People Care About My Blog :)

I just called my Mom to ask how my Uncle Todd's family were after the California earthquake that was centered in their town. (For those of you who know them and care, their doing fine with a few broken pictures and Sam's TV that fell on the floor.) My Mom asked me where my blog from our family reunion was. Apparently people have been asking her why I haven't blogged about it yet. First off, I'm so glad people care enough to read my blog and were waiting for an entry. That makes me so happy. Secondly, I'm still trying to get caught up on the month of July. I have this goal to finish blogging about the events in July before July is over. That means I have 2 blogs to complete in the next 2 and a half days. With a camping trip to get ready for it might be a stretch, but I'm determined to get it done. For those of you waiting for the family reunion blog, it's next so maybe I've already written it and it precedes this one. For those of you reading this, Thanks for caring!

Helping Hannah

Hannah and Gracie are the best of buds. Well they're as close as you can be when your 2 1/2 and 9 months. It's so much fun to watch them play together, they make each other laugh, and I love that Gracie doesn't like to go to bed at night unless Hannah in is bed also. I hope they always have the sisterhood friendship. Not only do they enjoy being with each other, Hannah is very concerned about Gracie. If she cries Hannah comes and tells us, if Gracie wakes up (sometimes this is with Hannah's help) Hannah comes to tell us, Hannah loves to feed Gracie her bottle (until she gets bored) and she's just all around a very loving two year old big sister. An example of this would be July 17th. I had just fed Gracie and left her in her highchair for a minute while I picked some things up in the living room. Gracie was not pleased with the idea of being left in her highchair so she started crying. Hannah was right there to help. I was picking something up off the floor when I heard this pouring sound. I looked up and into the kitchen to see Hannah giving Gracie some Cheerios, A LOT of Cheerios. Gracie was still crying so Hannah was still dumping. By the time I got the 10 steps to the highchair Gracie, the highchair, and the floor were all covered in Cheerios, the box was not so full anymore. It was one of those moments as a mother where you have to laugh, thank the 2 year old for trying so desperately to help, and then get the camera for a picture.

Hannah proudly showing off her helping skills. This was a few minutes after the dump and Gracie and already managed to push the mountain of Cheerios on to the floor.

As I was sweeping the floor I notice that the top of the highchair was not the only place full of Cheerios. I bet this was uncomfortable.

Ben Hears A Who

We had our first stay home (we didn't have to go anywhere) weekend on the 12th and 13th of July and decided it would be fun to take the kids to a movie. We had discovered a 'dollar' theater (it's called a dollar theater, but it's actually now $2.50, stupid inflation) just down from our house that was playing 'Horton Hears A Who.' The kids had wanted to see it and so we figured the noon showing would be perfect. The kids loved it and Kenny and I quite enjoyed it as well. If you haven't let your kids see it, I would highly recommend it. Ben was the biggest fan. I don't think I've seen him pay that much attention to a movie, ever. He was so engrossed in the movie that he would talk to it. There's a part where Horton is trying to run away from the vulture who is trying to take the flower with the Who's on it. Down in Whoville the mayor is trying to convince the Who's that they are indeed a small speck on a flower. The mayor asks the citizens of Whoville "What about the wind? (Wind caused by Horton's running) What does the wind mean?" The city council says, "It means it's kite flying time!" At which point Ben yells, "THAT'S NOT WHAT IT MEANS. THEIR IN DANGER!" He was so concerned and not at all pleased that the city council wouldn't listen to the mayor. I wasn't sitting next to Ben and so didn't get to hear or watch Ben, but Kenny said he was hilarious. It's so fun having kids.

Picnic With The Huckleberries

The Newbry cousins (minus 4)

Top Row: Missi, Savannah, Sarah Kate, Gracie, Hannah

Bottom Row: Cadence, Gabbi, Zack, Alli, Ben

Missing: Nikki, Maddi, Travis, Trent

The 5th of July we were still in Grace and April (my sister-in-law) thought it would be fun to go into the mountains and have a picnic. After trying and failing to get to some spring that apparently no one has been to in a long time (the road was overgrown with weeds) we decided to just drive up to where we go huckleberry picking every fall. The road is a dirt road that we've traveled many times and is not overgrown with weeds. It was a great idea until just short of the huckleberry turn when we heard a pop. We continued on to the turnoff and discovered our tire was flat. While Kenny went to work changing the tire, Helen (my mother-in-law) Mindy (another sister-in-law) and I took the kids for a walk up the road. They loved it and were disappointed and the swiftness of Daddy's tire changing ability. In no time we were headed down to a nice meadow where we had our picnic.

