Our New Dog and Trip to California

I have offically become the worlds worst blogger! I use to be so good at updating our blog, but lately I feel as though I just don't have the time or the kids won't stop touching all the buttons, so I just give up! I just downloaded pictures from my camera and decided I had better update our blog right now or it will be another month!

This is our new dog Sugar! She is such a great dog and the boys just love her to bits! I have to tell you that we have not had the best of luck in the dog department, but this time it is working out perfectly! Sugar was given to us by Josh's boss and she is about 4 years old. She has had several litters of pups and is a very mellow dog....which I LOVE!! The kids pull on her tail, take her food away, ram trucks into her, and any other obnoxious thing a little boy could do to a dog! She has never bit them, but just gives them a look of "whatever!" We love her and I am so glad that the boys love her too! I do have to tell you that she was an "inside" dog for awhile and that was not working for me. She sheds so bad and I just couldn't take all the hair and the dog smell! I am much happier now that she is outside!

Last week I went to visit my sister, Carrie, in California! I am so glad that we decided to go because the boys had a great time playing with there cousins! Carrie and I have been without husbands for awhile, but mine finally came home and hers is still gone! I felt so bad because she was without a hubby for Valentine's Day and her birthday, so I decided I would go and visit! We had a great time together and it was great to celebrate her birthday with her! We ended up getting to go to dinner because her neighbor volunteered to watch the kids! We also got a babysitter and went shopping and out to lunch on Saturday! We had a great time together and it was nice to get away! The kids had a great time riding bikes, playing the Wii, playing with all their cousins toys, and going to this really fun play center! They loved sliding down the slide, playing in the balls, finding their way through the maze, and I think just being crazy and silly kids! My sister has some great parks by her house and we took the kids to a couple of them and they loved it! I will say one nice things about California...they really do have great parks! Now, about the pictures of my oldest in a pink tutu and pushing a stroller, his dad about died! I had to take a picture for my son's future dates. He loved playing dress up with Bree and was so good to take good care of all of her babies! I will leave it at that! For Carrie's birthday I took Bruce to Target after school and let him pick out a present and decorations. We had the house all decorated before Carrie got home from picking up Beau from school! I know the kids were excited to do something for their mom and I wanted her to feel special on her birthday! Her husband sent a really yummy cake and I know I enjoyed it a little too much! I am just so happy that I live close enough to visit her every once in awhile! It takes about 51/2 hours without traffic...not too bad!

We had a great time and now we are back home and the boys were really excited to see their daddy...I was too!! For those who are wondering about the pregnancy...we find out tomorrow what we are having! I will be sure and let you all know! I am so excited to find and feel like it has taken forever! Other than getting bigger, not much has changed with the pregnancy! Keep ya posted!

Bree fell asleep and look so cute!

Bree and Tag at Playwrex

Beau and Ty having fun in the balls!

This is where my kitchen chairs stay unless we are eating! The kids wanted to make a fort under the table! Tag climbs on anything and everything, so the chairs are no longer available for him to use!!

Ty and a friend over to play...they were building forts everywhere!

My cute boys before church! I am not a biased mom or anything!

We are Pregnant!

I know many of you already know, but for those of you who don't, we are expecting baby #3! I am due on July 12th and we are excited for the new addition! I am glad to be in the 2nd trimester because I didn't feel good during the 1st one. I had to eat about every hour so I wouldn't get sick and was so very tired! I don't enjoy not feeling like myself, but I am doing much better! To make matters worse, my husband had to leave again for work! I will say I was lucky that they needed him to come back because we got to spend 2 weeks with him that we were not expecting. In fact, he surprised me and it was the best surprise and a great way to end a very long day! So far everything is looking good and we will find out the sex at the end of next month! I would be happy to have another boy, but I wouldn't mind having a girl this time around! Things have been very different this pregnancy, so I am feeling like it might just be a little girl! We will definitely keep ya posted!

Christmas 2009

Ty got a new bow for Christmas and loves shooting it...he does really well when he looks at his target!

Tag loves to shoot too

"I want to do it all by myself!"

Tag loved riding...I think he's a natural!

The gingerbread house all the kids made!

Out shooting...it was a chilly day, so Grammy gave Tag her jacket

The kids table!

