Tuesday July 31

Today we dug up and transferred two trees.

One tree was just planted in a bad spot.

We think that maybe one of the owners thought the big tree wasn't gonna live, so they planted this one to take it's place....

Well, we have saved the big beautiful one, so we wanted to move this little one.

It was struggling to get the light it needs anyway....bending itself out from under the big one.

We just moved it closer to the front road.

I think it will be a nice place.

Hope it survives.

I think we did a good job and got a really big root ball with it.....with lots of hard work with the tractor.

And then we had a seedling that must have started itself a long time ago buried in the bushes lining the driveway.

It was a good size, probably 2 inches in diameter.

We pulled that out....which was a pretty tough task.

We planted it out back by the garden to help shade the backyard some more.

I think we are gonna lose the big Dutch Elm we have out back.

It is looking bad.

But it is probably really old anyway...it has seen better days.

But I love the shade it puts out.

Anyway, we need to start thinking of future options in case we need to cut it down.

I am excited to see if they live.

*****

Cassi got invited to a little boys birthday party today and it was Ninja themed.

Sounds like it was a pretty rocking party :)

Cassi came home with all kinds of fun ninja stuff and excited to show everyone.

Dad made the other kids some foam swords like the one Cassi made at the party.

But Porter really wanted Cassi's....I think eventually she gave it to him.

I know he is sleeping in bed with it right now.

Elsie kept attacking me while I was taking pictures.

She was having so much fun.



This next little sequence of pictures just makes me laugh.



Look at that smile.

He is forgiven for sure :)

*****

On a side note.....this little boy is getting really good at running on the rocks with bare feet.

I don't know why he won't just put his shoes on!!!!!



Monday July 30

We really needed to mow the lawn today.

Or I should say LAWNS.

There is a lot of grass to mow.

Good thing we have two girls who are willing and able to move it for us.

Madi and Cassi took turns mowing, and they really thought it was great :)

I wonder how many mows we can get in before they don't think it is so great anymore.....

I actually love to mow the lawn, so maybe they will too .

*****

Once it got really hot, dad hooked up the water slide and we filled up the pool.

That kept them bust for quite a while.

Dad also installed some misters on the deck.....

They worked great at dinner time.

Elsie loved them.

Porter thought it was great to drink it up.

Silly boy.

*****

After dinner, dad started to water the lawn and somehow it turned into a major water fight.

The kids had so much fun and I am sure it will be something they always remember.....

Too bad I don't have pictures....but I promise it was super great :)

I love my little family and the dumb little fun things that make us so very happy.

Sunday July 29

Our ward does a fun thing in primary.

In sharing time, when there are kids chosen to give a talk and prayer etc....they also have a musical helper.

The musical helper could help lead the chorister....play an instrument...sing...whatever they want.

Well, Cassi decided that she wanted to play 'Choose the Right'.

She did really good and it was fun to watch her.....

Well, when we got home Elsie was singing along with her all afternoon.

So we sat down and recorded it.

It was very sweet.

I love the way Cassi is smiling and singing along with Elsie.

I love it :)

*****

After the little concert, we just hung out for the rest of the evening.

We made music with long grass blades....

Did a lot of wrestling.

Played Tag, Hide-and-seek, and Dad taught us to play Scat.

And then when we had to move the sprinklers.....the tractor was in the way....

So Dad told me to move it.

I am not a great driver.....so I was worried about doing it.

But with a quick refresher course, I was able to back it up and then drive it around the field for a bit.

Then we all took turns driving the tractor.

Fun night for sure :)

*****

Oh, I forgot to say that we ate our Rooster for dinner tonight.

Late last night Dad killed him.

He was a mean bugger.

He was mean to the hens...but even worse, he was mean to the kids, and we can't have that.

Too bad, he was a pretty thing.

Well, he made a good dinner too.



Saturday July 28

This is what we have been working on for the majority of the day.

We are putting up a fence between the pasture and the house.

It will look nice.....once we get those posts set :)

Don't worry...they will be straight.

*****

And then after dinner from McD's we came home and had some ice cream sandwiches.

Pretty good day :)

Friday July 27

The kids have found where the games have been stashed away and have been having a lot of fun playing together.

Mostly.

There is still fighting.

And I am still getting mad for things not being cleaned up.

But such is life, I guess :)

Porter has been kinda rotten the last couple days.

Just causing all kinds of trouble for the girls.

That little sweet face can cause some problems for sure.

I think he is ready for the girls to go back to school.

He misses his one-on-one time with Mom and Dad I guess.

We also started to watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics.

The little ones went to bed early, and I let the bigger girls stay up for a little longer.

But, I recorded it so they will have to finish it up tomorrow.

After we all get some sleep :)

*****

Dad had another rescue on the river today.

This one didn't go as planned.

He was Captain today, so he was running things from the bank.

Two girls were stuck in a bad spot on the Boise river.

The dive guys went in with their boat and got life jackets on the girls and got them in the boat....when all of the sudden the boat filled with water and flipped them all out.

The guys were quick thinking and got the girls going in the right direction.

Brent jumped in the water to grab one of the girls.

Look at him....his station pants dripping wet.

My hero!

He said the poor girls were terrified....first being stuck and then being thrown from the boat....

So it wasn't a smooth rescue....but a rescue all the same :)

Nice job boys.

Story and more pictures found HERE.

*****

In very sad news...we learned that one of our fellow Boise Fire guys was killed today in an ATV accident.

It just breaks my heart.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family tonight.

Then seeing this sunset tonight....just makes you think about how we need to love and cherish those we have around us.

Make our families our number one priorities.

Enjoy the small moments....even if it means you don't have a super clean house....or all the laundry done....or a perfectly cut lawn...etc.

You never know what could happen....and you don't want to think someone left this world without knowing how much you loved them.

Thursday July 26

It had been WAY too long since the three of us hung out together.

It used to be a daily thing for us a few years ago.

But times change, I know.

It is great to be able to play for a little bit each year :)

Sure love you girls!!!

And here is a shot of all the kiddos that belong with our little trio....

Minus the one who is still in Jenni's tummy!

We will get her in the shot next year :)

*****

We just did a lot of playing and hanging out this evening.

The kids all got along pretty good.

And we all stayed up really late, which makes the 'not much fighting' thing even more impressive!

Wednesday July 25

Today we went out boating with the Young's.

We were worried it was gonna be a bad weather day, since it was raining early on.

But it turned out to be perfect and beautiful!

We only stayed out there for a few hours, but the kids all had a lot of fun.

Brent was saying as we were on our way back home that we need to do this more often.

Taking a break.

We get so busy trying to get stuff done around the house that we forget that the kids need to be kids and we need to let loose sometimes.

Let me be clear....the kids do love helping with stuff around the house :)

But it sure is fun to take an afternoon off to not think about anything that needs to be done and just play!

Here is a run down of the day in photos.

Elsie was not sure she wanted to be on the boat.

But we talked her into trying it.

Maybe next time we can talk her into going on the tube!

*****

Afterwards we went back to Pat and Steves to drop off the boat and help get things cleaned up.

They have put in a zipline...and it is a big hit!

The kids had to all try it out before we headed home.



Elsie loved it.....

But wasn't so sure about things when dad let go.

But she is a brave little cookie.

She is buffalo brave.

That is her new thing.....when she is scared to do something we talk about her being Buffalo Brave....which comes from a story I made up to read to the kids.

One of these days I will write it down and print it out for the kids :)

For now....the saying Buffalo Brave, gets us a long way!