Hill Family Camp-Out

Literally MINUTES within graduating from DMU - we rushed to the airport, boarded the plane and headed back to Idaho to make it to the Memorial Day camping trip. For the past three years we have missed this event, and we were bound and determined to make it this year. Then we found out that graduation was on the same weekend! Needless to say, we took the earliest flight home and made it to the last two days of camping. It was great - the food as always was divine (all the Dutch Oven fried chicken, potatoes, scones, and cobblers you could ever ask for), and I was able to see my entire family one last time before we leave for New York. Now those of you who have large families know how difficult this is - so I'm grateful to have been surrounded by them again.Master Chefs - Mom making scones; Dad manning the dutch ovens

2 Wonderful Parents

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7 Strong-willed Children

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6 Wonderful In-Laws

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25 Crazy Grandchildren

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?You do the math!

Dr. Summers

It has finally happened! We cannot believe how quickly four years has come and gone. Graduation from Medical school was such a great moment in Shawn's life - and we all felt so proud of all of his hard work over the past four years. It really hit me while we were sitting there in graduation what a monumental day it really is, to have Shawn moving into the "real" part of being doctor is such a huge accomplishment and I'm so glad that we were there to see him hooded, and recieve his diploma. I also was very impressed by the number of times that is was mentioned on Podiatrists being recognized as being Physicians. So many people don't realize this, but one speaker said that their scope to diagnose is unlimited - their scope to treat however is limited to the foot. We are all so proud of Shawn, and hope that he will also know how much we love him for his willingness to work so hard for our family.

Podiatry Banquet

John-Jenn Humphers, Bryan-Autumn Hall, Kylin-Laurie Kovac, Christian-Jennilyn Tolboe, Shawn-Megan Summers

Des Moines University

Dirty Mouth

Here's our newest suggestion for the Orbitz Gum "Dirty Mouth Campaign" - picture this......

You are walking down the stairs to find your 1 1/2 year old boy, and you find him walking out of the bathroom with a plunger in hand, sucking on the black rubber "I've been in the toilet to unclog you nasty, nasty" part ... Dirty Mouth - Clean it Up!True story by the way, how Jack has survived without coming down with amoebic dysentery is beyond me

OR

You are on the airplane about ready to land and everyone is silent. A 4 year old boy turns to his dad and says, "Oh SH**!" as loud as his little voice can. Everyone around you starts to laugh and you sit there mortified, but trying not to laugh too, and wondering how to explain to your son that we don't say words like this. Dirty Mouth - Clean it Up! Also a true story!

Also a little post about Lyv, our little lady! She has started smiling! Our earliest smiler to date - and what a beautiful, content baby she is. We love you Lyv.

Fun in Iowa

Because we might not make it back out to Iowa soon, we decided to go to Shawn's graduation early and see some of our favorite PEOPLE and PLACES. As we flew into the airport both Shawn and I had that "home" feeling - we are really going to miss Iowa, and loved that three of our best years were spent there.

Centennial Park in Waukee - one of our families' favorite places to be on a nice summers' day.Shawn's Sand Box Masterpiece - do you see why it is so hard to compete with him as far as being the "cool parent" goes? Who else would do this? A little Dirt Never Hirt . . . . (you really should have seen Jack after the sandbox!)

We also got to spend time with some of the wonderful friends we made while living here. We loved being with the Freeman's - and I wish I would have had pictures of our night at Racoon River Beach when all the kids decided that swimming in their clothes would be a really fun idea! We went to the Blank Park Zoo and the Waukee Ice Cream Shoppe. The boys loved visiting with them - Sam and Carter were best buds while we lived in Iowa, and Sam even got the special treat of spending the night at Carter's house. Thanks Dana and Jeremy for all of your time with us, we had a great time.

Jack and Claire

Sam and Carter

We also met up with our friends with school at Maple Grove - it is amazing to see how much all the kids have grown in just a year, and also to see the three new additions to our little families. We feel so blessed to have had all of these people apart of our lives.Landon Tolboe, Sam, Lyv, Jack, Kassius Janke, Brooklyn Tolboe, Claire Tolboe, Javien Janke, Lennox Janke, and Tytus Janke

Yellowstone National Park

For our last great adventure here in Idaho we decided to go up to the cabin and enjoy some R&R. While up there we took the kids to Yellowstone National Park. It is funny that living only about 1 1/2 hours away we seldom go there, and yet people come from all over the world to see it. The kids had a pretty good time, but by the time we got to Old Faithful they were tired of seeing nature! Maybe next time we'll be able to make it up to the canyon and other geysers.

Tess and Sam at Old FaithfulThe fam at the Paint Pots - ew... they smell like rotten eggs, but are incredible with their colors.

After Yellowstone, the rest of the Summers clan came up to celebrate Kelly's birthday and we had a great time just sitting around. Shawn really wanted to water ski one more time before we left for NY, but with snowflakes and constant rain, we didn't even get the boat out on the water. You've got to love May in Idaho.

Making smores with Grandpa KellyLyv being LOVED - she is the most loved baby in the world, and all the cousins love to hold her, especially Sadie Rose.

Tiny Dancer

Olyvia is 1 month yesterday - she is such a great baby. We all love her, and have felt so blessed to have her in our family. I especially love oooing and awwing over how beautiful she is. She has really chubbed up the past few weeks, and is sleeping really good through the night. Here's a little photo shoot we did and made into birth announcements. I couldn't wait to put her into a tutu.....

Boys say (and Do) the darndest things.....

It has been awhile since I posted a little something about the boys and they are still as funny, frustrating, and crazy as ever.

Sam came in yelling "Mom, I really do have super powers!"
"You have super powers! What are they?"
Sam finally finds me and I see the muddy resemblence of my little boy - "I can go super duper fast on my bike, and even through mud!"

We had a ward service project yesterday and we took the kids to go help clean up yards that needed help. Sam was such a good helper! Really he jumped right in to sweeping, raking, and bagging leaves and grass. It is never too early to start working, and even though I thought it would be a lot of work for me, I was so glad we took him because he really enjoyed the experience.

My Jack is constantly on the move- seriously this boy only stops when I lay him down for a nap (Oh what a glorious time) or bed (oh what a glorious time). I think that this sounds mean, but if you were with this Energizer Bunny all day, every day, you would be thanking your lucky stars too! He thinks he is such a big boy, and yesterday he observed Sam going potty outside. I brought him back and in a minute he had ran back to the scene of the crime, pointing and making Jack noises. I nodded and said, Yep that is where Sam went potty; and took him back to the garage. Again he runs back to the outside potty spot and now he starts pulling down HIS pants ---- oh this boy is so funny!

Jack never cries when we discipline him - whether it is a spanking (yes we spank our kids) or a time out, or whatever he NEVER cries. Today I was trying to pack up some boxes to take to the storage unit and just as fast as I would pack them, Jack was right behind me unpacking them. I finally lost it and turned to him and very angrily said "No, no, no, no,...." His eyes welled up and his bottom lip started to quiver, and he looked at me with those blue sad eyes, and I almost started to cry. I quickly grabbed him and hugged him, and told him how much I loved him. So I guess it is a good thing that Jack never cries, because if he did, I could stand to ever discipline him.