Ellie!

Today is Ellie's 3rd birthday. Sometimes I look at her and think has it only been 3 years, then other times I can't believe it has all ready been 3 years. She has by far been my hardest toddler. Before her I never believed in terrible 2's. But Ellie has done more and I have had to deal with more with her than all my kids combined. But that is part of her personality. She is spunky, witty, strong willed, independent, and very curious. She also has a killer laugh! It is so contagious, when she starts you can't help but join in with her. So this day is for you Ellie! Happy Birthday sweetie! We sure do love you! Ellie I do have one question for you...When are you going to use the "Big Girl Potty?"

Ellie making her famous "funny face"!

Ellie and her cousin Dyllin. When these 2 are together watch out!

Remember the infamous nail polish incident. This was not the first and I am sure will not be the last.

This is Ellie's favorite past time. She loves to jump on the trampoline with the hose. She will go out by herself and play for hours. Wouldn't you love to know what was going through her mind while she is playing?

Scout Camp

This past week was our ward's scout camp. Porter was finally old enough to attend. He was so excited to go. They went from Monday June 16 to Friday June 20. Because girls camp was Tuesday to Thursday of the same week and only a couple miles away Ron got to participate in both girls camp with Bryndee and scout camp with Porter. It was great that he could pop in and out of each camp when needed. Too bad we did not get any pictures of girls camp, but Bryndee had a wonderful time. We really have some great leadership in our ward with the young men and young women. The scout camp was so well organized and executed I think Porter completed 5 required merit badges. What a wonderful opportunity for him.This is Porter and his friend Porter Severtson. My Porter is the one in the purple suns hat. These 2 boys are so much alike. They are in the same grade, they have alot of the same interests, and they both are just good kids. They both love scouting. Both boys are on track to have their Eagle before they turn 14. It will be wonderful not having battle him when he is older and other interests are more important to him.

One of the badges was "Wilderness Survival". The boys were required to build a shelter that they could sleep in that would shield them from the elements. The two Porters worked together. I think they did a terrific job. Too bad my Porter would not sleep in it. He is deathly afraid of spiders and the older boys were teasing the younger boys trying to freak them out about bugs and spiders. Porter got too worked up and would not sleep in his structure. He ended up sleeping with his dad in his tent leaving Porter S. to fend for himself. I think the next morning my Porter felt pretty bad leaving Porter S. alone.

I guess where they were camping this road had been closed for the last few years and just recently opened up a couple months ago. I think they need to rethink just how safe this road is. Ron and Porter were traveling and got stuck. Ron tried to turn around and felt the shoulder give way. He had Porter climb over him and slowly get out on his side. Ron put the emergency break on and got out himself. Brett Woods came with his truck and after a long ordeal, he helped pull Ron out. You can't tell by this picture, but it is a very steep drop off. Ron said there were 2 trees down below that he would aim for if he were to go off all the way. He thought it would be better to hit a tree and stop with a crash than to go down and crash at the bottom. What a choice to make. Ron really felt that he and Porter were really watched over. He is still amazed to have gotten out without a scratch on them or the truck he did loose a mud flap though. We are grateful they said their prayers that morning!! All in all Porter said he had a great time, and can't wait till the next camp out!

Taralee

Taralee is growing so fast. My neighbor just had a baby Monday morning and I went to see him yesterday. What a beautiful baby. When I saw him I could not believe the difference 8 months makes in a baby. I realized that it has been a while since I have posted pictures of her. So without further adieu...Taralee in the limelight!

When Bryndee was a baby we would put her "plug" in upside down and she could flip it with her tongue. Taralee just sucks it upside down. Isn't she intelligent?

She is scooting everywhere. Sometimes she gets up on her hands and knees and crawls, but she is much faster at scooting. This week she has learned to pull up to things. Today I was in my room and I hear her crying. This is what I found. She pulled up to my hall table and tried to climb in and got stuck. She was not happy when I didn't rescue her right away and had to grab my camera.Kymber did this to Taralee's hair the other day. I came out of my room to find her like this. Taralee and Kymber were quite pleased. She kept it on for a long time.

Just a cute picture of Taralee. She is always so happy.

