happy birthday cowboy

We had a party for Taggart's 5th birthday this last

weekend in Kanab. All of his cousins were there, which

is a rare occasional in itself! Anyways He's really been into

cowboy stuff lately, so we threw him a cowboy party!

Its hard to believe he is starting kindergarten this year,

I wonder if it will be as teary eyed as Zander's first day.

He is growing up right before my eyes, and I don't even

know how it happened so fast! He is such a sweet boy and

we love him soo much!

Presents!!

Water fight!!

Games!!
we had some "cowboy" themed games. first we

did some target shooting with water guns and

styraphome cups.

Then some roping (the bike is our bull) ;)

good thing BJ knows how to use a rope, (Cuz I sure

don't!) to show the kids what to do.

Some duck duck goose, but with a cowboy spin.

Finally a good 'ol walloping time! a bull pinata!

you would think it would be easy to find cowboy

themed birthday stuff, but trust me it's not! I

wanted a cowboy boot pinata, but no such luck.

We kind of had 3 birthdays in one. My brother's

little boy Brandon turned one on the 9th, Tag's b-day

is actually the 15th and my sister's little boy Jake

turnes one on the 16th. This is Brandon playing in

his chocolate cake.

CAKE!!
Here is Taggarts horse cake, I made. My mom

braided all the licorice for me. Thanks mom! It turned

out pretty good I think.

We also got a family pic with everyone

I haven't got it yet so I will post that later!!

Fish Lake

We went camping at Fish Lake a couple weeks ago

with my long time friend Cyndi and her family and

a bunch of other people too. I think we counted 18 kids total

between the 6 couples that were there. there was a

lot of kids running around, but nobody ever got bored!

I had never been to Fish Lake before so it was kind of nice

to go somewhere new. Cyndi and I don't get to see each other

that often, so it's always fun when we get together.

BJ and I were the only one's tenting it, and it rained

a lot the first couple of days. We did have a canopy this time

though so that saved us!

We went fishing at this little lake at the bottom
of the mountain because we heard it
was easy fishing for the kids. It's not very pretty.


Cyndi posted a pic of me, so I had to return the favor!
he he he! So cute! love ya Cyndi lou hoo!


BJ and Calista hanging out eating red vines!!

Tag with Brian and Crystals dog, Daisy.

The guys getting ready for paint balling!!

BJ had never done it before, and I was a little nervous

for him because he is not a very aggressive guy.

He did pretty good though, I just told him not to

worry about being nice because no one else was going

to be nice to him!! They had lots of fun!

On Sunday Cyndi and Doug rented a boat and we

all went fishing out on Fish Lake. This lake is

gorgeous! everthing is so green. We didn't bring

our fishing gear, so they were nice enough to let our

kids take turns fishing with their poles. Zander with

his fish!

Tag with his fish

Time flys when ur having fun

BJ and I celebrate 9 years this month! I can't

believe it has already been 9 years! I feel old! I feel so lucky

to have such a wonderful husband who is also my best

friend. I was barely 18 when we got married! Thinking

back, I can't believe I was so crazy, but at the same time

I wouldn't change anything. Being so young and naive I am

truly blessed that I was smart enough to know he was the

one! I can't wait to see what happens in the next 9 years!

Our anniversary isnt officially until the 24th, but we celebrated

a little early. last weekend was the only weekend we didn't have

something going so we decided to go camping without any kids.

We haven't done that since before we had kids so its

been a while! My parents were nice enough to watch

the little rugrats for the weekend. Thank you soo much

mom and dad!! We decided to go up to Kaibab, we camped

near mile and a half, which is where they do girls camp.

It was the perfect weekend, no rain! Plus we only saw a

few people drive by our camp so it stayed nice and quiet!

We did some four wheeling and sight seeing at the Grand

Canyon. We hadn't been there since Zander was a baby.

My dad delivers bread to the north rim so he told

us that there were some wild buffalo up there right

before you go into the park. So first thing Saturday

we drove up to see the buffalo, but of course they had

moved into the park. We hadn't planned on going

in the park, but we decided to just pay to get in and then

we could do some trails while we were there. I'm

so glad we did. It was so fun!

This is the Cape Royal trail at Angels window.

It was so beautiful there, you could see the colorado

river through that hole in the rock, "Angels Window"

Everyone probably know all this, but I for one had

never been on this trail before so it's new to me.

This is at the end of the trail, a picture really

does no justice to the spectacular views!

Just one of the many deer we saw. I actually got a

picture before our dog chased them off. She sure

likes to chase things!!

Series of Unfortunate Events

This post is a little late, but I finally got a chance

to post our memorial weekend happenings!

I've decided we should never go camping on Cedar

Mountain for memorial weekend! Everytime we

either get rained out or its so windy and cold

you can't do anything. This year we got rained out!

We headed up the mountain friday morning and

it was so nice! I was super excited, our first camping

trip of the year and even though we didn't get to camp

in our favorite spot because all the roads were closed

we still found a great spot and it was beautiful weather!

