Birthday Boy

Hoyt's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, and since we weren't having a big celebration until Sunday, we decided to invite a few new friends over for the day. Logan and Noah, brothers and friends from our new ward, came over to play and go horseback riding. The boys had a great time and Hoyt requested Macaroni and Cheese and brownies for lunch, which (as you can imagine) was a big hit.

It's hard to believe that this little guy is now three. He's grown into such a big boy with quite a personality. He loves to be outside doing anything with dad (washing cars, changing oil, fixing sprinklers, etc.); he loves to do yard work and pull weeds with me; he can't get enough of his tool box and asks me at least 10 times a day what his "work job" is; he loves to read, play school, color and draw; he wants to ride the horse daily and loves to do it "himself"; he plays "pretend" all the time, and I will often find him in the office on his phone talking to farmers (just like dad); he is a great bike rider and loves our new house because there is so much room to ride; he talks constantly and must ask me a thousand questions a day; and he has more energy than any child I have ever seen in my life - 24 hours a day he is on the go!!! What a crazy little three-year-old we have in our house!

Getting ready to ride Annie with Logan and Noah

Here's the birthday boy doing one of his favorite activities. Now that the horses are practically in our backyard, Hoyt gets to ride at least every other day. He is in heaven!

With his favorite guy - the other day Hoyt turned to me and said, "Mom, I love dad....he's so nice!"

That night we took Hoyt to dinner and he opened just a few presents. This one was from grandma and grandpa Hoyt - a night lite panda bear. The first week we were in the new house Hoyt would wake up at night crying, so my mom thought this bear would help him go back to sleep. Hoyt loved it.

He had to try it out in dad's closet...he wanted me to shut the door and not take a picture so it could "light up the dark"!

The Move...

After four crazy weeks of packing boxes; an afternoon, evening, and morning of packing two of Penske's largest trucks (and a trailer from U-Haul); and an 8 hour drive, we finally made it to Idaho. The last few hours of the drive I was so tired I contemplated staying the night with Hoyt and my mom in Jackpot, Nevada....but then I ate an entire box of candy which helped me keep my eyes open!

I didn't get pictures of the caravan, which included the 2 large trucks (one pulling the U-Haul trailer), the truck and trailer with the horses, my car with myself and Hoyt, and my mom driving Ryon's dads car (he was driving a big truck). Let me say that it was a sight! We pulled in to our "new" house at 10pm, unloaded mattresses, and went to bed. A few men from the ward came to help us unload at 9 am the next morning, and by the end of the day I think I could have slept for a week!

Here's Hoyt helping unload the trucks.

Aunt Noelle, Uncle Kyle and Landon came to help out the next day and Hoyt entertained Landon with rides in the Jeep!

Thank heavens my mom was able to stay for four days to help me put the house together. We worked from sun-up to sun-down and got everything hung, set up, cleaned, etc....I couldn't have done it without her!!

Of course on her last night in town we had to go out to dinner (Cafe Rio) and see the falls.

On our list of "things to do" for the first week was to get the yards weed killed and fertilized. Due to the fact that we have an acre of grass the only way to do this was on the four-wheeler.



Hoyt loved helping dad with the work!

What I Will Miss Most

There are so many things that I will miss about our life in Reno, but mostly I will miss the friendships we have made with amazing people. How fortunate we have been to have had such wonderful friends in our lives.

I will miss the "dates" out with the girls...

I will miss my flower bed in the backyard and all the beautiful colors...

I will miss going to lunch and talking for hours...

And I will miss watching Hoyt fill up pails with sand at Lake Tahoe.

Ryon reminds me often that there are wonderful people everywhere, so I'm looking forward to meeting all of those great friends awaiting us in Idaho!

Like Father...

like son. Poor Hoyt has been a little unsure of things during this packing and moving process, so every chance he gets he snuggles up to Ryon or I for a little one-on-one time. Here are the boys in bed one morning working on their laptops. Love it!!

Good-Bye's

So...to put it mildly, I'm really not a good-bye person. I cry, my nose runs, my eyes get puffy and red, and frankly I would rather stay in denial about this whole move! However, all of our great friends insisted on a going-away party, so we went and had a terrific time. We have made such wonderful, life-long friends in Reno and we were so happy to be able to spend time with them and say good-bye. (And yes, I did bawl...my nose ran...and my eyes hurt afterwards, but it was well worth it!)

I wish we could have taken a "group shot", but here are just a few pictures of some of our friends who were there.


Julie & Nicole



The Coonce's



Some of the girls...

more of the girls...

The Castiblanco Family...by this time my eyes were pretty red and puffy!

Hoyt with Breanna and Madeline

The Edwards' kids

Amy, Brandon and Megan.

Visiting Family in CA

Hoyt and I went down to California to spend a little time with family and friends before the big move. We did lots of swimming, ate out with friends and family, took Uncle Caleb's senior pictures, and ran around grandma and grandpa's house with our favorite cousin Isaiah.

Ryon promises that we can still go visit every few months, because the Boise airport is just two hours away. We're holding him to that!

Hammin' it up with Caleb during the "photo shoot".



I love the glasses....so GQ



Out to dinner with my favorite girls!



Enjoying swimming in grandma and grandpa's pool. Hoyt's a fish, as long as he has his floatie!



Partners in crime!

Enjoying McDonald's sundaes with Isaiah

The girls!

Having fun with Uncle Aaron in the playland.

What to do...

with a cranky, almost three-year-old, who just won't leave you alone to get some much-needed packing done?

My answer = beautiful sunny day, lovely backyard (which I will miss desperately!), sprinkler, little boy in nothing but his diaper. (NO, he is still not potty-trained; I think I will tackle that one after the move). I think I got about an hour of packing time....not bad!

Jumping over the sprinkler was just so much fun!

The homemade slip-n-slide was a hit!

Ryon says we're saving these pictures to bring out and show his "dates" when he's older. What a nice dad!!

BASEBALL!!

We had to make time for just one more trip to an Aces game before we left Reno. Hoyt has really enjoyed going to the games over the last few years - it always amazes Ryon and I that he will sit and watch literally all 9 innings. (There are nine innings...right?...)

We had great seats again this year, thanks to the Intuit box, and Hoyt enjoyed the game along with a trip to the "Kids' Zone" where he played on the miniature baseball field, ran the bases, and jumped in the bounce house. What a night!

A little family fun!

Lovin' watching the game down below!

Hoyt wanted to hurry up and get to the "Kids' Zone"....not take a picture MOM!!

Popcorn....another favorite thing about baseball games!