Good Trade

We recently traded two of our horses for a new ride. A fast, smooth, broken in, still lot's of miles to go, and more efficient ride.

Here he is...

We are all Happy!

Happy Mr: Good Rope Horse

Happy Mrs: Less Feed

Happy Jr: Kid Friendly

Here’s some pictures of our Little Cowgirl and her first ride on Scar.

Good Trade!

Reid Park Zoo: I SPY

I SPY: A long head, long snout, and long sticky tongue

What is it?

I SPY: A big body, big head, big trunk, big ears, pillarlike legs, short padded feet, and hooflike nails

What is it?

I SPY: Long Legs, Long Neck, short body, angular spots, and short horns covered in skin & hair

What is it?

I SPY: A snout with two horns, small ears, thick skin, and hoofs

What is it?

I SPY: Few rails and Big gaps

What is it?

I SPY: A powerful swimmer, long body, long neck, and lots of white fur

What is it?

I SPY: WATER with the push of a button and LOTS of FUN

What is it?

I SPY: A Large Pink Bird, long neck, webbed feet, and a unique down-bent bill

What is it?

I SPY: Something cracked

What is it?

I SPY: A good place to sit with my buddy

What is it?

I SPY: A place built for me, lots of splashin, and did I mention FUN, TONS OF FUN!

What is it?

I SPY: Something storing food in expansible cheek pouches

What is it?Shelby Loves French Frys and insisted I share my Hot Mustard for dipping. She enjoyed this treat so much that she stored some in her cheeks for later.

I SPY: BIG SMILES

What is it?

FUN DAY!

This Last Friday, My Friend Carolee and I took the Kids to the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson. We had so much fun. The Zoo was great! Lots of shade and water to keep cooler on a warmer day, fun animals, hardly any barricades for better views! Yes, it's probably a good idea to know where your child is at all times when you visit!

Thanks Carolee for inviting us to join you on this excursion and for a SUPER FUN DAY!

A Few Seconds of Quiet means…

Big Messes!

When everything’s quiet, even for a few seconds, it’s probably a good time to check on the child.
This thought entered my mind again when we arrived in Eagar to find lipstick all over Shelby's face. It had been ever so carefully taken from Grandma’s luggage sitting next to the car seat (last time we will make that mistake).

again when Shelby and her skilled teacher, Koley were found emptying everything from Nana’s drawer, down to the Q-tips. :)


and again, after Shelby was found trying out the knobs in the tub and was caught off gaurd by the showering water.
These are just a few of the many incidents, this week. They are sneaky and work fast!

Another Reason Why I Love My HomeTown

This last week, I was fortunate to attend a Benefit Dinner & Auction for my Uncle Steven in my HomeTown (Eagar). The feeling of Love was overwhelming. It was so amazing to see the generosity and service of so many in the community.
My Uncle is someone who always carries a smile, has the gift to uplift, full of Love, someone that I admire greatly & will always look up to. He's a friend to all who know him.
For someone that means so much to me, it is so hard to put into words how I felt, when I entered the room full of wonderful friends sharing their Love. Much Love and Many Wonderful People, this is just another reason why I Love my HomeTown!

WILLCOX

We stayed at Grandpa & Grandma Wilkins' home and they treated us good!

Friday fun...

Went to Apple Annie's with Grandma. This had a big Apple Orchard, lots of pumpkins, corn maze, bakery where we bought the best apple pie and bread (the sample tray was Shelby's favorite spot in the store), sunflowers, and tractor sign where we showed off a bare belly.

Had lunch in Grandpa's Classroom. We had fun spending time with grandpa, eating pizza, and watching him make some kettle corn for the students (we had some too and it was yummmy).

Went to the Homecoming Game. We had to watch the game from the side lines (with a fence between us and the field). Someone would have loved to have front row seats, on the field with the players, but mean mommy had to intervene.

Helped Grandpa make popcorn for Concessions. Anytime Grandpa could, he would take Shelby with him. I think Grandpa got a kick out of her and she had just as much fun with him!

