Hot Springin'

It's only Wednesday and this week has already been jam packed with fun since Carson's cousins from Utah decided to surprise us on Monday with a visit. This past three days have included hockey games, kneaders all you can eat french toast, park and cousin time, Delsa's hamburgers and ice cream, swimming/hot tubbing at the Boise Hotel, sonic shakes, exploring in Cita and Grandpa's backyard, RoyStone Hot Springs, pizza night, and Frozen. Whew! And the next few days are full of sleepovers, more cousins, and the Kids Fun Fest! Here's to a great week!

Easter Weekend!

Easter was so much fun this year! Friday we gave in and let Carson have his Easter basket early because he was so excited about it. His little basket contained; silly putty, candy, sidewalk chalk and the movie Frozen. He was most excited about Frozen and of course immediately wanted to watch it.

Saturday we headed to the park for lunch with the family and an Easter egg hunt. The kids loved collecting all the eggs and Keith even found the egg hidden for adults with money in it. Carson sure gobbled up a lot of his candy before I could regulate but it's Easter right? He had fun playing with his cousins and enjoying the beautiful weather. Afterwards I went with my sister-in-law and brother to hit up some sales on kids clothes. I scored some pretty sweet deals and was happy with how much I got for how little I spent. Later that evening Keith and I went on a date to the West Side Drive-In. This place has been featured on the Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. I love the old time drive-in atmosphere complete with 1950s-60s music and cars. The chef who owns it is apparently a pretty well known chef who has won numerous awards for his food presentations and recipes. We ordered a yummy Philly Cheesesteak and fries. We decided that next time we come back we'll have to order the prime rib meal and the potato ice cream. Afterwards we walked downtown a bit and enjoyed the evening.

source: google.com

Ice Cream Potato....only in Idaho.

source: cheflou.com

Sunday we enjoyed a beautiful day and wonderful Church meetings. It was nice to think about the real meaning of Easter and our Savior who sacrificed all for us. Afterwards we headed over to my Uncle M's and Aunt J's for a delicious dinner with the family. Afterwards we had to take a nice walk since it was so beautiful out and since we ate so much.

The only thing we didn't do was dye eggs, things got so hectic and it just never got done. Oh well, next year I guess.

Success!

Ah, I love the word success! We reached success in the potty training world. It took a few days for Carson to catch on and not have so many accidents, and about a week for him to be fully trained! Yes!! Yes! Yes! Seriously, the things you get excited about as a parent! I would say there were five crucial things that helped Carson on his potty training journey--the three P's and two R's. 

1. Persistence 

2. Patience

3. Prayer

4. Ready (on the child's part)

5. Rewards

I had tried a couple times last summer to start the potty training but wasn't persistent because Carson kept on having so many accidents and it was tough to have patience through it all, but I also realized he wasn't ready and I wasn't going to force him. Patience is key because there WILL BE ACCIDENTS! I thought I could do this all on my own, but seriously after a couple days I was so discouraged so I said a sincere prayer for help in this endeavor. After I said that prayer Carson started to get the hang of things. I am so grateful for prayer. 

Waiting until Carson was ready was key, you can't force a child otherwise they just won't do it and both of you will be frustrated. Having rewards for him going #1 and #2 were very very key in getting C to actually use the potty. I gave him goldfish for going #1 since we don't buy them a lot and he loves them and M&Ms for going #2 since those are his favorite candy (and I didn't want him having too much candy since he goes #1 a lot more) Anyway don't know if this is TMI but these are the things I found helpful in potty training a little one. 

On to other things....APRIL APRIL APRIL has been absolutely beautiful! It was 78 degrees today and is going to be in the 70s all week! Yes! Today we had Carson's cousin Brielle over and did Easter crafts--they made an Easter Bunny out of marshmallows and painted an Easter egg with pom poms. We're getting so excited for our family's annual Easter egg hunt with all the cousins in Boise, Easter dinner on the Sabbath, and giving Carson his Easter basket full of goodies. He's so excited for the Easter Bunny to bring him "Frozen." Guess we'll see what he gets! Love this Easter Season and the reason we celebrate it-- Our Savior Jesus Christ. So grateful for him and the gift of the Atonement.

Downata!

