June in a nutshell {ha!}

3rd- T&T had us over for dinner.  She's a good cook.

Zac stayed home with the boys {Bex still sick} while I attended the Joseph Smith production our stake put on.  Wow.  It was incredible!  Lance had a solo and did a beautiful job, and so did Mom.  Their songs & voices were so powerful.  Music brings the spirit like nothing else and this presentation was no exception.  The story of Joseph Smith is a touching and powerful one and the spirit was so strong in the building.  So thankful I could attend and that my testimony was strengthened because of it.

4th- I hate being behind couponers at Walmart.  They should get in the couponing line because it takes forever. PS: I still want to learn some couponing skills, but I'll get in the coupon line. (;

 Gray {with my help} drew a picture for his t-ball coaches.

Bailey, Mikayla, Maryn & Ally came over to drop off some pictures they'd drawn for the boys.  They were on the 4 wheeler and pulling Ally on a sled.  In the middle of summer.  Only on the farm!

I finally retired my amazing shoes that Zac gifted to me our first dating Christmas-ten years ago!  They were much overused & after running in them one last time, I had MAJOR plantar fasciitis pain, so I decided it was time to say goodbye.  I LOVE these shoes and all they represented, so it was tougher than it should have been.  They've seen thousands of miles from me & had so much sentimental value.  + I kept them in great shape!

6th- Jocey babysat the boys & they had a blast, as usual.  She is the ultimate babysitter and does everything from keeping the house clean, kids fed/played with/happy, AND if needed, gets my kids to bed successfully.  They adore her too, which is pretty great.

8th- We like having eggless cookie dough around so we can just eat a spoonful of dough whenever we want.

I took the boys in to Matt's so Gray could get a shot.  Turned out he needed FOUR!  He was pretty bummed, but did really well, considering.  He was pretty bummed about it, but totally brightened up when we came home to Popsicles & two baby kittens!  They were given to us and super cute.  We named them Chewie & Jawa {Star Wars names}, and the boys were so excited.  They loved on those kitties so much.  Bex has to be watched pretty close because he's an animal & mauls them too much. {Update: the kitties lasted about 10 days.  The first one, Jawa, was eaten within 4 days and Chewie lasted a few more...total bummer, but that's life on the farm!}

9th- We took the boys to the movies {Madagascar 3} and they loved it.  They are fun to take to movies.  Bex coughed quite a bit throughout it and was bad all the way home.  That night it was like he'd just gotten it all over again.  Argh.  Oh, yes, we have a Christmas tree-named Chunky-in the boys room.  Grayson loves it.  And sleeping babies are so darn cute.

10th- We risked taking Bex out {he wasn't contagious anymore, but still sounded awful} to Boise for the Bair {Zac's mom's side} family party.  He had 2 scary coughing fits on the way over where we felt helpless because we were driving.  Poor kid!  We didn't stay long because Bex coughed so much and threw up a time or two, but the visiting we did was very nice.  The Bair family is absolutely amazing, kind, and accepting.  I love all our aunts & uncles on that side and especially the cousins.  They feel like family to me and we are all close & keep in good contact despite our distance.  The boys played, ran, laughed, found sticks they pretended were light sabers, and were crazy.  One thing I noticed is that Gray tended to stay either by himself, with Beckham, or with adults.  He wasn't really into playing with all the little kids he wasn't familiar with.  In fact, he spent about 20 minutes talking to Grandma Bair and showing her tricks.  I couldn't hear him, so afterward I asked if he'd had a good time chatting with Great Grandma.  He said, "Yeah!  I showed her my funny voices, and told her about preschool.  And, she told me about some people she knows."  He is so funny.

When we were almost home we decided to stop and do our first geocache.  We found it at Starvation Camp {PS: I've lived within a couple miles of this sign most of my life & this was the first time I'd read it.  Totally depressing!}  Zac had tried it on his business trip to San Diego and wanted us to participate.  The boys LOVED it.  It's like a treasure hunt, so it was right up their alley.  So fun!  We definitely want to try finding more of them and it's pretty cool that they are all over.  We both put the app on our phones so we can geocache for family date nights & on vacations.  Very fun.

11th-More coughing.  Totally normal for us by now.  This video only captures the end of a series of fits, but shows how quickly he gets back to real life.  Usually accompanied by an "i okay mom."  Not sure what Gray's problem was, but he was ticked about something this morning.

