Where did summer go?

My kids started school today! This summer has flown by! It's been a crazy summer and we kept ourselves busy.
Here is a quick rundown of some of the fun we had!

In July Jake went to scout camp with the young men so I took the girls to Idaho for a week with my parents. This year while we were there we took a trip to Craters of the Moon. If you don't know what that is, it is a place in Idaho where there used to be volcanoes, many, many, many years ago. Now you can go and see inside the volcano cone and see the lava tubes and go inside some caves. It's kinda interesting and I hadn't been for a lot of years so we thought it might be fun.

Here's a picture of the girls down in one of the caves- This one, I think, was the Beauty Cave. We also went in the Boy Scout Cave, but we didn't make it very far. It was really wet inside. After I stepped in water over my shoe we decided not to go any farther.


This is the girls sitting on some of the Lava rocks outside of the visitors center.
Next we had a couple of birthdays! Juliana turned 5 and...


got to have a birthday party. She has wanted to have a water party since a neighbor had one a year ago, so we bought a little pool and played with wet sponges and water balloons. One of the things we love the most about where we live is all the kids in the neighborhood. It was fun having all the kids there.


Juliana's party was the same day as Christena's 11th birthday. She wasn't happy about it but I think she had fun too.
Jake had to work on Christena's birthday so a couple days later, she finally got to have her cake.

This year she wanted to have a Twilight cake. She's read the first 3 books but her mean mom and dad won't let her read the 4th book yet and she can't watch the movies until she is 13. She decided to buy the first 3 books with her birthday money and is now on her second time through them.
One of the biggest things that has kept us busy is finishing our basement! We finally have everything framed and we are getting ready to get the electrical done. Once that is finished we can get our first of the 3 inspections done.

Thanks to everyone who has helped! We couldn't have done it without you!
And now the first day of school. I can't believe how fast my kids have grown up. Christena is now in 6th grade, her last year of elementary school. Savannah is starting 4th grade, Olyvia 2nd and Juliana will start kindergarten in 1 week. It has gone so fast. Today it was so quiet with only Juliana at home. I can only imagine how quiet it will be next week with all my kids gone.
I don't know if I will like the uninterrupted time to work, or if I will have to watch disney channel all day so I don't miss my kids. I guess I'll know in a week!

The Road to ...

You know how they say that the road to h*%$ is paved with good intentions? That's the way I have felt lately about this blog. I have been meaning to update for the past 6 or 7 months but its kind of like writing in my journal. The longer I go without updating the more I have to write and I just don't know where to start.

First of all the most major thing that has happened in the last year is...

We built a house!


Here's the hole for when they first started on the house.
Next- getting closer to being done.

Last- finally finished. We moved in on January 23. We are so glad to be in our new home. We are still getting settled and everything is still kind of a work in progress. I'd say I'll put pictures of the inside up on the blog- but based on my record, no promises.

Our basement isn't finished so Jake and his Dad have been working hard for the last 3 Thursdays and they are quickly getting the framing done. They have 4 walls up so far and hopefully now that they have most of the planning done it should go pretty quickly. We are keeping our fingers crossed and the girls are really hoping because as soon as the basement is done they will all have their own rooms. I'm looking forward to it being finished, hoping the girls won't fight as much if they have their own space and I get a sewing room, so I no longer have to sew on my kitchen table.

And now some random pictures of the last 6 months or so : (sorry for the sideways pictures, I thought I had them turned before I uploaded them.)

Juliana on Halloween isn't she such a cute clown. It was the perfect costume for her because she always makes a laugh. She is such a goof!

Christena, Savannah and Olyvia all got guitars from Santa . They were very surprised and excited. Savannah had been asking for a guitar for the past year. Her new teacher gives guitar lessons to her and Christena- for free. It is part of the after school program at the school.
Just after Christmas Christena and Olyvia were in a play put on by the Missoula Children's Theater. It was a week long production. They auditioned on Monday, practiced all week and did two performances on Saturday. The play was The Princess and the Pea. Christena was a "Big Blizzard Bringer" and Olyvia was a "dust bunny." she is in the middle of the picture below. They are doing the "Dust Bunny Hop."
Another great thing we have found since we moved is a great ballet class for Olyvia. I think she is learning a lot, but the thing I like best is the price. Her teacher is the daughter of our Bishop and she only charges $5 a month! There are only 3 girls in the class and she has class for an hour once a week. She is always very excited to come home and show us all the new things she has learned.

Just after we moved and the kids started at their new school Christena's class did a wax museum. She had about a week to read a biography and get her presentation ready. She was Eleanor Roosevelt. She learned some really cool facts and found some great quotes that she wants to put up in her room once it is finished. She hated the costume I made her wear- but I thought it looked good, and hey what are mom's for!
Anyway that' s been our lives for the last year. I really will try to do better about keeping everyone updated on our lives. It has been a crazy year with no signs of all the chaos ending, but it has been a fun one!