Campfire in the driveway

The kids and I were playing outside while Nick was mowing the lawn, we were playing with the hose and blowing bubbles. Isaac started making a circle with rocks in the driveway, when I asked him what he was making, he said "I'm building a campfire." He had been camping with Nick a few times this summer and really enjoys it. He proceeded to fill the pit with sticks(dried out tumbleweeds) and asked if I would start a fire. I didn't actually light the fire, but I was a good enough sport to give the kids some roasting sticks to pretend with. Isaac went inside and returned with a hot dog on the end of his stick. The girls thought that was a great idea and each wanted their own. After the hot dogs, we got out the S'mores ingredients and ate cold marshmallows and cold chocolate sandwiched between you guessed it, cold graham crackers. It was a great evening of fun for the kids.

Isaac's new blog

Isaac has really been excited about blogging, he told me today that he wanted to post his chocolate cake pictures on his own blog. We made him a blog so he could express his thoughts and photos. I'll have to figure out how to put a link on our family blog, but for now, check him out at www.isaaclarsen.blogspot.com

Snowy Range

Last Sunday was such a beautiful day, we couldn't waste it inside, so after church we took a drive to the Snowy Range Mountains. It was gorgeous, there was still snow on the ground, but the weather was so comfortable. Sophia and I enjoyed the wild flowers, Nick loved the views, and Isaac and Savannah spent their time picking out walking sticks and rocks.

Grahm cracker ice cream sandwitches by isaac

I was nice to make my sisters breakfast. I used moms cookbook. I made ice cream sandwiches.

Isaac's Mud Salad

Isaac made a lot of mud salads of 15. I got a perch fish. I made a mud salad to put on toppings. like leaves sticks and grass. Savannah and isaac was making mud soup.I made a muddiest mud pie with extra holes. We cooked dutch oven potatoes.That blueberry pie. posted by Isaac

Crosley's back home!

Well after one whole week at the animal hospital Crosley is back home with us. Last Tuesday she vomited all day, so I called my dear friend Emily, who is a vet here in Cheyenne. She told me there had to be something wrong and that Crosley probably swallowed a ball or some foreign object. We took her in Wednesday morning for x-rays, and found some metal in her stomach. They kept her overnight and decided to open her up for surgery The next morning. Emily called me in the middle of the surgery and told me that Crosley was really bad, she sent me a text message photo of everything they'd removed. They had to go into 7 intestines and her stomach to remove bits and pieces of plastic, metal, carpet, rawhide, rubber, dental floss, string, and rubber bands. The surgery lasted over 3 hours. We were told she might not survive because of all of the bacteria. We went to visit her everyday, but she couldn't even raise her head or stand very well because she was so weak and sick. Emily warned us that she was so ill and it was just a matter of hours until she died. Saturday night she and another vet called and said she wouldn't make it through the night if they didn't open her back up and perform another surgery. They stayed until 1:00 a.m. that night working on her. The next morning she showed great signs of recovery and has gotten stronger and healthier every day since. We got to go pick her up yesterday, she was so happy to be back home with us, she bounced all over the house and played with the kids outside. Our concern is that Crosley is just going to eat more junk and it will happen all over again, we have to watch her closely. Thanks to a wonderful vet and great friend, Dr. Emily Asay, I hope she enjoys a long life as Isaac's furry companion.

Playing dress-up

Sophia and Savannah have been having a ball playing dress-up this week with their sweet friend Maddie. Sophia is in her glory, but Savannah is not as happy to be dolled up and photographed. Savannah runs when she sees a dress or a hairbrush, she would rather run around in a diaper and be left alone. Sophia is a little princess, and the only time she's not in a dress, she's in her swimsuit. It's so funny to see their little personalities bloom. I love the photo of both of them together in front of the dresser, because it really captures who they are. Maddie was trying to get them both in cute green dresses, but Savannah was not going to give in. I took Savannah to her closet and told her she could pick whatever she wanted to wear. She immediately grabbed her sweater and said that's what she wanted to wear. When Bethany was here visiting last week, she said "Sophia is more elegant than Savannah." I told her she was right on! Savannah is my Tomboy for sure!! I'm glad that they're so different, and have their own cute little ways.

