Family Trip, Voodoo Donuts, Flowers

The fun part of being a parent is watching your children grow. Watching them learn new things, create fun with each other, create children, create happiness. About once a year our family goes camping to enjoy time, this year camping was not an option as Shane and I have new(ish) jobs that we do not have the ability to take time off. I do but Shane does not. We found a journey to go on close by and fun. The kids got together and we went to Twin Falls. Twin Falls is only about 2 hours from our home, but in Twin there are ice caves, museums, waterfalls, parks pristine bodies of water. It was a great time. Brenda brought Axel, Skyler had to work. Makayla and John got the weekend off which was amazing. Rarely do we all get together.

The first stop was Shoshone Ice Caves. Our guide was very knowledgeable. She grew up not far from the cave and said its really the only job around, she comes home every summer to be a guide. The photos are hard to see, but the we went from about 90 degrees (Fahrenheit) to about 35 degrees. The temperature difference was welcome for sure.

look at that sweet boy, he was excited to see the dinosaur

These rocks are found at the site...lovely, we got one to send to Laura

This is the ice, it was used for years for ice boxes, some of this ice was sent to the Oregon Coast when the cave was first opened as there is ice year round.

  

The entire family, below the earth, in an ice cave.....

Just down the road from Shoshone Ice Caves is Mammoth Cave. This cave was huuuugggeee. Both caves were made from lava flows under the ground. Axel ran through this cave. Again the temp change was welcome.

The property going to Mammoth Cave had a lot of peacocks, emu's, pheasants and other birds on it. 

panoramic view, its lovely but damned hot. There was some wind though so thats good???

There was a makeshift museum in the building above. The building was built stone by stone. The things inside the building were so lovely. I kept walking around and didnt take many photos, one i wish i had taken was of a clay pot that was from the time of Jesus. It was amazing to see it. 

On our way to Shoshone falls er maybe it was thousand Springs??

yup Thousands Springs. 

This water was so clear you could see the bottom of the water. 

Then we walked around to find the falls, or the thousand springs.

Makayla being special for sure..

walking through the trees and the falls

All of this water coming out of the rocks.

There were so many birds...it was absolutely beautiful. Its amazing what wonders are here on the Earth.

Shoshone falls is in the Canyon. If you know anything about Evil Knevil this is where he tried to jump the canyon. 

Getting a complete photo is like herding cats really, but the day was so beautiful

Those falls are HUGE, if you have not had the chance and you live here in Idaho...you need to go.

I got dizzy taking this photo....too high

Axel was excited to see the lizard.

We stayed at an Air BnB in Twin, it was a great place and pretty inexpensive. We ended up playing SkipBo and Clue (Jake loved Clue). The house had enough room for all of us and places for us to sleep. The grocery was near by it was a great time. 

This is a photo of Hagerman Fossil Beds. The body of water is the Snake River. The boys were upset that they couldnt go find any fossils but it was a nice place to stop. The Oregon Trail is close by. I tried to imagine people walking with covered wagons going by this place. The river is massive...they must have been so happy to see water....its the desert....That had to be a huge challenge. Glad I do not have to face that trial, although I have plenty of my own. 

When we got home we were all exhausted. Took us a while to get everything back to normal. I think trips do that.

A close friend of our family often has to make trips to do errands for his employer. He told me he was going to hit up Voodoo donuts at 1 or 2 in the morning. For those of you who do not know about Voodoo donuts, its a quaint little donut shop in Portland (Oregon) where they pump out any kind of donut you can think of...this one was a little man with raspberry filling so when you eat it, it appears you have killed the little man. It was delicious. Our friend is one of the best men I have ever met. He and Shane are very good friends. Men need good friends, we are blessed to know Lee. 

Axel is becoming such a little boy. He came into the house the other day and got on Jakes lap and just snuggled. Axel is a busy boy its not often he does this sort of thing. Things are changing in his family with another boy coming along, his mumma's pregnancy is not easy, so i am sure he is a bit off. Brenda is doing an amazing job, pregnancy is so hard for some people. 

Today (06/26) my hubby sent me some flowers. He doesnt do this very often. People at my work were very surprised that eh sent me flowers just because...just because I am his wife. My desk smells so nice. Its nice to be remembered and told how important I am. 

I need to be better at photos and documenting. 

My girl sending me photos so i know she is okay on her mission. Love the photos she is taking.

