So much has happened...

I've felt so lazy with my blog lately and I haven't done a family update in a while so here it is...

About three weeks ago we bought a new home here in Idaho and moved in a couple weeks ago. We got a great deal on it thanks to the connections our friend Mike had here! It is small upstairs but we are having the basement finished and it will feel much bigger when it is done--one more week and counting! Along with a new home we have to put in a lawn. No small feat since it is literally covered in medium to large size rocks and is a 1/3 acre. So we found a guy here who is going to be working on our lawn hopefully this week (fingers crossed) and the sprinklers finally got finished a few days ago. It's been a crazy few weeks! But all is good. We really like our ward so far and we happen to live across the street from a couple that was in our ward when we first got married; I was excited about that!

We spent about 4 weeks with Cory's parents and they were wonderful; but it is also nice to be in our own space where I'm sure they can rest from sounds of screaming kids who spend lots of time in time-out ;-) like Briggs' record 83 minutes that he chalked up a few weeks ago. No, actually they've been good for the most part but there was definitely an adjustment period where there was some poor behavior--such is life. For a few weeks after we left Briggs kept praying for his friends Brandon, Carter and Abby (in Ohio) that they would be good for their parents when they moved out to Idaho! So sweet! Too bad I think they'll be Ohioan's for life and I don't blame them ;-) though Idaho is great too ;-)

The kids love Grandpa and Grandma's house and all the fun things there are to do there like jump on the trampoline, play with cousins, feed and ride the horses (when we were living with them all three kids were out there every morning first thing feeding the horses--so cute!), playing at the park, having grandma and grandpa come to Briggs' t-ball games was great and so much more. So lucky for us, just a few days after we moved into our house, Cory's sister from Texas arrived and we've spent a lot of time hanging hanging out with them; so they still got to enjoy Grandparents and cousins! It's been almost three years since we've all been together and I can't believe how much my nieces and nephews have grown! Sadly everyone has come and gone now but we had such a great time with everyone (warning-many many pictures to come from that ;-)

Aside from trying to get settled in our home Cory has been busy training religiously for his Olympic-distance triathlon. He is enjoying the challenge and will be doing that in August. I'm excited for him.

Briggs just finished with his t-ball. He loved it but is definitely ready for the real thing! What can I say, the boy loves sports. He is such a good helper and loves his little sister! He's always going up to her and saying "oh, your so cute!" and giving her kisses! I love that!! I can also tell he is getting older. I get the "why?????" question all the time with the arms out and the annoyed expression on his face (I totally remember doing that to my parents; sorry mom and dad!) We've definitely had to work on that one. He also has had the opportunity to do a lot of chores over and over because he complains about doing them. The other day he actually emptied the dishwasher without one word of complaint; that is progress! He really is a good boy!

Picked for me from the boys. So sweet!

Ethan has been really enjoying his cousins and riding the horses. He is our fair-weathered child. If he is happy and you are on good terms than he loves you, but if he goes to time-out for something he did he is very quick to say that he "doesn't like us, he doesn't ever love us, and he's never going to play with us again!" (can you hear the drama?) I think he might get some of that spite from me (at least that is what Cory says) but with Ethan everything is the extreme--never, ever, forever, always....you get the point. But boy when that boy loves you and gives you kisses there is nothing better! He can be so tender and sweet! The other day we played hi-ho cherry-o and he seemed so old to me. I can't believe he'll be 4 later this month! What a great little boy!

Brooklyn is so much fun! A few days ago we had a little scare after she ate some peanut butter she got hives all around her mouth, her wrists and hands and was super itchy. Because none of us have any food allergies I was a bit surprised by that. Given the fact that she refuses to eat bread, she has not eaten any sandwiches so that is probably why we didn't realize that until now. Thankfully a little benedryl and some time helped the hives go down. She is also ready to be potty trained. She always wants me to help her put on her little panties (you know the little diaper covers that coordinate with dresses; that is what she likes to wear) or she will go and get the boys underwear and try to put it on. She turns two this month so i think I will start up the potty training here soon. The other day I took her to Walmart to get some princess underwear and she loved it! When we got home she kept asking me to "wear them." I probably should have waited but it was just her and I and I thought she would like that. Also, since moving into our home a few weeks ago she now sleeps in a big girl bed. She has only fallen off once on the second night and she stays in bed and goes right to sleep! What a blessing for that one! She also loves you to sing her songs before nap and bedtime and she just stares into our eyes and pats our back. Oh, I love that. She also loves Cinderella and calls it "Rella" and she does NOT like long sleeves or pants; she prefers shorts or skirts. Sure love that little "girlo" (as Ethan so lovingly calls her.)

