Susie, Randy's and Summer water fun!

Susie and Randy were so patient having us stay with them for about a month before we were able to get in to the rental, even Maggie won them over!

My poor fish-children were having withdrawals not being able to go to the lake, streams, and beach that we had in SC, the two youngest were constantly asking to go swim somewhere so we got creative and found different swimming holes for them to play in

Last Chance and the canal were some of their favorite spots- crazy kids!

 

4th of July weekend

I was on a walk one morning and found this little crawdad walking in the gutter so I ran and grabbed Linq who was so excited about the little guy!

Over 4th of July. Ramey and the kids were in Vernal so we made arrangements to give Grandma Susie and Randy a break and went to Vernal for a few days.  It was a fun getaway!  The kids had fun riding the go-cart, playing on the playground and playing games with the cousins, I'm glad we had some time to be together!

We were laughing at how much taller Laexin was than Aunt Ramey so we decided to line everyone up according to height --Aunt Ramey landed right in the middle, ha ha!

The kids had a fun time at the 4th of July parade...but they all agreed it wasn't as good as small town Idaho parades where the candy is endless :)

I didn't snap any pictures of the fireworks but we all gathered in the evening at Jake and Whitney's mortuary for fireworks with the whole clan of Ramey's cousins, Jakes family, Whit's family, Autumn and kids etc.  Brooke and Ryan were there and I was so happy to see Brooke and catch up a bit with her.  We had a fun time watching the fireworks at the city park and the kids loved running wild!

 

Christofferson visit and a long road trip!

After some tear filled goodbyes we loaded up the Penske truck and were on the road.  We were SO excited to make a stop at the Christofferson's on our way - we headed up through Tennessee into Kentucky until we arrived at their place just outside of Cincinnati.  We stayed two nights with them and it definitely wasn't enough time --sadly I didn't snap one picture but we sure had a great time catching up and letting the kids play - man we love those Christofferson's! 

After our town nights we were back on the road, through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois & Iowa, Missouri, stopping just inside Nebraska for the night. A quick over-night rest and we were back on the road for our last leg...Nebraska, Wyoming and...

WE MADE IT!  We were so happy to see that Idaho sign!  Linq was in the big truck with LeGrand and we had kinda left them in the dust in WY because I got tired of driving slow, ha ha!

 We pulled into Grace where Grandma Susie and Randy welcomed us with open arms!  They were so great, letting us stay with them for a few weeks until we could move into the rental above the Ball's garage.  We had tried so SO hard to make a different arrangement so we wouldn't have to move into the Ball's but the house we really thought we wanted we didn't end up getting and all the other rental options just didn't work out or didn't feel right.  Sometimes in the moment it is SO SO hard to understand why things aren't going how we think they should - like when we put the offer on the little house we thought we would just make it work until we found something different and after being on the market for over 130 days TWO offers came in at the same time --so nuts! I remember just crying not understanding why - but in time, the answers always seem to come.  It's so hard to let go and let the Lord work his plan sometimes.

Wrapping things up!

Our house wasn't sold (not even under contract) but I kept feeling like it was just time to 'rip the bandaid off' so after our beach trip and getting all the puppies sold we made plans to return to Idaho.  Laexin was anxious to get back to playing Basketball with his team in Idaho so we arranged for him to fly back ahead of the rest of us...thanks to Brad and Candace for getting him from the airport, housing him for the night and taking him to play with his team at the Mtn. America Expo center.  My Mom heart wanted to be there SO bad to witness his reunion with his team - thanks to good friends who captured some moments for me!

After we dropped him at the airport we headed for a little 'go away' picnic with our ward friends...man are we going to miss these people!

That weekend our ward had the annual ward campout, LeGrand and the kids slept over in the tent (they said it was too hot that night, ha!) and of course had a blast playing in the lake...these are the moments you don't realize are gone before you know it!

Back with his team!