Thursday, July 30, 2009

An opportunity to good to pass up

Shayne was invited to tag along with some friends for a month long parade tour this summer. We weren't sure if we'd be able to survive without him for a whole month! It was a chance of a lifetime that he was so excited to go on and we knew he have experiences like no other time so off he went. I dropped him off at 3 am and he along with the H family and 8 beautiful shires were on the road. The first stop was in Provo, UT for the 4th of July parade.

After spending a week in Utah they started heading cross country to Wisconsin to participate in the Circus parade in downtown Milwaukee. They pulled a newly restored circus cart that was huge and beautiful. The hat that Shayne is wearing above was part of the circus uniform.

The whole H family plus Shayne in full uniform

After this parade he spent time all over the mid west. He slept under the stars and rode and cleaned horses and who knows what else. He has so many great stories to tell. He spent all of July riding and living a dream life. He worked harder than he's ever worked and did things that he never thought he'd do but he LOVED every minute of it.

They headed back to Utah for the big pioneer parade in SLC on the 24th so we decided to go and watch him firsthand.


My mom, the girls and I scored great seats for the parade. I made a great deal with the people camping out next to us... I told them I'd bring them a dozen donuts in the morning if they watched our chairs overnight. It worked like a charm. Perfect seats. Now if only the weather was perfect! It was a bit warm, to say the least, but we loved being so close to the parade action!

Shayne doing his thing. Isn't he so cute?? (don't tell him I said that!)
Their horses where the most beautiful by far. They are huge!
And the little cowboy.. well... too cute!
Did I mention that he grew an inch while he was gone?
He's now taller than his mom! He must have been fed well to grow that much! This trip we stayed at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. I loved that little place. We'd been there once before but staying there we got to explore so much more of it. Its a fun place to hang out.. or to be locked up in this case! And what would a trip to Utah be without all of our favorite stops as well? We got our fill of Training Table, Temple square, Provo Canyon and of coarse BYU.
We had a great time and were so happy to see Shayne!

He's already gearing up for next summer!

Monday, July 13, 2009

One year older and wiser too

Happy Birthday to YOU!!

Ten years ago I thought for sure that I was having another boy. Todd and I liked the surprise of not knowing what we where having, call us old fashion if you will. I mean I have no sisters, Todd has only one sister and both of our mothers are the only girls of their families.. so surly we'd also have a house full of boys. Well after several hours of labor and while my husband and the Doc where watching the baseball all star game (yeah... really) the doctor put this little 8 lbs 6 oz little girl on my stomach. I froze. I didn't see this one coming! I didn't know anything about little girls!! The sweet nurse grabbed my hand and said "touch your daughter" I said "what? my what?" Well little did I know how much joy this little girl would bring into our family!




She's a ball full of energy.. until about 9pm then the first one asleep.
She loves to go anywhere with me.
She loves to cook.
She is my little helper with everything.
She has her mother's quick wit...
for example..
the other day Meg, Ash and I were going somewhere and I said to Megan jokingly....
"your funny..... funny lookin that is" to which she reply without a second to think... "well I am your daughter and do look just like you" I love it!!


Ten more things we love about Megan

She is a very talent artist

She is a closet singer and a good one too

She scares very easily..much to her brothers delight!

She is a great story teller

She has a heart of gold

She is a peacemaker in our home

She is always willing to help

She loves all things girly

She is kind even when others aren't

Her smile melt our hearts

Happy Birthday Megan! We love you!!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Cowgirl envy

This weekend we celebrated the 4th in Prescott at the rodeo.
I think I was suppose to be born a cowgirl
cuz I love rodeo's!
I love everything about them. Once upon a time I tried be a cowgirl. I went to all the country dances. I could line dance with the best of them. I owned my own wranglers and boots. I love country music. I drove a truck for heavens sake! Something just went terrible wrong and it just didn't stick. Maybe it was that one dance when my friend was twirling me around and flipping me over his head and then dropped me! Well, no I still went back. Even in my wedding announcement's I was wearing wranglers, boots and a vest!

Well, this weekend I just couldn't get enough of all those cowboys and cowgirls! I love the attitude that comes along with cowgirl. I love how they walk tall in their boots and tight jeans with such attitude. I think I could pull it off! The attittude that is.. maybe not the tight jeans.
Okay, lets be honest.

Some women just don't look good in tight wranglers and sparkly tops or daisy dukes and boots! We saw plenty of those types but other than that... I was having some major cowgirl envy!


I'm hoping my girls soak up some cowgirl style because I think my son is on his way to full blown cowboy!

The girls with the Teen rodeo princess


If I would have know that we were going to meet royalty I would have bought the girls those pink cowgirls hats! Darn it!!

Future cowgirls ..
Wanna be and EmilyStill wanna be but with Ashley Me and Megan
(the man of the house aka Todd has requested to not be talked about or photographed for my shameless blog so that will explain all the "me" pictures)

Creativity at its BEST



From box to barbie house in 24 hours

The girls designed this house complete with a roof top swimming pool

and a choice of stairs or a slide! I want the girls to design our next house!

I love when creativity conquers boredom.

At the top of the stairs..

sits an empty room.

Shayne is off on an adventure of a lifetime. The month of July he is traveling with his friend, friend's dad, a big huge horse trailer, 8 shires, 1 bag of clothes, 1 pair of boots, 1 cowboy hat and a giant smile.

My lucky boy was in the Provo 4th of July parade and is now headed across the USA to Milwaukee for another parade then back to Utah for the parade in SLC on the 24th.

Thank goodness for cell phones and unlimited texting!

Home just isn't the same without him!