Happy 4th!

Well - this won't be a long post, but just to update you all! We have been a busy family this summer. 2 weeks ago we went hiking in Yellowstone, had a wonderful time seeing beauty and pushing our limits (the kid's limits). Have been tending our garden which is huge this year. The kids have been finding that house cleaning every morning with mom isn't that bad, and when you do it everyday it goes pretty fast. I have been busy getting my board exams taken - AND PASSED!! Yeah. So glad that is done with - I am totally done with school, tests, everything! Now I will actually be posting about the family, not just me ;). I just have to wait for my license to arrive from the state so I can start working outside the home. Gotta get those student loans paid off!
Today we are taking it easy and tonight we will go watch the HUGE fireworks display in Idaho Falls. There are a ton of people there, but we figured, the kids aren't going to be around forever, so let's enjoy the time they are! Hope all of you have a great 4th of July! God Bless America, we need it!

Family Update

Just a quick update on what we have been up to. Last week we were kept pretty busy; me looking for a board patient, still no luck and the kid's end of school activities. Sadie had her spring concert for band and had a solo. Here is the clip of it - sorry if the video seems shaky, I started crying a bit when she started her solo - I guess I was just so proud of how well she was doing!

Cody had the chance to do an Idaho History Project for school this year. Every 4th grader in Idaho has Idaho History as their social studies for the entire year. Here is a photo of him sitting next to his project in his classroom. He skinned a beaver, just like one of the mountain man trapper's from early Idaho. For his display he made a poster of photos that were taken while he was skinning the beaver. Grandma and Grandpa Hawkins, while they were here,
helped him put it together. I thought it turned out great, and he got an A on the project so he was pretty proud. The furs that he displayed are ones that Brett has trapped and had tanned.
Last weekend we were able to make our annual CJ Strike Crappie fishing trip. We camped in the pouring rain and hurricane force winds - in a tent! That part wasn't very fun, but the fishing was still pretty good. Here is a photo of one of the big "small mouth" bass that Sadie caught. It was cold, thus the hat on her head.

That sums up the update! We are busy as usual, with more stuff to get done than we have time for. I am sure most of you can relate! Have a great Memorial Day!

Graduation and Relaxation

Me - Giving a little speach.

See how happy my family looks now? Yeah - Mommy is done!

Brett, Me and my Mom and Dad Graduation day - I thought it would never come.

Strong enough to get through this program? Then strong enough to do ANYTHING! Yes, I wore jeans and running shoes :)

So - It has finally happened . . . I have graduated! Some of you might not realize that I took my first pre-requisite classes for this program before my twins were even thought of - Now, 9 years later, I have a bachelors degree in Dental Hygiene. It has been a long time coming and I am so excited to be done. I am proud to say that of my immediate family I am the first of my 6 siblings to have my bachelors degrees (Sarah will be getting hers in a couple weeks and Kelly is working towards hers as well - keep at it!).
On Friday May 7th the Dental Hygiene department had a private graduation ceremony and because I was our class president for the two years of the program, I was privileged to say a few words, thus the silly photo of me at the podium. I didn't have 2 caps on, one is the shadow. I was very blessed to have my parent's come all the way from Oregon to be a part of this occasion. We were really excited that they came and that we were able to have such a great visit with them. We love you guys! On the 8th the actual university graduation ceremony took place. Now, I have attended these before and I know how boring they are, but I figured that I am only going to do this once so I might as well do it right. I wore jeans and my running shoes and I was so glad that I did. We stood around for over an hour and then had to walk to our seats, then when it was finally my turn - walk all the way across the stage. Wow - then it was done! Yeah! I think my kids and Brett are the most excited about this being over. They are really glad to have me home. Thanks to those of you who supported me along this journey, whether by notes of encouragement or especially by being my patients - I am truly grateful.

The Monday after graduation Brett and I took off for 4 days alone (my parents stayed and watched the kids) - in Yellowstone National Park. We stayed in West Yellowstone and explored the park during the day. We were so thrilled to see more wildlife than we ever have before. Here are some photos of our relaxing trip.

The first photo above is a group of otters that entertained us on our first day. The first Grizzly photo is of a 4 year old female. We watched her tear into a beaver hut to no avail. The second grizzly is a sow with her twin cubs from this year. They were all over her, but it seemed like she just wanted to introduce them to the public (the photographers were going crazy as is visible in that shot in the slideshow below). The black bear was a sow with her yearling twin cubs, which means that they were born last year. I have only ever seen one bear in Yellowstone before this trip, and that one had just ran across the road and disappeared. Brett had never seen one in there ever before, so needless to say, this trip was amazing. I think we will make this an annual event, and may even take the kids next time.
Overall we saw 7 grizzly bears, 3 black bears, 10 bighorn sheep, 5 otters, 1 coyote, 6 deer and countless buffalo, elk, antelope, ground squirrels and birds (too many raven to count). It was fun and relaxing and we are so grateful to have had the chance to do it.

