We are blessed!

My family has been blessed yet again. Dean and I are preparing to leave for Hawaii and are so excited for our time together visiting a new place. Then we were thrilled to find out that Dean and I will also be traveling to Sydney Australia in October with my mom. How lucky can two people be??? Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket! Ha! Anyways, there are still a few details to be worked out, but it will be an amazing experience and I get to share it with people I love. Doesn't get much better than that!

Hyro-plane boat races!

Well, once again my family was able to take advantage of a super experience. Someone at Dean's work had some extra tickets to sell in a private viewing area of the boat races this weekend. I was slightly sceptical since we had never been, wouldn't know anyone at the tent (companies rent/sponsor tents) at it was expensive (but I am cheap) but of course I told Dean we could do it. So we were off to the races! Today started great because we were also given a parking pass which proved to be worth its weight in gold. We were able to park very close to the tent so when we were hauling our cooler and chairs and bags of goodies we didn't have far to go. I was so happy when there was a couple there that we knew in our tent area so we were able to hang out with them. Katie loves them and the lady is pregnant so Katie loved talking to her about the baby girl in her belly. The tickets we bought proved to be a good deal when we were fed lunch, and had all the soda, water, Mikes Hard Lemonade and beer we (Dean) could drink. We also get breakfast and lunch and drinks again on Sunday. The boat races were an experience. They are so loud and fast, they go like 200mph. In between races there were air shows. One had US Coast Guard helicopters that demonstrated a rescue in the water. Another had some old plane that I didn't know anything about. Then the BEST had a fighter jet that was awesome! It was so much better than any air show I had seen. Usually there are groups of planes that fly in cool formations, but this guy was alone and was showing us all the cool stuff they can do. The sound was incredible! Katie hated that part because she hates loud noises, but it was amazing for the rest of us. The tent we were at was also right on the river so we were able to cool off. Katie wasn't sure what to think of the river since it is dirty compared to a pool, but she had fun. Tomorrow is supposed to be even better since there are more boat races. Now we are spoiled because we will have a hard time going from private viewing area to general admission next year!

Reno and weekend in Boise

Katie and I had fun a couple weekends ago. I went to Reno with my mom, brother and sister-in-law, while Katie spent time with the family in Horseshoe Bend. She was so excited to see everyone, especially her cousin Carson. I just couldn't win in Reno, but had a blast loosing my money :) It was so great to spend time with my family and it was Josh's birthday weekend so I was glad I got to see him. He really is the best brother a girl could ever have and I love him so much. When Katie and I were gone Dean was great as usual and cleaned the house and mowed the lawn. He watched the UFC fight at home and he loves those fights! He said it was the best knock out he had ever seen. Katie and I also saw my best friend Stacie before we headed back to Washington. As always it was great to see her! Here are some pictures of the weekend.

Relief!

I didn't realize the stress that it was causing until it was taken care of, but today we finalized a daycare situation for Katie. I didn't think it was weighing on my mind much, but once we got it figured out, I just felt like a huge weight had been lifted and I could take a deep breath. So, Katie will be staying with a family that lives in our subdivision and we (Dean, Katie and myself) are going to dinner at their house next week so we can all get to know each other better. Katie and I had lunch there the other day and she really enjoyed herself and didn't want to leave. Things just keep coming together.... :)

July already

We had a great 4th of July. My mom was here for a few days and it was so great to see her. Dean and mom golfed Friday morning, we swam, ate, went to wineries and tried to give her a tour of the town that I am sure was more confusing than anything. It was a great time, except for the heat! It was over 100 degrees and it sucked!
Katie and I had lunch with a lady yesterday to see about daycare when I go back to Boise for school. Katie really enjoyed it there so hopefully it all works out.
Katie and I will be heading to Boise Saturday morning. I will drop her off in Horseshoe Bend to stay with Dean's family and I will fly out to Reno with my mom. I am totally looking forward to this mini trip. Katie and I have had a little bit more of each other than ever before and I think we both need a little break :) Dean will have the weekend to himself too, so I am sure he will appreciate the quiet. Other than that, I am not sure if there is anything else exciting to report. So far so good and Washington has been treating us great!

Team Hard-Core and the Cinderella play

So my friends at school and I have been labeled "Team Hard-Core" do to our (my friends) study habits and our typically good grades. Well, it appears that is rolling over into my parenting. Tonight was the Cinderella performance. So for a play to flow, everyone needs to have done their part to learn their lines!!! So the 'hard-core-ness' of Dean and I was coming out when the others little ones didn't do their part so Katie could do hers. Needless to say, our Katie was telling (bossing) everyone and telling them what to do and what their next line was. It was a disaster and success all at the same time. I get that they are 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders, but come on parents, help your kids out and help them learn their parts!!! Okay, I am done venting. It is obvious that Katie was born to do this, she is able to memorize things easily and loves attention....so this is for her. She did great, but that is also an opinion coming from her mom! haha. Anyway, it was fun to watch and she enjoyed herself and that is all that counts. We also have a play date next week with one of the girls so that is something to look forward to. We have a couple weeks off before the next summer camp starts up again.