Catch up...

I thought I would just put together a slide-show to catch up on everything we have been doing this summer. We have been doing a lot of 4-wheeling and camping. We got a new nephew in June. We have been up to Idaho Falls a few times...I love going home to the farm! We spent the 4th up there. The 4th of July is a huge deal in Idaho Falls! I love it!! Colter had a birthday! Anyway...I hope everyone is having a fun summer!

Oh...and if you move your curser over the pictures, I added a few captions!

Dad!

Happy Birthday Dad!

I am a little behind on the whole blogging thing...but I wanted to post a little about my dad for Father's Day and also his Birthday! My dad is simply amazing. He is not a man of many words but he is has the biggest heart ever! He has been the constant in my life. He has taught me so many life lessons. My dad has sacrificed so many things for his family. I remember when I was little I would wait by the back door for him to come home from work, once he was home he would pick me up and hang me by my shirt on the coat rack and put his toothpick (that he always has!) in my mouth. I know my dad loves my mom. When my mom is not home we call my dad the "lost puppy" because he looks so sad and doesn't know what to do when she is gone! My dad loves anything big and green...like John Deere Tractors! He is a perfectionist when it comes to his farming. When I was little, I can remember going with my dad to check the fields, and he would point out the straight rows, and the not-so-straight rows on other fields. He takes a lot of pride in what he does. But he doesn't like any of the attention, he is very humble. I also remember taking dinner to my dad when he was out farming with my Uncle Bruce. I would always have jelly shoes on and didn't like walking through the stubble because it would scratch my legs...but my dad would rescue me and carry me to the tractor with him. To this day, I still love going to ride in the tractors, but my favorite is the combines. I am pretty sure my dad still knows how to run the tractors/combines, but I get to ride with Juan now:) My dad knows how to delegate these days! My dad also has a worm farm...ok, not a worm farm but it has to do with not ripping the ground because the worms bring all the nutrients down under the soil (I don't know if I even got that right, but he knows what I mean!) He will take us out to the pine trees and show us how the pine needles are being taken underground by the worms. I am sure our neighbors are wondering what we are looking at under the pine trees! My dad use to be a "tire man" back in the day...when my parents would leave my sister, Kira and I would go out and drive all the farm pick-ups around the farm. We wasted a lot of gas driving on our imaginary roads with stop signs and probably burned out a few clutches...but anyway we would drive these vehicles around and have them parked in the exact spot BEFORE my parents would get home. One night when he got home he walked out back and inspected the dirt and asked if we had driven the pick-ups. Of course we said "no" but dad knew better...he could see the tire marks in the dry dirt and knew the pick-ups had been moved...opps! But most of the time we could look up into my dads eyes and give him that "look" and start laughing and he would give in and not give us the well-deserved spankin! Like I said...he is a softy! But there has been a few times I have seen my dad "snap!" I can remember the time when my dad went running out the back door and jumped right over the deck railing as he was screaming a few choice words! Lets just say one of the hired-men got fired that day! My dad is also known for his excellent omlettes and breakfast. It is tradition that dad makes breakfast on Christmas morning every year. My dad loves a good "weenie roast" around the fire-pit. He begged me to have a "weenie-roast" for my wedding reception! I don't think so! My dad loves where he grew up! He actually grew up in the house that he lives in now! A lot of my friends had a crush on my dad! At girls camp one of the girls told my dad "do you believe in love at first sight, or do I need to walk by again?" My dad is so cute!! I am so thankful he went to girls camp with me every year!


A few of the things my dad loves are:

1. Dad loves his famiy. I know that he loves my mom more than anything and also his kids. I also know he loves and misses his dad and brother...they were his best friends and farming buddies. I know he is thankful he can still talk to my Grandma about the farm.

2. My dad loves his Harley, Rhino, and anything like that. My dad is now limited to what he can do because of his accident, but he is still too crazy on those things!

3. He loves his Diet Coke (or Diet Pepsi) and Twinkies or Almond Joys...he switches his treats, but he loves to eat and say "Mmmm...that is really good. I think that is the best cookie I have ever had." We all laugh at him:)

4. Of course he loves to spend money on farm equipment. He loves a good auction or going to Bonneville Implement. My mom threatens to take away his checkbook!

5. He loves his 20,000 cows at his feedlot! I honestly think the cows recognize his pick-up because when he drives up and down all the rows, the cows seem to migrate toward the fence where he is. We call them his girlfriends. And by the way...he can make the "moo" sound really good!

6. He loves a good party! I don't mean an actual party, but my dad hates to miss a good party. My dad and his friends love to jump in the plane and fly to St. George or Mexico and go ride the Harley's down there. I think he hates to think his friends are out having fun without him!

7. My dad loves sitting in the hot tub or going to Heise with his friend Byard. I think this really relaxes my dad and also helps his back a lot. (my mom hates it when he goes to Heise Hot Spring because it stinks like sulfer...really bad!)

8. My dad loves Sunday drives. When we were little we always went for Sunday drives with my parents. We hated it and would always ask where we were going, and his reply was always "crazy." And of course we had to remind him of his tick-a-toos....hehe

9. He loves his recliner!!! Everyone at home knows that when dad walks in the house he has senority with his recliner and the remote!! That is just the understood rule in our house.

