The Day Poop Flew

This spring has been one of the windiest yet.  The wind blows here ALOT...but this past month has seriously been more than I can handle.  I HATE THE WIND!  I have raked my yard 3 times this spring already and yesterday we had 60 mph winds AGAIN!

About 2 weeks ago the wind blew like crazy and our trampoline ended up in the tree and crumpled up and I ended up having straw blow over from the pasture into my yard.  What a mess!! The wind from 2 weeks ago was NOTHING like yesterday though!

 This is the mess I found when I went out to rake this afternoon.  I WISH you could see how bad it really is.  There is seriously thick, thick dirt, straw and COW POOP all over my yard.  We have lived here 13 1/2 years and NEVER had poop fly from the pasture all the way across the driveway into the yard. 

 I raked and raked and raked today.  You can see Laiklie even got in on the action for as long as her little arms could go.  Because the straw was mixed with dirt and poop it was very heavy to rake and made my arms and body ache.  We finally could see more grass than dirt tonight as I came in just after finishing as it started to SNOW! Seriously!!

Our trampoline now looks like this. :(  This is what happened to it after the last wind storm and we straightened it back out and the kids went back to jumping on it.  Yesterday we pulled in the driveway just in time to see it take flight.  AH!!! It landed in one of our big pine trees and the kids ran and got Ryan to help me tie it down. We got it tied down, but on a pretty long rope and not long after it was completely air born on the end of the rope like a kite.  It flew over and thumped the house a couple of times before Ryan, my dad and brother Cody went and shortened the rope.  Hopefully we can get it straightened back out and figure out a way to keep it from flying every time the wind blows. 

I am praying we are finished with the wind for a VERY LONG TIME!! I would be totally cool with that!

Grandpa Murdock

 Ralph Ervin Murdock

Feb. 29, 1929-April 21, 2013

MY GRANDPA

My sweet grandpa finished his fight with illness after illness this past week.  I have watched my grandpa go up and down with his health over the past few months.  I have watched him get skinny and weak and watched him go from being able to get around by himself to barely being able to whisper words.  My grandpa and I became pretty tight over the past couple of years as we got to know each other better while going through not only his health trials, but my grandmas as well.  Grandpa means the world to me and to my sweet kids.  I don't know very many 33 year olds that still have all their grandparents.  My kids have 3 sets of great-grandparents.  WHAT A BLESSING!

Grandpa Murdock will be missed!

This is my daddy and my grandpa.  Grandpa Murdock is my mom's dad....but he meant the world to my dad as well as my mom.  I love that I caught this picture.  It is the one that makes me cry each time I see it.

Rhett on the left and cousin Tyce on the right.  The kids would all go see grandpa during the viewing and then run and play and then come back and check on grandpa and then head off to play again.  They would do it over and over and I loved that I caught these two having a little conversation as they checked on grandpa.  The last time I took my kids to see grandpa exactly one week before he died he looked better than I had seen him for weeks.  He sat in his wheelchair and talked to me and the kids for over an hour.  He told us all about having to drink 10 rootbeers to get grandma to go out with him. :) My kids love that story and the many others (especially the ones about bears) grandpa told!

And here is my little Laiklie buddied up with Grandma Murdock.  Laiklie has become very tight with my grandpa and grandma Murdock.  Because they have had health problems over the past few years and Laiklie not being in school yet she was able to tag along everytime we would go to and from doctors appointments or hospital visits.  Laiklie has become their little piece of sunshine and they have become some of her best friends.  I love that not only was she there for my grandma, but my grandma was there for her as they said good-bye to grandpa.

 The day of the funeral there were seriously 60 mph winds.  It was HORRIBLE!! We were very short and sweet at the cemetery because of the wind and cold.  This is one of the only pictures I got of my sweet mom on the day of her dads funeral. (Last chair, back row in the gray)  She AMAZES me! She has been taking care of her parents day-in-and-day-out for several years now.  She is the closest of the siblings and because of that takes on the majority of the responsibility.  She has such a love for her parents.  I have watched this all take a toll on my poor sweet mother and with this door closing it opens several more that I know worry/stress her.  But because she is the lady that she is she will keep pushing forward serving to the end.  My grandpa told me over and over again (as well as grandma too) how much my mom means to them.  They have an incredible love for her and I know grandpa will be there supporting her as she continues to take care of grandma.

I love this picture of my 3 brothers and several of my cousins. (Shane, Josh, Aaron, Jason, Cody and Travis) What a great day celebrating the life of my sweet grandpa.  The thing my grandpa told me as I left his hospital room or apartment each time I left was to keep my kids in the bend of my arm.  He told me if they weren't in the bend of my arm they weren't were they were suppose to be.  I LOVE that reminder of what is important in life.  To grandpa family was important and I will always remember his example of love for each of us. I will miss you grandpa!  See you when I get there!