Rode the Homecoming Royalty wagon with Grandpa during Halftime. Shelby rode the wagon for a good 45 minutes and loved every minute. She smiled and waved (elbow-elbow-wrist-wrist) as she rode by the fans.

Horse Riding. We spent a little more time with our horse, Pistol, before the trade. Dallas has had Pistol 6 years. He was a good horse. Just had a trade we couldn't pass up (we'll post more on our good trade).

Saturday fun...

sorry no pics - I forgot my camera

We went to the parade to watch Daddy ride his class float, & Grandpa drove a wagon for the Homecoming Royalty. For most of the parade Shelby was more fascinated with pulling all of soda and water out of the ice chest and eating the ice. That is until the Big Dinosaur Float came along. Someone was operating it from inside and it came close enough for us to touch. That was a big deal and Shelby’s highlight of the parade (forget the candy, the mini Shrine cars, and other 50 floats - literally)

We also went to Dallas’ 10 yr reunion. I just have to say his class was quite entertaining. I almost choked on my pizza when they were reading the surveys because I was laughing so hard.

That was a Good Time!

Bye Bye

Going to Willcox for the weekend. Something about visiting family, Rex Allen days, Homecoming, 10 year class reunion, listening to conference, and horse trading???

Updates to follow...

Happy Birthday

Today marks 21 years since our double trouble arrived. Yep, two brothers!

Here’s a picture of when they were toddlers. They pose as sweet and innocent in this picture but they were mischief all the way.
OK, Cute mischief.

You have grown to be some awesome men! We love you Denver & Blake and hope you have a Happy 21st!

SING

Today, I was asked to come join the Ward Choir. I would like to think it was because the Director heard my voice and thought I would be a lovely addition, but I have a feeling it was because my good friend was made Choir Director and she was being a good friend.
I really haven’t had a lot of practice reading music and my voice can sound wrong at times, so I thought that I would stick out like a sore thumb. If you’re ever in this kind of predicament, it does help to sit by someone with a fabulous voice. Today, at practice, I got lucky and sat by someone who made me sound good too (she was amazing).

I will say that I loved choir. The selection of songs we sang brought the spirit so strong and I was proud to be a part of the choir that sang them.

“praise the Lord with singing, [and] with music” (D&C 136:28)

I know that the Lord is delighted as we praise him in song. I felt confirmation of this today and for this I shall sing!

A little secret about my Man

Before Sun up till after Sun Down my man is hard at work. He loves the outdoors and finds joy in his work, this is not anything new.
I just couldn’t imagine the same kind of devotion on HOT summer days, but this explains why  Daddy’s Daughter has a sad little face when she’s restrained to go out in the heat to play.
He’s a master at welding steel but limitations can’t be placed... From an encouraging wife, around the home he’s known to do plumbing, carpentry, and other various trades (you could say I’m a lucky wife who has it made).
He’s never wasteful of his energy and this I know to be true. ‘Cause aside from a long day at work he always has enough to be the BEST Husband & Father and that can be tough to do.
I am so grateful to my Man for all the work he does on our behalf. I share this secret and now you know who is the Better Half.

FALL

My most favorite childhood memory of the Fall season is when we would pack up a lunch and go on the mountain to get wood for the Winter. The leaves on the Aspen trees were all varying shades of vibrant warm colors. I remember the smells of pine trees in the crisp clean air. While dad would cut the tree, we would run around the forest. Some cousins once told us a story about finding a baby bunny in one of the trees they cut down for fire wood and had to take it home and nurse it back to health. From the point I heard that story I was on a mission to find a baby bunny of my own. This kept me quite busy until Dad would holler for us to come and help load the wood in the truck. I was a little saddened that I had to return with no bunny but of course always did what I was told. I will be honest that loading was a dreaded task. We not only had to place the wood on the bed of the truck but organize it in such a way that it could all fit. That always seemed to be impossible. However one thing that I appreciate from this task was how it taught each of us about teamwork. Our loads of wood were never small by any means, but with the work of everyone we accomplished a task that we never thought possible.

