Back 2 School

I wasn't ready for them to go back, but it had to happen. School started Monday the 30th, for us. It was a cold and rainy day. It just confirmed my fears that once school starts, winter is around the corner.McKay is in 7th grade which means the start of middle school. It made me feel a little bit older.

Kirsten is in 3rd and gets to be the big sister in elementary.

Cruz started Kindergarten. He had waited so long for this. The main important thing was they came home with the smiles they left with.

Kirsten's Number 8

(I'm behind on blogging but I've got to move on. I'll have to come back to the Kerksiek fun and vacation later)

Happy Birthday to Kirsten! (8 on August 20th)
Kirsten had a great birthday and I think she got everything she wanted....plus a little more.
And she had her favorite Texas Chocolate Sheet cake! Kirsten gets baptized this coming Saturday, September 4th, at 10 a.m. We would love all that can make it to come.
Now with all the kids in bed, backpacks packed, clothes laid out, it's off to school in the morning....

Y is for Youth

Wednesday night plans were hiking the Y.

We made it to the top....with all the children.
McKay was inseparable from Aspen anytime they were together.
Jacob took the middle two on an adventure on the white-wash.
Cruz made it to the top and realized how high up he was. He is terrified of heights. Even being on my shoulders is too much for him. So he sat down and waited "patiently" by me until it was time to hike back before it got too dark.

Everyone made it down too.

Pictures are courtesy of Betsy as she is an awesome photographer!

Blogging Vacation

Time to get back to real life.
We spent a week in Utah.
Then a week with Betsy and her family at our house.
And now a week is left before school starts.
I hope it's a LONG week.
So here is a recap of the past two weeks.

We went down to Utah for a week of Kerksiek fun. We left late on the 10th and on Wednesday morning (11th) we started off the first day going boating with McKay's grandparents. It was a first for all of my kids except McKay. It was a little windy and the water was a little choppy but it was loads of fun! I am 0-1 with the sunglasses. You would think that going to the beach so many times would have taught me something.

Bump, Set, Spike

These are my "volleyball boyfriends," some of them, at least that is what Jacob calls them.Volleyball has always been a passion of mine. This past Saturday, Adam, John and I entered a 3 on 3 co-ed tournament in Rexburg with the proceeds going towards Rett Syndrome.
In the tournament play, we went undefeated. It was fun and I'd do it all again even though it took everything I had....and then some.....and I paid for it even more on Sunday.
So as I sit here and endure the pain, I think of what the reward was.
Entry fee: $15 a person
First place in our division: $100 gift certificate to EACH of us for Nike shoes.

Getting Back To Being That Guy You Met All Those Years Ago

Dear Amy,

Thanks for taking off for the day to play in a tournament in Rexburg. So while you are enjoying yourself you have given me and the kids the perfect little window to finish our little surprise. Hopefully you did not look at the bank records too closely this week and it is still a surprise.

In the past year I have pretty much neglected you. I did not plan anything for you for Christmas. You were probably not too surprised when I forgot to get you a birthday present. I continued the trend when I skimped out for Mother's Day as well. In fact in general I know that I am not a very good gift giver. Yet somehow you looked past all of that provided me with a wonderful birthday this year.

I know that you have wanted a piano for a long time. I know that you really enjoy playing and that at times you are somewhat frustrated plunking away at our little electric keyboard. So just to come clean, on Tuesday when you thought I was at work, I had really gone to Utah to pick up an old piano that I had bought at an auction. I know, I buy lots of junk, but that's me. I spent the week tearing it apart and refurbishing it. I am surprised that I didn't get caught. It is not the greatest but all the same I hope that you enjoy it for the years to come. I love you.

Love,

Jacob

Continuation of the vision

We finally got around to putting the other two lockers in and rearranging the bedrooms.
Lesson learned: Don't be too stubborn and move it by yourself. Your back will be in pain for at least a week.
Although, they do look pretty good and the kids love them!

Open to suggestions

This is my kitchen.
I'm looking for a new color. I'm tired of orange.
It needs to match the light blue in the living room. It doesn't have to match the green chairs at the bar necessary because I can replace them from IKEA somewhat cheaply.

Any suggestions, ideas or anything?

Happy Birthday some more

Jacob is 34!

"It was the best one yet." Is what he had to say.
Dale, Alice, Madeliene, and Axel came up for a day.
He milked it for all it was worth
But we all know he's done that since birth.

From Lasagna to Torte to Bullets and Compressor
I hope you have a wonderful 34!
P.S. More on the presents later too,
I just want to say "I Love you."

The best boss ever....

Jacob fixed my boss's truck last Friday so he let me bring my kids to work. It ended up taking him a lot longer than the couple hours he thought it would.
After they played all day with the dogs, played up in the tree house, and jumped on the trampoline, Kent saddled up Spanky.
Kirsten began riding it while being led but after a couple minutes, Kirsten rode him by herself.
Cruz did the same.
Katanya couldn't figure out the reins so we led her around for a very long turn too. It was a hot afternoon and the kids soon found the water.
Katanya was the first to jump in.
Kirsten was the first to fall in.
Cruz was the first to be put in.
And I was the first to be splashed.......but it won't be the last.

P.S. How do you throw your boss in the water when you know his cell phone is in his pocket and it is your job to do the books, save money, and find a way to make more money?

Like mother, Like daughter

McKay had a jammed pack weekend of fun. On Friday morning she woke up with a little pain in her hand. Nothing to slow her down. Saturday evening it hurt a little more and was a little swollen. Just a little as in the effect she had been rubbing on it all day. By Sunday evening it still hurt and was getting bigger so before she headed to camp we decided to get x-rays and make sure everything was okay. (Yes, another (very long) ER visit marked on the board.)

