It's Green!!!!

Before.... And After..................

Our landscaping is finally complete,and it looks fantastic, if I do say so myself. I can't even begin to count the hours that my hubby has spent on this project this summer. He has dug out trenches, installed sprinklers, stayed up all night getting sprinklers to work just right, spent days on the tractor, hauled rocks away in the Ranger, about broke his back getting big rocks to landscape with, hauled wheelbarrow loads of gravel, and planted trees and shrubs. He is such a hard worker and I love him so much for all that he does for us. I also can't forget to Thank our incredible neighbor, Mike. He has put in almost as many hours helping us as Chad has. I don't know what we would have ever done without all of his help and ideas.

Kaisley even helped out with the sprinklers

The day that we had waited for so long for.....GRASS!!!!!! We had about 30 people show up at 7 a.m on a Saturday morning to help us lay our sod. We had it done in an hour and a half. It was amazing to watch the transition from brown to green. We sure do have some great family and friends!!

Even Kort managed to roll out of bed.

Eli worked his little tail off.

Kambree helping Dad

Time to start on the front

Finishing up...

We had two neighbors bring doughnuts, snacks, and drinks.. We love our neighborhood!!!

I was so excited to have grass that I couldn't even sleep the night before. I felt like a kid at Christmas!!

My hardworking hubby seeing the fruits of his labor.

Chad and I laying the very last piece...YAY!!!!!!!!

I have to thank everyone that came and helped us lay the sod : Alex Mitchell, Boyd, Cindy, TJ Burbank, Mike and Lance Hollingsworth, Lynn and Margene Eskelson, Corey and Eli Waddoups, Chris and Jared Barton, Adam Mckenzie, Dave Bosen, My Dad and Mom, Dustin Burnett, Jeff Pope, Craig Loveday, Austin Brackin, and of course Kort, Kambree, and Kaisley. Thanks to the Cromwells and the Alders for the treats. You guys are the best!!!!

Girl Trip to Vegas

So my Bunco group decided that we needed a little more excitement than just the monthly Bunco night (which by the way is nothing less than exciting) so we planned a trip to "Fabulous Las Vegas" We flew out on Saturday morning and got back Monday afternoon. It was soooo dang much fun!!!!! Five of the eight of us were able to go and we sure hope that next time everybody can go. Here is Terri, myself, Lisa,Kris, and Janet in front of Ceasers Palace. The plane has landed and Janet is READY!!!

Lisa is going to audition for the "Price is Right"

Vegas just brings out the Supermodel in us all!!!

Lisa got a temporary tattoo. It helped her fit in a bit more, we all felt like we were wearing way too much clothing and not sporting nearly enough tattoos.

This poor guy was a nail art salesman. He spent an hour with us showing us how cool his product was and all the while we were jewing him down. He finally got so sick of us that he just let us have them for a bargain price.

He was wearing some really cool shoes, we tried to get him to throw those in as well but it just didn't happen.
This guy really is real and he was sticking his finger in Kristens ear...gross!!

On Sunday, Lisa was nice enough to do all of our hair. Perhaps she just didn't to be embarrassed by us!!

Checking out the decor in our room

Ready to SHOP!!!!
We decided to play a little Keno. We weren't even really sure what the heck we were doing but on Kris's very first card she had 5 numbers picked right. The little lady working behind the counter was jumping around so we had a feeling it something big.....SHE WON 1000 DOLLARS!!!!!

Janet, Kris and I went and saw Cher perform at Ceasers Palace, she was awesome!!! I can't believe that she is 63 years old and looks like she does. I could go to that show a million more times and never get sick of it.

We spent a lot of time here......yummmmmm!!

After the Cher show we had to pick up some cheesecake at the cheesecake factory and then try and make it back to New York New York before the roller coaster closed at 11. We ran our butts off, only to get to the roller coaster at 11:04 and have it all locked up...grrrr, our cheesecake was a wreck too!!

Chad likes to tease me about all of my friends: my Bunco friends, my school friends, my neighbor and ward friends, my "good old day" friends etc. I feel that I am just so incredibly blessed to have so many good friends to be able to share this journey with. There is nothing quite like staying up until 3 a.m with a bunch of girls and laughing until you cry, no matter how old you get!!!!

Neighborhood Car Wash

After we got the sod laid, we were cleaning up and Kambree decided she wanted to wash cars. I let her start with mine and then she, Kassi, and Avyree went around the neighborhood drumming up buisness. I think that they did about 6 vehicles and they only charged a quarter. Pretty good deal considering they spent about an hour on each one. The Cromwells were even brave enough to bring over their Lexus!!
Tanner decided to join in the fun.
Looks like Tanner is spraying a little more than just the cars, they really did have a blast and it kept them entertained all day long. The next day, the church parking lot had some pretty shiny cars!!

Preschool

I can't hardly believe that my baby has started preschool!! She is going to Teacher Celeste and she just loves it. The first day that I picked her up she was really mad at me and asked why she couldn't stay longer. It's just so crazy how time flies, seems like she was just barely a newborn and now she's off to preschool. Here she is with her friend Libby. All ready for the big day!!

Have to get a shot of the teddy Bear Backpack.

Sweet Sixteen

It's hard to believe but on September 3rd Kort turned SIXTEEN years old. What an exciting age, now he can date and drive at night. To celebrate the big day, we went to dinner at Iron Gate Grill. Here he is with a super yummy dessert!! Kambree sure does love shrimp.
This was Kambree's delicious raspberry tart dessert.

Grandpa Terry, Grandma Mary Beth, Mandy, Alyssa, and Tanner all joined our family to celebrate.

These two are quite a pair....been friends for a long time!!

Our goofy little Kais

Close your eyes, and I'll give you a big surprise....

I don't know where this goofiness comes from....must be the Pope side, I tell Kaisley that her eyes are going to get stuck like that, but like everything else I tell her...she doesn't listen.

What a fun time we had. It's so crazy for me to think that my boy is growing up so dang fast.Seems like just the other day that he was starting Kindergarten. He has been such a blessing to our family. Although he has his "teen" moments he is such a great kid and always keeps us laughing. We love you Kort, Thanks for all of the joy that you bring into our home!!

Eastern Idaho State Fair

Since there was no school or no work on Labor Day we decided that we would take the kids and go to the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot, apparently everybody else in the state had the same idea..There were so dang many people there. It was just absolute chaos. I'm not sure that we will ever do it again but at least our kids can never say that they've never been to the sate fair.

The girls thought theses rides were fun, we thought that they were highway robbery. Four Dollars per kid per ride!!

Kaisley loves the carousel.

Kambree got really brave and tried out this roller coaster...she loved it and went twice.

Kort was just super impressed by the whole experience...NOT!! He has a major fear of Carnies!!

No need to go to Disneyland anymore, Dumbo has run away and joined the carnival.

The Potato Museum was closed unfortunately, however we couldn't miss out on this opportunity for a 4th grade Idaho History picture.

So the fair wasn't that great but it's always fun to hang out together as a family!!