Our Little Hired Hand

Every morning for the past three or so weeks Laiklie wakes up early and goes out to help her dad feed.  We thought it would last a day or two....but she seriously hasn't missed a day.  She will wake-up extra early and climb into our bed next to her daddy so that as soon as he gets up to feed she is right behind him.  She gets mad on Sundays because he has to feed at 5:30 am to make it to his early morning meetings and he won't wake her up to go with him. 

This morning this was her feeding outfit.  Ha, ha! She cracks me up! She couldn't even see out from under the hat, but since dad wears one she thought she might need one too. 

Laiklie is her daddy's girl. She always has been.  I joke all the time about how she would pick Ryan over me anyday.....and she really would.  Ryan started watering today too and guess who climbed on the 4-wheeler right behind her daddy once again?! :)

Scary Hair

Dallin HATES hair cuts.  I have been telling him for the past few weeks that it is time to cut it.  He keeps refusing and says he is letting it grow until school gets out.  We still have 4 weeks of school and look at how crazy long it is now!!

I may give him another week or two before I fight the fight....but the fight is coming big guy & I am pretty sure I know who will win!! :)

Rhett and Raegan

Rhett's very best friend is Raegan.  She is such a special little girl and they have been best buds since kindergarten.  Today she invited Rhett over to ride horses with her.  Her mom put a few pictures on facebook so I stole them to post here so my little guy will always remember such a fun day with his best friend. 

 I lovey, love, love that they both fit in the saddle!

 Here he is on his own.  Brave little guy! So proud of him!

 What a blessing Raegan has been in our lives.  Rhett has REALLY struggled with friends this year and it hasn't helped that Raegan is in the other 2nd grade class.  But through the thick and thin of it all she has been there.  We love this sweet little girl more than she will ever know because she is what a true friend really looks like.  Thanks Raeg for being that for our little Rhett!

Raegan's mom Sam said she overheard Raegan say, "I trust you Rhett." 

LOVE IT!!

Rhett's New Room

On Monday morning I sent the kids out to get on the bus after a SUPER FUN week of spring break and as Rhett got to the gate and he saw that bus stopping he turned around and flew back into the house in a mess of tears.  He just couldn't do it.  Rhett REALLY STRUGGLES getting back into a routine after he has gotten out of it.  Especially one like school that he doesn't really love anyway.  So I drove him to school in tears and I said a little prayer with him in the parking lot and sent him in the door with the promise of a "surprise" when he got home. (I know bribery is NOT always the answer, but it was all I had to work with that morning.:)

That day I had to run to Pocatello for Oakley's diabetic supplies and hit the Goodwill while I was there.  I found this super cute stripy bedspread that gave me the idea of Rhett's surprise being a redecorated bedroom.  He had been begging for one for over a year now.  I didn't know what I was going to do with the bedspread because I made Rhett a levi quilt for Christmas that he LOVES on his bed......but I knew it was the colors I wanted.

 Rhett's room before.  I had already taken down the cream curtains before I took the picture.  I decided to make the stripy bedspread into curtains and a bodypillow size pillowcase.  I think all turned out SUPER CUTE!  I also decided to paint stripes on the main wall.

After

Rhett LOVES anything like maps, globes, google earth, etc....so when I saw this set of Continents I knew he would LOVE it up on his wall.  We still have a few temple pictures to hang up on one wall and maybe a shelf to spray paint and I REALLY want to get a few of those giant size airplanes to hang from the ceiling or put up on the wall...but the main part is finished and he is happy with it and he has made it to school 3 days in a row so far WITHOUT tears so it is TOTALLY WORTH IT!!

Easter 2013

We had a GREAT Easter again this year.

 We did the usual dye eggs and baskets for the widows at grandma's and in our own ward.  That is SERIOUSLY our favorite part of Easter.  Oakley talked for days about the lady that her and her cousin Ali delivered a very plain diabetic basket to that kept saying, "Yummy!! Yummy, yummy, yummy!" :)

 We also did the annual Hawkins Cousin Easter Egg Hunt in our pasture.

 Dallin and Oakley.....because you are NEVER too old to hunt for eggs!

 Laiklie

 Rhett's heaping basket!

 Easter Sunday.  This year grandma gave us money for the Easter dresses and had me buy them.  Oakley was SO EXCITED to pick out her own Easter dress and I think she did pretty darn good! She looked gorgeous in it.  It took us a little while to find Laiklie one that "goes with" Oakley's, but doesn't "match" Oakley's.  Because she is 12 and apparently 12 year olds don't want to "match" their little sisters.  Ha, ha! This teenage stuff is killing me!! :)

And these blow guns were definitely a HUGE HIT! Each kid (and mom and dad) got one and a bag of nerf darts and we have played and played with them.  Even Laiklie can shoot them clear across the yard and nail her dad! It has been a ton of fun for our family!

We are always grateful for the Savior, Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made at this time of year and more importantly for the resurrection that allows us ALL to live again.  We are also grateful to be members of a church that teaches us this part of the plan.  What an incredible thing to celebrate!