Island Park 2011

Arkoudas Family reunion was in Island Park again this year. The kids had such a great time!Watching movies and sleeping together...
Riding in and playing on the ranger...



Drinking lots of soda pop!

Made Indian headbands...

and bow and arrows...

some bows were used as poking sticks, or ninja swords...

feathers were a necessary item...

These girls played so well together. Mara always latches onto the girls everywhere we go. Do you think she is female deprived? Good thing she has sisters getting older.

yiayia helped turn each hooligan into and indian brave...

or princess...

then the wars began...

there were sparrows for targets....some were even hit

right out of their nests...

One of the cute indian princesses...

We went to Mesa Falls! It was so beautiful!

and fun!

These two were inseperable!

First family photo with Annalee!

Since we were so close to Warm River, the older boys wanted to float it.

It ended up just being Caleb, Kyle and Sam...

It was freezing water and only 70 degrees, with a breeze. They loved it though and went a second time!

Then they all fished. Sam.

Noah

Caleb

and when that proved to be boring with no bites, they made it interesting by jumping in in their underwear! All of them. Sam, Kyle, Max, Caleb, Noah, Lij, Gage. What goofs! I was back at the cabin with Annalee and missed all the fun.

Then we went to Big springs.

besides the mosquitos, everything else was really pretty.

It was a great trip. Glad for all those who made it so fun for the kids. Thanks Yiaya and Papou!

Annalee is So Big!

Can't believe how much she is changing!

Smiling and everything.
Holding her head up!



hair staying curly. Let's hope she gets her dad's curly hair...I always hope, but it never stays!

We'll love it while it is here though.


Love that grin. It's payday for me when they look right at you and smile. It is so worth all those nights of getting up multiple times to feed them.


I love Love LOVE being a mom!

The Coolest Fort!

This summer began with so much fighting! Everyone was on everyone else's case about something or another and I was sure that I would loose my mind. It rained the entire first week that school was out and we were truly sick of each other, being couped up inside all week. Then the sun peeked her beautiful head out and the fields dried up. Sam started building a fort in our back pasture, and eventually got all the kids involved. Everyone but Annalee spent the entire day, stoping only to eat a sandwich real quick. Their fort is amazing, but it is so amazing to me because I never heard one bit of fighting the entire day.This is the front of the fort. The square panel slides to cover the door when they are inside.

The messenger hole to drop a message to those below.

They thought of everything! The grass thatching to keep the wind out.

Inside

A trap door that leads down to the "burrow".

Four funny kids fit in the top.

The backside

Truly impressed with their imagination!

Plum Tuckered Out!

Summer Water Fights!

We invited the Harris boys; Matt, Taylor, Cade and Parker over for the day. Of course a water fight ensued!They had the best time!

Even Mara and Parker!

Big Brother Sam and Annalee

Who's got me?

Oh! It's my big Brother Sam!
I love him!

{Chores}

This makes me smile!

Because most days we go out to do chores with our pajamas on we are a sight!

Notice I purposely didn't include myself in these pictures.

What I missed though was Emma in her Island Princess Barbie dress with red cowgirl boots off to milk the goats. Because why wouldn't you milk the goat in your Island Princess Barbie dress with red cowgirl boots?
This morning it was Max's turn to help me (Mara always goes out with me because she is my shadow) They sported cowboy boots and holsters with pistols, just for fun.

Did I mention I love my life?

{CraZy kiDs!}

We awoke Friday morning to sunshine! Beautiful sunshine! We had a week filled with rain and we were truly feeling couped up and grateful for a beautiful day to get out and get a little space from each other.

Saturday Sam and I woke up before the sun to head to the farmer's market to sell tutu's, fairy wings and flower clips. He begged for something more masculine, but beggar's can't be choosers and we are grateful to my friend Diane for letting us sell her stuff to earn a little bit of cash.

Ryan and Max had a baseball game and then they came home to clean up the yard.

The day was beautiful, it reached 70 degrees and there wasn't any wind, so apparently in Montana that's good enough for putting on swimsuits and putting a sprinkler under the tramp to jump.Here's Emma's getup! She rivals me and my garbs (as my mother used to call them) that I wore when I was little.

Really! red cowgirl boots with a swimsuit! Seriously so stinking cute.

She did meet the Montana Rodeo queen today and informed me that when she grew up she wanted to be a cowgirl and a mom!

Noah and Caleb sword fought all day long!
(Thank you Prosser's for the "soft" swords, you knew they would be used at this house!)

Caleb, Max and Mara roller bladed

Sam has serious weed-whacking skills and used them on the front yard today! With all the rain, the grass has grown out of control, and it has been too wet to do anything about it. Today we took control back. Everything looks so good now! Beautiful green and plush! and we haven't even watered once.

Loved this picture of Ryan seeing Emma in her garb!

She is just beaming at her ingenuity!

And who are we kidding? She has her father wrapped right around her little finger. He absolutely adores her!

Because Caleb was using the roller blades that fit Mara, Max and Caleb, she resorted to using mine. They weigh as much as her, and she looks ridiculous, but she moves pretty good on them. We will definitely have to look for a few more pairs since all the kids love to roller blade on our little pad of cement.

Love our crazy kids and all the inventiveness that they have within them!

what a great Saturday

Getting fat cheeks!

Yep! she gets plenty of lovin!

Three WEEKS Already?

I can't believe it has already been 3 weeks since Annalee was born.

Where does the time go?She got a new bouncer from her Yiaya and Papou.

She loves it and if I could just keep Emma out of it...
She already looks at the toys that hang down from it.
Oh my goodness! We love this little lady!