And the Winner Is...

So here is the winning entry for our favorite vacation photo. It was taken by Scotty T. Aaron's long-time friend. Little did we know that Scotty had such a flare for photography and also such great timing.
Aaron and Lanny were posing with a fish, there's a shocker, when Louie suddenly said,"Oh I see how this works!" She, of course, reached out to play with the down-rigger (which in her mind she knew how to run) and promptly dumped the whole thing into 150 feet of water. Scotty snapped the picture and forever captured Aaron's horrified expression at seeing his birthday present for Clark go over the edge. Louie was extremely upset, and Aaron handled it very calmly...or so he said. Don't cry though, Clark might not have gotten a birthday present, but Aaron has two more down-riggers...thus I didn't lose too much sleep over it. But I do love the picture. Clarky gets a framed, signed copy for his birthday instead!

Here are the Horses

Here are some pictures of the horses. I was so proud of all my kids. Lanny is terrified of horses (he gets that from me) and never wants to go near them. This time he asked Grandma if he could ride, and wow, we couldn't get him off. All of my children have turned into Wyoming cowboys/girls. Lanny and Louie even loped on Wendell T. Of course, Aaron, or Grandma was with them. But still, that is huge. Louie brought her cowgirl hat all the way from home, just for riding the horses! After we rode the big horses, we met the two new babies in the family. Wow, the kids really loved them. If they stayed that size, I might consider getting a horse! They had such an amazing time. I did actually ride as well, but I'm not as photogenic, what with the terrified look on my face. Aaron says it's a pretty realistic look, but I still should work on it a bit!

Weekend Roamings

Last week Aaron took Lanny and Louie to Flaming Gorge. Just so everyone is not confused as I was, Flaming Gorge is in Utah...as well as in Wyoming. Don't tell Aaron, but apparently these two states do actually have something in common. They had a super time and when Kessie and I joined them on Wednesday evening they were all sunburned, windburned, and water-logged...and loving it! We all swam and played on Thursday and then headed over to Star Valley to see the family and horses. Friday we rode the horses, Saturday we fished and went to the Johnson family reunion. Sunday was a boring ride...are we there yet, how long is an hour...you know the routine. Seeing as how I haven't done much all summer, and even though it was a very long ride, I had an enjoyable time. We now can't get on the freeway without Kessie shouting, "Look, Brother, we going camping." (The freeway is always the first lap on our camping trips.) The kids are already revving up for the next fishing/camping trip, Aaron and I are just trying to get some sleep so that we can keep up with them! Love those lazy days of summer!

I'm Baaack!

Okay, so I really didn't go anywhere, but after a month of no blogging, I should have some great excuse like I went to Paris or something. But, alas, it has just been one of those months where I get absolutely nothing accomplished. But no more, I'm starting anew...from now on I'll be blogging everyday! No, don't expect that, but I do hope to post at least once a week again. Since my last post, the kids have done more fishing...shocker, Lanny even caught a huge Walleye...he looks like he's in pain, probably because it is so heavy. Lanny also lost another tooth (one of his top front ones, and the other top front one is very loose.) We got a little pool for the kids, they love it...so do the dogs! Our electric poles on our property were removed, the kids had a great time watching the man climb the poles. The power company has brought in a lot of heavy equipment and they love how cool some of the trucks are. Louie gave a talk in church, she did great! The next week she gave the prayer! Now she thinks she is suppose to do something every week. Of course, we watched some fireworks for the fourth. Kessie loves the "Popfires!" as she calls fireworks.
Mostly our month has consisted of little bits of life, nothing big, but we try to enjoy all of it!

Summer

We haven't actually done much this summer. Aaron takes the kids fishing and that has pretty much been the highlight of summer. My summer is pretty much summed up by the top picture. I sit on the porch and listen to a book on tape while the kids gather wildflowers for me. We have quite an assortment on our property and they love to explore and bring me back some that from root to flower are taller than Kessie.
The bugs are in full force now, and Lanny loves catching things. He caught this beautiful butterfly the other day. I let him keep it for 24 hours and then told him it was time to set it free. He didn't want to, but he willingly complied with my wishes, or at least he tried. Apparently, the butterfly was quite attached to him. It kept climbing up his arm and neck to rest on his ear. He would carefully put it back on his hand and it would go right back up to his ear. Finally, he set it on the ground and then the butterfly flew away. He was pretty pleased that his butterfly liked him so much. It was pretty cute!
Hope everyone's summer is going well!

Father's Day

Big shocker, I'm a bit late, but I wanted to wish all the father's out there a Happy Father's Day! More than once my father and father-in-law have saved the day in my life and I'm so grateful for the wonderful men and examples that they are. Neither of them are close enough to hug, but I hope they know how much they are loved.
This is a picture of a picture, so it's not the best quality, but it's me and my dad. Obviously, I was a troublemaker even back then. Wow, what Dad's don't put up with.
The other one is my sweetie and his crew! I'm so blessed, love you honey, you're a great father!

Avian Flu

Have you hugged your chicken today? Well, what are you waiting for? Aaron took these pictures a couple of weeks ago, and I thought they were pretty cute. I might not like chickens, but the girls adore them! They help Daddy take care of them everyday. They also just go out to play with them.
Looking at the pictures I feel like I've been transported back a hundred years. Seriously, who has chickens anymore? Oh well, my family is happy, and the chickens are out of my garage, yahoo, so I'm happy too!
So, have a great day, and get out there and hug a chicken. (If you don't have one of your own, you can find them in the freezer isle, where they belong---don't tell my kids I said that.)