Father's Day

These boys are just beginning the journey to become the man that they look up to every day of their life.  They couldn't have a better example...

Happy Father's Day to our dad who we all love to death!

 

Black ridge Trail

Liev, Rease and I went on an early morning bike ride today on the Blackridge Trail just up from our house. It was a beautiful morning and we had the best time riding together. These two are getting so good at their mountain biking!

Garrett and Rachel's wedding

Garrett and Rachel got married this weekend and had a beautiful backyard wedding at her parents' home.  We have loved being able to welcome Rachel into the family and are so happy and excited for them!

 

Amazing Race 2020

We held our annual Amazing Race this week - though we took some extra precautions this year due to COVID.  Since we're supposed to be social distancing still, we put teams together as couples instead of splitting everyone up individually.  We also gathered outside to eat and mingle before and after the race so we weren't in a confined space all together.  We did our best and in the end, I think it turned out amazing!  I think everyone loved being with their spouse which they typically are always separated from each other on different teams.  But I got lots of comments about how fun it was to be with their husband or wife so that was a plus!  We also got to include Chad and Britt in the race since they are here for a while and it was awesome to have them with us.  We teamed them up with the Chalks and I think they had a great time as a team.  

Hayley and I love putting these on for our neighborhoods and this year was fun because we had the clues all along Redwood Road.  So teams were passing each other and running into other teams all night as they looked for clues.  It turned out great.  And in the end, it came down to the orange team and the yellow team racing back to the house at the same time trying to be first.  We though yellow had it, but orange ended up pulling into the driveway first and took the trophy (which was a super soaker this year).  Yellow got here just 30 seconds later than orange for 2nd place.  And the White team claimed the 3rd spot.  

We LOVE this time we get to gather as friends and neighbors and especially appreciated being together this year since we haven't been able to get together often.  Thanks to everyone for making it a great success!

 

Sid comes to visit

Sid and Jackson made an impromptu trip to Utah and we enjoyed their company for a couple days while they were here!  We had a bbq and swim day and Andy and Kristi's and took Sid mountain biking one morning.  Man we wish they lived closer...

 

Shaving the beard

It was finally time to shave the "Corona Beard" and Josh had a great time figuring out how much of it to keep...

 

Too big for the tub?

Looks like they might be too big to take a bath together...

 

The twins' blessing

Caleb blessed the twins today and though the meeting was done over zoom, we were lucky enough to be invited to be there in person.  It was a really special day to see these two sweet babies get beautiful blessings.  And Hayley crocheted these darling outfits for them which was pretty amazing!  Love these babies!

 

Rease's 13th birthday

We have a teenager in the house! Rease turned 13 today and officially stepped into teen mode.  We love her dearly and hope that being 13 doesn't change her too much too fast!

She wanted a 2 tiered cake that wasn't quite so little kid-ish and helped me pick out the colors and the frosting design.  It was definitely big enough to feed the whole crew that came to celebrate with her!  After opening presents and having cake and ice cream, we had a late night with some of her besties - Izzy and Riley along with a group of Rhen's friends and cousins and little brothers.  It was quite the group but we had a great time!

 13 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Height: 5'6" - 94%

Weight: 174 lbs. - 98%

My favorite things about 13 year old Rease:

1) Rease is my right hand gal.  She helps me with anything and everything and is always happy to be by my side.  She loves to try new things and is up for whatever crazy thing we're doing or trying.  She isn't afraid to do something new and has become a really great mountain biking partner for me! I love being with this teenager of mine and hope she is my friend for life!

2) Rease is smart and a hard worker.  No matter what it is she's doing, she is doing her best.  She does well in school, has loved learning the french horn, practices her piano hard, reads like a maniac, works in the yard with her dad and plays hard when the time comes!  She has the great quality of doing things all the way when she decides to do them.  Love that about her!

3) Rease is the best oldest sister.  She has a great relationship with her sister - though there are times that they can't seem to figure out who's turn it is to clean their room (which is always a mess).  And she is really good to her younger brothers.  They all look up to her a lot!  Best of all, she is a very reliable babysitter and does great when she's in charge at home or if she's babysitting for a neighbor.  I never have a worry when I know Rease is home and in charge!

