38 years young

 Travis is an expert at celebrating birthdays. Expecially his own. He gets his day off and makes very specific requests of what he wants to do. It is great! I don't have to wonder. And since he is very easy going and non-demanding for the other 364 days of the year, he deserves to be specific!

 He wanted to go play mini-golf. I am not sure it turned out like he planned, what with 4 kids tagging along. I think everyone had fun. Felix loved it, and actually got a hole in one by himself!

 What a handsome gentleman!

 He also requested "chocolate bricks", which are the thickest, densest brownies you can imagine dipped (drowned) in chocolate ganache. Our meal of vegan lasagna, salad and veggies made a perfect contrast to the brownies.

A day of shopping and lunch with me, babysitting provided by our dear eldest daughter was the perfect end. The kids and I had decorated everything with Jamaican flag colors (because Travis thinks he is Rastafarian). Did I really not get a picture?

Travis has an amazing view of life. He doesn't worry about things he can't control. He has unlimited patience and a listening ear. He is vibrant and excited. He is thoughtful and introspective. He has many amazing talents that come very naturally to him, that I like to call "gifts". He really was born with an athletic ability that I can't even begin to fathom. His ability to empathize is truly unique. Travis is hilarious, fun, goofy, and can easily loose dignity to entertain those lucky enough to be around when this happens.
Amazing man, amazing friend.

Indian Wells Tennis Tournament

 

 I find that recapping a trip very difficult. Either I am going to give way more information than you want and it will end up being a journal entry or else I could just post pictures and you could wonder why I posted them. Let me see if I can shoot for somewhere in the middle.

Travis and I flew to Ontario, California after pulling a lot of favors from friends and family to help out with the kiddos. Our friends, The Clevelands picked us up at the airport and by way of Hadleys Fruit Orchards for date shakes (delicious) and a quick peak at the Cabazon dinos we got to Palm Springs. We were staying at a time share there.

We went for a very long walk Friday morning and enjoyed the palm trees and beautiful scenery. Although it was chilly when we started, the day proved to be rather nice.
John had to leave to be with Hannah for a surgery and we missed him, especially Travis, but he got to come back the next day.

Travis managed to see a few matches and enjoy himself on Friday without John. Misty and I got to shop around. We went to some art galleries, clothes shops, a spice store, and had a lovely lunch (I think we stayed and talked for two hours or something). After picking Travis up from the tournament we had a nice Trader Joe's dinner and chatting in the hot tub.
Saturday morning we went on a vigorous hike on a trail that started across from the place we were staying. It was so beautiful and the good weather had rolled in. By the time we got back to our place John was there. So the fellas went to go find some courts to play some tennis.

Misty and I went out by the pool and talked and soaked up some much needed sun. Also, the pool was heated to bathtub temperature and so delightful!

We spent the rest of the day at the tournament. It was so fun being there with Travis after hearing about it for the past two years. I REALLY enjoyed the matches and the environment and, of course, the company.

We were so fortunate to get to have this wonderful vacation together. It has been quite a few years since we were able to travel together. We were happy to be able to be together with Clevelands and for them making it possible for us.

Dudes

 Look at my handsome dudes.

 Aren't they handsome?

and wiggley?

Father Time

Sunday was Father's Day. We had a feast. Steve and Shawna came. We played outside.

 We went for lots of rides. On the skateboard.

 On the scooter. Rocks skipped on the pond. Rocks thrown into the pond. There was a lot of water thrown. Several kids and one uncle got really wet.

Some basketball. Lovely day.
We all agree that Travis is pretty amazing. That is why we celebrate him 3 times in June. The kids gave Travis the questions they answered about Dad. I may post that later.

Let them eat cake

 Travis celebrated his 37th birthday last week. In honor of such an important (?) birthday he decided to grow his mustache. Actually, it kills him that he can't grow a large, distinguished, therapist beard because of his employment. He is allowed a well groomed, and maintained mustache.

 Zoe had the great idea to each paint mustaches on to surprise him for his birthday.

This year his birthday was on Sunday, so we had a quiet day at home with food, cake, and mustaches! His wild party will be documented in a different post.

BFF's

These two fellas spend a lot of time hanging out on the couch together. They are so cute together. If Daddy is sitting on the couch (I don't know under what circumstances he might be sitting there...let's just pretend there is a game or match on, just stretch your imagination :) Felix grabs Travis's droid phone that has an app where he can color Toy Story characters. Loads of fun!

Father's Day!

