Well we are back from another great trip to Idaho. Mom and Eva made the long trip with us. Hali threw up once but not too bad. They slept a lot and were good most of the time. Eva helped a lot by feeding Colby while I entertained Hali with books, Flashcards, play dough, stickers, drawing, everything. We were able to visit our Friends Tara and Chad and there three adorable Munchkins in Pocatello. We meet up with Tina's family, Sara and baby Hannah and Heather (family Friend) at Costco in Pocatello, ate some lunch. Then to Blackfoot to see Sara's place. Colby threw up on the way there all over me yuck! Luckily sara's my size and let me borrow some clothes. I really liked her new home. They made lots of improvements and I love it all, especially the nursery. I love that they have lots of land and can make a fire right in their backyard.



Hali and Lizzy playing ring around the rosy
I miss having those two hanging out with each other. It is fun to watch them interact with one another.

On Sunday we went to Sara's church to see Hannah blessed. There was a lot of family and friends there we got to see too. My Aunt Goldie and Kelsey her Granddaughter. All of T.J's(Sara's husband) family. Angie and Marry (Friends of Sara's)and their families. The blessing went great! I loved seeing about 10 guys get in a circle holding this cute tinny little baby. IT was so sweet to watch.


Hannah Rylee

After the blessing we went to TJ's Parents house to have a BBQ. John (Tina's Husband) made some great honey mustard BBQ chicken. There were also great salads, dips, cake and ice cream!!!! TJ's parents place was amazing. I found a few things I would love to have in my home someday. Colby loved flirting with all the girls at the BBQ. Including Kelsey and Heather.He loved the attention.


Mom and Hannah



Sara, Hannah and Heather



All the grand babies and Eva

Later that night we went back to Sara's place to make a fire. I so enjoyed sitting around the campfire listening to great stories by TJ, having most of my family around, looking at the stars with a s'more in one hand and hot chocolate in the other. That is my perfect night.

We sadly had to leave the next day but enjoyed spending a few hours holding Hannah, taking pictures and watching the girls play. We drove up to Boise to met up with Jared and his family at their soon to be new home. We liked there place, it was nice and big. I can't wait to see what Summer does to the place. I am sure it will look great. Then we went over to Mckay's home and had a BBQ. McKay is a friend that grew up with Jared and Aaron in MT. They have three cute kids that played very nicely with Hali and Maci. I got a tour of there house too, lots of great Ideas. McKay's wife Katie is so crafty. I Loved seeing all the cute home decorations that she has made. We had a fun time visiting with old friends and family. That night we slept at Jared's Apt. Summer was very sweet and made us all beds and made sure we had everything we needed to sleep. Jared and Summer even woke up really early just to make us German pancakes...they were sooooo good. I crave them now!
The ride home was not bad, it didn't take as long as we had thought it might and were glad that we were able to visit so many people in such a short time. We did not get to see everyone but that would have required more time. We miss all of you and we thank you all for a great weekend.




Colby started taking a few steps this week. This was taken lat night.

Well its been busy these past few weeks. We had the Cheney Family down to visit then the Grigg Family. I love having a big family!








Hali and Lizzy in the new pool







Hali saying good bye to Lizzy









All the grand kids in the hammock with Aaron









The Griggs cutting down our tree







The Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream we made.








The cake I made for Momm's, Timothy's and Fouth of July party!








Colby and Amy playing on the jungle gym












Emma holding Colby






!


Colby watching the Ball

Idaho

We arrived in Rexburg Sunday and visited Andrew Bell and his wife for a bit.We had Pizza an Ice cream. Hali liked hanging out with my sister in Law Megan. Hali warmed up to her pretty quick, it's probably because she is such a fun loving person. That night we zipped over to St.Anthony to stay at Aarons Uncles house. When we lived in Rexburg We would visit them as often as we could. They have four fun kids ages 8-14. While we were there the boys played Wii together and I had fun with Aunt Michele scrap booking. She has so many great craft ideas I love Hanging out with her. I was so glad to spend some time with them.

On Monday night we went out to Wingers in Idaho Falls. We met up with Aarons friend Brent from college who had just gotten married 2 weeks earlier. We also had Megan and Andrew join us along with Sara and TJ. Sara is such a cute pregnant girl. I had fun chatting with Sara and Tj. Hali was glad too see them even though she acted like a grump at first, she warmed up later.



That night we stayed at Brent's house watch a movie and had ice cream. The next day we spent most of the time in our storage unit in Rexburg gathering and organizing our stuff. We also met up with our friends Troy and Keri for a short visit. It was nice to see them and their adorable Children they have an awesome family. That night we went back to Brent's for dinner and to sleep.