Here is the crazy I have at home...they are a great bunch of people, i love them. They bring me up when i am down and make me laugh. i would like to say this winter was good to me but it was not. I battled all winter along depressive thoughts and troubling times. I worked my way through as hard as it was. I have a great support around me, good friends, children and a good husband. My doctor is amazing and helpful. This is a battle which will always plague me but i dont want it to stop me. I am grateful for the Grace of God, His love and gentle guidance has helped me through. I am more grateful for my family encouraging. They love me the way i am...my friends are the same. Its a good life....just have to keep on moving through. 

Laura Update, Windmill, Tree fun

The last time I started writing it was Easter, so its has been a while. Life is moving so fast sometimes that i cannot keep up. Since Laura has left on her mission everything has been moving along like clockwork, almost at an unsettling pace. Laura seems to be doing very well on her mission thus far. She is in a little town in the northern part of Washington state. This town is close to the Canadian boarder. She has figured out that she cannot go too far in to the North or she could end up in Canada. She does not have permission to go across the boarder. Laura has to learn some Spanish as well, that will be a challenge for her, but she can do it. There is a lot of walking where she is as well. This past week both she and her companion have been sick. She went to the store and got some honey and lemon to soothe the sore throats...her companion had never used honey and lemon before. She is also teaching her companion to cook/bake. Laura said baking has certainly helped her in serving her companion. They have had some rough days as a companionship but they are working through it.

Sister Henrie and her companion Sister Brunner

So when we moved into this house there was a huge pine tree in our yard. Shane and his friend Shane and the boys cut the tree down and had a saw mill come and make us some good planks of wood. Shane has built book shelves and shelving to go above our front room window. The next thing on the list to make was a new kitchen table. The table is finally finished, and its wonderfully amazing.

Tables in our house always get piled with things, which is slightly annoying to me, but happens. I think when my children are all gone, possibly?? who knows. This table fits in our house so very well. It is huge and will fit all the kids around it and maybe a few grandchildren.

One morning last month I woke up and Shane had shaved his beard complete. I was not sure what happened and he did not tell me for a few days. In fact a friend of his he works with told me, all the crap at his new job was getting in his beard and making a mess. So off it came and it is still gone, not sure how long it will be gone but i like it for now. He certainly looks much younger. For a while he would not let me take any photos so I had to sneak them. 

Axel helping with the tree cutting.

It was a windy day but he had a great time, and slept well...

Sometimes Shane gets the opportunity to help out others with his mad skillz....Everyone knows how much he loves to fire up his chainsaws. We were in need of some more apple wood to smoke meat and low and behold a person around the corner from us had an apple tree that was out of control, so Shane got to cut it down and we got tons of wood from it. We happened to have Axel that day and he was a huge help....well as much as an almost 2 year old can be. He is always fun to have around. 

Makayla and I took a load of brush to the dump and Groot was hanging on...If you havent seen Guardians of the Galaxy that stick is Groot, he fell off when we got to the light....sad times. 

I work at a pretty big building in down town Boise. The main building has an Annex attached to it, that Annex has a sky bridge that connects the 2 buildings. One day i thought i would take a walk out of the Annex to the big building...i came across this windmill. I have never seen it because it is directly under the sky bridge. The day was beautiful and a light breeze was flowing...It was a pick me up in the frustration of learning a new job. Sometimes I go down there just to sit by it and watch it. Summer will come and the breezes will be gone, glad i videoed it....

On my worst days if i realize that i can fall apart and it is okay, as long as i remember what and why i have life here on the earth. Why am I here? I had to really look at myself the other day and find the reason i was here. I was in a bad place that really actually made me afraid, so i went and got some help and am now on the mend. But i realized i am slightly like a taco...hard shelled, all kinds of junk in me and sometimes i break, but i can go back together. The pieces do not always fit and sometimes they become something new...but i am good and wonderful the way i am. For a bit i got caught up in the feelings of inadequacy then i realized that is not me...I am loved, a mum, a wife, a grandmama. Essentially what is the most important part of this life? FAMILY. I have to keep remembering that, sometimes its hard,very hard.

Somebody seriously has this as their license plate...i more angry that i cant have it now

One of Shanes boys is a racer. He loves to race his cars. He gave us tickets to the races, Jake did not want to leave but after 5 races we had to go. I am sure we will go back again to watch James race. He is a great kid, not a bad driver either. 

When i was in a bad way this week, Brenda was in need of some help. So we went up and hung out with Axel and Brenda. Grandpappy played with him until he was ready to go to bed. He needed to be worn out before bed, at the same time Brenda needed a break. Its hard to be pregnant and sick....and have a toddler around. It was a good thing she needed us cause it broke me out of my funk and made me get some help i needed. Service is the key really.....

