Where the wild things are......

If you find yourself walking through our neighborhood on a typical summer day....you might come across some unfamiliar sounds. Strange sounds of one kind or another coming from the backyard of the Starnes home.

You see, this is the meeting place for all monsters who love to roar their terrible roars, gnash their terrible teeth roll their terrible eyes and show their terrible claws.

The wild things love to be at our home all day and all night until the big mother monster shouts...BE STILL!!!

The noise, the messes, the food consumption...it goes hand in hand with friends loving to be at our house all the time. REALLY though.....I'm glad they like to be here. ☺

Rexburg Rapids!

I was over the moon thrilled to hear the Rexburg was getting a WATER PARK a few months back! I still don't quite understand why Pocatello has one and now Rexburg yet Idaho Falls doesn't. O well...I'm was thrilled anyway.

I decided to take the boys today since the weather was BEAUTIFUL and Nate is gone at Scout Camp for a few days. We needed something to fill up our day and wear these boys out! Today was the 2nd day in operation. I thought it would be overwhelmingly packed but I was pleasantly surprised. We got there right at open and it didn't start getting crowded until a good 2 hours into our stay. The boys and I had a great time. I was even interviewed by the Rexburg mayor, city counsel members AND the designer of the water park! They wanted to make sure I had a fun enough time to come back in the future! We did...and we LOVE how much closer it is then the one in Pokey.

These are the pictures I scroll through for my sanity during those long winter months! We're soaking up EVERY MINUTE of summer sun we can!

17 days of kindness

Age is a matter of feeling.....not of years.

I've been thinking a lot today about the big 3-0 coming up right around the corner. I have 17 days left in my 20's. Whoa. 30. 30 isn't old if you're a tree.☺ I have vague memories of being at my own father's 30th birthday.....strange but true.

Part of me wants to CRY and part of me wants to CELEBRATE! After all this is a milestone birthday!  While blog surfing about the topic of turning OLD...I mean 30, I came across one that gave me a great idea. I wish I had thought about it a little earlier and since I'm not a complete month out I am going to get started tomorrow. Instead of "30 days of kindness" I'll call it "17 days to do 30 random acts of kindness". Yeah the title stinks but I'm excited nonetheless.  Each day I want to give to someone else.....do something to lighten someones load even if it is just a smile.

Tomorrow it starts. As I check off my list I will come back and cross off the items I complete (in no particular order!) Bring it on 30! I figure if I stay busy focusing on some easy and fun goals I won't spend too much time dwelling on all of the things I DIDN'T accomplish by the time I turned 30!

Here I go!

1. compliment someone's hair √

2. listen. really listen.√

3. share a smile & a warm hello√

4. bake a treat and give it to a neighbor√

5. call someone you've been thinking about√

6. be patient√

7. be sincere when you ask "how are you?"√

8. donate some money√


9. leave a generous tip√
 
10. leave a treasure on a stranger's doorstep√

11. avoid judging others√

12. surprise someone√

13. give someone a hug√

14. deliver flowers to someone special√
15. send happy mail√

16. say I love you√

17. reach out to an old friend√

18. make someone laugh√

19. anonymously pay for a stranger’s meal √
20.make a yummy breakfast for your loves√

21. cheer up the sad/sick √

22. make a new friend√

23. send a thank you card√

24. make someone's bed√

25. read to a child (as long as they want)√

26. leave a secret note for your love√

27.be on time√

28. write a letter to a friend √

29. tell a loved one you're thankful for them√

30. hold the door for someone√

Activity Days

I ♥ my calling working with the 8 and 9 year old girls in our ward. We did a really fun activity last week so I thought I'd do a recap for anyone who cares. (I guess this one is for you Angie!) We decided to do a daddy/daughter drive in movie night! The girls had to work on a cardboard box CAR with their dads and bring it to the church that evening. We were having a DRIVE IN MOVIE NIGHT!

We started out playing all sorts of silly games. We had a jump rope, hula hoop and blindfolded coloring contest! Then we had the girls "drive" by in their cars and we gave them awards for "fasted looking" "biggest gas guzzler" things like that.

