The Kandells: August 2009

Thursday, August 27, 2009

This past weekend, we went to Lava Hot Springs Idaho for my families Smoot Reunion. We had a lot of fun. Eric had never been there before and neither had our kids. It was such a great weekend. And so enjoyed our time with my fam.

The first day (Friday) wen went straight to the Lava Hot Springs pool, we swam, went on slides and Eric and my brothers (and cousins) jumped off the Olympic sized platforms. Ady was super brave and went down one of the BIG slides by herself, and technically she didnt even meet the height requirement ( we are talkin' 6 inches below it actually)

The night we had a cook out with the family at one of the cabins (everyone rented their own housing all around town) we also had a program where each family did skits. It was fun.

{me, Austin, Christa, Bree and Spence.. Brady and Natalie weren't there yet)

{Max found some mud}

And here is the delightful home we rented, for our family (as in my parents, siblings, me, Eric and the kids) it's actually in Bed and Breakfast you can just rent out the entire thing and have the whole house to yourself, which is what we did and it was perfect for us. SO roomy, and comfortable with a huge yard, firepit, volleyball and basketball court and nestled up in its own private area on the mountain and 7 nice bedrooms with comfy beds. We LOVED this place. We will for sure be going back.

Saturday night after, my dad, brothers and Eric tubed the river and got in the Hot Springs, we had a family volleyball game while my kids picked flowers in the field by the house.

Then we had a bonfire, roasted marshmellows

and Eric read scary stories that he googled on his phone.....pretty spooky.

Interesting Link

if you would like info on the non profit or could share our information with others, please send them to this link: National Advocates for Military Families

New Things.

Mostly I am writing this pictureless post to get rid of the yucky last post at the top of my page. My silly I photo has been acting strange so I have been unable to upload our latest happenings. But, hopefully I can soon. So instead of posting pics. I'll share some new things going on with each of us.

Eric - As if Eric has any spare time to do anything more than he already does. But, even with his full schedule, Eric has started a non profit charity benefitting families of deployed soldiers. Eric's entire mortgage business has been centered around helping Veterans with government loans. And now he has co-founded this charity to help military families. They are having a big charity golf game in September that he is really excited about. So setting that up and getting it all running has added some early morning hours to his work day. Also, Eric has been called to be a Priest advisor in out ward (his dream calling) he has always wanted to work with the YM. I know they will love him too.

Me - Back when we lived in Provo I was on the Ladies Auxilary Board at the Riverside Country Club, which I very much enjoyed. Well, after doing an event with a large department store (not allowed to give their name or I would, kinda weird but I cant until I sign my contract) they offered me a position to do similar events for their store and some others in neighboring states, it was a full time position, which I was absolutely flattered but uninterested. I don't really have any desire to work out of the home while my kids are young. Anyway a few months back they contacted me again about a "freelance event planning position" because of the economy they cannot afford to keep someone like this on staff full time and remembered that I didnt want that anyway. So, after going back and forth and me chatting with Eric about his feeling on the matter. I decided to sign on to do 6 events for them in 2010 (one every other month). It wont take too much time and almost everything I can do during nap time at my own home. Plus, I love throwing parties, so I actually can't believe I will be getting paid to do what I do for enjoyment around here all the time. So, as long as it dosen't keep me from the kids I am excited about having my own thing. The only down side is, I am doing everything in their name it's their event not Hailey Kandell's event, and they specifically forbade me from posting it on my blog as advertisement for myself. (even though I wouldn't use it as advertisement) But either way, I think it will be fun.

Adyson - Ady is getting so excited to start school again next week, she is going to do 3 days a week this year to prep her for going to Kindergarten next year yikes! Ady is still loving dance class and we may even add another class this fall to her schedule. Ady's most recent news, came when we took her to her yearly check up at the dentist. Now, if you know me you know, that no one has had more dentist visits than me. I recently had a cavity filled on the last tooth in my mouth that didn't already have a crown, root canal or cavity. And yes, i brush, floss and water pick. Apparently, I have the Smoot acidic saliva. Sorry for the TMI. Anyway, back to Ady. Well, she had 8, possibly 9 (one they couldn't get a good x-ray of) cavities in her little mouth, EVERY SINGLE MOLAR, needs work. SO, next week, she is going under at a local surgical center for 1 and a half to 2 hours of dental work. They recommend taking care of it this way so it can be one visit instead of 6 traumatic ones. I feel just awful for her. Needless to say we have been nazi cleaning her teeth 3 times a day since the appointment. Poor babe.

Max - I get a little flutter in my heart thinking about how big and old Max is getting. I absolutely love his age right now. Love it. If I could bottle up this age and sell it's absolute adorable-ness, I would and I would make a fortune. Everyone should have a Max. Max got the little ear surgery this past month where they drain your lymph nodes and put tubes in his ears. Poor kids had had about 16 ear infections since January. So. he's been so much happier since that happened. We are working on potty training now. I really think I could do it in 3 days if we could find 3 days to just stay home, the way I did it with Ady but life is too busy. Maybe when Ady starts back to school.

Anyway, we are having a great summer, and cannot believe it is almost over. It's almost our 5 years Anniversary (mine and Eric's) and we are taking a fun trip with the kids to celebrate. We are so excited.

Why we are for sure potty training.

My little sweet baby boy waking up from his nap.

Isn't he perfect? Darling, precious... angelic even?

Let's take a closer look....

And no that is not mud on his leg.... or hands......

Really? Yes, I really posted this.

Parenthood is not for the easily disgusted.

On the Lake

{Steve, Zach, Max and Eric}

Tonight we spent our family night, out with family on the lake. Eric's sister Lisa, her husband Steve and Easton and Zach joined us for a night of tubing, wakeboarding and relaxing on the boat.

This was actually our first time this summer taking out our boat. Summer has been flying by with so much going on, and we have really missed spending evening and Saturdays at the lake like last summer. Our kids were in heaven, so we better cram a lot of boating in over the next month. Max kept saying "it's fun mommy, it's fun"

How cute are all of these faces? Ady and Easton are 6 months apart and are both 4 this year. They love playing together and tonight they were having a blast, tubing together and playing in the front of the boat.

{Ady and Easton}

The dad's were so great to take the kids out on the tubes, especially since I rarely drive the boat so my rides can be a bit jerky. Zach and Max went out first to chow the older siblings it was safe. They kept waving at us and laughing.

Yes, my 2 year old son is holding a diet coke in the above picture, trust me he got it from his dad, his mother dosen't even drink caffeine.

More cousin love...

{Zach and Max}

Max and Zach are starting to be good buddies too, the both turned 2 this year and are just 3 weeks apart. It took them awhile to learn to play nicely together but now that they finally do, it's fun to see them together.