6-20-2009 Fabulous Week in Review....VACATION!! (part 1)

Warning...this is going to be a VERY LONG BLOG so I'm breaking it up so I can feel like I accomplished something.  If you missed last week's blog (since I JUST posted it as well) go read that one first....you can't read our life out of order, it's crazy enough as it is!!

Okay, so this week actually starts the week before on Saturday when we woke up WAY too early to get everything all packed up and ready to go.  Then, Corben & I headed to the airport...full of excitement!  We hung out, ate at Cinnabon, and bought water that cost almost as much as our flight.  I then proceeded to people watch.  There were old couples & new couples, teenagers, and kids.  There were couples arguing and some so cute I thought I would die.  One in particular stood out to me and I knew they must either be engaged or newly weds.  He kept calling her Honey and Sweetheart and holding her hand or carrying her bags.  Ah, young love.  All of the older couples were rolling their eyes at each other, walking 20 feet apart or yelling for the other one to Catch That Kid!!   It was funny to watch.  Ah, life, how you change things.  Anyway, back to Corben & I.  When it was time to board I suddenly realized that Corben & I didn't have boarding numbers anywhere near each other so, since I was boarding first I hugged him close and they sweetly let us on.  I knew right away that there was no way we were going to get to sit together.  I even yelled back to the back to see if there was a possibility.  As we neared the end of the plane a very kind woman was laying across two seats together on the row opposite herself and letting me know these were saved for us.  I was so thankful!!  It was extra nice because I immediately noticed she was LDS.  (If you're LDS you can guess how I knew, but anyway...)  The flight to Colorado was very uneventful.  At one point I began chatting with the young man sitting in front of me.  (He was the husband of the cute couple mentioned earlier.)  Anyway, come to find out he was LDS, too!!  Actually, he used to be in my ward (congregation)!! And knew my brother, Jason.  He hadn't lived in Raleigh for about 8 years so it was quite the coincidence that we ran into each other.

My sister, Tammy, picked us up at the airport and we were so excited on the drive to Parshall.  Corben was so excited to see snow (very dirty snow) on the side of the road that he insisted we stop so he could touch it....and throw some at me.

This was the first view we had of a town up in the mountains.  We were still a long way off from the ranch!

Sunday we got up early and headed down to the Bar Lazy J where we enjoyed the free continental breakfast of waffles and pastries.  (Corben had this for breakfast ALL week....where as I tended to order french toast and bacon made by the chef.)  We then got dressed and headed out to church.  It was quite a distance to the building and it was so tiny but the people were SO nice.  After church we headed out for a drive through Rocky Mountain National Forest.  BEAUTIFUL!!  Let me tell you, my mom has driven ALL over the U.S. and Canada looking to see a Moose.  We saw 7 in 2 hours!! YEAH MEECE!!  We also saw Deer and Elk.  It was amazing!  We drove up to just over 2 miles above sea level and then headed back down and home again.  The views up top were Gorgeous!!  

After our adventure in the park we headed down to the ranch where they were welcoming all the new guests for the week and introducing everyone to their horse.

This is Corben meeting Lakota.  Lakota is a paint raised on an Indian reservation.  It was love at first sight...for both of them.

As they were getting ready to run the horses back to the dry lot a sudden rain storm came and went leaving the most beautiful rainbow over the ranch!!

What a Great Day!!!.....and you want to know why it's an even Better Day??

Because it's my brother's birthday!!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JASON!!!

(No, Jason was not at the ranch this year, but I figured since we were going with a ranch theme in this blog we should stick with it....)

....Part 2 coming soon to a blog near you....

Friday 6-12-2009 - Most of a Week in Review

I'm heading out Saturday morning for a week in the beautiful mountains of Colorado with Corben.  We will be staying at the Bar Lazy J and are so excited to see my sister, Tammy and her family.  Dade is spending the week with Ryan's brother & his family & Ryan is getting a whole week with just him and the girls!!  So, here's a run down of our week so far....

Monday - Nothing like a good sense of Calm & Peace to egg Satan into trying to come in and Stomp All Over It!!  BUT...as I said before, God Is Great and always comes to the rescue.  Monday was a tough day for me but helping hands stepped right in (hands stepped??...what ever, you get the point) and the day ended with it's own Miracles.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to my many angels.  I actually got to end the day with a "date" with my husband.  It was nice to go to Walmart & Burger King together....all the more so because we were kid free!!  (Thanks R & J!!)

Tuesday - Ah, that wonderful Calm & Peace again.  I spent a quiet day with the girls listening to the rolling thunder and reading a book.  I love days like this.  Corben & I are reading the same book right now (The Candy Shop War by the author of Fablehaven).  I try to keep up with him so we both have someone to talk about it with.  Plus we just found out it's going to be made into a movie!!

Caught this crane flying overhead.  Corben & I like to think they look like baby dragons when they fly by.

