Summer is finally here!

Summer didn't arrive until the end of June this year in Boise (poo-poo), but so far, it's been a fun and extremely busy summer! Of course, there is always the neighborhood pool which we love (and live within 100 feet of)...And then there's Roaring Springs, which is so fun but a little nuts trying to manage a crazy-lunatic 6 year old who isn't afraid of anything (and can go on all the slides now) and a 3 year old who can't quite go on the slides yet! We have also gone to a few parks, including Camels Back Park which you hike at. On top of all the activities, I am team captain of our Relay for Life team, training for a couple of races at the end of the summer, and going to UT and CA, so it's no relaxing summer for us! ;)

More baseball

Most of these pictures are courtesy of my friend Courtney!! What a fun season we had! The Phillies did so well, improved so much, and had a blast! We had awesome coaches (Eric was one of them) too!

Payette River camping

For Fathers Day weekend we decided to go camping up on the Payette River, about an hour away. The Payette River is home to some of the most famous, and best river rafting/kayaking in the country. It is also super beautiful and is good for fishing. We went with our friend, Dan (who works with Eric), and took our dogs. The boys were in pure heaven and Tucker was like a kid at Disneyland for the fist time. He was literally prancing and bounding all over the place! I have never seen a dog that excited to be in the outdoors. Tucker loved playing in the river too and fetching sticks. He was fully entertained for hours! The only negative thing about the weekend is that it rained a bit on us, but we made the best of it and still had fun. We ate some yummy food and did a lot of fishing (even though we didn't catch anything), and the boys loved that. Especially Austin-he really caught on quick and could cast really well. He totally got into it!

We are so grateful for our Dad on this Father's Day. Eric is a supberb father to our boys and I couldn't ask for someone better to be a good example to them. I am so thankful for all that he does for our family too. This past year he has had to do more at home because of my treatments, and he has done it all without a complaint. I love that he just knows what needs to be done and does it. I really lucked out on scoring him for a husband! :) I am also thankful for my own father who has been such a rock throughout my life, supporting me through everything. The way he leads his life with such honesty and humility and keeps his priorities straight are something I aspire to. I have always looked up him and I am so proud that he is my Dad. I am also grateful to Eric's dad for raising a fine son and family and being such an influence in his life. We are so lucky to have the Dads we do and know that our kids are lucky to have such awesome Grandpas too!

Relay for Life 2011

Last summer Eric and I attended the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in Boise to help a friend in charge of the event and to see what it was all about. It was right in the height of the summer when I had just been diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma and didn't know what treatment I would choose. It was a very difficult and emotional time for us and I remember walking amoungst the survivors in the first lap to kick-off the event thinking that if I was still around the next year that I wanted to somehow do more...

Here we are a year later (and still kicking! ) and we are planning to do just that. We have formed our own team, called Safe In the Sun, and we have two missions. The first is to help raise money to go to the American Cancer Society. There are several ways we are hoping to do that. One way is to get on-line donations (by clicking on the link below) from our family and friends. And on the actual day of the event/relay, we are hoping to raise even more money by selling baked goods and crafts. A good friend of mine thought of selling s'mores and having our motto be, "Don't roast like a marshmellow, wear s'MORE sunscreen!"

Our second mission is to promote awareness and prevention for skin cancer, specifically for melanoma. Last year there was only one tent that promoted melanoma awareness and it wasn't well publicized. Because melanoma is the fastest growing cancer in the U.S. and the deadliest out of the skin cancers, we feel there needs to be a lot more concentration and focus on this disease, especially to our youth, who spend hours in the sun and in tanning beds, which is putting them at a higher risk for melanoma.

If there is ANY way that you can help contribute, whether that be a donation, time, or products/goods to our team and mission, we would be incredibly grateful. We know how hard it is to give up those things, so we will take whatever we can get! We really want to raise a lot of money for the American Cancer Society which helps fund cancer treatments and research, and helps cancer patients. Their motto is to "create more birthdays" for cancer patients as they work to find a cure to cancer and save lives. This is a very personal endeavor for us, not just because of my own battle with it, but because we know other loved ones that are also in the fight of their lives or have lost their battle with cancer. I think EACH ONE OF US has been affected by cancer in some way or another.

Please let us know how you can help. We are so thankful and excited for this opportunity to give back. It is the first of many in the future to come as we someday hope to start our own foundation which will help other melanoma patients and promote awareness. Thank you, thank you for being such a great support to us, we wouldn't be here without you!

Please click on link to donate! http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY11GW?px=17333019&pg=personal&fr_id=30455

Hidden Gems

When I took on the project of CLEANING out our garage last month to de-junk and get ready for our yard sale, I found some hidden gems deep within our storage bins. Eric, nor I, had ever seen these pictures, and I am so glad that we found them! I love this first picture of Eric as a baby with his late Mom because it captured that moment between mother and child so beautifully! I also love the light on Elaine's hair and face! The second picture is of Eric's dad and mom in a dorm at BYU when they are dating. They look so young and innocent!

Kindergarten graduation

I can hardly believe that our first born will be entering the 1st grade next year. He is growing up way too fast! We are so proud of him-he had a good year in kindergarten, loved his teacher Mrs. Matthews, and is doing very well in school. He is reading beyond his grade level and loves math. I have loved seeing his newfound confidence grow this past year! And I can't wait to see what he will do in the years to come...

"No Sugar" winners

The day after Easter some of my girlfriends and I decided to do a "no sugar" fast where we cut out all sweets (defined as "refined sugar") until June 1st. There were 6 of us that participated and all of us completed it with success. For me personally, this wasn't too difficult being as I don't eat a lot of sweets or processed food anyways, and for a few of my friends giving up soda or candy for that long was pretty tough. But we did it and I think it was eye-opening for everyone to learn how much sugar we really eat! It is in everything!

The best reward for me was the satisfaction of knowing that I have the self control and discipline to do it! But having a "support group" to do it with made it all the more easy, as we all lifted one another up and rallied around each other. Our reward came after June 1st which was going to breakfast and getting pedicures! Unfortunately not everyone could come, but I think everyone would agree that losing a few pounds and feeling better was more rewarding than pretty toes! :)

Summer Do's

For summer we decided to give the kids a buzz cut. Perfect for applying sunscreen to the head and drying off hair, right?! I think it's pretty cute, and Carson looks so grown up all of a sudden!