Took Bex in again to Dr. Sage since he seemed to be getting worse again.  She said if his oxygen was low he may need that.  Of course he didn't have an attack at the doctor's office, so we were sent home with more advice to "wait it out."  So frustrating and awful for Bex, especially.  Grayson got to stay at Grandma Linda's and had a blast as usual.  He loves her & her house.

Bex is a puzzle building fanatic.  He is amazing at them, too.  He started by doing a 4 piece Franklin puzzle on the ipad & within a week was doing 24 piece puzzles & more on the ipad.  So fun to watch.  When we pulled out some real life puzzles he proved to love them just as much.

14th- I had a much needed and loved massage.  Ahh, love them.  A fruit trip to Costco, too. Yum!

We love finding things to keep us busy and as long as it's not hurting anyone, I'm not against creative uses of household items.

Cherries again on our tree!  They were delicious & beautiful...for one whole day until the birds ate them all.

Fun times at Grami's with Grandpa Alan, their kitties & the swings.

15th- My sweet dad came to my rescue today! We couldn't find Chewie {he was still living at this point} and it was weird because since Jawa died he was always right by the back door meowing and wanting as much attention as possible.  I kept calling him {because I was surprisingly attached to the little guy} and could hear meowing, but couldn't find him.  Grayson and I searched all over outside and then when I was doing laundry inside I heard it clear as day.  I panicked because it sounded like he was inside the dryer.  I am a huge chicken when it comes to animals, so I told Grayson to check inside! (;  He did and he wasn't in there.  Zac was in Boise, so dad came to check it out.  He took apart the dryer, he wasn't in the hose...he was IN the bottom of the dryer!  That stinker!  We got him out and fed him. Yuck!  Thankful for a dad who is so amazing and so willing to help!

16th- Attended a great TSFL training in the morning and then Zac and I packed up the boys to head to McCall overnight with T&T and Spencer & Genniel.  It was a last minute trip & a much needed stress relief.  On the way we dropped a gift to my friend Jamie whose best friend had passed away.  It was a wake up call to appreciate my friends that much more.

McCall was fun and chill.  We ate, relaxed, played outside lots, and saw a fox.  Beckham kept saying, "C'mere fox...go away fox!"  He thought it was hilarious.  We ate breakfast at the Pancake house the next day and got on the road, so it was a short trip, but needed. 

17th- Got home from McCall and let Zac open his Father's day gifts.  This man was born to be a daddy.  He LOVES it.  Every single day he lets me know how much he loves it, he tells the boys often how much he adores them, and he shows them by spending time with them, keeping his cool while parenting them, and loving me.  He is such an incredible man and I am so thankful he is the father of my kiddos.  Grayson was so excited to give him his gifts because he had helped me get it together.  It all turned out so cute & Zac loved it all.

We delivered kisses to our dads & spent time at both houses which was great.  Both our dad's are incredible blessings in our lives.  Dad Cleaver is a great listener, gets down on the ground & plays with the kids, is affectionate & complimentary, and loves any sweets he can get.  Dad Peterson is a big tease, super service oriented, generous & adorable, plays & wrestles with the boys, and is always willing to listen & give advice when asked.  We adore them both and appreciate their examples and their counsel.

Beckham and Lyla are the best little friends.  It's pretty adorable how much they love each other.

18th- Washer started leaking water.  Only when we run small loads, so now we just run large loads. We're resourceful like that.

I finally read To Kill a Mockingbird and was not disappointed.  A beautifully written book that I loved.  I kept saying, "Why did I wait this long??"

20th- My treadmill died.  It was a hand me down from my mother in law and I put LOTS of miles on it.  It was over 10 years old and so appreciated, but it died and started putting off black shavings. Totally bummed about this.

After seeing this great & needed reminder, we had an impromptu t-ball practice in our yard.  It was a super hot day & Gray insisted on sweats/sweatshirt while Bex preferred diaper only attire.  They both loved it & tried their best.

21st- a rare moment of brotherly love

22nd- The boys helped Grami with her yard work today.  Jaeger helped too and they were all such hard & happy workers.  Adorable, too.  Bex jumped on the lawn mower with Grandpa when given the chance.

Cricket got the iPhone!  Now everyone please buy them from us. (;

Zac took the boys to Father's & Sons night and they had a blast.  Grayson loved that Uncle Bob taught him how to shoot a REAL BB gun. (:  He thought that was pretty cool.  Beckham had a good time, too, and Zac loved it.  They had a super bad dust/wind storm that sent them home around 10PM and they were all happy to tell me all the details.