Our friends the Nakayas needed a tree brought down in their back yard. Funny story, Dru works at Simplot as part of the legal department. He came to my desk about a week ago and wanted to chat I was otherwise engaged at that moment. But told him i would come to his office to see him. He left and everyone around me wanted to know what legal was doing at my desk. I am sure people wondered if i was in trouble. I told most people he is a sort of cleaner and i needed some stuff cleaned up....it was funny to see the reactions. After i while I told them, we are friends and my husband cuts trees down sometimes. Best part of the day was seeing Drus wife Melissa, she has a way of always making me feel okay, that i am good. She is a woman of no judgments and clarity that often i cannot see. I know she probably is that way for herself as well, but she is a true gift in my life. 

So a small snapshot of life in the Henrie family. There is not much happening but still life is full. Hopefully i will get better at keeping up. Until the next one, serve others so you dont get lost....

Lauras Mission Isnt She Lovely?!

So my girl Laura has finally turned 19. Was there a big celebration, not really cause that is not how we roll around here. I can say it was a pretty special day as her papers had been submitted to go on her mission.

I know i probably post this photo every year but its one of my all time favorites. Isnt She Lovely? Stevie Wonder sings a song about his sweet daughter when she was born, as a coincidence i heard the song not many days after Laura was born. Now every time i hear the song i am reminded of how wonderful she is. She was amazing as a baby, got shy and stubborn as she grew but now she is confident and wonderful in who she is. 

I mean look at that amazing girl, ok ok woman. Rachelle is an amazing photographer, she caught Laura at just the right time to catch her personality. She has spent the last 4 years earning her money to go on this mission. Within the time she also got to go to England/Scotland to visit family. I am so proud of her determination to get to the end of one race and move to another. 

Her birthday she wanted Dirt Cake of course....and steak and cheese sammies. 

Axel and Grandpappy got to have their own bowl of dirt cake. He was one excited boy....Axel i mean

of course anytime you get your own dirt cake you hoard it so nobody else can have it

I know they are sharks but there are worms in there as well, she wanted them both

We ended up taking Axel to Church with us that day and having him hang out with us for a while. His mum and dad were not feeling too great. It was nice to have him around for the food and festivities. 

That morning before food.....Laura opened her mission call. She is going to the Everett Washington mission. She was very excited to be close to the ocean, if she gets to be......

not sure if you can tell but she is in the top quarter of Washington state. Should be an exciting adventure for her. This is not the best map either. you can google it if you want to take a closer look....anyway, with this revelation now comes the part i hate the most, buying everything she needs. Our family has always been very thrifty, not just because....but out of necessity. Laura and i went out last weekend to look and hopefully get all of the clothing, shoes, personal items, mission bag, scriptures...whatever you can think of so she wouldnt have to worry about cramming it all in before she leaves. She is scheduled to arrive at the MTC on April 3rd, so plane ticket was first priority. Good thing the Church has a system for tickets to get them to SLC, Ut and from there a shuttle to Provo where the MTC is. So that is all figured out. That was a load off but for me a finality to her leaving. I worry about her but i know she is going to be great. My kids are all so close, its going to be strange to not have one of them around. 

I am super proud of her, i think dropping her at the airport will be the toughest for me. For the others we shall see what happens. I know a few people will be sad as she is such a good cook, all her baking will be missed. She has grown out of her shyness into a strong young woman. I think a mission will be great for her, it will make her really work on her personality more and find ways to work better with others. She will learn so much, we will be here routing her on cause i personally think she is the Loveliest girl ever.....

Job Changes, ER trip, Blues Brothers

A few new things have gone down in the past month or so. Shane works for a company called Shopko. This company is similar to target with out the food part. He works in the warehouse moving trucks in the yard and working with the mechanic. In any case, the company has declared bankruptcy and all of the employees were given a 60 day notice. This happened about a month ago.....at the same time the company i work for has decided to send all of the billing (which is my job) closer to the corporate office. That office is located in Lavonia Michigan....I can choose to go there. Actually there are 3 new offices being opened one out side of Detroit Michigan, one on the western side of the state of Michigan and one in another state i dont remember nor care about as we are not moving there. Michigan is not an option either...according to my husband and sons there are no mountains and no elk....so that answered that question. My job is not doing any transition until October but we felt it was time to really look for something else.

