Did someone say Rodeo??

While I was in Cheyenne, I went to watch Travis pick up at the college rodeo team practice. It was fun to try to get pictures of the cowboys and animals. They have some pretty good riders on their team!

It was a little crazy to watch Travis chasing down the bucking horses and getting the cowboys off their backs and then reaching over and down to release the flank strap off the bronc. I know my son can do anything on a horse, but this stuff is done on a semi-broke horse, while next to a horse that is bucking wildly and trying to get someone off their back, and all done at about 35 miles an hour! I'm pretty sure I got a few more gray hairs! 

When Travis was little, he always said he wanted to be a pick-up man at a rodeo when he grew up. It's nice to see he has realized his childhood dream! :-) 

Travis is such an awesome son and we couldn't be more proud of him! He truly cares about the people he works with and wants to help them all learn to love and care for animals as much as he does.

Having watched my older brother ride bulls all through school, I'm glad MY son did not choose this crazy sport! 

The bullfighters are nuttier than the cowboys!! Those guys really have to get up close and personal in their job!

Baylee is definitely her daddy's girl! This girl would live on the back of a horse if she could! She loves nothing more than to ride, ride and ride some more! Taylor is fast on her heels though! She has really learned to love to ride too! Kolby likes to ride horses too, but his first love is driving the machinery! That boy will drive anything he can start!

Until next time.....

My Recent Journey ... Wyoming Portion...

After making sure Amber was on the mend, I loaded up my truck again and headed for Wyoming....

I made a stop in Riverton and saw Blaine's parents. They were glad to have a visitor and we had a good chat. It's hard to see them not in their own house, getting old, etc. but it was still a nice visit and I'm glad I took the time to drive over and spend the afternoon with them.

After stopping in Riverton I headed on down the road. I stopped and visited with my youngest brother for awhile and then went on to my mom's for the night. We had a good visit and I helped her get her facebook figured out. She obviously didn't pay enough attention to my lesson because she hasn't been on it since I was there! I'm going to have to go back soon and show her one more time! :-) I had planned to stay a couple of days with her, but there was news of a big snow storm coming to Cheyenne and that's where I was headed!! I woke up the next day to snow on my truck and decided to pack my bags and hit the road while it was still passable!

I drove through the snow and managed to stay just ahead of the storm most of the way. I was glad to get to Travis' house and knew once I was there, it could snow as much as it wanted and I could just hibernate in his house and sit in front of the wood stove!



They weren't REALLY surprised to see me....

This handsome boy turned NINE while I was there! Where does the time go??

What a sweet girl our Baylee is! She loved a certain dress I brought her from the quarter sale and wore it right away! She is so cute and fun! She read books to me every day and what a wonderful reader she is turning out to be! She also colored some awesome pictures for me to bring home!

Taylor and I had a great time together! Once we took the older kids to school, she and I would come home and play grocery store, bake goodies, read books, and just hang out. I don't think she ever stopped chatting the whole time I was there!

I love this picture because it reminds me of when our kids were younger and learned to dance in our living room! Travis is following the tradition and teaching his kids to dance and they love it! 

No trip goes without Grandma taking some pictures and this time was no exception. Travis found some cool rock formations in his pasture and we decided to do some family pictures while I was there. I think they turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

What a great dad! His kids love to follow him everywhere he goes!

No picture would be complete without horses in it when you are talking about Travis!

Taylor found a caterpillar and they were all checking it out. The kids brought it home and put it in the cubby in the couch so it didn't get lost! Thankfully, dad moved it after they went to bed!

We had a great time together and it's always fun to hang out with Travis and the kids. I did a lot of cooking while I was there and made dinner most every night. If you know Travis, you know one of his faves is fried potatoes so several meals had fried potatoes. One evening, Kolby asked his dad if he got fried potatoes every night when he was little. Travis told him not EVERY night, but a lot. Kolby just sighed and said.... "Lucky".... haha!

When it was time for me to head back for Arizona, I was telling Kolby how much I was going to miss him and how lonely I was going to be once I got home. He said, "Well, you'll have Papa there." I told him that Papa wasn't as much fun as he is and Kolby said, "Well, just dress him up as a kid and he'll be fun. You can even get him one of those hats with a propeller on top." I have no idea where he came up with that, but I seriously doubt I could get my hubby to wear a propeller cap!