This is Taralee today. Torie's school teacher just had a baby and e-mailed Torie a picture. Torie wanted to get a picture of her baby and e-mail it back to Mrs. Rumore.

We Made It Home From The Trek!

Well we made it home from the Trek safe and sound. 4 years ago Ron and I had the opportunity to be be a "Ma and Pa" on our stake's Pioneer Trek. It was the hardest thing I had ever done, but I really enjoyed it. We are still pretty close to 2 of our "kids", when ever we see them they come running up and give us a great big hug. When I heard they were having another Trek this summer I wanted to go up and experience it again but on the other end of it, I wanted to be a "Fly on the wall" so to speak. I decided I could help with the cooking and still be a part of the experience but not have to walk . I made a great choice. I got to get to know some of the kids in our stake and had a terrific time. Ron really didn't have any assignments, just to mingle with the "families" and get to know more people in the stake. Bryndee was assigned to the Brobry "family". I know Michelle Broby pretty well and was excited for Bryndee to be assigned to such a great family. She really enjoyed herself, but seemed to be really quiet (more so than usual). I found out later she didn't feel very good, her legs were way sore, and she started coughing pretty hard so her chest was sore. I had forgot that the day before we left she had her first real practice with her cheer squad. They worked their tails off, with the main focus being strengthening their legs. So she was already on Advil before she even left for the hard hike. But after a while she started loosening up around her family and they got to know her. And by the way, the food was wonderful. There was no starving kids on this trek. :o}

It was so cold the first 2 days. We had 50MPH winds those 2 days, so needless to say we did not look too cute in our "pioneer clothes" with many layers on top. This is the only picture we got of Ron, Bryndee and I together. We look like we are just camping. Bryndee's hat got destroyed by the wind right when she got there so I gave her my hat. Because I had worn the hat already for 1/2 a day, and I have short hair my hair was awful. So I got to wear this fun bandanna on my head the whole time there. Aren't I a great mom sacrificing my beauty for my daughter? Bryndee ended up not wearing my hat because the wind kept blowing it off her head. I had to get a picture of Ron in his "goofy" hat. He insisted on wearing his hat this way, I don't know why? I think it was to get comments from the kids but who knows?
This is Bryndee at the hoe down. It was really fun to see the youth out dancing "pioneer" dances and playing pioneer games, like stick pull, hatchet throwing, candy making, and shooting guns. I never got the exact count on the miles the kids walked, I heard 18 miles and I also heard 22 miles. There was a point when the men in the families are asked to go serve in the Mormon Battalion and the women are left to pull the hand carts. This is a very humbling experience because this point in their hike is very difficult, the trail is very rocky and very steep and the women and girls have to pull by themselves and the men and boys stand off to the sides and have to watch. I was so proud of the girls they did great. Bryndee did not even complain. This is also so hard for the boys and the men to sit and watch their mothers and sisters struggling. After half the carts made it to a certain point the boys are asked to help the girls. It is amazing to see the desire these boys have to help and the gratitude the girls have for the help they receive. The picture above is a group of carts just crossing over "Rocky Ridge". This is the hardest part of the trail. It is a very steep and rocky mountain they have to push the handcart up and over. The only way to make it to the top is to really work together. It was so neat to be down at camp and then look up a see a mass of people and handcarts appear out of nowhere.
This is a picture of Ron and a couple of the men that were a big part is pulling this whole Trek off. This was such a great experience for Ron, Bryndee and I. I am so glad we were able to experience this together and I look forward to the experience I will have with my other kids.

PS.. Thanks to Rosalie and Tara for their help and willingness to stay with my kids, and to Shelley Conway for having Porter stay with Prescott. I could not have experienced this without your help. Thanks Again!!!!!

Happy Birthday Torie

Happy birthday to my darling Torie. Today she is 11 years old. I can't believe she is getting so old. Torie is my helper. If I ever need help with Taralee, Torie is the one I can count on. Torie is always asking can I help you with dinner. Too bad her mom doesn't like to have help in the kitchen. :o} Torie is a very happy person. Torie is known for her smile and contagious laugh. If she gets started laughing it is hard to get her to quit. We are so happy to have her in our family. I love you Lou Lou! You are WONDERFUL!!!