Whitted Central

My son comes out looking like this…with help from his sister.

School can’t start soon enough…

Ry and Janet and kids are always so good to come visit us whenever they are in the neighborhood! The other day, they called to say they were in town, and came up to swim with us! The kids were stoked to see Gracie and Mason, and it’s always nice to hang out and relax for a while. I, of course, didn’t swim, but someone had to take pictures.

Thanks for the visit!! We’ll have to get to Twin now that the Boise Temple is closed and visit you guys!

I don’t think that Max would like me referring to him as ‘my little boy’ anymore, but I’m the mom, and I’ll say what I like.

My little guy celebrated the big #9 on July 26th!! Where has the time gone? I still remember my buddy as a baby…loved to smile, scream, drool, and had the fastest crawl in the West!

Not quite sure what happened, but he’s not a baby anymore! He started the day with breakfast NOT in bed…he couldn’t wait in bed while I fixed the pancakes/strawberry cream cheese/fruit/cream breakfast…so he ate it at the counter. A few weeks ago, he only wanted WebKinz, but changed his mind about a week before his birthday to BeyBlades, so he got a few of each. After seeing ‘Rio’ at the dollar theater, we had some friends over for SpongeBob cake and ice cream.

Max is a wonderful boy! He is helpful, smart, kind, loving, and FUN! He loves to run, walks on his hands all over the house, makes lists of animals he has learned about, and tries his best to do well at everything. We are so glad he’s our boy….a great son, thoughtful brother, caring friend, and all around fantastic kid! Happy Birthday, buddy!

Everyone has money issues….with some, they simply have TOO MUCH money, and therefore have to find creative ways to spend it. We don’t belong to that group. We belong to the group that seem to have to scrimp and save for every little thing. I have come to realize that it really helps us to appreciate the things we are able to do, and to choose only the things that we REALLY want and not worry about others. The kids really love to go to Roaring Springs, and we have found that going once a summer really makes them look forward to it, and appreciate it while they are there, so that’s our goal. Getting tickets through Trail Wind for a really great price also makes it possible.

We were able to meet up with Kim Peck and her kiddies (Calli, Carsten, and Laney) for most of the day. We miss our old neighbors, and it was nice to sit and catch up while the kids played. As they were leaving, our friends the Yeargains showed up, a very nice surprise, and we were able to catch up with them as well…I really don’t like that all these wonderful people have moved out of the neighborhood!!!

It was a fantastic day, and we left tired and full of ice cream, but with not a sunburn in sight…Thank You SPF 50!

For the fourth year, the kids took swimming lessons at BSU in July. I am always amazed at how much they improve and learn over the course of the three weeks, but then again, the ARE in the water for almost an hour every day, and really get a chance to practice their strokes over and over. This is the last year we will ‘FORCE’ them to take lessons, as they are both fairly proficient in the water now, but I’m secretly hoping they’ll want to continue next year. It’s a nice way to break up the summer months.

Usually for the 4th of July, we go to Soda for the festivities. This year, since we would be going there again three weeks later for the family reunion, and in an effort to save $ and gas, we stayed here. Our neighbors, the Palazollo family, were going up to Idaho City to see their parade, so we followed them up there and watched the parade together. Idaho City is a pretty small little town, but they sure know how to have a parade…lots of horses and fire trucks, and Smokey the Bear even made an appearance. It was a fun little outing to celebrate our country’s independence.