Shane had multiple people come to him to give him job opportunities. One that was very good was working with the local trash company as a truck driver. Mostly just doing a route for trash pick up. There were a lot of positives on this job, but not quite what we wanted. The mayor of the city is in our ward, which is nice, he offered Shane a few different jobs with the city. Those options are putting Shane back into heavy equipment and working construction, would he be amazing at it? of course but its not an option for us. Shane likes to do that stuff on his own for fun. The last option was with a man in the ward that Shane has known since he was in high school. This man owns a salvage yard in Caldwell. Basically the offer is to work at this guys junk yard for the same pay. This job is super close to home (in fact about a mile from our house or less). Shane will be able to work with one of his good friends Lee. Finding Lee has been a great thing for Shane, those two are peas in a pod. Lee has had a rough life as had Shane. They understand each other and often call each other brother. I love Lee. The nice thing about Lee is that he is a mechanic and is willing to show Shane anything he wants to learn. Lee was also the one who suggested working for the trash company. Lee is the mechanic for them. But i think Lee really wanted Shane to work at the salvage yard, Lee works there part time. So the three of them Greg, Lee and Shane will be working the Salvage yard. Not sure if this is a great thing as they are all a bit rebellious but the job is much easier on Shane than any job he has ever had. I am glad for it. I am happy as it will get Shane out of a warehouse environment and outside where he loves to be. So he will start that job as soon as Shopko dumps. The comfort of knowing we are being watched over is nice.

For me ..... well I personally was a bit devastated as I wanted to work at this job for a while longer. I needed to get more experience working on the Medicare side of things to be able to move to something else. The insurance at Trinity is amazing and has saved us so much money. Last year Makayla had to have a surgery and the amount we had to pay was only 10% of what it could have cost. My immediate worry was the insurance. I had the option to stay at the company until it moves and get an retention incentive and severance, however, the taxing on the retention was going to be at a bonus tax rate and given over 4 different payouts. It just did not add up to be good for our family, so i started sending out my resume. One of the sweet ladies i work with took my resume and added in some more information i had quite a few hits within the first week of putting my resume out. 2 options came up very quickly one for the local infectious disease office another for an oral surgeon office. I interviewed for both. The infectious disease one was not a place i wanted to work at, it was down town Boise almost to the east end. Not a place i want to be. The drive will not be the greatest as the traffic is crap at 730 in the morning. The oral surgery office was only 2 mins further than i am driving now, but i would still hit traffic. The oral surgeon office offered me almost a dollar more than i am making and they had great insurance....in fact amazing insurance. I accepted the offer to work there. I gave my notice at Trinity had my last day be March 15th. I would start working the other job on March 18th....Here is the twist, cause you have read this long there is a twist..........I applied at Simplot as well for the Human Resources department. I was shocked to get an interview, even more shocked to get an offer to work there. How do I say no to working for one of the largest agricultural companies in the world? I got the offer for Simplot a week after i accepted the offer at the surgeon office. The surgeon office is medical billing with light administrative work, my heart has always been in Human Resources/Business Admin. How do i say no??? I dont. There is a stipulation on this job though, I will be a contracted employee and have a year contract with the hopes of hiring on within the year. There is a new project that is being worked and they need an extra person but the higher ups have not completely approved the position, with me being hired there is a likelihood they will show that this position is needed. Either way i make out on the deal because now i have Human Resources on my resume which is what i need to really start moving around if i have too. I am in the hopes of staying at Simplot, we shall see what happens. The pay for this position is $5 more than i am making now an hour also i get all the benefits of the company except i do not get any paid time off. But we budget well and if i need to take a day off or something it can all be worked out in our budget.

Exciting times at our house....in the mean time of all this happening John got into a car accident and wrecked my car (its still drivable but John got quite the concussion) So we fixed the car and i am still driving it. John has had to take some time to recover and during this time got smacked in the eye with a tennis ball because that is how we roll here. So he has had to see an eye specialist as well to get the swelling out of his eye so he can see again. It was a bit scary as he couldnt see for a while. He seems to be on the mend but it wouldnt be our house if something like that didnt happen.

Emergency room visit..........dork

I suppose that is the update i have right now. I am glad everything has worked out so well, i am still in unbelief as to the blessings that have come to us. These changes are really good for us. The changes will really push our family to the next big adventures. I will write the next post about Lauras mission call. Which has been a great blessing and surprise. Our marriage has been struggle after struggle, maybe for a while it will slow down. We figured if we live the same as we are now we can pay off our house much faster than we expected. That is exciting............

Oh by the way, my boys new favorite movie The Blues Brothers.......yes you read it right....Jake walks around now saying he is on a mission from God..............and the boys laugh over every stupid joke.