Makin' the Best of a Bad Situation

On our way to our little Get a Way in Coeur D'Alene, we got the boys all excited by telling them that there was a pool and we would definitely go swimming! Oh...they were excited! However - when we checked in - the front desk told us that the pool was currently down and not working and would not be up for days/ weeks. BUMMER! Clay and I looked at each other and thought...what do we do now? We promised the boys a trip to a pool??? Well, when we got to our room, there was a nice Master Suite with a large tub!!! SOLUTION presented itself! Hey, we will all fit in there right? We can at least try and we did! We had several "pool parties" in our own private room with warm bath water! We brought in toy cars, balls, etc. and had a great time! Not much leg room or breast strokes - but lots of giggles!!! Hey, what do you do when you promise your kids a pool and that is not possible? HAVE A BATH PARTY! Hey, it worked! (If you look closely you can see the water line...yep, we had it filled to the tip top!)

Time to GET AWAY!

We got some good quality family time in by sneaking away to Coeur D'Alene, ID for a couple of days! It was beautiful weather, gorgeous country, great hotel/resort, and the greatest company..... Here are a couple pictures of the highlights of our little get away! We attempted several hikes with the boys...however, we only accomplished 1 FULL trail....and that one was 1/2 mile! The other trails were steeper and much longer but also full of distractions...such as bushes, logs, water, rocks, bugs, fun plants...and the curious boys that we have - kept stopping to take a peek, throw rocks (which Clay keeps telling me is a normal boy thing...all boys throw rocks! News to me!). So with all the extra "sight seeing" and having to pack Preston for most of the trail, we didn't make a lot of progress before the boys were exhausted and we were forced to turn around and head down the mountain. Clay and Laura have promised that the two of them will go back "kidless" and finish those hikes! Even though we didn't make it far, we all had tons of fun - !

On one of the hikes CJ found a old pair of glasses with the lenses popped out - which became his hiking glasses and then when we were done hiking they became his glasses that made him become just like Papa! He even wanted to sleep in them!

The weather men called for rain and cool weather the whole time we were in Coeur D'Alene, but instead it was sunny, beautiful and semi warm! Perfect hiking and sight seeing weather - we are so blessed!

Daddy's Home

Deployments are NOT fun! But, it sure makes for a great reunion! Yes, Clay is home!!! Yipee. We are all excited to have him back! Laura and the boys went and watched his plane land and then met him on the flight line! It was a very exciting day in the ward house! (PS..Laura got the sign custom made from a company in Vancouver! If you want details on the company, let her know!!!)

Strutting his Stuff

Preston has been practicing for his next photo shoot! He came out wearing these glasses and thinking he was hot stuff! When we grabbed the camera and started taking pictures...he just kept posing! Silly Man - yes...we think you are cute!