Drake!

Ok before for I start I have to acknowledge Ragans face.  I cant stop laughing.  She did not want to have her picture taken.

Ok now to the point.

The day after pioneer day mom got to have Drake over for the day.  She likes to have as many of her grandkids over when he comes so they can all play together, and Tucker love to paly with all of his cousins. Drake and him are the closest in age of all the boys.  We were the only ones able to make it this go, but they steel had fun.  They played with some of Sean's old toys.  Good thing mom keep them they have been well played with between Sean and all the grand boys.  

After that they played in the water while I panted moms toes.  We had some errands in town so mom bought them chicken nuggets and Slurpee's. By then it was time to go so we said our good bye's and headed home. We love it when Drake visits form St. George we wish it was more often but understand that life pulls us all in different directions.   

Pioneer Day 2014!

All of us but aunt Lori (she was taking the picture) on the 40 Acres. 

Grandma stayed in the car. She said while we were just 1/2 a mile or less away she sat and watched a coyote on a hill just  across from the van she was sitting in.  Tucker is deathly afraid of coyote's he will come into randan and my room during the night saying he had a horrible dream that a coyote got him.   

Specks Cabin

Jones Hole Fish Hatchery

This was a Awesome 24th of July aka: Pioneer Day.  Uncle Rod and his family came out they went to the parade I didn't get any pictures because Randan, Tucker, Raegan, and I were pulling our wards float.  It rained while we were finishing the float that's  why my hair looks so good in these pictures.  After the parade we meet at mom's  house and packed a cooler or two and headed up to grandmas 40 acres.  Uncle Rod wanted to go up there so we made a day of it. After we pulled cactus pokers out of Tuckers leg and walked around the 40 acres for a while we went to Specks Cabin. Then to Jones Hole Fish Hatchery.  I don't know if you can tell but there is a lot of fish in that water.  They grow the fish and then supply the try state area with all the fish.   when we were all finished with our potty breaks we headed back to moms and had a BBQ.  It was lots of fun to spend all that time with family,  get to see some of the land grandmas owns, and hear all the story's that go with it.

Sleeping out!

Last night I asked Randan to come out back and help me put the tomato frames around the tomato plants.  They are getting to big for the frame, I needed his help to hold the plant so we wouldn't brake it.  After that we went up front so I could water my flowers they were looking sad.  While I was doing this Randan got the tent out and started to set it up (it sad but we got this tent for our wedding have had yet to set it up) I finished what I was doing and then helped him.  I got Raegan to bed ( she had been throwing up the night before so I thought she would be better inside.)  got my stuff together and then helped Tucker with his.  This little boys  was on cloud nine all he could say was: "Are we really going to get to sleep outside?"  I had to say YES! I think 20 to 30 times.

This reminded me of when I was young and my siblings and I, and some times friends would sleep ether in a tent or out on our tramp every summer.  It was so fun.  I really hope this will be a memory Tucker has for his life.  

Lagoon 2014

The day after we went to the zoo for my nephew's birthday we went to lagoon.  I was excited but nervous I knew that we were going to fight the heat again so the night before I made Randan take me to Wal-Mart and get some fans and a spray bottle  we also got a cooler and some water and Gatorade.  The kids had lots of fun. There were only a couple of rides that Raegan and I or Randan could have gone on together and she cried on all of them but one the boats. I think it will be more fun the older the kids get.  I hade Tucker go in a new one with me named  "The Bat." That has to be my new favorite I use to love the "Samari." Cant do it since I have had kids I almost lost my cookies.  Randan said I walked off like I had been on a drinking binge. The girl in font of me almost fell coming down of the ramp.  You go upside down and spin around all on a tilt that spins.  Nasty.  I think I am more suited for kiddie rides.  Well see we are going back next Monday to take the Harrison kids maybe I was having a off day.   

Zoo 2014!

My nephew's birthday is mid July.  The Monday after his birthday we went to Salt Lake to go to the Zoo and Lagoon (which you will hear about next post) .  Monday was zoo day.  It was so hot I think 102 degrees.  They had these misters that we would walk under if it wasn't for them I would be dead. If you look closely in the pictures you can see poor Raegan, her beat read cheeks, and sweating. We went on a train ride that was only 2 minutes long I think we paid a dollar a minute per person.  The best part was when we got to go into a air conditioned gift shop and see my father-in-law,  brother-in-law, and husband try in these hats. The pictures don't do them justice they were huge. So funny.  If you cant tell the zoo isn't my favorite. I did enjoy the elephants they had to be my favorite. We saw some monkeys eating pasta  and that was cool it just stunk, and bad.   

First Peas

This is Randan and my very first crop of peas.  Just wanted to document it. We tried some 2 years ago. They died.  

Love Ya!

I found this chalk board at D I brought it home and cleaned it up I put it in the office where the kids could use it while I was in the office. It looks a little grimy in this picture.  Raegan got a hold of it before I could get the picture, but I wanted to get this down.

Randan will every once in a while leave sweet notes some more poetic then others but appreciated all the same.  This is his second time with the kids chalk board, so I had to make sure and get it.  He had come home to eat dinner before going back  up to finish his work witch he doesn't do very often most of the time he gets all the work done that he can and then comes home and stays home, and is mostly later in the evening.

While I was cleaning up dinner he can and lied down on the brown couch (witch as soon as I can I am getting rid of it, I have no room  for it)  this chalk board is just across from the couch hence the note.

P.S. I guess I should tell you that he took Tucker with him that is why just "Girl's" 

 

Pinterest and The Gift!

Before...

and after.

