Boise Highlights and the 4th

Here are a few pictures highlighting our fun in Boise!First time for Emersyn to experiment with smores!
She loved them and couldn't get enough.
Adelynn with cousins Kira and Reese on the trampoline gettin' wet. It was a gorgeous week!
Emersyn also got to experiment with her first popsicle. She also loved that!
Emi and Jed both loved Grandma. Here they are enjoying some time with her while watching Baby Einstein. Jed hogged grandma a bit, but that's because his momma was gone, but Emi just nudged her way in when she wanted:)
Daddy was sure fun to have around to throw kids in the air! It's so fun!
And Jed even loved it too! It was funny, because he was so sad that his momma left him, and so attached to Grandma, he would not come to me. It made me so sad, but he loved Caleb, cause Uncle Caleb is pretty cool.
Here is the smurf turf, home of the Boise Bronco's! WOOT WOOT!
This is where I lived while attending college. We took a trip down to the college one day to visit my Aunt who works there and have a trip down memory lane. Good times I tell ya!
Here is Adi getting into the spirit at the Bronco shop. She is well trained and already loves anything Blue and Orange and BOISE!
Here is Adi with HER Grandpa Boise(witters, she just calls him that.) She was saying good-bye in this pic. We apparently aren't very good at goodbye's though, because we stayed an extra night after this. We just couldn't leave!
On our way home from boise we stopped at Craters of the moon. Adi liked it. Don't mind that I look like a completely worn out BOY in this picture, I just liked it because of the girls climbing on Caleb:)
And really quick I have to say we got to see Kristen and Mitchel(sadly not Cory...we missed him), and we had such a good time with them, but I was so busy having fun with them, I didn't get pictures. We love you guys so much, and are so glad you took the long trip to Boise to be able to spend some time with us. It meant the world to us, and it was so fun to spend that little time with you. LOVE YOU!
As well as with our great friends Dave and Heidi(we're trying to get over there to live by you, we are!) Thanks for coming to the Zoo with us and for Dinner, and for swimming! Miss you guys.

AND ON TO THE 4th...I love the 4th! What a fabulous fun way to celebrate the freedoms that we are so grateful for in this beautiful country we live in!

Just wondering if it's this difficult for anyone else to get a normal picture with their hubby?
This was taken the night before the 4th at Grandma Wall's house after some fun and a bbq, and the smores and a firework show. It was a blast. I love when family gets together and you just have a good old time.
Still no normal smiles...
Here is Adi with Grandma on the deck watching the fireworks. She was having some fun snuggling in close with grandma and cheering on her Daddy. She thought the neatest part of everything was that her hero...her DADDY!...was the one putting on the show. With Spencer of course. She also made a point to say "good job Spencer" at the end of the show. :)
Here is the group gathered around the fire. So much fun! Family, food, fire, and fireworks...what more could you ask for?!!!
Cute little 4th of July sisters after we finished at the Parade, and before we took naps.
Adi got her face painted from the IFHS cheerleader. She jumped off the float and came right to her, and made her into a little tiger mascot. Adi was thrilled.
Here are some pictures of the girls I took in their cute little firwork outfits. Look close at Adi's earrings, she had me make them dangly and to match mommy's earrings and watch. She's such a girly girl! And after the earrings, they needed matching bows too. They looked pretty sweet I thought.




This is the "Wow, this is great...I'm so tired!" Face at the fireworks:) What a little love. Anyway, thanks for making it through this ridiculously long post. Hope you enjoyed some of our recent adventures!

One cute baby and and obsession...

This last week Caleb had some vacation, and we went over to Boise to help my Mom watch my sister's kids. It was SO fun! We love that area so much we couldn't bring ourselves to come home. While we were there we did some fun house shopping too. It never hurts to dream right? Anyway, I'll post more on that trip later, but what I wanted to share with you all was this...
Isn't she the most beautiful thing ever? I just love love this picture. My sisters roses were looking amazing...check that...her whole yard is amazing! So we took some pictures of Emi one afternoon, and I just thought this turned out SO precious.
I also thought I'd share really quick one of my latest watch band creations. I LOVE these things. This one is for the 4th(clearly) and the picture really doesn't do it justice, but I love the festive bright red and blue. So fun!(if you look closely in the backgorund beyond my ugly hand is my new kitchen floor...more on that to come soon too!)Another thing I am TOTALLY in love with lately is this AMAZING white chocolate by Lindt. It's coconut, and oh so amazing melt in your mouth deliciousness. I thought I would share for those of you with a sweet tooth like mine.Well, I'll try and post more on Boise later, until then, have a HAPPY HAPPY 4th! I LOVE the 4th, it's the best holiday ever. Oh, and I better not forget to shout out to my best friend in the WORLD who I love and miss tons, Happy Birthday on the 4th Crystal. It won't be the same without seeing you in the morning at the Firemans Breakfast. Love you!
Happy 4th!