Corben & Dade both came home with a pile of awards today.  I got to go to Corben's ceremony.  He was the most proud of a medal he got for having such high grades.  He called it his Genius Award.  Here's a terrible pic off my phone....

Corben's in the red shirt in the middle.  Dade got a huge trophy for getting such high scores on the End of Grade testing.  He had the highest scores in his class!!  Go Dade & Corben!!

Wednesday - was....THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!  It was also baseball practice and Corben & his friends had a lot of fun.

Thursday - we ran a MILLION errands.  All trying to get ready for our many vacations.  I was ALL over the place.  The kids were great, though, and very helpful.  I think we're almost ready.

Friday - was Corben's last baseball game.  The team actually had a couple more the next week but since we wouldn't be there we had to say our goodbye's to another fun season.  He did great, as usual!  My mom came and played with the girls so I could take pictures for the team.

    

Dade left that afternoon to spend the next week plus with my fabulous SIL & BIL, Heather & Eric.  He's so excited!!

....So, now I'll leave Saturday and Sunday to next week's post as it's all really going to be our mega vacation blog....SEE YA!!

Photo blog update

Check out http://csheritage.blogspot.com for some "fancy" pics from my trip.  I'll be catching up on my blogging after I get through all these photos!!

6-7-2009 Week in Review

You know what?!  Prayer is a wonderful thing!  Despite having a rough month and no real end in sight I have had a wonderful feeling of Peace and Calm lately that I am very thankful for.  God is Great!

Monday - Baseball!  My great SIL Heather & her kids joined us for the game and some play time afterwards.  The girls had a blast playing at the playground all night.  Ella has really gotten better at staying close by and not running off as much.  I am so thankful!!  Sylvie, however, is quite the opposite.  Guess we'll keep working on it. 

Tuesday - Ella met again with her behavioral therapist.  Ella really loves when she comes.  You see, Ms. Becky comes for an hour twice a week and helps me come up with ways to help Ella enjoy the world around her without going nuts.  Ella has got a lot of Spirit and I want to channel it, not stifle it, but sometimes she's a bit too much to handle so I've been learning about what makes her tick and what kinds of things help her to calm herself.  It's been an amazing journey and I'm so glad we've done it.  I also managed to get the entire house clean.  Yes, you should be amazed.

Wednesday - We headed out to playgroup with the girls' other friends.  We met at the park, made butterflies and played at the park.  The girls had a lot of fun and once again, Ella stayed close.  Actually I let her walk to the park while I pushed Sylvie in the stroller.  The two times Ella started to run the other way I yelled Stop and she stopped and got back on track! YEAH!  Wednesday night was FUN FUN FUN!!  Mom took the boys to scouts and I headed out with my wonderful SIL for dinner and shopping!  I can't tell you how much fun it was having girl conversations and buying cute clothes!!  Thanks, Heather, for a fun night out and the opportunity to spend time with you.  I love you!!

Thursday - My good friend NN came to my rescue and took my girls off my hands for a few hours so I could run some errands (and lock myself out of my car for an hour....typical) and it was SO wonderful!!  I picked up the kids who, along with N, were nice and worn out!  Thanks, N!!  I owe you!  Sylvie came home and CRASHED!!  We headed out Thurs. night to yet another BB game.  I spent the evening gathering pics for this year's Baseball book.  It was fun getting the boys to pose for pics.  They were hamming it up!

   

Friday - Friday I had worries on my mind but, thanks to many prayers, was wonderfully calm inside.  We headed over to get Ella's ears & hearing checked to see if the surgery worked.  Hearing test showed that her hearing was fine!!  I can't tell you how thankful I am for modern medicine and the Lord.

Saturday - We headed out early to my cousin's wedding out of state.  It was a long drive but great company and good time with family.  No real pics, the lighting was terrible in the reception hall & I didn't have a sufficient flash.  Ella & Sylvie were both very excited to see the Princess (the bride).  She was so beautiful!!  Congrats, Marie!!

Here's some pics I took of my mom & brother.  My mom was totally hamming it up for the camera.  She kept telling me to stop but as you can tell from the last pic she was enjoying all the attention. 

 

Sunday - We got home from our trip and SLEPT!!  We then checked out our AWESOME garden..........

   

Our tomato plants are about 6 feet tall!!

We've got peppers, plenty of radishes (we've been munching these for weeks), and a ton more almost ready to eat.  Any body want black berries??  They'll be ready soon, you just have to brave the ant hills that have sprung up all around the bush.

  

And, finally, it was time for treats.  Ryan made us a fun treat from his childhood called Sopapillas.  They were SO yummy.  The kids loved eating them.  We cut shapes out with cookie cutters and then watched them puff up in the oil.  It made them look "real"!  We then covered them in syrup or honey and chowed down!!

  

Yeah!.....I'm done.