Celebrating with Shane

 

 

Since Shane's birthday is July 8, we celebrated while we were together.  Red Robin, strawberry trifle, and fireworks....doesn't get much better than that!  Happy Birthday Shaner, we love you!

Fireworks

 

 

Fireworks are a BIG hit for the Ward boys.  The older boys, CJ and Preston, definitely take after Clayboy on that one!  Aparri and Detric still don't care for the loud noise they create.  Luckily, Detric slept through most of the fireworks on the fourth so Laura could enjoy the show without a screaming baby!  When we asked the boys if they wanted to shoot off their own or go to the big firework show, they immediately answered BOTH! Duh... All the kids were excited to hand pick a few and light them off at Kathy and Brett's house.  CJ picked a moneymoneymoney one, Preston picked a tank (and so did Kathy and Brett, so we had a dual!  Hard to really tell who won...I think they both lost!), and Aparri picked out a panda bear one (But we lit it off before we could get a picture...)  At the end of the day, we went to Idaho Falls for the firework show.  Aparri became close friends with Adam (Shane's friend and roommate).  She sat by him the whole night and wouldn't leave his side.  It was love at first sight, So Adam...looks like you'll have to wait for her for about 16 years....  The fireworks were great, but honestly.... I think the kids enjoyed lighting off their little flowers and sparklers more than the city show!  We were able to make it through the 4th without too many mishaps or burns!  I honestly think we were watched over this year!  Brayden has some fireworks that he thought were your basic flowers...and they definitely were NOT...but we didn't know that until they were shooting flames at us from a few feet away!  Whew...that was a close one.

 

 

Kat n Bretts Mini Farm

For our first few days in Idaho we stayed at Brett and Kathy's house!  They were really nice to allow so many people to crash their place on a holiday weekend!  We had...Kathy, Brett, Becky, Brayden, Nana, Shane, Laura, CJ, Preston, Aparri, and Detric ALL in one house!  And it wasn't even that squishy either!  It was awesome!  That's what family is all about people!!! Wall to wall people having a great time being together!

We all enjoyed going out and visiting with the chickens.  Brett and Kathy have a chicken coop and when I say chicken coop, I mean CHICKEN COOP... it is HUGE!  These chickens live in luxury!  They have quite a few of them too!  They bought lots because the guy that sold them to Kathy said that several will die, so be sure to buy a few extra than you want....and wouldn't you know it...none of them have died!!  We had to take trips morning and night to the say hello to the chickens while we were there.

 

We made French Toast while we were in Idaho and our Preston LOVES French toast, he will eat it morning, noon and night if it is available.  Well, one afternoon, Preston requested some left over French toast, so Laura got it for him. Preston took a huge bite and immediate spit it out telling Laura, Mom...this tastes like dirt.  Confused, Laura said, what do you mean?  He repeated, This tastes like dirt!  When Laura took a closer look and took a sample herself.. she realized, the fluffy white stuff that is supposed to be sweet, wasn't sweet - it did indeed taste like dirt!  Then it dawned on her...and she realized her mistake she must have put flour on the French toast instead of powdered sugar!  Preston was a good sport and laughed it off...then Laura got him some new French toast loaded with SUGAR, not FLOUR!

Detric and Preston's favorite seat was on the scooter!  If they were outside, one or both of them were seated on the scooter! 

 

 

4th of July Rexburg Parade

When you tell your kids, we are going to a parade, and they respond, "What's a parade?"  You know it has been way too long!  I honestly can't remember the last parade we took them to!  Well, we rectified the situation by going to the Rexburg Fourth of July Annual Parade!  The kids were a little slow to start, but then really got into the diving for candy thing...Aunt Becky really helped out in this area by yelling and hollering at the people so their attention would come our way and throw us candy! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preston enjoyed seeing Benjamin Franklin and George Washington on a float, Laura loved the oversized shopping cart...oh and the man in the shower!  That was hilarious! CJ stood out front when the water squirter trucks went by and got everyone wet, and Detric LOVED the salt water taffy.  I can't tell you how many of those he ate during the duration of the parade...lots!  And when Laura stopped feeding them to him, he would find them on the ground by himself and try to eat them with the wrapper still on... goodness that boy was addicted!  By the end of the parade, it got really warm outside, but we had a great time being with Kathy, Brett, Becky, Brayden, Nana, Shane and Louisa, Shane's first girlfriend!  Happy Fourth! 

