Double Win + Deuce Pot Gold!

Josh and I started playing on the Friday Night Couples Golf League this summer. We've always talked about doing it in years' past, but never did. And now we're not sure why. We have LOVED going-even though it's only been 4 times that we've gone! Couples League is played Chapman-Style: we both tee off, then hit each other's drives, then pick the best ball and alternate hitting it until it goes into the hole. It's so much fun! The last 2 times we played, we got first place! Because our handicap was so high, our net score was excellent from surprisingly playing so well!
In addition to the scored rankings, the couples also play for the deuce pot cash. Every couple puts $2 in the deuce pot each Friday, and if a couple hits their ball into a hole in 2 shots, they win the money from the pot. The last time we played, we also won the deuce pot money! (Which, btw, went to paying the babysitter!) Josh had a good drive on #7, and I chipped it in from about 20 yards off the green. It was SO AWESOME! Of course I did the dance and the scream! I was just so excited that I hit it that well, and then Josh mentioned that we just won the deuce pot, which in turn produced an even louder and more animated screaming dance! (Sorry, no picture of THAT!) I have become addicted to playing couples golf now! But of course, now the season has unfortunately ended. :0( We WILL be back next year, though. And I can hardly wait!!!

29 Reasons to Love 29

Yesterday I turned 29. It sounds like an awful old age to me. It's the end of an era, the end of my twenties. For the first time since I can remember, I didn't care about celebrating it and didn't care if anyone else remembered it. But I've been thinking, I love where I'm at in life. I am continually working on my one goal in life: to be happy. There are so many good and positive things that happened to me in my twenties, so I'm gonna list 29 of them. 1. I experienced my first pregnancy, and got my first surgical scar as evidence of the delivery.
2. I endured a pregnancy with monozygotic identical twins!
3. I discovered what it feels like to have my "water break" during my last pregnancy with baby boy #4.
4. I moved 3 times, and left Utah for Idaho.
5. I learned how to golf, and slowly improved at it.
6. I maintained a job in one place for 5 years!
7. I became a Stay At Home Mom, and learned to love it too!
8. I joined a bowling league.
9. I went on my first plane ride.
10. I grew with my kids from MOPS(Mothers of Preschoolers) to PTO(Parent/Teacher Organization at the school).
11. I got my first official passport!
12. I visited new places: Seattle, London, Yellowstone, Scotland.
13. I met many new friends, and said goodbye to many dear ones.
14. I scrapbooked my husband's mission, my high school years, our dating & engagement & marriage, and am now working on Ammon's Toddler Book and the England Vacation book.
15. I have survived potty training three boys (now I'm hoping they will teach the baby!)
16. I played real BINGO using dobbers for the first time.
17. I tried out for the TV show "Biggest Loser"
18. I sang and danced in the local "Salmon Idol" competition
19. I learned how to sheetrock, and decided to never do it again!
20. I managed to finally figure out how to breast-feed on my last child, and then subsequently found out that he was allergic to milk!
21. I celebrated my 10th anniversary (a HUGE accomplishment!) with the love of my life, my eternal partner, my closest friend: my husband.
22. I attended my five and ten year high school reunions (and got put in charge of the next one).
23. I became a music instructor for the primary kids, twice!
24. I took a Boundaries class that changed my life.
25. I joined a fitness gym for the first time.
26. I went to my first concert, found out how much I loved it, and then went to my second, third, and fourth and will go to my fifth next month!
27. I fulfilled a lifelong dream of buying a camping trailer, and have had fun using it ever since!
28. I extended my book-reading selections from Christian Romance Novels only to Harry Potter and Twilight Series and many many others!
29. I became a member of the computer social network with MySpace, Facebook, and my own BlogSpot!

Jonah and Micah's 1st Special Day

At the end of July, Josh had some meetings to attend in Boise, so I took Jonah and Micah on their first outing alone together. When Josh or I take the kids individually on an outing without their siblings, we call it their "special day". Ammon has gone on Special Days since he was 3 years old, but we hadn't taken the twins on one yet. On their Special Day, they choose the activities they want to do, and where and what they want to eat. The only request that Jonah and Micah had for the day was to eat and play at McDonalds, so I chose some additional activities for them.
Our first stop was to go miniature golfing in Meridian. They had never done it before, so on the first 18 holes, I taught and trained them how to hold the putter correctly and instructed them how to hit the ball. By the second round of 18, they were getting the hang of it on their own. Jonah especially did well, and scored 2 or 3 on several holes. Micah was a little impatient, and had difficulties waiting for his turn to hit the ball, but lucked out by scoring a 2 on one hole, and also got 3 on a few holes. We spent about an hour and a half playing golf, and really enjoyed it!
Jonah <<------------------------------------------->>Micah


We decided to go to McDonald's next. I drove around for 40 minutes looking for a McD's that had a playcenter. By the 4th McD's I found without one, I told the boys we would just eat there and play later at a regular park. They each got a happy meal that came with a toy that played a noisy siren-sound which they absolutely loved but daddy hated!

