Cattle Drive 2015

Yesterday we spent 12 hours in the car so we could attend the annual cattle drive.  It was a long day of driving, but it was worth it.  My little cowboys were so excited to participate!  They loved riding the horses, four-wheelers and in the back of trucks.  They took their job seriously about keeping the cows from escaping.  They played with their cousins and got as dirty as can be.  Little boy heaven!  We had one injury this year when our nephew Sam broke his arm, but his Mcgyver like Dad made him a splint using a hammer and a windshield scraper and all was well until they could get him to a doctor.  So grateful for these fun family traditions that bring family together.
I made a little movie to remember our day:

Quinnerisms

Quinn is at the funny age where daily he is telling us stories and saying things to make everyone laugh.  He knows it too and loves the audience!

The other day I told him to get down (he was standing on his high chair tray).  His response was, "it's not a cliff-es mom, it's just a high chair."  Gee, who is this little teenager?!

He really likes to say the prayers around here.  Most of them are pretty long!  He usually blesses us to go to Disneyland and Zumba.  

The other morning he woke up crying.  I found him completely naked in his crib and soaked.  In the night he had taken off his pajamas and diaper.  I asked him what happened to his jammies and without missing a beat he said, "I packed them in a suitcase and Grandma stole them."

Lately he's been doing karate at every chance he gets.  His fierce expression and muscle control makes me laugh every time!

Oh Quinn.

A Visit with the Famous Grandma P.

A few weekends ago we got to make a quick trip to Vernal.  We were excited to make the road trip in our "new-to-us" Landrover.  We got it for a steal of a deal to get us through 6 months until we can buy a more reliable car.  It was a beautiful day for a road trip.  We even stopped at the Lincoln monument in Wyoming.  It was a smooth ride and ran like a champ.  We returned home late Tuesday night...

Wednesday morning early I was driving and the drive shaft broke, flipped up and made a hole in the transmission!  So sad!  We have now sold the broken Landrover and look at the whole experience as a very expensive rental car to get us to Vernal!  

 We got to be there for my cousin Sara's wedding.  It was a beautiful night.

R.J. served his mission in Scotland and pulled out his kilt for the wedding.

We also got to be there for my cousin Jeremy to bless his new baby.  Lindsey, Jeremy and I were born within a months time.  It was fun to get a picture and compare it to the picture in 1981 with our stylish Dads.

We had such a fun trip visiting with cousins, aunts and uncles...and of course Grandma P.  Most of my childhood memories involve Grandma's house, and cousins.  While we were in Vernal Ethan said, "I love visiting Vernal because there are tons of parties."  It really was just a fun-filled few days full of family gatherings and parties.  I'm blessed to be a descendant of the famous Grandma P.  

While we were in Vernal my little brother James became a Daddy.  So that night Grandma and I dug through some old pictures to find some of baby James.  In the process we found several priceless gems.

Baby James

No one ever told me I used to have a twin!

Neon lasers are never a bad backdrop.

My Dad back in the day.

Weston's caption to this:  "whoa, who's the Michael Jackson look alike?"

Feet and Car Trunks

Caden had a wild day last week, I think our pending move is starting to wear on him a little.  He rode his bike in front of 2 cars pulling out of their driveways.  After a neighbor complained to me, we took his bike away.  So naturally, he climbed on top of the car and managed somehow to pinch his feet really bad in the trunk of the car (the part where the trunk meets the windshield).  We are all so very lucky that nothing really bad happened.

The next morning he came upstairs and yelled at Clark, "you are a bad foot doctor, my feet still hurt."  Um, Caden, pretty sure your feet hurt because you slammed them in a car trunk.  

Thankful for guardian angels watching over this little Super Cay!

Teachers Make a Difference

I feel that it is a great blessing in our life that Ethan got the teacher he did this year.  Mrs. Ranous was a perfect 1st grade teacher for Ethan.  He learned and grew in leaps and bounds this year.  It was fun to see the light bulb click for reading.  But beyond all of the book lessons he had a fantastic teacher that built his confidence and made him feel special and important everyday.  I volunteered once a week in her classroom and it was clear that every student felt safe and loved.  She is one of those teachers that has the gift.  