GROWING A GARDEN

Living here in Queen Creek, we have an advantage of planting crops in the spring and fall. Our spring garden produced corn, peas, bell peppers, carrots, lettuce, onions, & squash X30. Who knew that one squash plant could feed an entire family? Well, we love squash and I’ll just say that I emptied the (2) seed packets of all their content. We had enough squash to feed the entire ward plus put away for their year supply.
This season, we are trying to grow some corn, tomatoes, cucumber, peas, Watermelon, squash, Zucchini, Cantaloupe, and Pumpkin.

Growing a garden is so much easier than I remember growing up. We were in charge of the weeding. My sisters (you know the two) would tell you that I always used the excuse that I was allergic to the weeds and would get out of it. But trust me; I did my share of weedin’. In fact, I think that I may have had to weed my row and tidy up my sister’s rows of any extra weeds that they missed (it was surprisingly a lot). Yes, I was the Cinderella in my time… but I did end up with the Prince and that’s all that matters.

INDEPENDENT

Today Shelby is three months shy of her Two year Birthday. She is so much more independent, and really doesn’t need my help for a lot of things… She knows where all the food is, even the cereal boxes in the upper cabinets and there are so many step ladders/chairs around this place it’s a piece of cake. Anytime she needs to wash her hands, bathe a doll, or soak a washrag for a thirst quencher there’s a pool of water (never completely drained) right at her level. The clothes are in the drawers folded, easy to find. The magazines, for reading, come out of the basket with just a tip. Dishes can be cleaned with dish soap and that in itself makes dishes worth doin’. There is always a clean toothbrush handy for heavy scrubbing, tight corners, and even the teeth. She’s so good at multitasking and can get things done quick!
In the midst of all the Independence, my little munchkin still let’s me know that she needs me. She lets me comfort her when she’s hurt, snuggle with her (when she’s really tired) and always gives me good kisses. She makes my heart melt and that makes everything worth it.

PIRATES

Yo Ho, Yo Ho a pirate’s life fer me! Our latest Brown reunion was themed “Pirates”. We sailed the seven seas on the three day, three night all inclusive “Brown’s Buccaneer Adventure”. Dead Eye Dan and Crew planned the event and mailed itineraries to each Sailor & Crew. Our schedules read the following:

Friday
After arrivin’ in Tortuga (aka Milligan Valley) and findin’ a wee spot to hoist yer hammock, mingle with the rest of yer swashbucklin’ family and enjoy a potluck meal.
Saturday
Learn the ways of the pirate. If yer brave enough to join our crew, sign the articles of piracy and find out what awaits ye if ye go against the code. Plank walkin’ anyone? Next you’ll get yer pirate name and then ye’ll be able to participate in all them fun pirate games: Swabbin’ the deck, cleanin’ the bilge, and general mayhem makin’
Saturday night – Join the Cap’n at her famous Reception at Sea. A few lucky crewmen will join her at the Cap’ns table where the grog will flow freely! BURP!!
Make sure ye pack yer finest pirate duds because tonight it’s the world famous “Purty Pirate Contest”. Yer all encouraged to strut yer stuff on the catwalk fer glorious prizes.
Sunday
Today we’ll learn the fine art of hook management, and then low and behold, thar be gold! Ye’ll be hearin’ the stories of buried treasure and lost maps. Then it’s a race of the swiftest as we go in search of that X that marks the spot.
Sunday night – Tonight’s the night to shake that peg leg as the crew joins in some shanty songs and dance. Shake yer booty. Shake yer booty!!! Then it’s time to take out some of yer built up frustrations on a small, helpless cardboard container of candy.
I’ve heard it said, that if the mood is just right, pirates come back from the dead searching fer their lost treasure. If yer brave enough, come join us as we follow the pirate eye trail. If yer too yellow bellied, ye can always stay home with the wee babes. Dead men tell no tales!
Monday
We’re home from the sea, but before disembarkin’ we need to scrub the good ship Barn of the Bay from stem to stern, cause every body loves a shipshape ship.

Aunt Fonda worked her magic to every creative detail. All the hard work paid off and the reunion was a hit! Thank you Dead Eye Dan and Crew for taking us aboard the good ship Barn of the Bay and fulfilling our every swashbucklin’ fantasy!