Visitors Are Always Nice!

Ryan' parents, John and LaVone came up to go to Red Lodge, MT and "stopped by" to see us.(even though it's a 5 hour drive out of their way.) We had such a great weekend ! We went to the farmers market, and the boys bought marshmellow shooter guns. They had so much fun with them. We watched Indiana Jones, and...
went to Ryan Dam. We actually got to get on the island with our visitors this time instead of just eating on the trail leading to the island like we did when the Bouck's came. The falls were so beautiful it was unreal how much water was coming over the top. We were so glad that we got to see it. It is always so fun there. After we got home we went to work mending fences, pulling weeds,building a strawberry box, and shoveling dirt to fill the strawberry box. Thank you John and LaVone for coming up and helping us to weed and mow the lawn. We seem to be in the habit of putting people to work when they come for visits. I promise, all you who read this, you can come up and visit without being put to work.

One Year Ago Today.....

We said good-bye to...

Sam's best friend...

Noah's best friends...

Caleb's best friends...

A neighborhood full of kids...

Max's best friends...

The best friends I could ever ask for...

Baby girl cousins, wonderful aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas lots of best friend cousins...

The best family in the world...

Our dream house... and the best neighborhood mom's in existance!...

Great friends and family who were such an example to us of how true service is performed. THANK YOU! We will always consider you the bestest of friends, and will always be truly grateful that our paths crossed yours in this life! We love you all and miss you all terribly.

wHAt DoEs JuNE 11th LoOk LikE?

This might be what you are thinking of! Birds chirping and sitting on their nest to hatch their young. Sunshine, and kids laughing outside because school is finally out! Sprinklers going, watergun fights... Yeah, not here. Snow is what we woke up to. The house only 60 degrees because we turned off the heater long ago. Power out, trucks off the road because of the 7 inches of slushy snow that fell. (Ryan took the picture after the snow had mostly melted) Tree branches broken, and flooding everywhere. Us curled up next to the fireplace freezing our bahooky off.

I sure hope that one day the sun will shine again. I hope, I hope. I do not want to run our fireplace all summer long.

OUCH!!!

I was planting raspberry starts, when Mara decided to join me. The problem came when she tripped over the railroad tie and bit through her lip. Not fun...not fun at all! I am afraid that she has entered that accident prone age that all my kids have gone through. Let's just hope she's not as bad as Noah was!

Free Fish Day at Wadsworth Pond

What would you do to get a free fishing pole? You can see that Emma didn't appreciate what we did do! It was free fish day at Wadsworth Pond today. They were giving away free fishing poles to all the kids and teaching them how to fish. It seemed like a sunny day, so we thought we'd give it a whirl. We knew there would be a lot of people, so we got there early, and weren't too nervous about the amount of people that we saw, so we started off to our stations to learn to fish...

They taught the kids how to tie their hooks onto the fishing line, and how to cast the pole. No one could get their free fishing poles until they stood in line to do all the stations. There were four stations and four dots that you had to get on your paper indicating that you had completed all the stations. Pretty simple... Until we got to the last station, and the line was so long. It was so windy, not cold, just windy, and I was trying to keep Emma out of the wind. The kids were whiny, and so to pass the time we played the "I spy game" much to the annoyment of others waiting in line.

The pond was beautiful and we were glad that we found it, we will definately go fishing there when there aren't so many people.

Do you see the line? Yeah...people in Utah stand in line to ride rides at Lagoon. People in Montana stand in line, in the wind, with their six children, waiting to get a free fishing pole. Madness, but in a good way.

I finally gave up and took the girls to the car to wait. They were much happier, and Ryan stayed with the boys to get their fishing poles. They did go and cast them into the lake a few times, but the wind was so strong that they couldn't cast them past the moss, and eventually gave up and came back to the shelter of the car. All in all I am glad we went, they were really nice fishing poles, but it would have been nicer if we could have actually caught something.

Emma was much happier in the car... after all, she didn't get a fishing pole.

~School's Out, Look How Much We Changed In A Year~

Well, here we are on the last day of school! The boys are so excited for summer to begin. Now schools out, so bring on the warm weather. We are sick of jackets. I took this picture on the very last day of school, and thought it would be fun to see how much they have changed in one school year.







This is all the boys outside of West Elementary School and the first day of school Sept 2007. Below is a picture of the "school boys" out in front of our house just before going to school. They were so nervous to start at a brand new school, and though there was some adjusting, they all did very well!

Kindergarten Graduation!!

Way to go Caleb!!

Caleb's Kindergarten Graduation was today. I can't believe it! I have three kids graduated from kindergarten now. He was so stinkin' cute. I told him he had to wear a shirt and tie, and he insisted that he wear shorts and flip-flops with it. He did look quite studly though. He loves his principal

"Bobby" the kids all call him. He is the best principal ever, he knows all my kids names, and that's hard to remember when they look so much alike.

