Airshow Extraordinaire

So we decided that Peyton would love to go to the airshow in Rexburg, and he did. However he loved the army stuff they had there more than he loved the airplanes. I think if he had been able to actually go in the airplanes like he was able to go into the army stuff he might have liked the planes. There were some really cool stunt planes and some fun old planes. He really had a great time.

Rexburg Air museum has a bunch of cool planes. Andy told me that they even used some on the movie Armegeddon. Peyts had a hard time just looking at the planes...A lot of people had their hangars open to go in and look, but he wanted to get in.

As you can see he is just thrilled with the Army stuff because he could get in and go crazy. He would not leave this section and we were there getting into and out of Army stuff for a long time!

Some guy had his helicopter there and he was letting kids get into it, but he also get a little touchy if they touched too many things. You can see Peyts just sitting there, wanting to press everything! So then he would run back to the Army stuff!

These are some of the weapons they had on display there. I hope that they aren't real, but I think they are!

This is a cool old Navy plane. Again, you can't really see it because they are covered, but they had some really neat planes there!

This is one of the stunt planes. There were two planes there that were a little nuts....a red one and a yellow one. The yellow one acted like it was a drunk plane...it would fall, lose stuff off of it...nosedive etc...The red plane was pretty cool...it was nuts and you will see from the clips!

These two old planes were flying in formation with each other. They were cool too!

As we were leaving we found this silly car in one of the parking lots. I thought it was too funny not to show you! Some people are funny! I wish I had an old shaggin' wagon like that to paint all of the time!

I found the gold...you all should give it up!

Just in case you are all wondering...the rainbow found its end at our house! We recovered the gold and are shortly going to be leaving for an island that we bought....just kidding. These pictures were taken by a neighbor (Lori Eddins) who noticed this event happening during our rainy season that we have been having. I can't believe how much it has rained. I am one for rainy days and so I haven't minded too much, but I want the sun to come out a little so my garden will grow. By the way, Andy maintains that Lori took these photos so that she could hunt down the gold...maybe she is the one that found it and she feels guilty so she is offering us these pictures...what do you think?

Back when Andy and I lived in the rat trap, we went out and saw a rainbow ending right on top of Blaine and Connie Larsen's house and we thought how ironic that some people get all the luck! Well now maybe our luck is shifting. I'll let you all know!

Actually, just kidding...we are very blessed and we love our home, our town, our family, and feel like we do have the luck of the rainbow's end blessing us. Thanks for taking the photos Lori!

My High School Heroes...

So last week was high school graduation and I spoke at it which was stressful and frustrating but mostly a little sad. There were some really fun kids and ones that I got attached to, but also ones that Peyton really got attached to. They were goofy, spirited, smart, interesting, and kind young men...not ones that you run into very often any more. Each one will hold a special place in my heart because of how they treated Peyton.... Justin always saw Peyton at church and Peyts would try to get him to come into church. One of the cutest memories I have is that when Peyton went out, he told Justin that he needed to come in and when he did Peyton just lit up...Justin has always said hi and treated Peyton special...

Bob also is one of my favorite, favorite kids ever...Just in case anyone wants to know, he was one of the best if not the best football players I've seen at West Jefferson. He also has a scholarship to Western Montana to play football. He is a modern-day Rudy. He has worked so hard for the last three years. I will miss watching him, but I'll also miss teaching him. What a great student to have in class (most of the time!). He was also so nice and sweet to Peyton. I think that every time Peyton went out to the school, he wanted to see Willy, Bob and Justin. They would just make him feel like the cat's meow. Bob is also Peyton's cousin and he is a good babysitter when I've needed him for a second or two at the high school. I really will miss that kid....He told Peyton to hold up a number 1 finger and that is what I will remember most about Spencer is how he does strive for excellence in all that he does...through hard work and dedication. I hope Peyton will try to be like that when he is older...maybe just more with school work! :-)
Finally Willy who is probably one of the most amazing young men I've had the opportunity to teach. He may not be your straight A student, but this kids knows how to work...and yes he did get an A from me this last trimester because he worked his tail off. This kid has his priorities in line and will be serving a mission soon. He told Peyton in Wendy's after a football game to "Listen to his mom and eat his food!". Even though Peyton has never done this since, he still remembers what Willy said and he is always lifting our table and trying to be as tough as Willy and Bob. They were so kind and were great role models and examples for Peyts. I will miss them next year because there just doesn't seem to be kids who will fill that spot for Peyts...but I know they will always keep in touch and still be very important to Peyton....