"Y" we need Idaho Angels

The Letter Y

has new meaning for the Ward Kids....it now means, perseverance, hard work, sweat, I CAN DO HARD THINGS, and a myriad of other things...some good and some bad!   When Preston saw the Y on the mountain in Provo, he asked if we could hike to it.  We had attempted it once before, years prior, when Preston was just little and only CJ and Clay had made it to the top....so when Preston requested it not just one time, but several times over the course of our stay, Laura knew it was really something he wanted to do.  Well, our visit was pretty busy and booked with other activities - but Thursday morning- the day we were leaving to head to Idaho, was open.  So, Laura packed up some snacks, water bottles, got the kids in tennis shoes (except for Preston...who insisted that he wear his rubber puddle boots...) and off to the mountain they went.  Yeah, let me tell ya... well, actually I don't think I can adequately describe to you what happened next, but I am going to try.  It was about 9 o'clock or so when we started the trail, so not early enough to beat the heat.... and the kids were hot stepping out of the car...not the greatest start.  So when we weren't even 10 steps up the trail and the whining and complaining started, and continued to get longer and louder as we SLOWLY ascended the mountain Laura knew they were in trouble. Well, to our luck, as we began our journey, so did a rather elderly woman.  Laura was shocked and in awe that a lady at her age would be hiking the Y.  As she started to hike she hiked at a VERY SLOW rate almost shuffling as she walked,  as Laura watched this woman, Laura  had the following thought..."It's going to take that lady forever to get to the top.  Will she make it?"  Oh, but how ironic those words became in the following few minutes and the elderly hiker continued at her slow and steady pace up the mountain and was beating us!!!  How is that possible?  Laura pointed to the elderly woman and said, ... "come on now...we need to catch up to our friend up there...if she can do it, then so can we.  Let's GO!  Laura was met with tears, lying on the floor refusing to go another step, "Why do we have to do this" and "I want to go down now"  Now, Clay and Laura try and be reasonable parents.  We don't force our kids to do a lot of things just because we want to do something or things that we know are just too difficult....but when the kids started complaining after going 10 steps, Laura thought.... this is ridiculous.. we can do better than this.  These kids need to push themselves a little harder, and if they aren't going to do it for themselves then as their mom, I am going to help them.  So, Laura started repeating the phrase "We can do hard things"  as  they went up and up.  About 1/2 way up we realized we didn't bring nearly enough water...and Laura was sad with the possibility that we just might not make it to the Y. 

 

 

 

 They were stopped in the shade for the 100th break...and Laura was trying her hardest to motivate them to just go a little longer, when our angels showed up.  They were literally angels to us...A family who was visiting from Idaho - caught up to us on the trail.   Laura must have looked pretty desperate, because they immediately came to her aide and just took over!  One woman, grabbed Aparri, slung her over her back and started hiking at a steady pace.  Aparri was thrilled - she had been begging Laura to carry her, but since Laura had Detric strapped in the pack on her back, that wasn't an option.  So, now that Aparri was happy, CJ and Preston were next.  The other sisters, started talking to CJ and Preston.  Asking them questions, introducing them to their daughters who were their same age, shared a water bottle with us, and slowly we were going up again.  They were our saving grace....when we got to the bottom of the Y entrance, Laura was thrilled, exhausted, and knew that they had made it...but then realized that the lady who took Aparri had continued up to the top of the Y...NOOOOOOOO.    It took all the energy CJ, Preston, and Laura could muster to continue up to the top trail - but they made it to the top of the Y and were reunited with Aparri.  Whew. What a hike.  Thank You Idaho Angels....you helped us to the top and beyond! 

 

These are our Idaho Angels!  Thank you!!

 

 

We are HOT, SWEATY, RED FACED (look at how red Preston and CJ's faces are...they did work hard!), EXHAUSTED, But we are also on the TOP!  VICTORY!

 

 

 Coming down the mountain was a totally different story!  Laura couldn't keep up with her children.  Those little legs were a flurry of dust as they flew down the hill.  With smiles of their faces and feeling of victory in their hearts, their bodies were on the move and they were moving fast!  Aparri had a hard time keeping her feet under her.  It took her two times falling flat on her face, to realize that she needed to listen and obey mom's constant beckoning of "Slow down!"  When we made it to the bottom, the kids looked up at the mountain and said, "We did it, we hiked up there!"  Yes....Yes, we sure did!  After we got back to Brayden and Becky's... we cooled off with some much needed popsicles, packed the car, and headed off to Idaho.  We finished our Utah visit with a bang!  I think we will all have a special meaning for the letter Y now!  SHABOOM...