A Little of This.....&....A Little of That

This summer is FLYING BY!! We have done so much and I am FINALLY getting around to posting just a few pictures from THIS & THAT!!

 I am SO IN LOVE with this picture.  You can't tell, but this is Dallin (on the back of the trailer) and his cousin JD (on the front) helping haul cows.  These two little boys LOVE to work.  They KNOW HOW TO WORK! And they work HARD!  I can't believe they are almost 10 years old!! In only 9 short years these two are going to be putting this hard work training to the test as they go to work as missionaries for our Heavenly Father and His church.  I am so proud to be Dallin's mom!

This summer we have played in the ditch ALOT!!  We own a million pairs of water boots and they are constantly cluttering my porch.  This is Rhett walking the edge of the concrete and Laiklie (in her dress-up leo).  She loved filling her boots with this little water fall and then emptying them. :)

We took Oakley out shooting one afternoon.  She just finished hunters safety this spring and her and her dad just got the hunting info this past week.  This fall she has drawn on an extra deer hunt (that means she can kill 2 deer), an elk and an antelope.  Ryan drew on the same.  I am going to DIE if either of them bring home anything else I have to hang on my walls.  I just don't have room in my little farm house!!  I am excited for her though.  She is a good little shot with a gun!

We have spent a few nights at the Bone cabin.  The kids have each got to go to the Kilgore cabin with grandpa and grandma Hawkins for a night too.  It isn't as fun as Bone....you know.....indoor plumbing beats an outhouse ANYDAY!!

The next pictures are from one of the days we went to the Kilgore ranch with Ryan to run the generator to water the cows.  The kids got bored waiting and found a tree that use to have a tree stand in it so it has nails in the trunk to climb up the tree.  I laughed at how their heads would disappear in the branches.:)

Best Sister Ever!! Oakley giving Laiklie a boost!

Dallin is kind of hard to see because he has his camo jacket on.  He actually made it the highest.

Oakleys legs! Ha, ha!

And Rhett was my favorite! He was seriously about doing the splits around that huge tree trunk!

This summer we also got 3 new baby kitties.  They were abandon at about 4 weeks old, we think, and are just as sweet as ever! There is this little black one the kids call Blackout and two identical gray ones called Fluffers and Chubbers.  Our other cat got killed this spring by a skunk or raccoon because of a fight that caused his tail to get infected.  Yuck!!  We are happy to have a few new little mousers around!

For pack meeting a couple weeks ago Dallin had a bike rodeo.  He was always too speedy for my pictures and I could only catch his back.  He thought the bike rodeo was super fun!

Also this summer Oakley, Dallin and I went to 4H Camp.  We didn't take a single picture.  We were too busy having fun I guess.  We had 3 little cousins and lots of friends go with us.  Dallin loved shooting the guns, and archery.  Oakley loved it all!

Rhett is still taking gymnastics and has finally learned how to do his back hand springs on the ground! Yay!! He has been working on them for a few months now and we are so proud of him for getting them down!  We are going to take the month of August off of gym to have a little break before school.  He needs and deserves one.

We have also been doing swim team 3 mornings a week.  Oakley and Dallin are both doing it.  Oakley LOVES it.  Dallin LOVES being in the water....not so much having someone tell him what stroke to swim. :) They are both becoming such strong swimmers and Oakley's brown skin is gorgeous!!  Rhett and Laiklie started swim lessons this week and have them again next week.  So...pictures to follow.

We also just had our Quinn Jacobson Family Reunion at OUR HOUSE and a post to follow on that as well - as long as my internet cooperates that is!!!

FHE

Yesterday we had to run to town to get Dallin some new shoes.  He only has 2 pairs.  One pair he has worn through the back and a funny little plastic thing is now digging into his heals.  The other pair hurt his feet when he walks.  So he NEEDED new shoes.  We also were getting me some new ones because about 2 weeks ago we announced to our YW that we will be walking the 10 miles from the stake center to the temple as a ward as part of our girls camp.  So....I NEEDED some shoes to walk in. (Ryan doesn't think flip flops are shoes and that's what I've got! :)  As we were in and out of several stores I had a couple of little kids that WANTED everything in site.  SO FRUSTRATING!! and we left several stores in tears because of it.  So for FHE last night I got out the dry erase board and we pulled out the bills in my TO PAY pile and we listed them all out.  The total ended up being $38,000 I owe right now.  Just this month! (Mostly because of farm fertilizer.  It worked great for the FHE lesson though!)  Then we pulled up the text that the bank sent me this past friday telling me how much was in our account $3,100. I explained to the kids that the difference was almost $35,000.  I told them bills were due friday and asked how they thought we were going to get the money we needed to pay them.  Dallin, as sweet as ever, says "PRAY?!"  Ryan and I giggled.  :) I think Heavenly Father might fall off his chair if we started praying to have $35,000 by friday!  So we told them that was a great answer, but that we also have a loan at the bank that we borrow from when we have big farm bills and explained a little of how that works to them.  They were amazed at how much in bills we get each month.  We also talked about how much we pay for their different activities like swimming lessons, clogging, gymnastics, etc.  THEN....we talked about NEEDS AND WANTS!  We again listed things on the dry erase board.  I went around and asked them all something that they WANT and then asked them something that they NEED.  When I got to Laiklie I asked what she wanted and she said, "Make-up....I can't live wisout make-up!" Again Ryan and I laughed.  Did we mention that she is 5 going on 17!!!

