SWEET GIRL

Before we left Idaho and sold the boys horses R promised them he would replace them as soon as possible.  Since we've been back Jake has been on the computer almost daily looking for his new horse.  Moving is expensive and so the poor guy kept getting put off for my first paycheck.  I got paid last Thursday and Wednesday night he had sent me 3 new horses to go see.  We saw them and this sweet girl won Caleb's heart.   None of the other's worked out but have no fear, Jake is still looking, daily!
  So... this sweet girl was found wandering in the desert.  She wandered onto someone's property skin and bones and a dead look in her eyes.  They called the BLM and long story short after the long process of trying to find her owners she was sold to them and then to someone else and now to Caleb.  She has great ground manners and other than still being too skinny, but much better, she seems healthy.  Caleb saddled her,  rode her and when we bought her, caught her and loaded her into the trailer without any problems.  She fit right into our herd and now she and Tiger are always together except that she eats alone.  So welcome to the family Isabel.

CALEB'S BOBCAT

My superstar Caleb got his Bobcat in time for our first pack meeting in Idaho.  So proud of him!  He is already working on his Wolf.  GO  CALEB!!!

COLOSSAL CALEB

This isn't the most flattering pic of him but it shows his unconquerable spirit.  The look is more of the, "mom would you hurry up with the pic so I can get on with my fun." look but you can't win em all.  Anyhow, my awesome Caleb made the choice to be baptized this past Saturday and R was able to do that for him.  I am so proud of him and the young man he is growing up to be.  He has adapted to our new home and all the changes that came with it quite well.  He seems to have grown up alot over the last year.  He is still my secretly sensitive tough guy.  My super helper, the big bro extraordinaire, the budding horse man, a great cuddler, super smart, football player(every chance he gets), the jokester, and right now, the guy who's outside pushing all his brothers on the hammock while they laugh hysterically and watch in utter fascination as Bella hunts, catches, kills and eats a field mouse(I told you she is earning her keep).  I love you Caleb!

RODEO TIME

We love to go to the rodeos and the boys have been begging to go since October so we went on Saturday night. My spectacular husband arranged for someone to cover part of his shift so that he could come with us since he usually misses things, like the campout the night before. It was so awesome to be together doing something as a WHOLE family! It was Levi's first rodeo where he was old enough to actually follow what was going on and he was enraptured! He hardly moved the entire time and couldn't take his eyes off the action. It was Caleb's last mutton bustin' as he is getting too big, now he wants to ride the calves up in Wickenburg, we'll see. He was determined to ride it to the other side of the arena but his sheep didn't cooperate, he laid down in the chute and as soon as he got out the gate he laid down again. Caleb didn't let go though, it was pretty fun to watch, it was more like sheep wrestling than riding. The clown was great and the drunks around us provided ample entertainment harassing him and a great lesson for the boys about how stupid people look when they are drunk. It was a great weekend! Until Sunday, but lets just leave it at that.

Happy Birthday Caleb!!!

Don't laugh! Caleb wanted a camoflage cake and this was my first attempt. It looks pretty gross but it actually tasted pretty good and Caleb loved it. I should have taken another picture after I moved the soldiers around and spread them out, it looked better then but oh well. Caleb had a great time with his friends and like I said really liked his cake.

I love Caleb so much. He is such a sweet spirit and a great big brother. I often hear him comforting AJ and Levi and even this morning after Levi hit him with some unknown object, I was out of the room, I heard him start to get mad, then stop and calm himself and when Levi started to hit him again, it's a game for him lately, he told him calmly and gently, "no, that hurts brother." Last week AJ got in trouble and they were in their rooms for bed alone and AJ was crying and I heard Caleb singing "I Am A Child Of God" to him and telling him the story of Daniel in the lion's den, his favorite bedtime story and to calm down that I would be in the room soon, I was putting Levi to bed in his bed. I thought it was so neat that without me there, he kept up our bedtime routine. It amazes me how Caleb can sometimes completely exasperate me and drive me to the brink and sometimes he is the best thing in the world. Every night he gives me a carefully orchestrated series of kisses, it's always the same pattern ( a little OCD?) and always close to 15 kisses before he goes to sleep. It's sort of like our secret handshake. He is tender and sensitive and tough as nails all in one. I love him so much and thank the Lord for sharing this little spirit with me every day. Happy Birthday Caleb!