Changing the tire. Better him than me. :)

Sarah Kate, Hannah, and cousin Gabbi heading up the mountain.

BenBen being a boy with a stick.

Hannah and Grandma Newbry on our hike.

Our mountain picnic.

We had a wonderful short picnic and then headed down the mountain again. The rest of the day was spent much the same as the day before. The kids played together, napped, ate Grandpa's homemade huckleberry ice cream, and then we washed them off with a soak in the hot tube (this time Gracie got to go in and she was a big fan. Kenny and his Dad took Ben (who was all girled out) and Gabbi (the oldest cousin there who was little kidded out) to a place called 24. They got to climb down some rocks to the river below and splash around. It was a perfect outing to the the kids who didn't really fit in all the time.

Eating Huckleberry Ice Cream

Swimming in the hot tub

Gracie is our water baby and LOVED the hot tub.

We had a great 4th of July weekend and my sadness at not being in Virginia was quickly gone, though I still would have loved to have been there. We went to church on Sunday and then had a very slow drive home that afternoon. Funny thing about our flat tire. When Kenny went to get it replaced on Monday (the hole was to big to patch) we discovered that when we got our back tires replaced on the way home from the Disney Cruise in May they had put two different sized tires on. So after a lot of talking and waiting we got two new, matching tires for the back, free. We decided to just replace the other front tire so now we have four new matching tires, two of which were free, and a spare that is a normal sized, not very used tire to put underneath. I guess that flat was a good thing afterall.

The Geyser

Watching the geyser before it went off.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, we went to the geyser in Soda Springs after the parade. The kids had never been there and it's a fun little place to visit. If you've never heard of it or been there, it's a man made geyser discovered in 1937 as an attempt to find hot water for a swimming pool. They found hot water, it was just in the form of a 100 foot high geyser. Now the geyser is the only captive geyser in the world and it goes off every hour. It's a wonderful geyser because this geyser is caused by carbon dioxide gas mixing with the water and unlike Old Faithful the water temperature only reaches the low 70's. They allow you to walk around the geyser and even run through it's spray when it goes off. I had only been there one other time (when I was pregnant with Sarah Kate) and so I was excited to go back and show the kids.

If you know Hannah at all, you know she loves bubbles. Kenny showed her a spot where the water came up and formed little bubbles. She was captivated saying "bubbles" over and over.

Ben enjoyed playing in the water as long as the geyser wasn't going off. The geyser itself really scared him.

Gracie is our water baby. She loves, loves, loves to play in the water.

This is Sarah Kate and some of her cousins playing in the spray of the geyser. They got soaked and loved every minute of it.

I thought this was a cool picture of Missi. See, I told you they got soaked.

Normally this wouldn't be a noteworthy blog, but the kids did have a lot of fun and a funny little thing happened while we were there. It was funny because it didn't involve me, but I think it would have been funny even if it did involve me. Follow the pictures and you'll see what I mean.




When we arrived at the geyser it had just finished going off so we had to wait and entire hour to see it go again. The kids enjoyed running and playing but the parents got a little bored. My mother-in-law, Helen, and two sister-in-laws, Mindy and April decided to wait at the bench that was located at the end of the geyser. I put our camera bag by them and headed to the geyser to take some pictures of the kids when it went off. The three of them were enjoying watching the kids play in the spray of the geyser. The funny thing about the geyser is that it tends to change direction and . . .


Watching the kids get wet in the spray became a little too familiar to them. The funniest thing is that Kenny and I were standing up on the geyser trying to dodge the spray as it changed locations. The next thing we knew the mom's were all getting drenched. This is a picture of Kenny, with Hannah in his arms, running to get the camera bag I had left on the bench. When he approached everyone, who were all still standing there trying to protect their cameras and baby Zack, he said "Move." It was like a light bulb went off. 'Oh yeah, we can move.' It was too late they were all drenched, but watching them all huddle there and not move an inch for a couple of minutes was very entertaining.



Everyone was pretty well soaked. The good news is that everyone dried and I think they can look back on it now and find the humor in it (right?) The cameras were ok too. That's important because the story wouldn't have been near as funny if the water had broken any of the cameras.

