Visiting Grandpa

We went to visit Grandpa. I love this pic cuz Reis just kept hitting Grandpa's headstone...like "wake up Grandpa...I'm here!"
All the grandkids...with one on the way this year :-)


All the grandkids had roses that they each got to put in the vase. Reis enjoyed taking the petals off...made Grandpa's resting place very decorative :-)





Kyler and Everett went off exploring other headstones....
Brett and Alicia's family.

Gabe and Lyndsee's family (minus Gabe). Funny story: When we showed up the cemetery, my niece Evka got out of the car and looked around and said, "Where's Grandpa?" Lyndsee told her that he was in the ground. Evka commented questioningly "So, he's sleeping?" We all chuckled. My brother told her that his body was resting but that Grandpa was busy doing lots of work. Too cute!



Cecilie and Bryan's family (minus Bryan)

Grandma with all 8 grandkids. It is crazy to think that in ONE year the grankid totally almost DOUBLED!!!

I know my dad is a very proud Grandpa looking at this picture!

Hanging Out in Boise

We had SO much fun hanging out in Boise with the fam!! We celebrated cousin Gracie's and Aunt Marshanne's birthday with no other that ICECREAM CAKE!!! This pic is so funny. Everett was eating his cake with the other cousins and then I see him walk over to sit next to the BOYS. By the time I got my camera Madi had made it over to the BOY group!!!

Reis loved his Aunt Lyndsee. One day while Lyndsee was doing her girls' hair, Reis took 10 steps just to get to her! That was just the beginning of him walking!!

Everett was watching Grace and Marshanne open their presents UPSIDE DOWN!! What kind of a mother lets their child walk around with a messy face?!?! I got to say it just doesn't bother me.
One night of our sleepover we got all the kids ready for bed and Grandma made popcorn and we got to eat it outside!!! They couldn't get enough...exhibit A...all hoarding around the popcorn bowl!


Exhibit B....Evers hands FULL of popcorn and not wanting to let even 1 popcorn go to waste!! Very smart to just go right to the source, his mouth to get the job done.
Evers in a daze....I'm sure thinking of POPCORN!!
All out of popcorn and on to the balancing act!!
We were over at Alicia's house letting all the cousins play. Everett joined right in with the girls...however he didn't know the proper ettiquette of pretend kitchen play and kept taking Evka's bowl and Madi's mixing spoons...oops!

All the girl cousins minus Kaitlyn. This is such a fun chair...they kept spinning around and around and around and LAUGHING!!
Grandma was getting ready for the day and Evka and Everett invaded her closet. I love how Everett is trying to walk in high heels AND manages to do fishie lips...he is born to be a model, not that I want him to model women's shoes!!

Each night Grandma and I would put the kids down, doing the nightly routine...bath, books, prayer, and hugs. A couple of cute things happend. The first night Evka and Averee were in bed and Everett went to both and gave them kises. The second night Everett said the prayer (which he has NEVER done before) and he gave Evka a kiss and ran out the door. Averee shot up in her bed and started crying saying "I didn't get my kiss!" So, I had to go chase Evers down and bring him to Averee. They kept giving each other kisses and hugs...over and over until I took Evers away. It was too cute.

The cousins played SO well together. We had such a fun time...we miss having family around!!

Park Adventures

While in Boise we went to a park a couple of times. Evers can't get enough of his cousin Kyler. Whenever he sees Kyler he runs to him yelling "Kyger" and gives him a big hug. He is our only boy cousin on the Bates side....until December (Gabe and Lyndsee are expecting their 3 kid...1st boy)!!


Reis was sitting up and fell over and Averee was VERY curious about him!!
Kyler is such a good big cousin to Everett. He took Evers for a walk to the fence to see the cows!

There are 2 seperate playsets on this particular playground. We were playing at one and then I noticed that Everett took his snacks over to the OTHER playground and Averee followed (they are EXACTLY 4 months apart). So here they sat eating Fishies together...how precious!!

Wings

Whenever Lyndsee and the girls (Gabe hardly ever comes to visit) come to Idaho, we jump in the car to go see them. My mom got to have a sleepover for a couple of nights with Evka and Averee PLUS my 2 kids. It was a houseful but FUN FUN FUN!!!!! One of the days we headed to an indoor play gym and had the kids run wild.
Everett was in heaven being in a BOAT!!!



We had gone to Wings a year before and Everett loved going down the slide but did NOT like the balls at the end of it. This year...loved it all!! Reis loved it from the get go. But he is always up for anything...climbing, sliding.....so this was the place for him.
Averee is just so adorable.


Everett had SO much fun following his cousins around and doing what they were doing. Reis like I said before is happy doing pretty much ANYTHING!!!

Chuckee Cheese

Our little friend Anderson turned 2 and had his bday party at Chukee Cheese! This was only the second time Evers has ever been here (really the first time he would even remember) and Reis of course was a first-timer!!


They had fun riding in the toys...we didn't even have to put tokens in for them to enjoy themselves.


Everett and Reis were very curious about these HUGE funny dressed puppets! However, they definitely were not afraid of them...Evers jumped right up on stage.

Evers couldn't get enough of Chukee. He went up and started dancing with him!
My boys with Chukee Cheese...WOW!!

Happy Birthday Anderson. Thanks for inviting us to your party...oh, and your cake was DELICIOUS!!!

The Mayan

Before Brett and his fam headed back to Idaho we met at the Mayan to eat lunch. The kids had fun exploring the caves and watching the divers. Then we headed outside and the kids had fun there too!

Kaitlyn stayed a day longer with me so she could help me with the kids on our way up to Boise the next day. She was a BIG help. She helped me sort through boxes at my house and even talked me into throwing things away that I hadn't used in years!!

Hogle Zoo

All the kids LOVED the Hogle Zoo. The cousins kept commenting on how the Boise Zoo did not have this or that and "ours" did. What can I tell ya "Utah is where it's at!!" HA!



Grace and Everett are 2 months apart and they were having fun during one of our breaks to sing and do the actions to the Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Well Bryan looks a LITTLE bit bigger than the average ape...good or bad?!?! And Evers has got a ways to go.
Madi loves to jump in on pictures to get her beautiful face in on the action!!!





The carousel was a big hit. "more, more, more."
Evers, Madi and Kyler looking at the tiger. Wow, they do exist. I still can't get over seeing a tiger lift up its tail and spray to mark its territory....I only thought skunks did that. I must have missed that day of school!!!

We also went to the Bird Show. I was a little hesitant to do this with my kids because you aren't supposed to take food in and that is what can keep Everett and Reis intertained if they get bored or upset! But.....Everett LOVED it...watching the birds fly right over our heads. They were entertained the whole time. We sure do LOVE the zoo!!