8 seconds and other adventures

This last weekend we went to Oakley to stay with our friends the Justesens.

When I say we I mean everyone except Rustin.  He spent most of the weekend home looking like this...

He has keratoconjunctivitis which is one rotten  adenovirus eye infection.  It is extremely contagious and very painful.  This is day 6 of the joy.  Rustin is holed up in our bedroom to keep from spreading the fun--we are really missing our dad around here.    

So, the rest of us headed to Oakley and the kids' rodeo on Thursday.  Austin and Benson rode the calves and steers. Their 8 second attempt was more like 2 seconds but it was fun!  Dallin and Landon were signed up to ride the junior bulls but by 10:30 pm with barrels and team roping still to go we called it quits.

The kids spent Saturday playing in the pond, catching frogs, riding four-wheelers and shooting bows and arrows.  And of course Saturday night was the big dance for the twenty-fourth of July.  

Neil and Rustin were mission companions in Portugal. It's amazing how some friendships just stick. 

And remember my favorite cookbook author...

Neil grew up on the ranch next door to the Pioneer Woman in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.  How's that for trivia!

If I had this view out my kitchen window I would never stop doing the dishes.  

And the rest of their home is just as beautiful.  Big thanks to Neil and Ginger for a great weekend.

pics of the week

Happy Harry Potter Day!

Oh yes we did.  We went to the Midnight showing of Harry Potter in 3-D and we had a blast!  The Harry Potter movies are some of the few that actually do justice to the books.

We've read the series together twice and we have seen all the movies in the theater.  We enjoyed every second of cheering, laughing, sighing and crying.  Opening night movies are an experience unlike any other.  We loved it.

Non-contact sports and Jedi training

The terms "non-contact" and "sport" don't belong in the same sentence with our boys. I'm sure that the average child would be able to make it through swimming season without any major injuries but we don't have average children.  They are exceptional.  They have the distinct ability to injure themselves in just about any situation. 

Last week during swimming Austin somehow managed to get hit in the mouth hard enough to knock his bottom left front tooth loose.  Actually it fractured the bony plate under the tooth killing the blood supply.  He had a root canal Monday which will be finished next week.  So for now his bottom teeth look like they have an extra tooth shoved between them.  It's lovely.

   

 In the mean time Jackson is in Jedi training school. Sweet little guy.  

I'm hoping if he learns to use the force soon enough he can make it through childhood without any visits to the ER.  

Either way he certainly keeps his siblings entertained....

....which keeps his mom happy!

July 4th in Idaho

All these fun things to do and what was the most desired item?

We could have sworn this chair was a turbo charged roller coaster ride the way the boys fought over who got to sit in it.  Seriously.

We had one of our favorite Fourth of July days.

Frisbee golf was a blast.  They lost three frisbees and found three.  The 'water obstacle' {a.k.a. the irrigation ditch at CSI} has claimed more than a few of our frisbees.  In fact the boys just wear their swim suits and water shoes when they go to play.

Benson and Jenna are still talking about floating the drops in the canals at Shoshone.  We do that kind of thing around here.  Float in canals...

The fireworks on the lawn at CSI were awesome.  Everyone in the community pitched in a little to keep the fireworks going.  The band played at CSI (the oldest running outdoor summer band in the west!) and the tabernacle choir music was included in the radio station program for the works.  Awesome.

July 4-10

I'm still figuring out how to use Photoshop to make pictures look great and how to make them best fit on the blog page.  I hope the layouts will print okay if I print my blog into a book.  That's a project I need to get going on...  Does anyone have pointers for that?

Go ahead and click on the pictures to see them better.

Hope everyone is having a fun summer.  Come visit us!

Is your house as fun as ours tonight?

It is 11 pm and here's what we have.

One Eight year old sleeping on my floor because she had a bad dream last night.

Two 14-year-olds who think they don't need to go to bed because tomorrow is sleep-in day. {Friday}

Three loads of laundry waiting to be put away.  {Only three? not bad!}

One giant stack of dinner plates that never got thrown away.  And a mom who is too tired to deal with it...

One little night owl who is content to sit and watch me type.  

Maybe he will go for sleep-in day tomorrow too!

Awesome week!--June 27-July 3

We had a great week!

This was the first week of the summer with nothing taking us away from home.  I loved it.  Of course I always love staying home.

Jenna turned Eight on Monday.  This was a much awaited day as all birthdays are.  We had cake and ice cream at grandma's house and Jenna got to be princess for the day.  I think her favorite thing was going with Grandma Patterson to the store to pick out her own present.  So exciting!

All the kids have a quilt from from Grandma Patterson for their baptism day that they use each morning at scriptures.  Jenna has been waiting a long time to get her own "comforter."  And it has really great soft fabric on the back.  Perfect.

Jenna was baptized on Saturday.  We had Grandma & Pa Patterson, Grandma & Pa Hatch, Kendra, Emmett, Josh and Ethan and Tom and Lindsay.  And of course some great friends from the ward.  It was a really nice, comfortable day.  As parents, having our children on the right path is the greatest and most comforting experience of all. We know that Jenna is on the right path.  We are so happy to have our little Jenna in the family.