4th of July

Well the 4th of July came and went and I still have yet to blog about it. We had a wonderful 4th. We went to Grace to spend the weekend with Kenny's family. I must admit as we were driving to Grace I was sad. I really wanted to be back in Virginia. DC on the 4th is a great place to be. I knew our friends were going to Mount Vernon and then to Gravely Point (this is a park where the airplanes from Regan National Airport fly right over head) to watch the fireworks. We did this last year and it was probably the most fun I've ever had on the 4th of July. Needless to say, I was a little bummed. Then we got to Soda Springs where we were met by Kenny's family who were saving us a spot at the parade. It was very nice to be with family and have the kind of 4th of July I remember as a kids. I will always be glad to have had the opportunity to spend the 4th in DC, but being with family isn't too bad. :)

As I said earlier we spent the 4th with Kenny's family. His two sisters Mindy and April came with their families and we also had the three youngest Kingston girls. Our niece Maddi was invited to Nationals in gymnastics and so Karen and Cory took Maddi and her older sister Nikki to Kansas so Maddi could preform. She did very well, but I can't remember her exact scores. We were all very proud of her.

Ben and Sarah Kate watching the parade.

Getting candy at the parade.

Mommy and Hannah enjoying the parade.

Gracie and Grandma Newbry

The 4th was filled with family, food, and fireworks. We started the morning off with the parade in Soda then went to the Geyser before heading back to the house. The kids enjoyed playing outside, playing inside, and just being together. The guys helped with the building of the greenhouse and the girls took care of the kids and food (two very important things.) We had hamburgers cooked over the fire for dinner and then a great firework display put on by Gary (my father-in-law) and Kenny, thanks to some great fireworks bought in Wyoming.

Aunt Mindy brought some water balloons and the kids enjoyed tossing them back and forth with blankets. It was a lot of fun, but the real fun came when they began playing hit Daddy/Uncle Kenny with as many water balloons as you can.

Kenny finally did get a chance to fit back.

Ben helping to build Grandma and Grandpa's greenhouse!

Ben was surrounded by girls with only one boy cousin, baby Zack who was 1 in February. He enjoyed the weekend, but at one point I recall hearing him yell, "I will not be married to Alli." The girls wanted to play house with him and even tried to turn him into a girl with their magic wands. He was desperate for some boy time, so he was allowed to dig in the greenhouse with the other dads. He felt really cool.

I love this picture. I just had to share it. I don't know what's going on with Alli, but she's clearly having fun holding Gracie (that or Gracie's squishing her to death and she's yelling for help.)

Getting ready for the cookout. I promise, despite their faces in this picture, the kids all had a wonderful day.

Watching the firework show!

The Cookout

As I said in my last blog, my Aunt Cindy's family was going camping the Friday night I went to see Sam. They headed up Logan Canyon around 1 in the afternoon and drove all the way to the last campground. About an hour after they left, they returned with the fully loaded motor home. No empty campsites were to be found in Logan Canyon that day. So instead of having a campout we all settled on a cookout at Second Damn. We had a wonderful time. Uncle Rick cooked some great Hamburgers and Hot Dogs. We had plenty of potato, macaroni, and fruit salad, and drinks that were kept cold in the river. We sat around ate, visited, and let the kids throw rock in the water and feed the geese. It was just like old times. I loved it. It's so nice to be home.

Hangin' With Sam

OK! First off! I realize I'm way late getting this written, but I'm trying to use this blog as a type of journal for my family and a lot of fun and important things have happened this month. Due to the recent move I'm a little busy and I'm having a hard time finding time to catch up on my blog. So, long story short, I'm way behind, but I'm determined to get caught up. You can read if you want, but it won't hurt my feeling if you just look at pictures or something.

Samantha, not only is she cute, but she has this 6th sense about cameras. She knows when one is on her and can always give a smile.

The day we arrived in Idaho my cousin Samantha came to Utah. She lives in California and she wanted to come visit all her cool relatives in Utah. Being that I hadn't seen her in years (before meeting up with her she had only met 2 of my 4 kids) I was decided to make the drive to Logan to see her. I drove down on Thursday June 26th and she and my Aunt Cindy came to my parents for dinner that night. It was nice to get to see her, I'm so glad to be close enough to be able to do stuff like this.

I spent the night at my sister-in-laws house so the kids could get up Friday morning and play with their cousins. After spending a few hours with their cousins we headed off to my Aunt Cindy's to see Sam again. The family was going camping that night and everyone left to find a campsite, well everyone except Sam, myself, and my cousins wife Danika and their son. I let the kids nap (Sarah didn't nap, Ben and Gracie only napped for about 45 minutes, Hannah on the other hand napped for 3 and a half hours and only woke up because I woke her up) and I visited with Sam and Danika. The kids had a lot of fun, when they weren't napping. Ben and Sarah Kate played games on the Wii and Gracie got to play with her cousin Lukas who is only 4 months older than her.