We had a fun Father's Day. The kids helped me put together a treasure hunt. They each drew a clue and wrote their kind sentiments. Then we put them together and had him 'hunt' for his gift (a soccer ball).
After dinner, while we were waiting for the cherry pie to cool, the kids played a game where they asked Travis questions about him. It was cute. "What were you like when you were my age?" "What is your FAVORITE sport?" "Do you like the smell of almond or vanilla extract most?" He had a lot of fun answering, and even getting out some old photo albums to look at with them.
We are crazy about this man who works so hard for our little family. He does an amazing Luigi impression on the trampoline and can constantly make the kids laugh with his monkey face.
You are da best!

Man trip

 Travis decided to take a birthday man trip this year. He had Austin come for a visit from Portland. He got Steve and Ethan to commit and they all headed down to SLC to see a Real game.
They met up with, and stayed with Mike and Amie, who showed them a good time.

 Mike took them to an archeological dig. Dr. Mike is an Archeologist, so he was able to educate the fellows.

 Travis unearthed a little arrowhead. NICE!

They went on a hike where they saw this horned owl and these cave paintings.

Of course, they were fed amazing soul food from the Searcys. Austin said that that was the best part of the trip! The Real game was really great as well (I hear).

Travis's birthday

Always love to celebrate a birthday! This year Travis had several days off surrounding his birthday. This day was great. We got a babysitter and went to the temple. Then we headed to Vietnamese Deli for lunch. Then we got to go to the Boise Art Museum where they had an exhibit about shoes. After that we swung by an antique store we love to go to.
It was really nice to be together and do things that we can't do when the kids are around. Things that we loved to do before kids.
Had Steve and Shawna over for birthday dinner and cake. Also, I believe there was a Mav's game that night.
Recipe for an awesome birthday. I think Travis would agree :)

Employment

Because of one of this years' financial goals Travis and I have been seeking some additional employment. We have both received jobs this month. Travis is still employed full -time for LDS Family Services (probably always will be) but he will have the opportunity of teaching for Brown-Mackie college. He will be teaching Sociology and Criminal Justice classes at night. He is an amazing teacher and will do a great job. It is a wonderful opportunity and a nice break from the therapy that he does all day long (and again when he get home at night :) I wasn't actively looking for a job, but someone mentioned through church that the clothing store were they work was looking for a seamstress to do alterations. I interviewed and got the job that I feel will be a great fit (okay, I realize that is a terrible pun, I opted against the job being 'tailor-made', it was the less offensive pun). I get to set my own hours, go in when I can (after the kids go down) and it is only about ten hours a week. I get to be trained on doing alterations, hemming jeans, repairing clothing, etc. I am really excited. We feel it is a blessing to find these jobs that, I hope, will be minimally disruptive to our family schedule.

Lucky 13!

Our lovely "Treasure Island" themed Anniversary Inn room

Discovering treasure, by the jetted tub

Travis, steering the boat. Full speed ahead!

We decided to take advantage of having generous and willing family in town and leave the kids for the night and go to Anniversary Inn. I mean, it really is hilarious!

We went down town and checked in. We really liked our room. We went over to a sushi place that we had been to once before and totally stuffed ourselves!

The next morning was gorgeous. The Inn backs up to a large park, so we walked over and played tennis. Travis started teaching me to play tennis 10 years ago. We played bi-weekly for awhile until I got pregnant with Zoe. Since then we have only played a handful of times. This was super fun.

The breakfast at Anniversary Inn is sooo good. We enjoyed it out on our balcony.

We spent the next 5 or so hours shopping and enjoying not having to drag kids around or having our conversations interrupted.

It was a timely miracle that Travis and I met when we did, and got married. Travis has some pretty natural relationship skills, that have gotten sharper in these thirteen years. I just have to say, he is the best husband in the whole world! I really don't mean that like an expression, I mean literally, "The Best". Sorry to burst your bubble.

35!

I made a giant cupcake for Travis to take to work.

Travis doesn't believe in going to work on his birthday. Although we didn't do many fun things on his day off, we enjoyed the day.

In the evening we had our friends/family over for a barn raising and some cake. Okay, it wasn't a barn raising, the guys built the garden shed that Travis got for his birthday. He was pretty excited!

Happy Birthday, T!

half-marathon!

The night before the race, Travis had me decorate his arms and legs with permanent marker with words and designs that were meaningful to him. He had the kids sign their names, he wrote some sayings in Portuguese, his licence number from his recent test (pictured), etc.

He did so awesome! He had never run that distance before, but he did so great! It was a beautiful day and a beautiful route. I took the four older kids down with Steve and Shawna to watch them finish. It was great to see them and celebrate their accomplishment with them.

My sister Jill, her husband, Will, came from Utah to run with Travis.

Travis's bracket