Nebraska {day 4}

Tuesday was our work day. Jason was branding his 900 calves the next day and out in Nebraska they ranch like they did in the old days. All of the neighbors, friends, co-workers all come and help and get the job done in a hurry. It was really nice, Ryan was amazed, it takes us ALL-DAY-LONG to brand 80 calves and Jason can do his hundreds in a couple of hours. Also like the old days all of the cowboys come back to your house for a fancy lunch with all the fancy viddles. [isn't that what they call it on 7 brides for 7 brothers??] Kiley gets to do all of the cooking, which she is so organized and had a lot of it already done and in the freezer, but there was still a days worth of salads to put together, and all the rest of the food that couldn't be pre-made. Plus we tried to keep up with the kids, and all of the other regular house work. It was a long day, we were tired, the kids had a ball. There were lots of puddles to make mud pie soup and float sticks, besides calves to feed, trees to climb, critters to catch, and endless sand to dig in. It was so fun! I loved the pace of life, we shut off Ryans cell phone for the first time since he bought it, I didnt need my purse, computer, cell phone, no where to be, even if I wanted to, it takes two+ hours just to get to the nearest Walmart! It was really quite lovely! I LOVED it! I have a new goal {and I hope} to simplify our lives here, more staying home and letting kids be kids, running and playing, and less of me running here and there, Home is where it is at!

Just A Little Of Our Day

I cant post everything from our busy day today, but just to give you an idea of what we got done, We (yes Ryan and I) were up at 6:00 AM this morning, shocking, I know! Jason was of course already long gone, but he did come back to get Ryan and to have breakfast. We started with a BIG yummy breakfast, then the men went out to check more cows, we had a tornado type storm last night, it was really scary/crazy weather, I was REALLY glad we didn't see any tornadoes. Kiley and I have had a full day we cooked roast, baked beans, washed and wrapped potatoes, dishes, baked pies, pasta salads, lunch, dishes, mowed lawns, did laundry, baked cookies, dinner, and more dishes! It was a nice busy day. The weather cleared up and it was really a nice afternoon for playing. We are excited for the branding tomorrow. We are planning on 30-50 cowboys. It has been a great time. Ryan is enjoying himself too, it is fun to not have to be the boss! I don't know how well he can be bossed though. He and Jason seem to be having a great time! They were kind enough to bring home a turtle for the kids to see. We are having a great time, not ready to go back to OUR real life yet!!

Day 3 To Nebraska

Have you ever driven across Wyoming? It makes you want to do silly things like this; You think that it would be a treat to watch movies all day long, but after a while it does kinda get BORING! Our kids just LOVE looking at the map, even Claire!

We had maps and atlas all over the car, it really does help pass the time. So does driving through tunnels, to bad there weren't more.

No really, I am glad there weren't more, Ryan kept honking the horn and I knew these tunnels were going to cave in on us! Oh the joys of being married to a tease!

We were excited to get to Kiley's Monday afternoon, that is until the radio storm warnings started going off. We hadn't been there 2 hours and there were tornado watches and major winds and TONS of rain. The man on the radio says "if you are in a trailer, abandon it immediately" Kiley lives in a TRAILER! SERIOUSLY, then Jason continues to tell us, well Ive heard you are OK unless the sky turns green, minutes later the sky goes light green, I was a mess! Fortunately we were spared, the power didn't even blink. I was glad when morning came! Plenty of excitement for us!

Day 2 Sunday, Westons Baptism

We got to Greybull, Wyoming late Saturday night, it was Weston's 8th birthday Sunday and his baptism was scheduled that afternoon. It was a nice day, he is growing up so fast, and such a fun friend to our girls. He is by far one of the most popular cousins! I got to help by leading the music, it was a good thing I wasn't the one giving the talk. Half way through Kiley's talk Claire started picking her nose, which started to bleed profusely. She was facing forward so I didn't see it until she turned around and it was all down her dress, and then mine. Oh Claire Bear!
The boys stayed in their Sunday clothes all day because the baptism was a couple hours after church. This didn't stop them from playing like normal though! They had a great time, especially when Justin wasn't beating them up or hogging all of the toys.....

Three four-year-olds....future missionaries!!

These girls look to pretty for me, I'm not ready for them to be growing up. We had a great couple of days with the Jensen's!

Yellowstone 2010

We have been to Yellowstone now two years in a row, I have to say that this year was much more fun since I wasn't doing it alone! We somehow convinced Ryan to leave his farm and go on a week-long trip with us. It was such a great time, I think by far one of our favorite family vacations, we only really have two to choose from, but still, it was awesome! After the sister reunion we drove to Erica's in Wyoming for Weston's Baptism. The short cut, which really isn't short takes us through Yellowstone. We had a great time with cousins and were just a little disappointed in Old Faithful, it wasn't as big as some thought it ought to be. We saw lots of wild life, the kids kept tally in the back. We saw lots of buffalo, elk, coyotes, birds of all kinds, and even a Grizzly and her cub. I love that drive because it keeps the kids entertained the entire ride!

Ryans 33rd!

We celebrated Ryan's birthday during the Sister Reunion. It was also Trish and Bret's birthdays too, and Kiley's was two days later on the fourth! Busy June!

{front Ryder, Justin, Kache, Claire, Ryan, Brek, Emma, Wyatt, Bode, Ren; back Dallie, Kiley, Mom, Erica, Ashley, Tricia, Weston, Kristin, Mijken}

Ryan got to have the party though and I think was the only one to get a present or blow out the candles, lucky guy! He had plenty of help though from all of the kids!

Justin and Ryan both got a cap gun. This is Justin's first "gun" ever. I think I may have been a bit premature on this one. He still has a lot to learn about guns. I should have planned better too because we had about 8 little boys and only 2 guns, what was I thinking??? Needless to say he hasn't played with the guns since everyone left, it may be a while still!

Baby Kalebs Blessing Day

Bobby and Sara blessed baby Kaleb on Sunday. He was really good and looked very handsome for his big day!We really enjoyed having so much family in town. I like it when Bobby and Sara invite family because Kiley comes too! Cody told me he kept expecting my parents to be here because Kiley was here. Our family tree isn't branching very far!! But we like it!


Jaci and Ryder are cousins that we have on both the Telford side and Nielson side, so lucky!


We had all of the little boys running so hard and fast after dinner, it was quite entertaining to watch! Somehow Mike fell asleep in all of the noise. His kids, actually wife thought it would be funny to poor water on him! Naughty kids!

We had a great time together, we cant wait to be together again for the family vacation in July!

Cousins in Town

We had lots of cousins in town for the long weekend. Bobby and Sara were blessing their baby Kaleb and so we had a few Bagley cousins and Telford cousins too, we had a house-full and a great weekend!

Last Day of School

The girls finally finished school! I was hooping and hollering around the house all week, they werent as excited, they LOVE school! They will be happy to be home too, they are just going to miss their teachers. We all went to school and had a fun play day, I didn't take many pictures because the camera wasn't cooperative. It was a fun last day, SO glad it is OVER for another couple of months, I love having my girls home with me!

I Caught Tinker Bell!

I heard her screaming from the bathroom, I ran in to check on her and this is what I found: Mean mother that I am said, stay there while I run and get the camera. Luckily she didn't have much choice, she was stuck, and screaming! Oh funny girl, I should give her credit, she was trying to take herself to the bathroom, not ready for that step yet I guess!