Idaho

We usually go to Yellowstone with my Aunt and Uncle once a year.  This year we did another camping trip.  We stayed just outside of Yellowstone at Cave Falls.  We did hike in Yellowstone but didn't camp there so we didn't see as much wildlife as we usually do.  Although, the kids were perfectly happy with seeing all the chipmunks.  The older boys left on a Monday to stay with Lloyd and Colleen and then the rest of us met up with them Thurs evening at camp.

On Friday we went on a hike and as we hiked Lloyd, my cousin Kirk, Diego and Alessandro would stop to fish every now and then.  It wasn't a very difficult hike, but it took time and it definitely wore the little ones out.  (which isn't really a bad thing)  :)  The biggest highlight of the hike was finding huckleberries and eating them.  They were so good and the kids became experts at finding them.  So we took lots of "breaks" to eat the huckleberries whenever they were spotted.  I think they will always remember that.  It was fun to see. 

 Finding huckleberries  mmm

 

 As the boys took a break to fish, in order to keep the younger ones content I let Luca have the camera and he had a blast taking pictures of Mia and me.  He'd tell us what kind of faces to make and snap away  Here are just a few he took.  I won't bore you with them all.  ;) 

 Lloyd loves to take pictures of insects, butterflies, flowers, etc and Diego has learned that he enjoys it also.  On his camera you will often find these kind of pictures.  Some are really quite good for the cheap old camera he uses. 

On Saturday we played in the river that we camped by and some of us went tubing down it a ways. (Colleen bar far being the most daring.  hahaha)  The water felt like ice so I had no desire to go in and neither did Mia once she touched it.  But all the boys did and they had a blast.  After playing for most of the day we packed up and went to Lloyd and Colleens for the evening. 

 Mia refusing to stand in the water with me

She even cried when we forced her to go in the boat 

 But then she realized it wasn't so bad.  :)

 Kirk and Colleen trying to boat down...didn't work too well.  hahaha

It is always a good time and we are so grateful to have family close that is willing to put up with us non-campers who try to be.  :) 

We love Wisconsin

In July we were lucky enough to make the trip back to the Midwest for our Nettesheim family reunion that happens every three years.  It was so much fun.  It always feels good to get back to Wisconsin.  Although, I have to say, I usually love all the green there, but this year because of a drought I was shocked to see how brown the grass was.  Still, though, it's a beautiful state. 

We started our long drive on July 3rd and it was relatively uneventful (thank goodness!!)  No carsickness this time which is great!!  But our AC did stop working which was absolutely unbearable at times.  We were driving through 100 degree humid weather with no AC.  I was dying in the front, I can't imagine how bad it got in the back for the kids.  Luckily though, after suffering for a long time, we realized every time we filled up with gas it would start working again.  But then stop about 2 hours later.  So we ended up stopping and filling the car more than we would have liked, but it was worth it to keep the temperature comfortable in the car.  It was the strangest thing.

We arrived at my brother Rick's house on the 4th and went to see some fireworks.  But a little fire started and they cancelled them right in the middle.  So it wasn't the longest fire show we've been to, but the kids still had a good time. 

Look at how red Mia's face was!!  She wasn't even running around, that is just how hot it was.  haha

The next day we went to a Brewers game!!  Woohoo!  I haven't been to one of those since I was a kid, so it was a lot of fun.  Besides the heat, it was great.  I don't think my kids have ever sweated so much in their lives.  Mia was beside herself that her back and bum and pretty much everything on her was wet from sweat.  It was soo hot and humid those few days we were at Ricks house!!  Anyway, my older boys made it on the mega tron two times and thought that was the coolest thing ever!!  The first time it was a close up of Alessandro and Diego sitting back in their chairs with wet towels on their heads while watching the game.  The second time was of them and some cousins cheering.  It was pretty cool to see. 

 After the boys were on the big screen the first time, Udine grabbed the camera and was ready to take a picture in case they got on again.  He captured it.  :)

And of course we just had to go to Kopps Custard.  Mmm mmm good!!  And I am not ashamed at all to say we went there three days in a row.  It was soooo good.  It is honestly the best custard I have ever had.  Loved it.  I wish I didn't have to wait three more years to get some more!!!

 Mia, Luca, Cali Rose

Packer, Benji, Phoenix, Diego, Alessandro, Marek

After spending time at Rick's house and hanging with the fam,we headed to Door County WI to stay at the Rushes.  I will post pictures about that in my next post though because I'm sure I'll have lots of pics to add.  :)

Clear Creek

Last week Diego went to an outdoors camp called Clear Creek that is through the school district.  He was gone Mon-Fri and he had a blast.  Luckily he got to go with his cousin Cody and three other close friends, so I think that helped keep the homesickness at bay.  :)  Udine dropped him off Monday morning and said he (Udine) was kinda sad but Diego just took off with his buddies and was happy to go.  I guess that is a good thing even if it is hard for a parent.  :)  They made traps to catch potguts while they were there.  Diego didn't catch any but had fun seeing his friends catch them.  He learned about all kinds of different plants and just enjoyed being outdoors.  He went for one night during the school year and he said there was a dead deer there and when they went back this last week it was still there but only bones.  So he grabbed some of the bones, washed them off and brought them home.  eeww  He said someone got the jaw which was really cool.  Sounds gross to me, but it was one of his highlights.  hahaha  I'm really glad he had the chance to go and even happier he had Cody there with him.  There is just some comfort in knowing he is away with family.  Here are some pictures he took while there.