At graduation, Peyton even decided he wants to be smart like these boys. It was nice of them to let him feel that way!

What a great group of kids!

It has been a while.....thoughts on summer, skunk traps, slivers, sounds of music and sunsets

Can I just say, I love summer. I feel like I've been running a school marthon and of course I finished last, -last one to turn in grades, last one to leave building, last one to start my vacation-but I finished. It has been a great year, but a busy and hectic one. I can't decide why I felt like a first year teacher again and was SOOOOO busy planning and grading, but it just seemed like it would never stop. I finally got outside last night and did some weeding in my perennials which are looking so beautiful and in my strawberries and it finally felt like summer. No worries, no cares, and today I slept in until...hold onto your socks...9:00 a.m. I never thought that I would think that sleeping in until 9:00 would be like heaven, but it was. I don't plan on making a practice of that because I have a lot of goals this summer, but it is sure nice....to actually feel like you don't have any responsibilities.
So lately, I've been trying to capture some of the funny, ingenious, and unique things my little boy does and I've been pretty successful in my quest. I've caught him just recently being very creative outside. We both feel like new people now that we can get outside. He was making something with all of these junk parts he found on the abandoned land next door to us. It was quite the set up as you will see and so I filmed him explaining his skunk trap. For some funny reason he is deathly afraid of skunks...we aren't sure, but if he gets a wiff of their scent or thinks there might be skunks, he kind of panics. I believe it is because of me...I do not like them either and I am deathly afraid of getting sprayed...I guess because I've actually had four or five close calls, but they are pretty funny stories now...well anyways, he devised a skunk trap...(we actually caught a skunk in a trap at our house because it kept coming and eating our cat food...a couple of times it about got Andy! It also sprayed in our garage once and we had a hard time sleeping for a couple of days, but not too bad.) So this is the skunk trap.

I also caught Peyton making some repairs on our deck. It was pretty funny...I'm glad I remembered when I got in trouble for using a roll of tape to make a tape ball. I remembered that and thus did not get mad at my industrious child and his explanation of what he did was that now we would get slivers when we touched those poles on our deck. I thought it was pretty clever of him.
(sorry anyone know how to switch the angle?)

He also decided since his mother won't buy him drums that he'll make up his own. He really does crack us up sometimes with what he comes up with. This was pretty clever...he uses chineechopsticks...or our chopsticks as his drum sticks and various buckets around the house and created his own drum set. Let's just say it was much more pleasant that an actual set of drums.

And finally the other night after a rainstorm we caught a beautiful sunset. I didn't really capture the beauty, but I sure love the sunsets that happen right out my window. I love living in this place. It sure is beautiful and peaceful and I look forward to a summer full of peace and relaxation with the only thing being hard is my yardwork. Happy summer....and look forward to a little more constant blogging...I'm excited about that too!

Easter Fun...

We will be going in reverse order for an Easter update. This picture was taken of the "couple's egg hunt" that dad did. There were random eggs with candy in them and other prizes. No one told us he was going to throw them inside of scratchy bushes and under dead things with stickers in them. I had scratches on my arms from it. However, Ryan and Pam were the most gung ho and ended up finding the most eggs. Andy and I, I think came in last place. We didn't do so hot. However, I think Angie stole a big egg from Andy and he's too nice to take it back from her! :-)

This is Peyton's loot after we did the hunt on the lawn. I think after the Lion's Club hunt and the little hunt we do for him at home, he didn't care how many he got, he just wanted to find the cool eggs.