Funny Adi-isms and daily life

For remembering purposes, I thought I would write down a couple of funny things from Adi in the last few days.
First off she was riding in the car with her Daddy and her Grandpa and she asked for some gum. Daddy told her no, because it's momma's gum, and you'll have to ask her. She said "ok. I will. I will say (said in a fake crying voice)'please momma, I can have some gum?' (fake sobs) And momma will say 'sure'. That's how I will get some gum." What a terd. I knew she's been working us all along!
Then Yesterday at church she was a little bit naughty, and so in the hallway I told her she had a choice to be good and go back in the chapel, or be naughty and when we get home, she'll be in trouble. She knows what trouble means, so she chose the chapel. Only problem is, she wasn't good. So when we got home, she got in trouble. Afterwards we talked to her about why she was in trouble, and then she decided to say a prayer to say she was sorry for being bad in church. It was cute, because as she prayed she was letting out these little teeny whimpers and she says "I'm sorry I was ir-ra-revererent." cute:)
And last Adi-ism, we were at the dinner table last night and Adelynn says in a very happy 'i'm pleased with myself' kind of voice "I'm the Goddess of Chaos!" We laughed very hard, and we had to agree!
And here are a few random pictures. We went to the circus, and Adi got to ride the ponies.
This is the current chaotic state of my kitchen...Oh my heavens, I know!
Isn't she the cutest clown at the circus?
Emersyn looking like a cutie one day up at blacktale.
here I am painting. Am I super mom or what? In case you were wondering, that's just a hint as to why it's taking me forever to do this kitchen!
And here is another picture from the circus of Caleb and Adi on the Elephant! It was a really great time, and both the girls loved it.

Another few weeks in catch up...

Beware: It's another long one. Maybe if I would take a second to blog occasionally, I wouldn't have so much I wanted to catch up on! Bare with me, or skip through and just take a peak at the pictures:)
Lots has been going on the past few weeks. My parents came over for the Holiday weekend, and we had a blast. We put in my garden, and it's coming along very nicely! Who ever thought I would enjoy gardening? I definitely DID NOT when we were younger! We also went to see Star Trek, and I never thought I would say this, but I loved it! I could totally be a treky, no joke. Thanks Mom and Dad for staying an extra day so we could go out, and thanks for the movie. We sure love and miss you guys so much!
Caleb and I also both just celebrated our birthdays! It's so fun having birthday's together.
I began renovation on the purple kitchen, and it's been kicking my bottom! What was I thinking? It's definitely going to be a long and grueling process, but it will be worth it when it's finished. I decided to go with white cabinets. I bought a brown glaze sample and a spray painter to give the antiqued look a try in hopes that you wouldn't see all the brush strokes. We'll see if it turns out OK. If it does, we might be able to get our antiqued kitchen cabinets after all! We are doing the floor in a nice light wood color. The back splash is going to be bead board, and the new counter tops will be tiled. It should be a nice look when all is said and done...if that day ever comes. And don't worry, I'm taking lots of before/during/after pictures.
Adi has been LOVING the nice weather with lots of sprinkler and trampoline and park time. We are having to watch her like a hawk now since she knows how to go out the front door by herself, and she will WHENEVER she feels like it. She is becoming even more independent than ever if that is possible. She loves to play, and has the imagination of her daddy, and more personality embodied in her tiny little frame than any 3 people I know put together! She tells me everyday that she is a princess, and dress-up is still a regular here. She is a hoot, and is always saying such funny things. She often says "oh, what a cute shirt (or bracelet, or whatever)mom! Your so pretty." I love it. Or if you ask her to do something its "No, but thanks for asking mom." Or today she told me "Momma, did you know Santa loves Jesus too." And she is also starting to really grasp apologizing. Just last night we were sitting at the table, and we had had kind of a long day, and she was eating her dinner when she just stopped and said "I'm sorry for yelling at you today Mom." Oh the joys of raising a 2 year old.
Emersyn is growing so big so fast. It seems like my baby is already growing up. It's fun, but I hate it, because then I start to think I will need another baby! (don't worry, we won't!) Caleb thinks he's going to start a business with other men where wives who have newborns can bring their children for a break, and mother's who need their baby fix can come and hold them. Not quite a daycare, but more of a baby fix solution. hahah. Anyway, Emi is crawling, and saying "momma" and "dadda". We pretend that she knows what she's talking about...and who knows, maybe she does. She eats anything and everything in sight. She eats from the table, from the baby food jar, or heck...from the floor! She is so smiley and lovey and cuddly, we just love her to pieces!
Anyway, with that re-cap here are some pictures from the past few weeks to help sum up all that we've been busy with...
My bro that has the little farm just got 2 new baby bunnies. We went out to see and hold them. They are so adorable, and so TINY! Adi and Emi both loved them.
Adi playing Dress-up at her friends(cousins) Brandon and Bridger's house. They are so cute together and love each other so much. Check out the sequence on that dress! The girls got flare!