Anyway - the lesson went very well and I think it clicked with them that we have to use our money wisely and not just on anything that we WANT or we won't have it for the things we NEED.  I loved the cute comments by Dallin and Laiklie and wanted to remember.  So...onto the blog they go!

We have been super busy with some fun things that I promise to post when I get a few minutes!

Go Ahead and Say It...

I look like my sister Jenny!!

 I decided it was time for a haircut.  How did I decide this? WELL....when your hair gets stuck in the car window over and over again because of the wind, or when it rolls up with the seatbelt when you take the seatbelt off, or when your husband has to be woke-up night after night because he is sleeping on it.....well....then.....it is time for a haircut!  I decided to go with the "just cut it all off then" cut.  This before picture is NOT ATTRACTIVE, but she wanted it wet when I got to the salon and I wanted to show just how much I cut off.  (Which, she cut off about 4+ inches a few weeks ago thinking it would help the problem...NOPE!) So....it is what it is!

 And here is the NEW DO!  See....JENNY!!! When I first walked into my bathroom when I got home and looked in the mirror I said, "I look like Jenny!"  I went out to my parents that evening and my dad after doing several double takes said, "Heck, I thought you were Jenny!" :)  This is how I fixed it for the afternoon at the sanddunes with the kids.

 SO FUN!!

And today we are going with the spiked out look for the weed whacking around the grain bins! LOVING SUMMER and the laid back schedule! :)  I PROMISE my hair spiked out doesn't look quite as dramatic as it does close-up in the picture.

I am still not quite sure how I am feeling about the NO HAIR thing.  I think it will be a nice change.  Rhett however was very clear about what he thought.  When I first got home he said to me, "Mom, your hair FREAKS ME OUT!!! What is the bishopric gonna think about this?" ;) I laughed and laughed! I guess if the bishopric also thinks it "freaks them out" they can definitely go ahead and fire me! Ha, ha!!

End of School Year Craziness!!

I haven't posted forever....but that doesn't mean we haven't been BUSY!! BUSY!!

 Oakley had a 6th grade track meet a couple weeks ago.  (Oakley is on the left end) They bring all the 6th graders together from all the different schools that will go to the middle school next year and have a track meet.  They practiced for several weeks trying to get ready and we came home with the 1st place award! Go Ucon Wildcats!!

 Oakley's teacher told her she was going to run the 100 meter and do the Frisbee throw.  *They have a few interesting events at the 6th grade track meet! Ha, ha!* Anyway...we marked off the 100 meter on the road infront of our house and Oakley ran it over and over.  The morning of the track meet Oakley's teacher decided to have her run the 200 meter instead.  AH!! I told her she had to pace it out a little better than the 100 or she would DIE at the end.  She did so good for not having practiced it.  She is the pink with white shorts here in 4th place.  She actually pulled ahead of the girl in blue infront of her and got 3rd in her heat!  Way to run your guts out Oakley!!

 Oakley also had an end of the year band concert.  She is front and center in the white shirt and purple headband around her head.  They were suppose to dress-up as cops and robbers. :) She has become a good little clarinet player and at one point during the end of the year was 1st chair!!

 We have also had a few warm days when the swimsuits and hose came out! SOOOO FUN!!

 Who needs to buy expensive swimming pools or water slides when you can pull out a pair of dad's watering boots and be entertained all afternoon?  They seriously filled these up....climbed in....emptied them and then filled them up again.  OVER and OVER!

 Also....as I was uploading pictures from Oakley's camera I found atleast 50+ pictures of these 2 naughty little girls that were taken AFTER they were suppose to be tucked  in and asleep one night.  NAUGHTIES!! They just got CAUGHT!!  I laughed so hard at several of the pictures.  They had alot of these sleepy eyes ones, several tongues out pics and some noses in armpit pics.  :) Silly Sisters!

