Holderness Family Reunion

 Back in July we were able to attend the Holderness Family reunion in Boise.  We debated for a long time whether or not to attend this year, due to our upcoming move and the many unknowns in our life.  However, with Kenny's grandpa's health declining we knew it was the last reunion with him, so we decided it was an important trip and we needed to go.  I headed out on Friday morning and met a bunch of the family at Roaring Springs water park.  At first I thought I was crazy for taking all 6 kids by myself, but there proved to be plenty of willing hands to help me and we all had a great time.  I was even able to get away from the little ones a few times and take the oldest 3 on a few water slides.  It was a great day that would have been better only if Daddy had been able to join us.

The Lazy River.  What fun!

My cute little baby LOVES the water.

I didn't see Ben most of the time we were there.  He was off riding water slides with cousins and having a blast the entire time.

Grandma helping Gracie snap a picture.

Gracie's turn to smile.

Hannah and her cousin Savannah.

Doesn't she look like she had a lot of fun?

Waiting in line for lunch with DanDan.

Hanging out with the little boys and Grandma.

Saturday brought a lot of family time, a magician, and Daddy.  We began the day by hanging out at the hotel.  It's amazing how cool it can be for kids to hang out in a hotel, especially when the hotel is full of cousins.  At noon we headed downstairs to see the magician.  The kids had a blast watching him set up and they could hardly wait for the show to begin.  The magician didn't disappoint and Hannah, Ben, and Sarah were even chosen to be part of the show.  Towards the end of the show the kids looked over and saw Daddy sitting there watching them.  He had arrived from Washington and we were all so happy to see him.

The kids watching the magic show.

Hannah's turn to be a volunteer.  She was a little embarrassed and a little confused by the magician.

Hannah got to ride a magic carpet and it seemed as though  the carpet was floating in mid air.  Of course she couldn't see it and was not terribly impressed but the other cousins in the audience were.

Ben and Sarah got to roll the big dice for one of the magic tricks.

Dan was happy to see Daddy and enjoyed wearing his sunglasses.

After the magic show the magician made balloon creations for all the kids.  They each got to choose what they wanted and there was a wide variety of creations in the room when everything was said and done.

Hannah was one of the first to get a balloon and she chose a ladybug.  Her balloon popped within a few minutes, but the magician was nice enough to make her another one. This time she tied it on her wrist so it wouldn't break again.

Dan got a turtle and he carried it around everywhere with him until it finally popped that night.

Gracie got a heart hat and had to have pictures with her cousins who also had balloon hats.

Gracie and her favorite cousin Gabbi with their balloon hats.

After the magic show we had some lunch and then hung out with Daddy.  We ran a few errands and then headed over to Kenny's Uncle Kevin's house for a family dinner.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with family and to watch our kids play with cousins that they don't get to see very often.  Family time is the best part about reunions.  After the dinner it was back to the hotel for some bed jumping fun and then sleeping time.

Playing with cousins at Uncle Kevin's.

My little boys sharing a bed and having a bottle.  These boys sure love each other.

Hannah jumping from one bed to the other.

Gracie wasn't brave enough to jump the gap between the beds so she improvised.

The girls got really creative on finding ways to get from one bed to the other, a human bridge.

Sunday morning we packed up the room and headed back to Uncle Kevin's for testimony meeting.  Kenny has an amazing family and it is always so wonderful to hear their amazing testimonies.

The entire clan after dinner on Saturday night.  What an amazing group of people.

Grandma Holderness has always paired off the kids and taken pictures.  These are the pictures our family was in.

Mom and Dad's group (the oldest cousin group.)

Sarah's group with Jonathon, Devin, Missi, and Alex

Ben's group with Savannah and Alli

Hannah's group with Ella, Cadence, Kieran, and Samantha

Gracie's group with Zack, Lincoln, Michael, and Jaden

Dan's group with Ava, Carlie, and Mable

Adam's group with Bailey, Cooper, and Kody

After testimony meeting we were able to go back to Grandma and Grandpa Holderness' house and have the kids be welcomed into the Silver Dollar Club.  It's a club Grandpa had made up for all the great grand kids.  They each got a silver dollar, the oldest child in each family got a dollar Grandpa had saved from his parents.  It was such a nice thing for them to do for each of their great grand kids.  I just feel bad I didn't have my camera for pictures.  I'll have to get them from my in-laws.  :)

Grandpa and Grandma Holderness.  They have built an amazing legacy.

Virginia Weather

 We had some crazy rainstorms in July.  They were uncharacteristic of the west, but they were so awesome.  They totally reminded me of the rainstorms we had in Virginia.  I had to snap pictures is was so cool.

This storm started out as just rain, a lot of rain.

Then it turned to hail.

I love this shot of the hail in the tree.

And, of course, the best storms end with a rainbow.  I'm so going to miss this view.

