Happy Birthday

Since all our attempts at camping this weekend were rained out we all slept in the living room last night and pretended we were camping!

My birthday morning started out with homemade biscuits and eggs made by Brian.  I didn't have to clean anything up today--HOORAY!  That is my favorite thing about my birthday.  I really wanted to go somewhere so we headed up to Shell Falls.  It's about an hour and a half away west.  The canyon is my favorite so far, really pretty.  It was raining up there, but that only added to the beauty.  The falls are HUGE and very loud.  It's pretty awesome, my phone's camera doesn't do it justice!

Peter wanted a picture of his smile, Palmer pulled out his loose tooth this morning!

Brian thought this looked similar to Provo Canyon

Not a great picture of me!

We took a picnic lunch which we ended up eating sitting in the shell of the truck.

We came home and Brian made an amazing chocolate cake!  Pretty great birthday!

Memorial Weekend

We woke up to lots of rain Saturday morning and a text that both of Lucy's softball games were cancelled.  So we decided we needed to get out of the house for the day.  After much discussion we decided to go to a city most of us hadn't been to before--Sheridan.  We loaded all of us into the truck, 4 in the front, 4 in the back, because our van has no tail lights and we have already been pulled over once for that issue and Brian can't find the electrical problem that is causing the no tail light problem.  It was very squishy, but not too bad.

Sheridan is a little over 2 hours away.  We drove up past TenSleep and then over the mountain.  It was very pretty up there and it was clear most of the way except when we encountered some snow.  I was hoping to see some animals but all we saw were a few deer and a bunch of wild turkeys.

One of Brian's employees is from Sheridan and we asked her what were some things we could see.  She gave us some suggestions and we started with the Kendrick Mansion.  It was a huge house and incredibly ornate and beautiful.

Sitting in the foyer

Such a cute picture of Eric and Palmer

On the stairs to the second floor

Pete looking so happy

Pete loves getting mauled by his siblings

Pete wanted a picture by himself!  But I didn't get a very good one!  He looks a little creepy!

Lucy by the organ

The guide at the mansion suggested we go to the Don King Museum.  Apparently Don King is a famous saddle maker, not the boxing promoter with the wild hair.  I've never see so many saddles in my life!  The place smelled incredibly strong of leather.  We found out even Queen Elizabeth visited Wyoming 50 years ago and saw the saddles he made.

Peter sitting on one of the millions of saddles

This is a real bear with Arabian horse trappings

Great smile Emma!

Hi Lucy!

The lady at the museum told us we had very well behaved children!  As we were talking with her we found out that she came from a family of 8 children as well and had 4 boys and 4 girls!

We then went to the Historic Sheridan Inn.  We didn't go inside or anything, just walked around.  It has a great porch where Buffalo Bill used to sit and audition acts for his wild west shows.

Our last stop was at Bloedorn.  Brian wanted to stop by their store and see it.  It was a lot smaller than his store even though Sheridan is a lot bigger city.  They also are right next door to Home Depot!  That has to hurt business.

A few pictures before we headed home:

It's interesting that on the other side of our mountain the landscape is very different.  Our side of the Big Horns are very rocky and lots of red dirt, very rugged.  Once you cross the mountain it is all green rollings hills.  We finished the day by watching Aristocats, except for Palmer who went out with the missionaries to a teaching appointment.

After church we will try to maybe go camping, we'll see what the weather decides to do!

RAIN

Wow, it has been raining nearly non-stop since we came back from Utah!  All of Peter's T-Ball games and Lucy's softball games have been cancelled so far.  But on the positive side our lawn looks awesome-so green!

Thursday was 8th grade graduation.  I have to admit it was overkill.  The girls were really dressed up in prom like dresses and it was like a real graduation with the reading of everyone's name and the handing out of diploma's.  They also gave out lots of awards and Andy was up there receiving a ton of them!  I felt bad that some kids got nothing.  Here is a list of the awards that Andy got:

• Track
• Physical Fitness Brave Leadership Award
• Presidential Physical Fitness Award (only three kids got this award, Andy, his best friend Jaden and Ellyse Russell who is in our ward)
• Knowledge Bowl
• Geography Bowl
• All Year Honor Roll
• President's Educational Award
• Math Award--given to the best math student in the school!

Wow Andy!  It was interesting to see that the LDS kids got most of the awards!  Here is a picture of Andy and Ellyse at the graduation!  Andy was really embarrassed when her parents wanted a picture of them together!  

Andy then went to the dance and danced with three girls!  That's a big deal since he really gets nervous.  He also went to a party hosted be a girl last night to celebrate this great accomplishment of graduating from 8th grade!  He's like a social butterfly now!

I finally got Peter and Eric's wrestling picture back.  This has to be the CUTEST picture I've ever seen!  I can't stop looking at it!

Look at their muscles!!!

We really wanted to go to Yellowstone this weekend, but the weather isn't quite cooperating!  We are still discussing what to do.  We really wanted to go camping.  Some friends of ours lent us their tent trailer.  

10 days until Palmer leaves!!  Wow, I can't believe it!

The week of heavenly happenings!

Where to start?

I drove down to Utah early Saturday the 9th with Palmer and Emma.  The roads were very scary and because of prayer we made it through south pass!  I was going maybe 5 mph and sliding everywhere for about 40 minutes.  When we made it through we pulled over and I breathed for awhile and uttered many prayers of thanks!

Emma and I were able to go to the BYU children's dance concert that night.  Emma participated in BYU dance for many years and it was very hard to leave it all.  It was a different experience for her to watch the concert from the audience instead of back stage.

Mother's Day was spent with my mom and sister.  Since Palmer was the only male around he made us dinner--fajitas!  They were very delicious!  It was a nice relaxing Mother's Day!

Preparations for the wedding reception started with finding the food.  We finally decided on Costco ice cream, berries, and whipped cream.  Matt's sister made a TON of wonderful cookies and it all came together.

Meanwhile, Brian and the rest of the kids came on Wednesday night.  Thursday we went to the temple with Palmer.  It was a wonderful time with Palmer, Lauren, Matt, and Audrey at the temple all together.  I left the temple and that wonderful spirit seemed to linger with me the rest of the week.  It was a glimpse of heaven.  I took a bunch of pictures, some turned out, others didn't!!

Ahh, Lauren,nice crossed eyes!

Friday morning I headed over to Matt's mom, Dayna, house.  She had so many wonderful people there to help and we got things going.  At about 1:00 the down pour started!  I mean, a HUGE down pour!  

Many prayers were silently sent upwards that it would let up.  One of Matt's brother's said that their dad (who passed away in August) needed to talk with those angels and stop the rain!  It stopped 30 minutes later and the sun miraculously shined through!  It continued to be clear, although cold, throughout the night.   

Beautiful bride!

I made the cake!

The reception was so much fun!  I really enjoyed myself and so did Lauren and Matt.

Saturday morning the temple was again beautiful beyond words!  What a special wonderful time.  The sealer said some beautiful words and I left feeling incredibly grateful and full of joy.  It was so neat to see all three of my kids in that sealing room.  I've tried to express my feelings that day and words don't do it justice.

We left all to soon to return to Wyoming.  Today was Palmer's graduation.  It was outside and we FROZE!  Thankfully it was short (only 74 graduates).  Here are some pictures:

Display table at our house for the party

Jesse and Palmer

Wind was REALLY blowing!

What events! I loved every minute!