This one was my favorite because of my baby girls peace sign. Ha, ha!!

We ran to my parents and got Rhett a new to us (gram murdocks old one) queen bed for his room.  He and Dallin have tried sleeping together the past few nights in it.  They LOVE it.  Me....not so much! I have had to haul Dallin's bum to his own bed more of the few nights than not. They are 2 naughty little boys too! :) I see where they get it from. *Notice the above picture! :) 

Today was the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL FINALLY!!! We have been counting down for MONTHS!! We are over ready for a break!! I went to the kids award ceremony...without camera or cell phone...so no pictures.  They all received the Presidential Physical Fitness award.  Both boys got Super Attendance awards and Oakley got one for Outstanding Achievements for her good grades! I am so proud of them!!  We have got some big plans already for the summer we are looking forward to - Swim team, girls camp, scout day camp, family vacation, Rhett is going to keep doing gymnastics, etc.  SUMMER HERE WE COME!!

CLOGGING NATIONALS 2012

New year.....same competition!  I know every year we have the same Lagoon post, but WE LOVE IT!!

 This is Brooklyn and Oakley lining up to do their duet.  Oakley came home with 8 FIRST PLACES!!  She got one in each of her 5 solos, her duet and their 2 team dances.  They were AMAZING!!  It was new this year that we had to dance both friday and saturday.  Oakley, Laiklie and I headed down friday morning and she danced her duet and solos that day.  That night Ryan's mom Linn and the boys came down and we swam at the hotel and then got up early to be at Lagoon to dance by 9 am.  Oakley's team dance saturday morning was the 1st one on the stage.  They were the PERFECT start for the day! They are such good dancers!!  We were done by 9:30 and rides opened at 10.  PERFECT!!!

 This is the corner of Oakley's face, the back of Dallin, and Rhett and Laiklie.

 I know I look confused in this picture! :)  It is the only one with me and kids in it that got taken that day and I was hurrying to try and get it taken and camera away before the seat belt checker lady came by and told me to put it away. Ha, ha!

 This is the girls getting off the airplane ride.  Oakley and I didn't love these airplanes.  We rode some INSANE rides that day...funny that the dumb airplanes about made us sick and the big rides didn't bother us!

This is Linn and the boys on the SPACE SCRAMBLER.  The space scrambler is SERIOUSLY my FAVORITE ride.  I could ride it over and over ALL DAY LONG!!

We had a blast and it was even better that Oakley and her team did so well at Nationals.  I am so proud of her.  She has worked VERY HARD this year.  Her teacher told me the other day that the improvement that she made in the two weeks between the 1st competition and the 2nd competition was INCREDIBLE.  Her teacher commented on what a great little dancer she has become.  Sure love you Oakley! So proud of all your hard work!! Once again IT PAID OFF!!

All About D

Dallin got asked to be a Conflict Manager for next years school year.  Our school has a conflict manager program where they train students to help take care of issues on the school grounds during recess.  My little Dallin is SO friendly and gets along so well with almost everyone.  He has a tender heart that has been hurt once by a little bully at scouts and so he knows how it feels to be the little guy in a situation.  He did his conflict manager training these past two weeks and

 today he graduated! Congratulations D! You are going to be a great Conflict Manager!

Then.....it was off to branding.  He knew that branding was going on today at our house and he was NOT ABOUT to stay at school.  So I checked him out and brought him home.  Ryan says ALL THE TIME that we can't let our kids schooling stand in the way of their education!:)

 This is D in the corner just taking it all in.  The red cooler is my seat! Right in the middle of that cow skin burning smell.  The NASTIEST smell you've ever smelt.  It is also right in the line of the flying cow fur they shave off.  :( Very much a cheap seat!!

Little Boy HEAVEN!! 

 I sure love Dallin.  He is growing so fast.  His feet have now passed up not only big sis, but his mommy too!  He is GREAT help to Ryan on the farm and has become his dad's right hand man.  He loves digging in and working, he loves scouts and his big cousins Kaden and Jake, he hates school and homework (totally normal for a little boy right?!) and he can't get ENOUGH of being outside on days like today!

I Am Going There Someday

For FHE last week since Ryan was in the tractor I took the four loves of my life to walk around the temple and see the waterfalls.  We haven't been down by the river in years.  Sad to say! They LOVED chasing the ducks. (I think the people around thought we were cruel.  I was thinking ATLEAST THEY DIDN'T BRING THIER BB GUNS!:) Ha, ha! I love this picture with the temple in the background.  I am SO VERY GRATEFUL to a loving Heavenly Father that made ETERNAL FAMILIES part of the plan!