The Zoo For The Last Time

 I know I've said this before, but I absolutely LOVE the Idaho Falls zoo.  It's not very large, but I think it's a great size, actually big for a small town zoo.  I am really going to miss it.


After visiting the Potato Museum with Cami and her girls we headed back to the house to visit and catch up.  After about an 30 minutes at the house we decided to leave the kids in the watchful hands of Samantha and Sarah and we headed to Cafe Rio for lunch.  Yummy!  It was so nice to go out without kids.  Thanks Cami.


When we got back the kids were restless and wanted to go do something.  We decided to take them to the zoo.  It was a ton of fun.  The weather was beautiful, there were a number of baby animals, and the kids had friends to hang out with.  It was the perfect outing.

These pelicans were awesome.  They kept trying to eat things out of people's hands, mainly cell phones, sunglasses, and the kids water bottles.

The kids were so excited to see the peacock in all his glory.

Gracie just had to say hi to him.

Love this picture of a baby llama. (Stole it from Cami's blog.)

Petting a big llama.

Ben took a little time to play on the mini playground.

Adam enjoying a little time with the goats even though he couldn't go in.

We let the kids go in the goat cage to pet them.  They were fine at first, but then some of the goats decided to play.

OK maybe they were having a little bit of a fight.

I've seen goats do that on TV, but never in person.  We watched for a little bit and then decided it was probably best to get the kids out.

Of course we had to have a picture on the tiger.  Too bad Cami's oldest, Darin, was at scout camp and couldn't make it.  Ben sure missed him.

Having a drink in the lions mouth is fun, but it's even better 3 at a time (with 1 on top.)

When it was time to see the baby zebra, Gracie wanted a better look, one without the fence in the way.

Hannah and Julia had to get in on the fun.

If you look close you can see the cute baby swans.

The zoo was a lot of fun and we ended the day with a trip to McDonald's to eat and play in the play area.  It was so much fun to see Cami and her girls.  I love the time we get to spend with them.  Thanks for coming up.

Potato Museum, Um Yes Please

So, my great friend Cami decided to come and visit me again in July.  She has been so wonderful to me and is always willing to go on trips up to Idaho Falls to see and play with me.  For the longest time we've talked about going to the Potato Museum in Blackfoot, so, knowing it was our last outing in Idaho Falls before I moved, we decided to go for it.  I met her in Blackfoot on the 14th for a fun filled trip down potato lane.

All the kids in hanging out at the sign in front of the museum.

As cool as the potato museum sounds to everyone, I must admit I didn't think there'd be many people lined up to learn about potatoes in the middle of July.  To my surprise when we drove up there were 2 senior citizen tour buses already in the museum enjoying everything potato.  It was a little crowded, but we didn't mind too much.  Besides all the old ladies loved looking at and commenting about my cute little boys.  I'll take that any day.

The museum was small which was perfect for the kids, less boredom.  It featured many wonderful potato items from the largest potato chip in the world, to old farm equipment, to a large collection of Mr. Potato Heads.  What more could you want in a potato museum.

Julia, Cami's daughter, looking at the worlds largest potato chip.  Yuck, I mean Yummy!  (I didn't get a picture of this with my camera so I stole this one from Cami's blog.  Thanks Cami.)

Gracie ready to sort potatoes a long time ago.  Show us how it's done Gracie!

Ben and Hannah smiling by some kind of old farm equipment.

Ben wanted a picture of himself sitting on the Spudnik.  I'm not sure he was suppose to be up there, but there were no signs saying not to, so we went for it. . .  quickly.

Then, of course, Gracie had to have a turn.

Dan wanted a turn too, but he wasn't too sure about it once he got up there.

Sarah and Samantha being willing to let me take their picture, well kind of willing.

Gracie checking out the Mr. Potato Head collection.

After seeing all that was inside, we let the kids go play on the old train car next to the museum.  They had a blast climbing all over the thing and pretending to drive it.  Ohh to be a kid again.

Most of the kids 'posing' for a picture on the train car.

Even Dan had fun climbing on the train.

Hannah having fun on the train.

Beating The Heat

This is one happy baby.

There was something wrong with our furnace/AC in our house so for the last part of the winter and we had no heat and the we had no AC in the summer.  For the most part it wasn't a problem.  In the winter the kids had little heaters they used in their rooms downstairs and the fireplace still worked upstairs.  In the summer it took awhile for the heat to set in.  The first part of July it started getting HOT.  There were days the temperature in the house would reach 91 and we were all roasting (even the downstairs didn't cool us down.)  Dan and Adam's room was in the front of the house so they would get the afternoon heat.  I felt so bad for them.  We had one fan in the house and the boys quickly learned to love the fan, especially Adam.

He LOVED sitting in front of the fan.  What a cutie!