Part 3

On the way home from Cody, Wyoming we decided to take the scenic route through Montana and go North.  Seriously if any of you think my parents live in the middle of NOWHERE!  You have to drive out there....   I mean... rolling hills and open land... we drove miles without seeing a cow or a horse!   We even stopped in this small town about the size of Lake Bronson, MN... maybe smaller... the topic in the gas station consisted of 10 beef steers at the local fair... which had been up since the last few when there had only been 2-4....   the lady who did all the talking had been working all day at the fair for over 10 hours and then to work at the local gas station for the night.  I've never heard anyone so proud of her county.  She bragged about the bread she had made for the bake sale and all the help she did with the younger kids.  She could have gone on for hours telling us how great her little fair was.  We actually ordered our dinner in this little town.  Homemade burgers and fries filled our tummies...while we listened in on the small town gossip...    hmm.. this sounds familiar.. oh yeah, that's because I am from a small town!   One doesn't forget the little things in life that you actually miss from time to time. I actually miss going to the Kittson County fair...   and I look forward to the day our kids are making projects at the last minute and were volunteering to paint benches and bake pies.  As a mom, I finally understand why PARENTS do the things they do.  There is NOTHING in this world more exciting to me than seeing the faces of my children light up with excitement. Being back on my parents ranch and taking the kids on horseback rides was one of those times.  Also, because maybe horses were my first love.  I'm hoping that one day they'll follow my footsteps.  

We celebrated Colton and Mallori's bday together

Colton's was on August 12 and Mallori's on the 10th!

This is my beautiful sister Katrice and her little man Will!

We got to visit my Grandpa Floyds grave site... I still miss that man every day!

This is Hudson, my new little brother and Stetson's cousin :)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My handsome dad with his two youngest grandsons!

Beams from the twin towers in NY.

International Peace Garden

                            Colton and Kenai

These last three pictures are from the International Peace Gardens.  We had to stop there because we were so close.  I had lived there with my parents when my dad worked at the Customs station as a Customs inspector.  We moved there after moving back from California where my dad had previously been a Border Patrol.   So, I got to see the house we lived in and make the walk around the beautiful garden.  We drove the 6 miles loope around the outside as well.. and it brought back vivid memories of when my dad used to go running and I'd trail behind on my bike.  I actually don't remember exactly how I kept up.. but it must have been a bike because I was only about 6 years old I know I couldn't run as fast as him!  But the trails were just as I had remembered. 

Family Vacation ............. Part 2

after leaving yellowstone we stopped at our friends Cody and Jessica Morris' house.  Their baby girl Abigail was only about 2 weeks old!    We met and had pizza at the coolest pizza place ever... they had a huge play area with giant blocks and a climbing tower and tonka trucks for the little ones to push around.  The kids had fun getting to know each other there before going to their house for the night.   Plus after being in the car all day it was nice to let them wear off some energy.

I caught this picture of Sean holding Abigail... isn't she an angel?

Samuel is quite the ham himself... he likes to sing and dance and play with his dog.   Kenai and Toby got a long GREAT and I think Kenai thought he was him mom at first!  Sorry pal... there is no milk down there!

The rowdy bunch~

Cody and Jess watched ALL the kids while Sean and I went on a two mile jog down this road... 

it was just beautiful... I think I could definitely live in Wyoming some day!

Family Vacation....... Part 1

To start off our long 4600 mile road trip we picked up a free puppy on the side of the road about an hour from home!  We had been talking about getting one and hadn't really decided for sure yet.. but this little guy was way too cute to pass up... needless to say the kids adore him!

This first picture was taken west of Denver, Colorado... we were on our way to stay the night in Craig, CO.

Ironically I had been to Craig before with  Josh Lyons doing a riding clinic! We tried to take roads to Yellowstone that we had never taken before....  we were very glad we did!

We took our time getting everywhere because our main purpose of this trip was to spend "TIME" together!  Sean had 2 weeks of block leave before deployment and this was our first trip together as a family of 5!

(Click Pictures to ENLARGE)

The picture below was taken after the hike, right before
the rain storm.  We made it back just in time!

Our first night camping by a river......near the Grand Teton Mountains!

We had to sleep in the van due to Grizzly bear attacks and 

my fear for Mountain Lions... which would be worse?  YIKES!

BTW... I had mastitis the whole time at the river AND we got a flat a tire!

The kids enjoyed helping Sean carry firewood and tossing rocks into the 

river... more like creek!

Carley is loving on Kenai!

Grand Teton Mountain Range

And here is our second night of Camping between the Tetons and 

Yellowstone National Park... (Where the camping is free)

They made their own Mountain :)

The rickety bridge we had to drive off of to get across....

Then we head to Yellowstone....

 Colton got to take a picture with Old Faithful on his fourth 

Birthday!  We also have a picture of him here in this very spot when 

he was only three weeks old!

Near Old Faithful... we had so many people stop to pet

the puppy and tell us that he was the cutest puppy they had 
ever seen... ah huh!Yeah right...... One lady even said... "this beats seeing all the scenery"  point is... we could hardly get to

where we wanted to go without having to stop a hundred times!!!! ughh......

