Road Trip!!!!!

Many years ago we lived in Northern Idaho in a little town called Hayden Lake.  It was an awesome place for little kids to grow up, especially if you liked to play in the woods and climb really tall pine trees.  Well....last week Russell and I took a little stroll up nostalgia lane and returned to that place and those memories.  We had such good friends there and had a chance to visit some of the best of them. 

This is the house we lived in then.  It was right in the middle of the woods.  Russell cleared the land so it could be built.  Now... there are houses all around it.  Eric, Royce, Blake and Meredith climbed those tall pine trees, often times to the tops. I had a little preschool here called Alphabet Soup Preschool. It was a fun little place to come to.

These are the Frantz boys.  They had a home out around Hayden Lake and we had lots of good times there.  Between our boys and these boys much mayhem and mischief was made, all in good fun of course.  We were able to spend an afternoon with them while we were up north and we loved seeing them all.  Between their family and ours I think there were 17 of us so it was a gang!  Their dad, Marty, (left in the picture), gave Colby the name of Little Thunder Diaper when she was first born and it has been one of her nicknames ever since. It is crazy to see these guys all grown up with little kids of their own. 

Our next stop was Seattle to visit Blake and Lindsey in their new home.  Blake is at the University of Washington doing a dental  residency.  He is studying to be a prostadontist, (not really sure how that is spelled).  They live on campus in a nice little 2 story apartment.  When we lived in Hayden Lake, Seattle was one of the places we visited often because we were in that temple district, so going back there was really fun for us. We got to go back to all our favorite places we haven't seen in many years. 

One place we love is Pike Street Market Place.  We got on the bus and rode there twice while we were visiting.  Here are the boys having fun on one of our visits.  We also ate on the wharf one night and this is the delicious dinner Lindsey and I shared:

It was a treat!!!!!

Caleb

Spencer

Ethan

Bus riding photos.....

We also rode a ferry to Bainbridge Island one day for a little adventure. The boys were so excited to ride on the big boat and see the cars ride on and off with us. 

While we were there this little fellow joined the Royce and AubRee Barney family.  

Meet Kruz Kent Barney:

We are pretty excited because he is moving here next week!!!!!!

After our Seattle visit we drove down the coast to visit some of our other favorite places, Seaside and Tillamook, Oregon. Seaside has a yummy restaurant called Pig and Pancakes where we went for breakfast  and then we took a stroll on the beach.  We were able to stop and visit my mom on the way home and it was good to spend some time there. It was so nice to have a week with Russell and just do whatever we wanted to do.  It was a much appreciated week of rest, fun, and relaxation.  Now it is back to work and the real world, darn it!

Count Your Many Blessings......

We had a super busy, fun summer this year and got to see all our family.  It started with a visit from Blake and Lindsey and their sweet little kids.  It is a big job for them to come all the way to Utah and Idaho from Ohio and we sure were glad they came.  We love them each so much.  The happy smiles on their faces are one of the things we remember about them all year, when they are far away from us.

 We got to spend part of a week in Sun Valley and were able to have the Idaho grand-kids stay with us.  We did lots of fun stuff with them, went to the movies, played at the park, went swimming, had a bbq, and had sleepovers in our hotel. It was good to be able to spend time with Eric, Chandra and Meredith.  Sure love each of them, they make our lives full and complete.

Then we were able to drive to California to visit Royce and AubRee and Grace.  We went to the beach and had a great day. It was nice and sunny and warm.  We were just happy to get to spend time with them there.  The whole weekend was wonderful.  We sure love our California kids, wish we got to spend more time with them. Actually the drive was not as bad as I thought it would be so maybe we will drive over again soon....

After California it was our week to have the Idaho grand-kids come and spend some time with us.  We spent time at our house in Idaho  and then time in Salt Lake.  We went horse back riding with Colby at the AOK Corral in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, went to the drive-in to the movie, and played in the hot tub and played with Brittany. They were so good there to help clean our house as we were trying to get it ready to be sold. We visited the Utah state house and did a fun  matching game there, went to dinner and spent time walking around temple square and learning about the history of the pioneers.

We count all this family among our greatest blessings!!! We are so thankful for each one of them.  

One more blessing that has come about in the last few days is that our home in Idaho is sold. The sale is not yet complete but the offer has been signed and things are in the works.  We know Heavenly Father has been looking out for us because there are hundreds of homes for sale there and we were able to get our sold in less than two weeks.  How thankful we are that we are being looked after and know it is due to a loving Father who answer prayers. It is pretty much a miracle for us and we are very grateful.  WOW! 

Happy Halloween Happenings from East to West

Labor Day with family who are good friends.....

We had a super fun Labor Day weekend in Victor with many of our dear family members. Besides the wind that gave us these beautiful hairdos we enjoyed Saturday together visiting Jackson Hole, Jackson Lake and Jackson Lake Lodge, Jenni Lake and ended the evening at the Bar J Wranglers Chuckwagon dinner and show. The Bar J Wranglers where so fun and very entertaining.

It was nice having my parents and two sisters and their spouses with us for the weekend. We started out Friday night playing Guitar Hero and while some of us were pretty good at it, some were not, Ha Ha. Mom was pretty good at the drummer's foot pedal and Rae Jean was quite a singing, dancing queen. There were a few who didn't want anything to do with it, so they had the joy of sitting around and watching the rest of us.

Anyway thanks to all who come over to visit us for our last big weekend in Victor. Look forward to many more fun times together. Love you all!

Meet the newest Brittany Barney

This is our nephew Jacob Barney. His father is Gregg who is Russell's brother. Two of Gregg's sons have married beautiful Brittanys in the past year and a half and have gone from a family of all sons to one that has two Brittanys for daughter-in-laws. Is that crazy or what? Something that is even crazier is that there is a Brittany cousin on both sides of their family. I guess that was a really popular name 21 years ago.


Here are Gregg and Valerie and their very handsome sons and new Brittany.

Bossy Bob's Bunch

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We have called ourselves Bossy Bob's Bunch for so long now, how did that ever start? We had a great family reunion just a week ago. It was great to see all my brothers and sisters and their spouses and kids. We have grown from a family of 11 to over 60 in not so many years. Some of my fondest memories are of family reunions as a child and now we are the adults, crazy. Thanks to Julie and her family for a fun time together. My family gets to be in charge of our next reunion, two years from now

August ends and turns into September.......

We were able to celebrate the close of summer this year with a visit from my dear sisters Kim and RaeJean and their really great spouses, Mike and Don. We had a fun time together and were able to visit some of the beautiful places around the Jackson Hole, WY area. Sometimes its just good to sit and chat with your sisters and it did me a world of good. Thanks for coming over girlies!