Stampede Weekend....

Yee-haw for Stampede Weekend! We have been counting down the weeks until we could put the boots on and Rodeo. A couple of weeks ago the livestock started showing up at the fair grounds so we would make a trip down everyday to see the baby colts. Kensie was completely obsessed with the babies and threw a complete fit when I made her leave. Thursday Morning we got up early and headed down to watch them bring the horses down main street on their way to the fairgrounds. I've wanted to do this every year but I have always forgot about it. The kids enjoyed it and when they passed Kenise cried for "mo (more)" and pointed down the street.



I then worked for a while and then headed home to get ready for the horse parade.

My mom gave all the kids Stampede shirts to wear. The boys were really excited to be there....lol. They did cheer up when the parade started and there was candy to eat.

Thursday night was family night and we were excited to sit in our box again. I don't know if I could ever go back to regular seating.....I think I'm spoiled. This was also the night our ward was doing the concessions for the scouts. Since we paid so much money for the box we're kind of obligated to watch the rodeo every night. So we found other ways to help out. Casey went down on Tuesday night to help them set up, plus him and Chris volunteered most of their day Wednesday to help get the new cook shack working for Thursday. The stake presidency were very grateful they were willing to leave work and go down and help them out. When they got down there Pres. Sevy's hands were covered with cuts and he was glad to turn the job over to them. One high counsel member told Casey they had saved them from spending the night down there hanging lights and possibly not being able to use it. I'm so glad Casey is willing to use his talents to help others out especially the scouts. He spends a lot of time and money to help with the scouts and never complains. During their monthly camp outs, Casey always volunteers to cook and most of the time donates the food. Many of the leaders have told me how lucky I am to be married to such a good cook. He also went down Monday morning at 6:30 am to help clean up the trash at the fairgrounds.

Nikki, Wyatt, & Halle

Kensie lou

Hal & Debbie (i told them to act like they loved each other lol)

Grandpa & Nikki

Gavyn

The kids loved to slap hands with the people in the arena. During the grand entry Cael slapped hands with one of the Pretty Cowgirls and he started to blush and smile. I have a feeling he's going to be quite the ladies man.

Marissa & Cody

Favorite Ride

I had Casey's Aunt Tammy make these belts last year and the kids looked so cute wearing them. Wrangler butts drive me nuts!

They also got new boots (even though Cael's look beat...he is so hard on stuff) Cael chose Johnny Poppers and Kensie were black glitter.

This totally looks like something my Dad would make.

Go CVMC!!!!

Cael won Kensie this mouse at the dart/balloon game in the Carnival on Thursday night. He then joined us the next two nights to the Rodeo and by the end of the weekend his head was almost complete torn off.

Kensie didn't care for the rides and only went on the Carousel. I didn't get a picture of that one ride because I had ran home to get the tickets we had bought the night before. She was content to watch the other kids ride and give her mouse piggy back rides.

The kids favorite part!!

The Rodeo always seems to get better every night and by Saturday I was sad to see it come to an end, but we were all ready for some rest! We were all so exhausted and ornery by Sunday that we didn't go anywhere after church and just lounged all day!

Payson Pool

We had the best time at this pool. My cousin's wife Marissa and their daughter Kaylee joined me, Nikki, and the troops for some afternoon swimming. We arrived a few minutes early and soon found out that we needed plastic swim covers for the girls. We had swim diapers, but Utah county requires a cover too. They were out of them and the only place that sold them were Shopko and Spanish Fork Pool. So we loaded the kids up and drove to Spanish Shopko. Nikki and Marissa ran in and could only find size 6 month. They bought them because they looked bigger, but when we tried them on they would pass Kaylee or Kensie's knees. We then found Spanish Fork pool, after many U turns, and luckily they had some in their size. It took us about an hour before we made it back to the pool. After a few minutes of swimming we soon discovered that the swim cover rule was not really enforce since we saw a dozen babies with just swim diapers on.......at least it made the trip interesting.

We ended up swimming for about 3 hours and then pulled the kids out. They would have stayed all night, but we had to run to Cal-Ranch and get the kids some pants for the Rodeo. Gavyn picked out a pair of hot white Wranglers and I told his mom they would go great with some silver tipped pointy boots. She didn't think this was a good idea and told him to put them back. Gavyn was sad about not getting the white wranglers until he discovered the flying squirrel on the wall. I literally about peed my pants....this kids has the funniest imagination.

Smitty kids....

