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.

Nat's Nursery

This year we decided we wanted to try and grow our own starts from seed for our garden instead of buying them at the nursery. We found the seeds for 10 packets for $1.00 so we got a lot of packets. I think we have everything we want to grow and shouldn't have to buy anything if it all grows well. I found the trays fairly cheap and we can reuse them next year. We set up a couple tables in our basement and hung a shop light over them. They are in the same room as our fireplace so the room is nice and warm. They are looking really good. I also decided to try to do all my flowers by seed too. Those seed were also 10 for $1.00. For just a few dollars I have planted over 300 flower containers. Question is will they all produce something? I hope so. I have a lot of space in my yard. The more flowers and color, the better. I love to watch things grow and bloom. I love to spend the entire day in the yard and can't wait for it to warm up so we can. Let's just hope the starts continue to grow well and turn out to be great plants. Only time will tell.

Easter

On Saturday we went up to the park here in Oak City at 9:00 a.m. for the easter egg hunt. It was freezing cold and it had been snowing that morning. They hunted for eggs and it was over and we were home by about 9:30. They had fun, and they got quite a few eggs. They dove into the baskets and started on the candy as fast as they could. Robby was excited because he got a quarter in one of his eggs. We colored eggs in between the sessions of conference.
On Sunday they woke up to find that the easter bunny had filled their baskets with eggs and lots of candy. The boys each got a little baseball and a mit. Railey got a baseball and a bat. They love them and can't wait to take them outside to play with them. (if the weather would ever get warm enough) Railey left a note for the Easter bunny and it was full of questions for him. He answered it and left it in her basket. I forgot to take pictures of their baskets on easter morning.

The boys waiting to hunt for eggs

Hunt is over and ready to go home
showing off their loot after we got home from the park

coloring eggs

Railey

Ranger

Ryder

Robby

Meet Dayzee

Our female dog "Savvy" as many of you have already read about, had a couple of accidents that really banged her up. We tried to do everything we could to help her get better and heal, but just as she would start to do better she would re-injure herself again. This happened several times. She got to where she wouldn't even try to walk anymore. She pretty much gave up. She wouldn't do anything but just lay down and cry. She had started to bite and snap at everyone too. We finally had to make the decision which we felt was better for her and put her down. It was very hard but in the end we felt it had to be done. We will remember her and the good times we had.
But on a happier note, we got a new little puppy. She is actually Savvy's little sister. They have the same parents, but this puppy was from the next litter. We have named her Dayzee. She is brindle colored, and she is one fiesty puppy. She thinks she is the boss. She loves our other dog "Deke" and she pretty much thinks she is as big as he is. She chases him around the yard and she attacks him. And she does NOT let him take food from her. She growls and chases him off if he even gets close to her when she is eating. It is funny. He has learned not to even try. But they are friends and they cuddle and love on each other too. We think it was good for "Deke" to have her. He was bonded to "Savvy" and we think he would have been pretty lonely by himself.
They are a couple of fun dogs. Our kids love their pets.

DAYZEE

DAYZEE AND DEKE

10 YEARS

We celebrated our 10th Anniversary on March 25th. It's hard to believe we have been married for 10 years. Where does the time go? It has been a crazy, but great 10 years. I would never have imagined our lives would be what they are today. We can't complain. We have been very blessed. We have incredible family and friends. We have 4 great kids that keep us on the go. I know we were supposed to find each other and build a life together. I wonder what another 10 years will bring. You think you a know a person when you marry them but man are we dumb. But all that matters is that you really KNOW you are supposed to marry them. I knew a lot about my hubby when we got married but I have learned a lot more and he is an amazing person. We are lucky to have each other. He is my best friend. Here is a list of a few things I love about Rob.

1. He is very passionate about the things he believes in.

2. He is incredibly smart. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of information he has locked up in that brain of his. When he reads something, it is forever stored in his mind.

3. He is not scared of anything. (except maybe heights)

4. He has a deep appreciation and love of the outdoors and wildlife.

5. He has a HUGE sense of humor.

6. He is extremely clever and witty, and quick. It is impossible to get the last comeback when you are kidding around.

7. He enjoys learning new things and enjoys trying new things.

8. He LOVES to read. He has a great appreciation for books. He has always been a bookworm.

9. He has a love of guns like nobody else. He can tell you anything about any gun. He reloads a lot of his own bullets. If you want to see a smile on his face, put a gun in his hand.

10. He's a fun dad. He is a big kid at heart, and always up for an adventure. It is not uncommon for him to climb into the kids' little wading pool and swim with them. I don't even do that.

And there are many, many more!

LOVE YOU ROB!!

Bunnies Sold

Railey's rabbits were old enough to be sold so we hung a few signs up. This is a picture of the sign. Within a couple of days all seven of the babies were sold, and the phone kept ringing with more people wanting rabbits. She was wishing she had more to sell. She was so excited about the money she got from them. Now she has to take part of the money and buy more food for them. But even after buying food, she will have a good amount left.

Growing Bunnies

The baby bunnies are now 3 weeks old. They actually look like rabbits now. They are pretty cute. They are hopping in and out of their nest, and are eating hay and pellets. Railey was so anxious to be able to hold them. We started letting her hold them this week and she keeps packing them around like a baby. We keep telling her that she can't take them away from their cage but she wraps them up in a blanket and carries them around. We could never get her to play with dolls but give her an animal and she will mother it to death. The first thing she does when she gets home from school is run out to the rabbit shed and see them. It has been a lot of fun to see them grow.

This one is sitting in the palm of my hand so you can kind of see how little they really are.

They like to sit and eat while in the hay dish