The Great House Hunt

On Tony's days off we drove up to Spokane to look for a place to live. We were confident we would find the perfect place on the South Hill, preferrably walking distance to his new store. We mapped out over twenty South Hill houses to look at. As the day progressed we were less and less confident we would find what we needed. All of the houses in our price range had definate "deal breakers" such as, on a busy street, too old, too small, sketchy neighborhood, ect. ect. ect. We were just about to give up for the day, but Tony had one last place to look at. It just so happened to be in the small town just outside of Spokane where Tony's best friend lives. We looked at the house and instantly knew it was right for our family. AND it was well UNDER our budgeted price. I can live with that!! It has a nice yard for the kids, a new oven for me, and my favorite feature is the large bay window complete with window seat. I instantly pictured my two kids sitting there reading thier library books that they got on our short two block walk to the library. The other major bonus was living so close to great friends. We signed all the paper work the next day, and got our keys. The place is ours. I am really excited and so relieved to know where we are going to be living. Tony has a 20 minute commute into the big city, and we get to live in a small lake side community, population 5,000, with a beautiful walking trail around the lake, great schools and parks, AND adult sports leagues complete with fall softball. woot woot. :o) Life is great right now.

We're MOVING! :o)

Tony was promoted at work and now we are moving to Spokane Washington where he will be the Assistant Manager of the Huckleberries Natural Market. He has worked his way up from the bottom and we are all so very proud of him. Rosauers is planning to build another Natural Market, and Tony will be training to be the Manager of that store. They could build anywhere from Seattle to Bozemon. We are all looking forward to the future and all the possibilities it holds. On Monday we are going to Spokane to look at houses. It is going to be great to live in Spokane for a while because we have a lot of family and friends there. Not to mention all the sporting events, shopping, parks, museums, concerts, ect. The kids have been entertaining themselves with empty boxes. :o)

The road home....

We took 10 days vacation and spent it in Pocatello hanging out with family and friends. We had two very important events to attend. Bryce's farewell, and Dave Fowlers wedding. Dave is like family to both Tony and I, and Tony was honored to serve as his best man.
Tony and Doug threw Dave a bachelor party that included shooting lots of guns all day, then a BBQ and they watched the UFC fight. The boys had a great time, and I must say the ladies had some fun ourselves. I was able to attend the bachelorette party thanks to aunt Kati!! :o)




Tony's youngest brother Bryce is leaving on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He is going to Brazil and will be gone for two years. He is such a great kid and we know he will succeed in whatever he puts his mind to. Addi adores her uncle Bryce. Once she got mad at her daddy and said she liked her uncle Bryce's football team better. She later recalled that statement and said she was just upset. Bryce has just recently started combing his hair on a regular basis, a sure sign that he is growing up ;o) So whenever Addi sees someone with thier hair sticking up she always says, "Wow, check out that Bryce!" Addi calls Mountain Dew, "Bryce" because she has known her uncle to love the stuff. As a disclaimer I believe he has since kicked the habit. :o) Anyways, we all love him and we were happy to be there for him on his big day. The entire Shaffer family was in church, and let me tell you it was stressful trying to keep my kids quiet. I will try it again in two years when he comes back.



We went to a cool little swimming hole near Blackfoot and chilled with some good friends. Addi named it "The Muddy Place". Tony, Gordy and Ben swam across to the other side and tested out the rope swing. Tony slightly injured himself on that little adventure, but as the week went on he continually hurt himself doing various random acts of manual labor including, working with his step dad, getting wood for his dad and grandpa, and all the wedding prep. Now that we are home from this vacation he is so beat up and exhausted that he needs a vacation from his vacation. It was all well worth it though.




We all went bowling with Tony's youngest brother Bryce one last time before he left for his mission. Addi was a ham. There was a group of little boys next to us and Addi befriended them and had them all cheering for her in no time. It is difficult to have a baby Kaden's age at a bowling alley. Of course everytime we put him down he tried to run down the lanes. So he needed to be held the entire time. I did my best to give him the bowling experience by bowling with him. Three games. It was a great workout. Tony beat everyone. (as usual) Bowling is not my game.







Took the kids and my niece and nephew to Ross Park for the afternoon. I was sad to hear that my favorite bear had passed away. The Pocatello Zoo has only animals from the northwest (all of which can be seen on a single trip to Grandma and Papa's in Montana) so I didn't find it very exciting, but the kids had fun. We went to the pet store afterwards and I made sure to fill my niece and nephew full of Happy Meals, candy and soda before sending them home! :o)












The greatest lunch EVER!!!

A trip to Grandma Shaffers house! :o)





I took the kids to Tautphaus Park Zoo with my best friend Shannon. It was so much fun, and such a cool little zoo. My parents took me there a couple of times every year while I was growing up and I think I was more excited then the kids to be there.




















Grandma Cindy watched the kids so we could go to the rehersal dinner. It was nice to be with great friends.




Another Day at the "Muddy Place". Gordy caught a few frogs and the kids had a ball playing with them. Poor little froggies.








The boys did so much hard work getting everything ready for the wedding. Mowing and trimming, setting things up, oh yeah, and roasting a pig!! :o) What a process it was. They dug a large pit, then filled it wood and lava rocks they had collected. Started a big fire and heated the rocks for a several hours. They stuffed the pig with pineapples, onions, peppers, and garlic, then coated it with a nice olive oil and dry rub. They wrapped it up well, then put it in the pit with the hot rocks on top. It slow cooked until the wedding the next day. And let me tell you, it was delicious!!! Addi was concerned that they were cooking a pig, because they are her friends and all, but she said she didn't mind eating chicken. We told her it was a Chicken Pig and she seemed fine with that. She enjoyed watching the process.







I was thrilled to take my kids to the Chubbuck Days Parade while we were down. I was raised in Chubbuck and had the best childhood there.


Lexi, Presley, and Addi



Brandi and Dave's wedding was at the Lish cabin up in the hills above Inkom. It was beautiful, and knowing how much Dave loves it there, I would definately say he got the wedding of his dreams. They are a great couple and we were honored to be there to celebrate such a special day.















This time we took the Montana route home and we stopped in Missoula at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Visiters Center. It was fun for the whole family.