Oh, And By the Way...

Happy 4th of July!

(just a little late BUT it is still July)

Since I mentioned 4th of July in my last post, I might as well show you what we did.

If you have been "following" me for over a year 

than you know that July 4th is my most absolute favorite holiday.

I L.O.V.E. IT!!

After seeing the pics you might understand why...

We start the day off with a 5k race.
(This was the first year that I ran it)

Warming up and Stretching

Jake, Calvin, Weston, Elizabeth, Mark and Josh
getting in position on the start line

Lauren, Alli, Hudson, Grace, Abbi and Emilie 

waiting for the race to begin

Tessa, Julia and Hope
Our cheerleaders

Gma June, Cooper and Brian also cheered us along.

Look at these guys!
Curuzin!!
And check out Mark's footwear...
Tevas!!
No socks!!!
And the kid is fast.
(he beat me. not that that is saying much)

 Maggie, Abbi and Emilie
(great form Em)

 Calvin and Paul

 Grant, Josh and Me

 Lauren

WHEW!
What a race.
Yes, I finished and I didn't die. Almost... but I didn't.

THEN...
after the race, we eat.
It is the most fabulous pancake feed - E.V.E.R.!

Pancakes (of course)

 Hash browns, eggs, sausage,

 a bowl of fruit,

 and the choice of milk, choco milk or juice.
It's a feast!

Caleb, Sam and friend, Jason
played in 3 on 3 bball tourney.
They got 3rd!

The Whole Crew
(except for Caleb and Sam)

The 3 awesome Dads of this crew

Paul, Brian and Grant

We hung out at the park for awhile then headed home for naps.
Grilled hamburgers.
Ate homemade ice cream.
Watched some fireworks.
Went to bed.

My favorite holiday.
Why? you ask.
Well, I think it boils down to the fact that the town entertains me and my family all day.
My one day "off" from entertaining.
No organizing activities, food or schedules.
Just play.
Don't get me wrong - I love to entertain but I do enjoy being entertained once a year.
:-)

Thanks America!!
I love you.

98 and Great!

That's right!

This is Grandma Great.

And she just turned 98!!

This is my Grandma.

(my dad's mom)

My two brothers and their families and my family all gathered at my parents house for the big celebration. (our sister and family were not able to make it)

Her birthday is around the 4th of July.

 We said the Pledge of Allegiance,

sang the National Anthem 

and then sang Happy Birthday!

We ate pizza!!

Jake and Calvin

Abbi, Jess, Maggie and Hudson

 Maggie and Jess

Some of the crew enjoying their lunch in the shade

Mom and Dad

 Then we ate cake...

and homemade peach ice cream.

YUM! 

The children also did a performance/dance to the song "Who Am I?" by Casting Crowns.

Then we played!

 Grant (back), Paul, Grandma and Me

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

We love you. 

A Clutch?

YES!

We have ourselves a "clutch" of ducks.

Mama and Papa Duck spent a few days finding and preparing the nest for their future generation. She laid her eggs in this nest until there were about 7. 

Then she sat.

And sat.

Sat through the rain.

Sat through the heat.

Sat 24/7 for 28 days.

And now she has 3 ducklings, so far.

She is still sitting!
And we are still waiting...

Ride 'em Cowboy!

It's that time of year again...

Horse competitions.

A little delayed because of the EHV1 (equine virus) that hit the west.

However, it is in full swing now.

We competed in Evanston 2 weeks ago.

My dad helping with the set-up of barrels.

What a guy!

Hudson competing in poles.

He got 3rd overall in 4 different events.

Dani Rae  

 She got 4th overall.

Abbi doing poles.

 She got High Reserve (2nd) overall for all events.

 Hudson and Ranger

Abbi and Cash

Dani Rae and Ty

Way to go!

Always a fun day competing.

Boy Meets Horse

Boy

Meets

Horse!

Cooper, the future Cowboy

This Little Piggy

Well, I guess our farm was not complete without a pig.

NOW - it's complete!

Hudson, Abbi and Dani Rae competed on their horses at a local Little Buckaroo Rodeo.

Abbi got third in the Keyhole and Barrel events.

Hudson and Dani didn't place but did an outstanding job.

One of the side events during the evening was to catch a greased pig.

Of course, all of my children wanted to chase that little piggy with the end goal of catching him and getting to bring him home.

There were so many kids, I figured our chances of catching him would be small.

Boy, was I wrong.

Hudson was the first one to get hands on that slippery little oinker.

And Abbi was right there if he had not caught him.

I guess our chances weren't as small as I thought.

After I saw that Hudson was definitely the winner - 

I started yelling to him,

"We ARE NOT taking him home. Hand him to somebody else!"

He looked at me with a smile that told me he was going to keep him.

He was very proud and very excited.

He said this pig would be his "project". He will care and pay for all of his needs.

Done.

OK.

This little piggy has a home.

Touched by Angels

These sweet people are the most amazing couple
E.V.E.R.!!
How they found and came to Big Canyon was completely orchestrated by God.
And we are ever so thankful!!

Mr and Mrs W live in California.
They had been to a camp (in CA) a few years ago and while they were there as campers, they saw and met a few retired couples that lived in their trailers and volunteered at the camp.
After seeing how these people served - that's what they wanted to do when they retired.
Well....
they retired.
And we were the blessed recipients of their love and servants hearts.
WOW!!
They were here for about 8 weeks and got soooo much done.
They have gone home and we REALLY miss them.

Gordon, Karen and Cooper 

Tessa was Mrs W's sidekick almost the entire time.
What a pair!

After a long days work (if they were up to it), we would have dinner, make cookies, or watch movies and eat popcorn with them.

Tessa, Dani Rae and Elizabeth played many games with Mrs W.
Their favorite was the matching game.
Poor Karen had no chance of winning.
Oh, those young minds with an incredible memory.
:-)

We are praying that God leads them back to Big Canyon and into our lives again - 

Real Soon!

Wigs and No More Pigs

Dani Rae

BEFORE...

9 inches measured...

CHOP!

Hair for a wig!

And too short for "pigs".

(around here we call pig-tails, "pigs")

We have sent the nine inches and we are praying for the person that will receive her hair in a wig.