Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

ZOO TRIP!

Well the Boise Zoo doesn't have lions, but we saw tigers and a bear.

My camera ran out of batteries so I missed some good pictures, but luckily it's the Boise zoo. It's small and cheap! Perfect when you have 9 children 10 and under with 2 moms.

From left to right, Riley, Porter and Patrice Whetten (cousins), Katie and Jake. There is a bald eagle in the background.
Natalie's 1st trip to the zoo. There's a crane.

Dallas with a snow leopard in the background.

We had a great time with Aunt Megan and her 5 children. We have another trip planned for the summer because the penguins are having babies. I'll charge the camera battery this time.

Boy, do we know how to have fun??? Or what???

Dad's home. Adventure time again.

Snow caving above Idaho City.

Tubing the next day. The smiles say it all.

Jack Rabbit hunt in the Owyhees.

Cooked and eaten over a fire. Also a Robin was cooked and eaten.

(No really, they did!)

Wendy's. It's their place!

Each of the kids got to choose something they wanted to do with Daddy. Jake chose a Jack Rabbit hunt. Katie wanted a date at Wendy's. Dallas wanted to build a tree house in the backyard. They started on the tree house three Saturday's ago. I'll get a picture of that when there is more than one 2x4 nailed to the tree:).

...And I am back to blogging

Welcome Home Sgt Hill!!!

We made it!

It wasn't easy, but having him in my arms again I realize it was worth it! I went to pick Mike up from Boot Camp last Wednesday, Feb. 4Th (Natalie's birthday, "Please don't tell her!"). I had a hotel to myself Wednesday and Thursday night, ahhhhhh!

Thursday was Family Day. Mike was released into my care until 8pm that night. We couldn't leave the base, which was a real BUMMER, but we had a fun time. It was really hard for Mike to head back to formation at 7:45pm.

Friday was Graduation. It was very impressive to see all the soldiers after 11 weeks now full of

LOYALTY, DUTY, RESPECT, SELFLESS-SERVICE, HONOR, INTEGRITY, AND PERSONAL COURAGE!

Mike is a good solider. I met some Drill Sgts, who thought so. One said of Mike, "He's a Killer!" and some other choice words. Drill Sgt Hawkins, a much feared Drill Sgt yelled to Mike while I was standing next to him, "I hope you get SHOT!" Which, apparently is suppose to be funny and a term of endearment. Go figure.

We flew home Saturday, very very happy to be together again.

Thanks Melanie, Megan, Christy, Kim, Vikki, Grandpa and Grandma Hill for taking care of our children!

Mike's back doing what he loves the very most, being

DADDY!

OH, AND...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

The best ever!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY NATALIE!!!

Natalie turned one year old on February 4Th!

I tried to get her to sit for one second for the picture, but she was having too much fun, as you can see. She wasn't going to keep a bow in her hair for that second either.

With Naddy, what you see is what you get and it's pretty good!

Some of Natalie's 1st year milestones...

Whined (no problem for her, but mom was sad)
Walking!!!! (She waited for her daddy to get home and started walking that day!)

Mess making phase!

Natalie's favorites...

Blanket (pink and white from Aunt Maureen-can't leave home without it, can't sleep without it!)
Whole milk (she gained two pounds in two weeks on that stuff! She is now 20 pounds (30%), FYI (19% in height)
Laughter (especially when it comes from Jake, Dallas and Katie)

Peek-a-boo

1st Words...
Dada
Mama
Uh, oh

CUTE as a BUTTON and SUPER FUN!

Good as New!

Katie's cast was taken off on Thursday. Everything looks great!

She walks with a limp right now, but that should go away. She is getting stronger everyday.

Thanks everyone for your love and support.

ROADTRIP

We had a four day weekend so we decided to get out of Dodge and visit Grandma Condie.

Highlights of the trip... 6 hours in the car...Bloody nose (Katie)... spilled chocolate milk (Katie)... spilled Sprite (Katie)...VOMIT!?! (Jake and Dallas, the whole trip down)... Crazy Grandma driving 90 miles an hour (not kidding, we traveled 420 miles in 5 1/2 hours, stopped once for gas, and Grandma and I are the only ones who needed a potty break.?. We got a call that my dad went to the ER with a stomach ache so Grandma was ANXIOUS (understatement) to get home. Grandpa Condie is fine. It's his gallbladder or liver or stones actually all the above.)

Once we got there we had a lot of fun. The kids had a fun time with cousins. The boys and I did some tubing. And my mom made breakfast every morning for my kids while I slept in. AHHH! I love my mom.

Grandma was going to drive back up with us and fly home again, but we left her home with the flu instead.

Natalie thinks it's funny to imitate her mom. It was a big hit as you can see.

"Alright, kids we have a 6 hour drive, I expect everyone to cooperate."

"Oh, my patience is wearing thin!"

"THAT'S IT! EVERYBODY OUT, OUT OUT!"

"WE'LL WORK FOR FOOD!"

New Year, New everything!

Saying goodbye to our solider for just 5 more weeks!

(Natalie was asleep in the car, when she woke up she said, "dada.")

I love the new year. It's full of fresh starts for everything. January is usually a month of revising and refining my life. I love setting goals, they are usually the ones I set last year...
This New Year turned out a little different. It's full of new starts, but different than I expected.

Some of our NEWs....NEW home, NEW Solider, NEW experience with a wheelchair, NEW ward (haven't gone yet), and maybe NEW school for the boys (haven't decided yet).

We will see what the rest of the year has in store. One thing is for sure I have a NEW love for what is important!