Then... I have to say I have never seen this sign before....  Just had to take

a  picture ;p

and of course the famous Buffalo...

Independence Day!

Being the wife of a soldier... I truly want to thank all the other military families and other serviceman for fighting for our country and the sacrifices not only the soldiers make, but the sacrifices their children and spouses make as well!  We live in a great nation and I thank the Lord for having the privilege of growing up, living and be able to supporting this wonderful place! 

We took the kids to a carnival on post.  Got some free food and a free ride... (only one)  it was way to hot and crowded.

Sean and Carley went grocery shopping and while me and boys stayed home to greet our company.

After cooking out we moved to the front yard with the babies and then watched Sean and the neighbors light fireworks.. then at 9:30 we watched the show on post from our front yard.  It was a good show with out all the noise.. cause it was 2 miles away!

Here are some pics of the kids having some fun =)


as handsome as EVER..........  my little man will be 4 next month!

daddy's head was burned... he had to wear Colton's hat!

oh so serious......

Neighbor kids... Jonah (5)... Ali (9) and Colton....

Carley's new big sis.....  She LOVES her and has to have her sit next to her and help her with everything!  Ali gave Carley all her butterflies from her bedroom yesterday.. including a cute butterfly lamp that matches her room perfectly!  Thank you ALI! 

Colton and Jonah...........

sitting on Sean's truck... they had been waiting days... to watch the fireworks from up high!

Carley didn't cry but she kept her ears covered the WHOLE time!

ok...bad of me cute of Stets.....

my sewing projects

while Sean was gone I decided to spice up our room just a little.  Here's what I did..

you can imagine how plain it was before!!   I've also added a mirror to the dresser and put out my roses from our one year anniversary.  I also hung two rustic crosses, one on each side of the window.  I am not sure it's the color I was going for.. and the blue looks way more blue with light shining through it than it did just laying on the table... so I am sill getting use to it!

The two square pillows were ones that I had, I just made new covers for them.  The small one I made as well.. but had to buy the pillow to cover.  I have left over material if anyone has ideas of what else I could use it for... let me know! =)  Here is a new picture of us... yes Sean shaved his head down to skin!

homecoming.........and silly kids!

So, Sean surprised us and got home last night!  It was so GREAT to finally see him.  It had been a little over three weeks.  Seems like it's been a whole lot longer though.. Yikes.. multiply that by 12 and that's how long he'll be gone next time!  ughhh..

kids are happy he's home too.. .here's a song Colton was singing this morning!

I'm a good boy, I help my mommy........ my daddy and mommy love me so much and you can't be mean to me, sometimes Carley be's mean to me..... you can't be super mean to me, Carley always be's mean to me.....

Mommy interupts... "Carley, stop throwing stuff down the stairs"

colton "That's what this song is about" 

Back to song...

I always play with my flashlight, I don't shine it in people eyes......... my mom be's nice to me... but she spanks me when I'm in trouble!  You can't do stuff that's naughty... like being a bear, they have big claws and climb, climb climb... you can't be mean to people.....   stops singing "look mom, it's raining out side.. you better shut this window!!

back to song.....

God is always in my heart!   You can't be mean... people, learn to be nice.....    they can't do stuff naughty... not swing stuff around and hit stuff  (swinging flashlight around)  you can't hit people, you can't hit my baby brother....   hit people hit people hit people, you can not hit people!

mommy.... "so, how long is this song.. does it just go on forever"

colton, YES!  WELL, you can not be mean or do stuff that is naughtyyyyy-eeeeeeeee!  It's not fair to do.. it's not fair, fair fair fair.....  

I have to help Carley, doing something that is safe to do....   (helps Carley out of basket, battery falls out of flashlight) "Carley, hury up and pick the battery before Stetson gets it"

finally song is over...........

a day in the life of an Army Wife...

Sean has been gone three weeks now, I miss him so much!  But this last week has been much easier
than the first and the second.  This has been a litte... did I say little?!!  Test of how it's going to be when he's deployed.  It's not just taking care of bills and kids!  Today like several other days!  It was cleaning house, making meals, shopping for shoes.... taking the kids to the pool.... more shopping.... then home.  But as I parked the car and realized all three kids were zonked out (is that a word?)  I thought to myself (what could I do really fast before they wake up... and maybe I can let the car run for a few minutes with the air on while I do it.... well.. I carried Carley to the couch knowing that she'd stay sleeping.. they were sooooo tired from being out with me for hours and she'd only been sleeping 10 minutes.  On my way out to carry the others in... I realized the sky was getting dark with clouds and my front lawn hadn't been mowed in two weeks other than the half that my neighbor decided to do for me...I thought "here's my chance" ... plus with Colton and Stetson still sleeping in the van next to me.. I wasn't leaving their sight.  When I finished push-mowing I decided to clean out van.. which also hadn't been done in a couple weeks.  I took out some trash and pool items...clothes etc... and pulled out the vacuum cleaner.. YES.. they even slept through the vacuuming!!!  I got done and hauled the last two kids in the house.. put away the vacuum, got the mail and got in the house just in time for the rain!!!  My house was a bit messy.. since I had been gone all day.. but at least there weren't any dishes dirty since we had Burger King at the PX.  So, I decided to do what Sean would have done if he were home.  Take all the kids out on the patio to watch the rain and listen to the thunder!  It didn't last too long but they enjoyed it..    So, we all got new tennies today... Colton hadn't had a new pair in exactly a year.. he jumped two sizes and I think these will fit him next winter.. they are super cool looking Sketchers!  I had to get a new pair that actually fit me.  I have been using hand me downs.. so I can actually say this is the first pair that I have bought myself in the last 3 or 4 years!!! I had to get running shoes for my work outs.. and also I am hoping to run while Sean is home.   But anyway.. I decided to let the house go and spend some much needed time just hanging out with the kids.  Read one book and started the Movie "Black Beauty"  They had never seen it and Carley... LOVES horses.  Colton too, but she really gets excited!  So, with all the stuff going in I've managed to work on some house projects as well. I'm not going to say what though.. cause Sean reads my blog and I'm hoping it's a suprise.  But after Thursday I'll definitely be posting pictures!

