Anniversary

Happy anniversary to US! Can't believe that 29 years ago Kent and I were married in the Logan Temple!! It's funny how the years go by so fast, especially when you're having fun. I remember someone saying that if it rains on your wedding day it means a long happy marriage. Well, that has come true for us because it was raining so hard that day. We have been blessed in so many ways--good kids, good health, jobs, testimonies, and happiness. Here's to many more years together. :)

Date Night...

So, last night Kent and I went on a great date! First we went out to eat at Sizzler (2 steak dinners for $11). We were sitting at our table waiting for our food when a man came in wanting a seating area for a large group, and he and the manager kept looking at our table. Well, we figured out they wanted the area we were in so we offered to sit somewhere else, just to be nice. A little while later this manager came to our new table and gave us a $20 gift certificate just for offering our table to the other group! WOW.
Next, we went to the Caldwell Night Rodeo. It was fun, and this year we stayed until the very end because they is when they have the Bull Riding, which is the best event there!
Overall, a very fun date!!

I've come to realize that.......

I've come to realize that my toes...

are very flexible.

I've come to realize that when I'm driving...

I can listen to the kind of music that I like.

I've come to realize that I need...

to declutter my house.

I've come to realize that I have lost...

my new pajamas.

I've come to realize that I hate it when...

I don't have any snacks in the house.

I've come to realize that money...

is something everybody needs and never has enough of.

I've come to realize that certain people...

drive me crazy.

I've come to realize that I'll always...

be happy if I choose to be.

I've come to realize that my sibling(s)...

are good people.

I've come to realize that my mom...

hmmmmmm--pass.

I've come to realize that my cell phone...

will last longer if I don't flush it down the toilet.

I've come to realize that when I woke up this morning...

that the dog didn't bark all night.

I've come to realize that last night before I went to sleep...

yesterday was a good day.

I've come to realize that right now I am thinking...

of how lucky I am.

I've come to realize that my dad...

was a good man.

I've come to realize that today...

is going to be a hot day.

I've come to realize that tonight...

I am going out to eat and then to the rodeo.

I've come to realize that tomorrow...

I need to mow my lawn.

I've come to realize that I really want to...

go on a nice vacation.

I've come to realize that the person who is most likely to repost this is...

no one.

I've come to realize that life...

is full of surprises.

I've come to realize that this weekend...

I have one wedding and two receptions to attend.

I've come to realize that marriage...

is great.

I've come to realize that this year...

is going by very fast.

I've come to realize that maybe I should...

update by blog more often.

I've come to realize that I don't understand...

why people abuse their kids.

I've come to realize that I'm totally terrified...

of being in another accident.

I've come to realize that my life...

has turned out pretty good.

Summer Happenings

Time to catch up on all that has been happening this summer. Kent was asked to be one of the speakers at a Multi-Stake EFY at Garden Valley in July. He was okay with doing this until he heard who the featured speakers were: Hans Olson and Shawn Bradley! After that he felt a little inadequate. But really, aside from Shawn Bradley, he was one of the best speakers there!

Derek came home in July to go on the rafting trip for the Singles Ward. So while he was here we went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse with Tyler, Kati, and Quincy. Quincy had a fun time throwing the peanut shells on the floor and then smashing them!

One of our favorite things to do is to bring Quincy home with us and have him spend the weekend with us. So when Kelly was home for a few days she brought him home with her. He started noticing that Grandpa wore hats out to work and whenever he went places. So, then he decided that he needed to wear a hat like Grandpa and won't leave the house unless he had one on!

I love the Singles Ward! The kids are great and so are the activities. Kent and I go to almost all the FHE's, firesides, parties, and most anything else that is going on. One weekend we had quite a few relatives at church (and their friends), so Christa, Tanner, and Erinn planned a picnic in the park after Church was over. It was great. Have to do that more often :)

Well, the day arrived for Tyler and Kati to move out of their apartment :( So we spent Friday helping them load up the van and clean their apartment. As a reward we went to eat at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Excellent food. So with no place to stay, they came to our house for a few days before going to Washington. We had all of our kids home, minus Mike who had to stay for football games. So, with Heather and Trevor here for the weekend we got to play with Jakoby! He is growing so fast, and is a good baby. He also looks a lot like Heather's baby pictures. Too bad they live so far away because we would be good babysitters!

Saturday, August 15th, was Quincy's 2nd Birthday. For fun he got to ride on the tractor with Kent and bale straw. He loved it. Later we had a nice BBQ and cheesecake for dessert. Quincy wasn't sure what to think of the candles on his little cake, but once he figured out he had to blow them out he wanted to do it over and over again. We gave him two tractors as presents, and according to Tyler, he talked in his sleep that night about his "two tractors"!

Sunday was a sad day. Tyler, Kati, and Quincy left for Washington. I know he has a good job waiting for him, but it is still hard to see them go so far away. We are sure going to miss them (who will we take out to dinner now?). But we are so glad that we had the chance to have them live close to us for 3 years. We are going to miss having Quincy spend weekends with us :(

Can't believe that summer is almost over. Time to make some fun plans for things to do in the Fall!

