Renae's Shower

Since Robin and Jill were throwing Renae a shower in Lovell the Friday after Renae had been to see me, and Justin was gone for some dumb 2 week military class (everything to do with the military is dumb to me now-a-days), I thought why not make the trip to Lovell. The girls and I loaded up and headed up to Lovell on Tuesday night. On Friday we met up with Becky and her 3 girls and Jill and her baby girl Lauren. I can't believe how much more alike Becky's twins look. I used to be able to tell them apart easily...now it's a lot harder. I think the order of this picture is Hailey, Sydnee, Alyssa, Justee, FR Charlee, Kenadee, and Lauren. I wouldn't be surprised if I mixed Hailey and Alyssa up. I keep going back and forth on what they were wearing that day...I thought I had a better memory. hmmm Becky, let me know if I am wrong. :)Renae's shower was fun and we had some yummy food. Robin and Jill did a great job. Here is Renae with her new last name! hahaha ...we all had a good laugh. The tile was a gift from Brook Grant. I took some more pics, but I will get them to Renae so she can post them. Renae is lucky to have found Keith (her fiance') he is a really nice guy and makes Renae super happy. It's about time she settled down and I'm excited for her.

Weekend with Renae and Dana

Renae flew out to Denver to spend a little quality time with Dana and I. The lazy bum missed her early flight and had to hang around the airport and luckily she got on the next one. I'm sure she can give a better, more exciting account of the whole ordeal. After she finally arrived, Dana and I went to pick her up. She was standing outside in a cute little sundress...apparently someone forgot to tell her that it was going to be rainy all weekend...oops. It rained pretty much nonstop all weekend so we didn't get to go to Water World as planned, but we still had a lot of fun just 'hanging out.' We stayed at Dana's Friday night and then we came to my house on Saturday. Dana went home on Sun. and I took Renae to the airport bright and early Mon. morning. I always have fun with Dana and Renae and I'm glad that they took the time to hang out with me.

* One funny story I want to remember is that Sydnee said the family prayer on Sat. night and she said, "Please bless that Renae and Dana will have fun sleeping together." We all had to try not to laugh during the rest of the prayer.

enjoying our yummy cake:

Dana rockin out on the drums and Renae taking a break to text:

When I am a Camel...

This is a conversation I overheard by Charlee and Sydnee. They were watching "Growing up Camel" on Animal Planet. A baby camel just got his leg cut on a fence as he was being chased by his mother (the two had just been reunited.)

Charlee: "What happened to his foot Ninny?"
Sydnee: "The mommy camel wanted the baby camel to do something and she was chasing and biting him, and he got his leg cut in the fence."
C: "Oh. I don't want that to happen to me when I'm a camel."
S: "Charlee, you aren't going to be a camel."
C: "Uh huh Ninny. (pause) I would be a good camel."

Just Life

Things seem to have slowed down a bit here as summer is winding down. We've just been at home enjoying the Olympics. Justin has been going to Cheyenne everyday for more deployment preparations. He has been getting to do all kinds of fun things like making out his will and answering questions about his death and getting tons of shots. The other night we put together this globe puzzle. It was really easy because the pieces were numbered. The girls loved that about it because they helped sort out the pieces and knew which one came next. Then we showed the girls where we live compared to where Mark was going to serve his mission (Japan) and where Daddy was going to be (Afghanistan.) Sydnee asked if that was where Daddy was going to be when he was going to miss every one's birthdays. She seemed happy to see that "It's not that far away." as she put it.


*random* Justee ate Marshmallow Mateys for breakfast; well, at least she ate the marshmallows.


We had a fun FHE last night. (We missed on Mon. so we had it on Tues.) We played Book of Mormon memory. I made matching pics of the different stories in the B of M. When someone gets a match, you tell the story that goes along with the picture. Then we all wrote letters and drew pictures for Mark. Of course we finished off with a yummy dessert of Oreo cake.
Justee was more interested in cuddling with Dozer than anything.

