Greg, Gwen and family

 My brother Greg is on the United Dairymen of Idaho Board and he had meetings in Boise.  We loved having Gwen and the kids come and hang out.  We had a great time swimming, playing with the parakeets, having a sleepover, and having a water party outside.  It is so fun to play with cousins!  Thanks for coming.  We can't wait until next time.

Andersen Family Reunion

My family got together last Monday just for the evening at a place called Steadman's.  It was great.  They 2 awesome slip n' slides.  Annie and Cameron spent hours going down with their cousins.  There was a quick storm that rolled through, but overall the weather was great.  It is nice to be close enough to go and join in on the fun when my family is all getting together.  We wish Eric could have been there.  He can't take any time off for the first 3 months.

Boating on the Snake River

 Last week we went to my parents house in Burley and got to go boating.  The kids had a great time.  Annie and Cameron both rode in the tube and jumped out and swam around the boat.  I love boating!

Cameron lost a tooth

 Cameron lost his first tooth!  He has been waiting for this to happen for a long time.  All of his friends have lost a least one tooth and he was feeling a little left out.  Doesn't he look cute.  I think he is ready for 1st grade!!!

Ward Party Face Paint

 Our ward party was a week ago.  There was good food, great people, fun playground, and FACE PAINTING.  This was not just your regular face paint.  Khara was awesome.  The girls loved the butterflies and Cameron loved blue wolf man.

New Park

 It has been great to have Wednesday park day each week.  (Thanks Elizabeth)  There are a lot of great parks around the Meridian/Boise area.  This one had a little splash pad and a great playground.  It was the week that it was 100+ degrees everyday and so it was nice to get wet!

Popsicles and swimming

 Mary recently realized that the other kids were having something that she wasn't and she was not happy about it.  She kept screaming and looking at them like it was not fair.  I finally pulled out a popsicle for her and she was happy.

We are still loving swimming several times a week.  The kids are fish and could stay in all day.  Some days I don't get in and I just watch all 5 of my kids swim around.  Life is good!!!

Eagle Island State Park

 We have loved discovering new, great places to visit.  A couple of weeks ago we went to Eagle Island State Park which is just about 20 minutes away.  It has a great lake to swim and play in and a beach to eat, at least that is what Mary thought.  The kids had a great time going around in the Van Gieson's raft.  We will definitely be going back before the summer is over.

Megan, the bathing beauty!

Happy 4th of July!

 We started off our 4th of July with a big breakfast of star blueberry pancakes, sausage, eggs, hash browns, and juice.  We enjoyed having Doug, Lynae (Eric's uncle and aunt), Rob, and Hadley (Eric's cousin and wife) join us. 

We spent the afternoon at the pool with our friends the VanGeisons, Natalie, and Heather (my sister).  We had pizza, soda, and yummy 4th of July treats. 

 HEATHER

That night we had a BBQ and then went and watched some little fireworks at the next street over from us.  I love the 4th of July!

Natalie and Parakeets

 This week our friend Natalie came to visit.  She is a good friend of ours from Rochester and she now lives in Alpine, Utah.  She had a break from her summer school teaching and came and spent the week with us.  We had so much fun spending time together.  The kids absolutely adore her.

One exciting thing about her visit is that she brought her parakeets, Kiwi (green) and Sky (blue).  She is moving into an apartment in August and would have to pay an extra fee and so she brought them to us.  The kids have been begging for a pet and they now have one.  I am amazed at how fast these kiddos learned to hold and take care of these birds.  It has been fun to watch.

Besides just hanging out at our house with Natalie we went to the pool twice and also we took her to the zoo!  Thanks for coming Natalie!!!