Playing the Wii. The kids loved this! I was grateful for the wrist bands attached to the controllers.

Gracie has recently learned to clap. This is her getting ready to go.

Lukas, what a cute boy. I've been reading their blog and I must say Luke is as cute as his pictures if not cuter.

Gracie and Luke playing with toys. It was fun to watch Gracie play with another kids her age, even if he's quite a bit bigger than her.

Hanging out watching . . . something. Sarah Kate, Ben, Danika, and Luke.

Moving to Idaho

Well it's official. The move has been made and while we're still living in boxes, I'm starting to feel like someday life will become normal again. The boxing up in Virginia was a huge undertaking and as I said earlier I never could have done it without help from many friends and neighbors. My parents came out for my cousins wedding and spent the first part of their vacation helping me load the ABF truck. We had guys from church come at night and help Dad a little with the loading. After getting everything done, having check out inspection and saying bye to some friends we headed for the wedding in Maryland.

The ABF truck half way through loading.

That was the beginning of our drive across the country. The kids got to swim in the hotel swimming pool with Grandma before the wedding and all four of them loved it. It was a nice treat and a way to get out some energy after our busy and confusing week. The wedding was very nice (read below if interested) and we enjoyed seeing some family members.

Swimming with Grandma Gass

From there it was another 4 days of driving across the country. My parents drove as far as Cincinnati with me which is where we met my Mother-in-law. She flew in to finish the drive with me. My parents headed off to Nashville the next morning and then back to DC to catch their flight. It was nice having them with me. The kids loved having both Grandma's at the hotel with them at the same time.

Grandma Newbry with the little girls just on the Idaho border.

The drive was uneventful. The kids were very good and we only had bad weather the first day when we hit a rainstorm just outside Cincinnati. I almost lost the waverunner cover, but luckily my dad was behind me and was able to call me. We pulled over on the freeway and had to take the cover off. Past Cincinnati we hit a few minor rainstorms, but not much. The car did great, the kids did great, and we were so happy to have Grandma Newbry there to help. It sure made it easier for me.

We just had to stop and take a picture when we made it to Idaho. Four and a half days in a car with 4 small kids is quite a feat.

We made it to Idaho around 5:00 on Tuesday night. We spent the night in Grace and was joined by Kenny who came up to greet us. The kids were so happy to be out of the car, to be at Grandma's house where they could run around, and of course to see Daddy. It was so nice to finally be a family again. The next day we drove to Idaho Falls to see the new house. Kenny did a great job choosing it. It's in a wonderful neighborhood, in a great area. I think we're really going to like it here. We have spent most of our time since arriving in Idaho visiting family. While I've enjoyed seeing everyone I must admit I'm looking forward to a weekend with just our family at our house.

Our new house with the kids sitting out front.

This past weekend, when we were at my Mother-in-law's for the fourth, she asked me what I like most about the new house. I had to think a moment and decided I wasn't able to narrow it down to just one. I love that when I go to put the baby to bed I don't have to walk up the stairs to do so. I know that sounds lame, but I like having the kids on the same floor as me. I love being able to walk outside at night and feel the peacefulness. The air is dry and cool and the street just has this peacefulness that Virginia didn't have. Maybe it was because of all the people, I don't know for sure, but I do know it feels different here. I LOVE the garage. I didn't realize how much I would love having a garage big enough to pull my van into. When we first unloaded the moving truck the garage was too full of boxes to put the van in. After 3 days I had to move the boxes around to make room for the van. I missed the garage so much.

Riding their bikes in front of the house.

I think the best part is how much the kids love it here. In Virginia we lived on a hill (everything there was hilly) but here we live on a flat road. The kids have discovered their bike and they absolutely love riding them. It has been so much fun to watch them ride up and down the street, so proud of themselves for being able to do so. They love the big back yard and the little playhouse built into the wall downstairs. Sarah Kate has told me many times that she never wants to move. That right there tells me they like it and that is music to my ears. We loved our time in Virginia and at times I miss the house and the life we had there, but we are so happy to be here.