For our last activity, I took them to the Boise Zoo. We took them for their birthday last year to the Hogle Zoo, and they really liked it, so I thought they would enjoy seeing a zoo again. It was a very hot day, and they wanted to hurry from animal to animal. We saw ALL of the animals in less than an hour! Since we did a speedy tour, I didn't really get any great photos from it. Jonah's favorite animals were the monkeys and frogs. Micah's favorite animals were the penguins and the eagle. After we saw all the animals, we went inside their Interactive Center, where they tried on some animal costumes. Because it was air conditioned, they stayed and lingered in there for a few minutes. They each got a souvenir toy from the gift shop too.

Jonah looking at the zebra
Micah touching a turtle
Micah as a turtle.
Jonah as a Macaw.
I let them play at a park near the zoo until daddy's meetings were done, then we left Boise to return home.
We stopped in Stanley on the way to Salmon and visited with our Forsgren cousins. Cousin Sam and cousin Seth had just recently rescued some baby birds whose mother was gone. Micah enjoyed holding one of the baby birds. Unfortunately, the baby bird that Jonah held peed all over his arm, so that wasn't very pleasant for him!
Overall, I think it was a great first special day for them! I enjoyed spending time alone with them, and I know they loved being able to be "Big Boys" and having a "Special Day" with mom. I look forward to many of these in the future!

I Love to See New Temples!

In 2008, there have been two new temples completed in Idaho: Rexburg and Twin Falls. We are so lucky! We are still assigned to the Idaho Falls Temple, but it's exciting to have more temples that are within a couple hours' distance!
In January, Josh, Ammon, and I went to the Rexburg open house and toured the temple. Because it was in the middle of winter, we walked through heated tents to get up to the temple, which was so interesting! It was SO beautiful inside! Ammon and I also went to the televised dedication of it in February. It's Ammon's favorite temple now.

At the end of July, on the way from our Perkins Family Vacation in Utah to Boise where Josh had some school board meetings, we stopped in Twin Falls. Since we still had a couple hours' drive left, we didn't go on the tour inside the temple, but we walked all over the temple grounds outside. We looked at all the beautiful flowers and the water fountains. Jonah and Micah can remember its name because they are TWINs. They say it's their favorite temple now.

Tagged & Telling All About the Love of My Life!

Boyd K. Packer once said that Romance, Love, Marriage, and Parenthood are the purest, most beautiful, and appealing experiences of life! I love that quote. I am so grateful for my husband. Our relationship has changed and grown and matured so much over the years. I definitely think he's the better half. He helps me to be a better person. We still have our disagreements and arguments, but I think we handle them well. I think we make a good team. I sure love my man! Thanks D'Neill for the tag! (btw, it was great to see you last weekend, even for as brief as it was!!!)


What is his name? Joshua James Tolman

How long have you been married? Over 10 years - WOW!

How long did you date? From August to April, so I guess that's 8 months. We started dating just 3 weeks before I left for college. I quit college after 2 semesters to get married. (I never said it was the smartest thing I did, but I don't think I would've changed a thing either)

How old is he? 31

Who eats more sweets? Definitely Josh. He's like his dad and has a real sweet tooth! My boys are taking after him now too. He snacks and snacks all day. I prefer the 3 meal thing, with minimal snacks.

Who said "I love you" first? He did; unbelievably only one week after we started dating.

Who is taller? He is, he's 6'1". He's about 10 inches taller than me.

Who can sing better? That would be me. Since his vocal cords are paralyzed, he really doesn't have a chance, although I know he wishes he could sing!

Who is smarter? Definitely him. He has an incredible knack for retaining information. I am constantly asking him questions about things, and he always knows the answer. Lucky for me, it's like having a constant walking/talking dictionary/encyclopedia!

Who does the laundry? Both. He does his own. I do my own. I do the kids' (but ocassionally he'll do the kids' as well).

