ROOMIES!

Our bunk beds FINALLY came yesterday!! With sister being just weeks away and her stuff starting to pile up in Andersen's room, we've been planning and moving him into Jackson's room for a while now. It started with painting and rearranging closets and dressers and ordering their bunk beds over a month ago. We weren't expecting it to take 6 weeks to get their beds shipped and set up but they eventually came. You would have thought it was Christmas because the boys were so excited! Last night was their first night in their new beds. Jacks of course slept like normal because he is used to a big boy bed, but it was probably the easiest transition from crib to bed for Andersen. He was a champ! He went right to sleep, woke up to go potty around 3:30 and then back to bed until 8:30 this morning. He looked so little in this big bed. There definitely is pros and cons to little ones having their freedom in bed, but him being able to join us in the morning as soon as he woke up was so nice, plus I think he liked it too. He even wanted to take a nap on his bed this afternoon. He keeps saying, "sister is going to sleep in my crib!". We are still waiting on the quilts my mom has made the boys so only a couple more weeks and their room will finally be complete.

Lets hope the excitement lasts and they continue to love being roommates!

More FUN in the SUN

Thanks to Lindsay's last minute idea to take the kiddos swimming we got to beat the 100 degree weather we've been having lately. We probably only swam for a couple hours but the kids still had fun and were able to stay cool. Andersen and Jackson probably spent half their time jumping into the pool (thank goodness Andersen is liking the water again) and the other half eating lunch and treats we brought to snack on. I loved the picture of the 3 older kids and their individual bags of chips the were enjoying. Can't believe we've all been friends since middle school! We don't see each other very often now that we all are busy with our kiddos schedules but its always fun to catch up. Thanks for the fun afternoon ladies! Hopefully we can do it again with all of us.

(Sorry we missed you Michelle in the group picture of us moms, Jacks took it before we all packed up to leave)

GO Mariners!

Back in April Jackson played another Spring season of Baseball. This year it was coach pitch and Nate was the coach (when he was in town). Our team was a group of boys from our neighborhood (plus Dr. Elison's son Nicholas) and then we got a few more just randomly assigned to our team. They were a good addition to our team, especially the girls because they could definitely hit better than half the boys! Jackson has always loved baseball and shows to be a natural when he is really concentrating on hitting the ball. He even got a homerun this season! Another memory from this season is Jacks hitting a ball right at the other teams pitcher hitting him in the "junk". Poor kid dropped to his knees, started crying, and walked off the field. After Jacks made his run around the bases he went over to apologize and make sure he was ok... So sweet to watch Jacks be so sensitive to someone elses feelings. Hope he keeps that quality about him because he definitely can be a big teddy bear when he wants to. It definitely was another relaxed/fun season of Baseball with his buddies, but I am sure the older Jacks gets, the more intense it will be... So until then we will enjoy the innocence of our little rec leagues.

Good Job Mariners!!

Kamas with the Marsings

Last weekend Nate's friends, the Marsings, planned a little get together of some of Nate's guy friends and their families from high school. It was been quite some time since we have hung out with some of his buddies like this so it was a fun night in Kamas. We spent the night riding the Marsing's parents horses, catching up and of course eating. Our boys, especially Jackson, have wanted to ride horses for a while now so it was a perfect opportunity for them. We are still hearing about "Sassy" and "Trumpet" (the horses they rode). I love seeing Nate with his buddies from school because it brings out a relaxed Nate that our family doesn't get to see very often, plus we get to hear all the crazy, funny stories from their high school days. This picture of the 5 of them is only probably half of the crew, but I love how Andersen wanted to join the big boys for the picture. We definitely need to do these get togethers more often because its always a good time catching up and letting all the kiddos play.

America's Birthday

We started our 4th of July celebration by joining the Whiteside's, Bailey's, and Ball's at the Riverton Parade the night before. We got there around 5:45 (it started at 6:30) so we grabbed a pizza and had dinner while we were waiting for the parade to start. You would think being there that early we would have plenty of time to get some spots for the parade, but it was crazy busy!! We ended up sitting in the driveway of the Riverton office buildings which wasn't a bad spot besides it was towards the end of the Parade route and they weren't throwing much candy by then. It was nice to have an evening parade but it didn't do anything for the heat. It was so hot and the parade was extremely long. An hour and half later our friends were leaving so we bribed the boys with Slurpees if we could leave too. They didn't think twice about it and we were off before the crowds.

