Mammoth Cave

The last day we were in Orderville we took a trip to Mammoth Cave on Cedar Mountain.  Grandma and Grandpa packed up the four-wheelers behind the truck and we packed up the lunches and went on a fun outing.  Kasen specifically packed his flash light for this trip, and had been excited about it since I told him about it. 

 Here are are in the middle of one of the smaller caves, we had to crawl on our bellies, well I definately did, the kids just had to crawl over the rocks and duck.  Kasen was a bit nervous at first but then he loved it after we started going.

 Here are the kids, Kasen, Kimber, Colt, Ethan, Ruger....I think that's all in this picture.  So much fun!

 Here is sweet Joslyn ducking to be able to make it through.  She loved the caves.  We went into the really big cave and she never wanted to stop.  I took the rest of the kids back while DeAnna and her went a little way further, until Joslyn stepped right into a big mud puddle.  Silly girl...she loved it!

 This is Kasen, mid being a bear in the cave.  He loved growling pretending he was a big bear.  Such fun!

 Kasen and Colt playing near the bigges cave.  They were pretending to be stuck in jail and I was the guarder, I didn't let them out so easy just cause they are adorable though, I made it tough for them!

 Here is the group.  Such cute kids!

Thanks to Deanna and the family for making it such fun trip.  After going through the caves, we loaded up and drove a little way to have a picnic and get the four-wheelers off to take a fun trip. 

Cousins

Here is Daisha Dana and Alana Ruth.  Aren't they adorable?  We had such a fun time in Orderville with our cousins.  It was a special treat to have Bev and her kids there.  Alana is about 2 1/2 months older than Daisha, and they are so cute together already.  When it's just them two playing on the floor they are content to play for a long time, until the other cousins start coming in, it's too chaotic for them to handle and start searching for Mom.  Here they are sporting their first pony tails.  Daisha's hair is barely long and thick enough to put in a pony but we do it!! 

Sweet little girls.  Hopefully they will be great friends their whole lives being good examples to each other!  Love you girlies!

Birthday and Half

I had a wonderful birthday this past week.  Tate took me out to dinner and we drove around looking at houses that are for sell that we will probably NEVER buy, but it was fun anyway.  It isjust so NICE, so nice, to be able to go on a date with my husband, just us two, without the kids and being with him.  I like him so much.  He is just a good guy :)  On my actual birthday, Thursday, I got us all ready (me and the kids) and drove to Salt Lake to have Britny's baby shower.  It was so much fun. Bev came with Alana and my mom, some great friends and cousins were there to help celebrate Kye James into the family.  It's so much fun being with Brit.  I am excited for her and DJ and their new adventure.

   DeAnna, Bev and I ran in the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon.  It was AWESOME.  I struggled with either running with Bev or just going and trying to do my best.  She had me freaked out that she was barely going to make it, and so I was actually worried about her.  (Which she rocked it and finished in 2:05, I shouldn't have been worried at all)  I wasn't too worried about DeAnna, she had been training and would definately make it, just at her pace:)  So I took off trying to do my best.  I was aiming for 1:50, but instead I made it in 1:54 which averaged out to be 8:46 per mile.  I totally was doing great til mile 9 and that mile was 9:50 and totally threw off my groove, but I hit a big wall, I tried to power through and got my minutes down but I definately needed to train for that downhill that killed my quads:)  I thought that wasn't too bad considering my last half was I think 2:04 or something like that.   I still want to get down to 1:50 but so far that is definately my PR:)  Mom and Dad came and cheered us on EARLY in the morning.  There was Dad right passed teh finish line waiting to take our pictures, which he totally missed all of us pretty much, but it was cute, and Mom waving on the other side yelling out our names with her huge smile and big wave:)  I finished, walked back and caught bev and ran in with her, then we walked back and tried to run with DeAnna, but by then I was too sore and my legs couldn't run as fast as she was going so we walked in behind her:)  We went to breakfast with Mom and Dad after at the place where Mom use to work ages ago.  It was so much fun.  I hope it becomes a YEARLY thing:)  WE will see who is having babies and who isn't:) 

Mud FIGHT

 Tate and Kasen had a mud fight the other night.  They fill up the hole I dug for Kasen in the garden and get dirty:)  It's so fun to watch.

