Elks Youth Camp

Last weekend, we had a reunion for my side of the family. We went to a place up past Roosevelt Lake. We had a great time. Here are three of our kids out in front of our cabin. Each family had a little bunkhouse....and it was simply that....just bunkbeds for sleeping. Then, there was a one big bathroom/shower facility to share and one lodge for us to cook in and play games in.

This is the cool lizard (skink?) that I, Catherine, caught. Yea, I am pretty proud of myself. I've still got it....even if I had to use a cup cause I was afraid it would bite me:).

The place was beautiful. So green! Here's a group of us taking a walk down to the apple trees and berry bushes.
Zane and Weston were side-tracked with a stink bug.


Zane and Wes again - two wilderness boys. These two boys were in heaven. They played so long and so well together....just having fun out in the wilderness. Diggin' in the dirt and exploring is what it was all about.



Cousins = Best Friends. The big girls in our family.
Sierra, McKenna, Hannah, (and Maddie, not shown - she wasn't in the mood for picture taking)


We played quite a few games of Koob.

Grandpa and Grandma gave out lots of love.

The kids played so nicely together. It was a great weekend. We are so grateful to have so many cousins for our children to play with and to be best friends with.

Above is Paige, Jordan, Zane, and Rachel. Below, Sierra and Zane are showing off a cool moth that Sierra caught.





The camp had two tetherball poles. Here, Hannah and Lance are playing a game.
Even Jackson wanted in on the action.

And, then, you know who, couldn't resist a swinging ball. Cash went crazy over those tetherballs. Unfortunately, he ended up popping one so we got to pay to replace it:).

Help Weston solve the mystery of where Jackson and Tim found their rocks. :) He might have a future in acting the way he pretends that he doesn't know where the rocks are from.

And, last but not least, is the main attraction for all the kids - the tree swing. Gotta love it! They spent HOURS on this swing.

Overall, we had a great time. We played games....like Koob, Quarto, and cards. We ate delicious food including chorizo tostados, egg burritos, gourmet hotdogs, hambugers cooked above the coals, pancakes covered in berries and whipcream, and turkey wraps. I think I gained 5 lbs....at least. Ooooh, and who can forget the yummy homemade deer jerky that Debbie and Sterling so graciously shared. It was a beautiful place. The kids loved to hike around and play in the creek. Some of the family even took a trip to the waterfalls and to the watch tower at the top of the mountain. Absolutely breathtaking! (Sorry, I didn't get pics of these things. I tried to get some pics from my sister-in-law but now the blogger won't upload them....go figure!)

Zane's big question - Mom, how come we only get to come every other year?

Yea, he wants to come EVERY year. It was that great:). With a beautiful location and great family...what else do you expect.

Me Do It!!!

So, after playing in the hose, Wes came in and took a bath. Afterwards, we went to get him dressed. He INSISTED that he do it. "ME DO IT." He even started jumping up and down to throw a fit when I tried to suggest that I might help with his shirt because it was going on BACKWARDS. But, he didn't care. He wanted to do it all by himself! Here's the proud boy - he did it all by himself. By the way, is the jumping up and down a natural instinct for throwing a fit when one is frustrated? I mean, if not, who did he learn it from? Well, either way, it was pretty funny. Should have gotten a movie clip of that one!

Can't Resist the Call of the Hose

There are some days when I hear the hose running out back and I know....I know what it means and I just want to wring his neck.... Wes is out playing in the hose and getting soaked! (Usually it's at the most inconvenient times....when you're just about to walk out the door somewhere.) But, this morning, since we weren't in a rush to go somewhere and he wasn't ready for the day anyways, it was cute and so it quickly became a photo-op. Weston loves to turn on the hose and play!!!

And, of course, Cash can't resist the call of the hose anymore than Weston can. And so the fun begins. They had so much fun this morning. OH, to be a kid.

Cash loves to jump up and try to catch the water in his mouth. Wes thinks it is soooo funny.


They just couldn't seem to get enough.

