Idaho Trip

So the travelogue continues... I promise I will try to get back to real life soon. But for the last month, I guess traveling has been real life. While we were out West visiting Scott's family, we were also able to go to Idaho to visit my grandparents and go to the Tucker reunion. It was a blast.  It was also great to see my siblings that I haven't seen for a while.  Here are some pics from the trip!

We split up the drive to Idaho Falls and stayed in Meridian ID the first night.  We stayed at the same Motel 6 that we had stayed at when visiting Boise previously.  James was about the same age as Alan had been, and he likewise loved the big mirrors over the beds.  We also got to swim in the pool before we left in the am.  The boys absolutely loved the hotel.

When we got there, a bunch of family was gone 4 wheeling, and then when they got back Scott took Alan for a little ride in the backyard.

Here we are at the Idaho Falls Chukars game 

Alan had more birthday celebrations in Idaho!

We tried out the Cocoa Bean in IF.  Emily is one of the bakers at the Cocoa Bean in Provo. It was delicious!

A little croquet action in the backyard

James had to get in on it too.

I'm not sure which Alan liked better, the ice cream or the animals at Reed's Dairy.

Playing the name game II

Here is a photo from when the oldest 5 grandchildren were little- sitting on a log in Island Park.

And here is a recreation of that photo at this reunion- sitting on a log in Island Park.

Sisters and boys sitting on the same log. :)

We went horseback riding at a state park.  Here is a pic of Scott before we left.

Here we are along the trail.  It was beautiful.

These guys didn't go on the ride, but they got led around on a little walk and LOVED it!  Especially James.  He did not want to get down. :)

We also took a little float trip down the river.

Uncle Evan

Jamesy

And Alan

Everyone had a great time

The boys were in the boat most of the time, but toward the end, Alan got in a tube with Hannah

All of my little girl cousins LOVED playing with Alan and James.  It was great!  Morgan thought James would look great with this new do!

He really did like roasting marshmallows.  I think the fire was a little hot. :)

And this is why he liked it.

Family photo... I'm honestly not sure if this was a happy or sad scream.

James and Meg

Mom and Steph

Eating some lunch together

Olivia, Morgan, and Hannah loved playing with James.  Big James came to say hi as well.

Another family photo in our reunion shirts.

We had a blast and it was so much fun to see everyone! Can't wait for the next round of celebrity meltdown! Love you fam. :)

Oregon trip

I am so far behind on blog posts!  Time to play major catch up and try to do a quick recap of all of our various vacation trips!  We loved our Oregon trip last month.  It was so fun to get to spend time with Scott's family and do some exploring.  We usually go in the winter, so it was nice to be able to visit in the summertime and do some more outdoorsy things.  In addition to Father's Day, and Alan's birthday and the zoo, here are some other pictures of our visit!

We attempted a little project.   We stripped wallpaper in the kitchen and painted.  And we learned some valuable lessons for when we do this in our house. :)

Apparently I didn't get a picture of the finished product, but here it is with the wallpaper gone.  Scott also replaced the blinds, which look really great now.

Even Alan got in on the paining!  (Notice we let him paint behind the fridge) :)

We had lots of fun playing and picnicing at parks with Grandma and Grandpa.

Getting so big!

But still needing a little help

Loving swinging with Grandma and Grandpa

And we even got to take a trip to the beach!  It was a little overcast...

But that didn't stop our boys from having fun!

They loved every minute of it.  

Here is a picture of the newest member of the family... Gidget.  She is a cute and active doggy and we all loved her.

If it weren't for the sand fleas, James could have sat here all day.

Here's Alan and Daddy flying the Spider-Man kite.

Alan thought it was pretty awesome.  He just kept running, even after the kite would plummet and drag it along the ground. 

And James was not concerned about the sandiness of the graham crackers.

We had to replicate this picture, as it was one of my favorites with Alan. 

Alan even found a rock mountain that of course he had to climb.  He kind of blends in, I guess. 

And I just think this is a great picture. Don't you think Scott looks like a celebrity?

It was a great trip!  Luckily we will get to see our Grandma and Grandpa Robertson again here pretty soon.  We love spending time with family.

Lose Weight, Feel Great

Ok, so this post is not about me, really.  One of my very best friends, who I love to death and greatly admire, is in a "Get Fit" competition in Texas.  It is sponsored by HEB (a grocery chain down there) and is called the Slim Down Show Down.  Lorena went to a fit camp and then has 4 months to compete.  She is one of 25 competitors, chosen from tens of thousands of applicants, and she is amazing.  There are three different aspects to the competition.  She is judged on (1) how much weight she loses, (2) how much her BMI, blood sugar levels, cholesterol etc. improve, and (3) her level of fan support.  This is where you all come in. :)  The winner gets $10,000.

Lorena has a blog at http://hebslimdown.wordpress.com/author/lorenasdsd/.  She posts regularly and she gets a point every time someone comments on her blog or shares it to facebook, twitter or google plus.  So take a chance to visit her blog and read about what she's been up to. (and please comment if you do!)  I love reading her blog.  She shares tips she's learned, she asks for ideas and motivation, she sings, and she just plain has a lot of fun.

If you are interested, please let me know if you'd like for me to share her posts with you as she posts them.  I can send you a private facebook message when she writes a new post.  She will get points for this even if you never read the blog or comment.  So if you don't mind getting a message when she writes a blog, let me know, and I will send them your way.  Of course if you then comment she will get more points, but like I said, even if you just delete the messages, she still gets points for having me send them to you.  Oh, and I should note that she does not get points for any comments posted on facebook.  Only comments posted on her blog at http://hebslimdown.wordpress.com/author/lorenasdsd/.

All of this support means so much to her and gives her motivation to keep competing.  I think she is amazing.  She is coming to visit in a few weeks so I'm sure you will hear more about it then.  And in an effort to support her (especially when she is here) I have decided to try to eat healthy from now until the end of her visit!  (Don't worry, I just ate one last brownie before I typed that.  But now I am starting clean.)  Good luck Lorena!  We are rooting for you!

So I tried to find a picture of just Lorena or Lorena and me.  I know I have my old pictures somewhere on this computer, but I can't find them.  But I found this hilarious picture from when Scott and I were dating.  And I couldn't resist posting it. :)

Happy Birthday Alan!

When we were in Oregon, we got to celebrate a very special day.  Our big boy turned 3!  He was so excited and we had a fun filled day.  There is nothing quite like a birthday in the eyes of a 3 year old.

We opened presents that morning.  He loves to play with little animals these days.

As you can see, he fared well.

Apparently he was quite concerned that someone might take away his Curious George book and felt the need to guard it with his life.

Ahhhh, that's better.  Grandpa got his fair share of reading in while we were in Oregon.

Alan was so excited to ride on the "Max Train."  Here are some sweet looking Robertson  boys.  Unfortunately Grandma couldn't come and we missed her greatly.

Where else would we get off but in the Robertson Tunnel?

To celebrate Alan's birthday we went to the Oregon Zoo!  He was thrilled.

It was a beautiful day and so many animals were out and active.

The tractor was a hit as well.

As was the petting zoo

The zoo was so big we only got to see a portion of it before two little boys were pretty tired out.  Alan especially loved the elephants and luckily they were one of the last things we saw.

Alan helped Grandma make this special teddy bear cake.  He did all of the jelly beans all by himself.

We had a bbq, played some games, and had a little homemade pinata.  All of which made for a very happy little boy.

What a great guy on a great day.  Happy birthday Alan!  We love you so much!