Happy Birthday Grandma Clayson

Yesterday was Grandma Clayson's birthday, so we headed to her house for a little party. Not everyone could come, but we were happy to be able to go. We had a great time having dinner, and partaking of Trevor and Shana's special cake. It was very impressive!! Claire and Owen always love to visit their grandparents. They were a little sad that it was so cold because they couldn't enjoy their great yard as much as they would like to. Happy Birthday Grandma!
Claire could hardly wait to give Grandma her balloons that Claire picked out!
Chad and Owen
Grandpa and Claire
Great Grandma Clayson and Grandma
Trevor and Shana
Hey Jeanna - do we need to call the fire department?
Grandma got a little bit of help blowing out the candles.
Trevor and his famous cake!

Brainwashed

I have to admit that I am very excited for the new Costco they are building here in Pocatello. We drive by the new sight all the time, and Owen loves to see the tractors hard at work. I always tell him that is where Costco will be. Yesterday Owen told someone that "the tractors are at Costco." Oops, I think I should have made that a little clearer. He might be very mad when he finds out that Costco doesn't really sell tractors. Today we were driving home from dinner at Craigo's with a friend (the boys are off at the father and son camp out), and Claire said, "look mom, the tractors aren't building Costco right now." At least one of them understands!

There is a first time for everything!

I can hardly believe it, so I have to tell everyone. It is 8:42 and both my kids are still in bed asleep, not my bed, but their own. This has never happened!!! My kids get up early (like 6:30), so this is a miracle. I should take more advantage of it, but I watched a little T.V., picked up my room and started the laundry. I'm afraid to do to much because I don't want to wake them up. They have been so tired lately, and I can't get either of them to take a nap (it is driving me insane!). Here's to hoping that they wake up happy and ready for a day of being inside (thank you wonderful weather!).

Playing at Grandma's

Let me start off by saying that my kids are still coming down from their sugar high. My dad has a sucker jar, and in order to get a sucker the kids have to give him a hug and a kiss. Lets just say that I had to put a stop to the sucker jar. He was giving the suckers after breakfast, before nap or bed. He was finally only allowed to give them one in the afternoon, but that was hard for him. On Saturday when we left, they each left with one - go figure!!!

We had a great time visiting my mom. I didn't realize how tired I was until I got there, and had a nap every day. It was so nice to have someone to watch the kids so I could do that. I have been having a ton of braxton hicks contractions, but once I slowed down a bit they stopped. We didn't really do a lot, which was great. We did go to Lewiston one day so mom could get her carpel tunnel surgery done. She can't lift anything now, and has trouble doing basic things, so I was glad that I could be there and help. We always have so much fun when we are together.

Amber is still in school, and with all her extracurricular activities, we hardly saw her, but she is excited to be the Junior class president next year, and I know she will do a great job!

Claire had a blast playing with her cousin Brittany. She even managed to get up enough courage to walk to Brittany's house - it isn't that far. Brittany also had her 5th birthday party while we were there, and Claire had a great time. They had a manicure party, so Claire has some beautiful bright blue nails right now.

Owen just loved being there, and had a great time. He missed his dad (who went home with Uncle Aaron on Monday so they could go back to work), but loved talking to him each night.

We all had a great time, but as they say "there is no place like home." On Saturday it was time to head back home, and endure the long ride. We brought back Heather and Lilly, so with 3 kids (even with 2), we had to stop quite a few times, but we made it. I can honestly say that I never want to watch, or hear another Dora movie, ever!! The kids were excited to see their dad, and now we are trying to get things back in order. Thanks for the great time mom and dad, we can't wait to visit you again!
My cousins are all grown up and apparently that had a million ponies when they were younger. My grandma found them and sent them up to my mom. She gave half to Brittany and saved the other half for Claire. She was so happy to get them, and she carried them everywhere. The first day she took them to Brittany's and they played with them for hours.
Owen quickly decided that he now likes 4-wheelers, and would request a ride first thing in the morning on our last few days. He didn't really take the answer no very well. Thankfully my dad, Amber and a few others stepped in to give him some rides. I think he could have rode a 4-wheeler all day long!
For Owen's birthday, his grandpa and grandma gave his this bubble gun. I had to limit the number of times he could refill it in a day (thanks for the extra bubble mom - good idea!). He also got a new lightning McQueen hat, which he wore everywhere and Lightning McQeen jammies which he requested every night.
Claire learned all about Twister, and loved playing it. She didn't quite understand the left, right, hand, leg thing, but she understood the color concept and would just move from color to color. It didn't matter, she had fun!

Milking the Cow

Owen figured out very quickly that there were lots of animals at Grandpa and Grandma's house. One night we even missed dinner so he could watch Cody milk the cow. He thought it was great at first, but Cody got a new milking machine that makes noise, so Owen decided that he was scared. Once it was all done, he was very excited about the whole thing and even went out the next night without me with his Uncle Roy to milk the cow. He is a farm boy at heart!
Cody and Owen milking the cow
Cutie Parker
Brittany

Banana

Let me just say that my sister-in-law is amazing!!! She milks a cow 2 times a day, takes care of 5 kids and is still nursing one. I don't think I could do it!! Their milk cow just had a calf, and the kids have named her Banana, but they call her Nana for short. Owen loved seeing the calf, and we had to go up to the calving barn at least once a day to visit Nana. It was fine until he stepped into a fresh pile of manure and rubbed it onto my leg - not my fondest memory. He loved see the baby cow and talks about it all the time.
Bladen and Brittany were swinging from this rope the whole time we were feeding Nana. They are busy kids!

Memorial Day Weekend

First of all, I have to say that I love the van. It was so great to travel in. The kids loved it. After some good nap time, we made it to Boise and stopped for dinner. We seriously stayed at Burger King for an hour because they were having so much fun on the toys. Claire actually went to the very top for the first time on any toy like this. She was so proud of herself! I'm glad to see that she is getting brave.
Claire coming down the "Big Slide."
Owen and the little slide. He was so mad that he couldn't climb to the top, but he just wasn't big enough.
After dinner we popped in a few movies, and made it to White Bird, with no problems. I am so grateful that the kids were good!

Saturday was filled with birthday madness, and then Sunday and Monday everyone was still there, so we played some games, and just visited. It has been a long time since everyone has been together, so it was nice to see them all.

Travis, Jarom, Bladen and Creecore - these three boys loved Travis's hair, and on his last day there, he helped them put enough gel in their hair to service a beauty salon for a month - but, they loved it!!