Forgotten News

How could I forget?!....the other exciting story about our new horse, Storm. I took him to my horseback riding lesson yesterday. I was glad to hear that my teacher thought he was a good horse and very well started. After riding Storm home from my horsebackriding lesson, I stopped in our front yard at our horse trailer to put my tack in it. I should have been more careful, but I wasn't expecting it. As I took off the bridle and reins and went to put on the halter and leadrope, Storm took off! Imagine my panic. I'm yelling "whoa," "easy," and whatever else I could think of. He just keeps heading off. Maybe it made it worse as I chased him from behind? I hoped he'd stop in a neighbor's yard to eat grass, but NOOOOO....he just kept on jogging down the middle of our street. We live on a dead end street, but of course, I couldn't be fortunate enough to have him head towards the dead end. He was headed to the main street - a four lane city street (five if you count the middle lane, do you?). I started praying that a car wouldn't hit him as I realized that he wasn't going to stop. He went right into the road and took a right. Whew....no car hit him. He just kept jogging and even loping down the middle of the road. What was I going to do??!! I kept chasing him, but there was no hope in catching him. I kept hoping he'd stop, but he didn't. All the traffic both directions stopped. It must've been a sight to see. He went a good block and a half down the main road and was still going strong and I was getting farther and farther back. Luckily, a man drove up in his car, saw what was happening, passed me, and then passed in front of the *(&^##*&%^* horse and jumped out of his car and caught him. He just opened up his arms and said Whoa. The horse gave in. Whew. How embarrassing. How I wanted to beat that *&$#@#* horse, but I was too tired to do anything....and the onlookers might have called Sherriff Joe Arpaio on me for animal cruelty. I thought I was going to collapse. I just walked him home on the sidewalk. Both of our heads hung down. Dumb Horse. I still love him though. But, I won't make that mistake again. (sorry, no pic of that one....actually, I bet you'd love a movie clip of that....me... trying to chase down a horse. I think I can almost laugh about it now.)

On another note, the kids got home from school today and immediately jumped in the pool to go catch the toads. I hope they all don't end up covered in warts!

Our "Storm"

Almost forget - two posts ago - I mentioned I'd tell about Storm. We have a new horse. WooHoo. Sierra and I are soooo excited:). This is Storm. He's a four year old paint. Todd's horse, Trigger, isn't doing so well....unfortunately, he's probably going lame. I have been trying to talk Todd into a new horse so that he could still come out on rides with me, but he has been really hesitant. He said that he was the ONLY one that had not fallen off a horse (cause his horse is soooo good...can you see me rolling my eyes?....even if it's probably true....I love my SPUNKY, SPIRITED baby even if I've fallen off three times). Anyways. I get him to go look at a couple of horses. We fell in love with the second horse. Of course, he's a paint (my fav). He knows his cues really well and is very easy going. Todd, Sierra, and I all rode him and were impressed how well he did.
But, then that changed out on the trail....he's still a four year old which means he's less experienced. I had said I was going to buy an 8-10 year old. But, that all went out the window, when I saw Storm. Anyways. We all go out on our first trail ride with Storm last Tuesday.

The horse just hasn't been out on the hard trails....wasn't too good with his footing and going SLOW down steep hills. It was kind of scary. A couple of times, it looked like he was going to crash going too fast down the steep hill. And, then when we were loping down the riverbed, I took a sharp turn knowing Cherokee could do it. Unfortunately, I didn't think about Storm. Todd and Storm were right behind me. The horse lost his footing and slipped. Todd fell off and Storm landed on him. Todd is okay....just very, very sore, and has gravel -rash on his back and behind. OUCH. I felt so bad. So much for "BEING THE ONLY ONE THAT HASN'T FALLEN OFF HIS HORSE". (I am trying to convince Todd that that makes him a real cowboy now:). This probably wouldn't have happened if we had bought an older horse. Maybe we need to turn around and sell him and get an older horse. ??? But, Todd, says no....he's defending him....lets give him some more time and experience out there first. The horse didn't do it on purpose. So, we're hoping that he'll get better....as long as he doesn't fall again on somebody else. :(

Do I get the loser wife award for buying a paint cause I love the color on the horse and not going with the rule of buying an older horse for the safety of my husband? hmmm. I hope Todd still loves me. He really is more important to me than my horses....I think:)

We've Been Invaded!

