Merry Christmas

What a glorious time of year to reflect upon the blessings we have been given.

The biggest adjustment this year was a job change for TJ.  He wasn’t looking to leave 6^th grade Science, but an opportunity came to try something different.  He is now the Instructional Coach in Technology for Twin Falls School District.  He is teaching staff at all schools how to better use technology in their classrooms.  He has helped setup laptops and tablets that have been received through grants for various teachers and schools.  It’s different, but he seems to be enjoying the change.  He also started his Master’s in Curriculum Instruction online through Western Governors University.  Having less stress in the classroom has been a big plus in working on his masters; now if our kids could just be quiet for him.  He continues to coach First Lego League Robotics team at O’Leary Middle School.

I keep busy trying to keep up with our three hooligans.  I have continued serving on Twin Falls Parks & Recreation Commission, one of our projects was to open a dog park this year.  TJ and I continue to serve at church and love working on family history when we have time.

We started the summer off with Cohen breaking his left wrist after falling off a trampoline. YEAH!  He was a trooper; he knew the drill from last summer having his right arm in a cast.

We had a very busy and fun summer. In June, the kids & I, along with Grammy did a 3600 mile road trip to visit my brother, Trevan and family in Wisconsin (they come down from Alaska to visit the MIL each summer).  On our 11 day adventure, we visited 8 states.  It was fun going to many different museums in Wyoming & Wisconsin and the SPAM museum in Minnesota, seeing some LDS Church history sites in Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois, going to Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands & Wall Drug in South Dakota and seeing buffalo and bears near Jackson, Wyoming. All things considered, we did great, but were very ready to be home. 

About a week later in July, we traveled over to Oregon to visit with TJ’s family.  It was fun to be there and support his brother, Mike, in a triathlon.  His brother, Bryan, came with us on our day adventure into Portland.  We went to OMSI, Powell’s Books and Portland Children’s Museum.  It was fun to ride the rails and bus around town.  We also spent the day with Grandma over at the coast.  We visited the Oregon Coast Museum and spent time on the beach.  TJ and I stayed the night in Lincoln City to celebrate our anniversary.

In August, my Dad came to help us fix the siding and paint the outside of the house.  The weather did not cooperate, we can record breaking rain that week, but we managed.  The kids & I also headed up to Cascade, Idaho to campout with Grammy for a few days before school started.  We got to swim in the lake and the river and explore McCall.

It has been fun having my niece, Aly at Idaho State University in Pocatello.  She was able to spend Easter with us this spring and then again for Thanksgiving.  It was wonderful meeting her boyfriend and having Grammy & Grandpa for dinner as well.

On some of our long weekends, the kids & I head over to Meridian to visit with Grammy & Grandpa.  With a quiet house, TJ is able to work on his Masters a little better.  In November, my aunt & twin uncles brought Grandpa Bray over from Eugene for a visit.  It was a great surprise to see all of them.

Cohen was so excited to start school this year. He is starting to read and loves writing letters trying to spell words. TJ has enjoyed being able to pop his head into Cohen’s class every once in a while.  Cohen enjoyed learning soccer and basketball this fall.

Raiden is quite the 3 year old; very stubborn and insistent to do things on his timeframe.  I can’t wait for his sweet personality to come back.  He loves trucks, trains and mud; he is all boy.  
Molly is the sweetest and best little girl.  It has been fun watching her explore and figure things out this past year, from standing to walking to running.  She loves cuddling and reading books, but also enjoys wrestling with the brothers and she LOVES technology, even more so than Raiden.

May you feel the spirit of Christmas in your hearts and homes is our wish for you and may you also have a wonderful new year.

Love,   The Adams

Happy 1st Birthday

We got back from our trip just in time to celebrate Molly's first birthday.  What a joy she has been. 
She loved her train from Grammy.

Summer Travels to Wisconsin

It had been 7 years since I had seen my brother and his family, so when my mom suggested we all drive out to visit them while on their summer break in Wisconsin, I thought "sure, why not?"  Holy cow, it's a LONG drive.  It was the kids and I along with my mom.  We decided to see some sites to and from our visit in Wisconsin.  It was a great trip with lots of memory makers.  The kids did remarkably well for the 12 days we were gone.  Raiden had the hardest time with the long days and driving, but he's 3.  What do you expect?

We headed down to Roy, Utah to visit Tracey Scadden and her folks Carol & Gene Horne who were visiting her.  It was fun to see them.  Carol is my middle name sake and long time best friend of my mom.  We headed to the park to let the kids burn off some energy.

We made a nice break in Cheyenne, Wyoming and visited two museums.  It's a really pretty city.  We were glad to have stop there and get a picture by a couple of the big boots.

During the second day, I got to feeling really achy, but felt better the next day.  While my mom got worse on the next day and ended up throwing up a few times.  She persevered and we made it to the Winter Quarters Temple and visitors center in Omaha, Nebraska.  Some college friends are attending Dental School there, so they watched the kids for us.  We also saw the Kanesville Tabernacle in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

 Due to the sickness, we got a later start the next morning and also got caught in a severe lightning and rain storm.  So glad there was a red truck in front of me because I could barley see through the heavy and fast rain.  We made it to Nauvoo, Illinois.  We got to attend the Nauvoo Temple, see a few plays, take a wagon tour and walk around Nauvoo.  It was a wonderful experience to see and hear about the early pioneers and what they went through.  I even have a distant relative who owned a bakery in Nauvoo before traveling out west to Salt Lake City.

We also saw Carthage Jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred. Love this picture of the brothers.

 We finally made it to Sussex, Wisconsin.  It was wonderful to get to know my nieces, Alexi and Marin.  We had fun swimming in the pond, riding horses, having a birthday party for Marin and Raiden and going to the museums in Milwaukee.

On our way home, we went through Minnesota and stopped at the SPAM Museum.  What a hoot.

 

It was fun to see the Badlands National Park in South Dakota and have lunch at Wall Drug.  The doughnuts were delicious.

On our way up to Mt Rushmore, we came across a new building that looked like Independence Hall, in fact it was a replica with a really neat life size display of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  We were glad we stopped. 

 What an awesome experience for the kids to see Mt. Rushmore.  The Air Force Drill Team was there doing some drills.  Cohen was really impressed with the spinning guns.  One of them even signed his cast.

 

  The last day of the trip we had lunch in Jackson, Wyoming.  We got to see a mama bear and cub as well as some buffalo.

 

 

We were all anxious to get home and rest.  Mom hurried home so she could unpack and repack for her next adventure 4 wheeling in the Idaho mountains a few days later.

Summer time Activities

He did it again

RAAAWWRRR!  Cohen did it again; he broke is arm.  This time it's his left wrist.  Another cast yet again for part of the summer.  We were over at a friends house celebrating his recent graduation becoming a nurse practitioner.  All the kids were having a grand time playing on the swing set and trampoline.  Cohen decided to get off the trampoline while other kids were still jumping and he got bounced off before he could go down the steps they have to climb up and down.  He landed on his arm on the grass.  The way he was crying, I could tell it was broke.  We went in the next morning to quick care and sure enough.  6 weeks in a cast, and we are leaving for a trip in two weeks.  Not what we needed.  Oh well, we will try to make the best of it.