THE LAVA TUBES

On our way home from UT we stopped in Flagstaff for a night. I LOVE camping, it's so relaxing and free for the kids to be able to play and make noise and run all over and just be boys. That being said, a night in a hotel was welcome after sleeping with spiders for 3 nights. The next day we went to the Lava Tubes. This was as far as AJ would go even with flashlights. It didn't help that it was downright COLD in there and we were not prepared for that.AJ had plenty of fun climbing on the rocks outside of the cave in the daylight.

Caleb loved it.

Jake loved it too.

Swim Relay Finals

Jake and Caleb had their relay finals last night. I was so disappointed that I couldn't go but my awesome friend Kaci took them since her sweet Bristyn was also swimming, even though it was for a different team, traders! just kidding! It killed me to not go, the only meet I've missed but I knew Levi wouldn't be able to sit through it or AJ and we didn't have way there since Ryan's truck is in the shop and he had to work. Anyway... as you can see.. the boys did awesome!!!! Caleb got second place for backstroke in his first relay and first place for his freestyle relay!!! He cracks me up in this picture. He was trying to look cool. I think he looks like the Fonz. Jake got third place in his freestyle relay and seventh in his second relay for breaststroke. That surprised me because his breaststroke is really good, one of his best. He cracks me up, he was so excited. I was excited to hear all about it when they got home, they were excited to stay up late and tell me about it. GOOD JOB GUYS!!! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU FOR DOING YOUR BEST!!!!

MORE SWIMMING

Jake and Caleb have done so well with the swim team this year and despite melting outside in the heat to support them at meets and practice, we will do it every year from now on. I loved it and they loved it AND it was so good for them! It's been really fun to watch them learn and get better. This video is from Jake's best finish, I'll let you decide, but to me it looks like a tie for first place. It was awesome to watch and he was so excited!!! Caleb is so proud of his first blue ribbon too!!!

They really want to do dive next year and have gotten very daring, Jake did a back flip off the diving board on Friday and does them often off the edge of the pool, much to Ryan's dismay. He is pretty good though so I'm pondering putting him in both swim and dive next summer. Their pediatrician chastised me for not putting sunscreen on them. I do but they are out in the sun so much that the are just brown and no amount of sunscreen is going to change that. We are so proud of them. They work so hard in everything they do and even though they aren't always the best, they give it their all everytime. What more could you ask for. I'm really excited to see how they swim next year with a year under their belts.

Summer Hike

Jake is working on his Wolf and wants to have it done by the end of the summer so for his hike yesterday he got to do the flag ceremony to finish one of his requirements. I am so proud of him. We got up at 430 to meet the other scouts at 530 to hike. AJ and Levi and Caleb went also. We hiked about 2 miles I think. Another testament to the incredible people in our ward, even with AJ whining the whole time, despite promising beforehand that he would walk if I let him come, noone was nasty and so many people offered to carry him and Levi so that I wouldn't have to do it the whole time. The boys all had a great time climbing and socializing. Caleb asked if we could go again today... NO. it's TOO HOT!!! I'm still glad we went. It was worth it. In all the times I've been hiking there, this was the first time we saw wildlife, we saw 2 large mule deer. They were awesome, not at all afraid but very aware and watchful of us watching them. Maybe they were just too hot to run away out of the shade!!!

NIFTY FIFTIES FUN!!!

Have I mentioned how much I love our ward? Just in case I haven't... It's the best ward EVER!! Last night we had a 50's dinner at the diner complete with a classic car show in the parking lot. Our boys dressed the part. Aren't they awesome? The entertainment was stellar. I'm not sure what was my favorite part of the evening, they were all so good, the girl group singing "You Don't Own Me", the swing dancers or April and Amy with their husbands singing "I Need a Man". I think it was probably the hula hoop contests. The Bishop, Brother Proctor and and Brother Lindsay were awesome. Caleb was also in a hula hoop contest. When he was finished I said, "Caleb I didn't know you could do that!" He said, "I couldn't!" His grin was awesome to see. I love his smile. All the entertainment was so great, as you can tell by Levi's, AJ's and Jake's rapt attention. I love our ward. I love our town. Where else do you get tractors at a classic car show? Where else do you get horses riding down the street in front of the church afterwards? The food was great, the party was great for kids and adults, the cars were awesome. We all had so much fun, we stayed up way past the boys bedtime but when we left I asked if they all had fun and got a unanimous YES from the back seat.