We had Lauri's family this year and I was so excited for her to open this!

Santa made a special visit to our house! The boys loved it!

Christmas this year was such a treat for our family! My sister, Lauri, decided to come out here for the holidays and once she announced that a snowball affect happened. My sister, Carrie, decided to come so she could see Lauri and then we told my parents they needed to come too since most of their children would be here for the holidays! Not everyone was able to make it...Rikki lives in France and Drue and Kristen had events planned with her family. Mike and Brita's family was able to come for Christmas Eve and stay through the weekend and we were so happy that they were able to come for a few days! Nothing is better than spending the holidays with those you love!

Lauri and my parents arrived on the 23rd and it was so good to see them! My dad couldn't believe how long it took us to go grocery shopping for the entire week that everyone would be here! What can I say....men just don't understand! They also couldn't believe how far I commute for doctors appointments and Costco or Wal-Mart trips! I have gotten so use to it that it is just life! Mike and Brita arrived on Christmas Eve and Carrie and Brian arrived on Christmas day after they had done their Christmas! Since my house is not big enough to accomodate everyone, we rented out my sister-in-laws grandparents house and it was perfect. They had enough rooms for all of us and our kids to have our own bedrooms! What a treat! Then when you walk upstairs their is a big screen TV, a wall full of movies, and 8 recliners! It was fun to watch a movie and have your own recliner to lounge in! The garage had been converted into a game room and we all enjoyed that! Last but not least, they had one of those player pianos and the kids loved playing it, but I think the guys enjoyed it just as much! We have them on video singing their hearts out while Brian played the piano...it was a riot!

I live in a REALLY SMALL town (1 grocery store, 2 gas stations...you get my drift?) and I was a little nervous that we wouldn't have enough things to do! Boy was I wrong! We kept so busy and only left town 1 time and that was to go play at a big arcade and go bowling with the kids! The kids loved all the arcade games and they did great at bowling too! Other than that, we kept really busy just staying around here. We did a lot of shooting and spent a lot of money on bullets and clays. It was great fun and I think all of us had very bruised and sore shoulders! Brian brought his go-cart and everyone LOVED that! I never got to ride it, but I know my boys and husband loved it.

My sister, Lauri, really wanted to go horseback riding and so did my nephews! We were planning on going to my in-laws to ride, but we decided we really didn't want to drive that far, so when our friends Woody and Tam got back from their trip we asked if they had time to take us for a ride. The kids were all so excited to go and kept asking all day when we were going to go. We went in the afternoon and Tam and Brian helped get the kids on the horse and then led them around the arena! All of the kids loved it and were grinning from ear to ear! It was actually really cute! Then it was Lauri's turn to ride! I think she was more excited than the kids to go riding. Now, we did not grow up on horses, but would got on trail rides a lot. Lauri got on the horse and all was going well, but all of the sudden this horse bolts! I am not exaggerating either! I was filming Lauri and before I know it the horse is bolting right towards me (I was right by the gate and it was open). Carrie and I then realize that Tag is right in the path of the horse, so we are running to grab him. Carrie got there first and grabbed the hood on his jacket and threw him back into the dirt! Then, we realize that Beau (Carrie's boy) is also in the horses path, so we run and grab him. We had 5 kids that we were trying to keep back away from the path the horse was running in. Ty decides he wants to run after the horse as it bolts past us, so I am running after him...thank goodness he wised up and turned around! What had happened is that this horse was once a barrel racing horse. He knew this arena and once he took off he ran out the gate, around the practice loop, back into the arena, around the entire arena and half way again before Tam and Brian could get him to stop. Thank goodness Tam was able to get the gate closed or I don't know if he would have stopped! Brian and Tam chased the horse the entire time, but he would not slow down. If you have ever seen the barrel racing, that is how fast he was going! To make matters worse, my sister had lost the rains at the very beginning, so she was holding on for dear life with her legs! Tam was very impressed with her riding skills and gave her a 10! It was CRAZY and something we will never forget and laugh about for many years! Needless to say, my sister was shaking like crazy and was very sore for a couple of days! I think we gave Tam a heart attack and we felt so bad because we really didn't want her to feel responsible or bad about it! Woody showed up and after they both worked with the horse, my dad and Woody insisted that my sister get back on the horse! She walked around the arena and got the horse to do what she wanted it too and I think it made her more comfortable! It was quite the experience and we were just all so grateful that no one got hurt and things ended up okay in the end! I have to say that I think my sister is just jinxed when it comes to horses because this same thing happened once before when we were getting ready to go on a trail ride! Her horse took off and wasn't looking back! I of course called Josh, who had to go back to work and missed all the excitement, and he just laughed! If you know my sister Lauri, you would understand his laughter!

