Summer Vacation Begins!

Today is officially the first day of summer vacation. This is very exciting since I am so incredibly sick of driving in circles all day!! Now I only have to drive to Tae Kwon Do twice a week and it is mid morning, much nicer then rushing home, trying to get dinner cooked, homework done, baths and bedtime. But summer vacation is also slightly terrifying as any mother knows. Some days there will be endless whining of " mom I'm bored", with me replying "would you like me to find something for you to do?" Yes now I will have time to clean my house since I will be home for more then a two hour stretch of time, but there will also be people living in it all day so it is kind of a catch 22 :) So the other night we had the "family meeting" to lay out the summer rules.

1. Just because you don't have school does not mean that you will not have a bedtime.
2. The TV and Xbox will only be touched by kids who have behaved themselves and taken care of any chores they are supposed to.
3. You can play outside and get as dirty as you would like, but you may not even touch your school clothes drawers unlessed mom has told you to.
4. All children under the age of 4 will have nap time, or at least quiet time everyday for at least an hour. Kids over the age of 4 have to go outside or be quiet.
5. I will feed you three times a day, and you may have a snack, but you will not snack all day long.

Yep, I am pretty sure the kids are ready to go back to school already! Today they spent the day playing school, Gabriel is pretty sure Sophia is no where near smart enough to go to Kindergarten and Sophie is pretty sure Mary doesn't listen well enough to be in pre school!

May Madness!

May has been a very, very busy month for us! Stephen's dad was here to visit for a week, we made a trip to Worland for Stephen's cousins HS graduation, Sara's Second Birthday, a trip to Lander for one of my very best friends wedding ( Our first trip with absolutely no kids in years!), Gabriel's Kindergarten graduation, and a couple of brandings! This week we still have Sophia's Pre School Graduation, Track Day and Mary getting screened yet again for Pre School next year. We also have one more wedding to attend at the beginning of June and our niece Hadleigh's dedication too! We are all very ready for school to get out this Friday and go to a much more relaxed schedule and get some much needed R&R before we all go insane! So just thought I would share a few pic's of all our various activities this month, more to come after this week is complete!


Sara very excited about her new vacuum for her birthday! I can't believe my baby is two...a little sunburned from branding all day!

Gabriel practicing to be a "rodeo star" at branding.
The girls, hanging out in the truck at branding, well out of the way and the best view!

Stephen's whole family in Worland.
My kids and Hadleigh getting ready to go to Gabriel's graduation!



Gabriel and his best friend Jerry. It is very hard to get a nice smile out of 6 year old boys!
Me at Sink's Canyon in Lander WY before the wedding we were going to.
My very good looking husband!

A normal conversation with Gabe.....

Everyday it just amazes me what my kids come up with and what conversations we have with each other. Most of our talking is done in the van while I am trying to concentrate on driving and am not too quick on my feet with answers. Gabriel is by far the most amusing since he is old enough to try and really understand hard concepts, all the while I am having to keep answers simple enough for him to understand. So here is today's conversation on the way to karate today.


After all of his sisters are screaming at each other Gabe pipes up

Gabe: Mom how come Jesus didn't give me a baby brother like I want?

Me: Well Gabe, Jesus knows whats best for us, you are very lucky to have three little sisters.

Gabe: Maybe mom, at least I have Hank and Tater.

Gabe: Mom if God made people and he made a boy first how did there get to be so many people on planet earth?

Me: Well Adam was lonely so god made a girl named Eve and she was his wife.

Gabe: Oh so every boy has to have some girl around..... Was Adam a president?

Me: Kind of he was in charge of all the animals and the place where he lived, but not like our president.

Gabe: Did he live in America?

Me: No he lived by Isreal

Gabe: Is that by Wyoming? ( Geography is a very difficult concept for six year olds I have learned.)

Me: No we will look at a map when we get home it is across the ocean.

Gabe: Ok mom. Is Isweal by the bad guys that the marines go get across the ocean?

Me: Kind of we will look at a map when we get home.

Gabe: I KNOW mom, but I need to know if when I am a Marine if I am going to the place Adam lived.

Me: No Gabe probably not we will look at a map when we get home.

Gabe: So it is across the ocean right? Is it by Grandpa Jeff's ocean?

Me: No Gabe it is on the other side very far away.

Gabe: Does Grandpa Jeff live by the scary ocean like on the fishing show? ( Deadliest Catch just so you know)

Me: No honey that is a different ocean, we will look at the map when we get home.

Gabe: Are we going to Grandpa Jeff's ocean someday?

Me: Someday, hopefully maybe in a year or two.

Gabe: Ok how many days is that.

Me: Maybe when you are seven or eight.

Gabe: I hope we can leave my sisters at Grandma and papa's if we have to drive that far. ( sigh )

Me: I hope you all sleep the whole way, now get your Karate clothes on, its almost time to go in.

In a 10 minute drive we covered a lot of topics!

Easter and Miss Belle

We had a very busy and bless filled weekend! Easter was fun, with a great church service and a day spent with my family. Church service was amazing and entertaining, especially Mary who was holding her own conversation with Jesus, who was trying to help her be quiet she tells us! The day at the ranch was fun and family filled as always. Uncle James took them on a walk up on our ridge to "the fort" where he got talked into playing "castle." Oh what a good uncle indeed...always playing the king for them so that Sophie can be the queen, Gabe the guard and Mary either the Princess or Princess dog, depending on her mood. Sadly in my rush to get out the door by 7:45 Easter morning with four kids, a husband who under no circumstances could iron his own shirt, a bum calf and two dogs to feed, I forgot to take a picture of all the kids dressed up for church! O well maybe next year :)

Grandma and Papa gave the kids a bum calf this weekend, that we decided to name Belle. The kids have all assured me that yes they will feed her everyday. I can guarantee that they will but I am guessing probably not as enthusiastically as they are now in a few weeks when she is big enough to run them over when she sees her bottle coming!






Oh and Friday, the kids found a turkey in our yard, who they promptly named Mr. Wiggles. Mr. Wiggles is now thankfully in the neighbors barn and the kids are welcome to visit him anytime!

Blizzard Spring of 09

This morning we woke up to winter wonderland again! Over a foot where I am at in 3 hours and that was at 11 am. It is still snowing, but not really hard. We heard there would be snow coming, but I wasn't prepared for one this bad. Stephen had to work this morning, so he traveled two and a half hours via bus like always to work, only to find out that they were turning around and heading back because of the weather. They made it most of the way home, only 50 miles to go, when the roads closed, so now he is stranded. And so are we! No school, can't get out of my driveway, have cleaned as much as I would like too on a dreary day...boredom! Well the kids are having fun now that the snow fall is lifting a little.....

Mary had a birthday

Well Mary is officially three now and thinks she is all grown up. Just had a little get together with family, nothing to big! Just thought I would share a few pics!

Karate Kids

Well as you may or may not know, we are very involved in Tae Kwon Do. It all started when Gabriel thought that maybe if he was going to be a marine he might need to learn how to fight and shoot a gun lol and I was all for it since it was indoors and warm :) ! Gabriel and Sophia both go 3 or 4 times a week after school. It is so good for them, physically and emotionally. I have seen a huge change in both of them since they have began. A big part of the program is teaching the kids self control, respect and modesty. All of the kids have to prove they are trying their best in all of those areas, at the martial arts studio, home and school before they are able to test for the next belt level. Sophia tested for her gold belt this weekend. So I thought I would share a few photos!



Before the test, getting ready to go!



Doing her wrist escapes.


Palm Strike!

Mission Accomplished :)