This is our line-up for the hunt. We had some pretty piddily numbers. However, I believe we have some pictures like this when Sas and Phyllis still started. Mom gave out prizes for certain eggs and we definitely learned why Sas and Phyllis never had her help...They were prizes from her left-over happy meals and some broke upon opening...Let's just say they fit the category of the "Not so Grand Prizes!" :-)

This is Peyton's easter outfit that we got him. I thought he looked just like a cute Easter egg. I'm glad some stores are a little more brave and have "cute" boy clothes!
He definitely strutted his stuff in this picture!

One of my favorite things about this year is how cute Peyton has been at holidays. Five is such a cute age. They believe anything. Well his plan this year was to "catch" the Easter Bunny and take all of his chocolate rabbits. Well I then proceeded to tell him that when I did that the Easter Bunny hid my baskets harder. His eyes got all big but he still was going to catch him. Well needless to say he feel asleep and we put him to bed. We then hid his stuff a little bit harder than we normally do. We also make a bunny trail that you will see below and none of the bunny trails led to where his stuff was. So when he finally found it I told him that maybe the Easter Bunny had heard him talking about catching him and so he hid his bunny hard! This picture is a result of that discussion. I would say it is priceless!

Peyton is the only kid I know who genuinely loves this silly chocolate rabbits. I always thought they were cool as a kid, but the chocolate was crappy. He just loves them. I wasn't real thrilled that Walmart only had a "gangster" bunny, but Peyton took care of all the accessories very quickly and then proceeded to go for the ears. He will probably never finish it, but it was worth it for such a cute picture.

The search is over! He found it after a little bit of looking. I should have done it harder, but I thought I had.

The bunny trail leading to the basket!

We have never done egg dying at our house so this was the inaugural year for this. I wasn't really sure quite how to do it and had to actually read instructions. I also did not know that I had to use white vinegar and so had to bum some from mother. After this, though, I believe we had some great eggs. I only cooked 18 because I thought Peyts could do quite a few and Andy and I could do one or two, however, we went through that 18 very quickly. I think we had enough colors for 60 eggs if not more, but we had a fun time.

As you can see we had an inundation of "blue" eggs. I'm outnumbered and didn't get too many eggs. It got kind of funny after a while because every time Peyts would pick up a new egg, he would find a blue color to put it in.

We went out and hid the eggs for Peyts. I think he thought he had to ride his four wheeler around to find the eggs. I guess that is the modern way to egg hunt! It made us laugh. I believe he actually only ran over a couple!

I love to see Peyton's creativity. He decided if he used his finger he could paint the eggs without dipping them in. We also tried some tape and went a little crazy with the crayons.

The many colors!

These were the winners of the Hamer Easter Egg hunt. Peyton actually won something for the first time ever....if you don't count the "pink bunny" that dad walked him to when he was two because no one could find it. He was very excited until he learned he couldn't pick the prize he really wanted (the one that the kid by him has). He had seen the prizes all week at Mom's and thought he would get what we wanted...but he ended up liking what he found!

I'm sure many people think that dad had something to do with Peyton finding the prize egg, but he didn't. He found it on his own and as I was thinking about, not too many of us have ever won at this hunt...it was almost like we were jinxed! I'm glad he got it because next year, he'll be up with the older kids.

The loot he found in the Hamer Easter Egg hunt!

He was very excited for this hunt. I actually think he knew what he was doing this year!
We had a great Easter in reverse order! Holidays are sure fun with kids. They remind us of our own fun memories we had when we were their age!

Just Like Daddy

So my little boy I'm finding lately wants to be just like Daddy. I guess I'm lucky that I'm married to such an amazing guy. Andy is learning to play the guitar and Peyts is so fascinated with it. He wants to do it just like his Dad. However every once in a while the little rock star on him breaks out. As you can see in the picture below...

Everything that Daddy does, Peyton wants to do it. You can see how intently he is watching him. It makes me think of that poem about little kids watching our every move and emulating what we do. This little boy has made us all think about everything we do and to shape up a little. I have to watch every word I say. We have to think about movies we've watched with him in mind.

This is my most recent favorite on wanting to be like Daddy. If you look close, you will see Peyts with a little missionary badge. I thought this was so cute. I do hope our little boy grows up to be just like his Daddy. He will be a good man if he does.