First Fruits...

I love eating out of the garden! Nothing is better!
Radishes are small, but who could resist stealing some while weeding them?

They aren't as hot when they are small! So even Emma was loving some today.

and Annalee!

But when she wanted to bite into an onion, I thought maybe I have been wrong all these years, and maybe this year I would enjoy biting into a raw green onion.

Oh no! I am not wrong, I still don't enjoy them raw...but cookied up in some stir fry...yes please!

I love this time of year!

Dog-gum Memorial Day!

Today, (since it rained two inches and snowed all weekend, and outside work was a negatory) Ryan and Caleb and Emma headed to Home Depot for a few supplies to work on the younger boys new bedroom. They parked next to a car that had a dog in it.

Caleb said "hey dad, I think that dog is a shih tzu."

Emma pipes in " I love shit shoes!"

Ryan laughed and laughed and then on our way home from FHE at the Crane's Caleb asked her what her favorite kind of dog was...

She instantly yells : I don't like shit sits! I love poooodles!"

You can't make stuff like that up.

All the boys laughed and laughed until their sides ached, and they all had to repeat what she had said. Finally I said "enough...no more repeating it" and Caleb says " I know...we should pray for forgiveness!"

Boy oh boy did we laugh hard tonight....

Minute to Win It! FHE style

Since we live so far away from family and the traditional Memorial Day Rememberances we are used to...(visiting Salt Lake Cemetery, Wellsville Cemetery and Cub River Cemetery) We had a celebration of Memorial day in a totally new style...

Ryan worked on the younger boys new bedroom, downstairs and then...

Spent the night at our friends the Crane's playing Minute-to Win-It FHE style!

We had so much fun with the balloons! They had major static cling and it was hard to even put them down when you wanted to!

First game see who can get the most ballons stuck to your team member the fastest...hurry up, you only have one minute!

Second game: Who can keep their balloon in the air for a whole minute?

Third game: blow paper cups off the table using only the air from your balloon.

We had a great time!

Happy Family Home Evening and Happy Memorial Day!

Velcro Rollers!

Goat Heaven-Goats eat Leafy Spurge

We have a lot of goats now...well, I am always up for more, But we sold three and lent two to our dear friends the Rowe's. They live out of town and have a lot of trees and a lot of leafy spurge (I only know this because my husband is the weed expert here in Cascade County. I know leafy spurge is not wanted, not indigenous to Montana, and very invasive...that is more than I want to know, but it comes with being married to the man)
They can't spray for the spurge because of their many trees! So that is where we come in... Goats for rent anyone?
Did you know goats eat the spurge? Did you know that as it travels through their stomach it kills the seeds.... You know now!

We took the goats over and they loved it! They are in goat heaven....
Wanna/Need to rent a goat...bet you didn't know that was even a possiblity or a option....you know now!

Mother's Day 2012

Today was perfect! and I mean it! It began with sleeping in (until 8) laying next to my most favorite person in the world. snuggled up next to him, nothing is wrong in the world!

I went outside to milk "Zippy" while Ryan cooked breakfast with the kids:
Scrambled Eggs
Toast
Fresh Strawberry Jam
Homemade Mango Salsa
Apple Juice

Opened homemade cards, a necklace Noah made me that was way cool, a cool tissue paper flower from Max and a wall hanging from Caleb. Emma "wrapped" me a present in her dance bag; a couple rubberband bracelets and Annalee's teapot she had just gotten for her birthday :)! Then Ryan got me a new pair of Sanduk shoes! So comfy, and a total surprise since we had bought some flowers saturday to fill our pots.

We played kick ball out in the back field before church. It was so fun! After a few innings, Sam left to go to the bathroom and I got a text. It said I was to go on a scavenger hunt and the first clue was by a rock wall where cars drive...Since there is a rock wall by our driveway we headed there...We found a clue that said this...

"That first clue was a cinch, but #2 you will find where the goats nipples you pinch."

After giggling we went to the milking stall in the barn. The hunt sent us all over the yard and ended with the guest room in the basement where he had placed a naked Santa holding hearts and two cupcakes... Where does he come up with this. We all had a great laugh!

Ryan had no meetings and we actually got to all go to church together in one car!!

My favorite picture, I told Caleb to tuck in his shirt and while he had his pants undo, Noah pulled them down! Yep that;s what happens around here!

They gave us flowers for mother's day and then we came home, ate nachos and headed to Ryan Dam with a couple of new families in our ward. The weather was perfect, the falls were beautiful and we  had so much fun playing "missionary tag" eating treats and just being together!

Like I said...Perfect!

Hap{BEE} Birthday Annalee!

Happy Birthday to Tiny Highness!

Annalee Joy

She has brough such Joy into our lives! We are so happy she joined our family!

She was so fun today! Everything was exciting to her!

It was the ward Birthday Party as well,

so we all got to celebrate it with baby!

Then on Saturday we had a BBQ to celebrate with friends. After eating her fill of tomatoes, beans, pinapple and strawberries on Kim's lap, it was time for cake. She was so mad I put her down, she was tired and just wanted to be held. Then we all broke into singing to her and she was totally fine. Max showed her how to lick the icing on the cake, and the rest is history! She loved it! Ate one finger at a time, then dove in with both hands!

Do you Green Drink?

Clean the Garage

Mara stayed home today, and while I cleaned out the garage she helped entertain Annalee.
She is the best helper. Can't wait until school is out and she gets to stay home all day. We have so much fun. As we were eating lunch Emma said "I love to eat lunch with Mara!" She is the best big sister.

I still look at this picture and am floored! I never thought I would be seeing three girls like this in my family. I am so grateful! Love them!

After the garage, we hit the freezer. What a disaster! Someone had left it open and it was full of ice. We chiped away at it with a hammer and the ice fell all over and Annalee loved playing in it! Problem was she got so wet! But that smile on her face was so great!

Simple New Game

Watching the kids play this new game.
They zip each other up in the duffle bag and drag them all around twisting and turning and attempting to get the one enclosed disoriented. Then they ask..."Where are you"
Makes me laugh. Love the simpleness and ease in which they entertain each other.
Ryan just said to me last night. "I love how much more simple our life is."
I love that each night we just play outside, work in the garden, play with the animals and find simple ways to be together.
I truly find great JOY in the seemingly simple things of life.

Annalee's Hair

Check out that hair! Daddy likes to lotion Annalee's hair straight up, but it is curly, so it falls over! I love it. She has the most curly hair of any of our kids....Oh and did I mention she is into everything! I mean Everything. I can't walk into the kitchen and find it the way I left it, there are always cupboards open, dishes, food, pots and pans all over.

I left her overnight for the first time last weekend. I went to Billings for Time Out for Women, and while I was gone, all (okay most) of the flowers seeds the kids and I planted in the little pots got destroyed by destructo here. aka Annalee. When I mentioned to Ryan that he had "Awesome babysitting skills" he simply said, "what, she is hard to keep track of..." Nice.

Can't believe this Tiny Highness will be 1 on Friday.....

Speech meet 2012

City Speech Meet 2012

Caleb has advanced to the speech meet and he is thrilled! I got to see his last round of speeches yesterday and was so impressed! He did such a great job!
So glad that he worked so hard and is advancing.
Okay, to be completely honest, I am not really looking forward to spending an entire Saturday waiting in a crowded room with tons of people, for many hours, but he is so excited!
Way to go Caleb!