Cooper's 7th Birthday

I know this post is over a month late, but I did want to post pictures of Cooper's 7th birthday. We made a sign that said he "Rocked at age 7!" and got him a huge guitar balloon. He thought that was awesome. I actually can't wait for him to learn the guitar. He is such a music lover! We ate cake down at Northwest because Tony couldn't break free from the blazer. At the time I wasn't too happy about it, but it worked out fine and Cooper was thrilled just to have his family around him and eat a cookie dough cake from Cold Stone. His highlight had to be his new mountain bike...now he can outride Cache! Cache was a little envious at first, but has been a great sport about Cooper having something better than him. (It's about time though, Cooper always gets the left overs from Cache.) All in all, I think Cooper had a good birthday! We love you and everything you are!

MOAB

Here are a few highlights from the adventure to Moab at the beginning of May. As you can see, the blazer changed quite a bit! In my opinion, I think it turned out great! Don't let me fool you though...it still needs a few minor adjustments and the final paint job will take place this winter. In the shortness of time, it only got primed!

This trip definitely was a long time in the making and the boys (Tony, Cache, & Cooper) had a blast! It was worth every minute without Tony while he rebuilt the blazer just to hear the thrill in their voices when I talked to them on the phone and see the smile on their faces when they returned home!

Just a note to my wonderful husband...I'm glad you are passionate about this! It brings so much fun and excitement to our family and the boys love it nearly as much as you do! Thanks for spending your time creating something you can do with us and doing it so well! I love you!

Where Is Tony?

For those of you who haven't seen Tony at recent family events, I thought I'd better show evidence of his "justified" disappearance. Over the past six months, Tony has gotten very serious about rebuilding his 1972 Chevy Blazer. He has researched doing this for years, but has recently made decisions about what he wanted the outcome to be and gotten the motivation to tackle the project. In order to fund this massive undertaking, he had to sell his blue blazer pictured below. I think he'd admit that it was a fair trade-off though! We are under a deadline to get the new blazer done. The boys are heading to Moab the first part of May, so there is still quite a bit to do before it's first showing. Nevertheless, here are a few photos of the rebuilding process...

New transfer case (That was expensive!)

New roll cage (I feel better knowing my boys are protected!)

New cage over the motor (Tony feels better knowing this is protected!)

Rear panels that have been shorted and narrowed!

An overall look!

I plan on posting before and after pictures of it when it is all done. For now, there are just a few final things to do to the body and cage before it is taken apart and off to be painted. Then it is time to put it all back together! As fun as this has been for Tony and the boys, I am anxious for it to be done. My honey-do-list is nearly a mile long! I can wait though...only 4 more weeks!

Happy Birthday Shelby!

Shelby celebrated her 4th birthday last month on February 25th. She actually had a whole week of fun starting with taking birthday treats to preschool, then having a "Littlest Pet Shop" party with her sister and six close friends, followed by a trip to Utah and celebrating with the Hobbs family, and finally having dinner and cake with the Traveller bunch at home! Shelby loved all the attention...thanks to everyone for making it so special!

A Special Treat!

During the week of Valentine's Day, the kids and I had a "Be Nice to Daddy Day" for Tony. (See sign on mantel.) This is an idea that started with my mother-in-law, but I love it! On this particular day, who ever is being honored, is spoiled rotten! For this day, we centered everything around Tony! I think it cheered him up...although, the next day, after Tony reprimanded Cache for doing something wrong, Cache whispered to me, "Mom, I don't think the "Be Nice to Dad Day" worked. I guess Cache expected Tony to have changed into "Mr. Nice Dad." I assured Cache that our idea did work, but that Tony still had to play the role of the responsible father and discipline his son.

On Valentine's Day, I got my own special treat! I was busy at the computer doing PTA stuff, when the kids came in and told me they had a surprise for me. They led me out into the living room with my eyes closed and then sat me on the sofa. They then told me to open my eyes and I saw what you see pictured above...they had formed a band! I was then privileged to listen to a couple Jack Johnson songs with the help of Cache's ipod nano and Cooper's idog. Each of the kids played a special part and definitely melted my heart!

Winter Swimming

I realized that the girls were getting cabin fever when they begged me to wear their swimming suits in the bathtub. I gave in and indulged them, but the next thing I knew they had swim toys and inflatable tubes in as well. I'm amazed they didn't go for the swim noodles! I guess this is how we swim in Idaho during the winter!

Cub Scout Pinewood Derby

We experienced our first Pinewood Derby last month. Cache and Tony had a fun time creating the car. Things got a little hairy when it was deadline time, but as always, Tony came through with a solution. When the glue wouldn't dry hard enough to hold the weights, Tony drilled holes through quarters and screwed them in to weight the car. We all thought it was fitting that his car carried "cash"! They met the weigh in with perfection...exactly 5 ounces on the first try! Cache was thrilled with the custom stickers (his name, number, and flames) Tony had made just for the occasion. What a great Dad!