night it was Kasen.  Anywhere Kasen went Dallin followed and wanted to do the same thing.  When Kasen was watching tv Dallin went and got a blanket and pillow so he could lay down just like Kasen. 

This week Ava and I went to the salon to get some hair TLC.  We went on different days and I realized as I was relaxing getting my hair done that I will miss having Ava and Kasen around all day to watch Dallin while I go do errands or appointments.  I will miss them also because I love them, but I will really miss their babysitting! lol  I noticed during bath time this week too how tan my kids are!  Kinsley was in the tub and she basically has two colors of skin.  Honestly I'm really happy my kids got their dads skin tone.  The only lines I've ever had are from sunburns.

This week I purposely didn't plan much aside from some school shopping.  One day I took Kasen and Kinsley to get supplies and then another day we all went to the mall for some school clothes.  I thought it would be really fun to have a lazy laid back week, but it ended up being hard and my kids fought a lot with each other.  They were ornery with me too.  It was so hot we didn't go outside much and I think they are all ready for school to start.  Ironically, just last week I was telling a friend I wasn't ready at all for school to start and wished I had another 2 months of my kids home all day.  Then this week came and I thought multiple times that I need them back in school!  I was so sick of screen time that mid-week we banished them and decided to play every game we had in the house.  It only lasted two games.  Too much bickering and poor-sporting.  I decided some weeks are just a lot harder than others and this week wasn't anyones best.

I mostly blame this week on the weather.  I really hate this kinda' heat.  I don't want to be out in it and it drains all my energy.  We have had temperatures like this for a couple of weeks now and we are all over it.  Thursday when I got a text from a friend inviting us over for a pool party and ice cream I knew it was exactly what we needed to get through the week!  We got to their house at 8 pm and it was still 99 degrees outside.  Seriously.  This summer I've decided that the greatest thing in life might be having your own pool in your backyard.  We have been thankful for good friends that invite us over to their pools.  Ava has had pool activities almost every week for mutual.  They (backyard pools) just seem like a good idea.  But nothing is happening in our backyard until Dallin is about 5 yrs older, if ever. :)  This little pool party really did get us through the rest of the week.  We even did yard work for most of Saturday in the high 90's and no one complained.

SUMMER WK 11 - We had a Manwaring FHE Sunday evening.  Patricia asked if we could have it at our house so it would be more like a picnic which was great.  We have tried to invite families (different families in the ward) over each Sunday evening so we can get to know different people.  It hasn't always worked out every week and we didn't get through too many families just because some Sundays there were other events or we were gone, but I found that my kids actually really liked it when we did have people over.  So we were happy to host an FHE!  It is always fun to catch up and chat.  Uncle Jed wanted to know what everyone was going to be for Halloween.  A few kids knew but all the parents were like What? Halloween? lol  Megan Zitlau and her kids were over visiting with Courtney so it was fun to catch up with them as well.  I'm thankful Patricia always organizes and puts effort into getting us together!  At the end when everyone was getting ready to go home Ava said, "Umm Mom Dallin is throwing up at the back door."  Sure enough he was throwing up and had already thrown up all down the hallway.  Ironically he threw up only on the rugs and completely missed the hard wood floors.  I think he just got too stuffed with sugar, juice, and ice cream while everyone was over.  He threw up a few more times and then passed out on me.  He was fine the next day.

Monday morning Ava had volleyball tryouts for middle school.  She was pretty nervous so I stayed for the whole tryout.  She did great and her serves were strong and good.  She looked great hitting, passing, and setting too.  Tryouts continued for two more days and she was so excited she made the A team for 7th grade.  In middle school they have a no-cut program for sports so anyone that tries out will be on a team.  The A team are the best players and then they continue forming teams (B, C, etc) based on skill level.  She will have practice everyday for the rest of the season along with two games a week starting the 2nd week of school.  She was very excited! At the parent -athlete orientation there was a slide in the presentation that I thought was great.  It talked about the best way to motivate student athletes.  It was a good reminder - too bad Jed wasn't there!  I will have to show him this slide a few times this season.

