Rodeo

We went to the rodeo!! Grace's breathing was so much better with the steroids that we went. A random teenager sitting with his mom in front of us asked to hold Levi when it started raining, he kept him out of the rain. They were buddies. And his mom was so sweet to talk and entertain Grace. There are so many sweet people around! Grace HATED the thunder but after the rain storm left, she was fine. Fun times and she didn't let us leave until 9:45!!!

SO MUCH FUN!!

Amanda

Allergies

This was NOT a good day for Grace.  She had a HORRIBLE allergic reaction to something from the fair and it did not go well.  Difficulty breathing, runny nose, wheezing, whining....so there came the Benadryl, eye drops, and breathing treatments.  That poor girl...when she gets it, she gets it hard.  But she's such a great sport whenever she gets sick because she doesn't really complain a lot.  The only times she really fusses is when she's going to throw up, or when it's absolutely serious.  She did ask to go to the doctor so we went and he gave her a steroid to open up her lungs.  The nebulizer just didn't work fast enough to keep the doctor happy.  She even put herself to bed without dinner because she didn't feel well.  Poor thing.

Amanda

At the Fair!

Daddy let us leave Levi at home so that mommy and daughter could go to the fair together!  It was so much fun, and then Grace got to go to her clover bud extravaganza.  It was basically a couple hours of activities with the cities clover bud group.  Here's the pictures!

We LOVE free popcorn!!  Popcorn at the fair always seems to taste so much better than the popcorn from the microwave...granted, now that I'm talking about popcorn and can seriously taste it in my mouth, I want to go pop some popcorn!

Grace LOVED petting the sheep because their noses are so soft :)

 Let's see what she gets.....

 A KAZOO!!!  This was the most absolutely fabulous thing that Grace could have gotten because this makes her hum, which is really good for her vocalizing.  Plus, she LOVES making noises!

 There Grace girl and her friend, Merla.  Merle was showing her where the handhold was because the kids wouldn't stop flapping it and so Grace couldn't grab it.  She started getting upset and so Merla stepped in!

This was a cake walk!  Grace had a hard time understanding what to do but once she realized she won a cupcake, she was ecstatic!!!  Gosh I love how happy Grace gets with the little things that that she gets, or sees, or hears.  It doesn't take a ton to make Grace be happy, and that's what I love SO MUCH about her!

Amanda

Gymnastics - Level 1

So we tried Grace out in the Girls 1 class at gymnastics.  That's where she was supposed to be based on her age, but I've been keeping her in the preschool class because it's so much more fun!  The class just happened to not show up so Grace was the only one that was there.  It was nice for her to have that one on one time with the coach.

Good job doing a somersault on the low beam!!!

Amanda/Mommy

Visiting Mesa Falls

Today we went on a family trip to the Mesa Falls.  I've been to the lower mesa falls, but not the upper, so that's where we headed today!  Actually, we went to both but whatever :)

 Absolutely amazing.  Grace was so insanely overwhelmed by the noise and height, but she did so well and tried her hardest and got to see everything!  Brad really enjoyed showing Grace the mist coming from the falls, and it was so adorable to see them together checking out the falls :)

 Feeling all the furs.  Grace was absolutely happy about this part of the trip.  She's extremely sensory oriented and this was heaven for her.  If I wasn't so weirded out about furs, I'd collect a whole bunch for her to have so she could just rub them all the time.  But knowing how they became "furs" is too much for me!

Levi loved this as well!

It was such a fun day!  On the way home we had to stop and swim :)

She had SO MUCH FUN!!  And it wasn't too cold either so that was great.  I think we were in the water for about 30 minutes or so and Grace was so so upset that we were leaving, but it was definitely time to get home.  

What a great day!

Amanda

Tent Playing

Daddy came home from his hike with family and the kids had SUCH a great time playing in the sleeping bag and tent!  It was so adorable to see the two of them getting along so well.  I didn't take any photos but there's a super cute video, so I'll have to make sure I find it and show girly when she's older!

Amanda

Church and Mariah

We went to church today.  We sat by Grace's friends and she had a great time sharing her snacks with them and reading their magazine.  She did so awesome in her class, and I was so proud of her for doing so well after so long of not going.  She just makes me so proud every day of my life.


Later we had Mariah over to have dinner with us.  The guys were still in Montana on a hike with Brian and his lot, so it was just us ladies.  After dinner we went on a walk to Grace's school to look at the school class lists, and she was so proud of herself for starting school soon as a Kindergartener!  She kept telling Levi over and over that she was going to the big kid school and it was so darn cute!!  We went by the park and had some fun on the swings, but it wasn't too long because it was past their bedtimes!

Amanda

The Lake...NOT.

We were supposed to go to the lake.  Grace was SO excited, and I was SO excited as well!!  And I was sure that I was going to go swimming with the kids, not just get my feet wet.  But then this happened.....

OH NO!!  You darn rain, go away.  Grace was screaming at the rain to go away so we could go play, but it never worked...  Oh well.  Some other day :)

Amanda

PS.  Some of Grace's supplies came for her birthday party!!!

