Things that make me smile

Here are a couple of things that make me smile. First off is this little gem that is trying to help me sweep the floor. What a sweetie. Second is Clarissa. I love how much she loves her sister. They are pretty good friends, and that makes me happy.

And last is vegetables. When you look at these pictures how can you NOT smile?
Who knew vegetables could be so happy! I was having kind of a bad day until I cut up the bell pepper and saw this. I took it as a sign. Don't worry, be happy. Thanks!

Family Trip to Groundhog

I knew we couldn't stay away long. The call of the mountain was just too much for us! We had to go back to CO a little more than 48 hours after we left it. Clarence's had to work on Tuesday after Memorial Day, so that night (or morning) about 3 we left again. This time with 3 of 4 of our kids. Clarissa was fortunate enough to be able to participate in the dance festival, so she stayed with Aunt Cat for the week.
We pulled into Groundhog about 8 or so and the trees were alive with elk and deer. The kids had so much fun trying to spot the elk, and Ethan even spotted a baby elk. It was on the side of the road caught between 2 fences. The mom was on the hill watching the baby since it coulsn't jump the fence to be with her. We stopped to look at it a little and took a picture... witht he cell phone that didn't turn out very well. Grr for packing my camera out of reach. Anwyay, it was TINY and had while spots. Clarence said it was probably about 2 or so days old. We gave it quite a scare getting near it, and the mom elk was on high alert so we left it alone. As soon as we got in the car the momma came barreling down the mountain to check on her baby. It was cool to see.
After getting closer to the "cabin" we were surprised to see about 20 elk laying around the trailer. We of course scared them away, but it was neat for the kids to see.
The first item of business for these kids was to explore. We turned them loose and watched them squeal and run around. Karly didn't care much for the uneven ground, but she sure liked the taste of sticks!

Later that day we did a little fishing. We didn't fish for too long, but we still caught a couple of dandy fish. We probably threw as many away as we kept, so we didn't do too bad for an hours worth.

Ethan spotted a chipmink and wanted to shoot it. His dad didn't care, so he spent the next couple of hours shooting at those little critters. This was the best part of the whole trip for him!!!

Kaitlyn got sick the first day and jsut kinda took it easy and listened to music and did puzzles. She has a hard time with higher elevation, and we think she got a little bit of altitide sickness. The best thing for her was to take it easy and chill. I felt so bad for her. We were able to get some medication called in for her and my parents, who were coming the next day, were able to pick it up for us. Thank goodness for parents!!!!

That night before we had dinner we took the kids on a little 4 wheeler ride. We wanted to show them a little bit of wildlife before it got dark. We were not disappointed. We saw a black bear that was scared to death of us, and a big herd of elk and deer about 1/2 mile from our camp. crazy!! We all thought it was cool.

The next day my mom and dad came to visit. YEAH!!!!! As soon as they got there we went fishing at our favorite little honey hole. Everyone who fished caught something, but I caught the big daddy of them all.

16 inches (by measurement of a letherman) and 2 1/2 lbs.... ish this was a real trophy. Here are the fish from that trip. Another great day of fishing!

Karly was so afraid of the fish at first, but once she touched them she thought that she had to touch every one that was pulled in. It was kinda funny.

More fishing pictures from when my DAD and Clarence caught pretty much all the fish. They were cleaning them in the stream and then that night we broiled and ate that night, YUMMY!!


Once again on the last day I had to hike the mountain. This time I went with my mom while my dad and Clarence rode the 4 wheelers up. We beat them to the top. We wanted to take more pictures from the top, but the fire that was burining in Az (the wallow fire) had sent the smoke right our way. It had settled over the lake and was impossible to see any of the peaks. Sorry mom. Next time.

Clarence and the kids built a fort while they were there with some of the fallen trees. Ethan got a hatchet a couple of years ago for his birthday, and Kalityn got one from Papa on this trip for an early birthday present. Dangerous? I think yes. But so far no injuries to report.

All in all it was a good trip and I'm so glad my mom and dad got to come up and spend time with our family. They're awesome parents, and someday I hope to grow up and be just like them. The kids were mostly happy and got along, and Karly screamed pretty much for 5 hours on the way home. Good times, good times. Thanks for the great family trip, kids. Can't wait till next time when we do this again... this time with Clarissa!!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

About 3 years ago we took our kids and my parents to Colorado for a week. We visited a couple of places and had a blast. On a whim we decided to check out a little lake that was a favorite place to visit of one of our neighbors. The place was called Groundhog Reservoir. After just a day of fishing and driving around the area I knew Clarence had found true love. The elk were up on the mountain, the trout were biting, and the deer were thick and beautiful. The best thing about it though was that there wasn't a lot of traffic. Yup, I knew that we would probably buy some land here some day when the time and price were right.