Some friends were coming up to camp with us, and

my cousin and her boyfriend from California were coming

too! Well we stayed Friday night just fine, but then by

2 or 3 o'clock Saturday it started drizzling and then turned to a

constant rain that turned everything into a muddy

slippery mess! We started packing up camp and by

the time we were done, we were soaking wet and muddy

up to our ankles. Luckily we had a friend that had just

got there to camp, and instead of setting up there

camp stuff they helped us clean up ours! We finally got

out of there and started down the mountain just before

dark. The kids had so much fun on friday and saturday

morning while it was still nice. They found a pet horny

toad, they named Louis. We went for a few 4 wheel rides and

did a little fishing. So at least it wasn't all for nothing!

It turns out our misfortunes weren't over yet. on the

way down the mountain. Our friends that helped

us were in front of us and some rocks had fallen into

the road from the rain. Well he hit one and got a flat tire.

So BJ and Sean were stuck changing a tire in the dark

and freezing rain. Sean didn't have a coat so he was

just in a t-shirt and soaking wet. Luckily they got

the spare on and we made it home without any more

incidents!

This is what it looked like while they were changing

the tire!

This doesn't happen very often! SO NICE!

Since we only stayed one night camping we still had a

couple days of our long weekend left. My cousin

from california wanted to go hiking so we took her

up to red cliffs on Sunday afternoon. I of course forgot

my camera so sorry no pics of that. I have to say though

its much better to go up there in april when there is still

a lot of water run off. its so pretty and not so hot. We still

had fun though. Then on Monday we went out to Sand Hollow

for some fun in the sun! We had a little tailgate bbq and did

some fishing and swimming. Our series of unfortunate events

hadn't ended yet, BJ got a ticket for parking in a no parking

area when they went fishing! We also got another ticket, but

we won't get into that! lets just say we got into the lake just

fine, but in the end we got a ticket for failure to pay!

Zander and Tag with their sand star fish

Calista and her turtle floatie. She likes to carry it
around and sit on it in the shallow water, but she absolutely
will not let me take her out in the water. I don't know
why, but she's such a little stinker!

Calista helping sean set up his umbrella.
(by the way she has a huge crush) ; )

My cousin Tisha and her bf Jared

She got so burnt that day! That's what you get

for thinking you won't get sunburnt just because

your from sunny California!! he! he! he!

a fun filled weekend isn't really a great weekend unless

you have some fun stories to tell when its all said and

done with, so all in all we had a great time!

Hot N' Cold

It's been kind of crazy around here lately with the

weather getting hot and the school year coming to

an end. Taggart finished up his last year of preschool,

so he's on to kindergarten this fall! He has come so

far since he started two years ago! He was struggling

with some speech his first year, so we put him in speech

therapy. He progressed so quickly that even

his speech therapist was amazed! He finished

all the steps in just 5 months. He is such a fast learner

and I am so proud of his accomplishments! Also

even though his last day of school isn't until tomorrow,

Zander graduated from kindergarten last week.

I can't believe it! It seems like just yesterday that I

was dropping him off for his first day! He has come so

far too! he is growing up so fast, its just weird

to think he will be in first grade.

I think its officially summer! It's been so hot lately, the

kids and I have been taking every advantage! Of course

I have also been losing my mind and have forgotten

my camera everytime!! We went hiking up to red cliffs

about a month ago, and with all the snow melt off, there

was a lot more water up there than normal. My friend

Annie and I decided to be a little crazy and went cliff

jumping into that icey water! I don't think I have ever

been in water so cold! It literally took my breath away!

We have also spent a couple of days playing at the river,

and a couple of days just this week swimming at Sand

Hollow Reservoir. The kids have so much fun playing in

the sand and water, I feel so lucky to live so close to these

fun places!

Mothers Day

I have to say that I think I have the best husband in the
whole world! no offense to all those other wives who think
the same thing! ; ) Well BJ let me sleep in on mothers day,
and him and the kids made me breakfast in bed! French toast,
and they were really yummy! BJ is always doing sweet things
like that for me. He really likes to cook, and his favorite meal
to make is breakfast, so I guess I'm really lucky! Plus I didn't
have to clean up the mess either! Zander and Taggart were
super excited to give me their gifts they made. Zander made
me a flower with his handprint for the flower and BJ helped
Taggart make me a card. He drew a picture of me and him
and a tree, so we could pretend to climb it. I love the way
kids think! Zander and Taggart kept saying they loved me
and wanted to give me hugs all day, they said it was because
it was mothers day. later that night when everyone was
getting ready for bed, Zander asked me if I had a good day.
Sometimes I forget how thoughtful he can be! Being a mom
is a tough job, most days! Even though I want to scream at
them or pull my hair out sometimes. But when they say I
love you or give you a big hug, just because it makes it all
worth it! I wouldnt change the way my kids are for anything.
I love my family more than anything and I appreciate all the
wonderful things they do for me! I feel so blessed to have such
great kids and husband!!