Virginia Beach May 2006 was beautiful. The weather cooperated and so did all the family. The view from the motel was wonderful. The ocean is great and the kids loved it.
Daija and Jonathan make skimboarding look easy, although Daija is still feeling the effects of taking a fall.





Grandma and James are trying to touch a stingray. They are very soft when you finally get to touch it. This was at the Norfolk Aquarium.

The Cousins

It was fun having Trevor and Savannah come visit us. Thanksgiving point's children garden has alot of fun things for the kids to do.
























Savannah truly loves the water.

The Garden Reception

A view from the front yard.




May 13, 2006 was Matt Johnson's wedding reception. Getting the yard ready was a group effort. We bought arches, lots and lots of compost, and put in many man hours to get it ready. With Alisa's gifted eye, Rich's resources, and Vicki's love of gardening we were able to transform our yard into a reception center. I didn't get lots of pictures, Alisa should have some better ones.

Before the bark came in.









Some must work and some must watch

And some must play




Some must drive

Update from VA

Well it has been awhile since anyone has posted anything on the blog so I decided on this beautiful Easter Sunday we would post a few pictures from the last 4 months since we moved to Virginia Beach VA. In January we unpacked lots of boxes and despite all the chaos the kids came out smiling.





In February we spent most of the month painting and making modifications to our new home. During the Olympics Savannah and Trevor attempted all the events. This is Savannah doing her best ice skating maneuver. At the end of Feb we made our first family trip to Washington DC to visit the temple and see the monuments. It was so cold that we spent most of the time seeing things from the car.












In March things started falling out – Trevor lost his first tooth. Not bad for a four year old. Camille came to visit us over spring break so we went to the beach. Things got a little fishy. We decided that we needed to spoil our daughter early so we took advantage of our visiting hair stylist and Camille gave Savannah her first haircut – she loved being pampered (unlike Trevor who usually has to be restrained for haircuts). We celebrated Savannah’s second birthday and enjoyed pink cupcakes at her request.




















April has been the month of family visits. Granny and Granddaddy Goldy came to visit from Kentucky so we headed to the Navy base and the beach. It was a little cold but still beautiful. Next Grandma Goldy came from UT for Easter the kids have loved having her here and it has been great to see her again. We visited the botanical gardens, the base and the beach including a ride on a six man bike. We colored Easter eggs and had a great time getting dressed in our Sunday best. Grandma Linton was responsible for the new Easter threads and the kids loved it. Everyone thought Savannah looked like Dorothy from the Wizard of OZ minus the red shoes. Trevor lost his second tooth yesterday so it was a busy night for the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny.

Hope all is well. Enjoy

Thanksgiving 2005

This was not the picture that I had originally choosen to depict Thanksgiving 2005 -- but it does show who is having fun and who really is a kid at heart. I had spent hours this morning getting pictures and recording about Thanksgiving. I thought it posted, but it didn't. So I will try again another day.

Thanksgiving 2005

Thanksgiving 2005
Many of the Lintons were not feeling well this trip and sleep was at a premium









Dance Dance was a favorite of young and old alike. Josh seems to be the champion and there seems to be a little controversy about who is next in line. There is no doubt that Dad and I are the worst--and practice won't make us much better -- but it is fun.

Grandpa Lattin was kind enough to let the kids experience real tractors and backhoes. LauraLee and Alan's horse was just right for little kids. The maze was great fun.

It was a great weekend for me to see all my family together. It was nice to be able to eat with Jill and Betty's family also. Rich and Mike were the only ones that felt well enough to go "Christmas Tree Hunting" Josh was very effecient in setting up Grandma's new computer. Grandma is now on Charter.net and we can call and talk to her while she is on the computer. We love being able to talk to Grandma on chat.

Thanksgiving 2005

Here are some pictures we took in Fallon. We're clearly not the photographers of the family, but we thought you might like them anyway. :)

Proven Methods

We just wanted to say hello and give a quick update. There isn’t much going on in our lives and yet it always seems out of control. I don’t know why this is always the case but ‘stuff’ is consuming our time. I have been doing a lot pictures this fall for the Christmas season. That and my weekly trips to the dentist take up all spare moments. That’s right-6 cavities, 2 crowns and a root canal (with a pretty sure bet my jaw that is bothering me still means another in the coming weeks). It’s been really depressing for one who religiously brushes and flosses. The dental bills after my pregnancies are way more than the doctor and hospital bills we pay to have the baby. Oh well.