 Kasen is showing us here that he has mud on his nose, he wouldn't put his face normal so  Iam not sure what particular spot he is trying to show me!

He now loves to "shower" instead of bath.  He just had to take a shower today supposidly sweating so much after playing and running around in the living room for 2 minutes.  Fine with me, he washes himself and takes a nice shower to get clean, no more fighting him to get in the tub.  My little guy is growing up :)

9 Months

Daisha turned 9 months on the 6th.  She is such a fun little lady with a cute personality. --She loves my eyelashes
--She is crawling all over the place
--She has her 3rd tooth, all are on the bottom
--Her eyes have finally turned brown :)
--She has the cutest little dimples in her elbows
--She loves to play with my teeth
--She is learning from her Dad to like the Elk, he asks "where is the elk?" she scans the room til she finds it, and starts to clap, and talk to it.  I really do think that she likes it :)
--She pulls herself up onto things
--Her brother carries her everywhere and makes sure she isn't getting into stuff, which bugs her 99% of the time!
--She loves to eat everything...I mean everything.  Dirt, rocks, grass, tamales, enchiladas, potatoes, eggs, you name it, she likes it.  As long as it is something that I am eating then she wants it, if I offer her baby food while I am eating my dinner she turns away and won't eat it.  I offer her something that I am eating and she will gobble it all up.  I had a steak the other night and she loved that as well!!  Mama's little girl ;)
--She is a good sleeper.  Majority of the nights during the weeks she sleeps the whole night through.
--Still LOVES her thumb.  If i dared take a picture of her during the night, you would see her sleeping soundly with her thumb in her mouth, her right thumb!!
--And she still loves her Mom!  She gets so excited when other people are holding her and I walk into the room, she starts to wiggle and try to get me.  I love it. 
      I have been pretty lucky as far as my children go (so far).  They both have wonderful dispositions and personalities.  Daisha is so........So GOOD.  She hardly ever cries, she has transitioned amazingly well to the bottle only feedings and hasn't skipped a beat.  She adjusts so well to where ever we are traveling to, she is a good traveler for the most part, as long as she can find her thumb!  I am one lucky mama!