10. And lastly my dad loves to serve. My dad is currently in the Bishopric and spends a lot of hours at church on Sundays. I know it isn't easy on my dad in many ways, but I have NEVER heard my dad complain about any of it! He loves the gospel and if someone is in need of something, you can bet my dad is willing to take care of it! My dad is very well-respected in Idaho Falls. My dad is very honest and would never do anything to hurt anyone. He is a peacemaker in many ways. I have never heard my dad say anything bad about anyone! My dad has been through a lot, and he has never complained about any of it! When he was in the hospital he was on a lot of medication that made him act funny. He doesn't remember any of it, but he never said anything dirty or bad. He would say things like "look at these pens, they have erasers on them" or "make sure my mom gets enough cans of olives." I look up to my dad in so many ways! He is the perfect example to me.

Dad...I could write so much about how I love you!! But these are just a few of the reasons why I think I have the best dad in the entire world!!! I love you Popeye!

Mommy!

World's Best Mom

I wanted to do this post for Mother's Day, but it just seems that I haven't had time. I just want everyone to know how much I love my Mom! She is my best friend. She is the most giving person I know. When I was little I remember following my mom around the house because I wanted to blink my eyes at the same moment she did. I didn't like going to elementary, and I would tell the teacher I was sick so I could go home and be with my mom. When my little sister came along, Kira, my mom would dress us the exact same everyday. My mom would do cute things on every holiday. For example, on St. Patrick's Day she would dye our food green, on Valentine's Day she would cut our toast in heart shapes, on the 4th of July she would make cakes that looked like the American Flag, on Halloween she would make green spaghetti and stew in a pumpkin (in the oven). She is always doing things to let us kids know she cares. I don't know how she does it all! She is the busiest stay-at-home mom I know. She puts everyone before herself. She is the most giving, loving, sweetest person. Her priority has always been her children. Growing up she has always had breakfast and a glass of cold water for when we got out of bed, and to this day when I go home, she still has it waiting for me! My mom waits on us kids (and my dad!) hand and foot. I have a really sick sister right now, and my mom does everything for her. It would take dedication for someone to devote 24 hours per day to someone, along with everything else my mom has to do. And I have never heard my mom complain about doing things for her kids. When my dad had his accident, my mom would not leave his side. I finally talked her into going home for 4 hours one night, but I don't think she slept. When we finally got him home, she would not leave him. We could not get him up the 2nd floor to their bedroom, so he slept on the main floor and my mom slept in a cot by his side. She is so giving and loving. I have never gone without any of the new clothes, new cool toys or anything because of both of my parents! My mom does the books for my dad's farm, and she spends countless hours in the office. She is a perfectionist, she has been audited numerous times and she has never been fined because everything she does is correct! Everytime Colter and I are talking about something and are not sure what to do, he always says "Call your mom, she will know." He thinks she knows everything!! I can not tell you how many times he tells me to call and ask my mom. I am so thankful that my mom is a stay-at-home mom. All through high school, and even earlier, when we would come home from school, my mom would be standing in the family room ironing and wanted to hear every detail about our day. And all of our friends love my mom! She was the favorite mom, and still is. And she loves to tease people, and I think she likes it when we all tease her too. She always makes herself available for her kids. My mom is available at 8:20 every morning for me. I call her every morning on the way to work. She is always waiting by her phone, and if I don't call she is worried and is calling me. Let's just say I am thankful for Verizon-to-Verizon free calling!!! My mom also has a love for Kudda, the famiy dog. She treats him like a baby, and he LOVES my mom!

Some of my moms hobbies are...Shopping!! Especially at Fred Meyer - she is a VIP there, seriously! They send her extra coupons and she gets free turkey's there for the holiday's. All of the employees in there know her by name. She is my favorite person to shop with. She is the best bargain shopper! She also loves cooking, well I don't know if she loves it, but she is a great cook. There is nothing like my moms cooking. She loves spending time with her entire family. When I am home, my dad always teases that my mom doesn't quit smiling when ALL of her kids are home. She also loves her Harley!!! This is a new love of hers, and she is addicted! I love that my parents can go enjoy this together, of course it makes me worry, but I am happy that they like to ride free! She also has a major addiction...Diet Pepsi!!! I better not tell you how many ounces she drinks or I might get in trouble. Let's just say we have more Diet Pepsi stocked in the garage than Fred Meyer has stocked in their Idaho Falls store! And she buys it by the case load almost daily:) My mom also loves to play Phase 10. I think she has over-done it because nobody wants to play it anymore. She tells Jadon and Addie that if they will play Phase 10, she will do the dinner dishes for them...and they still won't play! They would rather do dishes!! My mom also has this crazy obsession with ironing. She loves it. She irons everything!!! She says it relaxes her. Her favorite meal is Chicken and milk gravy, but we will leave that story private...:) She is also really good at telling jokes. We all laugh at her, not the joke because she can't even finish the punch-line because she is laughing SO hard. "Easy Shell"

I could write a whole book on how good my mom is...but these are a few of the reasons I think I have the best mom in the world!!

Mom...I just want you to know how much I love you! I hope one day I can be just like you!!

Private Blog

So we have only had this blog for a week, but Colter really does not like the idea. So he told me we could keep it if I made it private:) I agree that there are a lot of crazy people out there, so this is a lot safer. I just hope I set it up as private properly...I still can't figure out how to let people leave comments...does anyone know what I am doing wrong??

I love you Colter!