Turns out that my cartwheeling, (as she was doing these hours before we went to the hospital) backhand springing girl broke her pisiform bone. It was just an "chip" fracture as the doctor put it on the smallest bone in the wrist. His first question after the x-rays was does your daughter do cartwheels? Anyone that knows McKay, knows she is a gym monkey. So when did this happen? We figure on Wednesday at gymnastics but we can't pinpoint for certain. What a way to finish the summer.

Fill in the blank

Who's Missing?I was going to make this post on Jake and Axel and BYU-Idaho. I meant to get a picture of Axel by the chair and photoshop it together but I forgot. I guess that will be a different post.

Axel came and visited for a couple days. It was unexpected but couldn't have been more perfect. Jake is in the middle of finals and it seemed to take the edge off of everything! So Thank you Axel for coming up. My kids may have been a little "over excited" but thank you! We look forward to having you closer in the upcoming semester.

Locker Vision

Back to the lockers. I better say it now. I was wrong, they don't look old and ugly.
Jacob paid $5 a locker ($15 a section). It's a good thing that he has the ability to see ahead. I'll say it again: I was wrong, it wasn't a waste of money.
We are putting a section in each of the kids' bedrooms. They each choose three colors and now they can put their personal stuff inside.
In McKay and Kirsten's bedroom we put them back to back for a 3' divider. Just enough to give them a little more of their "own" bedroom. When we finish the rest of the lockers, we will put another set on the end making it a little over a 4' divider.
For Kirsten it was almost too much, but as for McKay she wanted the 6' foot divider. I guess Kirsten still enjoys having her older sister in sight. Although I'm sure it won't be too long before Kirsten wants more of her own space too.

Meow x 5

Over the fourth of July weekend, Jacob found kittens for the kids. We had to drive down to Blackfoot to pick them up. We took all five so it left one for each kid and one for a family cat. (Or in other words, an extra for when something happens to one of the cats.) There are Zurc, Claire, Hadlee, Oreo, and Princess Lily. As long as we've had cats outside there haven't been mice in the house but for the past year that we have had zero cats, it seems that we been fighting a losing battle with these pests.

P.S. This post is dedicated to Hazel since Betsy and her family will be coming up soon. She loved the kittens when she came up a couple years ago.

P.P.S. It posted a day later but the time stamp itself is real. It's finals week for Jacob and it looks like no one is sleeping Monday night. I'll be so happy when someone is a little less grumpy and he can relax for a month or so.

P.P.P.S. Check back tomorrow for the "locker vision."

No "Future-vision" for me

When I came home from Texas a year ago I wasn't happy to see these in my garage. Even more, I wasn't happy to hear that Jacob had spent money on these. Betsy tried to convince me that these were "in" and modern. I still had no vision for the future in these lockers.......

.......(to be continued).......

Fat Lips and Mustaches

Meet the MUSTACHES!

Good Ol' Ririe Days! Last Saturday afternoon my friends, Adam, John and I, got persuaded to join the baseball tournament with a team that we didn't even know. Turns out it was a pretty fun day and we came in second.

Although when asked to play baseball in the morning, I could tell I was having a pretty off day. It showed when my first catch (while practicing none the less) came to me in the mouth. Although that was my only mishap, the rest of the day I had 2 split and fat lips.

Pride?

When I started working I knew I would be doing books and learning how to make the occasional "item." My first week I started making suspenders. The second week, I learned how to make slobber straps. The past week I learned how to make and put together headstalls. In fact I was so proud I bought (traded dirt) my first made headstall.
Now what do you do with just a headstall?

What would you do for $10?

Last weekend, Jacob filled up the hot tub to see if it had any leaks in it. (We haven't used it since 2004.) He filled it up with COLD WELL WATER. VERY COLD WATER. It was 56 degrees cold water.
And then told McKay that he would give her $10 to jump in it.
Honestly.....what kid wouldn't?
P.S. My price would have cost more : )

It's about time

Last Saturday (June 26th) we officially welcomed Summer to Idaho. I think every year we are here the rain / snow / wind linger just a little bit longer. So we got out the swim gear and built a new pool (that's another post) and let the kids play all day (week) long. We also found a storage bin from in the garage that contained the goodies from our trip to Hawaii in 2005 and broke out the swim shirts. They haven't been used since way back when.

So as the kids have grown, the shirts were shifted a little. McKay is now wearing mine, Kirsten is in McKay's (it's still a bit short) and Katanya is in Kirsten's. Cruz is wearing his and it fits (just barely). It's good to know that we will get our money's worth (As we paid $35 a piece for them. I know that's a lot but how many times will we be able to take our family picture in Hawaii?)
The kids had been waiting too long to have a nice sunny warm day.
Cruz was my guinea pig....for only a couple minutes.
And Katanya can't ever be left out.
I love these kiddoes!

What'll we see at the zoo?

While we were in Utah a couple weekends ago, we visited the Hogle Zoo. 3 out of 4 of my kids had never been there. Here were some highlights:
We got in and immediately went to the Elephant show. Kirsten fell in love with the Baby, Zuri.
I remember this fountain from way back when. So of course you have to get the famous picture of drinking out of the lion's mouth.
And of course the kids must climb on all the statues and have their pictures taken......and then more pictures of just them with the statue.
But most of all, I loved the giraffes. Cruz shares my passion for these animals. I would STILL seriously love to have some as pets. Maybe that is one of those things, "If I had a million dollars....."