Finally the END of July!!!

And for once I thought it was going to slow down this last week of July. HA HA was I wrong.

Monday we had our 4H group over for the end of the summer party!! Pizza, Ping Pong, Volleyball, and the Waterslide! Wahoo!! We and when I say "we" I mean Ben, had a great group of kids, Oh and an awesome Leader...way to go Honey!!!

They had a lot of FUN!!!

Later that night when we were up in Island Park taking care of the cabin for my Grandpa Stoddard, I received a phone call from my friend Jess. She is the new morning Co-Host on 105.5 The Hawk. She asked if I wanted to go to Boise Thursday for the Lady Antebellum and Tim McGraw Concert. Oh and we had backstage Meet and Greets to Lady A!!! UH YES of course I did!!!

Wednesday Enjoyed Rigby Lake with my kids and the kiddos from Apple Tree.

Thursday We left at around noon from IF and were on our way to the concert. We arrived in Boise got settled in our Hotel Room (thanks 105.5 again) and got ready for the concert. So we got there and ended up being the first ones in line to meet Lady A!!!

It was an amazing concert and I had soooo much fun! Thanks again Jess!!!

Reunion

So yes this month has been completely booked! Last week we had the Garn reunion, Pioneer Days here in St. A, and my 10 yr class reunion (which I skipped out on). Needless to say plenty to choose from.

My Nephew Colby riding his calf Friday night

Parade on Saturday
G&G Garn..they are the greatest!

My fam enjoying it...Can't ya tell Ben totally loves Parades, NOT!

After the parade we went to Rainbow Lake and had a lot of fun cooling off and getting some sun!

Ben and Kreston

Kaiden and Cass enjoying the Saturday night Rodeo


Then on to Sunday with the annual Rocket Launch after church...
The Contenders
During...
And the Winner is....
Megan Garn!
Ha Ha inside joke for the Prize (Vinegar=Grandpa & Chocolate=Grandma)

Busy Summer....

So far this Summer has been crazy busy....

June was full of regular season baseball, Cassidy's Birthday, and of course raising pigs and more baseball. Even Ben has been playing church ball.Then July started out with the Stoddard Family Reunion up in Island Park at the cabin on the 3rd. On Monday we went to Jackson and played at the Aquatic Center and then that evening went to Bar J. Tuesday went to West and saw Seven Brides for Seven Brothers @ the PlayMill. We had so much fun. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Stoddard. Wednesday the 7th, Kaiden turned the big 10!!! We went to Ross Park and had a blast. That weekend we had Kaiden's final All-Star Baseball Tournament.

Getting ready to steal home.....Stole home and was SAFE!!!

After the games were over we headed up to Kilgore to meet up with the rest of the Carpenter crew for the annual campout. Enjoyed a relaxing rest of Saturday and Sunday then back to work.

And just when we thought we didn't have anything planned for a weekend some good friends of our invited us to come down to Bear Lake and stay. So we figured, Why stay home? Its not like I had mounds of laundry that needed done or anything;) So we enjoyed the weekend with the Robisons and Reiss'. Thanks again, Mike and Jamie!!

Next time just spend the extra money on the pop up one, Mike!

Kreston loved it!

Now we are preparing for the Garn gang to start rolling in for a fabulous weekend of fun. Let's hope we survive the rest of the month. PHEW!!!!!

So it begins....

Ok so for a long time now people have been telling me to jump on the "blog" ban-wagon. So here I am. I can't promise I will be very good at this but hey I love to try new things and I really have been wanting to keep a journal, so here we go! I have a lot of friends and family that I keep in touch with via Facebook but I know there are a lot that blog too. So this will be a great way to keep in touch too. So a brief catch up on the last 10 years....Yes Ben and I have been married that long. Hard to believe I know. But time flies when you're having fun :) Also, we have been blessed with 3 awesome children. Kaiden is 10, Cass is 7, and our little caboose/surprise, Kreston is 22 months. We were completely content with having a boy and a girl but we found out we are not always in control of things ;) For me not such a good thing since I tend to be a bit of a control freak about some things. But we are so grateful for the love, joy and happiness Kreston's sweet spirit has brought into our home. So for the first 8 years of our marriage we lived in Rigby (Labelle actually) and loved it there. But strange and unknown circumstances brought us to little Chester, ID. At first I did not want to move and was so mad, but after being in Chester now for 2 years I almost wish we could've been here sooner. I love it here. I always said I never wanted to move back even close to St. Anthony, (or marry a cowboy for that fact), so never say never. But I'm glad I'm here. Its been really good being close to my parents and grandparents especially during these last 2 years. Also getting out of our comfort zone was good for us. My kids love living in Chester too. They have plenty of room to ride their bikes, horses, play ball, raise pigs(4H), dogs, cats, and now chickens. Ben loves that he can do all the farm things he use to as a kid. Me, well town is close enough that I can go shopping :) But being raised on a ranch I am glad my kids are learning to work.
Ben worked as a welder and has been employed by the State of Idaho for the last 5 years. I am a Director at Apple Tree Learning Center in Rexburg where I have worked for the last 9 years. It has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. To be able to take my kids to work with me everyday and go love on them and see them when I want and for them to gain self confidence and independence has been great for us.
Its amazing how fast time has flown over the last 10 years and the things I have taken for granted. So I'm hoping this will help me keep perspective on the things that are really the most important in this lifetime. And who knows, you never know what may come next...a milk cow?? Ha Ha!!!