That night Nate had a sleepover in the family room with the boys on the air mattress. They always love to do this so they couldn't be more excited. We popped popcorn and watched movies for a couple hours until the boys finally gave up and fell asleep. Being 6 months pregnant I headed off to my bed because there was no way I was sleeping on the couch. Good thing I did because the air mattress had a slow leak in it and Nate had to jump up to the couch in the middle of the night while the boys stayed on the mattress.

The next morning we enjoyed some family time just hanging out. It was nice not having to worry about getting up and going anywhere like we usually do on most days. The boys were being so silly and making us laugh! Jackson was making silly faces with his glasses while Nate taught Andersen the art of "brewing" Looks like its a genetic Rothe gene!

That afternoon we got ready to go swimming at the Riverton Pool. We stopped at Subway to bring with us for lunch and we were off to meet the Ball's for some fun in the sun. We spent 3 hours at the pool playing. Jackson and his buddy Cannon enjoyed their squirt guns and practicing all his new tricks from swimming lessons, while Nate helped Andersen become more comfortable in the water. Last year Andersen loved the water, this year he loved it too until he about drowned at my brother's pool. Ever since then he has been very hesitant of the water. At first he had to have his life jacket on and would scream if we put him in. He felt very comfortable just sitting on the sidelines watching everyone else have fun. Gradually Nate got him to warm up to the water and the last hour he was swimming around in the shallow end without us and jumping off the side to Nate.

 Its amazing how just a few hours in the sun can wipe you out. I jumped in the shower as soon as we got home and this is what I found when I got out. The boys were crashed! So I joined them for an hour or so until it was on to the next party.

After our naps we had the Christensen's over for a some dinner. We enjoyed some Pacos (their family business recipe of Quesadillas) for dinner...They are my favorite! Once it got dark we played outside with all the glow sticks Alison brought for the kids and watched all the neighbors light fireworks.

Besides the 4:30 am fireworks going off in the neighboring streets by some punks with nothing else better to do that early in the morning, I would say we had a fun and perfect 4th of July this year! The glow sticks were definitely the hit of the night though. (Plus they were fire safe for this years crazy fire scares).

Boys and their Toys

Last night we finally finished the boys Bows and Arrows. Jackson has been begging for one of these since he first saw his friend Logan's. Jackson and Andersen spend Wednesday mornings at our neighbors while I work and this has become Jackson's favorite toy. It has been weeks that I told Jacks we could make our own and I finally got around to getting all the stuff and making them. Thanks to Maria's tutorial and Nate's help (also our neighbor Kenny for some tools) we got them done. The boys couldn't be more excited! I made 2 extra for Parker and Landon since I owed her mom for babysitting one day while I was at work. Together they shot their new bows and arrows for a couple hours. As you can tell from the dark picture it went late into the night and they were still so excited. It was the first thing Jacks wanted to do this morning. It took them all sometime (Jacks has had plenty of practice on Logan's) to get a hang of how to hold them and actually shoot the arrow but after a few rubbed arms from the string hitting them as they shot, they started figuring it out. It was so cute as the boys were saying goodbye last night, both Jacks and Landon were saying to each other "thanks for bow practice, lets do more bow practice tomorrow!" Let's hope after all those hours we put in to making them that the excitement at least lasts throughout the rest of summer!

Bribery at its finest

Jackson and Andersen will do anything to stay up late! If you notice our clock on our dresser it says 10:41pm. This summer it has been a battle to get them to go to bed because we stay out late and then they want to watch TV to "relax" when we come in. The boys didn't want to go to bed one night so Nate bribed them to tickle his back if they wanted to stay awake. The boys of course got right to it and Nate enjoyed every minute of it. Too bad I didn't think of this one earlier!

... and its gone!

I CAN'T BELIEVE HE CUT HIS HAIR! 

I don't think it was Jackson's intentions to really cut it but it turned out that way by the time we were done. Thursday night we all went to Hollie's for our usual hair cuts. Jacks first round of cuts was still his same style of hair he has been doing for years just shorter. Once Nate got there to pick up the boys, so I could get my hair done, Jacks asked Nate "Can I wear a spike with this haircut?" Nate said no, and back to Hollie's chair he went to get the top chopped off. 3" or so later Jacks officially had his spike he wanted. I totally wasn't prepared for this one! It took everything in me not to let the tears fall, but I didn't want him to think I wasn't happy for him because he was grinning ear to ear. Yesterday was the first day to style it and I think I got asked a dozen times if his spikes were still standing. This hair cut is definitely going to take sometime getting used to but as long as Jacks loves it, we all love it too! This is just one more thing making me realize my little boy is growing up. First the glasses, then Kindergarten orientation, now the haircut... Good thing I have a few more weeks until he officially starts school.... SNIFF, SNIFF!