Special Friend

When we moved into our home, almost 7 years ago, we were blessed with the best neighbors. Sadly, this summer we lost our 2 closest neighbors. Brook and Andy moved into their new home across town and Carol moved into the nursing home (age 93 will do that). Luckily we have been blessed with a few special visits from Carol. Here she is with Van.

Carol is so dear to our family. She has made special hats for each of the boys, sent wonderful cinnamon rolls over, and been just like a grandma to my children. We have missed her. But we are thankful that she is still so close and able to visit.

Little Buckaroo Rodeo

How we love this day. The twins have been watching Tallon's old sheep riding videos and have been sooooo excited for their chance to ride.
Orrin started our day off with his great ride. He scored a 65! Way to go buddy.

Here daddy is making sure he is OK

Uncle Jace even came over to give a big congrats to his little nephew.

Vivin "opted out" so here he is with his contribution to the days entertainment. What a Vivin.

Tallon rode a steer for the first year. He did AWESOME. He told everyone he fell off on purpose because he was getting really scared. After it was all over he said "Man, if only I would of held on longer, I could have rode it all he way and won."... Yep.

See the thing under the calf. That is his head making a great impression into the dirt. Great dismount. He did however score a 77!

Look how cool he is walking back with the clowns.

Where was Van? With his Great Grandma Thelma of course. What kind of mother would I be taking a 2 month old to a rodeo?!

Happy 2 month B-day Baby Van!

He gets it from his Dad

I love the combination of cowboy hat, pajama top, cowboy vest, shorts, and 80's glasses. Man my kid has style!

Van's Blessing Day

A Child's Blessing

May your life be blessed

with joy and love.

May angels guide you

from above.

May your heart be kind,

your spirit strong,

To see the good

and right from wrong.

May the world be

a better place

Because you came

and shared some space.

*********

I treasure my children's blessing day. The whiteness of their tux, the love that has been stitched into their blankets, the special present that each of their booties have been, and a special blessing given by their father.
Van's day was perfect. He didn't fuss. He was surrounded by 10 men that love him, and was given a beautiful blessing by Tyler. His blessing afghan was stitched, stitch by stitch, with love by his Great Grandma Thelma Dana. His booties were a special gift from Sis. Beverly Haws, a sister in our ward. His tux was special just for him and was a perfect fit.
What a blessing this little one is in our home.

2nd time on the River

Tyler enjoyed floating the river so much last weekend that he decided to take the twins and I out this afternoon. Van stayed with Jullie and Camilla and was smothered with hugs and kisses.
This is my handsome husband. Yes, we ate ham sandwiches with mustard and lettuce.

Vivin, Jaymie, and Orrin.

Orrin lounging. I love that he is so comfortable and relaxed.

Vivin was a little unsure of the water. He stayed on my lap for a good part of the trip. Once he discovered that he was safe touching the water he really warmed up. By the end of the trip he was dipping his feet with Orrin.

Here is Vivin with his first attempt at soaking his hand in the river.

It was wonderful to have a few hours of relaxation. I was concerned at how Vivin was going to do and was so pleased that he loved it as much as he did. It is amazing how relaxing floating down a river with twins can be. I was ready to see Van by the end of the trip and found him nice and cozy in Jullie's arms. It is great knowing that he is okay when I am gone for a few hours. What a perfect way to spend a Saturday.

A few Hours with Dad

Tyler treated Tallon to a few hours of Daddy time this afternoon. It was much needed for both of them.
They took the drift boat for a float down Salt River. Tallon started the day off right with this little beauty (look to the far edge of the picture...there it is! Tyler was driving while taking pictures, not bad).

Tylers view... just makes you smile doesn't it.

And look at that smile! Fish #2 of day.

You can see why this is so relaxing. What a place we live in.

Loaded up and ready to come home.

A perfect way to spend the afternoon.

Lets Play Some Ball!

Yesterday, as we were enjoying the shade, our dear friends, the Galloways, stopped and visited. Chris told us that they were heading to IF to buy a new basketball hoop. I asked him to price some different ones for me because Tallon was wanting one for his birthday.