I took all three kids to church on Sunday. We had fun and Carley actually went to Sunday school all by herself and was very proud about it too!  Here is a picture I got of them... don't ask for a picture of all three smiling.. that's impossible when it's just me trying to get their attention and take the picture at the same time!!!  I am going to have to resort to a professional family picture eventually!   But here are my three kiddos and then a picture of Stetson and his little friend Jay.

(click to enlarge)

Oh tonight Colton was excited to tell daddy on the phone about his new shoes... after trying to show him how high he could jump in them.. he proceeded to tell daddy that Sketchers are REALLY FAST and that he's going to like them!  Carley just tells daddy "I love you" and "Goodnight Daddy" many times along with kissy noises!  They are excited to see him in two days!  It'll be a fun reunion no doubt!  Unfortunately it will be late at night when we pick him up.  We are planing to spend Friday and Saturday in San Antonio at Sea World!  Military families get one free pass per year and it's only 2 1/2 hour away.  Plus my cousin Kay Michelle is there for a few months on business and we'll get to see her =)

I am tired and have to get up early for my work out!  Did I mention I lost 4 pounds with Insanity in one week.  I am on my second week and very curious to see what happens now!  It is getting a little easier but it is INSANE!  I just wish I had a work out buddy!  But at the same time I'm enjoying the time to myself in the mornings.   The best part about it.. is that I gain energy for the rest of the day.. as long as I don't stuff myself eating.  That can be easy to do especially after such a vigorous work out.. it makes me so hungry!!!!!!!!

Off to bed...

excersize and eating healthy!

I started a new work out program last week...  since I've started I've lost 4 pounds and gained flexibility!  I can't believe the progress already and can't wait until I'm done with my first two weeks to see how my next FIT TEST goes!  I have never pushed myself this hard in my life!  The hardest part is eating right and following the health plan.   But I want to share one really easy meal that is actually yummy.

OK.. this is a protein pancake!  A total of only 4 ingredients.

2 egg whites and One whole egg
1/2 cup oatmeal.. (instant works better)
2 tsp water or skim milk
1 scoop protein  powder  fried w/ olive oil or smart balance

This makes one large pancake.. perfect for just mommy!

I only had choc. protein powder but it was actually very tasty and filling!!! You can add a tbs. of peanut butter for another 100 calories if you need it.   I also had some fruit before my work out.  I wouldn't eat this pancake too often but it's nice and easy for those days you don't feel like cooking much else.   Yesterday it was turkey bacon and eggs fried in olive oil.   yeah... I said goodbye to regular bacon/butter/soda/ice cream/candy and if I eat bread it's ONLY 12 grain. I keep lots of fruits and vegetables on hand.  I didn't realize that Tuna had so much protein so I now add that to my salad and also I am getting plenty of calories~   I am actually eating more calories than I normally do but with this work out my body needs extra.  Even though I feel like I am eating all the time... it seems to be working!

Stetson 9 months old

I was cought off guard when I heard Stetson playing behind me tonight!  I turned around and to my surprise he was doing what Colton use to do at a year old... well.. I don't know the exact age... but I couldn't believe my nine month old was pushing cars around the floor like a big boy!  He only learned to push a tractor with wheels a few days ago.. now he's pushing two at one time!  Not only on his knees but on his feet..........it was sooo darn cute and I was fortunate to catch the proof on camera.........................

more pics coming soon.. I have a hundred new awesome pictures can't decide which ones to post.  But here's what I caught this evening!

answers to my prayers.....

Sean called this morning and told me that their groups got all switched around... He is officially part of HHC and not Charlie anymore.  This means his job is actually a whole different MOS, he'll be working strictly on Humvees... which he didn't even do at AIT.  He is with all new guys and will have to make new friends all over again.  BUT this could mean good for me..... he will be working on base in Iraq instead of with the route clearing crew.  With that said...  nothing is set in stone... us army wives know all to well that things can change at any given time.  If this doesn't change. it's definitely an answer to prayer for me!!!