Father's Day

This weekend was awesome. Brian surprised us by coming into town Thursday night. We didn't think we'd see him until Friday or possibly even Saturday morning. So it was awesome to have him for an extra day. Plus he was able to go to my appointment with me! We've scheduled an ultra sound for July 23rd. I do have to say that the weekends go by way to fast. For anyone who doesn't know Brian is working for his parents in Evanston, while the boys and I are still in Laramie. We only see him about every other weekend, but we seems to stay busy enough that the summer is flying by.

The boys loved having their Dad home! They had a special movie night, where they stayed up late. Brian made the boys popcorn and let them eat junk food. Saturday they were attached to him, doing everything he did.


Of course this Father's day was a little different. Brian got up with the boys so Mom could sleep in and he made french toast for everyone, instead of us making him breakfast. I totally take advantage of him being home to get in as much sleep as possible.

Brain also brought one of his new suits to wear for church. So the before promised picture is included. Wow! He looks good! No wonder I married him so quickly.

Now the countdown begins to our next big event, a week camping at Flaming Gorge!!! (5 days)

Visit from Terry and Kaysi

Saturday night late, Terry, Kaysi and their boys stopped at Kody and Tiffany's house. It's been forever since we've seen our old friends and so took advantage of the opportunity. Everyone was way exhausted, so we only stayed for an hour but it was fun to catch up with each other. We really do miss them! As you can see the boys all enjoyed playing the PS3.

Tiego, Quinn and Kanyon
I thought that an appropriate picture to take, but didn't get, would be one of the dads (Kody, Brian, and Terry) playing!

To the Park AGAIN!

With the nice weather we're finally enjoying we've made it to the park not once but twice this week. Which is blessings as downstairs is not a option right now and living quarters upstairs have been reduced for extra stuff.

Our friend Jamie has helped Quinn practice the monkey bars. He's still not ready to do them by himself but with a little bit of help he can make it all the way across.
Jamie even convinced Carter to give the monkey bars a try (or the monkey crawl as he calls them). He kept telling her that he couldn't do them until he turns 4, which unfortunately has been his response lately to trying new things. But he finally gave it a try and was pretty pleased with himself!
Because of flooding the Green Belt and the two parks next to it are closed indefinitely. This means that we haven't been able to do our 5 and 10 mile bike rides yet at Day Care, but the kids are still enjoying biking the short distance to Kiwanis Park.

Just Because

Many have heard that this week didn't just bring the flood but also a SMALL car scrape. NO ONE WAS HURT. Actually happened in my drive way. One vehicle was parked, so no one was even it. I thought I'd put pictures up for anyone who's interested. Cost for both vehicles is going to be under $5,000. Which is actually amazing for vehicle costs, plus insurance is covering it. Estimated cost for the red van was actually a lot less than I'd imagined. However, the estimate to fix the scrapes on my Yukon was nearly twice what I was expecting. Even thought my vehicle is a little scratched I am very thankful no one was injured (and that I wasn't the driver.) I hope that's okay to say, and just want everyone to know that I hold absolutely no animosity or hard feelings towards the driver in anyway. I know that what happened was an accident!
As far as the flooding goes, the basement is already dry. Once the water was gone Casey borrowed fans and ran them to make sure nothing was left damp. He had to remove the bottom foot of sheet rock due to water damage. And already is starting repairs. I'm pretty much useless as I don't know how to do anything, but he and Ashely seem to have things well in hand. Once again I am very blessed that they were here. And nothing else that has happened this week has changed my mind about that fact!

So Very Blessed

This last week I've been watching the river rise higher and higher. I've simple been amazed at all the water! We've had so much this last couple of weeks. However, I never imaged for one minute that the water would rise high enough to reach my house. I'm not even sure I truly comprehend what is happening. It has become surreal.

I drove to work this morning amazed at the flooding on the streets. I was very concerned for homes in Laramie when I got to work and herd that Kirk was helping to organize people for the city to fill sand bags. Even after Casey called me and told me that we would need to more everything out of the basement I couldn't believe that the flood would actually reach my house.