4th of July

We had such a fun 4th of July this year.  Well, weekend anyway.  We started out by driving to Tate's parents house late Thursday night after he got home from work.  WE made it around 12.  Woke up the next morning and let Kasen and Daisha just play play play with Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen.  I love them so much.  They are the greatest grandparents ever.  Kasen moved sprinklers and helped shoe Tate's horse.  He also got to go for a quick ride up the field with his Dad and Grandpa.  Awesome I know.  Daisha and I hung around and watched the going on's of the boys and visited with Grandma Brenda.  Shanna and family came down along with his Brother who lives close and their kids, so it was beginning to be a fun place with all the cousins to play with.  Daisha had plenty of people to keep her entertained while so did Kasen.  Saturday the in-laws (Shanna, Jentri) Ran a half marathon and Brenda, Kory and Hannah did the 5k.  I was the official babysitter.  It was good to see Brenda out there doing a 5k, she finished and was pretty tickled about it I think.  I was so proud ;)  That day we got to just hang out and talk and eat and play outside.  Tate and his Dad and brother went up on the mountain to move cows and build fence and do whatever those boys do with their horses and such.  Tate was pretty excited.  He hadn't ridden his horse in ages and hadn't been to his parents house in over 6 months.  Crazy:)  I was glad that he was able to be on the mountain all day long and enjoy that time with his family.  That night we had a fun bbq and set off fireworks.  Kory, Tate's brother in law, put on quite an awesome fireworks show.  He had all the barely legal ones he could have and it was pretty awesome....and we topped it off with Aunt Ellen's carmel popcorn.  What a night!  Sunday was a pretty low key day, after church we just hung around the house and talked and played with kids.  What really is better than that?  I am not sure.  I am so glad that when I go to visit we don't always have to  be going and doing something, that we can all just spend good ol' country quality time together:)  More fireworks that night along with a nice big family dinner.  Monday I finally woke my butt out of bed and went running, geesh you would think that I could at least go if the others are doing 1/2 marathons but no, I decided to take it easy:)  I love running out at Tate's parents house.  I know quite a few different ways to go and their exact mileage from running there so many times before.  Early in the morning, the fields and the sprinklers, I just love that stuff!  Plus I LOVE the fact that I can pretty much run in the middle of the road and I won't see a car the whole time I am out there!  We went and picked up Kasen from Case's house.  He had a sleep over at Russell and Bev's Sunday night.  How could I forget about that one.  They slept outside on the trampoline with Aunt Bev and Kasen had a blast.  He was such a trooper.  He has been excited about that sleepover for weeks.  He even called Russel and asked him if it was okay that he slept on his trampoline:)  He had such a fun time with Case and continues to tell me the funny things that Case said or did.  He told Tate and I that case was a funny kid:)  They are all pretty funny kids.  So we picked up the kids from the sleepover and went and visited Jentri while Shanna did some clothes shopping out of her closet. I love clothes shopping out of my sisters closet, nothing better:)  Came home, packed and headed back to Idaho.  Got home and I missed my garden I was having a litle bit of anxiety about not tending to it for 3 1/2 days.  so we headed straight out and started weeding.  There is just something about weeding that is theraputic.  I would 10 times rather go outside and garden than clean my room.  Hence the fact that my room has been a disaster area for weeks now!! Anyway, we had a fun 4th of July.  Celebrated the best way, With FAMILY.  Nothing better!

Nothing better than these types of pictures.  Cherish!

 Grandpa's little Cowgirl.  She really does like the horses!!

 WATER FIGHT.  Kasen and Case played in the water almost All day friday, well all weekend actually.  Pretty sure I changed Kasen's clothes 3 times during this little 2 hour stretch.  It was fun. 

 This little guy is Case.  He is so funny.  He has one of the sweetest personalities that I know.  He is 2 months older than KAsen and I am so glad they have each other.  It's going to be fun/interesting watching them grow up!

 This horse upbove us is one that Tate brought back when he bought the others from my Uncle Dellas.  I think it's Jeds. But Kasen is dead set that it is his black horse and he named it Shooby Shabby.  fitting I think.

We went to Rock Creek while visiting and went to see the Dam spilling over.  It was pretty cool seeing all the water that was coming over the walls, and feeling the wind and the mist as we got closer to the botttom.  Kasen and cousins had a blast throwing rocks in the river.  He could do that for hours I think. 

Me, Shanna, Jenttri...missing a few beautiful sister in laws.  Sure do love these girls!

Ah, there's my girl.  She LOVES peek a boo. 

Hi pretty girl!

Kasen loving the sparklers.  I should have bought more of these beauties, they were extra long for extra sparkler fun:)

Blurry picture, but don't want to take it off...You know how long it takes to upload these suckers!!

You know your a red-neck when you use a blow torch thingy to light the grandkids sparklers:)  Seriously, he is the best father in law ever!

More of the FLAME!

Here we are, Kasen and Kenzi (in the background) thouroughly enjoying the fireworks.  Gotta capture at  least one family photo over the weekend.  Even though Daisha was not with us at the moment she was in our hearts:)  She is such an angel girl, she slept right through the majority of the loud crazy fireworks, even with her bedroom window right next to the activities.  Ya, I know I am one lucky mama!

Happy 4th.  Hope yours was filled with family, fun and love....just like ours!!