 After awards everyone could head over to the CONCESSION counter and order up some hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, red vines, and other movie treats!

 Then everyone had to park in their stalls to enjoy the feature presentation TANGLED!

Love these cute girls!

The busy, crazy, strange, fun, scary, and FANTASTIC day.

Yesterday was so WEIRD. It seems we endured every kind of emotion and every type of weather all crammed into an 18 hour time span. It started out as an absolutely beautiful and perfect summer morning. I dropped Dallin off for scout day camp and took the other kids to my Zumba class. Everyone was teasing me relentlessly since I haven't been there in over 2 weeks. I'm glad they missed me. It makes it easier to get up in the morning now that classes are outside and much EARLIER than I would prefer.

After Zumba we did the baseball thing:

Then we had lunch and played with friends at the park which was really fun. I've organized a playgroup for the summer and was happy that 4 other moms joined us. The sprinklers turned on while we were there so I came home with some very WET boys to say the least!

After playgroup it was still only 3:30 and HOTTER than hot outside. (NOT that I am complaining...I've been waiting for this heat since last November!) As soon as Dallin arrived back at home I thought, hey...lets just head up to Rexburg and play in the splash park for a couple of hours. Nate wasn't going to be home until 8 at least since Wednesdays are his group ride nights. We headed up to Rexburg and met up with Uncle Yamo and Aunt Sierra. We played in the water and rode the carousel for an hour or so.

Then suddenly out of NOWHERE rolled in this ginormous black cloud and it started to rain and hail. The wind was blowing, the thunder booming and lightning flashing all over the place. It was surreal.

We jumped in the car and headed home in the storm. I could see the lightning reaching all the way down to the ground and suddenly remembered Nate was out on his bike in this crazy storm. I tried calling him a few times but he didn't answer. I started panicking. Where was he? Is he struck by lightning and dead somewhere on the side of the road? Did he forget his phone?  Did someone veer off the road due to all of the rain and smack him? Yeah.....my mind does that. Worst case scenario, I go there. About an hour later I got a call from Nate...."Hey, will you come pick me up? I'm over by Shelley." I was SO relieved! When I picked him up I gave him an ear full. Yeah, instead of being loving and kind I pretty much ripped him a new face because he SCARED me to death. They yelling, the screaming, it was all done in love. ☺

Later that night Nate bought me my 30th birthday present. If you want to know what it is then you'll just have to wait until my birthday to find out. Needless to say I am SO over the moon excited that I could hardly sleep! SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

What a day!

Staying busy...staying sane.

At first I thought we were out of our minds deciding to shut the cable down for the summer. After a few weeks though I am noticing that we hardly miss it. With all of the sports we have going on and all of the running around that we do every day it is nice to look around and see THIS when we have some down time:

 The boys were setting up their own "mini golf course" in the front room this morning. They even added a small water feature.....or a bowl they added green food coloring too an sprinkled a little paprika in it as well. Creative or strange....I'm not sure. ☺

No cable in the summer.....a surprisingly good thing! ☺

Back to the sports we've been so busy with. The oldest 2 boys had tennis lessons right before we left to go out of town. Parker and Dallin love to play tennis which is a good thing since it seems like EVERYONE plays here in Idaho Falls. I like that Dallin has a nice NO CONTACT sport that he enjoys and excels at. ☺

Landon and Parker have been playing baseball as well. Thank heavens Dallin decided to "retire" from baseball this year. It would have been too much having 3 going at once!

Please pardon the proud mommy moment but Mr. Parker is the ONLY 6 year old on a team of 8 year olds and one 11 year old. He hits better than most of them and yes...I am that strange mom in the stands BEAMING! He refused to play another year of t-ball and I don't blame him at all. After 3 years of t-ball he was more than ready to move up to machine pitch. It is SO much fun watching this teeny tiny guy step up to the plate and knock one to center field! It makes watching baseball a LOT more enjoyable for me anyway. Sidenote: Parker plays for the Braves which is fun to cheer for since that was my high school mascot. Yelling "Let's go Braves!" Yeah...it takes me back to the ol cheer days.