Take me to the Zoo!!

Tuesday Kent and I took Quincy to the Boise Zoo. He was very excited that Grandma and Grandpa were coming to pick him up. He was all smiles!! He was really fascinated with the tigers, both the real ones and the wooden one.

The monkeys were pretty funny. Kent lifted Quincy up so he could get a close up view of them. He wasn't even afraid of them.

This was a cute little hut that kids could get in, but Quincy wasn't really sure about staying in there for very long. It almost looked like a jail.

There weren't any real elephants at the zoo (too bad) but this one sprayed a mist of water out of his nose. It felt really good since it was above 90 degrees.

Everytime Quincy saw a sewer cover he had to stop and say all the letters that were on it. He is sooo smart!

We had such a fun day with Quincy, gonna have to do it again soon!!

Jakoby's Blessing

Last weekend we went to Springville for Jakoby's baby blessing. We took Kelly with us as Mike was in Pocatello to watch a football game and wouldn't get to Springville until 11:00 pm. It was good to see Jakoby, Heather, and Trevor. Jakoby has sure put on the weight, and it was fun to see him laugh and smile all the time. He is such a cute little guy. We had some fun things planned to do while we were there, like playing tennis and hiking, but it was cold and rainy most of the day. So, we just did some shopping and went to eat at Cafe Rio. Derek was able to spend the day with use, and he, Kelly, and Heather did have a very intense game of Monopoly! The blessing was great, Trevor did a very good job, and it was good to spend time with Trevor's family afterwards. It was a great way to spend Father's Day!!

Weekend with Quincy

Tyler and Kati were nice and let us have Quincy for a weekend. We went to Boise on Friday night, May 29th and took them out to eat with us. We found a little fish and chips diner where the food tastes like it does on the Oregon coast. We really love it. Anyway, after dinner we took them back home to get Quincy's things for the weekend. He knew that he was going to our house and did not want to get close to his parents for fear that they wouldn't let him go with us! It was pretty funny.

Our job as grandparents is to spoil the grandkids, right? Well, I think we do a pretty good job at it, no wonder Quincy likes to come to our house. We had a fun time with him here, playing outside, feeding the cows, and riding on the 4 wheeler. We even let him stay up and watch Jay Leno's last night on the Tonight Show with us. Oops, sorry Tyler and Kati. We took Quincy to church with us on Sunday, which is fun because it is a single's ward and it is usually pretty quiet. But Quincy kept seeing his grandpa on the stand and let everyone know it. Of course, Kent loved it.

Thanks Tyler and Kati for sharing Quincy with us!

Memorial Day

Farming has been very interesting this year. First of all, most of the hay fields around here had weevil in them, including us, and so we had to have our fields treated to kill the little critters. Because of this problem, Kent had a few weeks with not much to do. So on Memorial Day we were invited to go see Mike and Kelly for the day and have a picnic. On the way we picked up Tyler, Kati, and Quincy and took them with us. Quincy was pretty excited to go with Grandma and Grandpa! We got to see the progress Kelly and Mike had made on their house, and even help them pull weeds and trim plants and trees in their backyard. Personally, I would have liked to stay and help them get more work done in their yard, but that will be a good project for them to do together!!

While at Wal-Mart getting food for our picnic, Kelly and Quincy decided to take a ride on the Merry-Go-Round. Don't know who had more fun, Kelly or Quincy.

We decided to go to Shoshone Falls for our picnic. The weather was great, hardly any wind, and it was pretty warm. We had a good time looking at the falls, eating, and playing frisbee. There was a little stream of water that ran through the creek that we were wading in. Well, almost everyone waded in it, except for Quincy who did not want to get his feet wet. We had a fun day and we were sure Quincy was tired and worn out. But oh no, he talked all the way home to Boise! It was so cute.

McCall Idaho

Time for the monthly updates from the Howards! At Kelly and Mike's reception, Judd and Lara gave us a nice unexcepted gift. They offered us the use of their condo in McCall for two days and one night. Of course we took their offer up and headed to McCall on May 19th. It was so nice to get away from work for a few days and spend time together. There was still a lot of snow on the ground, but the weather was still nice. Our condo was real nice and we sure appreciate the Tolmans for thinking of us!

We took a drive to Burgdorf and the road was so bad that we actually had to put our car in 4 wheel drive to get through the snow!! After a few miles we gave up and went back to McCall.

Wedding

Well, it is official. Kelly and Mike are now married. We had such a great weekend and everything went perfect. Mike's family is great and so happy that they have made Kelly feel so welcome in their family. It was so good to have all of our kids in the Temple for the sealing, it made me cry! Anyway, it was such a good weekend, and thanks to all who attended or supported us any any way.

Our newest blessing

The newest member of our family is Jakoby Hess. What a cute little boy! Because of work scheduling, Kent and I were not able to be at the hospital when he was born :( But on Friday morning, bright and early, we left Fruitland to head to Provo. Along the way we stopped in Jerome to pick up Kelly and take her with us. We were so excited to see and hold Jakoby!