23rd- Our vacuum quit on us and Doll came to watch the boys so Z and I could run to Nampa to find a replacement.  We had been deep cleaning the house and Zac wasn't about to quit without vacuuming {his favorite household chore}.  We got a dyson and even got $100 off what we were expecting to spend, so he was psyched.  We ate lunch and enjoyed chatting together and appreciated Doll coming on such short notice.  The vacuum didn't disappoint and Zac posed with the dust from ONE room afterward.  Was our previous vacuum doing anything?!

24th- Vegging after church is a favorite pastime.  Going to both grandparents house is a pretty great weekend ritual, too. We hadn't seen Gray for a while and finally checked out front for him.  We found him like this.  He'd trapped the kitty and was so proud of himself just talking to it softly & pretending like he was its master.  Made us all laugh pretty hard.

25th- Lance & Kelsey moved to their new home!  We were so excited for them!  Their home is beautiful and so fun to go visit.  Grayson surprised me by just climbing right to the top of the monkey bars & crawling over them. 

Beckham had an appointment with Dr. Matt-his 2 year check up and is doing great.  {aside from the whole whooping cough debacle} and he did good.  He's so darn cute, no one can resist him.  That night we went to Ogawa's with Pete's and Jocey babysat our littles.  They adore her.  She is a good one!  Before she got to our house, I looked in the hall to find both boys in the linen closet!  Grayson had helped Bex get in and climbed up himself.  They thought they were so smart & hilarious.  They crack me up!

26th- The boys were at Taylor's today and I had client meetings in Nampa/Boise, got a massage, picked out my new treadmill, and then had a couple other work meetings.  It was a long day & Zac picked they boys up when he was done with work, but I love that they are taken care of and I love what I do.

27th- Took a walk with the boys & ended up pushing Grayson on his trike most of the way.  Good workout for me!

Both boys love playing hide & seek and Beckham looks so cute when he counts.

I adore dry shampoo.  I think I went six days without washing my hair.  I'm in love.

Nighttime walks are good too.

28th- Becca called me this morning & we chatted for a half hour like we always do once or twice a week.  A couple hours later she called back & I wondered what she'd forgotten to tell me.  She was crying & said her dad had had a heart attack & was at the hospital.  She was headed over and asked me to pray.  I headed over to be with her right away.  When I got there he was already gone.  I hugged her, prayed with her, and then we chatted for a few minutes.  So tough!  The three main men in her life & her kids lives are gone within 18 months of each other and it's hard to see the reasoning.  She has lots of faith and so do her kiddos.

Grayson drew his first bird.  So proud.

29th- Our friend Gina was visiting from Vegas with her girls, so they came to play.  Adorable!  The boys loved having visitors and they ate treats & played in the water while we visited.  Fun to catch up with her.  We were sad Rex couldn't come too.

It was Becca's 30th happy birthday, so I asked if I could take her kids for the night while she got out for a date & some time by herself.  Pretty hard to have any semblance of a happy birthday on the day after your dad died, but I wanted to help in some way.  While the kids were over, I asked if Becca had a cake.  They said no so I asked if we should make her one.  Presley was SO excited to make her a birthday cake.  The kids were SO good all day & night!  They played fabulously together, ate yummy pizza, built a huge fort, and were so sweet & helpful.  My boys love them.  That night we told spooky stories and the kids made them up.  They were not the least bit scary but they had each other all jumpy, so I told funny stories to lighten things up.  Becca came about 11 and we surprised her with the cake, her gift, & singing.  She loved it.  I'm so thankful for this sweet girl and her constant and consistent friendship.

30th- My treadmill was delivered today!  So excited about this!  This new {barely used} one is awesome!!

Playing in the water is a favorite pastime around here.  Bex got stung by a bee & wasn't happy about me covering it with mud.  He came in for lunch & showed us his mad vs. happy faces.  This kid could seriously stay 2 forever & I'd be thrilled.

Cousin Mikayla got baptized & was adorable.  The boys enjoyed watching her, but Grayson still says he's not getting baptized & going under water.

Before the baptism, I captured some pics of the boys.  I wanted one that was similar to the ones I took in 2010, almost 2 years earlier {one shown below}.  I LOVE them.  These boys are an absolute blessing and joy in our home.  

{then-Fall 2010}

We had a fireworks BBQ at Bob's house with the Peterson crew.  It was a great time.  Zac & Steve got caught up and had fun visiting and the boys LOVED the sparklers & roman candles.  Beckham was totally fearless and just kept grabbing the hot parts, dropping them on his feet, etc.  He's a daredevil!  Once the big bad guys started going off, they spent time in the house with James laughing and playing.  It was a fun night with family.