CAKE!

Make It and Love It is having another giveaway, only this time it is for CAKE! There is this girl in my area who makes fun cakes who is giving away a $25 gift certificate but it ends TONIGHT, so rush on over there and enter. Even if you aren't local, it is transferable and my birthday IS coming up soon so.....you get the idea! :)

Potatoes

Look at all the potatoes Robert brought home for me!

Ok, I have a funny story I meant to blog about before, but forgot until I was sitting there scrubbing all these potatoes thinking how long they would last. A while ago, I was making fish and mashed potatoes for dinner, but when I went to grab some potatoes, I discovered I only had two left. I thought, "Crap, now what am I gonna do?" With no time to run to the store and not wanting to figure out something else to make, I decided I would just make the potatoes and if there wasn't enough, then I wouldn't have any.
So I wash, peel, cut, boil, and drain the potatoes. When I go to put them in the Kitchen Aid to mash them up, I'm thinkin' "There's alot here for only two potatoes" When we sit down to dinner, we start eating and not only is there enough for all three of us, who all LOVE mashed potatoes, but there is even plenty extra! I guess I had always been skeptical of the saying that one Idaho potato could feed a whole family, but apparently the saying can be true!
Robert couldn't believe it either when I told him that only two potatoes had made that much mashed potatoes! Gotta love Idaho!

Next Project

So for those of you who didn't hear, we found out that because of Kaylie's genetic abnormality, she qualified for Social Security, which also automatically qualifies her for Medicaid while she is in the hospital. So, we will not be responsible for any of the $27,000 lifeflight bill and we will hopefully slowly start getting some of our money back from bills we have already paid that Medicaid needs to pay on. The Lord has truly blessed our family!

So, we have decided to go ahead and start working on our next major project - our food storage! These pictures are of the little addition on the back of the house that has the well and the hot water heater. The top picture is of the inside of a corner of the room that has been cinder-blocked into a little storage space as you can see in the photo below. We aren't sure if we want to keep it as it is or if we want to knock the whole thing down and start from scratch to utilize the space as much as possible.

But what we DO know we are going to do is this: take the hot water heater out for a day or two so we can fill the hole around it with concrete to keep animals out of this space and out of our house and pour concrete inside the little storage room because right now it is just a dirt floor, replace the broken window, replace the old crappy door, and put up shelves probably along the wall where the bikes are. We think we will use the space behind the door next to the well for buckets and big bulky items that can stack and would be too heavy or take up too much space on shelves.

Sandbox Fun

Fox, Sammy and McKenzie all having fun in the sandbox. We sure are going to miss them when they move to Mexico next week, but at least it will only be for 6 months or so.

Fox and Sam played ...... kinda well together. Toddlers trying to share the same toy, need I say more?

McKenzie showing me how to play with the sand

Kids do the Cutest Things

So I was chatting with a friend online and I look down to find Sammy sitting on the floor entertaining himself by turning through the pages of the Family Home Evening Manual he found on the bookshelf. So adorable!!

Tommy the Turtle

First we had Freddy the Fish & now we have Tommy the Turtle Yes, we got a turtle for Sam, but not a real one. We got him this turtle sandbox at a garage sale on Saturday for only 5 bucks! I went across the street to get a few groceries from Walmart to see that they are charging $50 for the same thing. It was only a bit dirty from having had sand in it. Talk about a fantastic find! So after we had dinner with our friends in Sugar City (just north of Rexburg) we stopped by the sand dunes and helped ourselves to some free, clean sand.

As you can see in the pictures, Sammy loves it already and I love having something he can do outside while I work on the garden or while I do the cleaning inside. Even though summer is almost over, this will be a great thing to have around for years and kids to come.

Veggies!

So I know it isn't much and they are definitely not anything to brag about, but I'm going to have myself a yummy salad made of things fresh from my garden - yay for success (even if it is minor - look at those onions)

Yellowstone

Forgive me, I uploaded the pictures in backwards order, but oh well. On Saturday and Sunday this last weekend, I believe it was all the national parks were waiving the entrance fee. Robert had to work on Saturday (no big surprise) so we decided to take what we could get as far as family time/summer trips and drove up Sunday to see the sites and wildlife Yellowstone had to offer. And everyone knows you can't visit Yellowstone without seeing Old Faithful, so here she is blowing up. We actually hit it just right with it erupting just as we walked up and again just as we were getting done walking around the boardwalk.