We went swimming yesterday after school with Megan and her kids. Weston spotted a baby toad. So, Gianna quickly snatched it up and the fun began. The kids had lots of fun with it. Poor baby toad.
The problem is we've been invaded by a whole family of them! I guess most of them hide during the day. And during the night, the adults come out and like to croak. Although, I wouldn't even call it "croaking". It's more like some animal making noises while it's dying. The first night we heard them, we thought it was actually some baby screaming. I believe that the toads are coming in with the irrigation. But, they are ending up in our pool which is fun for the kids, but horrible when the pool is right by our bedroom. During the night, Todd and I are woken up by croaking toads. It's horrible. They are soooo loud and obnoxious! Last night, Todd went out and caught FIVE of them. This morning, I went out to feed the horses. Oops. He missed one. There was that familiar and dreadful cry. The kids were sooooo excited to go out and see it. What do you do? The big question is what is Todd doing with the toads after he catches them? Anybody eaten toad legs before? jk!
On another note, the big kids are back to school. I'm a bad mom. I didn't get any back-to-school pics. The first day seemed long to them, but they are adjusting and starting to enjoy it. Lance is in eighth grade, Sierra is in sixth, and Zane is in second.

School will keep them busy and back on a routine now. I think it will do the same for me also. I somehow got roped into being the PTRO Vice Pres. at the junior high (thanks to my sweet friend, Kelly, who insisted it was a piece of cake). Although before school even started, I spent two mornings there for Bookstore Days and put on a teacher breakfast another day. It's starting to look like a BIG piece of cake:). Oh, I'm teasing. I do enjoy getting involved, but I don't think Lance is too thrilled about having me down at his school. Then, I am also in charge of the school fundraiser at the elementary school this month. It's back to "work" for me. It's a good thing I finished reading "Breaking Dawn" yesterday, so I can start getting some stuff done. :) LOVED the book! I tried to have some self control by limiting my reading time and getting some work done. Todd still couldn't believe how fast I read it....five days. Wait till he hears my sister, Michelle, read it in two days! (700+ pages) I bet her house is even still clean....she can do it all. In fact, she probably made homemade salsa and bread the same day:).

What I Learned This Week

Three things I learned -

First of all, when your vacuum is no longer "sucking," try checking the filter. First, I wondered how long I had been vacuuming without suction - just spinning the brush around on my floors. Real nice! Then, I about died when I saw my filter. I'll spare you the description cause it would more than likely hit your gagger - just think of hair and dirt - lots of it. How embarrassing!

Secondly, when my daughter is enjoying a girls getaway with her cousins and grandma up at the cabin, there is a LOT less shrieking in my house. So peaceful. I wonder if Lance was going through withdrawls not having her here to taunt her...and make her shriek "LAAAANNNCE".

And, last of all, I learned that I need to watch my toddler better. I should not let my toddler go out with a horse in the back lot (well, I kind of already knew that....the kids just an escape artist). I should not let him go in a backyard with a wild rooster on the attack either. Poor Wes. He looks a little worse for wear. First, he got stepped on by a horse. Luckily, nothing was broken. We were really scared though....did the whole urgent care thing and X-rays just incase. The horse must have felt Wes' foot and lifted it's own back up in order for Weston's not to be broken. Wes was even barefoot. We were really blessed that it was only a superficial wound. Then the kid fell off the jungle gym by the trampoline and scrapped up his nose and upper lip. And if that wasn't enough, there was the crazy rooster that scratched up Wes' face today. Anybody wanna eat fresh chicken? Go get him - he's in Sterling's yard. Wes looks like he had a bad week. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow. Poor kid!

Oh, we really did have a great week! On the positive side, my vacuum now sucks....literally. Sierra had a WONDERFUL time at the cabin. I'll get pics from my mom and post on it later. The boys and I enjoyed some back to school shopping. And, we had a wonderful family gathering at Sterling and Debbie's after they blessed their newborn, Conover.

How can I forget the biggest news on the homefront. She'll kill me if she knows I'm posting it. Sierra will be starting 6th grade...and since some of her other friends already shave....I caved in and bought her an electric razor. I hear it buzzing upstairs right now....gotta get those legs silky smooth:). I know, it's just the beginning. Make- up, bras, and the inevitable friend soon to follow. Can't I just keep her my little girl forever?


And, one more thing I'll have pics of tomorrow.....there's a Storm coming:)