Other than that one crazy moment, all went great on our vacation! The kids had so much fun playing together and were exhausted every night! We played a lot of cards and got my nephew, Bruce, addicted to cards! It was a lot of fun and something my dad was able to enjoy too! I knew that this Christmas would be hard on him, so I was so happy that most of us could get together and make this Christmas a little easier for him. Thanks to everyone for a wonderful Christmas! It was really hard to say goodbye!

Where Do I Begin...So Behind!

The Many Faces of Tag














Thanksgiving in Oklahoma

This year we headed to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving! We can no longer afford to fly, so we packed up the truck and took the 18 hour drive there! We left around 12:00pm and the boys fell asleep for their naps! Then they were up for a little bit and then fell asleep for the night. It worked out really good and we made great time! It was so wonderful to drive into Oklahoma and be back home again! It was great to see my mom and dad! My brothers arrived later on that day and were there mainly to hunt! We didn't see them much during their short stay because they were hunting everyday all day! Josh had a great time hunting as well, but he did have to spend time with me and the boys during the holiday! Lauri and her 3 girls came too and it was great to see my sister and nieces! All the kids had a great time playing together and Uncle Josh made a fun swing and trapeze to hang from the tree's and the kids just loved it! Josh was happy because he got his buck and I was happy to get my little buck too! Our stay went by really fast and it was very sad to have to say goodbye. The drive home was VERY long and I was so happy to be home and I think the boys and Josh agreed!











The Air Show

My brother-in-law was home on a 30 day leave from Afghanistan. While he was home we wanted to get the family together. There was an air show here and we decided to go as a family! My boys love airplanes and helicopters, so I knew they would have a great time! My brother-in-law would like to fly helicopters someday and has been taking lessons (if that is what you them!) Anyhow, it was a very fun and long day! I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat down! We got home about 3:30 and we all crashed and burned! The kids loved all the air shows that were put on, but we left before the "Thunderbirds" because we didn't want to be stuck there for hours! Josh was ready to leave because his feet were killing him...he was so ornery! The kids had fallen asleep too and didn't even move with all the noise from the planes going on. They were exhausted! All in all it was a really fun day!




Hunting with Woody

Our good friend, Woody Woods, invited Josh to go hunting with him for his mule deer. Of course, Josh was more than happy to go and excited to take Ty with him! He also invited his cousin and best friend, Mel, and his daughter, Montana! Ty and her are about the same age and they had a great time together! Woody was happy to get his mule deer and said he enjoyed having the kids there to take pictures with. I heard it was a fun trip, but Montana got really sick one night and I think that put a damper on things! I had a weekend with Tag and it is always nice to have "one on one" time with the boys!

Flint Rasmussen...the funniest man alive! Imitating "Titanic"

This was an awesome show...he rode without reins

Ty Murray...who Ty was named after! I think Josh would marry him if he could!

This cowboy is from Oklahoma!

PBR

My husband and I love to watch the Professional Bull Riding! Every year they have the World Finals in Las Vegas and I always want to go! This year, I finally got to go. Our adopted, "grandpa" Woody Woods had tickets and invited me to go. I was so excited and wasn't letting anything from getting in my way of going! He picked me up and we headed to Vegas! He had the best seats...right behind the VIP seats! We were right by the bucking shoots, so I was very close to all the cowboys! I have watched them on TV for years, but it was so fun to be right there by all the action! All though the cowboys didn't ride as good that night, it was so much fun to be there! I also had a great "date"...he bought me treats and dinner afterwards! It was such a fun night! Just to let you know, I asked my husband if he wanted to take me, but he wanted Woody to be able to go since they were his tickets! Last year he took Josh and I was so jealous, so he told me if he got tickets again he would take me!! Lucky for Josh, the people who were suppose to go the next night couldn't, so he and his younger brother went and had a great time too!