Justin was gone for drill this weekend, but is on his way home from Cheyenne as I type. I figured yesterday was a good day to get Sydnee's school shopping done. The four of us headed out and bought Sydnee some new clothes (she already has quite a few clothes and didn't need too many.) Charlee was so cute because she kept grabbing clothes and saying, "Mommy, Mommy, this would be coot for Ninny! We found some great deals on shoes and got Sydnee 3 pairs, Charlee 2, and Justee 1. Charlee loved her new church shoes so much that she slept in them last night. When I got them up for church this morning she already had them on. ;) By the time we got to Wal-Mart for the supplies, Justee had had enough and proceeded to bawl-no, scream (drawing much unwanted attention our way) through most of the store. I was very glad when we were done.

Whenever the girls get new clothes they model them for Justin and me. Since Justin was gone Syd only got to model for me, but she is really excited to model for Daddy when he gets home tonight. ...*a trip down memory lane*... When I was little I remember every time I got home from school shopping, my Dad would ask what I got and I would model all my clothes for him. I would show him what shirts I could wear with what pants and he would act very impressed. He would whistle and tell me how pretty I was in my new clothes. I loved that tradition and it is neat to see my girls enjoy it too.

Justin likes me to send him pics of the girls on his phone when he is away. The girls usual cooperate really well for pics they know are going to their dad. These are the pics I sent him this weekend. The girls are ready for bed in their I love New York T's we brought home for them. Sydnee just ate a blue sucker and has a very blue mouth. She did a great job brushing her teeth after the pics and got all the blue out...hmmm I should have had her brush before the pics.

"Let me see the map."

So Justin and I went to New York to soak up some dirty, crowded, city living...I can still smell the "fresh air." It was my 3rd time in the city, but Justin's 1st; so I got to show him around a bit. I really shocked myself at how well I remembered where things were- being that I have very poor navigational skills. We stayed at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, so we braved the subway for a good hour to get into Manhattan every day. There is nothing like the NY subway...the smell, the filth, the rats (we only saw 2), the HEAT, the drugged out people, and the performers (at least that is what they think they are.) Justin must have the subway map memorized by now. He was constantly asking me to give him the map. He checked and double checked to make sure we were getting on the right train... I seriously thought I would strangle him.

We arrived in NY on Thursday and went to a game at Yankee Stadium. We are not Yankee fans in the slightest and our visit there only increases our dislike for them, but the stadium is legendary and this is the "Final Season" as they are building a new stadium. (It is one of Justin's goals to go to a game at every ball park.) I would never take my kids to a game there with the F bombs that were dropping left and right. I didn't even enjoy the game because we sat behind some people who weren't in their seats and refused to move, but insisted on asking other people to scoot down so they could fit one more illegitimate person next to them. Justin got into it with them and finally by the 6th inning they moved down the 10 seats to their real seats. In my opinion "The House that Ruth Built" is a HOLE! ...glad we got to experience it though We did all the usual sight-seeing: Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Ground Zero, Central Park, FAO Swartz... We went to The Phantom of the Opera and it was excellent. We witnessed an anti-war protest march down the streets...some of the things they were saying don't even make sense-where do people come up with these things? We also got tickets to the Late Show with David Letterman. That was a lot of fun even if Dave and the Donald (Trump was the guest) and I don't see eye to eye when it comes to politics...The show we were at is tonight's (Friday night) show, so we are going to watch it and see if we can spot ourselves in the audience. (Why is it such a big deal to see yourself on TV? I don't understand it.)I love this picture of Ground Zero because you can see Justin's reflection in the glass.

Being that we were so close to Boston (a 4 hour bus ride close) we headed to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Now that is what I call a ball park. We had a great time there and it was such a great atmosphere....total old fashioned family ball park. After the game we hopped back on a bus, for 5 hours this time, back to NY.

The Green Monster.

The only thing better than going on vacation, is getting home. I'm going to have to go along with the cliche NY might be a fun place to visit, but I could never live there...I don't like people that much.
We had a great time and I'm so glad that my parents kept our kids so we could take this trip. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Tagged

A little about me...

What are the last 3 things you purchased?
~NY souvenirs
~Milk
~Picture frames

What are the last 3 songs you downloaded?
~It's been too long...but I've been going retro lately with Eagles and Reo Speed wagon ect.