The next day we went to Pocatello to visit our friends Chad and Tara and their three kids.It was So great to see them and spend a few days catching up with them. We have missed hanging out them. While we were there we went bowling with Sara and TJ too.It was so fun!!


























Tara has a girl Shaylyn 2 years older than Hali and a boy Dalin 3 months older than Hali. They all got along pretty well when Hali played nicely.












Tara also has a little girl that is 2 months older that Colby they were so cute together holding hands.













Sara was able to come over to Tara's house and visit a few times before we left for our family reunion.

Family Reunion

We had most of my family here this week so it has been very exciting and eventful! My sister and her 3 kids from Seattle Washington drove all night and got here just in time for a Valentines Day breakfast. We had eggs, bacon and I made heart shaped pancakes for the kids. They liked them- I think. It was so nice to see them and I finally go to meet Amy Marie who is now almost six months old! She is such a cute and happy baby. Here's a summary of our week:

Amy Marie

Sunday: Colby's blessing- Aaron's family from Fairfield and L.A. were able to come so we had a full house. We had a nice lunch, passed Colby around and just enjoyed having a lot of family around for a while. I learned that David is very good at getting Colby to smile and even laugh a bit, it was so cute to watch the two of them.

Colby With Great Grandma Patrick



Colby Bell

Smile

Monday: Aaron was scheduled to go on an introductory flight but the weather was horrible so it was postponed till the 28th. Maybe then we can see if Aaron is a true pilot at heart. The Cheney’s arrived later that day. We had Lizzy go wake up Hali from her nap it was great to see them together again. Now we had all of the grandchildren together.

Tuesday: we, the Grigg's and the Cheney's went to the Jelly Belly factory and enjoyed the free samples and bought 6 pounds of belly flops! Hali and Lizzy held hands and looked out the windows at the Jelly Belly's, it was precious. It was well worth the drive getting there and back all the kids loved it! We started a 1000 piece puzzle that night that Aaron Grigg got at the Jelly Belly factory.

Wednesday: Stockton Children's museum with Grandma. I stayed with Hali, Lizzy and Mom most of the time. Hali loved getting into everything like the bus, helicopter, police car, fire truck, and tractor. She even let David paint her face! Lizzy did not like that too much- she thought it was too messy. For dinner I made some homemade pizza. It was one of Mikes favorite things to make and everyone loves it when he does, so I decided to give it a try. The pizzas were not exactly the same but I guess they were good enough because there were 3 pizzas and no leftovers. Hali and Lizzy loved hanging out with each other watching "ariel" or "cilarella" They danced and chased each other all over the house. Hali started to call lizzy "lizzy Ann" which is what I call her sometimes or "Elizabeth" and when chasing her or looking for her she would say "lizzil bizzil" which is what Aaron calls Lizzy. It was pretty funny to hear it coming from her.

Hali, Lizzy and Grandma at the Museum


Hali in the Fire Engine

Hali's face painted by David

Thursday: the boys all went shopping while the girls watched the kids and chatted. It was a nice day so the kids played outside. David and Timothy played very nicely with Hali and Lizzy for about an hour, that was so nice. David took some pictures of all the grand children. We also worked more on the puzzle. It kept us all very entertained for a few days it was fun to work on it all together, a great buy for 5 bucks. We finally got it together later that night but we are missing one piece, which really sucks.

Jelly Belly puzzle


David holding Colby, Timothy holding Amy, Grandma, Hali and Lizzy


Hali and Colby

Friday: everyone left early this morning, a sad departure, now the home is quiet and a bit more dull but we will survive. I enjoyed everyone here while it lasted and I must say we have a great family because I miss them all already.

Hali enjoys watching Cinderella and Peter Pan all the time. She loves the part when the mice tease the cat, she laughs and says "Oh that's silly." lately she has been going around saying "okay honey," or "what are you doing honey" anything with honey, it's pretty cute. She loves her new baby brother she likes to hold him and help change his diapers. She holds out the diaper and asks Colby "stinky diaper? Wanna change diaper? okay!" than begins opening the diaper for me and unbuttons his p.j. "wipe? okay" than pulls out the wipes. well it keeps her entertained. Hali can be a real punk at times she says "no" a lot and "leave me alone" or "go away." Luckily she only says it one or twice and forgets about it. She likes to tell us to “wait a minute.. okay,” when we ask her to do something. The latest thing she says is "Mom!Come here right now!" She also calls herself Hali Mae in third person like today she went up to big Dave and said "Hali Mae wants to go shopping." She is growing too fast I tell ya.




Colby is smiling a lot now and cooing-close to laughing. He is also reaching for toys and lifts his head. He is growing well and looks a little like Hali when she was this age and a lot like his dad.


Colby and Aaron