Laketown

On Saturday we went to Scott's Jex family reunion in Laketown (next to Bear Lake). He hasn't been to the reunion for over ten years, so it has been a while since he has seen these relatives, and the first time for me and the kids to meet them. We rode up with Scott's sister, Brook, and her kids. Katie and the twins were squished into the backseat and loved the entire ride! Scott's mom and his brother Lance and his family were also able to come.

We were only there for one day, but it was so much fun! The reunion theme was Pirates. They had pirate decorations and pirate gear for all of the kids to wear. They also had a boat with a treasure chest on it with a special treasure for each person at the reunion. This is Katie, Abby, Jenna, and Raegan waiting to get their treasure.

Jace had fun exploring the yard and rocking the boat.

The reunion was held at Scott's mom's Uncle Chuck's house (hopefully that made sense). It was the perfect house and yard! The house was an old, large home that fit the small town perfectly. The yard was beautifully landscaped and there was a gazebo, a chicken coop renovated into a bunkhouse and bathrooms for lake goers, a painted shed called The Old Rock Store where kids could 'buy' penny candy, a garden, decorative rock and cement squares with family names and dates written on them, and the zip line/tire swing. I loved it all! The zip line was a big hit for everyone, and even Katie and Jace liked taking a ride (on my lap, of course). I thought this was a cute picture of the girls trying to pull their 11 year old cousin, Tyson, up to the top of the zip line.

This is Scott's Grandma Sibyl, one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. We were so glad to see her, especially since she has never met Jace before.

It was difficult, but we finally got a picture of the grandkids with Grandma Yo. We all had a great time at the Jex Reunion!

I do have to put in the side note that, although the reunion was great, the ride home was not. Katie had started coughing and having a runny nose the night before, but we thought she might be okay and we really wanted to make the trip. Well, she had a ball and was great all day, but on the way home she really started to droop. I think all of the heat, treats, riding in the back of the car, and getting sick finally got to her, and she ended up throwing up in an Arctic Circle parking lot. We gave her some Tylenol we had brought with us to bring down her 102.5 fever and she slept the rest of the way home. There we gave her a bath, a snack, a breathing treatment, and sent her off to bed. Luckily this is not like last time and she is almost recovered now. Just a lingering cough and runny nose left...thank goodness.

New tables!

Here are our new coffee table and end tables. They came in last week and I love how all of the furniture turned out! The coffee table is a chest lined with cedar...smells so good!

We recycled the lamp stands, but got new shades to match the couches (and our old ones broke).

Lots of family!

We've had a busy few weeks, and I'm really good at taking my camera with me. I just forget to take pictures when we get there! However, I did get a couple of pictures...

We've been to the park a few times. There aren't nearly as many parks as there were in Denver, but the parks they do have are really nice. We've been with family a couple of times, and then today we went to our new playgroup for the first time. The kids loved the park and I met a lot of really nice moms! It helped me finally feel like I belong here.

Since we live so close to family, we've been doing a lot with them. It's nice to be able to go visit and then go back to our own beds for the night. We've had a bridal shower, a luau, a group family home evening, swing set building, dinners, and lots of visiting going on. It's busy, but fun! In this picture, Katie's petting a pony near Scott's parent's house. The kids love being near grandparents and cousins!

Just an update on Scott...he really loves going in each day to work! He's building up his client base, so some days are busy, some are not. He enjoys working with Dr. Harris and the office staff is really great. They just put his name up on the sign, but we have to wait until they take the tape off (to hold the letters on while they dry) to take a picture.

Our House

Here is the promised 'tour' of our home. The pictures don't do it justice...we love it! At least it is so much better than anything we've ever lived in before. You will notice that we did get new couches!!! For those of you who have seen the couch we had in Denver you'll see what a great improvement we've made. : ) In a week or so our coffee and end tables will come, so it will look even better then!

View from the front door... and the dining room.

Kitchen...love the pantry!!! The pantry door is on the left, the garage door is on the right.

Our great back yard...View of the living room from the dining room.

Our couches!!!

