Family Pictures

I had to talk and talk and talk and talk and talk to get Ryan and my boys on board for doing family pictures this year. The boys were knuckle heads while taking the pictures too, of course! Can you see me rolling my eyes?!?! Stinkers! They turned out SOOOO GOOD though! I am in love! There were so many good ones to choose from. I was very happy to have them done and now hanging on my wall! Yay! 

Poor Remi is old and sick and we know our days with him are numbered.  He followed us over to get our pictures taken and the kids begged to get a few with him.  He wasn't super cooperative, hahaha! but they were glad to get a few with him.  These will be treasured! 

Laiklie's Christmas Piano Recital

This year for Laiklie's Christmas piano recital she did two songs, one being a duet with Emma Blaine (from our ward). She is getting really good at the piano and it made her feel really good to be chosen to do a duet with Emma, because Emma is a great pianist.  They sounded great together! So proud of her! 

Ward Party

This year I was incharge of the program and finding the Santa at the Ward Christmas Party.  Laiklie was my only one willing to go sit NEXT to Santa. Hahaha! She just wanted that candy cane and hot chocolate. ;) 

Christmas Tree 2017

This year Ryan took us to the ranch in Bone to get a Christmas tree.  We walked and walked and walked and finally came home with this Charley Brown type tree, but after a few decorations it turned out perfect! Chase and Yvonne were on a trip so we had the help of the 3 babies in decorating (and undecorating) it.  It was fun to have littles in the house again and see the magic of the Christmas tree through their eyes. We sure love this time of year!

Out Shooting

Ryan got a couple new pistols and wanted to take the older two kids and myself out to shoot one day.  I don't mind shooting guns, but I don't have the love for it that Ryan and Dallin have.  We had fun shooting and being together and I learned really quick which guns were too powerful for my liking! 

Thanksgiving 2017

This is the first year ever that we have had Thanksgiving at OUR house! I didn't take a single picture of it, of course! I did get these two pictures with cousins the day after.  We had both sides of the family here for Thanksgiving dinner and cooked 2 turkeys, a ham and a ton of potatoes!  I'm pretty proud of myself! :) I definitely had some help, but it was fun to host it!

From Ryan's family we had, Stan and Linn, Dale, Katie, Jason and kids, Chase, Yvonne and the 3 babies. From my family we had my parents, Shane and Diane's family, and Arnica and Jody's family.  We had a very full house, but we built this house for the people to come and I love having it full!! 

Arnica, Diane, Kassandra, Kaitlyn, Oakley and Ali and I all went Black Friday shopping again. Always a good time with these ladies! Such a great Thanksgiving! 

Luella's Leaves

Every year our neighbor pays the kids to rake her leaves after she has left for Arizona for the winter.  It is always a HUGE job! This year Laiklie was my best helper.  We raked and raked and raked until we both had blisters! This is the before and after pictures.  Dallin and Rhett came and helped load and haul them out into the fields.  It is always so nice to have this job finished each year! 

Hauling Cows

I got to be Ryan's helper when it came to hauling cows home again this year.  It was a cold miserable process, but I always love spending time with him.  I took a semi selfie on our way home and then told him he could at lease smile....the second picture is what I got. HAHAHAHA! I love that this guy still cracks me up.  One other funny from that day...I had a snickers in my pocket and pulled it out on the way home.  I had a small bite then reached it over for Ryan to take a bite, he seriously took 1/2 of it with his bite!!! I said, "RYAN!" and his response was "We can both have 2 bites!" His thinking was, I get two little ones and he gets the rest! What a funny dude! Sure love him!

Dallin Turns 15

On November 7, 2017 Dallin turned 15 years old! Dallin is such a neat young man.  He is serving as the teachers quorum president right now.  He works hard farming with his dad and can't get enough of it.  He HATES school, but this year has discovered the Tech High School where he has been able to take an Ag class and an English class that has only 8 people in it! He has joined the FFA and seems to have found great friends that see the world the way he does.  It has been fun to watch him find some happiness through schooling. Dallin has also recently found a love from trapping and has had a good time setting traps and seeing what he can catch....mostly cats so far, hahaha! We sure love this boy and are so grateful to have him in our family! 

Miss Bonneville

Oakley decided on a whim to sign-up for the Miss Bonneville Pageant this year.  She practiced every Wednesday after school and a few Saturdays and learned and grew so much! She participated in the interview portion, pose and talent.  She looked absolutely stunning! If this had been a beauty pageant she would have won the whole darn thing! ;)

 Oakley and her friend Alicia (also in blue) both chose to participate. Alicia placed as 1st runner up! So proud of both of these girls for having the guts to get up infront of a huge crowd.....AND THEIR PEERS....and perform!

For Oakley's talent she chose to clog to Micheal Jackson's Beat It and was INCREDIBLE! Her moon walk was AWESOME!! You should have heard the crowd go wild! She got more comments and compliments than an other talent of the night.  I really wish they would have given a talent scholarship like several of the other school pageants around town.  Kind of bummed, because she was seriously amazing! So fun to watch her and I am so proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone to try something new!