Rodeo

Savannah has a passion for horses, so during Cheyenne Frontier Days I thought it would be fun to let her experience a rodeo. Nick got free tickets from the hospital, so I took Sophia, Savannah and my friend Ruth. We had great seats in the sponsor box, where we were given star treatment. We had all of the food and cold drinks we wanted, souvenirs, and a chance to meet some great people. First, the Indian dancers came in the box, their costumes were beautiful and the girls thought it was nice to meet them. Then they brought in Wesley Silox and asked if we wanted to pose with him and get his autograph. We said sure, but I was thinking who is this guy, and why do we want his autograph. I came home and googled him, it turns out he is a champion bull rider, and he's from Payson, Utah. We didn't know the first thing about rodeo rules, but it was still an entertaining afternoon. My girls liked the barrel racing event the best, but were great the whole time and we enjoyed our first rodeo together.

Pedicures for the girls

Make a Smilebox slideshow

An evening at the Lake

One of the evenings that Shella and Bethany were here, Nick had the idea to go camping, we were kind of dragging our feet, so Nick decided to spend a few hours at a Lake in Curt Gowdy State Park, just a few minutes from our house. It was fun to be outside, and the weather was beautiful. Nick and Savannah caught a rainbow trout, Savannah was so excited, she said, "I caught a rainbow trap!" Nick made delicious dutch oven potatoes, we popped popcorn on the fire, and ended with a nice dutch oven blueberry cobbler. It was so good, we ate the entire thing! Nick took the kids out on his pontoon, the kids had fun wading in the water, and Isaac blew us away with his spelling and memory skills by writing in the sand with a stick. He wrote food dishes from around the country. He spelled them right, and we all impressed that he knew what Mango Kulfi, guacamole, wrapped grape leaves, hummus, sweet potato pie, and bubble tea are. He learned about them from a computer program, and he really retains what he reads and learns. We had a fun time playing at the lake together.

Shella and Bethany's visit

After our fun visit in Hurricane, we were ready for our 12 hour drive home, luckily I didn't have to do it alone! shella and Bethany drove home with us to spend the week in Cheyenne. It was a long drive, but we broke it up by stopping in Heber to have lunch with Marilyn and Adalee. We went to Isaac's favorite place, "Dairy Keen". Isaac is still talking about the orange sherbet. We were happy to see Nick when we got home. I had so much fun with Shella and Bethany, they were both very helpful with the kids, and it was great to have the company. Bethany came up with an idea of having a Fiesta, so we played Life, ate popcorn, chips, salsa, and guacamole. Later in the week, we played a six hour game of monopoly in the garage, while we watched Sophia and Savannah play in the hose and with bubbles outside. They were here for the beginning of Cheyenne Frontier Days, so we watched a wonderful parade. We did just a little shopping, got pedicures, and had a good time just hanging out. Come again soon girls!!

Happy 61st Birthday Dad!

We celebrated my Dad's birthday at his favorite locatation, Lund, Utah. I was a little worried about taking 3 kids and a dog to the barren desert for an all day event, but I was pleasantly surprised at the beauty that Lund holds. There were mountains in the background, a few trees, some bushes, and a lot of sand. My Dad had a goal for the day to clean up and get his hangar doors hung. We had a nice lunch, then most everyone drove their 4-wheelers to the sand dunes for a longest drive competition. Some of us that aren't golfers and had kids to watch stayed behind. While they were gone, Isaac, Bethany and Bryn were playing so great together in the hangar. I was so delighted to see Isaac interacting with his cousins and they were having so much fun together. They were making a bowling alley using empty pop and water bottles, they had softballs to use as makeshift bowling balls. We thought this looked like good clean fun and left them to play and have fun. About 20 minutes later Isaac came back to the trailer with white paint covering his hand. I knew we were in trouble and went to survey the damage in the hangar. The kids had gotten very creative on the cement floor of the hangar and had spray painted lanes for their bowling alley. They also had made a great sign to hang outside the hangar which read "Bolwing Isle", this was a large piece of tin with the words written in red spray paint. Wow, aren't they creative and imaginative! I feared that Grandpa would not be happy, so Chani, Shella and I scrambled to find sponges, sandpaper, and anything else we could scrounge up to try to wipe the spray paint up. The kids also dug in and started helping. We managed to lighten up the marks, but they will remain on the hangar floor as a reminder to Grandpa as to how much fun he had on his 61st birthday! We love you Dad!!