Welcome Home

So, a little over a week ago, I was fortunate enough to attend Women's Conference with my Mom, Grandma, and sister-in-laws. Tony kept the kids at home and took good care of them while I was away. It was a nice break and much needed time to myself. It was also nice to come home and find all well here. I had to laugh at the little things that I noticed over the first couple days of coming back. I had to make a top 10 list of my discoveries...

10 Things That Tell Me I'm Home & I've Been Missed

1. Sticky fingerprints everywhere...door knobs, cabinet knobs, cupboards, fridge---a friendly reminder that the clean house I left is ready to be cleaned again!

2. Kids ready for some "real" food, not another sandwich!

3. Children arguing in church the next morning over who gets to sit by Mom.

4. Cache's surprise haircut--Thank You! That needed to be done!

5. Cooper's non-stop details about the RC he researched on the internet...He couldn't wait to show me!

6. Two little blond visitors in bed with me the first night home...can you say sardines?!?

7. "Welcome Home" sign made by Shelby & Libby with a little help from Grandpa & Grandma Traveller!

8. "Welcome Home" treat...chocolate chip cookies made by Tony and kids...So, you can bake!

9. Libby's smile when she woke up and realized I was home.

10. Shelby's hug and the words, "I just love you so much!"

Sad News

Just an update on our pregnancy... This past thursday I went in for my 17 week appointment and the doctor was unable to detect a heartbeat. After an ultrasound confirmed things, we scheduled surgery for a D&E the following day. Needless to say we are all still in shock, but the surgery went well. I am feeling quite a bit better physically today and over time I know the emotional struggles will pass. The doctor couldn't see any obvious problems with the baby or the umbilical cord upon removal, but further testing will be done on the baby as well as myself in a couple weeks to see if we can determine what went wrong. We may never know, but find comfort in knowing that this was nature's way of taking care of an unhealthy baby. Thank you to all for your concern and prayers in our behalf.

We're So Lucky!

Most of you already know of our exciting news, but with St. Patrick's Day in a few days I thought I would formally share our luck and announce that we are expecting! This past year has quite a journey for Tony and I. We felt very content with our family, but Heavenly Father has a way of altering thoughts and feelings. After many impressions, lots of prayer and fasting, we came to terms with what Heavenly Father had in store for us. We truly are excited for the changes that lie before us. Our kids definitely share in the excitement as well. I am due September 9th and feel pretty lucky!

A MIA Apology

Yesterday afternoon I spent a little over an hour viewing all the blogs on my list. It made me realize how behind I am! (Not that the Halloween pictures below would give me any indication of my last blogging moment.) Anyway, to all of you who check my blog frequently, I AM SORRY! I do feel I have been missing in action, but I am going to attempt to update a few things. This might have to suffice for my blog today, but I will try and add some photos and journaling assuming the kids cooperate with my idea of how the rest of the evening is going to go.

I do want all of my wonderful friends and family to know how great you each are. I read your blogs, smile at your life adventures, see your darling children, read about your creative projects, hear of your trials, and am so uplifted by the fact that you are all a part of my life. Thanks for being my friend and loving me despite all my faults and failures.

Stay tuned for more to come...

Halloween

I LOVE HALLOWEEN! I think is it so fun to decorate the house and be someone or something else for one night. We had a blast this Halloween with school parties and trick-or-treating. It was especially fun to have Grandpa Hobbs here to share it with us.

Cache and Cooper with bug filled grass for hair!

Our little Belle...so sweet!

One cute cat! MEOW!

Cache Turns 9!

Cache turned nine years old on October 7th! He celebrated in a lot of places with a lot of his favorite people! Grandma Hobbs bought him the ultimate gift....a motorcycle shirt and gloves.


Tony surprised everyone (especially me) with a 22 gauge rifle & 410 shotgun for Cache. They have had a lot of fun since then shooting targets.

Popping Grandma and Grandpa Traveller's money filled balloons!

Celebrating at Grandpa Hobbs for breakfast!

Celebrating with Aunt Stephanie!

Moab

With the changing of the leaves, comes another trip to Moab. This time, we took the Wards with us. After a lot of stress and disappointment, they left their Bronco at home and rented a Jeep Rubicon instead. Tony put it to the test and it (and it's driver) did great! Thanks for coming with us!

Through the crack!
Amazing!

Cache driving...gas, brake, & steering! Should I be worried? I guess this is a typical Moab thing. At least he'll know how to drive by the time he's 15.

White Knuckle Hill. Notice that I got out and Cache got in. He is just like his Dad!

Another crazy descent!

Fall Photo

When Grandma Hobbs was here visiting she took this photo of the kids just before we walked into church. Some days I can't believe how much my kids have grown. Oh, how I love them!

September

The month of September started off with going back to school and getting back into a schedule. Shelby started Apple Blossom Preschool and loves it! She goes to school on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Cache is in the 3rd Grade and has Mrs. Sato as his teacher. Cooper is in the 2nd Grade and has Mrs. Speicher as his teacher.

