Where O Where Have We Been?

ELY NEVADA!! *grin*

We went out to Ely to visit our good friends and celebrate Amy's birthday! It was WAY too short of a trip, but we had a blast! We arrived late Saturday (as we had SUCH a good time in the mud and with the Bobcat...) but stayed up late chatting and seeing their new place!

The hubby's cooked breakfast for Amy for her Birthday

The kids had her tying friendship necklaces & bracelets all morning! (Guess what SHE got for her birthday?? Tee hee)

The Duo's were joined at the hip again... even if it was only for a few hours! Ema was so determined she would get to sleep near her best friend, though her Daddy says boys don't sleep near girls!, that she curled up and fell asleep WAY before anyone else did... right where Cam was set to sleep! Bwahahaha!! Her Daddy carried her up to her room. (darn it! :) )

The two trouble makers were SO happy to see each other! *grin* They are so stinkin' cute together! It's hard to stick to time outs!

And Cody and Henry had a Fab-O time! They even made up a dance to the Shrek song and performed for us before bed!

And they..."stayed up late swappin' manly stories... and in the mornin'! We had some waffles!"

Later, as everyone was getting ready for church, at the arts and crafts table, Jess was donned a red cowgirl hat... and they sang "Black Socks" at the top of their lungs (well... at least Jess TRIED to get them to do a round) ... and Emma graciously represented "Da skunk in Da middle" as they did word for word the silly story from their favorite kids CD. (Play it Again with Bill Harley)

Cheese! (Ah! Jess... what's the fun in that?)

"...Black socks! They never get dirty... the longer you wear them the stronger they get! Sometimes I think I should wash them... but something inside me keeps saying NOT YET NOT YET NOT YET NOT YET!..."

Oh Yum! Corn for lunch on the veranda!

Cameron had a tooth that was dangling. He would not allow ANYONE to touch it. He didn't want it pulled out! UNTIL... Ema's Daddy said he could *actually* hold her hand if he let Amy pull it out!

Apparently the promise of a hand holding was just what the boy needed!

HOLY SMOKES it was not that easy to rope!

But! TA DA! It worked!!!

I brought two new recipes for Amy to try... so I made her TWO cakes for her birthday...

Grandma Stoddard's Chocolate Zucchini Cake

And Zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting! OH! We could NOT decide which was better! Talk about gooey yummy HEAVEN! LOL

We enjoyed going to church with them. We had a fabulous lunch and good laughs. We hung around much too long and had to drive past 1 in the AM to get home... but it was worth it! We appreciate their love, friendship and hospitality immensely! THANK YOU!!! (And we MISS you!)

Eric Dodge & the Highland Fling

We had a good weekend! Eric Dodge performed at the Highland Fling! We took our camper up for him and his band to have a place to relax and cool down. It was great because then we got to attend! LOL

Eric is such a great guy! Emma wanted her photo with him so she could show her friends that she knew a great country singer! *grin*

Caleb playing with his glow stick while waiting for fireworks...

Cameron too

The fireworks were fun and we enjoyed a little one on one time with Gram as well!

Getting His Bear

At Scouts last week, Cody graduated from being a Bear Cub Scout to a Weeblos. He also earned his Bear!

We have loved Homeschool, because we can more easily work on the requirements, instead of pages of homework! *grin*

Mom getting her pin

After his award the Packs played sock-ball (instead of "soft ball") It was a hoot!

Cody and Dad hangin' out keeping an eye on 2nd base!

CONGRATULATIONS CODY!! We are very proud of you!!

Our New Nephew/Cousin

WELCOME BABY JASEN!!

We LOVE our new baby in the family!

Big Sister with Gram & Uncle Ty checkin' him out...

She loves his feet!

So does Aunt Heather!! *grin* So tiny and yet so long!

Everyone took turns to hold him...

Uncle Jessie

He is one loved little man!

And here is my Bubba. He is just like his Aunt Millie when *he* was a baby! He would hold the baby all day long if we let him!

We are so thankful he is here... safe and sound! SUPER BIG Congrats to his Momma, Daddy & Big Sister!!

Pioneer Day Fun - Parade

We have started a tradition... and we love it!

Our little town does their City Celebration the week of Pioneer Day... so we invite the family and make a day of it! We started with the parade.

Even setting a blanket out at 11pm the night before, we still ended up on the sunny side of the road! LOL

But it was slightly overcast and just a nice day all around!

Caleb & Gram

Papa, Aunt Angie, Katie (with Baby Jasen just a couple of days from being born! :) ) & Greg

Jessie, making sure my chair had shade... he is so good to me!

THE KIDS! *GRIN*

Abby, Emma & McKenly, Claire, Gracie, Caleb & Cam

Kenly with her Momma

It brought tears to my eyes to actually see everyone stand up with hands on their hearts this year! Last year was so sad to me! IT WAS AWESOME!

Then came the troops and everyone cheered and stayed standing.

They shot off guns and a cannon... Caleb said it was too "wowed!"

