Budding Little Artists

Leesie would rather draw, paint, and express her imagination through any art form than anything else in life. She is so artistic in every way. This week she drew "Ariel" with sidewalk chalk...AMAZING little artist. The words with it (in case you can't read them) say "This is drawn by Leesie" in first grader fashion....too cute.
She also gets very creative with play dough!!! My play dough creations consisted of round balls and snakes.....LOL so she didn't get this kind of creativity from me!!! hahaha

This one is an apple tree with a ladder going up it, a basket full of apples, and a fence with play dough.
And then we have the butterfly....and the airplane.


This was er gingerbread cookie from Christmas....she did it all by herself!!!

And Maddie is taking an interest in art too, after her big sister!!

Independence Day Celebrations

We had such a great 4th of July weekend. It was full of fun and activities for everyone. I know I usually post funny stuff....but Freedom is one thing that can't really be joked about. I love the ideas our forefathers laid out for us to protect our individual rights, and I think it is very important that we defend our freedoms every chance we get. I don't agree that war is the way to do that, but I am very grateful for all of the men and women who have sacrificed everything in order to defend freedom.

So Grandma Peggy bought the girls matching outfits and I saved them for the 4th because they looked all blue and white....just had to add some red in the hair bows....hahaha Michelle made their hair bows by the way, aren't they so cute!!!!

We spent July 3rd at Rigby Lake and watched the fireworks there. Traffic was hairy, but we still had a great time. The kids loved swimming in the lake and the adults enjoyed just being there with them. Robert rode his motorcycle up from Salt Lake to hang out with "the girls" and we spent the weekend playing.

Leesie and her "nature" earrings....from a nearby tree....hahahaha
I am always the one behind the camera, but I really am there at everything we do. So here is proof!!


Then on July 4th we ventured to Idaho Falls for the fireworks....and you have to save a spot early, because these fireworks are notorious for being "the best in the west" so we always camp out half the day there. We did a BBQ and played games...sat around and talked, Josh and Jason jammed on the guitar and sang....it was a fun time. The whole family was there....however, I didn't manage to get pictures of everyone....so these will have to do.





Three Little Princesses....Chrissy, Rebecca and Mikeila

Here are some of the family just hanging out.

Nick is always so dang cute! He was tickling Grandma.



Darla and Josh both showing their cute dimples!!!


Bege, he won't ever let me get a real picture, always pulling a face....and Paul as he was passing in play.

What a fun weekend! It was great to have everyone together!!!

Puppy

We were invited to a friend's house for a bbq last week, and they had some little baby puppies....oh my gosh!!! Maddie wouldn't let anyone else hold the puppies. They were "MINE PUPPIES!!!" with the fierce attitude of a terrible two year old. She was so cute, carrying them around like they were her babies. The poor little puppies got so mauled.

I really should let the kids get a pet, but I don't want the extra work, so I made a deal with Leesie that if she can keep her room clean for a whole month (ya right, will never happen) I would let her get a fish or turtle or something. hahaha We'll see how that goes...hehehe

Day Trip Weekend

We recently ignored the gas prices and took a weekend day trip up to the ranch in Birch Creek on Saturday, and had so much fun we decided to wander over to Virginia City, Montana on Sunday. We had all kinds of fun just taking in the beauty of nature and of course spending quality time together.

This is our ranch...it's where my roots are. My great-grandpa built the old ranch house over a hundred years ago. It's not livable now, needs some serious TLC, but the property is the best for taking the kids to just run and play, go fishing, ride 4wheelers, play in the creek...it's classic fun. And the panoramic views are out of this world.
At the ranch the kids had a blast wading and splashing in the creek.

On Saturday we hiked up to the Indian caves in Indianhead Canyon and then over to the Charcoal Kilns, where we roasted hot dogs and made smores. It is so pretty there, it's like stepping right into chalk art.

This is Indianhead Canyon...the caves have Indian paintings all over in them...and black sappy stuff...we think is rat or bat dung.

Here is one of the charcoal kilns...they were used to melt gold out of rocks in the wild west gold rush days. Cool that they are still standing.

So Sunday, we found a perfect park in Ennis for the kids to play. Now I understand why people keep moving to Montana. It's so laid back and relaxed there, takes you back about 100 years. We enjoyed the old buildings and wild west feel all around. I think I was born about a hundred years too late, but I wouldn't trade technology for old time wild west. I like indoor plumbing and modern appliances...hahaha

What a fun weekend!