Cody and Diego in front of their cabin

They bunked next to eachother

No potgut but cool trap  :) 

One of the potguts Cody caught 

In the jail walked through

His new friend Will that he met there

Caterpillar he thought was awesome 

Snake bones he thought were cool 

The friends he went with:  Cody, Tyler, Jackson and Derek

Cool picture of the flag 

It's official...

We are homeless.  Well, not really homeless, but as of yesterday we are no longer home owners.  :(  I have actually wanted to move for years but we could never find an affordable house in the area we wanted so nothing has happened.  Then a few months ago I found out about this new subdivision going in right across the street from the kids school.  It was the perfect location for us...on flat ground (no hills!!!), just a mile away from where we currently lived so the kids wouldn't have to change schools or anything and it's even closer to family (not that we were far from family, but this is within walking/biking distance and since there are no huge hills, no busy streets to cross, the kids can do it).  Anyway, we looked into it and found that we wanted to jump on this opportunity so we reserved a lot in a cul-de-sac.  And to make it even better, my brother Ben reserved a lot right next door to ours!!  Woohoo!!  Anyway, they told us that they should be ready to build come July and that's when we'd sign contracts and be locked in for good, up until then we could decide to back out.  So in May we decided to get the house ready to go on the market since we needed our current one to sell in order for us to do this.  The house was on the market for less than 3 weeks and we got an offer.  And it was a good offer, exactly what we were hoping to get out of the house.  So we accepted and they wanted to move in at the end of 3 weeks.  So it has been a whirlwind since then.  Yesterday we signed and it is officially not ours anymore.  My brother Matt and his wife Jamie are being more than kind to let us stay in their basement until our house is built.  We owe them big time!!!  We had no idea the house would sell so quickly, so I feel bad for Matt and Jamie that they have to put up with us that much longer, but we are eternally grateful to them.  I feel so blessed that it did sell and that we have somewhere to go in the mean time.  We just found out yesterday that they are behind schedule in the new subdivision, so it looks like building won't start until August not July.  (Sigh)  It is a strange feeling not to have a place to call our own and it was a little sad to leave.  We were there for 8 years and have a lot of memories in that little home with our little family.  But with that said, I am soo excited to move on.  I already have noticed that my kids LOVE doing things outside here like biking!  woohoo!!  It is so great to see them get out and do it.  That is something they couldn't do at our old house, hence, one of the many reasons I wanted to leave.  The kids are LOVING living at their cousins house and constantly want to play with them.  It is great.  (I just hope the other family here feels the same way!!)  :)

Happy Mothers Day!

We went to my parents house for dinner on mothers day and had the lucky opportunity to have both my grandma's and my mom there.  It was great!!

Spring Soccer

Diego's team did a lot better this season and had a lot of fun.  At tournament time they went in as the underdogs, but worked so hard and ended up taking 2nd place!!  I know the boys were a little disappointed, but they really should be proud of themselves.  The championship game was amazing and so fun to watch!!  It was soo close!  I can honestly say I had so much fun watching the game.  They lost 1-0 and played their little hearts out.  It was a great season. 

I enjoy seeing Diego and Cody play, they work really well together. 

 "Coach" and Diego  :)

 Grandma and Grandpa were one of the many that came to watch him in his championship game.

Luca had a fun season as well.  His games weren't quite as intense, but you expect that with little ones.  hahaha  He had a really good time.  If we could just get him to run TO the ball and not around it.  We will try next season.  :)

 Uncle Ben was the coach

 The buddies (cousins: luca, sam, packer)

Happy Happy Birthday

Diego!!  Yes, Diego turned 11 on May 3rd!  Yikes!  Do I really have an 11 yr old!?  That makes me feel old!!  We didn't get to celebrate like we normally do on birthdays because he had school and that evening had a soccer game, but I think he still enjoyed his special day.  (Even if I did make cupcakes for the team and forgot to bring them)  :)

 They always open one gift before school.  The others wait until evening.

 Alessandro gathered some things of his that he knew Diego liked and gave them to him.  He also gave him some change.  :)

 We ended up not even eating his cupcakes on his birthday because we got home so late from his game and then had to open gifts and mom and dad stopped by.....he was a good sport though and didn't mind at all.  Even better to have a birthday spread out over a few days.  ;)

Diego is definately my hardest worker.  I admire how determined he is.  If he decides he wants to do better at something or wants to learn something he will work and work until he is able to.  It is a great quality and I think it will benefit him greatly in the future.  He is still a big goof and is always trying to make people smile or laugh.  He is very thoughtful and concerned for others.  He takes great care of his younger siblings and they all look up to him so much.  He loves soccer and is getting better at it every year.  He doesn't love school, but I am proud of how well he has been doing.  If we could just get him to turn stuff in!!  ;)  He has gotten into art and drawing things.  I've been very impressed with some of his drawings.  He has really come a long way!!  He is always willing to try something new and always has such a possitive attitude.  He loves having the attention on him and is just so fun to be around.  He definitely makes this house much louder and much more lively.  :)  He has reached the age where he'd like to be in on all the adult conversations and will linger around to hear them.   He is such a joy to have in our family and I truly learn a lot from him.  Happy Birthday little man!!  We love you!