We went to game world the other night and had a great time riding the rides, and playing the games. Adi loves it there and get's super excited when the tickets come shooting out. Here is her and Emi on the horse. Emi as you can see was more excited about Dad than anything:)

When my parents were here Memorial day weekend, my Dad and bro took their boat out to opening day at Henry's, and Uncle Craig promised Adi he would bring her back a fish. She was so excited. That's all she could talk about all day! I don't think she realized the fish would be that big, and also be dead...hahah...but when he got there and showed her the fish, she was thrilled, and even held it and was so brave. She was such a trooper!

I love how Adelynn's imagination grows as she does. She loves to play on her own and make up scenes. The other day I was busy in the kitchen and she was in her room for over an hour. I talked to her periodically, but she was content, so I kept working. When I went in her room after a bit I found this set-up, and just thought it was really sweet.

Adelynn loves to do her make-up HERSELF, or paint her face as she calls it.

We have been enjoying the summer, and with summer comes lots of campfires, so we built a pit in our backyard, and have been loving it.

Adi loves to cook with me. She HAS to do the beating too. We make banana bread regularly, and here she is mixing it up.
Adi thinks she can pour her own cereal apparently. When I ran in to see what she had done she said "I'm not naughty momma, it was an accident. And look, it's a mountain of cereal!"

Emersyn LOVE LOVED the bunnies too. She wasn't quite as soft as she should be, so we had to watch her close, but it was adorable. Isn't she so cute?!

Just this morning Adi was looking beautiful as always (how could you not love that face?!) So I took some pictures of her outside. FYI: As her mother, it's my right to boast and love and adore my girls. It comes with the territory:) check it out, she is such a pill!



Not sure what this face is...

But MAN, she thinks she is funny!

A sneak peak at a trial kitchen cabinet door with the white on it next the the color of my walls.

More dress up, too funny not to post.

Emersyn looking so cute on a nice sunday afternoon.

Now that Emi is mobile, it means a whole new world of things to get in to. She thinks it's great, and so far I think it's too cute to get mad at her for it. I'm sure eventually it will get old.

Emi loves her bath time. It's definitely her wind down for the night. What a babe! Check out the bugs by her head, not sure why, but Adi likes toy bugs in the bath.

Ok, have a happy weekend everybody! Thanks for reading this!

Please cast your vote ASAP

Hey Everyone! Sorry I've taken such a long break from blogging. Just getting excited for summer and all of the fun things it brings here in the Wall world. Anyway, this is going to be quick, but I need some help, and I need some input and opinion fast.
I took on a project that is WAY bigger than I anticipated, but it will totally be worth it in the end. I am re-doing my kitchen! Farewell purple...you've been good to us...:)....but farewell! Anyway, I thought I knew everything that I wanted, and now I am struggling. What I originally wanted was this....
Antiqued white kitchen cabinets. I love it! I think they are so rustic, and so my style. However, I am finding that this may not work in my kitchen because I am not doing new cabinets. I am just re-doing the current ones to save on our budget. And as my finisher explained to me, that may be more difficult to do because of the paint that is on there now, but if we have an extra few hundred dollars(which we don't) than we could do this.

So now I am bummed, and trying to decide which solid color for my kitchen would I like best? I have painted the walls the same color as my entryway and hallway which is a nice tan color. So what will I like better? Black cabinets which are sleek, totally Ashley style, not going to show so many little finger prints...but the drawbacks are that it may make my SMALL kitchen look even darker and SMALLER!

Or do I want beautiful and bright white cabinets that will probably brighten the room, help with the illusion of it being bigger...but show every little finger print that Adi and Emi's grime covered hands will touch?

Please cast your vote ASAP. I NEED HELP!!!!

And the next American Idol is...

Adi loves to dance and to sing. We are getting her in dance lesson's this fall, but meanwhile, she can't wait. If we get time, or can remember, watching Dancing with the Stars and A.I. is her FAVE! While watching American Idol last night, here is what she did...