I was hoping that Casey was just being extra cautions. I called around and found people who were willing to help. In fact, I was very surprised by the number of people who showed up to help. Friends I hadn't thought to call. People I didn't know. It was very humbling. I even brought a few of the older kids from work with me and they did an amazing job hauling all my books up the stairs (And anyone who knows us knows we have a TON of books.) The kids kept saying things like, "Wow, with this many books it looks like a library!" And, "If you read this many books you must be smart." But because those kids worked hard and hauled up all the small things the adults were able to get the big things out, including furniture and beds that had to be dismantled. Casey and Ashley were even able to get the carpet up and out!

Even now as I watch the water slowly seep into our basement all I can feel is gratitude. Already things could have been so much worse. I cannot express my gratitude that Casey and Ashley were here when this happened. I shutter to think of what might have happened if they had not been here. I would have come home from work totally unaware that the water could reach my basement to find all my stuff ruined in the water. Casey seemed to know exactly what to do! It has been so nice just to follow his direction and not stress about what to do. Because of Casey, I haven't had a mental break down. I just hope he's not close to one himself.


I am so amazed at all the people who showed up to help us move thing out of our basement. It was even organized so that when I came home we could get to everything we needed (Even the kitchen table was clear and that never happens). It took 3 hours, but everything was out before it could get damaged in the water. I am truly blessed with amazing friends who come to my rescue!

At this point in time I'm still not sure what will happen, but I will be sure to keep an updated. I know that it is in the Lord's hands. I wouldn't want it any where else.

A day at the Park

Who would have thought that with all the rain we've had this week, we could actually have a day at the park! It was actually just a morning at the park, as the moment we made it back to the house the heavens opened and water poured out of the sky, but still . . . It was awesome to finally get out and run and play. We actually biked all the kids from day care down to the park. Putting the little ones in bike trailers. We even took a lunch so we could have a picnic!

Quinn is determined to learn the monkey bars. He saw his friend, Tiego, go across and it has now become his goal to also make it across. I think it was a little bit more difficult/scary than he was anticipating. Kris was awesome and helped him across many times. He's going to need some more practice, but if he keeps his determination I'm sure he'll be able to master them.

Quinn did learn to climb up the outside of the slide, just like the big kids. The first time he had a hard time getting off at the top. But the other kids were more than willing to help him. And it wasn't too soon after that he decided to try it again and eventually was able to do it on his own. He was very pleased with himself. I just can't believe how fast he is growing up.

Carter has also mastered new tricks at the park. He can now climb the twirly ladder without help. So he can down the big slide all by himself. Thus he was torn between the slide, and the swings. If he could get someone to push him, he might stay on the swings forever. While he was swinging, he yelled, "Mommy, please you come push me like a dog!?!" Meaning he wanted an under dog (where you running underneath while pushing the swing) the way he said it was too funny. Needless to say we are all looking forward to the next nice day when we can go to the park! {In the picture with Carter is Kris' son Kyle Dory, whom both of my kids just love.}

It's time to ride!

Summer has finally come to Laramie!
Which means it's time to ride! Quinn has been looking forward to summer bike rides since we had to put his bike away for the winter, nearly 9 months ago. Now that he can ride without training wheels he can go on the longer rides with the "big" kids at work/daycare. However, he quickly learned that he just couldn't keep up on his little bike. After a lot of encouragement and help from Kyle and the other kids he looks up to, he was convinced to try a slightly bigger bike. It took a couple of times to learn how to start, since he can't touch the ground with both feet. But now he's a riding fool! And so proud of his new accomplishment. All I here from him is, "When can we go for another bike ride?!"
Now that Quinn is riding a bigger bike, he kindly gifted his little bike to his younger brother. The best part is that Carter has grown enough in the last 9 months that he can actually reach the pedals! He wanted to ride so bad last year, but I just wasn't able to find a bike that small. Carter is now so excited to be able to have his own two wheeler. He sometimes gets discouraged that he can't be fast, and often get's stuck (because uneven gravel and training wheels are a hard combination when learning to ride.) However, it would not surprise me if I am removing his training wheels before summer is finished.