Here Sam is at the end of the day. He was so miserably tired, but we pushed him through it anyway and we think he had fun. It was quite a bit colder than we expected and me being me, I didn't think to bring sweatshirts, so Sam and I got sweatshirts as momentos of our visit.

Sammy getting to ride up top. Don't you just love the colors in this one? It was a beautiful but cool day and we enjoyed being out in nature.

Ok, there were tons of these, so I am only posting a few, but they were all unique and cool to look at. It is just amazing to think that they are naturally so active and so hot! We saw a sign that said that the water gets hot enough to scald people to death and that the acid in the water is strong enough to eat away your boots! Needless to say, we stayed on the walkways.

Walking the trail. Sammy just loved spending time with his Daddy outside = total bliss.

Ok, this picture is specifically for those of you who actually requested a photo showing me midway through my weight loss. But don't expect too many more until all of it is gone (I'm about a third of the way there)! ;)

I just loved this one because it was so clear and blue and just simply gorgeous!

So one thing we learned when we went to Yellowstone is that it takes FOREVER to get from place to place and FOREVER to get out. On the way in, traffic was stopped completely and for no reason that we could see. We'd been stopped for about 10 min or so, when we see what the delay was: buffalo! Yes, there were two running alongside the river, down from the road, but two cars ahead of us, they decided to turn and come up on the road! I gotta tell you, these things are big and it is scary to see them running at you, even if you are in a car! Thankfully they didn't ram the car they were heading for, but turned and kept running downriver, right past our car as you can see in this picture. Definitely an experience I won't forget!

Sammy getting Daddy. Don't worry, we are stopped for traffic. See above explanation.

Sammy's Room

This was way too cute not to share. Everyone has heard about Sam's love for books and reading, which has actually increased lately (he makes me read the same two books over and over and over again, despite having two dozen others to choose from). While I was uploading the pictures below, I heard him really talking away to himself, so I sneek a peek and what is he doing? He is reading to himself in his new little bed! What a precious sight! We may have to let him move to his new bed, even if Mommy isn't ready for it! :)

So I have been talking and talking about Sammy's room and how we were going to change it from a baby's room to a little boy's room and it has finally happened (well, now everything is ready for it to happen, as soon as Mommy is brave enough to transition from crib to toddler bed)

Sammy loves his Cars toddler bed already and the freedom it provides.

Showing us how it will work when in its full usefulness.

And these are the two posters we got with the toddler bed. Every morning Sammy wakes up and points to the cars on the poster and won't stop jabbering until I acknowledge that "yes, those are the cars" - I love being a Mommy! :)

In Loving Memory

It turned out darker than I had thought, but it looks beautiful and I love how they made the flowers stand out. Thank you again to Candace for helping me put together the two flower arrangements - they are gorgeous.

Finding Daddy's Nose

So the other day, I just decided I would start teaching Sammy "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and he picked it up right away! Really, I should start thinking of these things sooner; he'd learn alot faster if Mom could think faster :) So now he has had a fascination with noses and can even say it. Tonight when we kneeled down for family prayer, he couldn't stop grabbing Daddy's nose, so I had to grab the camera and show you all how darn cute this little guy is getting. His laugh is so infectious and he brings so much fun to our home, I don't know what we'd do without our Sammy.

Biggest News First

Ok, there are a ton of posts about my family reunion that was last week, but before you get to those, I have to share my best news first. We heard back from the geneticist at Primary Children's Hospital and my genetic test came back normal! It is a huge relief to know we are partway through this waiting game and so far we don't have anything to worry about. Although I shouldn't have been worried about me because I would tease Robert that if anything was wrong, the screw up would be him ;)
My other really great news is that I reached my first major goal with Weight Watchers! I have lost 10% of my starting weight! They give you this metal loop thingy, I don't really know what it's for, but it is going on my keys to remind me that I can keep going! With reaching this goal, I am also one third of the way to my lifetime goal weight, I am so excited and proud that I am doing it.
Anyways, now you can scroll down and read the stories and see the cute pictures of our last week. Although Robert was unable to come, we had a pretty good time. We were at a rental vacation house in Donnelly, Idaho (2 hours north of Boise) and we had a great time despite some poor weather!