We are Home

It's so funny...you'd think that when kids first get home after being gone for so long, they'd run around crazy getting all their wiggles out.  But my kids?  Grace heads straight for the bookshelf and Levi goes for his toys.  I have the most awesome kids ever!!

Amanda

Goodbye Dado and Papa

We ended up heading home early.  I was ready to be home and with our routine, Grace was having so much trouble not having her consistency, and Levi just kept touching everything he wasn't supposed to!!  It was time to go home.  We had such a great time, and it was so good to see Dado and Papa.  Grace kept asking when we're going to be going back to Dado and Papa's, so it was really hard for her to understand that we were headed home, even though she would say here and there that she wanted to go home.  Pictures!

At a pit stop.  We didn't make it very far before the kiddos needed to get out and have some fun!

 This was at a park in Elko, Nevada.  Grace loves loves loves swinging, so this was so much fun for her to get her energy out.  And of course, Levi loves to do the same things his big sis does, so he enjoyed himself as well.

 And then we stopped at a reservoir so Grace could go to the "beach" since we weren't able to go to Bodega Bay.  It wasn't very fun and I was really just ready to get on the road, but hey, it was something, right?

 I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Amanda/Mommy

Busy Busy

Today was an Elk Grove and Galt kind of day.  For many years I've been asking my mom where her dad's grave is, but I'd never get a location.  And I don't know why it's bothered me so much because he died when I was 7, so I don't remember him at all, but it really did bother me.  So I figured that after we visited a friend in Elk Grove and had some yummy In N Out, we'd try to find the cemetery.  Well, what a day we had!

It's so weird because these girlies didn't know one another before we moved to Idaho, and they don't see each other, obviously, unless we are in California, but I swear they act like they've known one another for their whole lives, or even before they were born.  They are so sweet to one another, and Grace just absolutely loves playing with Evelynn.  I wish we could live closer to one another so she could have such a good friend, but families need to be where they belong, you know?  I'm just so glad she's got a girly she can visit with while we are in CA.

We had a super duper yummy lunch...one that I ALWAYS take Grace to when we're in California.  I just love treating her to a place that I love to eat at.  The milkshake was her most favorite part, of course, and she was such a big girl to ask a worker for a bag all by herself!  She asked for one, followed her to the counter, took the bag and said thank you, and then walked all the way back to the table by herself!  That's by independent girly.

We found the grave.  There it was, just there with flowers that my grandmother had put on it.  I cleaned the plaque and Grace helped me take off all the dead grass, and then she fluffed the flowers (they're fake) to make them look bright again.  I don't know what I was expecting to feel, but there wasn't much.  I explained to Grace what this plaque was for, where his body was, and where his spirit was now, but beyond that, we used this moment as a time for me to finally be able to say that I know where his grave is.  As we walked back to the car we looked at all the graves that we passed, Grace cleaned some here and there, I read the dates and told her the ages, and she was so sad for the ones that were kids.  

I took her over to see the area for the military veterans and fallen soldiers, and she was so solemn and respectful.  I just love this girl.

And of course, later on, it was definitely time for some Sesame Street!!!

And when it was time for bed, who gets caught playing with mommy's cords?  LEVI!!  This little guy has the stickiest hands in the world.  I just can't believe it.

Love you kids!

Amanda/Mommy

Happy Anniversary Dado and Papa!

We got to celebrate Dado and Papa's anniversary together.  We were going to go to Bodega Bay, we being me and the kids along with Elaine and Kailyn, but Levi was just not having the car ride and Grace was very stressed out because of the two little kids.  So that was a super big bummer.  But they day turned around because we got to be with Dado and Papa on their special day!

Amanda

Popsicles Rock!!!

Dado and Papa love spoiling the kiddos, so while we were all out shopping, they got some Jolly Rancher popsicles for the kids.  Boy were they good!!  Haha.  The kids really enjoyed them as well.  Today was just a lazy day.  Hanging out with Dado and Papa, relaxing on the couch, bantering back and forth with Papa...the usual :)  He just loves teasing Grace, and after a few days, she picked up on it and fed it right back to him!!  Here's some pictures...

 She loves popsicles...SO MUCH.  She takes after her mama with the popsicles and ice cream :)

 Sharing with Levi is what she likes to do :)  Grace is such a wonderful big sister, and Levi loves her so darn much.  Grace loves feeding him and tries to do it all the time, and with some help, she takes care of feeding him a meal!

 And there's the big boy holding his pop-a-sicle all by himself!

"Where did all your popsicle go, Grace?"  "RIGHT HERE!!"  Hahaha

And here's little man SO SAD that his popsicle is all gone!

And then there's some hanging out with Dado and Papa :)

 Breakfast time!  It's always such a battle to get Grace to eat dinner here at home, but at Dado's house?  She cleaned the plate almost every single meal!!

Kicking back and watching cartoons with Papa.

Today Levi also decided that he was ready to climb stairs...oh boy.

Amanda