Junk Drawer - September 2025.

My moms neighbor made these for her as a thank you.  He has an Etsy shop.  They are so incredible.  My mom and I spent an afternoon walking down memory lane to find pictures for the frames.  It is hard to believe that Sidney only has one more spot to fill.

I made Willow a cat tent.  I think she really likes it.  The lovely thing is that I  made it all out of things I already had in my craft cupboard.

In one of the neighborhoods near us, there is a family with three kids that run a farm stand.  They have such beautiful things.  I bought these coasters, but Kendall has already stolen them.  I guess I will have to hope they make a few more.

They have amazing arrangements each day.  I have been a frequent patron of the stand.  

Frivolous things that bring me joy...I have had my eye on these cute little game 'books' for quite some time.  I saw a price drop, which never happens on these things, and went for it.  Now I just need someone to come over for a game night!

Little Willow is growing up.  Do not let her regalness fool you, she is a tigress at heart.

Sid and my sister constantly ask me to walk on their backs.  I hate this.  Their grunts and groans make me believe I weigh 500 pounds.  Not great for my self image, but the sacrifices we make for others:)!

5 Stringer Beads, Food and Friendships.

Sidney is doing very well in her welding class.  She was the third person out of 27 to get qualified on her 5 stringer bead welds.  She was very proud of that, and it also gave her an extra week to move on to the next welds.  She thinks I should keep each of these 'coupons' so 'we' can look back to see her improvement.  I am not sure I am that good of a mom.

Sidney and her friends have found a great coffee shop that they enjoy frequenting.  Take note of the beautiful bible on the left that she had asked for her birthday.

Hanging with her friends.

Hanging with those same friends.  They are literally probably the only people getting dumped on and smiling during the crazy rain storm.

Her friend Kennedy left for a stint at YWAM Kona.  Kennedy will be gone for 6-9 months, I believe.  They snuck in lots of visits before she left.

I would hope she would miss me this much if I was leaving for 6-9 months.  Oh I am just kidding...maybe?!

We have been taking the dogs to camp once or twice a week, as they LOVE it.  They come home completely and totally exhausted every time.

A little Willow time.

Baby Showers, Broncos and Transformations.

Kendall comes home every couple of weeks to say hi and grab something from her closet.  However, she does love the blog, so she is excellent about sending me pictures.  I love it!  Her good friend, Shelby, whom she met at Dutch is having a baby this fall.  Kendall attended her baby shower.  

Kendall has been living the college life and enjoying the football games.

She had decided to get her hair colored darker.  Here is the before shot.

Here is the middle shot, as she was not a fan of the super red.  She had hoped to have some warm tones, but this was a bit too much.  

Here is the final version.  It is absolutely beautiful.

She has been adulting and made a sound purchase for her to better blend the cottage cheese for her morning egg bites.  She was pretty proud of this purchase.

She has been having fun cooking.  Though her next investment will be a silcone muffin tin, as the egg bites do not seem to want to leave these tins.

She has found some great study spots and is only a few classes away from officially entering COBE, which is an almost unprecedented accomplishment for a freshmen.

When she comes home, she loves to spend time with the animals.  She caught this awesome picture of Willow crawling into one of her favorite hidey holes.  Boxes are getting harder and harder to put in the recycling as Willow becomes so attached to them.

..and she wonders if they are happy to see her, really?

More mischief.

Acting Like Tourists.

My sister and Dylan came for a visit, so we did many of the tourist things.  First stop was the zoo.  The Boise Zoo is always a fan favorite.  They do a nice job there.  Kendall joined us for our zoo trip, but she has her own kind of zoo happening right outside of her apartment, as you can see with this wild turkey photo.

When I tried to think of my favorites, I had to settle on the red panda's and the tiger.  I loved them both.

The giraffe's are always amazing.  

A few of us decided to do the giraffe encounter.  You gotta love the purple tongue.

I have no idea when and where this picture was taken, but this seemed like a good spot for it.

It was so good to see both of them.  Somehow we managed to get almost no pictures.  Gah!  Grandma did think to take this one and for that I am grateful.

Gma foe the win again.

We went to the Saturday market.  A lady walking by had this awesome bird and asked if Kendall wanted to hold it.  Despite her Vegas experience, she went for it.  This lady did not want a trillion dollars, she just thought it was fun to have the engagement.

Safety First.

In case you hand any notions that I gallop into the wind with my hair trailing behind me, this picture should put that myth to rest.  Rather, I ride with an air vest and a helmet.  At least my sister was kind enough to say that even with the air vest and helmet, I still look pretty cool.

The ranch has this super steep bridge on its premises for awhile.  Sidney was brave enough to try and walk Levi over it.  He did really well, even though it was super scary.

Dress for Success.

Dutch Bros is one of the sponsors of the  Boise Dress for Success program.  As such, the employees had the opportunity to volunteer their time at their annual fund raising gala.  Kendall signed up for the event.  She had an amazing time.  In her words, some of these people were 'stupid rich' and gave generously to a cause they believe in.

As a volunteer, she got to enjoy a fun evening and some amazing food, which will make any college student happy.

Dutch has been a great job for her.  They are a fun group that seems to match her energy.