Rodeo

Our kids have never been to a rodeo before, so we decided to take them to the one in Hinckley they have every year. They had a pretty good time other than it was really long and pretty slow moving so they were ready to go home by the end. I'm glad it's only a 15 minute drive to Hinckley from our house. We put all their names in for the drawing for muttin bustin. Railey and Ryder were drawn out so they got to ride the sheep. They did awesome. Railey stayed on for a long time. She didn't fall off until he pretty much ran into the fence and knocked her off. I think there was only one other kid that stayed on longer than she did. She was pretty proud of herself. Ryder stayed on longer than we expected too. I think he could have stayed on longer if his little legs and arms weren't so short. Robby and Ranger wanted to go too but did pretty good with understanding that it was a drawing and some kids get to and some don't. And it helped that all the kids got to go down and chase the calves that had money stuck to them. Of course they didn't get any but they did get a sucker for trying from the Rodeo queen and they were happy with that.
These pictures are not the greatest. I was sitting clear across the arena from them.
Railey getting on the sheep and ready to ride.

Railey walking back after she fell off.

Ryder waiting his turn.

Ryder getting on and ready to ride.

Summer Fun

Just chillin' and eating otter pops. Not too often do we see all 4 of them this close and nobody is bothering anybody else. Love the moments like these!

Another way the boys like play with the pool. They love to race their trucks down the slide and see them land in the water and make a splash.

And He's Off

Ranger has been asking us for months when we were going to take his training wheels off so he could ride like Railey. We kept putting it off thinking he wasn't ready but he kept at us so we took them off this week and within just a few minutes he was riding on his own. He is still a little wobbly but he is doing great. I can't believe it. Way to go Ranger!! I guess that just shows us that each kid does things when they are ready.

Bradford Family Reunion

Last week we had our Bradford Family Reunion. We headed to Blanding on Wednesday. On Thursday we all went up to the mountain and we camped until Saturday. We had tons of fun. It was really great to see and spend time with family. The kids were excited to sleep in the tent and be able to run wild for a few days. We did lots of fun things. My sister Keri made a quilt top for each family and we decorated them while we were there. And then everyone in the whole family signed each quilt. We were able to tie and bind a few before we came home so now we have a new quilt and the kids think it is so neat. We also decorated t-shirts one day. Thanks to my sister-in-law Kayela who brought her cricut and spent hours cutting everything that everyone wanted. They turned out really great. There was a pinata one day and the kids were in heaven with all the candy they got. We had excellent food at every meal. One of my personal favorites was the potatoes. You can't beat my dad's dutch oven potatoes. They are so yummy. And mom's homemade rootbeer is incredible. Nobody makes it like she does. It was a wonderful weekend that just went by too fast. I think I am very lucky to have the family I have. They really are the best.
Ranger and my nephew Trey

My nephew Riley decided to climb clear up a huge tree. Crazy kid.

Our quilt top

Some of the nephews playing horseshoes.

The neices and Railey

My Awesome Parents

Everyone gathering candy after the pinata broke

Rise and Shine Sleepy heads

Catching Up

So I have been told by more than 1 person that I have been slacking when it comes to our blog, so I guess it is time to try to catch up a little bit. Life just seems to be crazy and busy all the time. The last few months have flown by. The end of the school year was busy with all the activites they did. Railey had field trips to the movie theatre and the swimming pool. They had parties and a fun day at school. I think the last few weeks of school were all play. She is excited about summer and about going into 3rd grade next year.
We got the garden planted the end of May. The first week of June Rob and I went to Estes Park, Colorado to attend the IHEA (International Hunter's Education Association) annual conference. It was held at the Stanley Hotel. (from the movie "The Shining") Its a neat old place. The kids went to Blanding to stay and Grandma and Grandpa's while we were gone. Grandma took them camping and they had tons of fun. We had some free time in between meetings and things we had to go to so we were able to go to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was really beautiful. We saw a lot of wildife and even got to go to the Continental Divide. There were places that still had 10 feet of snow or better. It was a long drive to that part of Colorado and back (a good 12 hrs each way) but it was fun to see and go through new places. The rest of June we pretty much spent working in the yard and garden and doing things at home. We stayed home for the 4th of July this year. We went to the parade and fireworks in Delta. Its hard to believe we are already into July.
They had a few of these trees carved to look like this.
We thought they were really neat.

This elk was putting on quite the show. We sat and watched him for a long time.

We were lucky enough to be there on a day when the sheep were spotted.
Rob hiked up and got pretty close to them and got some great pictures.