Last October the stars aligned and it happened. We became new owners of property in Colorado on Groundhog. We spent the whole winter and into the spring just salivating over pictures of the land and talking about when we could get up there. FINALLY the snow melted enough and the roads were ok to visit.

Clarence and I decided we would go alone the first time to kinda explore the area on our own. Oh yeah, it was kinda our 15th wedding anniversary too... We were married December 27th, but every year for the last long time Clarence has been hunting during that time, so we decided that we would just celebrate our anniversary when it was more convienent: Like April or May. Ha ha.

Anyways, after a very LONG drive and a couple of stops later, we made it to the property. We had to take the toys out of the back of the toyhauler towards the end of our journey because the roads were just too muddy. Clarence put the truck in 4wheel drive and GUNNED it up the mountain cross country style. I still don't know how we made it, but we did. Here's our new "cabin" in the woods.

Maybe someday we'll actually build one, but for the next 20 years this will work. This is the whole reason why we bought the property: The view!

Our first night we set up the spotting scope and binoculars and glassed for hours. We saw hundreds of elk and deer. It was so cool.

We did a lot of fishing too. I always would forget my camera, but I did manage to remember to at least get a picture of Clarence as he was cleaning the fish in a stream by the cabin.

We rode the 4 wheelers around and saw a lot of wildlife. Every day we would make the drive up the mountain on CRAZY 4 wheelerr trails so we could go to the top and check our voicemail and call our kids. I missed cell phone service, but after a while I got to where I liked not being available all the time.

The last day Clarence and I hiked up the top of the mountain instead of driving. WHEW!!! What a hike it was! First of all it was straight up the mountain with only elk trails to follow, and second of all I had to keep up with daddy long legs. But we made it and I felt pretty good! Clarence called me his scrappy little mountain goat. I really enjoyed the hike and the exercise.

These pictures don't do it justice, but the views from up top are AMAZING!
I had a great weekend with my honey, and it was nice to spend some time with just him without the distraction of 4 kids. It was nice to really have no plans and just RELAX. Thanks for the great vacation, and I look forward to many more of them in CO.

8th Grade Graduation

I can't believe it happened! I was just going through life minding my own business and raising 4 wonderful children when BAM...... HIGH SCHOOL. Whoah, how did that sneak up on me so fast? Didn't I just give birth to this child last week? Next thing I know she'll be graduating high school and going to college. I can't believe that I'm going to have a kid in high school. It's official.... I'm getting old.
Clarissa has become a beautiful young woman in what seems like 10 minutes. When did she go from this:



to this?




Clarissa is my brain child. I love how she can memorize everything and then have an overwhelming desire to share her knowledge with anyone who will listen. She loves to read and write stories. Her favorite classes in school are Literature and English, with a strong dislike for Math and Social Studies. She loves the colors orange and lime green, and just about everything she wears and owns have those 2 colors in it.

Clarissa is very smart and does well in school. I think she'll do just fine in high school.... probably better than I ever did. Here's a couple more pictures from the graduation.



I used to dream of having to hasin to go to school with. Now we're blessed to have so many family members around and lots of cousins about the same age. I love this last picture of my mom and her 2 8th graders. She is so lucky to have the majority of her grandkids all within a stones throw of eachother. I love my family. They are the best!


Here's to 4 more years of school. Enjoy them while you can because if you blink they will be gone. I love you Noodle, you'll always be my little girl.

Country Livin'

For about a month we were aticipating the new arrival of baby chicks. We never know when our mama ducks are laying, or how many eggs they are sitting on until they disapear for a couple of days and we go searching for them. We will find them hiding in the weeds highly guarding a nest full of eggs. We wait and wait for the blessed day when we get to see how many of those eggs are acutally gonna hatch. Finally it happened. This is what I found when I went to check on them.

Aren't they cute? I didn't see the mama of these babies so I went to the pond to find her.... and found more babies. All together this mama hatched 14 babies!!!

Do you see the goose in the background? We've had that thing for several years, and he thinks he owns the babies after they are born. He is thier protector, and if you get too close he will bite!! Sadly, just a couple of days ago our goose goose disapeared. What happened to him we can only speculate, but unfortunately that's life in the country! Dogs or coyotes, the result is the same. About a week after this picture was taken the other momma duck produced 3 babies.... not bad for her first time.

I love new baby ducks, but not as much as I love THIS:

Gotta love country life.