Rease, we love you and made you promise today that you wouldn't act like a teenager even though you officially are one now.  Remember that a few years from now when you actually start getting an attitude would ya?! 

Happy Birthday!

Kingston Idaho - day 8-9

For our last two days we drove away from beautiful Kalispell and back down to the small town of kingston Idaho. We found a cabin in the woods that looked so charming I couldn’t resist it! It was just as charming as I had hoped and immediately the girls spoke for the attic room and the boys took the basement. It had two sets of tiny spiral stairs and a treehouse out back. Just the place to be to end our road trip. We took a hike the evening we got there and found lots of beautiful wild flowers and tiny pine cones.  

The main reason we chose this rural Idaho town is because we wanted to bike the Route of the Hiawatha. It’s an old train route that goes through the mountains over bridges and through tunnels in the mountains. We’ve heard a lot about it and that is amazing so we decided to give it a try. Beck and Desh each had a tag along bike that hooked to our bikes and it was the perfect way to go. The trial itself is 15 miles downhill so it wasn’t difficult and the kids all thought it was great. The first tunnel we went through is a mile and half long tunnel. The temperature is 46 degrees all year long and has a small canal running on each side of the trail with runoff from the mountains running alongside. It was wet and muddy inside and so so cool. We each had a headlamp to wear inside the tunnels and even with those it was super dark! 

As we rode we couldn’t get over the scene that we were riding through. It was incredible to be on top of the mountains looking down at the trees and valleys below and to see the trail and bridges that we would be riding on. 

A couple of the bridges we crossed were over 200 feet high! It was quite the sight to look down from those bridges. And of course the boys took the chance to throw rocks over the edge and count how long it would take to hit the ground. Some of the kids climbed up on the rocks next to our lunch spot and got stuck up there on the shale that kept sliding off under their feet. Josh assured me that they needed to be able to figure these things out but my mommy heart skipped a couple  ears as I watched them try and get back down. Josh ended up rescuing them when keen slipped and scraped up his leg a bit. Dad was the hero of the day getting the kids off the side of the mountain!

We had perfect weather for the day - warm and overcast. Only about the last 20 minutes of the ride the sun came out and we got pretty warm. The kids were tired and hot and muddy from riding in the tunnels by the time we got done but they told us that the bike ride was one of their favorite parts of the whole trip. I have to agree! It was fun and adventurous and gorgeous and such a very unique way to see the countryside. We all loved it. And it was a perfect way to end our road trip. Tomorrow morning we head back home to Utah. It’s a 10 hour drive and we’ll probably get up early and head out. It has been such a fun getaway for us and we’ve seen parts of the country that we haven’t explored before! Lots of memories that we’ll never forget!

Kalispell Montana - Days 4-7

After we left the ranch we headed to Montana for the next few days of the trip. Some good friends of ours, the Laytons, have a house on lake Blaine near Kalispell that they let us use for the week. It was absolutely gorgeous and we enjoyed the drive the whole way up. We were excited to have the week to explore this part of the country we haven’t been to!

We brought our bikes on the trip so the first day we jumped on our bikes and rode around the country rides by the house.  Lake Blaine is super low this year so we weren’t able to get in the water but we did love riding around it and looking out across the water. We drove out to the other small towns around the house and our favorite place to walk around was Whitefish. It’s a small ski town up in the mountains and it was fun to walk around the little streets and shops. Josh and I snuck away one evening and had dinner in Kalispell at a restaurant called Tamarack. It had such good food and it was fun to be on our own for a couple hours. What we loved the most was the view from the house - looking out to the beautiful mountains just out our window and the gorgeous open fields. Josh and I went for a walk/run every morning and just loved being outside in the country. There were lilac bushes all over and the lodge pole pines were so tall and straight and we kept our eyes open for eagles that we caught a glimpse of every once in a while. 