The Firetrucks & Police cars came with all their sirens blazing... we had TONS of firetrucks! LOL

The float for the Missionaries got a standing ovation as well! I love my town!

We feel so blessed to live where we live. And we are so thankful for our Pioneer ancestors!

Dear Mr. President Obama

Mr. President,I am a mother of 4 children. Three of them have severe asthma and have been in and out of the hospital numerous times in their lives. My husband is a type I Diabetic. I have heart issues and thyroid issues, recently having had heart surgery. In pursue of the American Dream, as small business owners, and with our medical histories, we do not qualify for health insurance. My children are on our state's CHIP program, but we still pay out over $600/mo just to keep my husband and I alive with medications. We have spent thousands upon thousands in medical care costs. We would greatly benefit from some kind of health care assistance.

However...I wanted to beg of you... do not take away our GOD GIVEN RIGHT to choose by putting this health care plan into hasty acceptance. PLEASE take the time to evaluate other options. OPTIONS. Choices! FREEDOM! THIS is what America stands for! Not sweeping legislation that forces everyone into the same pin and feeds us the same slop!

Our country is struggling. We as common place American's with $600/month in medication costs are STRUGGLING!! If you allow this to pass willy-nilly we will be left without our dreams, we will be stripped of our integrity as human beings in the wisdom & freedom to choose. Our business will fail, it will never grow, as we will never be able to afford the employees we would need to expand!!

Mr. President, PLEASE consider further ideas and plans that those of us without health insurance can CHOOSE to be a part of!! Do not force us! My family needs health insurance. We do. But we will not seek it at the cost of everyone around us loosing their rights and freedoms to controlled by the government in every aspect. That is completely unfair and NON-American! DO NOT DO THIS TO OUR COUNTRY!! I beg of you.

Sincerely,
Heather L. Dorius

I sent this out today. It is not as eloquent as it could be. But I HAD to speak up. Even if it will be completely ignored...

All I want for my birthday...

Is to go camping with my family and to go fishin'!

Cody is so easy to please! All he wanted for his birthday this year was to go camping and fishing. He loves to spend time with family. So we took off on a Thrusday afternoon and stayed away until Saturday evening! It was lovely!

We grabbed some $1 whoppers on the way up and they gave us hats for the birthday celebration! LOL! Emma found some ring pop's from last year in the trailer so they had a treat to boot! :)

DELICIOUS!!

Zoey has come to live with us again. She loves to go campin'! We had a family meeting while camping and decided that we needed to try and "make her ours" for real this time. We agreed we needed to name her as a family. She responds to and we like "Sadie". So now we have Sophie & Sadie. *grin*

HEY! We was sleepin'!

Dad & Mom took the chance to slow down seriously! We actually took a nap! HEAVEN!

Cam had a bad bout with asthma in the days before we left, and we wondered if we could still go! But thanks to a very noisy generator he was able to keep up on treatments and the fresh air up the canyon really seemed to help him out.

Isn't she getting SO grown up??

"DRAaaaMMM AAA!!!!!!"

Caleb knew that Grandma Annie was coming, so he was calling for her! LOL She wasn't coming until after dinner the next day... but he was excited anyway!

The kids enetertaining Cam during a treatment...

Then it was time for S'mores! We sang old camp songs (the ones Dad and Mom could remember the words to! LOL) and enjoyed the quiet, the stars and each other...

We went inside and played Uno until almost 2 am! Then Cam needed one more treatment before we all crawled into bed....

The next morning we ate breakfast and the kids went exploring for a bit. Then it was time for the whole reason for going! Get yer poles! Let's hit the fishin' hole!

Cam casting and reeling. Casting and reeling.

Emmalee found a comfy rock and settled in...

Caleb wanted CHEESE for his hook. He was SURE the snack we brought for us would catch him a fish!

My birthday boy enjoying the day...

Even Dad got some fishing in himself (between un-knoting and re-tying! LOL)

Then Caleb discovered "wetting his toes" and fishing was forgotten! They all begged to bring swim suits next time after seeing the lake fill up with swimmers and boaters.

We are so blessed to live so close to such amazing places to visit and explore and enjoy!

We love times like this. We love being a family.

Look at that face! Trying to keep it clean while camping is like shoveling snow while it is still snowing!!

Back at camp we ate lunch and took quiet times... Emma was carving a stick...

Caleb and Cam plotted explorations for when the neighbors got there!

Just Chillaxin' with her Daddy

Then Grandma Annie and Papa arrived, and so did Cody's friend and their family and the party began!

THIS is what a wanted!! Quality Time. Love language met! LOL

Papa was a good fire watcher

They hadn't been camping in years and we had a great time relaxing and laughing and telling stories...

Caleb got eaten alive by mosquitos... his eye is all fat! :(

But that nothing a lunch of gummy worms and skittles couldn't fix! *GRIN*

We had a great time! We are so thankful for a son who wants such simple things when we are struggling the most! He is a blessing from heaven!