Swim Lessons

Hoyt loved swim lessons this year. He had lessons the first two weeks of August at the Twin Falls YMCA and learned so much. By the time the two weeks were over he was swimming by himself and even went off the diving board three times the last day of lessons. He was pretty proud of himself!

1...2...3...GO!


Waiting patiently for turn #2


Jump #3, and he even swam by himself to his teacher after jumping in. Go Hoyt!!


He thought going off the diving board was great, but I think he loved going down the slide the most!

Trip to Lagoon

At the end of July we took a fun two-day trip to Lagoon with Grandma and Grandpa Murray, Aunt Kelly and Markus. It was really HOT while we were there, but the heat only seemed to affect me! Hoyt could have cared less that it was hot - he just wanted to ride every roller coaster and ride at the park. I think he could have stayed for at least a week!

Poor Jett had to lose his shorts at some point during the day because he was just too hot!


This kid loves every ride - from the Merry-go-Round to the big kid roller coasters he went on with Ryon


Hoyt and Markus were fans of the camo helicopter on this ride. I believe they went on this ride at least 10 times


Face painting - Hoyt saw the fire-breathing dragon and just had to have it! Markus chose a unicorn; I do believe Hoyt's artist did a little better job!!




Driving the boat was cool....


but the bumper cars were better!


The kiddie roller-coaster. Hoyt loved it and talked grandma into riding it as well. He couldn't understand why grandma was scared and told her, "Grandma....please.....this one is not scary!"


Hoyt couldn't ask for more - a ride with guns!


Dad and Jett. Jett was a trooper even in the heat


Riding the train with grandma and grandpa


Grandpa and Jett


Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids. (You would think that Hoyt could smile nicely for one of these pictures. Good grief!)


At the water park on the second day - a welcome relief from the hot temperatures!


Riding down the lazy river



What a fun couple of days!

Catching Up

Well....it's time to play catch up. I have three months worth of entries for this blog, and I have told myself that if I can sit down and get 15 done done per week I might be caught up in the next few weeks! (I can't let myself get too far behind, or the task of getting caught up might just be overwhelming.) And, since I print this blog every year and it serves as my family history and photo album, I absolutely have to catch up! The reason for my absence you ask?

Towards the end of June I started feeling pretty crummy - no energy (could barely get off the couch), tired...tired...tired, achy all over, sweating and hot flashes, I could go on and on. I thought that I had a virus so I waited about 3 weeks before I went to the doctor. After a few visits, my heart starting to race out of control, and lots of blood work later we found out that my thyroid was going crazy. That led to a radioactive scan of my thyroid and I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease. I was fairly freaked out about the whole thing until the endocrinologist said that this condition was pretty common, and directly related to my last pregnancy.

However, there is no easy fix. My choices were to kill my thyroid with radioactive iodine or go on one of two medications that may or may not get the problem under control. I opted for medication in August, after consulting with a few doctors. I'm hoping the medication will put the disease into remission, or that my thyroid will just die on its own - we'll see how it goes. The good news is that I'm finally starting to feel semi-normal again, and can do more than vacuum one room before I have to lie down and rest - HOORAY! How thankful I am that the diagnosis wasn't anything more serious, because at one point in July the Dr.'s thought it could have been.

So, here's to lots of blogging getting done because I'm finally feeling more like my good-ol' self!

7 Months

Our little boy is seven months old, and we're not quite sure where those seven months have gone. You can barely see in this picture but Jett has two little teeth on the bottom, and I do believe one that is almost ready to come in on the top. He is not a fan of teething, in fact we have witnessed some definite crankiness in the past month because of it! I think we'll keep him though - he's just too cute to give him away!!

Hatching

One of the surprises we brought home for Hoyt was a dinosaur egg, and he was fascinated by it. The morning after we got home, we put the egg in water and over the course of three days it hatched. Everyday he would jump out of bed and say, "Time to see if my baby dinosaur hatched!" It was pretty cute - not bad for a $5 investment!

Waking up to check on his egg


Almost there....


and now we have our very own dinosaur baby (or is it called a hatchling....I don't know!).

West Baden Hotel - Indiana

The resort we stayed at in French Lick Indiana was amazing! I didn't take too many pictures once we got there, so these will have to do. The weather was crazy the three days we were there - over 100 degrees with 90 to 100 percent humidity. When you walked outside it felt like you couldn't breathe. Good thing the hotel and resort had things to do indoors!

Allison and I went to the spa one day, and took advantage of the pool everyday as well. It was definitely a fun little vacation, and we have decided that the four of us need to do it more often!

Checking out and heading home to the children!


The hotel is circular and the rooms look out into the middle atrium.


The history behind the hotel was fascinating. Back in the late 1800's and early 1900's this is where Presidents of the United States would come to vacation; however, after the stock market crash the hotel fell into disarray and was abandoned. It was purchased, I believe about 20 years ago, and renovated to its original glory. I loved learning about the history behind the building!



This is a picture of the ceiling, which changes colors in the evening.

Churchill Downs

Before we left to drive to Indiana, we stopped by Churchill Downs again and went through the museum. We also took a tour of the racetrack. What fun! I think one day it might be fun to go to the Kentucky Derby.....if we could stand the crowds!!

In the museum at the Winner's Circle - Hoyt asked me "Mom, who is the jockey on the horse?" I had to explain the the jockey wasn't "real"!


Stables where they keep the horses right before the race


Ryon and Matt next to....some famous horse....right now I can't seem to remember which one!!


The "winner's circle" on the track. The grounds are so beautifully maintained.


This one is a little bright - but Allison and I had to get a picture in as well!


They keep a few horses stabled right on the grounds. This guy is retired, but pretty impressive.


We all loved the game where you ride in the Kentucky Derby. Allison was the winner by FAR!



Sometimes I wonder about these two!!

Trip to Indiana

Ryon and Matt were asked to speak at a conference in Indiana at the beginning of July. Ryon told me that wives were welcome to come, and that we would be staying at a fabulous "resort". I was a little skeptical of the "resort"; however, when we finally looked it up online, the pictures were beautiful and I began to feel a little excited about going. I was a bit apprehensive to leave Jett (I hadn't left Hoyt until he was 3, and poor Jett was just 6 months) but Ryon's parents volunteered to come and watch the boys so we could have a relaxing time away!

We met Matt and Allison at the Salt Lake airport, took off for four days, and had a great time! We flew into Louisville, Kentucky our first day and took in some of the sights before we left for Indiana on day two.

I had been to Churchill Downs once before, but it was fun to go again!




We also took a drive out into the surrounding towns and saw plenty of horse properties that were just breathtaking!


This is a barn.....A BARN!!


We couldn't resist taking a picture or two in front of the beautiful pastures!

Sitting Up

Our little Jettybug is now 6 months old and getting to be the biggest boy! He can almost sit up all by himself and has finally started rolling over. He is getting two bottom teeth which are just about to come through and even while teething he is the happiest baby ever. I could handle at least four more babies just like him!!

Mr. Handsome

Jett loves his big brother - Hoyt makes Jett laugh all the time and it is the cutest thing ever!

Rainbows

Last night we had a little storm blow through, and when I walked to the back window this is what I saw. Hoyt thought the rainbows were the "coolest thing ever!" There were three rainbows in the sky; two behind the house and one over the canyon. Gorgeous!!