You've probably all lost hope of me ever blogging again, but I'm back! (With a lot of pictures to boot!) I finally was able to get all the pictures off of my old phone (we both just upgraded to iPhones) so there are oodles for your viewing pleasure. Here is my feeble attempt to catch up.
I made a wedding cake for a girl in our ward. It is one of my new favorites.
We finally sold our house!!! We went up to take care of a few things and were able to stay with Jonathan's brother's family. While we were there, Dawn and I decided to take the kids to the greenbelt in Idaho Falls to feed the geese and take some pictures of the kids. Everyone was looking forward to the outing. When we got there, there was a cantankerous old man sitting on a park bench, who was apparently the self appointed greenbelt police. Unbeknownst to us, Idaho Falls recently passed a law making it illegal to feed the geese. They were no longer migrating because they had become too dependent on people feeding them and/or were too fat to fly. This man started getting after us before we even pulled any bread out (we were still walking for goodness sakes!); it kind of spoiled all of our fun. The kids were grumpy after because they didn't understand why we said "let's go feed the geese" and got them all excited about it and then wouldn't let them when we got there. (Yes, we obeyed the law). I was most annoyed because how did Officer Greenbelt know we weren't just there to have a leisurely picnic? We were heading toward a picnic table after all, and the bread wasn't visible because it was in a grocery sack with some snacks and gatorade bottles. He just didn't approach us in a nice or polite way, and since we were all in a sour mood after no one would smile for any pictures.
I am still in love with my new camera :)
I had the kids pose on this rock while we were waiting for Jonathan to change water up Cedar Canyon. After we got back in the truck Jonathan asked me if I remembered that it was where he killed the biggest rattle-snake he has seen on the ranch yet. Oops. In my defense, it had been cool and I always look for snakes :-/
This little boy makes some of the silliest faces!
And some of the cutest too!
Look who had her very first solo ride. It was all she could talk about for days :) Dunny was good and tired from chasing cows and we were both near by.
We're on the homestretch of our celebration marathon. Our anniversary was good (8 years!), my birthday was good, Lane's was fun, Maggie's was frilly, and we only have Jonathan's left.
I made Lane an Oreo dirt cake because he loves Oreos!
This cow is a mystery to us. She has a perfect circle of white hair on her side. The only logical guess I can come up with is that she was calved onto a frozen old tire rim and it was cold enough to freeze brand her. What's your guess?
Meet Hadley. I saw an ad for her on a classifieds page I'm a member of on facebook. She needed a new home so they were giving her away for free. Jonathan and I decided it wouldn't hurt to go look at her (he's been wanting another dog for a while.) She was supposedly abused as a puppy and as a result she cowers away from most people. The owner was really worried she wouldn't approach us at all when we went to see her. She ran right up to me and pretty much stayed by my side the whole time we were there. He was really shocked how instantly I became her friend :) Long story short we decided to get her. She's border collie x australian shepherd x cattahoula cur. She's really smart and athletic and chased a cow for the first time the other day and from what I hear she did good.
She might have been free, but she's turning into an expensive dog. Good thing we already love her. She got an abscess a few weeks after we got her that we had to have a vet take care of and now we need to get Duke neutered, which we've talked bout doing for a long time but never had any real motivation to fork out the money. Here's our motivation; her name is Hadley. I don't love the name, but she came with it and it's what she responds to, so I'll get used to it.
Last winter Duke jumped off the hay wagon from two bales high (he's not always the sharpest tool in the shed). He sprained his paw when he landed and it still hurts him if he runs for a long time. Because of that he's more hesitant to chase cows now, so it will be good to have another ((smarter and more athletic (don't tell Duke I said that)) dog around.
This bear was spotted not too far from our house. In fact, there were quite a few bears around us this year. The state trapper came in a killed one that had been killing some sheep. he flagged Jonathan down on the road and showed it to him. He said it was absolutely massive!
Sometimes this is what brothers do...
Lane is a little fish whenever we go swimming.
This is how Lane relaxes in the truck while Jonathan's changing water.
I taught Maggie how to use my old camera and she entered some pictures in the fair. I might have already included this picture. It's been so long since I blogged I don't know what I've said already and not. Anyway, she won first place for each of her pictures (they were good, don't get me wrong, but it also doesn't say a whole lot because our fair pretty much assigns first place to everyone). She was excited to get some ribbons and $6 in premiums though :)
Our chickens caught and ate a little snake, which was both disgusting and appreciated.
My wonderful Star, who has been living in Russia, came and visited me :) It was so good to see her and catch up.
Lane's new way of eating pretzels...
Maggie drew this tractor and baler for Lane. I know I couldn't have drawn that at nearly five years old!
Bed time wrestling matches :)
My family has a tradition of using a red letter day plate on special occasions. My sister never received one as a wedding gift though, and the original plates are super expensive, so I decided to make one for her birthday. I wasn't sure it would work, but I was really happy with the outcome. I used the glass etching paste on a red ceramic plate with vinyl lettering on it.
The kids kept sneaking the kittens into the house.
Beavers are Jonathan's arch enemy, but you have to admit it makes for a pretty scene.
Maggie's birthday cake.
Maggie is going to be Rapunzel for Halloween, so I made sure to finish her dress in time for her birthday.
We spent conference weekend in Park City with some of my family.
Maggie with her matryoshka dolls that Star gave her.
Like mother like daughter. Always taking pictures.
Maggie's pet caterpillar she found in the yard. I was pretty sure the hairs could cause skin irritation, so she mostly just watched it. It's weird that such interesting looking creatures turn into a boring moth.
Maggie with the genuine red letter day plate on her birthday.
We're doing preschool again this year. There are only five kids in her class this year and it's going well so far.
If you made it this far, congratulations and thanks for sticking it out :)
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