work and play

The boy graduated. Yipee! One down four to go. Love this SMUG mug. One day your a kid the next your a grownup. Is that how it works. Nice hanger. I'm sure he thought mom would be mad if he left it behind. What a thoughtful boy/man. Thanks to all the fam and friends who came or sent cards. Much appreciated. You are all awesome and we love you.



Our baby came. Filly, will be a pretty little buckskin like her daddy. Sassafras, Sassy, cause she IS!
Grandma Mary loved this baby so much and the other 2. Oh how you should have heard her complain when we sold them. You would have thought SHE was taking them home with her. :) :)





When mom got back from girls camp she found this little girl ALL tied up in knots, the result of youtube contortionist videos.
...and these little girls got to go on a photo shoot with a good friend of ours from HI. She spent all evening with us giving me some really good photo tips. Thank you, THANK you Shauna, you can find her here.


WORK, the new fence that Matt got for a STEAL of a deal to go around our precious pasture for the pretty ponies.

Lots and lots of PLAY,

























..and more
PLAY!!





















and more...











Never knew a ditch could be so much fun. Oh, yes i DID.








More work, 83 bales (would have paid $5 a bale/$415), we paid our neighbor $90 to cut and bale.
Total savings=$325





















“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” - C. Swindoll

INTRODUCING........

3 Stooges. If you click on this picture I think it might open up bigger. Oh my gosh! Bronson's expression is crackin' me up. These 3 and I (les) went to my sister Lela's, in ID, to help her move from one ranch house to another. On the way home we took the back dirt roads out in the middle of nowhere at the top of the Great Salt Lake. We stopped all along the way for some really great adventures.


Clive, our newest pretty pony acquisition. Send one down the road get another. He is so cute.


3 new Borgie puppies. Izzie had 4 but one died, we were a little surprised at the sparse numbers considering she had 7 first litter and 9 the second, but we will happily take these 3 little tubbies.


Angel Unaware, James Christensen. This beauty graces our dining room wall. Our newest home decor purchase. This is what the artist had to say:

This unassuming young woman has been endowed with wings and grace with such force that even the invisible has left its shadow on stone. And she's not sure what just happened. She remains modest and humble and is probably unaware of what she has done. Her service and kindness just seemed like the right thing to do. - JCC

Our hope is that she will daily remind us to be about the Lords work.

Kaits senior council propaganda. She made it, congrats, and will interview this week for a position. Of course, she wants to be president and usually, "what Kait wants, Kait gets". In a good way. And just a side note, she asked a cute boy to "sweetheart".

You can't always get what you waaannt, but if ya try sometimes, ya get what ya neeed!

Cooper the graduate. Hard to believe. One of his shots for grad announcements. I realize this is coming from me, his mother, but I think he is so handsome. It is always so fun taking pics of him. He wanted me to make note of the cool new shoes.

One last parting shot. Love them so much. -hold them while I may......

BEFORE & AFTER

TODAY......was gorgeous and I just couldn't help but snap a couple shots. I should be..staining the fireplace, doing the laundry, making dinner, sorting the rest of the boxes in the garage that Matthew said had to be gone by Christmas (LAST, or they were all going to the DI, bless his big heart he gave me an extention), seeing who gets kicked off AMIDOL, caulking the beams on the kitchen ceiling so insulation doesn't blow through the cracks when the lion winds huff and puff, and on and on and on. What's a girl to do.? Take some shots in the soft evening sunlight.
TODAY, after ............................ this!
. YESTERDAY, before..........unbelievable!!

Here are some other before's.....and some of the reasons at our house that we
LOVE LOVE spring, except for the BEFORE above.
Izzys big belly BEFORE she has puppies next week and
Charlies bigger belly BEFORE she has a foal next month
(we hope it's a beautiful buckskin boy).


















our little red hen AFTER she lost her little piggies, and....






















THESE

little piggies
we adore.

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain

LOT #48, MISTY

Winnemucca, Ranch Rodeo and good times.
Kait, Cache, Macey, Misty, Addi

They had so much fun riding and roping and were inseparable. Truly bosom buddies.


Addi and Misty, with Lee, waiting to go into the sale ring.


Our two most favorite littlest buckaroos ever. Zane and Cache.


The last ride. They both looked beautiful.


She had me caught.

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are
something to do,
something to love
and
something to hope for.
-Joseph Addison

and then there were two, no........FOUR!

Miss Addi found a riding buddy.
Double the numbers double the fun.

Ponies lend us the wings we lack.
~Author Unknown

Look at that move. Kait is down to the last couple of games in the season. It has been so much fun watching her play. She is also getting some varsity time, which makes us all happy.

can't keep her..........

.........off of this pony. Rain, shine, wind, snow, saddled or without, she is always wanting to ride. Love this pony and this girl.



Love this boy. He did a funny. Has been begging his coach to take him to INNOUT after meets. She finally told him if he would swim a 53 in his 100 she would. His best time was 57. After lots of team and parental encouragement and some gels and shot blocks (him talking 100 miles an hour all hyped up) he did it and qualified for state. INNOUT after the meet. Whatever motivates ya!! State swim at BYU 1st weekend in Feb.

" The way you see me today is not going to be the way
you will see me tomorrow
because there is a victory to be won!"
Author Unknown

We're so glad...

...when grandma comes home.... clap our hands, jump for joy, knitting endlessly. Look what you started. JoAnn's loves to see us coming. Kait has knitted lots of scarves already and now shes moved on to crochetted hats. Even Bronson and Addi have joined us for a spell. Fun. Fun!
Christmas was awsome. This entire vaction has been so much fun and gone by so fast. We have truly enjoyed this holiday season and especially the time spent with family and good friends. Peter Urmston family came and we did some sledding.

Tradition lives because young people come along who catch

its romance and add new glories to it.

Michael Novak