SwIm MeEtS

I am a terrible mom! I haven't been taking pics of my boys with their ribbons from their previous meets. My only excuse is that by the time we get home I'm tired and HOT and so are the little boys so I'm a little busy getting crabby boys into bed. Today I was better. Today I finally got pics. They are getting better every week and I'm so proud of them. Ryan hates going to practice and feels bad about missing the meets but it's so hot who can blame him for not wanting to sit there and bake in the mornings especially since he worked all night and really needs to be sleeping. I love that they are busy and doing something active. We'll do swim every year, maybe next year we'll do dive too, who knows. I love watching them improve and I LOVE the smiles when they finish their races! GOOD JOB JAKE AND CALEB!!!!

City Boy? Country Boy

I had to laugh the other day when Jake and Caleb were irritating each other. Caleb got mad and called Jake a City boy. That of course got Jake up in arms who retorted that Caleb was a city boy. How great is that? The most insulting thing he could say was to call him a city boy!! I love it.

Caleb's award

This morning as I was hurriedly signing my boys agendas so they could leave for school I got the note from Caleb's teacher that he was getting an award today. I know, if I had done it last night like I should have I could have planned better but Tuesdays are a bit rough right now with swim team practice and scouts and dinner etc. Anyhow, Ryan and I were already planning to go to the temple this am so I had gotten up and showered already and was dressed thankfully so I was able to go and see him. AJ was so happy to see them, as he always is and ran up and sat with them with their classes until I made him sit with me. Caleb got MUSTANG BOY, the award for good character. I'm so proud of him!!! Good Job Caleb. I should mention that last month in my lapse, Jake also got the MUSTANG BOY award for his class for 3rd quarter. Good Job Jake. They are AWESOME!!!! But I already knew that. I get to spend time with them and see how fabulous they are every day!

Spring concert

Jake and Caleb had their spring concert on Wednesday, I know, I'm late at posting about this too. It was called Rhythm Ranch and so they were encouraged to wear "cowboy" things. Like they need the enouragement. They were so awesome with their smiling faces and I really enjoyed listening even though the music was SO LOUD you couldn't really understand the words half of the time, that's okay because they had been practicing at home for weeks and I knew all the songs anyway. The school cafeteria wasn't built to be a concert hall I guess. I don't care, I loved it. Jake was very excited because he got to play an instrument, because he "is so good in music class". He was so serious and attentive, he was awesome. Caleb did great too, he was great to watch doing all the dancing and stuff. I was excited Ryan was able to go and watch with me, the boys were more excited!

More antibiotics

Back to the Dr. today for AJ. Still has an ear infection but we see the ENT on Friday to talk about a third set of tubes, poor guy. He is such a trooper. It amazes me how he can be so cheerful when I know he hurts so bad. I'm sure it's because he is used to pain, having endured it his whole life, between the reflux, the ears and his RAD. He is such an example, only when the pain gets really bad or he is really tired does he get clingy or crabby. Thank goodness Ryan is so understanding and tells me to just sit with him and cuddle him, he needs me and not to worry about the house. I am so thankful for my men, all 5 of them. Everyday they teach me something new or remind me of a lesson I still need to work on be it patience in trials or adversity, cheerfulness, kindness, love, you get the picture. Today Caleb came to me with a handful of pennies and reminded me that his school is doing pennies for patients. He then informed me that he is taking all of his savings from his piggy bank to donate. He is such an example of generosity and selflessness.

Rockin out

The boys favorite game is rock band. It has survived despite the fact that they left the drumsticks laying on the floor and one of the dogs ate them. They had another set but have broken the tips off of them and of course left them laying and have no idea where they are so now they have resorted to playing with their hands or ping pong paddles, my personal favorite. I came upstairs and this is what I saw. Caleb is awesome totally rocking out and getting down. AJ cracked me up getting right up there with him. Jake was totally absorbed in his serious concentration. I'm just glad they are actually playing together and not fighting.