This week we had our last activity day event for the summer.  We went to the library for a little tour and a stem activity and talked about good study habits and learning.  I brought Kinsley along.  I had recently been called to be a teacher in Relief Society but was asked to go in to meet with the Bishop that night.  One of the counselors in the Relief Society presidency had received a stake calling so I thought maybe it was for that.  Turns out I got called to the YW's presidency as the 2nd counselor.  I had only taught one lesson in RS and had about 2 min to prepare for it because of a miscommunication so I was actually a little disappointed I wouldn't have a chance to prepare a better lesson ever!  I'm still actually really embarrassed about the whole thing!  It will be fun to be in Beehives with Ava for the next year though.  Activity has been fun and I'm glad I took Kinsley to a few activities even thought she wasn't 8 yet.  Kinsley also went to a little day camp this week.  It was a princess camp and they learned about manners and did makeup and had a tea party.  It was a cute idea.  Kinsley loved her makeup and wanted me to take pictures of her coming down the stairs.

Friday Jed had a World Series roping in Pocatello so we decided to all go and spend our last summer weekend in Rigby.  We drove over Thursday night and got to John and Coleen's about 12:30 am Friday morning.  We ended up leaving later than we wanted to because we traded in our van on a new van!  We wanted to finalize everything and not have to wait until the next week.  Our van had 96,000+ miles on it so we had been contemplating whether we should pay to have certain things fixed on it or look for something with less miles.  Jed really wanted to get a crossover type 4WD type vehicle, but I didn't want anything too big.  We've been thinking about what to do since June and driven different vehicles.  I had found this mini-van with only 18,000 miles for a really great price right in Boise.  I had gone and looked at it and driven it and long story short we decided that for the price and the miles it was the best option for us.  Even though Jed doesn't like having to drive around a mini-van when he is with us he likes the gas mileage and understands it is just more realistic with me driving kids here, there, and everywhere so often.  The other bonus is that we actually upgraded to a nicer model of van too so there are a few little perks but overall it is what we are all used to and it is great! 

Ava really wanted to do some service projects while we were there, so we decided on making some freezer meals for Johnny and Treena and also helping Grandma with any organizing projects around the house.  Ava is trying to finish her personal progress by the end of the year.  She is 82% done according to the computer.  This was something she thought she could do as her final 10 hr project.  She helped me pick all the recipes.  Then that morning we went shopping in Grandma's pantry as well as at the grocery store to get everything we needed.  Then the cooking started!  It took us most of the day and we ended up with 3 casserole pans of baked spaghetti, 2 casserole pans of green chili chicken enchiladas, 4 quart jars of summer chicken chili, 4 quart jars of regular chili, and a pan of peach cobbler.  We really appreciated Grandma letting us take over her kitchen and donating many pantry items for the recipes!  Then Ava helped Grandma clean out one of her cupboards behind the tv in the basement.  There was a lot of stuff in there, but Ava thought it was so fun to read all the old articles (most of them political) and see old yearbooks and such.  She found a letter to the editor from a man in Chicago writing about what a disgrace it was to go out to restaurants and have it be so expensive.  He wrote something about taking a girl on a date and she ate $2.50 worth of food and he decided he could never date her again because she was too expensive!  Ava laughed and laughed - she thought it was so funny.