 

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My nephew's birthday is on Sunday and I thought it would be fun to make his gift this year.  Who knows this may become a fad with our gift giving. I have been pinning things on pinterest that I have wanted to give  as gifts for ether my kids or there cousins. I went through all that I have pinned picked what I thought he might like and got to work.

I made the Bow and Arrow set, the Marshmallow shooter, the notebook( I glued eye's and a mouth),  the Giant Jenga set with matching box, and you cant see it. but a chip bag clip, I put his name on it with foam letters that he can use to hold playing cards.  I panted most of it red because tucker told me that is his favorite color.  The rest I bought at the store. there is a game called no speed limit its like a domino game and a shirt that has chalk board paint in the shape of a bear. tucker wanted to get him this drink that we get when we go to the dollar store, and some candy there is also a coloring book and crayons. If I added right this gift only cost around 18 to 20 dollars I am thrilled to have put it together for that. I also enjoyed the process of creating the toys.   

F H E @ Red Canyon!

I am not sure how there are people that have these nice pictures of there children standing just right and everyone is looking at the camera.  As you can plainly tell from the five pictures above (with the exception of one) that is NOT how we roll.  We might be that family that they post the pictures on the internet and make fun of, but I guess I don't care, because I love them all the same. They are adorable . My children will not sit steel.  I assume that they will grow out of it I mean I am talking about a five and one year old.

Ok I will get to the point. I think I might have mention before that the Michael Haslem family get together every other week to have a F H E. This time Tucker was sick both Monday and Tuesday, so it got bumped to Wednesday. Mom came up with the idea that she wanted to go for a ride on the mountain and got to ether Red Canyon or Flaming Gorge Restaurant.  We decided to go to Red Canyon. They have a little pond that the kids can catch and release,  right by the pond is log swing. I could get use to something like that.

It is very slow service there and so mom took the kids out for a walk while we were waiting.

They watched all the birds and looked for fish. Raegan got close to getting stung by a bee.  Very adventurous this bunch.  

After we ate we walked down to where they have paddle boats, regular boats and theses boards you can stand on and paddle (sorry not up on the water sports).  I thought it would be fun to rent a paddle boat and go out, (not bad for and hour $10.00) but once I got down there I realized there was water in the base, which isn't bad, I was just very cold, and it was getting late. Tucker wanted to go out and tried to get a vest to go.  Mom told him we will have to come back and go. The hole time we were there I keep thinking about that time we had a Willis and Carol Southam reunion here. I remember being a little nervous to see all my cousin that I don't get  to see all the time, but also very excited.

Finally were drove out to the Red Canyon and walked around the trail (my camera ran out of battery so there are no pictures).  This is where Randan proposed to me, and I don't think I had been there sense that event.  Talk about the flood of memories. It was a very fun evening and would mind doing more like them.

P.S. Christine and her kids weren't able to be with us, because of base ball, and it was their night to go back with Justin.

 

New addition!

These are my two new bushes I added to are yard.  They are both variation of a dogwood bush. My visiting teaching  partner has a gorgeous yard. I picked her up to get our visiting done last month and notice her bushes. I asked her about them and she told me they were dogwoods, and they can handle drought when she told me that I knew they were perfect for me. I just hope they grow .

For mothers day my Mother and Father-in-law gave me a apple tree. We bought 3 more to fertilize one another. Randan has been planting them when he has had the time and so I decided to help and finish planting the last two. We know form previous before that we have deer that like apple trees so we were going to get them plated and chicken wire around as soon as we could. Yesterday when I went out to water I noticed that the deer has eaten three of the four. Randan was mad. He went up to the ranch and got the chores done, came home and ate dinner, and waited for it cool off (102 degrees  July 6th) then we went and put our chicken wire up. We hope that they make it.  I f I remember I will keep you updated.

Openshaw Reunion 2014!

The kids keeping themselves entertained. I don't get it because I think it was like 98 degrees you could see the sweat on Houston's little face. Not sure why you would want to get berried in this heat. To top it off there was a park like 50 feet away.   

Uncle Dale he is the oldest.

Grandma Jan Haslem. She is the baby.

 

Aunt Fay. The middle child and the host.

Every reunion we get to guess how many are in the jar. Its tradition, and wouldn't be a reunion with out it.  Both Tucker won a jar. Mom might have helped a little. They were so excited. So was I.

We had the Openshaw Reunion this year on the 5th of July.  It was so hot even though we were under the pavilion I wasn't do dye from the heat.  I am grateful that we had the shad, because it would have been a hole lot worse. It was fun to see all these people I haven't  seen them for a while. I don't know if its because I am bigger or what, but it seemed smaller then I remember.  I know we don't do them every year.  I have been trying to remember when the last one I went to was, and I can't remember.  they rotate between the three sibling.  Uncle Dale,  Aunt Fay, and Grandma. From now on if we have them it is the next generations turn. The torch was turned over this reunion, so it well be interesting  to see if we have any more.

I have to go off track. While we were at the reunion Tucker came up to us and said look at the smoke.  There was a fire that started just up from Stinaker Reservoir.  It has cleared  around 30 or 300 acres (sorry I don't have that pinned down) and, took out some cabins. They had to evacuate the residents that live right up to the mountain and some that live in the mountain. We were at a BBQ for Randan's Grandpa's birthday and there was ash falling like snow. It's not out but contained.  One of the Lady's that is in the Primary with me is a certified EMT and fire fighter. I talk with her on Sunday, and she said she was on the front line, and there was a moment when she got a little scared. They always have an exit plan, and the flames we about 30 feet where they were trying to keep a structure safe  the only way out was thru some flames.  I am so grateful there a people willing to fight fires.  I don't think I could do it. They are not sure what started it there was one rumor that lightning struck a propane tank by a cabin and blew. we have had some lightning storms up that way, so it could be possible.