Mr. Landon plays for the Lightening Bolts. Is there anything cuter than watching a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds playing t-ball? I think not! Kids running the bases backwards, chasing butterflies, laying down in the outfield. Love it.

We've been so busy so far this summer. It's a good thing since I feel like I still don't have any really close friends here in Idaho Falls. It's just different here and even though I try so hard to make the best of things sometimes it gets kind of lonely. In Boise I had my family and friends who were ALWAYS going and doing fun things and here I feel like everyone kind of keeps to themselves. Whenever I think, "we should go to a movie, or the zoo or meet up for lunch" I can think of a dozen people I could call up in Boise but not so much here. It's a little disheartening since we have been here over a year now. I kept thinking that things would get better but I'm realizing now that it just is what it is. It makes me so grateful for my own little family....for my boys who are best friends with each other and for my sweet husband who puts up with my whining. It also makes me so grateful for my good friends who call me on a weekly basis to check up on me. So for now....we'll just keep playing hard and staying busy. Just me and my boys.

Alright...enough ranting! Positive thinking.....positive thinking. ☺

LP 2011

Lake Powell was so great this year. We had a smaller crowd which made it a little more laid back and quiet. I was able to read a couple of books and everyone could ski, tube, board, chair, surf, or skim to their hearts content! It was relaxing and enjoyable....or course there are always those very TENSE Lake Powell moments that go hand in hand with every Lake Powell adventure.

TENSE MOMENTS:
-A bat flew into the kitchen one night...my brother and his friends were screaming like a bunch of girls....no worries though, Staci stepped up to the plate with net in hand and removed the tiny bat without delay.
-Another night at about midnight and huge breeze came up from no where and blew the entire houseboat off of the beach, tangled the ropes in the motors and suddenly we found ourselves with the engines in the sand and the front of the houseboat was where the back was SUPPOSED to be! It was very intense and the adrenaline was pumping. Luckily within an hour and a half we got everything straightened out. It was crazy! --On our way back to the marina to leave the small boat (that my dad rented because he didn't want to take HIS wakeboarding boat down to Powell) wouldn't go into gear. We were out floating in the channel for 2 hours while the guys fixed the engine. It's a really good thing my dad can fix ANYTHING. He is incredible.
-Landon tripped on a rock and smacked the back of his head. Blood was everywhere but he survived without stitches.

PROUD MOMENTS:
My tiny Parker boy got up on skis the first time he tried and got up on a wakeboard on his 3rd attempt! This mama was SCREAMING her head off! It was AMAZING! When this kid gets his mind wrapped around something nothing will get in his way! I'd post the video but my out of control screaming is quite embarassing.

Both Parker and Dallin swam and climbed the crack this year!

They also climbed the famous "Hole in the Rock" where the pioneers came down with their handcarts and oxen. It's a 3/4 mile and not one person died. Pretty amazing.

My brother finally landed his back flip he has been working on for some time. He has been able to throw tantrums for years but the back flip has eluded him until now! He is so much fun to watch!

I officially became the very FIRST FEMALE ever initiated at Lake Powell. This is HUGE people!

And I actually surfed without the rope this trip! Oh so fun! I had to make my California husband back at home proud!

We caught or first large mouth bass EVER at Lake Powell!

And of course there were MANY fun fun times. We went scorpion hunting, cliff jumping, boat riding, had our Hawaiian party night, played the 3rd annual Red Rock challenge, swam, and skied and boarded until the sun came down! We had or usual initiation night and the boys were thrilled to finally become OFFICIALLY initiated!

25 years of Lake Powell...it's hard to believe. We've been coming here since I was a tiny girl and some of my all time favorite memories have been on this lake. I love that my children get to have those same memories. It was a great trip! I missed my husband but at the same time I didn't want to come home! Nothing better than being in a beautiful place with the people you love! ☺