Summer in Boise

Here are lots of pictures to show some fun things the kids did with family in Boise.


My ckickidees at the zoo.





Playing with cousin Jennifer.



They got along famously as long as this car wasn't involved.







The kids practically lived off of popsicles. I don't know how many boxes my mom bought, but I know it was a lot.



This girl puts her mouth on everything. She got blasted in the face a couple times with the hose doing this very thing. She is such a sweetheart and very entertaining.



Camille and Jennifer were quite the pair. The pool was always full and if we didn't get their clothes off fast enough they'd have wet shoes. So when we were in the backyard they stayed in swim diapers.



We went camping and Grandma brought the slip n' slide. :)





Cute Camille making messes and trying to be big.



Paul with Aunt Anna. She likes to fly and I hate it. Anna is always good enough to go up in the airplanes with my boys so I don't have to go.



Caleb is ready to take Bear flying. That Bear goes everywhere with him.







Playing at the park with cousins. I loved how green this grass was so I took lots of pictures of the kids that day.



Nature hike. I love this kid!





Doing art crafts at the Art Museum. The kids were in heaven.



Cousin Josh. My kids worship him. He is a lot of fun.



Cuteness

Blogger's Spacing

I cannot figure out what is wrong with the spacing in Blogger. I cannot get the paragraphs to break up or the pictures to move apart. You can see what I mean in the post below. Does anyone have the same problem and do you know how to fix it?

I figured it out, and in case anyone is wondering there is an options drop-down menu in post settings. You actually have an option to make line breaks by typing "< br>" instead of pressing the enter button and that is what mine was set as. Why is that even an option?!!! Stupid computer programmer lingo. grumble grumble

Memory Blocking June and July

The short story is that June sucked and July wasn't much better. I wish I could block the whole 60 day mess from my memory.

The longer story is that Pat had been interviewing for jobs and nothing was coming of it. He was up for an in-house promotion or a location transfer. We were trying to decide whether we wanted to buy a house in Denver and raise our family there or continue interviewing for the transfer. While trying to decide our next several years, our landlord gave us notice that he wanted us out of the townhouse we were renting from him because he was moving back to Denver. We knew it was coming eventually because he let us know he was interviewing for jobs in Denver, (we were in a month-to-month contract) but it didn't make it any easier. It was just all coming to a head at the same time. It made for a stressful situation.

Since the transfer wasn't panning out, we decided to buy a house in Denver. There was a drop-dead date to get under contract to avoid temporary housing. That date came and went as we lost out on bids. There was one house we really wanted and were so disappointed to lose out on. The same afternoon we lost out on it Pat was asked if he was interested in interviewing in Dallas. He sent them his resume. Pat accepted an interview with Dallas several days later, but 2 hours before our realtor called and said we were the second highest bidder and the house is ours if we want it. We had a few hours to decide because we had to overnight the earnest money. So we sent them 2 checks (thousands of dollars) because the HUD was on the wrong memo line with the first. Two over-nighted checks later, Pat interviews and accepts Dallas's offer! WHAT? It was such a prestigious position and the pay was too fantastic to pass up...

Soooo, change of plans. Our realtor was amazing and was able to get us out of the contract, only both checks got lost in the mail on their way back to us. We received them 60 days later. The day before we closed on our house in Dallas. Really? Anyway, we put our stuff in storage because there was a 6 week time gap between needing to be out of our place in Denver and being able to move into a place in Dallas. I packed me and the kids up and stayed with my parents in Boise for the rest of the summer. Pat stayed with friends in Denver and then a hotel in Dallas.

As I reread this passage it sounds very much like a history lesson out of a textbook. All dates and events that can easily make me lose focus and start daydreaming, yadda yadda. In any case, the whole thing was awful to live through. I wanted to do what was best for our family only nothing seemed to flow into place. It was a daily struggle of worry where we would be in the coming weeks. I felt like my prayers were going unanswered time and again. I still think back to that time and wonder if it will ever make sense. If the pieces will ever feel like they were necessary stepping stones or if it will be as baffling in the future as it is now. All I truly remember is how desperately I didn't want to say goodbye to all the people I grew to love. And how desperately I still miss them.








Our last Hurrah! I regret not taking a picture of all the women. Love you guys!