Quinn Cuts His Hair

This last month or so we were trying to grow the boys' hair out. Since about 5 or 6 months both of my children have had buzz cuts of some kind or another. But with Quinn starting Kindergarten this fall Brian wanted him to have a more grown up hair cut and insisted that if we just combed it ever day with lots of gel, eventually it would learn to lay down. Well this week I noticed that Quinn's hair had a very different look to it. When I realized that he had cut it with a pair of scissors he didn't even try to deny it. Instead he just looked at me and said, "Mom, its long . . . like a girl's!" Well who could argue with that.


Luckily the most amazing, fabulous, and wonderful hair beautician in all of Laramie came to my rescue. (Anyone with any doubts to who I'm talking about, her name is Cari Brinkerhoff and don't hesitate to call me if you need her number!) With in 10 min. 15 tops she had given Quinn a beautiful (or in this case handsome) summer hair cut. And within the half hour she'd also cut Carter's so he could be just like his big bother. I can never thank her enough!

Memorial Weekend

So this really is the perfect time to start a blog. We've had a pretty awesome weekend and I even have picture to share! Of course who know how long it will take before I have something this awesome to share. It will be interesting to see how often this blog gets updated.

I loaded the kids into the car Wednesday night and took of from Laramie to Green River. We stopped and stayed with my parents for a couple of days before taking off for Evanston to spend time with Brian. Of course one of the boys favorite things to do when at Grandpa Johnson's is to go and see the horses. We actually didn't get to go for a ride, as the weather didn't cooperate. But the kids did get to help feed them and even sit on them. The horse in the picture is Dulce. The two year that my dad has been raising. A beautiful horse, and very well tempered, but boy is he going to be big. He already stand 15 1/2 hands tall.


Saturday we spent the day in Salt Lake. Mom and Dad Stokes met us in the afternoon at the Gateway mall. We had an awesome dinner at Tucanos. (I may be addicted to the raspberry Brazilian lemonade) Then went and watched the new Shrek movie. I'm still not sure what I thought of it. Anyways, if you ask the kids; the best part was playing in the fountain. Usually when we're there it's too cold or we have a bunch of stuff to get done. So it was fun just to relax and let them run through the water. Luckily I'd brought a change of clothes for them as they were soaking wet! Although their shoes were so wet that they had to go barefoot for the rest of the day, but they didn't mind as they got to be carried. On the way back to Evanston we stopped at the Men's Warehouse and Brian was able to buy a new suit! It was his birthday/graduation gift. He looks so good in it! And of course they had an awesome Memorial sale, so he actually got 2 suits. A light gray one that has a vest with it, and a dark charcoal one. With any luck when they are all finish with the alterations he'll let me take some pictures and post them as well.


Monday, Quinn and Carter helped Grandma in her greenhouse. They had a lot of fun digging in the dirt. Then I helped them plant their vegetables. They are so excited! They even helped haul out water. Quinn planted cucumbers, carrots, and radishes. Carter also planted cucumbers, but luckily I was able to talk him into choosing something different from his brother and he planted sweet peas. Mom Stokes planted other things as well; including strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes, etc. She was even sweet enough to try planting watermelon just for her grandsons. This is my first time attempting anything like this, so it will be interesting to see how it all turns out. Luckily Mom Stokes seems to know what she's doing and I have no doubt that the seed are better under her care then they would have been with me in Laramie.


And of course after all the work we had to play hard as well. Both boys LOVE the four wheeler. They would be off for 2 min. before they decided that it was time for another ride. Luckily Brian loves driving around on the thing as much as his boys do. They usually didn't have to plead to long before he'd give in. Luckily it wore them out enough so that they slept the whole way back to Laramie.