Brooklyn loves my hi-heel shoes

We went to see my friend Holly and her family and Brooklyn didn't want to eat her dinner and a while later we were visiting in the living room and Cort looked over and saw Brooklyn on their table eating Cheetos out of the bag. That silly girl ;-)

Whoever says little girls are all quiet and sit and read books hasn't met my little girl. She runs circles around me; she is soooooo busy. She is into climbing and one day I came upstairs to find this mess!

Brooklyn with her faux underwear

The weather in Idaho just decided it's finally going to act like summer (we've seen a lot of rain) so we have been enjoying the nice hot weather. Such a change from the cold and wind of the past month.

So, here are some more pictures of what we've been up to. House pictures to come soon.

Riding horses at Grandpa and Grandma's. My sister came down to join in the fun. Here she is with Briggs and her daughter Ashlyn.

We got a surprise visit before Fathers day from my mom and sister-in-law Jacque. Jacque got all the grandkids footprints for a shirt for my dad for fathers day.

My mom reading to Brooklyn

Cory's Aunt Peggy's surprise 50th birthday party

waiting for her to arrive

Surprise!!

My sister-in-law Mindy

In typical Briggs fashion

Sadie and Carl's little boy--so cute!

Renee with her grandson

Isn't this puppy darling! The little kids couldn't help themselves!

Brian Regan

One of our favorite comedians is Brian Regan; he is HILARIOUS!! Last night Cory, his sister Jodi and her husband and my sister Crystal and her husband and I all went to a Brian Regan show and it was so much fun!! It was a solid 2 hours of pure entertainment! Here are some of our favorites from the past!!! He did the emergency room one by request at the end. If you haven't seen him before he is definitely worth checking out!

One of our all time favorites....animal sounds

Ryan Hamilton was one of his opening acts and he was really funny! He did the cat eyes and this hot air balloon one that I couldn't find online but it was all really great stuff!!

Tornado

Last night I called to wish my dad a happy fathers day and my mom answered the phone. She told me that a tornado had just touched down and destroyed several businesses close to their house. Thankfully they were okay, but the tornado happened to be literally 1/2 mile from their home and she said it was like a freight train coming towards them. So scary! Here are some videos and pictures from that.

Circus

The other night we took the boys to the circus. We've not taken either boy yet and they thoroughly enjoyed it. To top it off we couldn't have asked for a nicer night considering it rained and rained for days/weeks leading up to the circus but it turned out to be a perfect night.

The boys rode the elephant and everytime Ethan walked past me on the elephant he'd say quietly, "I want off." It cracked me up.

Ethan loved the crazy motorcycle riders at the end where they ride 3-6 bikes in a small sphere. He told me after that that was his favorite and that he loves when motorcycles go fast...not slow.

I personally love the animal shows like the tigers and lions and the elephants. Thankfully there were no clowns.

It was a fun night!

In full swing...

Well summer has finally decided to grace us in Idaho and Briggs has been enjoying every minute of his baseball games! He does such a great job and that is attributed to his crazy desire to play all the time and to play well and for Cory always playing with him and helping him improve! He is such a good boy!

I got a kick out of him as he couldn't understand why baseball started at 5:00 and not at 4:00! He was so exasperated that he had to wait "sooooo long." This conversation went on for 10 minutes as I tried to convince him that 5:00 was the real time of his game and that he could wait patiently. Funny boy!

Look at his determination on his face. He has the nicest little swing!

With Grandma and Grandpa Hansen. It is so fun to have them at the games

Brooklyn thought that after you caught the ball you threw it with the mitt as well. Grandma was showing her how to do it.

Ethan enjoyed chasing and tackling Brooklyn

Brooklyn discovered her shadow and was afraid of it. She is the only child that I remember of ours that wasn't so sure about the shadow or was observant enough to care. It was pretty funny!