Last Monday Keith, Carson, my brother Kirk and my Mom all took a trip over to Eastern Idaho for a little get together on my Mom's side that's been a tradition over Spring Break for awhile. We all meet up and rent out Downata Hot Springs for the evening and then have a huge dinner complete with burgers, fries, homemade root beer and tons of sides and desserts. It was such a fun night and it was Carson's first time at this hot springs. That night we slept at my Aunt's house in Shelley. Tuesday morning we took a trip up to Rexburg to drop my sister Misti back off at school since she came down to swim with us. We also met up with Keith's brother and his wife and we had a BBQ at the park. I was surprised that it was actually warm in Rexburg in March! It was a quick trip but a super fun one! We might be going back in May for a baby blessing and July for Misti's graduation!!!

This thing was soo fun! The middle part where we were standing rolled so you had to try to keep your balance and stay on!

Right before the splash!

Sure love Hot Springs...so glad there's tons of them in Idaho! 

Spring Time!

It's been so nice here in Boise so we've been spending a lot of time outside. Winter is definitely gone and Spring is here! Thursday we went to a couple parks downtown and I had my sister take some 3 year old shots of Carson. I like to get his pictures every year- I usually go to JcPenny around his birthday but decided we'd do it outside this year since it was so nice out. Afterwards we all fed the ducks at Ann Morrison Park. Man, trying to get this little guy to look at the camera, be serious and smile is a tough task! He showed his funny little personality in a lot of the pics but there were so many I can't post them all. Here are some.

He sure loves books and balls.

He did this pose all on his own.

Some candid ones....

Cousin Brielle and Carson love to play.

I've been loving the perfect outdoor weather. Yesterday we had fun at the park with my dad and two of my sisters and their families. We played Badminton and Ultimate Frisbee while eating Lunch at Sunset Park--one of my favorite Boise parks, we grew up going to that park so I have a lot of good memories there. 

We've also been spending a lot of time with my parents since they've been back. Keith and I usually stay up too late talking to my mom every night. Carson has had fun spending time with Cita and Grandpa Lewis too. Playtime at Burger King, with the cousins, & at the park-- shopping, birthday parties and he especially loves it when Cita (my mom) reads to him.

 

At the MK Nature Center Downtown



Royalty

I've also done a little crafting with my sis-in-law Holly. She made a Spring wreath and I made an Easter wreath. They both turned out really cute.

 

I'm ready for Easter now...

 

The Perfect Weekend

Last weekend can be summed up in one word....Perfect. I loved every minute of it. All my family was in town along with some of my mom's family that lives out of town. The whole week whenever I'd think about seeing my parents I'd get so excited. The week was full of preparing my parents house where we are staying for everyone to come. When Thursday rolled around we got an e-mail from my parents saying they'd be in Saturday night instead of Friday afternoon because of a communication mix up. Needless to say we were bummed, really bummed. We had plans for Friday and Saturday but we just adjusted things. Friday we went through with our plans to have a family dinner for all those that were in town. We had a huge pizza party and played games, it was a really fun night with everyone, afterwards some of us went to see "Saving Mr. Banks."

Daren, Shana, Emma, and Peter

Shana and Baby Emma

Daren and Tyson

Playing Dodgeball

2013/14 Babies and their Moms

2013/14 Cuties

Playing "Bump"

Oh just chillin

Crab Soccer

Saturday a group of us went out to Kneaders for all you can eat french toast. Can I just say where has this been all my life? Afterwards we all went shopping a bit then got things ready at the house for Mom and Dad, and some went swimming at my sister's hotel. It felt like forever for 9:15 to come, when my parents would arrive. We all met at the airport around 8:45. We had a huge group there and all the grandkids were so excited, I was getting so anxious! Finally they arrived and we cheered! Like really cheered!!!! And hugged, and cried. Afterwards we took them to the house to see their new home makeover. They absolutely loved it! We stayed up late chatting and catching up.

Getting so anxious!

The best sight ever!

Nephew and Brother- Jaron and Daren

Misti and Emma

Sunday were their talks and we all arrived 30 minutes before so we could save seats for over 60 people. We took up about 7 rows....almost half the seats in the chapel!!! It was awesome! The bishop had everyone who is related to the Lewis' stand up! Their talks were amazing and it was so good to hear about their experiences. They had a hard time leaving, but they also had a hard time coming back. They really miss Peru and the people there. Afterwards we had a dinner for family members full of yummy food and great memories.

Mom and some of her siblings

The grandkids could get enough of having "Cita" back.

It really was the perfect weekend. I will forever remember the excitement, joy, and happiness just to have my family all together and finally have my parents home.