What were the last 3 places you visited?
~New York
~Boston
~Island Park, ID

What are your 3 favorite movies?
~Braveheart
~Green Mile
~Dumb and Dumber

What are your 3 favorite possessions?
~TV
~Computer
~Camera

What are your 3 wishes?
~That Justin didn't have to go to Afghanistan...so, in other words-World Peace.
~That I could still lose weight while eating ice cream and not getting off my lazy butt.
~I wish I could speak every language...then I would know what everyone in NY was saying.

What are 3 things you haven't done yet?
~Accomplished anything useful
~I haven't started Justee's scrapbook
~Put away our suitcases...it's only been 3 days, not even close to my record

What are your 3 favorite dishes?
~Prime rib
~Crab legs
~Spicy Romano chicken- Carino's

What are 3 things that freak you out?
~Being without Justin for a year
~Rats
~Driving on busy interstates...or any city road really...I'm a wuss

Name 3 things you are good at?
~Procrastinating
~Battleship...I beat Justin every time
~Being right...just ask Justin ;)

Name 3 things you are currently coveting
~The dancing abilities of the people on So You Think You Can Dance
~Renae's fake boobs hehehe
~A never-emptying bank account...I would do good things with it...

3 bloggers I tag
~Renae
~Trisha
~Becky

Mayes Family Reunion

We have had a busy couple of weeks. Last week we went to the Mayes family reunion in Island Park. This included Justin's mom's immediate family. Aletha's dad and all of her brother's and sister were there. A lot of Justin's cousins were there along with Michelle and Shane and Samantha (Pat and Steven couldn't come.) It seemed to have a good turnout and we had a lot of fun. This post is going to have a ton of pics because it is easier to write about what we did with pics...

It was a long drive to Island Park, and the girls were wanting a break, so we stopped and got some ice cream and were just in time to see Old Faithful do it's thing. The girls thought it was cool and Justee kept getting excited and pointing at it. Justee was such a mess after her ice cream, especially after she fell down and the dirt stuck to the ice cream that was all over her... We slept in a tent and the girls loved that. They (and Justin and I) actually slept really well. We got to see a mommy moose and her calf. They came down to the water right by us; It was really cool. I took a bunch of pictures because Justin has always had a fascination with moose and I thought if I got a good one, it would be fun to enlarge and frame. (Justin really wants a big moose mount, but he doesn't want to shoot it himself because he doesn't think he could do it.)

We went to see Mesa Falls and it was really pretty. Justin was nervous the whole time because we were up so high looking out over a cliff to see the falls. He kept yelling at the girls to stay back. (How can a helicopter pilot be so scared of heights?)

The falls were beautiful and there were so many rainbows in it's mist.

Charlee was not in picture mode. She did not want her picture taken. ...see what I mean... I went on a little nature hike with three of the most beautiful girls I know. We had fun talking and taking pictures.

Samantha (Justin's little sister):
My niece Tianna (Justin's sister Michelle's daughter):
My niece Teisha (Michelle's daughter too): I don't get to hang out with these girls very often, but I enjoy it when I do get the chance. They are such fun sweet girls and I'm glad I get to call them family. (Did I mention how beautiful they are too?)
I have lots more pictures of them that I will have to post later.

One night we went back to where we saw the moose at because we heard that there had been a lot of bear sightings there recently. We hung out for a little while until we were getting eaten by mosquitoes and had to leave. Unfortunately we didn't ever see a bear. Justin & Justee, Tianna, Teisha, Shane & Zack, Mike, Sam, Michelle, Chris, Sydnee, Jayden, & Kirk (Charlee was asleep in the car):When we left the family reunion, we headed to Lovell to drop the girls off at my parents house. They were keeping them while Justin and I went to New York City for 5 days. (That will be my next post.) On our way through Cody we could see a lot of smoke from wildfires. The sun looked so pretty through the smoke. I snapped this picture just as it was glowing above Heart Mountain. Not five minutes later, we had traveled far enough away from the smoke that the sun looked normal. I'm glad I snapped the pic when I did.