Family Vacation!

Well we kind of decided on a whim to go to Washington to visit Mike's sister Hali. So we left Wed afternoon after the kids last day of school. The weather was rainy when we left and when we got to the interstate around Columbus this is what we found.



The water washed out the gravel under the train tracks. there were trains stopped on the tracks everywhere between Spokane and Livingston.

Getting a little bit deep! Is it the interstate or a new river?

Mike doing a good job keeping it on the road.

We made it to Spokane and Hali took us to the park and we played on the little red wagon, Mike went up to see the view!

Family photo in the wagon, I can't believe we all fit!

I got to go down the slide! WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Then we went for a ride in the sky car overlooking the Falls on the River.

Still smiling we weren't in the sky YET!

Very pretty but there was sure a lot of nothing between us and the ground!

look at those fingers turning white!

getting ready to go back up, Joel was asking if the ride was over yet.

Then we went to the Cat Tails Zoo!

HMMM should we go in???

the Mountain lion looking for food!

We actually fed a lion!

Cienna feeding "Zamba" his snack!

Delaney, Hali, & Aspen all took a turn! How cool is that!

The bear was getting his dinner too!

the White tiger, we also saw bobcats and a few other tigers and lions, oh my!

the entrance of the Zoo

We stopped to visti Mike's cousin and his family, and they took us to this fun kids interactive museum. Joel love the water table!

Cienna and Malia digging for dinosaur bones!

Joel and Delaney Digging!

Grace and Fiona in the red and Me and Joel in the Blue! About one ride on the Carosuel was enough for me! It went very fast!

James and Delaney digging!

We had a great time visiting everyone, It's always fun to go places but nice to get home too! On the way home it poured rain almost the whole way. We had just left Missoula and came up on a bad wreck that I helped on, Then just outside of Bozeman a guy hydroplained and rolled down a hill. He was ok but his van sure wasn't! I guess now I know why I kept getting after the kids for wanting to bury my medic bag. I think both guys are going to be fine. Being on a scene like that sure makes me glad to have the training I do, People stop to help and just run around like crazy!? So We are home safe happy but still wet! Will this rain ever quit?

Spring is in the air..... I think!

the pigs are growing and always causing trouble, they are worse than the kids! One got out the other day and dumped a 5 gal. bucket of oil then rolled around in it!


Dave's baby guineas they are getting big and he is getting baby chicks in about a week!





Cienna and Sylvan playing with the lambs, Sylvan didn't really like them much.

Ember and the stare down! Who will give up first? she had a ball chasing them around the pen!

the great roundup, running them in to be docked.

In the little pen ready for the torcher!

vaccinating oh what fun! I love giving shots!

Are we done yet?

Branding cattle with the neighbors the sun was actually shining that day!

ok not the greatest picture but we were together!

taking a break! who is that cute cowboy?

we have had a day or two that we have been able to get in the fields with the tractors, we like the rain but I for one am more than ready for some hot weather! The kids have been enjoying the longer days but it is never warm enough to be outside very long. Hopefully soon! So Happy Spring everyone!

Joel Loves Tape!!

Joel has been loving his tape lately. Everything has been getting taped up! Here he found the electrical tape and taped up the "pick up sticks" to his " car" can't you see the devil in those eyes!

He taped up his doorknob, thinking that would keep everyone out of his room? I like the sign that he had Mike make for him.

We couldn't find any pencils Joel had taped them up to make a gun.

here is another weapon. I guess that pencils and tape make great weapons!

here is another one- this one took a whole roll before I caught him taping a little then hitting Delaney and asking her if it hurt, she would say no so he would put more tape on and do it again. He is so naughty sometimes!

Mike was taking a nap the other day and when he woke up his feet were taped together! So we have hid all the tape rolls, but I think he still has a secret stash somewhere because he always has a roll in his hand ready to tape up whatever he can find! This boy I tell ya is QUITE different than my girls, he keeps me on my toes!

A New Beginning.....

As I look at the beautiful sunrise this morning, I have been trying to decide whether or not to make this post? After a tough week I thought that if sad memories need to be remembered. I look at today as a New Beginning, A fresh start, that is the way I have decided to look at it.


This is the house where I spent my teenage years, this house was full of fun memories and sad ones too! At the beginning of the year when my parents told me that it was going into foreclosure I couldn't help but feel angry. I think that I was most angry that they tried to keep it a secret, that they didn't come to me for help until it was too late. With my dads health the last few years getting worse and my mom trying to do everything herself I guess it just got to be too much. As I helped go through things and get ready for a yard sale We laughed a little cried a lot, and found lots of fun things:

My mom and dad on their wedding day, they look so happy I'm glad they didn't know that day how hard their lives were going to be! Not too long after this my dad was run over by a tractor and paralyzed. They have been through so much yet they are still strong and such examples to me!

Here is a picture of my Grandma and Grandpa on my dads side!

My Grandma and Grandpa on my moms side!

The chess set my dad made when he was a teenager, and in amazingly great shape!

The old wooden desk, not sure where it came from, it has always been around, and my Grandpa's Indian Blanket.

The little red chair that was my dads when he was little. It seems to be indestructible? We will see at my house?? For some reason I just couldn't let someone buy these things they all have so many memories attached to them I had a feeling of dread when someone would look at them to buy, I finally had to haul them out to my car? My Rubik cube that my mom made me, though not really a "cube" anymore. Joel is loving using it as a pillow!

My grandpa's dresser. I guess I need to clean the mirror? These are a few of the things that seemed to make it home to my house plus a few toys and other odds and ends. It was sad to see people come in and go through my parents stuff But as I think about it now it is a relief to them to not have all that "stuff" anymore to not have the stress of a morgage anymore to be able to start over with a fresh start. So as I sit here teary eyed I think that this is a good thing, a new beginning!