The kids' room is on the left. We decided to have them keep sharing a room since they are already used to it. The third bedroom - on the right - is our overflow area. It was going to be the 'office', but we decided to keep the computer out in the living room. Right now my sister is staying with us so her stuff is in there.

The kids bathroom - on the left - is off of the hallway right next the the kid's room. The master bathroom - on the right - is in our room.


Our bedroom and walk in closet. There is so much space in here that we can't fill it all up! There is a crawl space underneath the house for storage and we don't even have anything in it yet!

So there it is. We think it's a great place for us right now! It's crazy to think that our next home will be bought instead of rented!

Lots of barrettes...

Here are some barrettes I've made for Katie's hair lately. It's actually been a work in progress for a few months...I do crafts in spurts. Anyway, I got the idea from Jill Whelan. Her girls had some like this in their hair and they were so cute! I took a closer look and they seemed like they'd be pretty easy to make. So I tried it out, and once I got the hang of it, it was so easy! They don't look super professional or anything, but I think they turned out pretty cute! The best part is that they are fairly inexpensive. I got a big box of metal clips from Sally's, bought some ribbon and a few embellishments from Michael's (lot of times you can get things on sale or with 40% off coupons), and found other random things lying around my crafty stuff to glue onto the barrettes (buttons, old clothes, scrapbook leftovers). Then you put it all together with hot glue. Ta Da!

Graduation!

So I know these posts are a little out of order, but I wanted to put the most important news of our lives at the very top...SCOTT GRADUATED!! We looked forward to this day for so long, and now it seems like it came so soon! The years in Denver just flew by. I am so proud of Scott and all he has accomplished. He did so well in school and was in the top of his class, all while being Elder's Quorum President and spending as much time as he could with his family. And now he starts work this week at a great practice, Harris Dental, and he is so excited!

Scott's brother, Boone (who also graduated from CU School of Dentistry), was able to hood Scott at the graduation ceremony. It was a neat opportunity that not many people get to have.

I love this picture...thanks Tifani!

Dr. and Mrs. Allen. I have to admit that is seems a little funny to me that people will call Scott 'Dr. Allen.' Funny, but really cool at the same time!

Breckenridge

Our last week in Colorado was spent up at Breckenridge with Scott's family. We had a great time and did so many fun things! Scott was able to go golfing a few times, I shopped at the outlets, and the kids swam and played all day long. The weather was kind of chilly, but with an indoor pool and lots of cousins, we always had something to do. It was especially nice to relax and spend time with family. It had been a crazy few weeks and we needed the break.

This was actually taken at the Denver Zoo the day before graduation, but I thought it was so cute. This is Katie with her cousin Madison...they had a blast! We will really miss this zoo. There is one in Idaho Falls, but it just can't compare with Denver's!
They had a small playground out in the courtyard where we were staying in Breckenridge. The kids loved it and would play there forever! This tube slide was a big hit.

Lots of cousins to play with!

The swimming pools are the best things about Grand Timber Lodge. They had a big hot pool inside, several outside, a regular pool that was both inside and outside, and a kiddie pool indoors. The pools were all heated and so so nice. We spent every morning there!

Our home

Well, here is our place in Idaho. I was going to take more pictures, but our camera died. I will get more up later. It is a twin home, or duplex, so we have one wall that we share with our neighbors, who are a super nice middle aged couple. We love that it has a fenced yard and is newer, nicer, and bigger than our home in Denver. But most of all we love that there are no noisy, smoky neighbors upstairs! I could never go back to apartment living!

We're here!

Well, we are here in Idaho and getting settled into our new home. It is a great little place and I feel like we have so much room!! I do feel a little out of my element, kind of like I'm staying in somebody else's house. We really miss Denver and all of our friends!!! It's so lonely here without you all! However, it is so nice to be close to family. Things will be better as soon as we get to know our neighbors and people in our ward and make new friends. The kids love it here, especially the back yard. They don't even seem to notice the change. Sorry there are no pictures. I have a lot to catch up on and I plan on doing that while Scott is out of town this weekend on a business trip to AZ. Just wanted to let you all know that we made it here safely. : )