Giving it a try

Potty training.....again. You think we would be professional at this by now, not so. We are just beginning, nothing real serious, but she does have ONE Dora sticker on her big girl chart! Yeah Claire! She is very excited and wants to be big like everyone else at our house, we will see how long this really takes....

Yes, It's Been COLD!

It has been cold here, all weekend it was windy and cold. These were from Sunday afternoon, I knew our summery days were just going to zoom away, and they are! The weather is better this week but supposed to get cold again, with rainy wind. Here are some crazy kids:

Piggy back rides! See Ryan is wearing his coat, which really doesn't say much, but it was like in the 50's.

More work on the playground

Ryan got the old house hauled away (well his guys did most of the work, OK all of the work). Now Ryan has been doing a little dirt work, he had to cave in the old cistern (a way to store water back in the olden days) and now he is filling it in and trying to get it all leveled out. I think the kids would be happy with it left the way it is! Justin is LOVING the really big sandbox, just about every time he and Ryan go out to work he asks when he is going to build his sandbox, so he thinks this is just great! We are making good progress, I just hope we can get it done before too much harvesting gets started. We have been loving having Ryan around!

Target Practice

Some one thought it was a good idea to shoot out the windows of the combine! It was parked down along the highway (in the field) and someone came by and shot out the windows! If you look closely you can see a bullet hole (a little white spot) in the frame of the window that has duct tape on it. Crazy people! Thankfully the front windshield didn't get broken, still there was no combining to be done on Saturday. I guess that is what happens when you live in the middle of nowhere and kids (and some adults) have nothing better to do. But really, come on people!!!

Getting the mail

This boy is growing too fast for me. I am no longer his favorite side-kick, he is with Dad more often than not. I thought this day would never come and now that it is here I don't want it to be! Typical woman! He is getting so big, and smart, he figured out how to get the mail, ALL BY MYSELF!

The Red Head

As Justin likes to call her, Emma and I were so amazed at how long her hair was getting, when we were washing it in the tub that I had to just take some pictures. You can't tell that it is this long when it is all curled up, what are we ever going to do with this hair!! How FUN! I just hope she thinks that when she is a teenager......

Swim Lessons

We have been taking swimming lessons in Shoshone the past two weeks, It is nice after two years of lessons the girls are finally making some BIG progress! Ashley can jump off the diving board and swim to the side which is HUGE for us! She loved swimming in the hotels in Utah this past weekend, YEAH Ashley! Here she goes:

Emma has progressed a ton too! She is getting really brave, I am so proud of her, Here she goes off of the diving board:

This is Jaci after her jump, (down in the water) she is pretty brave! There are none of Justin because he wouldn't jump....For being such a tough guy he is a pretty big WIMP! I am sure it will just take time like it did with the girls. Our summer is slipping away from us I can tell. I am not happy about it at all! I informed Ryan that we will be snowbirds when we retire (if he ever does). I am not ready for fall and winter yet, boo hoo!

Cousin Rebecca's Wedding

The real reason for our trip to Utah was for Ryan's cousin Rebecca's wedding. We only made it to the reception, (we spent the morning at a small Telford/Secrist family reunion.) It was such a beautiful reception. Uncle Mike and Aunt Debbie have such a beautiful yard and home! Rebecca and Marco were like a super model couple, they both are such good looking people! They were fun to watch, and really a nice couple. We were glad to get to go and see lots of cousins and share the evening celebrating with Rebecca, Congrats!The happy couple
I had to include the picture I cropped because it has Marcie in it, she was so gorgeous too!
Ashley trying to get in some shade under the tent, she spent most of the evening in this spot eating TONS of chocolate ice cream....

A trip to Lagoon

This past weekend we took a trip down to Utah to visit Lagoon. Ashley and Emma have been before when they were really little, about 6 years ago, so we figured it was time to go again. We had a BLAST! Ashley and Emma could go on every ride as long as they had an adult with them. They were so brave! I couldn't believe they weren't hardly even scared by any of the rides. They just went and went all day long, Ryan was just thrilled that his girls loved it just as much as he did/does! In line, the park wasn't really all that crowded, It was nice not to have to wait in too long of lines.

Claire bear!

Going UP! This is on the Ferris Wheel, that thing is really high in the sky! Claire looks really hot! She and Justin both got hot but the girls did OK staying cool. Ashley went right in the splash fountain first thing, I went in with her too, how could I resist, those things are SO COOL!

These are the bumper cars, Emma is in the car with the lights shinning.

Justin (green car) bumping Ashley (pink car). They went on these like 5 times in a row, there were no lines, it was SO nice! Justin was a really good driver actually, I was surprised, I can never figure out how to work those crazy bumper cars. I am pretty sure this was his favorite.

Ashley

Emma

Justin, this was kind of a baby ride but it was the first one we went on so I had to take a picture! What a super fun day, we cant wait to go again next year, I think we may have just started a new TRADITION!

Future Farmer

This kid will NOT stay out of the mud, but at least he has found a way to clean himself off, (I think he got tired of being hosed so he doesn't ask for my help anymore!)