Caleb loved his teacher Mrs.Moats as well. He wrote her a letter that said "Good Buy" She was a "good buy" we were so thankful forher, she really helped Caleb's transition so She just loves the kids and you can totally tell. She fell a few week ago in the hall at school and tore her muscle that holds the foot to the bone, so she spent the last weeks of school in a wheel-chair. We are so proud of you Caleb. Good work this year. We think it is awesome what a good student you are and the good example that you are to the others in your class.

Caleb got the Overall Best Student award! His teacher just told us he is reading on a 2nd grade level, and is totally ready for 1st grade! Way to go Caleb!

On wednesday I helped deliver a baby at the birth center, and got home at about 8:00 pm. Then I spent last night helping to deliver a baby. I went at 10:00p.m. and got home at 3:30a.m. Emma woke up at 4:00a.m. and I finally got to sleep at about 4:30 a.m. I learned so much though, I am loving it. I have been very lucky, I haven't had to take the kids to the babysitter for any of the 5 deliveries, and Ryan hasn't had to miss work, it has all worked out so smoothly. I know it won't always be easy, but I will enjoy it when it happens. 5 down, 75 to go :)I got the kids up at 7:00a.m, but even though we were ready, we missed the bus. The first time ever. So I drove the kids to school. Then went back for Caleb's graduation. We are going to go the park today when the older boys are out. No one is more excited that school is out than me!

Like Sophie?

I had to go into Caleb's class to help with their "picnic". We were supposed to go outside in the courtyard to blow giant bubbles , eat lunch and play in the teepees. The weather didn't cooperate, of course, so we stayed in the class to eat, and made starburst buck teeth. The kids had a great time. As we were getting ready to go I got out the curling iron to curl Mara's hair and she said "you do my hair, like Sophie's?" It has been a good month since she has played with her cousin Sophie, so I thought it quite hillarious that she remembered

that Sophie's hair was curly. I wish it was like Sophie's and it naturally curled without me having to stand and do it. It turned out pretty curly this time, but often I am not so lucky, and of course as soon as she has a nap it doesn't look very good. When we were done she looked in the mirror and said "I look like Sophie." It is so fun when you realize that they are little people who are aware of the world surrounding them.

*Of "Ant Butts" and Other Such*

Okay, let me preface this video by saying that when I was a senior in high school, we went on a pioneer trek and I was the "Ma". One of the leaders told us that if we ever had to survive off the land, we could eat the butts of ants, and they are really sugary, so we could get some energy. He told us though, to be carefull because the heads will pinch you, so what you do is grab them by the head, squeeze it, and bite off the butt. Me being the daredevil that I am tried it. They actually do really taste quite sweet. I have told my kids this story and last night we were out letting the goats graze in the front, so they could eat all the dandelions, and we saw a bunch of ants. Caleb said he wanted to eat one so I said "go ahead, be my guest." this video is what he thought about it. Normally I don't let my kids say this word, I think it's crude, so whenever I hear them say it I just say "please say bum." This is an exception to that rule, because it was so funny. I am sorry that I am talking, my voice is annoying, but listen to Caleb "stinkin" cute voice.

~Perfect Summer Night~

Ryan's 20 year class reunion is this summer! Yikes! How old does that make me feel? I still feel like I should be in high school, but here I am with six kids and a 5th grader. Wow! When did I get so old?















We tended the Crane's kids tonight. Ashlyn, Brandon and Jace. The kids had such a fun time playing hide and go seek, riding bikes, chasing goats, jumping on the trampoline and getting in the mud. The flower in the middle of my head was put there by Ashlyn. She insisted that I wear it and that she take a picture of me with it in my hair. She could only make it stick in right in the middle of my head.








I made Sam hold some of the chicks so that you could see how big they were getting. They have very little down left, and they are kinda creepy looking with half feathers and half down. Just as I was taking the pictures, the one on the right peed on him! That's why he has such a funny face. I laughed that the chick would pick just that moment to pee on Sam!

The kids were all playing so well, totally entertaining themselves when Ashlyn came to tell me that Max had pt mud on Jace's head. I went out to the back, and they were all muddy. I said "Ashlyn, your mom is going to kill me because you all got so muddy." She looked at me and in a very serious matter-of -fact voice said "My mom doesn't like it when I get my new clothes muddy, and these are new clothes. You should have been out here watching us closer." Boy was she right! I guess I failed as a baby-sitter. But I gave them popsicles, so maybe that made up for it.

The sky was gorgeous tonight, and the weather was perfect. Those are the windmills up on the hill, that white line, and that is our chicken coop, the tan building with the red trim.

This was such a great night. Perfect weather, kids playing hard! At 9:00 p.m. It was still really light outside and all the kids were still playing, and Sam said "Mom, it's 9:00 and we are still all outside! This is great." It doesn't get dark here until 10:00 and the sun is up at 5:00 I love it!