Until next time.... keep your face to the sun and bloom where you're planted! .....

My Recent Journey.... Idaho portion

So, here I am again.... Are you shocked that I am actually getting these posts completed? I am! :-)
In late February, I ventured to Idaho to help Amber while she had some surgery done. I decided that if I was going to make a trip that long, that I would make it worth my while and do a big loop and see everyone I could! So I started out driving.... I drove..... and drove...... and drove some more..... I knew I was getting close because there was more and more snow to go through!

Thankfully the roads weren't too bad!

Since I was driving I stocked up on some "Gold Tops" for family and friends! You can't buy this liquid gold in Arizona, so when I went through Utah, I picked up a few (or 20) cases! What I DIDN'T think of was that because of the freezing temperatures, all this pop would have to be unloaded from my truck everytime I stopped for the night! We stashed them in the house while I was at the Stuckis and again at Travis' but those overnight stops during travel were a pain!

Amber had her surgery. All went well and she feels a ton better! This was when she had gotten her "happy drugs" and was waiting for them to come get her. Don't tell her I put this on here! ;-)

I loved getting to spend time with this little cutie while Weezie was sleeping off the effects of surgery. She was such an easy patient! All she did was sleep most of the time! Which gave me loads of time for holding Kelton!!

Abbie is always such a poser! She just started her spring soccer course and had her first game on Saturday. She scored 4 goals and the "Green Dragons" won the game! Off to a great start! 

Kallie is such a beautiful girl! She was a great help taking care of Aunt Weezie. We played several games and had a lot of fun together! One of the funniest things that happened was at dinner one day. If you know me, you know I don't eat anything green and I detest vegetables! So Kallie is having some yogurt and asks me if I want some. I politely refuse and she gives me this little lecture about trying new things.... after trying every excuse, I finally had to give in and "try" her KeyLime yogurt (yes, it was green!). I took a small bite and chased it with a huge drink of milk! Afterward, Kallie said, "See Grandma, that wasn't so bad" I said, "no, it was okay"... then, the little negotiator says... "Tomorrow, we'll try broccoli." WHAT?!?!?!?! I had to tell her "baby steps.... Kallie.... baby steps.... Grandma can't rush into these new things." HAHA!

I love this picture of these silly kids!

Mama's Boy

Once a month the second hand childrens store has a quarter sale. Everything for only 25 cents a piece! They hold it in a big empty store/warehouse and just dump the clothes on tables. There are wayyyy too many people grabbing and pushing and shoving for me! I went with Tama once and didn't even make it through one table and had to leave! This time, I made it through THREE tables and then Kallie and I went to the back of the room and sat and watched. I don't do well in crowds of people crowding around me and neither does Kallie, so we sat and cuddled while all the crazy people got the good deals.

I did manage to grab this basketball toy for Kelton from the quarter sale! He loves it!

Abbie's school participated in "Jump Rope for Heart" and Abbie jumped in honor of Kallie. Those of you who know about our Kallie know that she was born with a "sick heart" (that's what Abbie says) and Abbie wanted to jump rope for kids like Kallie who have sick hearts. She raised close to $100 and we are very proud of her and what a wonderful big sister she is to Kallie and Kelton! Tama and I took the kids to the school to watch Abbie jump and Kallie even got some jump roping in!

Here's Abbie doing her thing! Way to go, Peaches!!

Oh, and just to make up for the previous picture of Amber.... Here she is looking beautiful!!

After a week in Idaho, my journey continued on to Wyoming..... 

Our Prince turns NINE!!

In keeping up with the updates, I have two more grand birthdays to write about! Taylor turned 5 in February. March brought Kolby's NINTH birthday! and Kallie turned 5 in April!! But this one is all about a boy!!

I became a grandma on March 11, 2002. It was the most amazing feeling in the world! One day you are a mother and you think that you can't love anyone as much as you love your children.... but then.... you get a GRANDCHILD!!

I was lucky enough to be in Cheyenne to celebrate Kolby's birthday with him!

