Our very own Bed and Breakfast

That is what it pretty much has been like for the last 2 weeks since the semester ended. My poor brother is homeless until he gets married ( only 23 more days), so he has been staying here. Last week Natalie, his soon to be wife was staying here so she could work an extra week. And then Natalie's cousin Ben joined us. He was going to sleep in his truck. But basically he was here all the rest of the day so I told him might as well sleep here too. So we have been having fun with our guests. Maybe I should explain why they are all homeless. You see BYU-I has a 7 week break in between Summer semester and Fall. Which is very nice, but student housing doesn't really work with you to much. Basically once the semester is over they kick you out if you didn't sign a contract for fall. Which is fine but then if you change apartment complexes or get married and need married student housing you can't move in till you are married or until the new semester starts. So there are alot of people who are homeless for seven weeks. Natalie only had to work for a week before she could go home to Boise. And Ben can go home this weekend. But poor Jordan is stuck here, sleeping on an air mattress until He can move into their apartment right before they are married. I was overwhelmed at the thought of having 3 extra adults in our tiny apartment, but it has been fun. I have loved having Jordan and Natalie be here and just see their relationship. I am so excited to have her for a sister in law. I think right now my kids prefer her to me. On the 14th my brother Brian comes home from boot camp/ firefighting training and he will be staying here. I honestly am so excited to have my 2 brothers staying here. I get so many more details out of them!!!!! So for the next month or so I get to be the hostess. And I love it. Honestly how many people get to live so close to their siblings? And to just think April will be here in just a few short months. Then the Rexburg Moons will out number the Renton Moons. I guess Mom and Laura you can take Jo and Bri's spots on the air mattresses once they are out! Wouldn't that be fun!!

If you ever need a story on Colin....

So in my family we have stories that other family members never forget, and manage to bring up often. Laura has got the " hood up story" Jordan has got "out of the garbage can" story. I have got the "licorice whipping" story. But my husband has not really had a story yet. Until Sunday night. Now you have to understand my reasoning for sharing this story. My husband is the king of teasing people and giving them a hard time. So I thought it is only fair that I share this story for all to enjoy.

On Sunday night we were invited to one of Colin Professor's house for dinner. He teaches one of his computer classes. The whole class( all 12) were invited, but only 5 students showed up with their families. Of course we were the only ones to have more then one kid besides the professor, and his oldest was seven. His professor was a big Microsoft guru. So you can imagine their big beautiful house. His wife was really proper. We had spaghetti and his wife used a spoon to help swirl the spaghetti on to the fork then used both to eat it. After dinner Colin's professor said that we should go outside and see what tricks people can do on the tramp. We all headed out and Colin and another guy were helping the kids on the tramp and helping them jump. I had to go in an change Alexas diaper, she had exploded. So I was gone for a good 5-10 minutes. I got Alexa all cleaned up, and we went back out side. As I got close to the trampoline and Colin I could tell something was off but I was unsure. Until I got closer and could get the full view. Colin had some how managed to split the hem of his jeans from his zipper to his lower thigh. But the bad thing was he had no idea and was still jumping on the tramp showing off his garments to everyone. So when I saw this I was horrified. I mean we are at His professor house. So I told Colin, he looked down said "oh man" and continued to jump. Now if you know my husband then you know that nothing really phases him, or embarrasses him. But I was dying. So I had to tell him to stop jumping and get off, that we needed to go home. At this point I think he came to his senses, and realized he was showing off quite a bit. So as he gets off and we gather our kids I am constantly telling him to pull his shirt down. We went and told his Professor what had happend, then we left. Here are a few pictures after the fact, before we threw theses pants away.

Don't worry people those are his shorts that you can see

So there you go. After all was said and done I think I was more embarrassed then Colin. And when I was asking him how it happened he said that he had done a flip and he heard something rip but he couldn't see anything. Umm, I'm not sure how you missed the big gaping hole but wasn't it a little drafty?? Sorry babe I love you but someone has to give you a hard time every once in awhile!!!

A Question for all those Moms with Daughters...

My question is this, do you let your daughters wear tank tops? I know that when Alexa is older tank tops are an no no. Along with bikinis of course, or sleeveless dresses. But she is 2 and I battle on whether or not to let her wear a tank top with shorts when its so hot. Honestly it doesn't bother me much at this point, but I don't want to let her and then she thinks she can when she is older. Or what about all those cute dresses that don't have sleeves (Well tank top sleeves). Do you put something under or over, or just let it be? So you mothers of daughters, what do you think? What's the rule in your house?

Been there, Done that, Going again!!!

**** This post will probably have tons of pictures****

So we went to Yellowstone for our 4th of July weekend. I was a little nervous cause we have never been camping on our own with out help with the kids. But we loved it, the kids loved it, and for the most part the kids we really good. There are so many amazing things there, so many animals to see. We loved looking for animals. Jakob lived with the binoculars around his neck. I don't know if I can do it justice with words so I will just show you the pictures. Colin has a photography final project due Wednesday, and he chose to do Yellowstone. So we have so many cool nature pictures. I think i might replace some of by bought pictures on my walls with the ones Colin took. We loved it so much we plan on going back labor day weekend. So if anyone wants to come with us........ we would love it!!!! Enjoy the pictures!

This is at the river at our camp ground

silly Jakob

Ready for our 4th of July adventures

shes so darn cute

Jakob with his handy dandy binocularsfamily photo with a geyser

walked right in front of our van

this is what happens when the kids don't want to walk any more

At our lunch stop

At some stinky springs

This is how Conner fixed his hair

Ol' faithful

Mud volcano

So stinky

get those eyes open Conner

the stare down

our first bear sighting, its a cub, so its small and the grass hid it well. Its a black bear

Our 2ND bear sighting, brown bear

Same bear, just up close

a heard of Buffalo by our campground

A bunch of fly fisherman

walking down the middle of the road holding up traffic!!

We have tons more pictures so I will probably add a slide show of everything, just give me a few days. I still have some unpacking to do and some laundry washing to do!!

Who's child is she anyways?

Alexa is so funny, she does some of the weirdest stuff. She is a true girl, and I can already tell we will have some fun teenage years ( once again my mom is thinking paybacks are great!) . Just yesterday she had on some cute shoes that she picked out and put on, colin noticed she was walking kind of funny. We checked her diaper, nothing , so adventually I took her shoes off. She screamed while I was doing it cause she didn't want them off, but turns out she had huge blisters on each foot. I guess she is already willing to live with the pain for some great shoes.
She also loves changing clothes and she is very picky about what she wants to wear. She tells me no alot of times when I bring clothes out, so most days we pick her outfit out together. She's only 2, whats she gonna be like when she 12. Oh boy. She also loves her hair bows, which is good for me case I love making them and she has was to many of them, but am I done making them ? NO. But she always needs a bow in her hair, even if I didn't plan on putting one in her hair. She brings one out to me and says " bow mommy!"
The other night we gave each of the kids ice cream cones. About a minute later I could here her in the fridge. She came out with a pickle. She sat right down and took a bite of ice cream then a bite of pickle. If she was older I might wonder if she was pregnant. She finished both and she really seem to enjoy it. She is so weird.

She also loves her brothers, she doesn't let her age or her small stature hold her back. She tries to do everything her brothers do. She loves to snuggle with them, and give them hugs. She also is not afraid of them, most times its the boys running away from her, screaming. I'm not sure whether or not to be proud of that or not.
I love my cute little Lexa Lou. It has been so fun having a girl, and I am so excited for all the fun adventures to come!!