She's a natural already!

Our Vacation

Here are some pics of our vacation. It was AMAZING! We seriously had such a great time, and we were able to do so much. Snorkeling, Parasailing, touring the ancient ruins of one of the 7 wonders of the world Chichen Itza, watching a bunch of different shows including a fire show, a mayan show, a Michael Jackson show etc. The weather was fantastic, the beach was white and soft, and the service was beyond anything we've ever had. Everyone was so eager to help you, and bring us drink after drink. They just came to you while you were sunbathing or swimming, or walking the beach, it was great. The food was also great, so much variety, and so much of it! So much for working so hard to look good in that bikini!!! And the best part of it all, it was all free! I'm really proud of Caleb for getting this trip. There were 100's of people from his company there, but all of them were either customers or higher up in the company. Caleb was 1 of only 2 store managers to win this trip in the WHOLE company! Way to go Caleb. Anyway, I could talk and talk about how great it was, but I just like looking at pictures more anyway, so here is a little bit of our trip for you. Sorry, the pics kind of posted backward from the order we had them, but that's ok.
Standing on the beach. It was PERFECT!

I just got done swimming in a Cenote, or a sinkhole. It was crazy cool. 50 meters deep, and totally fresh.

Walking down the 91 steps into the earth to reach the sink-hole.

A picture from up-top of how deep the sink hole is before the water even starts!

Here we are in front of the Pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza. It feels sureal to look at this and think we were really there!!! This was our favorite part of the trip. We did this on our Anniversary. It was so cool to see the amount of knowledge they had, their cultural history, and the astronomical science they used in everything! Wow, if you ever get the chance, go there, or read up on it. AMAZING! (this is the completely restored side.)

Here is the side of the pyramid that has been restored as best as it can be. Pieces of stone were missing when this was discovered probably due to people in the neighboring Mayan communities taking stones to build their own homes etc.

The Observatory. This is cool, because this is where they observed(obviously) astronomy to be able to create the mathematical and astronomical wonder...the pyramid! Seriously, it's crazy how they built that thing. All in sync with their mayan calendar...I won't go into it, but really, I would suggest reading up on it. It is completely fascinating.

This is a picture of the ball court. The biggest ball court ever to be discovered among any ancient mayan ruins. It was interesting to find out how the ball game was played, and that actually it was played as a fertility worship. Also interestingly enough, the captain of the team to win was decapitated as a sacrifice, and they considered this a great honor! (I wouldn't have been a very good athlete in those days I'm afraid!)

Another picture of the Temple. Isn't it sweet?!

Here is a bubble bath in the jacuzzi gone wild. We didn't realize just how many bubbles we'd put in until we turned on the jets and the bubbles kept going up and up and up! This is Caleb sitting flat on the bottom of the tub. That gives you an idea of how full it really was!

Here is us shopping in front of Coco Bongo, a great club in Cancun famous for it's impersonations.

A guy that was a fabulously talented painter. We had him paint pictures for both of our girls. Well worth it!

Look at that amazing blue water!

Here we are with some Mayan warriors after the mayan show. They were actually the actors from the movie Apocolypto. Don't they loook tough?

Just a picture of one of the 756 pina colada's we drank all week long! You just can't resist when they take such amazing care of you!

My hottie on the beach:)

A beautiful flower. The colors there are so lucious and bright.

Drawing in the sand. Something everyone has to do when your on the beach right?

Swimming. Swim time was FUN!!

the next 4 picture are of us parasailing. That was crazy. 350 feet up in the air, nothing but the breeze on your face, and a vast view of the ocean. Incredibly relaxing and totally thrilling!




Here is a picture of Ponchito. He is a pelican that lives on the pier. The parasailng guys were snagging little sardine fish with a hook and some line, and then they were feeding him. It was cool to be right there, and Poncho was really friendly. He is catching a fish in his mouth in this picture.

By the beautiful beach...

On the roof of our lobby.

Room Service! We didn't realize it would be that much...haha!

Our first night after getting there. This is looking out from our balcony.

And another view from our balcony.

And I will stop there. I'm too lazy to upload more pictures from our snorkeling, or the ones of us with Parrots on our head. But you get more than the jist of our trip. It was fabulous. It was so good to be away, and now it's great to be back. Emersyn and Adelynn both did great, and now they are happy we're home. Emersyn took a bottle, and now that I'm back, she took me back just fine. I'm so grateful for that, because my heart was aching so bad when I had to leave her. Everything turned out just as we'd hoped. More than we hoped. It was a dream.