Labor Day weekend was filled with fun. We started off by going to the rodeo at the Twin Falls County Fair with the Ward Family. It was "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" night so Tony bought the girls pink bandanas to wear on their heads. The kids also got free horses when we entered the arena. That helped to entertain them, not to mention the donuts, cotton candy, and carmeled apples.

Cooper with his buddy Corban!

On Saturday, we drove to the South Hills and then hiked 3 miles to Phantom Falls. Here is a photo of Tony and the kids under the water fall at the end of the hike.

Saturday night, we set up our tent in the back yard, ate hot dogs and smores, and watched a movie...all six of us! The kids were in heaven!

Check out the static cling on Libby's hair!

A week or two into September Libby decided to cut her own hair. I wasn't sure whether to get mad or get the camera. What a girl!

The pile of hair and the scissors!

A side view of where she cut!

Libby with her new hair cut! She actually looks pretty cute with short hair...if only the side will grow back in.............

One of Cache and Cooper's favorite things to do is ride the motorcycle. They are amazing for their age! Everyday they ask if they can ride. We really need to move and get some land!

A huge highlight of September was when Cooper lost his first tooth! He has been waiting so long for that to happen! I love his smile!

At the end of September, Tony turned 38!

Look at all that smoke....

Look at all that fire...

Does is really take that many people to light all the candles?

Our Baby Turns 3!

It seems that our kids birthdays last at least a week. It was the same with Libby's 3rd birthday. We started a week before her actual birthday when Grandma Hobbs came to celebrate. She loved the cupcakes with princess rings in the shape of the letter 3. She was also in heaven with more food for her kitchen and a double stroller. Libby is still obsessed with babies. Grandpa Hobbs sent her money to buy something special just for her. She chose a purple princess backpack of course! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!

On her actual birthday we celebrated again with family and friends here. It was all about Belle...from the cake the girls help me make to her Belle dress-up gifts. It is hard to believe that our baby is three! We love you Libby!

Summer Highlights

I am finally finding some time to post! I know...I know...it has been awhile. Nevertheless, here are some highlights of our summer.

AUGUST

The Shoshone Falls were beautiful this summer. We spent one evening having a picnic there, going on a short hike, and looking at the falls. The kids also had fun being monkeys in the trees. They insisted on me taking their pictures. Libby was a little more cautious and opted not to participate.

Another fun highlight of August was having our friends, the Hickmans, come to visit. They moved from Twin Falls a couple years ago and hadn't been back since. It was so fun to spend time with them. The kids had a blast and we laughed and laughed. Besides boating on the river, swimming, hosting a barbeque with lots of friends, we took the opportunity to go to the temple open house with them.

The Twin Falls Temple Open House was a big part of our summer. Tony worked security several times, we helped put on foot-coverings with the young single adult branch, and I served cookies in the hosting center the last day of tours. We also took our family through many times as we took other family members and friends through. It is absolutely beautiful and how fortunate we are to have a temple here. Besides taking our children through for the first time, I really enjoyed the tour Tony and I had from President Clarke of BYU-Idaho on the day we did foot-coverings for the VIP tour. It was the first time either of us had been inside and I was in awe of everything. It was equally touching to have Cache with us at the dedication services.

JULY

Thank goodness for swimming lessons! Our kids love the water and two weeks of wet fun is just what they needed in the middle of July. Here is a photo of Shelby jumping off the diving board. She is fearless!

Another annual event early in July is the Traveller Family 4th of July. As always, we had a blast and with a little bit of luck, our team took 1st and the trophy for this year. I'm not sure who was more excited, me or our kids. It has been a long time coming!

Our biggest adventure of July was travelling to the Oregon Coast for the Ragnar Series Northwest Passage Relay Race. I will do a separate post of that, but it was also a wonderful summer experience.

JUNE

We traveled to Utah the end of June to spend time with the Hobbs family. Everyone was in town from far away places and we had a great time with everyone. As part of the fun, we tried a photo shoot of all the grandkids. It didn't turn out quite how we envisioned, but the kids looked darling. Here are a couple snap shots I took of my kids.

June was also filled with lots of baseball games and two cuddly bunnies. Cache and Cooper really enjoyed playing ball this year. I think their new bat bags might have had something to do with that. It is always more fun when you look the part. We also found the perfect pet and they cared for these rabbits perfectly! It provided great entertainment and taught them a lot about responsibility. Unfortunately, they very suddenly died in August from unknown causes. I think we will try them again in the spring. The kids sure loved them!

Thanks to several invitations from friends, we also enjoyed the benefits of Bass Lake. Thanks to all who invited us! We had a blast!

In the middle of June, I ventured to Lake Tahoe again with six other friends and family members to run the Lake Tahoe Relay. It was so much fun last summer, I decided to do it again. Thanks Kari, Jodi, Brenda, Tammy, Jenna, and Lisa for a great run and a great time!

Last, but not least, Shelby started the summer off with her first dance recital. Tony surprised her with roses in her favorite color, pink, of course! She was darling and performed so well.