Who pays the bills? He does. We have separate checkbooks. His money pays the bills and also things he needs. My tiny check from cleaning goes for fun things for the family.

Who sleeps on the right side of bed? I do. I used to sleep on the left in our old house, but he always gets the side that is closest to the door and is the most convenient since he has to go to work in the morning when it's still dark. I actually prefer the left side of the bed, though!

Who mows the lawn? Well, this year it has been Ammon. But before that, it was mostly Josh. He's good at what he does taking care of the golf course, but since he mows the grass all day at work, I think he sometimes gets tired of doing our grass too. Occasionally I will do it, I've always loved mowing the lawn!

Who cooks dinner? I do. But only because he works all day, and I'm home most of the time. Josh has great taste buds, and always knows what needs to be done to food. I think he is actually the better cook. In fact, several times I've signed up to make dinners for people in the ward or people that just had babies, and he usually makes the food because he knows he'll do better at it. It's the truth, too!

Who drives? Josh. He thinks I'm a terrible driver. I don't mind having him drive since being in the car makes me sleepy, and I have a hard time seeing the big picture when I drive. I tend to focus only on the road, so if a deer is coming, I don't see it until it's right in front of me.

Who is more stubborn? Definitely me. He is very easy going. I am a pain. Enough said.

Who asked out whom first? He asked me to lunch when I was having a bad day at work (we worked at the same place). We ate at Taco Time, and then sat there and talked for 2 hours after the meal was done.

Who proposed? He did, on Valentines Day 1998. We were watching a movie together. The doorbell rang, and it was a flower delivery man with a dozen of the most beautiful fire and ice roses. I read the sweet card that came with the flowers written by Josh. Then he came down the hall, and kneeled and held out the ring and asked me to marry him. It was very sweet!

Who has more siblings? I do. I have 7 total. He has 4 total.

Who wears the pants? I like to think we share it. I always have my say in things, but he also puts his foot down about certain things too. I think I'm like the mayor, and he's like the governor: I make all the little day-to-day decisions that keep our family going, and he makes the big decisions that keep our household running.

Tag: Jen, BreAnne, Charlotte

Rainbows, Ripples, Rocks, and Roll-Ups...

and a few Rumps, too!

PERKINS FAMILY VACATION PART 3

Okay, okay, this is my last installment in this series! I took an unbelievable amount of photos, had such an incredible time, and I didn't want to forget a thing, hence the 3-part mini-series!!!

Aunt Tawna rode down and back part-way with us. It was a real treat! Thanks Tawna for being a good sport. For being good on the drive, the kids each received a fruit roll-up! It looks like a car full of red-tongued lizards, dontcha think?! Unfortunately an hour into our 20-hour trip, our air conditioning broke. Thank goodness for the DVD player, the GameBoys, Aunt Tawna, and the roll-ups to help keep their minds off the heat.


The first night we were there, an amazing storm came through. (See the beginning of the storm clouds brewing over the lake?) We saw a glorious, gigantic, complete rainbow, too! During the storm I took over 150 photos trying to catch any of the multitude of lightning in the sky-I got 1 1/2 successful photos (I deleted the rest btw). Do you know how hard it is to photograph lightning? Have you ever tried it? It is VERY hard!


Our cabin was so very close to the water, and it was so convenient. We enjoyed taking strolls to the water's edge. We skipped rocks on the water and counted the number of bounces/ripples. We saw seaweed, and Ammon said, "I know why they call it SEAWEED, because there's WEEDs and we can SEE them!" We put our feet in the water and then our legs in the water, and Josh and Kala and Jen even took a cool refreshing swim in the lake water! (and LOOOOOVED it too!!!)



There was a huge rock next to the cabin that the grandkids were constantly playing on! Malcolm, Jonah, Quinn, Aspen, Ammon, Abbie, Micah, Libby (and Kanyon in thought!)

I noticed after I picked the photos for this blog that 1/3 of them were of people's backsides. So, here's our fronts. Notice Jonah and Micah's faces? Well, at least when I take pictures of backsides, there's nobody screaming "I don't wanna take a picture" and grimmacing! Unfortunately, 3 of my boys are like their dad and hate their pictures taken. What's a mom who loves taking photographs of her family to do? Press On, that's what! So, sometimes their faces don't convey what I want them to, but I love them all the same! I am glad for the priceless memories, family togetherness, and unconditional love! I can't wait til the next reunion!