Sand, Tape, Paint and Paint some more...

So all week we've been working out guts out trying to get the house ready before we move this next weekend. The entire house needed to be painted and it's been quite the task. In your mind it seems as thought it wouldn't take as long as it actually does, or it won't take as many paint cans as it actually does! We've had a lot of help and we are very grateful to our family members that have been here sweating many hours to get us ready. So I'm a moron and I forgot to take BEFORE pictures. We're not quite ready for the after picture's either - so you'll just have to wait and see in a few more days or week or whenever I get them posted.

It's been interesting along the way. When we looked into going and seeing this house for the first time the listing advertised "NEW PAINT!" I think they went and picked through the remnants at some home improvement store because there are some pretty interesting color combinations. All of the trim in the entire house was painted this nasty peanut butter shade - which takes 3 coats to cover. The bathroom upstairs has a black chair rail with green on the bottom and yellow on the top (they may be Jamaican bobsled fans). The living room has this interesting forest green faux finish on one wall. I think we were counting in the thousands the number of holes we had to patch (ok maybe not that many - but a whole lot). I think with any picture or decoration they hung they must have used a huge screws instead of petite nails.

So that all sounds a bit negative, but we really do like the house. It's in a great area, large fully fenced backyard, mature trees, 4 bedrooms, 2 bath, living room, family rooms, room for our dining table (which was actually really hard to find), gas, CENTRAL A/C (a first for us), garage, and a lot of storage space. There still is a bit to work on (the house is 30 years old) but we're excited to make it our own. When we were looking at houses it really was quite discouraging to see what our budget could buy. Some were really cute but didn't seem like they had much room to grow or they weren't in the most desirable location. I'm glad that we were able to find something that meets our needs now and in the future.

So like I said pictures will come soon... if we ever finish with our projects and get moved (it feels a little impossible at the moment).

Blackfoot

Yesterday we went up the South East Idaho State Fair. We do it every year. It was quite nice. We headed up in the morning. There were hardly any people there (besides a lot of senior citizens), and it wasn't too hot. We strolled around looking at a few of the exhibits and a lot of animals. We stuffed ourselves with fair food. Todd even tried a bulls-eye burger - which uses a glazed donut as the the bun - healthy huh! Boston loved sitting on some of the old tractors best.
Today Reese had her first day of dance class. She's in a combo class that does ballet and tap. She was a bit hesitant before we left but once we were there in the studio she couldn't help but smile. She had a great time. We tried to get her to show us what she learned but all we got out of her were a few stretches they did.
A week or so ago we went up to Blackfoot and met daddy for lunch at the park.

Boston hates swings... strange kid.


A bit of additional news. We will be closing on our first house next week. We couldn't be more excited. We started looking a couple months ago and it was pretty slim pick-in's. We actually put in an offer on this house 2 months ago but they were being pretty stingy on their price. Well what do you know 2 months later they had to drop their price (to what we originally offered) and we snatched it right up. It needs a bit of work. Paint!!! The interior is painted the most horrendous colors imaginable. We'll also be replacing all of the interior doors right a way- since they are older and pretty banged up. The house is in a really nice area with a nice big fenced back yard. It has 4 bedrooms but there are 2 up and 2 down so the kids will be sharing a room for a while until I dare let Reese be downstairs alone. Which probably won't be for a while. So instead they'll sleep up stairs together and we'll have a room downstairs just for toys. I hope that means that all of their messes will stay downstairs and we'll have a nice upstairs. Highly unlikely I'm sure. I'll get pictures as soon as we get keys and get a little work done.

Around the House

Reese's best little friend Daniel. They were supposed to be just relaxing and watching a movie but both fell asleep - aren't they cute!
Hanging out on the rocks at the park.
One day Reese was obsessed with wanting to get her picture taken (a first - usually she hides from the camera). So she struck a few poses.


We even had a costume change.

Can't forget about our cute little guy.

Rodeo Weekend

My apologies my memory card reader has not been working lately, but magically today it is. So here's some photos from the past 2 months.

Rodeo weekend was the end of July. Annual tradition for us Prestonians. Sorry these pictures a little out of order. I was more concerned with just getting the pictures posted than putting them in order. Above: my little nephew Remy.
Reese at the carnival after going down the big slide on the fun house.
Left the room for a few minutes with two 3 year old's babysitting. Came back to find Remy buried under some pillows.
Climbing up the fun house with her cousin Ethan. I thought she would be too big of chicken to do this one but she was a pro and loved it.
Ready to go to the carnival.
Boston even got to ride a few rides. He LOVED them!!! Seriously had a huge smile on his face everything he rounded the corner. He only rode a couple car rides, but he was in heaven.

Reese on the carousel.
Sensitive little Dylan at the parade. Acts just like his dad!
Reese got to go to her first Rodeo this year. She got her own wranglers and cowgirl shirt just for the occasion. She got a little bored half way through the rodeo but perked right up again when the girls came out to do barrel racing. She thought that was pretty cool.
Boston was not at all hesitant when it came to collecting candy at the parade.

Reese excited for the parade to begin.

Cousin Visit

A month or so ago... Todd's brothers family came over for a visit. We don't see them very often so it was fun for everyone to get together. Especially the kids. They loved playing with their cousin so much. The swimming pool was a hit for the girls. Above: playing hide and seek.
Ring around the Rosie.
Boston doesn't care too much for the water so he watched and played from the sidelines.


Making some smores.
Mmm... delish!
We had a little firework show while they were visiting too.

4th Weekend

Yes Yes it's been a while I know - I've been rather lazy. For the fourth we were down in Preston Logan had their fireworks a few days before the actual fourth. It was actually better for us that they did since Todd had to start his training in Boise on the 4th and we wouldn't have been able to watch any fireworks together as a family. Reese was so excited to be able to play with her best friend and cousin Brookie. I don't think they even watched the fireworks. I don't think any of the kids really watched the fireworks they were having too much fun playing with each other.
We had all sorts of goodies in the back of Grandma Nan's truck.
The girls playing dress up the next day.
Such little models.
We also went to the big Cruise-In car show that weekend. The kids next to the big purple semi. Boston loved the semi and Reese loved it - just simply because it was purple.
Of course she also loved the pink Camaro.
Out of order: the girls posing before the firework show.

the rest of June...

So updating my blog hasn't really been much on my list of priorities lately... come to think of it not much has. It's summer -- too hot to do most things. We did make it out swimming one day. We met up with Grandma Debbie and Grandma Nan. It was a nice day, minus the wind. While eating lunch we had to use every available arm, foot, and finger -- to hold down our plates, cups and floaties.

Another bit of news... we got a dog. That lasted a week. Her name was Molly. She was a sweet little girl. However, I was allergic to her saliva and that was the end of that. We took her back for a refund. Sad I know. I was breaking out in hives numerous times during the day so as much we wanted to keep her it just wasn't meant to be. I think we'll try again later.
The circus was in town. Grandma Z joined us that evening. It wasn't anything too fancy. It was just at the fairgrounds but they some enjoyable acts to see. Boston really liked the motorcycle riders that drove around in the metal sphere. Reese liked the elephants and all the pretty girls that did various acts. 10 minutes before the show started we had a mini storm that blew some crazy wind/dust and flashed a bit of lightening. Thankfully it didn't last long, but it did leave us covered with a layer of dirt and leaves.