early Christmas

We let the kids open their "big gift" a little early so they could make use of their new Kindles on the family ski trip tomorrow.

a walk on the wild side

Sometimes when you go check cows, they come when you honk, they're all there, you drop a little cake, and you mosey on out of the pasture lickety split.

And then sometimes when you go check cows, you get stuck in a spot of sandy love grass and have to walk...

...and walk...

...and walk a little more until you get to the road and your knight in shining armor AKA Jimmy Callaway.

great state of a fair

rodeo parade

The kids look forward to the candy grab rodeo parade all year, and this year was extra fun since Addy joined them.

Pearl's favorite part of the parade were the longhorns walking calmly down the street.  This unbounded herd always makes me a little nervous, but it's so cool to see.

I'm so glad I didn't know the boys next to us were trying to grab the horns.  There likely would have been an ugly public moment if I had realized how reckless they were acting right next to my babies.

And after the sirens and color guard and longhorns and rodeo organizers on horses came by, the candy came forth.

Make it rain!

Hazel said her favorite part of the parade were the horses.  She remembered the "spotty ones" most. :)

  Is there any such thing as a cowgirl plie?

Zeke first said he liked the candy best but later changed his answer to seeing the cowboys. :)

longhorns

 The longhorns were in town for the rodeo, so we needed to pay them a visit.  It's not everyday you can look a longhorn in the eye (unless you're a longhorn rancher, I guess).

MawMaw is always teaching, and she took the opportunity to show the kids the loading chute.  Two were more excited than one to test it out.  :)

1! 2! 3! JUMP!

OK.  Let's try that again.  1! 2! 3!

Hold on to your MawMaw's hand and sort of slide to the ground! Jump!

staycation: surprise

For quite some time - I'm not even sure exactly how long - Hazel had been making plans to celebrate our anniversary.  I think she was a little confused about where we'd be or what we'd be doing, so her original plans didn't work out quite as she expected.  Or at least this is what I've gathered.  (She and her MawMaw have been a little secretive.)

Nonetheless, Hazel and her MawMaw conspired to surprise us on our 13th anniversary.  MawMaw sent a package, and Hazel was the lookout.  When the package arrived, Hazel could barely contain her excitement.  She opened the box to reveal an angel food cake, and we had a delicious celebration!

She was thrilled to have pulled of the surprise, and none of it would have been possible without her graciously accommodating and insistent MawMaw. :)

 We all enjoyed the fruits of her labor. :)

july 4

Our July 4th crowd was a little low this year because half our family was at Falls Creek.  Boo!  We managed to have a good time anyway. :)  Zeke tried out my old bicycle with solid tires and was surprised how hard it was.  Wes had added sparklers to Zeke's old bike earlier this summer, and Pearl has made good use of it since.  The old car carrier makes a nice seat for Puppy. :)

I should have known that the men who had given me blackcats to light and THEN throw as a child would give my daughter an old school sparkler that she would then use to throw sparks that stuck to my clothing...

 She loved it.



The kids also enjoyed that the snakes made it look like "THE DRIVEWAY IS POOPING!"

The am of July 5 was a little rough. :)