Catching Fireflies

My blogs are kind of out of order, but the most important part is that they're all here. The night of my cousin Sara's wedding they had a wonderful dinner that was preceded by the typical wedding program. It was late at night and though the program of talks by best man, maid of honor, father, father-in-law and so on was wonderful, my four children were tired and not cooperating and I was tired of trying to keep them quite. I decided it would be best for us and for anyone around us if we quietly (yeah right) slipped out until dinner was served. We went out the front door of the building to a nearby grassy area and to our surprise we found hundreds of fireflies. It was a delightful distraction and I was so glad the kids got to see and catch them before we moved.

Sarah Kate holding a firefly. Leave it up to her to be able to catch one her first try. I loved that she wasn't afraid of them and that she just went right ahead and caught them.

Ben's first firefly he caught himself! Sarah Kate was very good to share the fireflies she caught, but Ben wanted desperately to catch one himself. He kept trying and after about 10 minutes he caught one all by himself.

After about 15 minutes or so of firefly catching I decided to take the kids back in. They had to tell everyone they saw about the fireflies, even the photographers who were packing up to leave. They told my Aunt Diana who had never seen fireflies before. The kid, of course, had to take her outside and catch her one.

Aunt Diana holding a firefly. She thought they were very neat how they really do glow. If you've never seen one you're missing out. They're really are cool.

Showing the kids the firefly. The kids loved sharing this with Aunt Diana.

Sad Goodbye's

As exciting as our move to Idaho is it does come with some major disappointments. The number one disappointment is the friends we're leaving behind. I am always amazed at the generosity of people in circumstances were it would be so easy to not be generous. I, of course am talking about the huge amounts of help I received from friends those last two weeks I was in Virginia. I was in the hospital Tuesday with my kidney stone and had so many people come to my aid then, and after that the help just kept coming. They sent around a sign up sheet at church for people to come help me for the next week and a half. I had meals every night, I had someone watching my kids almost every single day, and I had at least one person coming to help me pack and clean every day except Sunday. I was so amazed at the willingness of people to come and help me move, knowing that they likely would not see me again in their life. Looking back on it I'm not so surprised, given the people who came to my aid, that's just their personality. It did, however, make me even more aware of the type of people I chose to surround myself with while living there. I was very lucky to have had the friends I had, to have my children have the friends they had, and to have met the people that I met. I hope to one day be able to repay all the generosity I receive, most likely not to those who helped me, but to someone else.

I want to share some pictures of the many friends we left behind. Most are the kids friends, but we will miss them all, young and old.

Sara's Wedding

My cousin Sara got married on Friday June 20th. She was married in Fredrick, Maryland which was very handy for me because it was on my way out of town, the weekend I was leaving. On Friday night, thanks to my parents, we spent the night in a hotel in Fredrick with Grandma and Grandpa Gass and went to the wedding at 7:00 that night.

Sara, her new husband Jack, their son Jackson, and her parents Aunt Peggy and Uncle Andy

Funny story about the wedding. Being that I was in the process of moving across the country I had a van FULL of stuff and I was pulling the waverunner. We left the hotel at 6:30 thinking we'd have plenty of time to get there before 7:00. We arrived around 6:50, but didn't count on having to park the waverunner in a small dead end parking lot. I had to get my dad to back it up and park it or I'd still be there trying. We finally got it parked and I discovered I couldn't find Sarah Kate's second shoe. It was buried in the back behind one of the lemon tree's. Strange place I know! While I was trying desperately to locate the shoe my Uncle Ted called my dad wanting to know where we were. They were ready to start, but because we were in the parking lot looking for a shoe they decided to wait a few minutes until we got in the building. Thanks everyone for waiting. Maybe next time I move I'll be more organized, but I wouldn't count on it.

We got sat down and moments later the wedding began. Sara looked beautiful in her wedding dress as she walked down the aisle to the wedding march being played on the violin by my cousins 9 year old daughter Andie.

Walking down the aisle

I was sitting in a horrible place for taking pictures, but I was able to see them as they got married. It was a lovely ceremony and I enjoyed watching the smiles on their faces.

Jack, Sara, and Sara's brother Tony

After the wedding ceremony they took all the traditional pictures you take after a wedding. This, of course, takes a while so after having a few snacks provided inside, the kids enjoyed some running around time before dinner.

Gracie loved looking at my Uncle Ted. He's my dad's only brother and he lives in Florida. We haven't seen him in at least 3 years.

This is Hannah at dinner time. I love her big brown eye's and beautiful face.

Ben running and playing with the other kids that were there. Ben loves to run around and giggle.
Sarah Kate with Uncle Ted. She really took a liking to him and I think he quite liked her as well.