Tonight as he walked up the driveway I thought he was coming to give me some prices but he did something even better. He gave Tallon his old one!! Tallon couldn't have been happier. Tyler loaded Tallon up and off they went to bring home his basketball hoop. The boys even helped deliver it and stayed and shot some hoops with Tallon.

How thankful I am to thoughtful young men who watch out and take care of my little man.

Thank you Weston and Christopher for making Tallon smile!

Just some Pics

We were doing some 6 week pictures of Van today and I was informed by Tallon that I never put pictures of me on the blog... so here you go. Don't plan on anymore anytime soon.

My 4 boys. Vivin, Tallon, Van, and Orrin

Van @ 6 weeks old

Summer Days

I have officially been babysitting for 2 weeks now and surprisingly enough it has went really well. The kids have been excited to have friends again and I am surviving on the amount of sleep I am getting. Jullie is at Girls Camp so we got to have Camilla come and spend the day with us. You just can't beat these beautiful summer days. Orrin, Camilla, and Vivin Orrin, Tallon and Vivin

A weekend of Firsts

What a wonderful 4th of July weekend we had!! We were blessed with so many fun firsts.
First thing Friday morning Tyler loaded up all 4 boys and went to the dump. Yep, all fOuR!! I was able to mow the lawn for the first time this summer without having to stop and check on a baby every 5 mins.
That afternoon we were a little bored and so we went for a little ride up Swift Creek. On the way back we ran over to the Jerry Hansen home to see if they were up to anything. To our delight they wanted to ride up Cole Canyon and we were all for it. So we loaded up the entire family for our first real ranger ride of the year. It was also Van's first ride and he did awesome.
Here is the crew: Rocky on the 250, Vinnie on the rancher, Abi on the 100, our Hansen Fam in the Ranger, and Jerry & Jennie in the Prowler

My adorable Family minus Tyler and adding Jennie

Everyone again

Tallon and Rocky on top of a huge rock. I thought I was sending Tallon somewhere safe until I saw this picture and I about died

The boys heading out looking for Tallon's first rock chuck

We found this beautiful spot and made camp. We cooked hot dogs and made smores, Yum. The kids ran and played in the dirt and got good and dirty for the ride home.

Tallon showing off his mad climbing skills.

My 3, amazingly in the same picture and each showing their own personality. Tallon climbing the not so safe way, Orrin crawling under the safe way, and Vivin in his own world playing in the dirt. Love it!

Abi, Jennie, Jerry, Tyler and Van holding down camp

The first drawing on a tree that was actually modest!

Orrin was the first to hit the cookies and he pretty much wiped out the whole package

First kill of the night being inspected by Tallon and Vivin

Tallon's first BLOOD!! He was so excited to finally shoot something with his .22

Vivin loved the filthy thing. Gross

What a great night. We were out until about 10:00 and were glad to see the trucks.

The morning of the 3rd we loaded up and headed to Jackson for the Gun Show. We were brave, or dumb, and took all 4 boys. It was Van's and my first Gun show and we had a ball. I don't know if the gun show loved us so we were kind and didn't stay to long.

For the first time we actually spent money on fireworks and the kids were delighted to find Carter and Tytan at Grandma's so we did fireworks with them.

Tyler and Rick lighting the fireworks the safe way... with a blow torch

Vivin, Carter, Tallon, & Orrin

Tallon also scored his first big wreck that night. He has ate dirt before but this one left the first good mark.

Sunday called for much needed naps.... There is nothing quite like being woke up with a dead bird in your face and an excited set of twins yelling "Mom looked I killed a bird!!". I thought no way! But sure enough the poor thing was still warm but very limp. Tyler thought it was great and I was in disgust that they would bring someting like that in my house. They were quickly escorted outside for pictures.

The weapon of choice... a rock of course. It just so happens that this is Vivin's first BLOOD. (i seriously can't believe he killed a bird with a rock. this one is a handful)

Proud hunters with their poor victim

But the best first of the entire weekend was this...

Van's first smile!! Couldn't you just die.