One day I took the older kids to the Strawberry Lake trailhead to ride our bikes and explore the trails. We got most of the way up and got stopped by a fallen tree across the road. We were only about a mile and a half from the trailhead so we decided to park and just bike from there. It was a pretty steep mile and a half up and it took us some time to get there. But we did it and without too much whining even :) When we got to the trailhead a couple of guys were there and told us that the whole trail was covered with fallen trees and it was not possible to bike it. They had tried and ended up stashing their bikes and just hiking the trail. We decided not to even try it but just hung out there and played in the river for a little while to cool off. The ride back down to the car was quick and easy and even though we didn’t get to ride the trail we were glad we got to ride at all!

One day we drove over to the Hungry Horse Dam. It was super cool to see and the dam is so high the kids thought it was amazing. The reservoir behind the dam was really awesome and looked like a great reservoir to boat on. We all promised that we would come back and boat there one day!

We stopped for ice cream and lunch in the small town of Hungry Horse and Liev got out his new rocket launcher to play with. We played flies up on the grass with the rockets and had a blast just being outside on that gorgeous day. 

When it was time to say goodbye to our house in Kalispell none of us wanted to leave. It was the perfect place for us to relax, explore and experience the Montana way of life. We loved every second we were there!

Road Trip 2020 - Day 1, 2 and 3 Kooskia Idaho

Our road trip for the year has arrived! Since corona has thrown off all sorts of timing for the school year we ended up being done two weeks early. And it couldn’t have come at a better time - we are all ready to get out of town and feel a little bit of normal in our life! We thought long and hard about where to go this year and ultimately ended up going north to a part of the country we’ve never been. Northern Idaho and Montana is the destination and we packed up looking forward to some beautiful scenery and cool weather. Dixie and Scott just bought a ranch in Kooskia Idaho so that’s where we spent the first days of our trip. And since josh is also working from home and able to connect and work from anywhere, he decided to join us this year which is a special treat for us all! We have recently got into mountain biking and the kids love it. We found a bike rack to hold all our bikes and strapped that on to take with us too. Driving through northern Idaho was absolutely gorgeous. The big fields, open space and small towns were just charming and we enjoyed the whole 10 hour trip up. Dixie and Scott have a house right on the Clearwater River. You can see it across the river from the main road and they have a small private tram that we loaded into to ride over to the house. It was pretty late when we finally pulled into town so we all crashed on the floor as soon as we got there. 

The next morning we got up early and took a hike and explored their property. They have 100 acres and it is just gorgeous land up there. We loved the wild flowers, the mushrooms, the fallen trees and everything. We even found huge mushrooms growing on the trees that were big enough for the kids to sit on like a seat! And of course as soon as one of them tried it, they all wanted to sit on it too!

We got to the top of the hill that looked down into the gulley that includes their land and just looked at how beautiful it was and how lucky we felt to be there!

We also found snakes and squirrels and lots of other creatures that my kids thought were pretty awesome. At one point Milo their little dog had treed a squirrel and would not let that thing down for anything. That poor squirrel was scared out of his wits!

We spent our Sunday doing all things that seem fitting for the sabbath. We enjoyed the beautiful surroundings and loved being with family. We had a church service around the campfire and heard Nolan share some stories from his mission. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and had lots of yummy food. All in all it was a day full of memories for us!  

Monday morning we got up early and packed up to go. The kids took a couple last four wheeler rides and then back across the river we went in the tram. None of us wanted to leave and Desh said it best... “I’ll just stay here with aunt Dixie.”  Kooskia was a place to remember! Thanks to Dixie and scoot for letting us start out our road trip with you guys!

Beck end of school

Kindergarten is over for this boy!  Beck loved having Mrs. Hernandez this year and we are certainly going to miss her!  But Beck is so excited to be a 1st grader and be able to eat lunch at school with the other kids.  So proud of Mr. Beck and his hard work at school this year.

 

Keen end of school

Keen has loved being in Mrs. Butterfield's class this year!  She has been such a good, positive, fun teacher for him and she had nothing but good to say about this boy of mine.  2nd grade down for Mr. Keen!

 

Liev end of school

Liev is such a good boy and really has loved 3rd grade this year.  He works hard and tries to really do what he can to learn.  So proud of him and all his effort!

 

Rhen end of school

Rhen was excited to have this year over because she knows next year she's going to be the oldest in the school!  Goodbye 5th grade - hello 6th grade dominance!