Josh was finally released as nursery leader. I got so many compliments from the ward on how good he was at it. I don’t think it’s necessarily nursery that he’s good at-but being in charge. He is always coming up with some way to make things better or run smoother. Anyway he’s the elders quorum secretary and I'm going to miss him having a ‘Sunday only’ calling. Oh well, at least now he might learn the names of some people in the ward instead of referring to them as “Bostons’ Dad” and “Carolines’ mom etc.

James is not making Christmas easy for us. He can’t think of what he wants. I’m sure he would be happy with anything but I want him to be SO happy when he opens his present. He is always asking me things that I don’t know how to answer. “Why is it sit up AND sit down?” A more recent conversation with Josh went, “Dad, is Santa Clause a real person?” Josh wasn’t ready for this. “What do you think?” Although James was deep in thought, he didn’t respond. I think they were both scared of getting their question answered.

Sam is just a crazy man looking for some attention between his demanding old brother and the all consuming baby. He is finding winter very hard. He doesn’t like to wear clothes you see “they bug me.” As soon as he get in off come the pants, off comes the shirt, and in his unders he lives. It’s really hard to tell him no he’s so dang cute.

Josh and I have been trying some new parenting techniques. We decided on trying to freeze him into clothes. We have had the thermostat a good 5 below normal for days and he still refuses. He just jumps around the house to stay warm. “I like cold.” He has also been very hard to put down for bedtime. The other night after the tenth time of him opening his door and tip-toeing out we tried to think of something to do without resorting to spanking. The inspiration came. Josh waited by the door until it slowly opened by a trying to be sneaky 2 years old. “Roarrrrrrrrrrrr!” Josh yelled as he jumped right into the unsuspecting face. “AAAHHHHHHHHH!” The two boys yelled in sincere fright. Sam ran back to his bed and didn’t make a sound the rest of the night. I don’t know if this is in any parenting books yet-but it’s a proven method.

"The Barn"

Well, Ashkii made the mistake of telling Trevor that the house looks like a barn turned sideways. So he is now telling everyone "Mom and Dad bought a house that looks like a barn, but I really like barns." Anyway, you really can't judge a book by it's cover, can you?

A HOUSE AT LAST!!!!

Wow! What a day. Savannah and I flew in last night. This morning we met our real estate agent, Jan, at her office. She is a great lady and really a blessing in all of this with her 35 years experience in the area. Anyway, she and Ashkii took us all over to the 4 houses he had narrowed it down to (he's only looked at like 50!), plus we looked at 4 others. Well, we were eating lunch and debating on what to do, since our 2 favorites were really more than we wanted to spend. Jan began to return some phone calls during lunch, and had 2 calls from a secretary at her office who knew the price range we were looking in and was entering a new listing in the computer so she wanted to let us know about it. It was in an area Ashkii hadn't really been excited about because of jet noise and the commute, but we all decided to go check this house out because it was more in our price range. We pulled up to the house and it was, well, interesting on the outside (forgot to take a picture - post later) , but GREAT on the inside. Jan and I both loved it. Ashkii loved it but was frustrated that he has worked so hard to find a house and we find this great house the day I come out!!! Anyway, we made an offer, they counteroffered, and we decided to go with it. The schools are great, it's a younger neighborhood, and it's only 5-10 min. from the beach, so visitors will enjoy (hint hint). We are exhausted but relieved and excited!

From the Frozen Tundra

It will definitely be a white Christmas here in Idaho. It's about time I post an update for us (at least that's the lecture I got from Ashkii), so here goes. Jonathan and I will be done with this semester on December 16th. We will then be moving to Idaho Falls to live with Jonathan's parents. We will spend Christmas here in Idaho and then we will drive down to Utah on the 26th and be there until sometime the first week of January.
School starts again for us on January 9th. I will be doing my student teaching at Skyline High School in Idaho Falls. I will be teaching World History and American Government. Jonathan will still be in school so he will commute to Rexburg. He will be doing an intership during the summer, so if you have any ideas for Chemistry internships let us know. (He has to work for a company that actually has chemsists on their payroll). That's about all the news from the Windy City of Rexburg.
Much love,
Daija

Four Point

If you look close you will see a four point buck that was in our yard the other night. Sorry the image is blurry. I am still learning about my new camera. But this lovely animal has stripped all the leaves off of one of my roses. So he's on my list. But it is fun to see wildlife in our yard.