This was the gift she gave me for volunteering, I thought it was super cute!

 On the school's final assembly Ethan received the Falcon Annual Soar Award.  Given to one student in each class for demonstrating S.afety, O.wnership, A.chievment, R.espect.  They gave him a certificate and a T-shirt.  I don't know if Ethan had ever been more proud of anything before.  He was pretty excited.

The letter from his teacher said, "You have shown "SOARing behavior all year.  You are safe, responsible for yourself and learning and a great friend."  I am proud of Ethan this year for being kind to everyone and working hard to follow the rules and behave (even if it is against his nature to sit still for too long).

Ethan's First Grade experience couldn't have gone better!  

Springing Right Into Summer!

School has only been out a week and I'm feeling like we are running at a break neck pace.  

The last week of school consisted of Clark taking his final big board exam as a resident!  Our whole life riding on that one little exam, no stress at all!  We find out if he passed in the next few weeks.  Glad to have that one out of the way!  

The day after Ethan's final day of school we drove to Pueblo to look at some more houses.  Right before we left Clark found one that came up on the listing and said, "I think this is our house."  I looked at it briefly on my way to the dentist but didn't think much of it.  Our realtor made sure we saw it that night.  It had been on the market 24 hours and we LOVED it!  Right away, we knew we wanted that to be our house.  (Which anyone that knows how we make decisions verrrrrrrrrrrrry slooooowly, would know this is out of character for us).  The next day we had made an offer, and then found out 24 hours later they had accepted our offer (apparently, the previous owner found out we had 3 boys and a little of our story and started crying because she had raised her own 3 boys in that house...woot woot for having 3 boys).  Now we are in the process of making sure everything works out and buying a home!?  I keep feeling like I need to pinch myself, it's crazy that we are finally to the ending stages of this medical school thing.

Clark rushed me home from that whirlwind overnight trip so I could join some fun ladies on another whirlwind overnighter at Estes Park to celebrate my friend Heather's birthday.  It was such a fun, relaxing little trip.  I'm so grateful that everywhere we have lived I've been blessed with wonderful friends.

We had a little too much fun doing some synchronized hot tubbing!

We've had some fun play dates.  We went to the Children's Museum in Denver with friends.

I don't know what we are going to do without the Fowler's when we move.  Every single day my boys ask when we will be seeing the Fowler's that day.  They all get along really well and get so excited to see each other every single time, even if it's only been 12 hours.  We love them!

The perfect age to act out all of his big imagination!

Ethan was so excited for field day at school, so excited that he woke up 2 hours earlier than normal that morning.  We got to his school that afternoon to cheer him on just in time for a tornado warning that sent everyone running back to the building.  There were some devastated little first graders because they were just two stations away from the bounce house station that they had been looking forward to all day!    

Instead of bounce houses we got selfies in the classroom.

Caden had his final day of preschool at the park.  We've loved participating in the little co-op this year.  Our group started with 8 and ended with 5.  Caden really loved all of the kids and the crafts each week.

The joy of childhood captured right here with this gigantic bubble!

With moving and a few trips planned to visit family, this summer is going to go by too fast!

Grumpy Cat

Last week at church this Instagram post was brought to my attention.  The caption read:  "This is Quinn the grumpy little boy.  This is when he's happy."  It was posted by an 11 year old girl about a month ago.  

I died laughing when I saw it, apparently Quinn has a reputation around these part, that compare him to Grumpy Cat.

I think in the beginning stages his grumpy cat face was a coping mechanism for his shyness, now I think it's a game.

My friend Heather took the pictures in this collage, Quinn refuses to smile for her.  When I question him about it, he says, "I was just mad."  A member of our bishopric tries all during Sacrament Meeting to get Quinn to smile, which just makes him glare and scowl more.  Little grumpy cracks everyone up.  

Luckily at home we see more than his grumpy cat face.   

This one was from today in response to the JCPenney photographer saying, "do a super hero pose."

This is his Baymax impression when you give him a "pound it."

Before his nap one day I stuffed his giraffes up his shirt to be funny, he ended up sleeping with them like that his whole nap.

I love that Grumpy Cat is mine!