We had a great time in Provo because all of our kids were there. Tyler, Kati, and Quincy made the trip to Utah to see him also, and Mike showed up on Friday to join the family.

On Sunday Heather got released from the hospital to go home, and after visiting for a while everyone left to go back home, except Kent and I who got to stay with them for a couple more days. It was a great experience and we are so glad that they wanted us to be there for them. Thanks Heather!

Therapy

Well, I am feeling a little better since my accident. For my therapy Kent and I worked on our kitchen. We have wanted to upgrade our kitchen cabinets for a while now, so instead of replacing all of them with new ones, we decided to paint them. We think it looks a lot better and brighter, and once we do the ceiling light, our project will be complete.

Don't you agree that it looks much better!

Grateful

Monday was President's Day and of course I had to work. Our clinic was pretty slow in the morning so I decided to go home for lunch and see Kent. Now, I hardly ever go home for lunch, usually just stay at work, run errands, or go to the park. So, I am driving home and there's a lot of traffic on Hwy 95, but what else is new. I am almost home and getting to the corner to turn off of Hwy 95. I get into the left turn lane while the truck in front of me turns right. A small pickup behind me slows down for us to turn off the highway. Now, you have to know that this corner scares me to death! There have been too many accidents and a couple of deaths happen here in the past. Well, as I was getting close to the corner to turn I heard a crash behind me and knew that I was going to get hit. What a weird feeling. I just prayed that they wouldn't hit me in the driver's side door. Everything happened so fast and then it was over. No really sure who hit me or what. I looked around and saw the little pickup sideways in front of me and my car was facing the opposite direction. I immediately called Kent and looked around for the other drivers. Across the highway I saw a big 4x4 pickup and recognized who the driver was. She waited a couple of minutes and then opened her door and fell to the road. I ran over to help her and called 911. My main concern was helping her and waiting for the cops and the ambulance to show up. Kent got there really fast and helped the EMT's and the cops. Not really sure what happened in the crash still, as the girl in the truck can't seem to recall anything that happened, although we do know that she was behind the small pickup. Anyway, our car was pretty messed up as I was hit a couple of times as I was spinning around from being hit, but not on the driver's side door! There as an eye witness who was on the side road who saw the whole thing and told me I was pretty lucky the semi truck coming the opposite direction didn't hit me. Not something I really want to think about. I did hit my head on something, but no blood or bruises. On Tuesday, the aches and pains started, and my upper body was having some major muscle tension. We went to the doctor and everything is fine, just a little sore. Good news! I am very grateful to have been protected from any serious harm throughout the accident and to have been able to walk away unharmed. I do seem to be a little scatterbrained lately and very jumpy at noises behind me!!

Christmas Holiday

We had a great Christmas! Because our family had Thanksgiving together, we had to share our married kids with their in-laws for Christmas :( Tyler, Kati and Quincy stopped by and saw us on their way to Vancouver, WA on Dec. 20 so Quincy could open his Christmas presents and then they stayed long enough until all the others arrived at our house. Well, when Kelly, Derek, Heather and Trevor showed up they surprised Kent with his Christmas present from all of us. We had gotten him a new German Shepard puppy to replace Apollo. He was so surprised and happy! Kent absolutely loves this puppy and the two of them have bonded very well. It took Kent about 4 days before he finally decided on a name for this cute dog, but in the end Bubba was the name he chose. He is getting used to the cows, but he isn't too fond of Mr. Kitty yet! So our Christmas vacation was filled with playing with Bubba and taking him out to relieve himself!!

We had a fun time with Heather, Trevor, Kelly, and Derek here. We had our Christmas dinner on Saturday, went to Church on Sunday at the Singles Ward, and on Monday had Heather and Trevor open their presents. Seems Baby Hess got the most presents!

We got tons of snow over break so Derek, Kelly, Kent, and Bubba went tubing on the 24th. They had a great time and wore the puppy out. Well, after we opened our gifts on Christmas day, we all get tubing ago, even Bubba! He really liked it, especially when he got to sit on our laps going down the hill. Mike's brother had a basketball in Boise on the 27th, so we took Kelly over and watched the game with all the Williams, then Mike came home with us. He went to Church the next day with us and then he and Kelly went back to Jerome. Seems Kelly isn't going back to BYU this semester, but is going to be living in Jerome and working. Rumor has it that she may be getting married in May?? Once it becomes "official" we will let everyone know :)

Well, Derek got to stay longer with us than the rest of the kids. The three of us went the Humitarian Bowl in Boise and watched Nevada play Maryland. The weather was good, no rain or snow, and it didn't get too cold until thr 4th quarter. One bad thing happened at the game though. I lost my cell phone when i went to flush the toilet and my phone fell out of my pocket and away it went!! It was too funny I had to laugh. Seriously, what could I do.

Well, the holidays are over and everyone has left us, except for Bubba. In just 3 weeks he looks like he has grown a lot!! He is going to be a big dog.