She did amazing with her class this year and always has glowing reports from her teachers.  Keep it up Rhen!

 

Rease end of school

School from home has been a challenge to say the least.  We have all endured it, but are really looking forward to having a break from it all!  Rease finished up the year doing great and got the Most Outstanding Student award from one of her teachers.  That is a big accomplishment with all that has been going on!  So proud of her and completing her first year of middle school!

 

Desh turns 4!

Our caboose is getting older - Desh turned 4 today!  Time is a crazy thing and speeds up just when you don't want it to.  I wish I could freeze my kids right at this moment and keep them this way forever.  We are in such a sweet spot with all the kids and especially with this youngest of ours at the age he is.  I love him to pieces and enjoy every minute I get to watch him grow up!  4 years old - hard to imagine...

Desh loves monster trucks and I was not surprised when the request came in for a monster truck birthday cake.  He was so happy and chose one of the wheels for his very own as his piece of cake when we finally cut into it.  What a crazy kid and a crazy crew we had to celebrate his birthday!

 4 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Height: 3'8" - 98%

Weight: 45 lbs. 7 oz. - 96%

My favorite things about Desh at 4 years old:

1) Desh is a bit of a sweet talker.  He knows what to say and how to say it, and it usually gets him what he wants.  He is quick with a compliment especially to his mom (which I will never get tired of!) and is constantly saying, "Mom you are soooo beautiful" and "You are the bestest mom ever".  See what I mean?  Who could get tired of those kinds of compliments?  Love this boy for saying nice things to me!

2) Desh wants so badly to keep up with his older siblings, especially his brothers.  He wants to and can do most everything that they do.  If they're outside running and playing, he's right along side them.  If they want to play Pokemon, he gets his cards out to play too.  He wants to do everything himself, and rarely lets me help him get dresses, buckle up, put shoes on, etc.  He wants to prove to everyone that he is a BIG BOY.

3) Desh loves his cousin Kinley.  Those two have grown up together and been best friends right from birth.  They play so good together and get excited anytime they know that they get to see each other.  It is adorable to watch them take care of each other and truly love one another.  

Happy Birthday to our darling Desh and the best caboose we could have asked for!

Puppies

Grammie's dog had puppies again!  One white and one black this time.  Of course the kids are in love and beg daily for us to keep one of them.  How do we get through to them that we aren't getting a dog?  Will the begging ever stop?

 

Gospel Study

How do you teach your kids about the confusing timeline of chapters in the middle of Alma?  With this hand drawn chart of course! I think we unraveled who was who at least, even if the drawing isn't quite  what it could be if, oh I don't know, someone with any ounce of artistic talent drew it...

The kids got the point though and they did get a good laugh (and continue to laugh) at my drawing of the children and babies...

 

Night games

The kids have been so excited to be able to play night games and we finally did it this weekend! We got this fun group of friends together and played Fugitive at the Cove.  Melissa and I were the drivers trying to find these kids as they made their way from the start to the finish without getting caught.  It was a blast and we all had fun, even us drivers!

 

Hot dog roast

The weather is warming up and watermelons and brats recently re-appeared at Costco so that means only one thing...it's summer and time for a hot dog roast!  The kids got Josh a fire pit for Christmas and we busted it out today for its debut.  It was fun to be outside and enjoy the absolutely gorgeous weather we've been having.  This looks like it will be a common gathering place for us in the months to come!

 

Chad and Britt

So with all the shut downs and quarantines going on around the country, everything has shifted to online.  School is being done from home, most husbands can work from a home office, amazon is amazing at delivering everything we want and need, etc...So with that happening, we got a fun surprise this week.  Chad and Britt and their family decided to move here for the summer! Wahoo!  They figured that all they needed to do could be done from a home office in Utah just as well as a home office in Boston, so they packed up and headed west for the next 4 months.  We are sooo excited to have them here and look forward to the summer spent with cousins!  Welcome to Utah Losee fam!

 

Haircut

You know your boy needs a haircut when you can do this with it...

 

Spring flowers

I love this time of year when the blossoms are out and we can get our flowers planted.  It makes me happy to see everything getting green and beautiful again!