Calling All Super Heroes!!

Cole is 4!! My little boy turned 4 on September 3. Wow, so many changes in September, Cole is four, Ambra is in school, and Ariah just went into nursery (Woot!) on Sunday.

So we had a little birthday party for Cole and invited the kids he frequently plays with. There ended up being 14 kids there, and I decided that it would be a good idea for me to SEW capes for all these children. It shouldn't take that long right? Well I must have chosen that day to take leave of my senses because it definitely took longer than I thought ( just don't look to closely at the sewing job.) Anyway, when the kids got there, they puff painted a peice of matierial cut out with there initial, (we put them on the capes in the emblem when they were dry.) They turned out so cute.
I got a bunch of bad guy posters from movie theaters and I had the kids practice their Spidey Skills. They used silly string to "web sling" the bad guys. They had a total blast with this.
Sorry didn't turn the picture. I was "Super Coach". We were having a training party for these super heroes and so of course I had to dress the part.

Adam and I blew up 100 balloons the night before and we put them in the toy room. Each kid had a red balloon they had to save. The green balloons were kryptonite (stay away), and all the other colors were the bad guys. They had to kick, punch, and pop all of those. Note: this is very noisy and completely insane.
All the kids came dressed as super heroes. This is our cute friend Sam as Wolverine.
Spiderman Cole and Wonder Woman Ambra. She was a little upset we didn't have a lasso to go with her costume.

My Darlings Real First Day of School!

There she goes! Into kindergarten. The world has officially entered my house. I was really trying not to make a fool of myself or her in front of the kids and the other parents.
Her cute little friend Bailey is in her same class. They are so cute. They come home everyday just jabbering a mile a minute about the happenings. I hope that never ends.
"Mom! When can we go inside?"
My little girl on her first full day without mommy.
She got her favorite breakfast on her first day. Cinnamon sugar monkey bread.

My Baby Girl...is going to school!!!

As I write this I am tearing up. My little baby is leaving me forever! No longer in my home day in and day out! She is going to kindergarten. I am so excited for her and I can't wait to volunteer in her classroom and help her with homework, and meet her new little friends and go on field trips, etc... and I am excited for Cole. He is going to be the man of the house. It will be good for him to have time each day without big sister to tell him what to do and where to go. He will get to take on that role (for 2 1/2 hours). This is a good thing (I have to keep telling myself that.) I really am excited, but oh I am so sad. What a big change.
This was her first day of school, but it wasn't her first day without mom. This day was where we went for an hour with moms. Then we went for testing one more day this week. Tuesday is actually her first day of real school (without mom). Sniff sniff. Ok, fine! I'll be a big girl.

I didn't know angels rode Harley's!

Remember how I lost my ring in the bottom of the lake at Pineview Reservior? Well he FOUND IT!!! We had left our contact information with him just in case and he called and said, "Your crocadile tears gave me nightmares. I went back every day since you have lost your ring and have spent hours. Finally I found it. It was buried 1 foot below the sand below the water, and it was farther out than you thought." He then insisted on bringing it to me. What an amazing man. I am so grateful for this. Seriously, who finds their wedding ring when it is lost in the bottom of a lake!! Wow. What a major blessing for us!

Day Two Reunion: Jackson Hole

Day two was so much fun! We started the day white water rafting down the Snake River. That evening, we went to the Bar J Wrangler dinner show. This is my mom and I.

My cousins Robyn, Jonnette and I before we got soaked on the Snake. It was soooo fun! Uncle Jack had some friends that took us FREE of charge. We even got to go twice. This is like a 2 hour excursion each time. The rapids were so fun and scary too. My Uncle Jack and his tour guide got flipped out on Big Kahuna ( a 6 foot water fall). You really do fear for your life on these things. But never enough not to do it again and again. This is one of Adam and I's favorite activities.
Jerry, Janet (long lost relatives), Uncle Jack, my mom and long lost relative friend Sandra.

Nipko Family Reunion!

We had a family reunion at my moms in Idaho. It was so much fun!! We started Friday night with a luau. My mother of course pulled out all the stops and the cutest decorations. This is Cole with the pinata.
Limbo contests.
We even had a family skit. This is my cute cousin Renee playing the part of cat woman.
This is my cute cousin Robin who put the skit together. She plays the main part as Jose the bee.
Adam enjoyed kickin it by the Hawaiin luau music. He rocked in this chair and felt cool because he was playing the lazy islander part.

My grandmother and cousin Chet.
Jansin, second cousin.
My cousin Robin with the fruit flowers my mom and I put together. We were trying to copy Edible Delights creations. I think we did a pretty good job.
I won the hula contest (between the adults). We had water balloon volleyball that ended up in an all out water war. Wow those cousins can get pretty feisty.

My cute island children.


Ariah enjoyed hangin at the buffet table the whole time. She wouldn't let go of this bowl of chips for anything.
My mom and cousin Robin.

Camping Trip!

I have been aching to go camping this year. It has been a rough one with Adam traveling so much. We finally got a chance to head. We camped at Memorial Park just below Causey Dam. We had a blast. Walks, hikes, bike riding, playing in the river, swimming at Pineview, camp fires, eating... I love camping. It rained on us the first night. It really felt like we were in WW2 with all the lightning and thunder. Wow, it woke us up and kept our hearts gripped in fear. Good thing we were in our tent trailer and not a tent. Not a drop inside our cozy beds.

This is Ariah, 2 mintutes after we were there. There was this terrible dirt on the ground. It was like the entire site was covered in black powdered sugar. Really. 10 minutes after we were there, the children were another race. We switched sites the next day.

This is what I was doing when I LOST MY WEDDING RING ON THE BOTTOM OF PINEVIEW RESERVIOR!! Oh my gosh, that is the worst feeling ever. It has been really loose lately and I have been meaning to get it sized. Well I haven't. I had an impression that I needed to take it off while at the lake. Well I didn't. Next thing I know I am playing ball with Adam and off it goes. Down to the bottom. I about died. It just so happened that there was a beach comber on the beach using his metal detector. He had been there for hours and I just knew he was there to help me find my ring. We searched for 2 hours. He combed the spot where it came off and I was on the bottom of the lake with goggles. We had all the lake comers near us searching too. (I lost about 5 feet out). No luck. I am sick about it. Tears, sobbing, and wailing have accompianed this tragedy. It is insured thank heavens, but it is not the ring I was proposed to with. It is not the ring I was given in the temple. Sad sad day.
Then there was Ariah.