Luke is 9!!

Luke got to celebrate his Bday in our new house.  Since Jared had a flexible schedule he stayed home and we had a family party day that Luke planned! 

He requested blueberry pancakes, bacon and buttermilk syrup for breakfast.

He wanted to do a drawing contest and picked Abraham Lincoln as the subject. 

Here's Tagg's Abe Lincoln.

Jared took all the boys to see Diary of Wimpy Kid 3 while I stayed home with Lydia.  He got to open presents when they got home.

Rees just being himself.

Ahh yes, more legos and money to buy even more legos!  Rees got them all hooked on Lord of the Ring legos, so now they all want them to play with. 

He wanted appetizers for dinner with a movie, we ended up watching Journey 2.

Then of course the icecream cake.  Cookies n cream, cookie dough with caramel and mint oreos - he picked it all out. 

Luke is usually quiet and reserved, unless you get him going.  He thinks a lot about what others think of him.  He is good natured, very nurturing and loving and we love him oh so much!!  He loves to be outside riding bike, playing, some sports, he does have energy!  Can't believe he's already 9!

New Home

While on vacation in UT I was busy calling, looking, faxing to try to pin down a house for us to move into.  We got this great house in the beginning of July while we were in UT!  We feel so blessed that it worked out! 

Rees was stoked about the basketball hoop!

I tried to cook our first Sunday meal from boxes, we hadn't unpacked the kitchen yet. 

I actually managed to make pancakes for breakfast and good ol spaghetti for dinner.

The living room off the kitchen.  We love the extra space!!  There is a garage, storage room - which I love, and a separate family room! 

Not to mention the awesome backyard that the boys LOVE!  There is Jared already mowing the lawn, welcome to a house!  Yeah yardwork!  We are slowly getting settled in and figuring schools out and meeting our new ward. 

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

For those of you who haven't heard Jared got a teaching position at GU in Spokane, WA.  We are really excited for the experience and to move on in our lives, but so sad to leave our great ward, neighborhood, and dear friends. :(  It makes us realize how blessed we really were.  We enjoyed our time in OR and will remember it always, so many great memories. 

Packing up

The boys had some fun playdates with friends before we left.  These cute girls were our neighbors for years and so fun!

Just the beginnings of the kitchen - the worst room to pack!

Our good friends had a BBQ for us before we left and the boys had fun playing

Some of Darin's best buddies - Wyatt, Carson & Max

The EQ came in full force to help pack all our stuff that barely fit.  We finalized some things and spent one more night in our OR home then headed out the next day for WA!

Goodbye our house of 4 years!

The little boys were so excited to ride in the truck with Jared.  I just let the tears fall as we left town, I had been so crazy busy, it finally sunk in.  It took us 11 long hours, but we made it! 

Rees 11 Bday & Arrow of Light

We celebrated Rees' Bday on Sunday after his real one.  I can't believe he is 11!  He is such a big help and really knows how to handle his siblings and has watched them a lot for us lately.  He is such a good kid!

He loves BYU football and coloring things with sharpies - mainly maps.  He also got money for a lego set that he later purchased in WA.  He got a Lord of the Rings set, he's been obsessed with LOTR.  He read the first book so we let him watch the movie, now he's hooked.  He's trying to get through book 2 now.

He opted for an icecream cake with Reeses peanut butter cups and caramel.

Later that night the scouts put on a small Arrow of Light ceremony for him, since we would be moving and miss pack meeting.  They did such a great job and we really appreciated the effort for Rees.  Rees got his Webelo badge a little while back and worked hard to earn his Arrow of Light in time.

He had some great scout leaders that helped a ton.

Had to get this shot of Jared and his good friend Jonathan...we will miss them too. 

His cubmaster made these headdresses for the ceremony...too cool.

We are so proud of Rees and his self motivation to achieve the advancements that he has.  Glad he's a good example to his younger brothers!  Rees also finished the Book of Mormon in route to WA and will be going to a real BYU game in Provo as promised by Jared!

More Goodbyes

Since we were gone for 3 weeks on vacation, I tried to throw together a going away open house for all the boys for their friends to come say goodbye since our 2 weeks in OR were a little crazy.  A lot of people were out of town but some came. 

Some neighborhood boys

Some of Rees' good buddies

Luke and his buddies

So glad the boys had such good friends in OR. 

Bday Fun & Tears

The week right after we got back to OR was cub camp for the older boys.  Although Rees was done with Webelos he was still 10 for part of it, so we signed him up and he went.  During the week he had his Bday.  After cub camp on his Bday we went over to our good friends the Hales for some party time and goodbyes, since they were leaving on vacation and it would be the last time we were all together before we moved. :( 

Rees with an obnoxious candle they made at cub camp, we thought they would get a kick out of it.

All the boys had fun playing together like usual...we will sure miss them.

Hazel and Lydia were destined BFF's...we'll see if there friendship lasts over long distances. :) 

The group minus Hunter.  All these kids get along so well.  Not to mention their mom is one of my best friends and such a great person that has taught me so much!  I pretty much had to run out the door after choking out goodbyes so they wouldn't have to see my ugly cry.  I hate goodbyes!  We love you Hales and miss you! Thanks for making Rees' Bday fun!

Lydia 1st Birthday!

We finally made it home to OR and celebrated Lydia's 1st Bday.  She still didn't know what was going on. :)

Everyone has to cry on their Bday...right?

The youngest 3 w/ Mom

Opening her presents.

Non moldy bath toys...yeah!

And a pink silly pig.

Of course we let her go at her cake.  She liked the frosting and it took her a while to see that their was actual cake underneath. 

I finally had to cap her off...she would eat forever if we let her.  We cannot express enough how much we love our little Lydi, she is so much fun to have in our family!  Love you Lydia!