Kensa Lou..... Booger bean.......Dolly
This little lady has been quite the handful lately. She officially started throwing temper tantrums and has been very demanding at times. Her new favorite show is Max & Ruby and she thinks it needs to be on 24/7. This does not set well with her brother because he thinks he should have control over what we watch. I've been trying to limit their TV time anyway, so after listening to them fight over the TV one afternoon I finally just turned it off for the day. This led to her throwing the remote across the room, running around the couch, hitting me, hitting Cael, and peeing her pants all while screaming at the top of her lungs. I immediately put her in time-out. She kept leaving time out to hit me. I then drug her to her room and shut the door. The door soon flew open and I heard her scream "wa Max!". I then lost my temper and finally put her in the crib. I let her cry it out for a minute and then went back into her room and asked if she was going to be good. She was still crying but consented to be a "Good Girl" so she could come out. WOW this girls got attitude. She's also started to be mean to Cael by pulling hair, hitting, and taking his toys. I've mentioned before that she has not been a big talker so I've struggled with disciplining her. The past month she has really started to talk a lot so now I can try to explain to her that we do not accept this behavior in our home. She's not been liking me lately because of this and I when I asked her to tell her dad why she got in trouble she said "you mean" and pointed her finger my way. Hopefully she'll come to grips with the fact that we don't always get what we want! Besides these little fits she's a little sweetheart and keeps us laughing. She has developed a love of cooking which has to have come from her Dad...I hate to cook! Anyway she loves to help mix things. Last week she was at my Mom's helping her make fruit salad. My mom stepped away for a minute and when she turned around Kensie was singing away with her hips shaking and turning the bowl while she mixed. Grandma hurried and grabbed her camera and caught this on tape before she noticed she was being filmed. My mom also said Kensie watched her open a cool whip container with her teeth. Kensie looked and my mom and said "EEEwww mam-ma no teeth!" Me and Nikki are making plans to take the kids to the Payson pool so I dug out my swim suit to see if it still fits (i've gain 10 lbs ugggh). I put it on and walked into change a load of clothes in the laundry room. Kensie came around the corner and in her sweet quiet voice she said "pree-ee momma" and smiled. I hugged her and told her she was probably the only person that thought I looked pretty in a swim suit! She's also good at cleaning up. In the mornings she'll go in the bathroom and start putting the hair stuff back in the drawer, cleans up her toys, puts her clothes in her dresser (which makes it really fun to find things in the morning), straightens the shoes by the back door, and tries to wipe up the million spills that happen everyday. I've been enforcing the "no playing until your room is clean" rule and they have both been really good to help.

Loves to sing...when no one is watching

loves na-na's which is any fruit

Still loves her babies and playing mom.

She's kind of over her clothes obsession, she still loves them but doesn't have to change a million times.

Is a little fish and would spend her days in the water with her swim suits on.

Homer....Buddy......Boog

First of all, I'm still in complete denial that my baby boy is going to kindergarten! I'm pretty sure that's why I can't get enough of him lately! He has been so fun to be around and the best little helper. Since the time he was born he has acted old for his age and been so responsible. He's the best big brother and is a huge help to Nikki with the little ones. Nikki keeps telling me she doesn't know what she is going to do when he goes to school. Cael just told her that she better get use to him not being around. He still gets nervous easily, but he's starting to be more secure and confident. He loves to work and sometimes has freakish strength. Casey was hauling rock salt into the basement and was shocked to turn around and see Cael bringing one of the 50 lb bags down. He doesn't weigh much over 50 lbs himself... he's like a little ant. Stuff like this happens all the time at the farm and my dad is constantly amazed at what he can do for his age. It's not just his strength he also has an amazing memory and retains everything. I love asking what he did at the farm or at Nikki's so I can hear his stories and reasons for doing something, it's just like talking to an old man about his day. I'm loving that he's not too big to cuddle with me on the couch or give me a kiss. He loves singing and I catch him sing along with the radio as we're driving. I was singing Taylor Swift's song "you belong with me" and Cael just started singing it with me word for word. He also loves singing time at primary even though he tells me he doesn't. The pianist told me that she could hear him singing so loud that she had to look around the piano to see who it was. He brought home a super singer award on Sunday and said their was only 8 of them that got one. I don't know if that's true, but it sounded good to me! He also had to give a talk in primary on the holy ghost and I was nervous on how he would do. Me and Casey went into watch so I could help him. When It came time for one of the little girls to do the article of faith she froze and refused to do it. The sister conducting then asked if someone else from their class would do it. Brother Barnett looked at the class and asked for a volunteer. Cael then agreed to do it, I was shocked! He looked so handsome standing up there trying to say it word for word as best as he could. I told him after how proud I was of him for volunteering and he said "well my teacher asked who was tougher me or Cooper, so I went up." I should have known. He also did an awesome job on his talk too I wish I could have recorded it.

Loves legoes

still loves to watch Phineas & Ferb

Loves to ride his bike with the neighbors

Loves to go with the guys

Also loves to swim and tans easily

He is extemely hard on clothes and ruined a pair of sketchers in 1 month.

I'm just crazy about these kids and I can't imagine life without them!

4TH of July...

We usually celebrate the fourth with going to the park and then having everyone over for a BBQ before watching the city fireworks. This year was a little different because my sister-in-law Kalee was dancing at the stadium of fire with the drill team and my in-laws were going to go watch. Nikki & Wyatt had also decided to head to Mesquite after we took the kids to the park and my Mom & Dad wanted to pull their trailer up the canyon for the weekend. With everyone being so busy the night of the celebration we decided to move our party to the night before. Then at the last minute we decided to pull our trailer up the canyon with my parents and have our BBQ up there. We had Beef Stroganoff, mashed potatoes, salads, rolls, sugar cookies & brownies for dessert. The weather was perfect and the kids had fun riding their bikes and looking for snakes. Yes, Snakes... They were playing down in some grass by the trailer and thought they heard one. They all came running back quick, but were soon back down there again looking for it. Halle said it sounded like "click click". We started a fire and roasted marshmallows while everyone visited. It was really fun and I think we may have started a new tradition!

Gavyn & Halle stayed the night with my Mom & Dad so Cael insisted on sleeping in their trailer. We got up and had breakfast before heading down to get the kids ready for the park. Nikki & Wyatt met us at our house and we made it to the celebration around 10:30. The weather was warm with a cool breeze which made it very comfortable. Jakoye was especially grateful since she's 8 months pregnant. We started off with the fish pond. Cael got a cup with a monkey on it and was a little disappointed. Kensie didn't want anything to do with it, but liked the stamps she won. She then refused to go on any of the rides so she stayed with grandma most of the time.

The Patty Wagon

This will probably be the last picture of Cael on the swan ride since he called it a "BABY RIDE" after getting off.

After the park we headed back up the canyon until it was time for the fireworks. We came down and lit our fireworks before heading to Chris and Jakoye's to watch the city's.

Cael & Cooper