Coulter Turns seven

Coulter went ahead and decided to turn seven. Dang kids, can't keep them young.
To celebrate the event I did a seven question interview with the little fella:

1. Is it better to be six or seven? "Seven because that is my favorite number."

2. What is the best part about being seven? "Being older than every number smaller than seven."

3. What do you want to be when you grow up? "A Police officer" (Cody will be proud)

4. What is your favorite thing about yourself? "Everything"

5. What is your favorite food? "Tacos and corn chowder soup from MiMi's"

6. What is your favorite thing to do? "Play sports, especially basketball and soccer"

7. Who is your favorite Mom? "You". (I thought so)

There you have it folks, a brief glimpse into the mind of our beloved Coulter.

Happy Birthday Buddy!!!!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We are so glad to have school back in session. A little early in my opinion, but when it's so hot outside, there is not much else to do. Riley decided to be the most colorfully dressed person in the third grade.
Coulter went with a lovely green ensemble that would compliment his hair for his first day of second grade.
Congratulations to both kids who were placed in the advanced class for their grade.

Here's a little ditty to highlite our recent looong trip to Utah. I'm too lazy to write much about the details so I will do what I will do best and summarize all the events.

• FOUR parades
• Bags of parade candy that the kids just had to dash into the streets for.....they never ate the candy, I ate all the chocolate and threw the rest away. Along with all the hats, balloons, frisbees and other junk that was thrown out.
• One industrial roll of plastic+ 1 liter of dish soap+ scoops of laundry soap+Uncle Justiin= gigantic slip and slide......which then=Coulter falling flat on his back 500 times.
• Illegal fireworks
• Seeing FOUR new neices and Nephews
• One trip to urgent care
• 10 days on antibiotics
• One giant family reunion...of which I did not take any pics, again too lazy.
• One tired family who came home and had to move to a new house when we got back, which then equals one very happy family in their new awesome snake free home...more details to come.
• THE END

Teeth, Tee Ball, and Puppies.

Meet Marley, the newest edition to our family. While at work Cody was asked to pick up a box of newborn puppies abandoned on the side of the road. He bought them home to show the kids and in a moment of brief stupidity we agreed to let the kids pick one out to keep. He was in pretty rough shape, covered in poop, starving, and very young, not walking, eyes just barely opened. We gave him a bath, and had to feed him puppy formula with a tiny bottle. We better keep this little guy alive because Riley has already proclaimed this to be the best thing to happen to her in her life. Although when I have to get up in the middle of the night to feed it, the thought of it not making it doesn't break my heart.
After a few days we are proud to report he is doing much better, learning to walk and finally drinking from a dish. Riley wants to keep him so badly she has been so good about taking care of him, cleaning up after him and walking around all day with him wrapped up in a dish towell like a baby. Her behavior has improved so much too. No more back talk or being sent to her room. Apparently to get your kids to behave you just have to give them a puppy the threaten to take it away. Awesome. In other news Coutler just finished up a very successful tee-ball season. Cody and I were very surprised with him this year. Usually he is not very agressive in sports, he just lets the bigger kids do everything. This time he was awesome, running past kids to field balls, and hopefully will be old enough to be in coach pitch next year. And finally the most exciting news of all: Coulter finally lost his front teeth!!! After losing one in an embarrasing incident on a trampoline at a pot luck where he screamed like a maniac and we had to leave quickly, the remaining tooth decided to move to the middle and stick straight out. Then I had to perform weeks of late night dentistry to try to pull it out while he was asleep. Finally it fell out yesterday while he was eating a granola bar. We plan on framing the wrapper.

Speedy

Today was the Page Track meet where first graders from both schools compete to see who is the fastest. Our little man Coulter A.K.A "the blur" was scheduled for two events: the 400 meter relay and the long jump. He took first place in both events. I was so proud. He was so fast infact that he was too fast for the camera to catch him on film....well actually I was a spaz and couldnt get the camera to work. But trust me, he was impressive. I was also pretty great as lemonade passer outer if I do say so myself. Then after hours at Coulter's track meet I had a tiny break then had to go to Riley's track meet. She was also scheduled for the long jump and she scored third place for the second grade. Also very impressive. Note Maycie trying to steal a lick of that popsicle while Riley poses for a picture.

Dam Fun

This weekend we set out to see the best that our new town had to offer. Our first stop, the dam we took the official tour and went down inside. Riley hit her head on the railing twice trying to get a better look. After 45 minutes with a tour guide explaining why the dam was made and movie at the end that also explained everything, Coulter asks on the way home why they made the dam.

Then today we headed to the beach, just a few minutes from our house. Even though it was not beach weather (65 degrees and windy) this did not stop the kids from stripping down and getting wet and sandy.

These husband and wife ducks came looking for food, we provided granola bars. Then another male came and started fighting with the other for the girl, very entertaining. Husband duck won.

We can hardly wait for summer.

Location, Location, Location

We have moved again. And I recently realized that many of our friends and family thought we had moved to Idaho because we forgot to tell them the change in plan (sorry about that grandma). We actually moved to Page, AZ. We were all packed to move to McCall Idaho, but two days before Cody was to sign the contract for the P.D. there DPS asked us to move to Page to fill an emergency position. We had twenty minutes to decide...tough decision. We decided to take the position in Page so Cody could stay with his department and not mess up his retirement. We had just a couple weeks to find a house and move. The move was a success thanks to all those who helped us. We are loving it here. The kids are back in school (thank goodness) And Cody loves his new squad. and me, well, I just enjoy civilization again. Here are the sweet view from our new backyard that backs up to the rim and the golf course, we can see the lake, the dam, and all the way to Cody's field office.
Here is what is right out our back gate. We have already had a snake, a coyote who was sizing up the dog for breakfast, and a dead bobcat down the way. We hear there are also cougars and racoons.

Dam Maycie. Or rather Maycie at the Dam. It is about 5 miles from our house.

Cody's sweet new ride. Watch out for this baby on your way to Powell.

We are now waiting for family and friends to come and visit. We charge a lot less than the hotels around here.