Rylee loves writing letters and especially his name. When I saw this on the sidewalk I had to take a picture of it. He is growing up so fast and i don't want to miss a minute of it.

Self-portrait of Rylee.

YUM!!

We love to get our hands dirty and I don't think we are to bad when it comes to gardening. We did take a class a few years back and there is so much to learn. We have been able to use our knowledge from this class and have had better luck at many different plants. One of those would be onions. This year our onions have turned out really nice. There's nothing better than going out to your own yard and picking out fresh vegetables. Now if I could just figure out how to keep those darn squash bugs away from my garden. They give me the Heebie Jeebie's. Maybe next year.

Jackson Reunion in Fremont

Rylee can fall asleep anywhere.

Brayden with his cousin finally made it to the top!

What can I say my boys love to climb. I think they might be part monkey.

Notice those mischievious grins. How I would like to know what they are thinking. Or maybe not.

Wayne County Days

Waiting for the candy to come.

Brayden getting the Sheriff to sign his Frisbee.

Our future home!

In August we happen to be down for the Jackson family reunion. There were a lot of fun events going on while we were there. We made it to the parade. You know it is a small town when there are tractors in the parade, candy but the handfuls are thrown and the parade route is to go up the street and turn around and go down the same street. We loved it and want to make it a yearly tradition from now on.

Think Recession

Ever since we moved into our house I have wanted a shelf above my washer and dryer. Because of the recession I did not have any extra money for anything extra. So that is when a couple pieces of wood, molding & paint came into play. Along with using my chop saw, nail gun, sander and using my router for the first time this is the shelf I came up with. I thought it turned out pretty good and I finally got my shelf that I have wanted for many years.

I'M A BIG KID NOW

Brayden has been looking forward to this day for a long time. He is no longer a cub scout but a Boy Scout. Although he is only 11 he wants to do everything he can with the older scouts. It has been fun to watch his excitement about everything that goes along with scouting.
Brayden receiving his awards and shooting his Arrow of Light.

Brayden's Birthday Surprise

Brayden is now 11. Where has the time gone? If you know Brayden you know he loves to fish. For his birthday Joe got him a tackle box filled with fishing gear. When he opened up the box to find his present his jaw dropped and remained in that position for a few minutes. Then I decided to throw him a surprise birthday party. I wish I had his expression on film. He was so excited and it was fun to be a part of. This birthday was one of many surprises. Thanks Brayden for allowing me to be your Mom!

Timberline Scout Camp

Taking all the gear to the car after everything was over.

At the end of summer Tyler went to a Scout camp for a week for training. We got to go up as a family on Saturday to witnessed the end ceremonies. To our surprise Tyler was announcing the whole thing. He did such a good job and we were so proud of him.

Scofield Traithlon

My kids love to run in to the finish line with whoever they can.

It was so cold in the morning that the kids wanted to stay in the car.

Our friend Bianca had the most beautiful baby I had to show her off. Maizie was born on the 26Th of June. Congrats Bianca!

Happy 7th Birthday Kaleb

I don't know what I was thinking when I had all 4 of my kids birthdays within a 3 month period. There has been lots of ice cream, cake, presents and party. I guess I am crazy.

I now I am a little late for his birthday wishes but I can't believe 7 years have gone by. I can't imagine my life without him.

50 Miles

Their pet snake bubbles.

This is Tyler's 2nd time going on a 50 miler with the scouts. I was surprised to hear he wanted to do it again. After the 1st time I found him literally passed out on the front porch. He had a great time and has many stories to tell about his wonderful adventures.

Official Sunscreen Spokesman

We have decided that Tyler should be the new official sunscreen spokesman. After going with his Teacher's group to Flaming Gorge and thinking you are too cool to wear the sunscreen that your mother packed for you this is what you end up looking like.

He was miserable! These pictures were actually taken days after the sunburn. He had blisters all over his face. This is why you should wear sunscreen. I hope he learned his lesson. For some strange reason I'm thinking he hasn't.