Friday Jed went down to Pocatello roping, but didn't have any luck.  He hasn't been too successful this year.  So it goes with roping - you win one and lose the next ten.  Kasen and John went down to the roping for awhile and Jed said that when John came back, Kasen wanted to stay.  As they were driving home Kasen said, "Dad thanks so much for taking me to ropings.  It's my most favorite thing in the whole world.  This has been one of the best days of my life."  I thought it was sweet, but also I'm not 100% sure that Jed didn't just make it up or embellish it a bit so that I will want him to do it more... Saturday morning we went to see Treena and Johnny.  Treena had just finished the first round of chemo treatment and had tolerated much better than anyone expected.  She said she felt pretty good and looked good and was happy to be home instead of in the hospital.  Then we went out to Osgood where Grandpa Foster was cutting grain.  I love exposing my kids to farming and cows.  Not only was that my childhood, but I think they are such amazing professions as well.  There isn't a group of people on the earth that work harder than farmers I'm convinced.  So we rode around with my dad for a couple passes.  We didn't have Kinsley because she went and had a sleepover with Raleigh, but we had the rest of us 5 + my dad + Kholie his dog all crammed into the combine cab.  :)  It is pretty amazing to watch the combine work.  It basically runs itself - it's pretty amazing.  The only thing I don't like about grain harvest is how itchy it is.  I always get rashes up my arms, feet, and neck that last a few weeks after being around grain harvest.  I don't know how my dad stands it for a month long.  Dallin was a little hesitant in the combine.  My dad sat him on the wheel and he wasn't too sure about that.  I think he thought he might fall through the front glass window or something too.  Let's just say he wasn't sad when it was time to get out!

Then we took the kids out to see my mom and get Kinsley from Syd.  Abby and Jaxon came down too.  We lounged around and chatted.  Sydnee had left her kids' electric motorbikes there and so my kids tested them out and had a blast on them.  At first I thought they'd be pretty dangerous, but they had a great time.  Of course Dallin sees the big kids doing things and he thinks he should too.  So I had to take him on rides while holding the handles and running alongside it.  Abby had a better idea and just rode the bike with Jaxon.  She looked pretty funny, but wasn't as tired as me.

Ava would have died if she wouldn't have had the chance to see Baby Stocky.  All the kids love babies and Stockton is the only one that's still little right now.  He is a good, cute little guy.  Although I think Dallin scared him a bit! lol

Saturday evening we went back out to Ericksons.  Kasen was still all worked up about roping so he organized a family roping tournament.  Grandma helped Kinsley make a flag so she could be the roping judge.  Of course Dallin needed a flag too.  Jake and Megan and their family came up too and we had pizza and watched the roping tournament.  Kasen and Jagger won! 

Sunday we went to church with Grandma and Grandpa and then had dinner before we left for home.  It was a really fun weekend.  It always goes so fast and we dread the drive home everytime.  But we are thankful to be closer where we can know that going to Rigby to see family is just a drive and not an airplane flight across the country!

SUMMER WK 12 - We had Monday and Tuesday left this week for our last few days of summer.  I had thought in mind we would do some really fun activities to send summer off with a bang, but it didn't happen.  There were a few errands to run and the kids just wanted to stay home.  I thought about going to Roaring Springs or to a movie or something, but with Disneyland right around the corner I wanted to save our money for that.  In the end it was probably just fine that the kids got to be lazy for two more days. We brought home one of Ericksons horses that they said was really tame for the kids to ride. Kasen had been waiting all Monday to ride the horses so we were able to do that.  The air is so smoky from all the CA wildfires that it just looks like a gray backdrop because you can't see anything through it.

Ava had practices and Kasen and Kinsley had a back to school event on Tuesday afternoon. Monday night they got back to school blessings from their dad.  They were all pretty nervous and excited for Wednesday to roll around and be their...

1st day of the new school year!

Ava wanted to ride the bus so she got dropped off at 7:35am.  She was really excited about her classes and for four periods of GT instead of only 2.  She also was excited to be upstairs as a 7th grader and play for the volleyball team.  Kasen and Kinsley don't have any friends in their classes so they were both a little nervous.  Kasen had a man teacher and that morning he started getting really nervous and said he had a bad stomachache.  They wanted me to take them to school so I followed them into their classes to take one last picture.  One of them was happy about it and one of them was not happy about it.  lol.  Elementary school only had a half day of school on the first day (I mean really why even have everyone go?!) so they rode the bus home.  It is always a relief to see those smiling faces when they see you on the first day back to school.  Everyone knows the school year's going to be ok!  Dallin was not sad to see anyone go.  He was happy as a clam all day.  When they got home they asked him if he missed them while they were gone.  He said no.