Here is a slide show with some more cool pics. Enjoy!

Spring Happenings

Well, it is spring in S.E. Idaho which means that you never know what the weather will bring. Last week we had a day that was 77degrees and this week it has been about 40. Spring also brings some fun times.

Sadie has started doing track for school. She started out doing the 100 and 200 meter dash, the 4x200 meter relay and the long jump. After the first track meet the coach changed her to doing the 4x100 meter relay, the girls medley relay (200 meter distance), the 4x200 meter relay and the long jump. I guess he was impressed with how she did. So here are some photos of her first meet.

Sadie - in maroon - starting her 200 meter dash.

Running the 200.

Long jump

The landing - at least it wasn't a scratch.

Sadie also has been busy with her piano playing. She had her festival a couple weeks ago and scored 100 out of 100. We are really proud of her enthusiasm for the piano and know she will appreciate it later in life. One of these days I will video tape her playing another piece so you can know what I am talking about. She is really talented.

Anyway - tomorrow is my last day of school - then I graduate on May 8th. Tomorrow is also Cody's 10th birthday, so lots of things going on right now. I will try to post photos of that soon. My folks are coming from Oregon this next week and we are looking forward to catching up and spending some quality time with them. Well -hope all of you have as good a day tomorrow as I am going to. Thanks for all you do!

Passed My Boards!!!!!

For those who haven't heard yet, I received my National Boards results this week and I passed! Needless to say, I was very excited and it kept me in a great mood all week. Now all I got to do is graduate. 4 weeks until graduation and counting :)

Has it really been 3 1/2 months?

They say that time flies when your having fun . . . I don't know if I would call this past several months as fun, but the time has been flying. I can't believe that I haven't posted anything in 3 1/2 months, not even a Christmas posting (sorry for not sending out cards this year!) As for catching up; Christmas was great, the twins turned 8 and got baptized, new years brought in a new semester for me (my last one) and we played in the snow a lot. School has been a crazy ride and this semester has been full of busy work, more papers than I thought possible and a lot of community service work plus studying for national boards. Other than that though our family has just been pushing forward. Brett has really been exceptional since I have been in school. He has taken on the roles of morning wake up for the kids (plus getting them ready and on the bus), cooking during the week on my late nights (he is a really good cook) and chauffeur for Sadie now that she has started doing track after school - plus many more. He is good at not complaining (most of the time :) but is looking forward to not having to have so much extra responsibility at home when I graduate. I am so grateful for him. I don't know how I would have gotten through this without him.
This week has been my spring break which I started off by taking my board exams; 8 hours of testing makes for a long day. I won't know if I passed or not for several more weeks so keep me in your prayers (that I passed).
I will be graduating on May 8th - so I will make sure that I post photos of that blessed day! All I will have to worry about then if finding a board patient for my clinical boards in June. Anyone know somebody who hasn't been to have their teeth cleaned in 10 years and have tarter built up all over? If so, let me know :).
So far all I have talked about it me, sorry. The kids are growing up really fast. I just bought Sadie some dresses for church and Easter yesterday. I had to buy them from the ladies section because she is so tall now and growing up so fast. She tried them all on last night and she doesn't even look a little bit like a little girl anymore. It is kind of sad, I remember when she would stand in our living room and do a little wiggle dance every time I put on music. Man, I feel old all of a sudden! Cody has become pretty independent. He likes to cook and play basketball outside and recently he discovered that reading long books isn't any harder than reading short books; it just takes longer to finish them! Imagine that. He is close to finishing "Eragon" and he is really enjoying it. Jackson and Greg are doing good being in the same class in school this year. They love their teacher. Jackson has trouble not talking in class, he thinks that if someone talks to him he HAS to talk back. Greg is our family clown and thinks that dinner time is the time when he needs to make people laugh, much to the dismay of Brett and I. He also thinks that he won't get in trouble if he just puts on huge smile. Jackson has been growing out his hair because he likes to comb it in the morning so he looks "so handsome". His hair is really thin and gets really poofy long, so it is getting cut today.

Since I haven't taken many photos the last couple months here are some pics from when our kids where little - they really have grown a lot!


If you want to access this photo album and see the comments that go with each photo click on this link:

Looking Back - High family

Thanks for all your love and support. We think of you all often, just don't have the time right now to always act on those thoughts.