I would like to introduce you to our new family member. This is chief Rylee. His brother decided it would be funny to use chalk and paint all over his face. Of course Rylee had no objections to it and loved looking like an Indian.

Why crayons and Rylee don't mix. For his 4Th birthday he received a box of crayons. My tile was lucky enough to be his first recipient.

Who needs color treatments?

This is what happens when you try yo put back the strawberry quick and the lid is not on tight. Kaleb discovered this the hard way. I will say he did smell good for the rest of the day.

Rock pile

Every trip down to Fremont we try to stop and place a rock on this rock pile. It was started by Joe's Dad and it has something to do with Mongolia and their traditions.

What a view

These are pictures taken from the top of the Pig Pen. I was fortunate enough to have my telephoto lens with me and use it to get a picture of the house and store in Fremont. What a view!

Pig Pen

The pig pen is a little place we like to visit. We have not taken the whole family for awhile since it is a steep hike. You would think Rylee is the energizer bunny, he just kept going. Even Bear came and he surprised me at every rock. We all had a great time and no accidents so it was a very good day.

New Sheriff in Town

I'd like you to meet the new Sheriff. Down in southern Utah where we like to visit this is how their officers look. They do move the car frequently around town. My kids got a real kick out of it. Who wouldn't?

Dog Days of Summer

When the said the Dog Days of Summer I don't think this is what they meant. I guess Kaleb took it literally

Ready, Set, Aim

How could I resist posting this one. Tyler actually took this picture. While we were out shooting he stole my camera and this is what I later found.

Shootin just for FuN

One of my boys favorite pastimes is to go shooting. Both Tyler and Brayden have won BB guns from different competitions. Anytime they can convince us to go they try.

Can't get enough TRI

Chris won 1st place in his age division. If you know Chris this is no surprise.

Annual Salem Tri

How Tyler spends his day at the triathlon.

Every Year for the last 4 years Joe has competed, or as he would say participated, in the Salem Triathlon. My brother-in-law, Chris, started doing triathlon' s many years ago and he has now put the bug in Joe. I think they are both crazy! We love to go down and cheer them on as a family. Another tradition that has started is that Chris runs back on the course to find Joe and give him some encouragement to finish.

Backpackin

Tyler received a new backpack for his 14Th birthday and the first item that he packed happened to be a slug, oops I mean his little brother. Rylee that this was great and had the biggest grin on his face.

My little Fighter

Here we go again. We could not go through the summer without having some sort of accident. Rylee just happened to be the victim this time. Of course Joe was not home as normal. So here is how the story goes. I was home with Kaleb and Rylee getting them dinner so we could go watch Brayden play baseball. Rylee came over to me and I gave him something, I don't remember what it was. While he was running back to the table he tripped and fell. He started crying and I went over and picked him up to comfort him. I saw blood and realized he had bit his tongue. No big deal right. As I was focused on trying to stop his tongue from bleeding he looked up. That's when I noticed that his chin was split open. Needless to say that is when I had Kaleb call Joe. Joe was at scout's and had taken my car which had Rylee's car seat in it. Kaleb told him he needed to come home and his first thought was that something was wrong with me until Kaleb told him Rylee needed stitches. To make a long story shorter we headed to the doctor's with Rylee screaming he did not want stitches and to just put a bandaid on it. It took over an hour to put 7 stitches in because he was quite the fighter. The doctor commented he had met his match and never seen a child with so much energy. While being strapped down to a papoose board, Joe holding his upper body, 2 nurses trying to hold his head and me holding his legs he broke my heart when he started yelling for daddy, mommy, then Kaleb. Anyone that would help him he was calling their name. He also kept screaming "get me outta here, let me go, I wanna go home" and many others I can't recall. He is a fighter and I love that about him. One more set down and hopefully not any more anytime soon.

Swimming Part 2