He requested an ice cream cake from DQ and Grandma does not disappoint! Although I DID have to remind his dad that ice cream will melt quickly when you try to light the candles with a flame thrower!!

Making a wish!!

More weapons....

and the Hot Wheels set he wanted! Can you say excited!

Kolby is such a great boy!! He looks just like his dad did when he was younger and I often find myself calling him "Travis". He tells me it's okay because, "that's my middle name so you still got it right, Grandma" HAHA!

Kolby is all boy! He loves to drive anything he can make go! He drives the skid steer, tractor, bobcat, blazer, go-cart, lawnmower, etc. If it has wheels, he will drive it! It is such fun to go to the college and ride around with him in the Kabota! We usually have several adults riding as passengers and a 9 year old driving us around like our tourguide! 

Kolby loves to do fun stuff with his dad! They have the same warped sense of humor! He is his dad's boy that's for sure! He loves his sisters and takes great care of them. He is an awesome big brother to them! Right now he carries a lot of weight on his small shoulders and it saddens me, but we will get through these trials and life will return to normal. It will be a new normal, but it will be a stable and secure normal for them!

We love what a great boy we have and are so glad he chose our family to join!! We love you Kolby Travis!! 

Tator Tot turns FIVE!!

Okay, okay..... so once again I am a major blog slacker!! But.... I have a good excuse..... just let me think of it! :-)

I spent THREE HOURS the other day uploading pictures and have SEVEN blog posts ready to go!! Just have to write to go with the pictures!!

Anywho.... I left off with Christmas. It was wonderful! Afterwards, everyone returned to their abodes and life went on. February 3rd brought our beautiful granddaughter, Taylor's FIFTH birthday!! So hard to believe she is FIVE already!!

What an adorable baby she was!

And what a HAM she has become!

Taylor loves pre-school and has learned so much and grown so much there! I love how she writes her name now and how she tries to read to me! She is so funny! She got a new teacher at pre-school and told her dad, "that's miss so and so.... she's nice, but she's fat" LOL!! Taylor calls it like she sees it!!

I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she told me she wanted a grocery cart! HAHA!! What a nut! But Grandma aims to please so she got a grocery cart, a small basket filled with play food, a huge lot of play food for the grocery games and a cash register!! She is all set now to do all her shopping! We had a great time playing grocery store while I was there!

Taylor got glasses this year as well! She is adorable in them!! She told me "Now we are the same, Grandma. We both wear glasses, but you are still fatter than me." HAHA! I love the honesty of little kids! Her glasses are pink and she is so good about wearing them. She puts them on first thing in the morning and takes them off at bedtime. What a good girl!

I got to spend a lot of time with just Taylor on my recent visit while the other two were at school all day. We had a great time! We went shopping, baked goodies, cleaned house, played games, went to the movie, and had many many long talks!! She sure likes to chatter!!

Tay is an outside girl! She loves to be outside in the sunshine! Dirt doesn't bother her in the least! I took some family pictures of Travis and the kids while I was there and these of Taylor turned out very well! 

Have you ever seen a more beautiful brown-haired girl?

I just had to throw in a baby picture of Taylor. She has always been the happiest kid around! Nothing ever gets her down!! She loves her daddy and likes to ride horses with him whenever she can! She is excited about starting kindergarten in the Fall and going to school with Kolby and Baylee. I'm not excited about it though because it means she is growing up......

We love you, Taylor Maddison!!!

Finally Christmas is up!

I honestly don't know why I am such a blog slacker! It's not like I don't have time to do it right now.... But....
I guess I just don't have the inclination to do it right now and stay on top of it! I figure I am so far behind that it overwhelms me to try to play catch up! So.... I'll just post pictures of our Christmas festivities when everyone was home and go from there!

 It was great to have everyone together again! We did a lot of things:

We baked....

We hung out.....

We played a lot of Wii....

We helped in the kitchen....

Some of us had our first ride on the carousel....(and loved it!)

We had a great time at Amazing Jakes!

We somehow ended up with an extra grandkid! ...
You know what they say.... "there's one in every woodpile"....

We celebrated Grandma's birthday and rang in the New Year in style!

We opened presents....

and more presents.....

and we slept!!!

We love TOGETHER times!!