Moving and Growing and Moving Some More

Needless to say, it has been quite some time.  I don't plan on filling you in on every missed happening (sigh of relief), but I will inform you on the biggest events of the passed two and a half years.  

We waved goodbye to our friends and family in Blackfoot in the middle of June last year.  We moved to Swan Falls, ID, as Jake took a training position with Idaho Power as a Generation Specialist at the hydroelectric power plant there.  If you've never heard of Swan Falls, it's because the population was 8, then changed to 13 when we moved there.  It was a thriving 19 just before we moved.

We were actually a Kuna address there, but lived 20 miles south of Kuna's city limits.  We had to drive in to Kuna for school to drop off the kids in the morning, then again in the afternoon to pick them up.  We went between 15 and 20 miles northwest to Melba for church.  Grocery shopping was 30 miles (another 10 miles from Kuna) away in Meridian.  We got used to being in the car...not saying it was always a happy experience, but we got used to it, tears and all.:)

Shortly after moving to Kuna we discovered we were expecting baby number four.  Kalli Deana Stevenson was born March 9, 2013.  She weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs. 6 oz.  She has been growing extremely fast (too fast for my liking!), and is still getting cuter by the minute.  She has a precious smile with a cute little dimple.  She loves to stick out her very long, skinny tongue when she smiles great big.  She was born with just as much hair as the rest of them, but hers has stuck straight up since day one.  Many of you may not know that Cooper's hair stands straight up too, but he grew into that about a year down the road.  
Kalli's hair is finally starting to tame itself a bit...three and a half months later.:)

After one amazing year at Swan Falls (I'm not even being sarcastic.  We grew to LOVE it there...many life long friends were made in a very short time!) we were transferred to CJ Strike, about 15 to 20 miles south of Mountain Home.  I know, another middle-of-nowhere kind of place, but at least church is a mere 5 minutes away and school is only about 15 minutes away.  There's even a bus stop here!!  So, it's just the groceries and doctors we must travel for.

We're hoping for a more permanent position/location in the next year or two, but until then we will continue to get a little taste of these different areas across Southern Idaho.  I don't mind the extreme rural country life as much as I thought I would, and as for Jake, it's his dream come true.  Hunting and fishing out the back door with lots of quiet, wide open spaces.

The kids seem to be adjusting quite well to yet another move.  They have enjoyed living next to the water.  They love going for tube rides behind the boat and playing at the parks that are next to the dams.  

Carter, who turned 7 in March, is happy as long as he is outside riding his bike (mastering popping wheelies and riding with no hands), climbing trees (and I'm not talking just your ordinary 10 or even 15 foot trees, the kid gives me a panic attack every minute of the day) or playing in the water.  That child does not have much down time--way too much energy to burn for that!   

Emily, who is almost 6 and who has been "almost 6" since March...her birthday is in August, is a little social butterfly.  She sometimes takes a bit to warm up, but once she's warm, she's warm.  She LOVES to talk.  She is completely happy as long as she has someone to play with that is willing to follow her rules and doesn't care how many rules there are or continue to be.  Yeah, she's not completely happy very often.  Just kidding.;). Emily also loves anything girly: painting nails, dressing up, wearing make-up, shopping for new clothes...you get the idea!

Cooper is such a happy little guy.  He is smiling nearly all the time.  His grin is super contagious, and it gets him out of trouble quite often.  It's pretty hard to get mad at that face!  He spends a LOT of time riding his strider bike (a bike with no pedals) and is amazingly good and fast on that little thing.  He is still a mama's boy and loves to have some down time to snuggle with me.  I love it too!

I love all four of my kiddos and my hubby and love living through all of these adventures together!  I am trying to focus on enjoying the here and now, especially as our time in each location is limited!  Life is good!

I know a post without pics is not NEARLY as exciting!  But because we have not hooked up our computer since our recent move, you'll have to do with the boring words.  I'm not as techno savvy as I would like to be and am having troubles with the iPad tonight...so, no pics this time:)