#summerselfieseries

2016

Last year Koen and I set aside a moment each day of the cousin time to take a picture together. We hash-tagged it #summerselfieseries on Instagram, which we use all year to keep in touch. I was thrilled when he was up for it again this summer.

                                                                             2015

16

It's Parker's 16th birthday and all I can think about is exceeded expectations. Almost every blog post about him is about that, too. That says it all really. He has always been the joyful surprise in my life. Smarter, more clever, stronger, more handsome, and wiser than I could have ever dreamed. 

Parker you keep us laughing with your quick wit and you are a champion oldest brother. I love watching you play sports, you have so much talent for being part of a team. You help me wrangle the minions and only sometimes, become one yourself. 

Cheers to 16 years! Have courage as you navigate these next few years that will shape your future. As always, we will be on the sideline cheering you on.

Happy New Year!

2015 felt difficult, cultivated growth, and stretched our hearts. 

These are some of the photos I manage to snap through the year. 

Cheers to 2016!

View on Flipagram

Life is beautiful

 Matt's insanely talented cousin took photos of Kaleb all around downtown Boise. I joined in for some fun, too. Kandi was so great about making Kaleb feel comfortable and captured some of his hilarious personality quirks. This ginger guy of mine is growing up. He and I have had a lot of frustration with each other lately but he keeps us all laughing as well.

 (this photo captures exactly how I feel about raising teens everyday)

Kandi posted some of these on her blog as well.  http://kandilamont.com/uncategorized/being-yourself-never-goes-out-of-style-boise-teen-photographer/ If you have a moment to show her some love, please comment or share and let's get her name out there! Thanks again, Kandi, I adore these moments you seized.

Slip n' Slime

Our boys attend the youth group at Pursuit. They have a lot of fun with friends and their leaders. A couple times a year the church hosts some epic events. This was the second year the boys came out for the chocolate syrup slip n' slime. There were four slides on the hillside next to the church; a chocolate syrup slide, a jello slide, a green slime, and a bubble slide for the younger siblings.

Some video and pictures on their Facebook page, too. A crazy good time for the boys and some of their friends from school. And I have been cleaning their clothes, the car, and the shower ever since.

Cousin Meet Up

The month of August started off with a bang. The Canadian Archuletas made the 16 hour trip down to states for a two week summer vacation. Kelly and Kirsten brought home their Haitian daughters, Kloe and Kinna, in January. We were all anxious to meet them as well as Konnor, born in October. They have six kids!

The cousins all get along remarkably. We did activities everyday. Play-doh, Legos, Hot Wheels, and marble towers were a few things we tried. I had anticipated a need for tactile activities due to a huge language divide  but the girls now speak English fluently. I am so proud of all they have learned!

Koen and Kace had a fun big kid sleepover at our house. Sno cones, movies, dance party, and a campfire made for good times.

Konnor was just a joy for all of us. He is the perfect baby, squishy and sweet. He was a trooper and let everyone love on him.

Pool fun every day. The girls particularly loved swimming and improved greatly over their time here.

I loved having nieces to color with, paint nails, or rock out with in the car. They kept requesting a "girl sing," only wanting to listen to songs sung by females :) 

Not bad for trying to get all 10 kids in a photo!

Finding appropriate entertainment was challenging. We watched Inside Out in the theater together, that worked well. Megamind and watching American Ninja Warrior were two other screen time successes.

Parker, now taller than Kelly! (we checked under all that hair)

We were sad to watch them pull away. So many new memories made, too many things to list here. But I have been treasuring them over the last couple weeks. My boys all said it was the highlight of their summer.