Friday night Kasen had a birthday party and Ava had practice so these two decided to go swimming!  We turned the hot tub down so it feels like a nice warm bathtub since it is still so hot outside.  So it feels more like a swimming pool too. :) Dallin is pretty brave in the water with his life jacket on and loves going under, jumping in, falling backwards, diving off a tall seat into the middle (or into his sister as evidenced in the photo), hanging upside down by the bar.  Next year he can take swimming lessons and it will be good for him! Kinsley is a little fish and does all the above too so it's pretty much a monkey see monkey do with these too.

We got to celebrate our 3RD KASEN DAY already!  Kasen really wanted to go to a virtual reality place he went to a birthday party at but it wasn't open so instead we went to the bowling alley to play arcade games.  Kasen's favorites were basketball shooting and skee ball, but he also really liked the games where you pull a handle and it gives you a bunch of tickets.  I raced him on the motorcycle game and he beat me but I got him back at the alien shooting game.  The same thing happened with Jed - Jed beat him in basketball, but Kasen beat him in shooting.  He used all his tickets to buy a bear paw shaped back scratcher.  He kept saying over and over what an amazing deal it was and what a great job he had done picking the best prize.  Jed said he was so proud of his 80 yr old son Kasen. haha.  Afterward we went over to the village (next door) and Kasen got a treat at Wetzel Pretzel and we sat by the fountain for a bit.  Kasen is such a great boy.  He was having some trouble with not telling the truth earlier this year and has been working really hard at it and praying to be able to be brave enough to tell the truth no matter what and he has made so much progress.  He has almost finished his Faith in God book and is doing great in scouts too.  We are so proud of him!  We loved spending time with him and have really enjoyed doing these special days with the three older kids.  They are all so awesome!  We are so blessed and grateful to be their parents.

SCHOOL DAYS & STRUCTURE -  It is hard to get back into the rhythm of structure!  The last week and a half of August was a little rough!  Ava had volleyball practice everyday after school and a few games the last week.  So far they are undefeated.  Kasen started football practices again.  I had to jump right in to YW's.  Scouts. Regular meals & school lunches.  Waking up early.  Booo!  Everything just hits all at once.  The last Sunday of August we had to have a Beehive presidency meeting and a Stake Standards Night fireside.  It was basically church all day (luckily I didn't have other mtgs though like I used to as the YW president!!! YEA!!) I had noticed my friend Dawn and I were wearing the same dress at church, but never had the chance to catch up with her until the fireside.  :)  The weather has still been great so we try to play outside after dinner for a bit.  I thought this was a cute picture of Ava in her element.

Luckily most of our garden is done growing because no one wants anything to do with it anymore!  Kasen asked if we can just kill whatever is left out there.  We are getting zucchini and squash like crazy though and are already sick of them.  We have a lot of grapes - just not ready yet.  I'm going to try making some grape juice.  Our pumpkins are overtaking the garden too.  I planted too many for the space apparently. We are getting cucumbers and peppers and tomatoes and they are so yummy. Dallin has done pretty good with having all the kids gone.  He loves it when they get home of course, but a few times I asked him if he missed his siblings and he would say no. lol  He is still obsessed with basketball and would watch Space Jam all day if I would let him.  He knows all the words to the songs on that movie and will sing along.  He also knows the movie so good that if you try to skip a part he will freak out.  He copies everything Kasen and Kinsley do.  Kinsley has been practicing jump roping a lot and so Dallin must have a jump rope and says, "Dallin turn!" over and over until Kinsley stops and he jumps around while holding the rope.  Then he cheers for himself and says, "YEA I DID IT!"  Pretty much every five minutes he is saying "Dallin turn!" over something.  This kid thinks he is so much bigger than he is!