Family Reunion Day 1

For some reason, I can't find my pictures from this day, even though I know I took a whole bunch, so I'll have to add them later. We started off the week with a nice 0.9 mile hike around a small lake in the woods of the national park (no, I don't remember the name). It was April and John's activity and it was great, although difficult for a few of us, namely me carrying Sammy half the time. He gets heavy after a while! Then we had a sort of testimony meeting after the little kids went to bed sharing spiritual experiences we have had - very special.

Family Reunion Day 2

Today we went out on the boat and then came home for a yummy dinner of spaghetti by Ben and Corinne and every camping experience must-have: S'mores!

Sammy really enjoyed them and we all had a good laugh when he looked like this at the end!

Lucy giving me her "sweet smile" She is number two in the Potter lineup of girls!

Family Reunion Day 3

Today was beautiful and we spent most of it out on the boat. Unfortunately, while launching the boat, we broke the propeller and spent over an hour working on replacing it with a new one. While we were waiting, the boys had a blast jumping off the dock into the water. This is John, April's husband doing a flip.

Once we got out, the water was absolutely gorgeous! Here is John showing us his mad wakeboarding skills. He is by far the best in our family and was having fun jumping the wake!

Sammy and Karalie enjoying the boat! Matt had a great time on the kneeboard - he's quite good!

I knew none of you would believe it without a picture as proof, so here it is! I was able to wakeboard again, it was so much fun! Just like riding a bike. Although I can't jump or do any cool tricks, it was enough for me to just get up again and enjoy the ride!

Karalie and Daddy. Believe it or not this little beauty rode the death biscuit with Daddy and had a great time - she's so brave!

Family Reunion Day 4

To our disappointment, Thursday was rainy and cold. So we spent the morning playing games and the kids running around playing and coloring.
Then in the afternoon it got a little nicer, so we headed out to find some nearby hot springs you could drive to. The little shacks weren't all that great, but below the second one was a little pool we were able to let the kids play in. There was just enough hot water from the spring and cold water from the river to make a warm play area. Here is Ben and Corinne's oldest, Natalie posing for me!

Since we had so many people, we had to split up into two groups for games. This group played Ticket to Ride: Europe and my group played our all-time favorite - The Farming Game.

Below is Auntie April helping Sammy enjoy the warm water and throwing rocks.

Mom showing Corinne how to knit. She picked up on it pretty quickly.

Family Reunion Day 5

I forgot my camera this day, so here are just a few random pictures to go along with the post for the day. Isn't April so beautiful and sweet?

My Sam-Sam enjoying waffles for breakfast.

Sammy was really missing Daddy towards the end of the week, so he hung out with his awesome Uncle Ben, who appreciated the company of a different flavor (they have 4 girls!)

So it was rainy and cold again today, so we decided to try and drive up to see Hell's Canyon. It is a mile deep, deeper than the Grand Canyon and was only supposed to be about an hour and a half away. But, the trip had a few delays with getting lost and vehicles acting up, so the drive there took nearly 4 hours! Needless to say, by the time we actually got there, everyone was grumpy and it didn't help that it was raining and so cloudy we couldn't see the canyon anyway. But, we got a family picture in the rain and enjoyed the trip back because it was so much faster and ended the day right with a hearty meal and some fun girly stuff like nail painting, treats, and a chick flick.

Family Reunion Day 6

Even though it was overcast and cool, we were determined to out on the boat because it was our last full day at the reunion. Here are Matty and Daniel having a great time on the death biscuit.

Sammy really loved riding on the boat and driving with Opa!

We were even able to get Sammy on the death biscuit for a while and he actually quite enjoyed it until we started hitting some bumps, then he got really nervous and wanted off!

This is Candace doing a fantastic job at trying to get up on the wakeboard. It is really hard to learn the trick to getting yourself up, it takes tons and tons of tries! But she did great and will be up soon!