I love Sundays

Well I haven't mentioned that last week during Jake's birthday party our second counselor called and asked if my husband was home... He came over after the party and called us BOTH to be in the middle nursery. Ryan said, "I warned you if you sub'ed for them this would happen. I think he was surprised he got called in with me though. Anyway, our ward has a HUGE primary, there are 2 of many classes and 3 nurseries. We are very blessed. I admit at first I was not as happy about the call as I should have been, I was looking forward to going to relief society. I changed my attitude and I'm enjoying my calling and I'm enjoying having Ryan in there with me. He is great with those kiddos! He knows all of them by name and plays with them and can calm down the criers easily. He is phenomenal. I love him so much and I admire him. I am enjoying watching him with all of these little angels. Today was a great Sunday, although it started out a bit rough. Getting 4 boys ready for 8 am church takes a great degree of organization and preparation. I wasn't as prepared as I usually am simply because of the baptism yesterday. I didn't have time to rewash and iron the boys white shirts so they had to wear short sleeved ones instead. Also I overslept which wouldn't have been an issue except I had to dress more than myself. Thankfully Jake and Caleb are older and immensely helpful. AJ wants so much to be like them that he does his best also. Levi has at least 4 teeth coming in, those are the ones I can see, so needless to say he was crabby but after church we all took naps and that was delightful. The evening, post nap, went happily. Jake made dinner, it's for his Faith In God award. He was so proud and cute with his mac and cheese and peas on the table that he even set. I LOVE MY FAMILY!!! I can't even attempt to count my blessings, my basket is overflowing.

OUR NEW YEARS

Well New Years came and went. To be honest, I'm not all that excited about staying up to greet the new year. I'd just as soon greet it in the daylight. I'm much more excited about a good nights sleep and that seems to happen about as often as a new year frankly. That being said you can imagine how excited I was when Jake and Caleb informed me that they wanted to stay up and "cheers" for the new year. I had mostly put them off until New Years Eve when I couldn't avoid it any longer. Mom called and said that she would come over and toast with them, sparkling cider of course, so I agreed to let them stay up. Ryan of course was working and had no idea of the eve's events unfolding at home. Mom came over all right. Levi was asleep at normal bedtime. A "I no go bed, I no tired"J fell asleep finally at 10 on the couch in my arms wrapped up in his towel of course. This is my mom, asleep on the couch at 10:30. Although she swears she was not asleep, she slept right through me taking this picture, including the flash and through me talking to Ryan about her being asleep on the couch. She did however wake up at 11:45 to toast in the new year. So, I stayed up for the first New Year's toast since Jake was born. Mom promised to get up early with the boys so that I could sleep in but since Levi was up early as usual and she isn't who he wants I was still up early. At least the boys had fun.

My Wonderful Caleb

So... Caleb is a wonderful but challenging spirit. I often see him do mischievious things but just as often he does wonderful things just as quietly. He never seeks recognition for anything he just does it. We had a yard sale a couple of weekends ago and Caleb's friend Derek came over. Derek is over at our house daily and is constantly wanting to be here. Anyhow, Derek wanted to buy something but didn't have any money. Caleb went into the house and took money out of his piggy bank and gave it to Derek to buy something. I thought it was interesting that instead of just giving it to Derek he took his own money to let him buy it instead. This picture is from when Caleb shaved a stripe into his hair. I wasn't happy. Today I got a phone call from his school. I saw the number on the caller ID and was instantly afraid something bad had happened. When the Dean of Students was on the line I thought it was something related to football since the boys are playing. Then he said I have your boy in my office. I said which one? Caleb was in his office having gotten a positive referral. I had never heard of a positive referral, when I was in school a referral meant you had done something bad, since Caleb is unpredictable, I asked what he had done. Then Mr. Kemmer told me. Caleb had helped a fellow student pick up his change he had dropped, given it all back to him and gone back to work. His PE teacher had seen and was impressed with his awesome behavior and had given him a positive referral. I was so proud. I was also very pleasantly surprised that the school recognized kids for their good behavior not just their poor choices. Caleb is so awesome. He is so challenging but so amazing. He told me he wasn't going to help but the spirit told him to so he did. He is AWESOME!!!!

Caleb

Caleb is 5 years old and active as all get out. He loves riding his quad and taking AJ for rides. He finished kindergarten this year and is looking forward to 1st grade in the fall. He is a great helper and has a special way with Levi.