The Hills in Rexburg

June 13-16, 2011

We were very excited to have Kara, Max and Zane visit us. It was their first trip after Zane was born and we were very excited to meet him. He immediately became the center of attention.

We had perfect weather for the kids to spend all the time outside that they wanted. They had played so much in our own backyard that to spice things up a bit we took them to the Hibbard school playground. It's great to live out in the country and have a "park" all to ourselves for a picnic and recess.

Nathan was so excited to practice on the monkey bars at "his school" before starting kindergarten in the fall. He was brave enough to get across three bars and determined that on his first day of school he would "go all the way".

Nathan also mastered the skill of "pumping" himself on the swing. Max and Hyrum were content to bobble around on their bellies.

Even Derek and Justin were entertained at the elementary school, remembering the good times they had at Kennedy Elementary. Derek thought all the equipment was super tiny having grown about 2 feet since the last time he had played on it. Fitting into a tire isn't as easy when you're over six feet tall.

Justin made silly noises and pretended to chase after Max and soon it was a full game. I have never heard Max laugh so hard or see Justin be quite so animated. Max would run as fast as he could, laughing hysterically the whole time, until he was safely is Kara's arms. Justin is so great with his younger brothers, cousins and neighbors and seems to have a real gift for transforming bored, sad faces into smiles, giggles and a really fun time.

Each day we rewarded ourselves for all that exhausting playtime with our normal routine of baths and books. It was fun to share our favorite books with our cousins.

Kara and I did manage to steal enough time away to make a couple of crafts. She had been wanting some quiet church somethings for each boy so we made a Peek-a-Book thingy for Zane and a travel car mat for Max. His car mat had a little city of buildings that he could move around, some little people and animals to bring a little life to town, complete with handles for him to carry it all by himself and a pocket to store his cars, people and animals in.