Home Coming

Elena got asked to Home Coming the first week of school by this nice young man named Daniel Cottrell. He is a good kid, and I knew she would be in good hands for the night. They looked so good together, and I had fun snapping pictures of them before leaving for dinner and the dance. :)

This is Elena when we had just finished her hair and makeup.  I was very proud of myself for doing such an awesome job with both.  I'm not good at all with makeup or hair and hers turned out so very beautiful.  :)

I think they looked so cute together in this picture.  Both such cute kids!

Isn't her dress so pretty?  We found it in Logan on sale, so she ended up paying just under half price for her dress. 

Grandma's Ranch

We had to go to Grandma's place and help take care of some things. While we were there Aunt Kathie took Jake for a horse back ride along with the other cousins. Elena was able to ride a horse on her own which she loved, and Creed was kind enough to take Ellie with him on the ride. The kids all loved it.



Elena had a blast riding this horse all on her own, and she even wore her cowgirl clothes and real cowgirl boots.  She was all decked out.  The only thing missing was a cowboy hat! 

When I was Aunt Kathie come around the corner with Jake on the back of her horse it caught me off guard a bit cause she looked enough like mom that I had to quickly remind myself where we were and that it was NOT mom.  Kinda choked me up for a minute, and made me miss her quite a bit but also feel thankful that Aunt Kathie was willing to do this with a little boy who so desperately misses his grandma.

Aunt Kathie and Jake riding together.  Jake had taken some allergy medicine when we got there so he was able to ride without being affected terribly by the farm, or horses.

Creed and Ellie.  Ellie wanted so bad to ride a horse on her own, but I was afraid she would get hurt because of how small she is.  Glad Creed was willing to take her with him.

The group as they are headed off on some horseback riding adventure around the farm!

Twin Falls County Fair

Ray and I took the kids to the Twin Falls County Fair and Rodeo.  The kids (mainly Jake's fear of the rides) decided that they didn't want to go on any of the rides in the cold, so we walked around to all of the displays before heading to the rodeo where we got to watch some bull riding, and other enjoyable events take place.  

This was a miniature full grown cow of some sort.  The kids had fun brushing it's fur.

This was a ginormous cow of some kind.  It was taller than me I believe, and Ellie was in love with it!  :)

Jake loved the baby calves and spent a lot of his time admiring them both near and from afar.

Elena found herself a new boyfriend while we were at the fair.  His name is Gage, and I caught them in a tender moment.  ;)

This horse was HUGE, he stood taller than Ray, and had an attitude like you would not believe.  At one point he tried to knock that man down with his head, and even tried to eat Ellie's hair.

Farmer Jake and his produce.  I think that is probably the best produce I have ever seen!  :)

Jake and Elena found a piece of corn on the cob and were so hungry they attempted to eat the whole thing.  Adorable piece of corn, don't ya think?

New Teachers and the First Day of School

We got to meet Jake's 2nd grade teacher the week before school started.  Her name is Kit Canfield.  She was Ellie's second grade teacher and is a very nice lady.  She will be a good teacher for Jake. 

Ellie's 5th grade teacher is Mac Esplin.  He is a very nice man.  I love how Ellie and Jake both got grandparents as teachers this year instead of young teachers.  They both needed older teachers this year and I am glad they got them. 

First day of school.  Ellie and Jake were going to wear the same thing for the first day as they did when we met their teachers the week before so that teachers would remember them easier (Ellie's idea)  but Jake decided he wanted to wear this new outfit instead.  They were both very excited but very nervous for the first day of school, but did very well covering up any fears they had!

Meet Elena, our German Exchange Student

At the end of July Ray, Ellie, Jake and I welcomed our new exchange student Elena into our home.  She is a 15 year old girl from Cross Gerau Germany, a small town just outside of Frankfurt.  She will be a part of our family for about 11 months, and we are so excited to have her here with us.  Most of you have already met Elena, and have found out by now what a sweet, loving, kind, beautiful girl she is.  And well if you have not had the opportunity to get to know her I suggest you do so, you will not be sorry you did.  :)  

Welcome to America Elena, we are so glad you are here for a year!!!

Elena, Kelci, Chylie, and Ryan posing with Mr. Red M&M  :)

Jake was the first to hug his new BIG sister!

Bryce Canyon National Park

The signs we made for Elena to welcome her to America.



Ryan, Kelci, Chylie, Elena and of Cource the Coca Cola Bear!

Whitney, Elena, Ryan, and Jaden at Zion National Park.
(Kyson in behind the camera)

Glenn Canyon Damn Bridge.  That bridge was so scary.  It shook when cars would drive over it. 

 We have had lots of fun already with Elena, and have shown her many things.    We made a trip down south and inroduced her to most all of the family, and took her to see some of the great sites, Zion National Park (thanks to Whitney, Kyson, Jaden, and Ryan), Bryce Canyon  National Park (we made a stop in to be a part of Tymbers baptism day (what a sweet spirited girl she is we love her so much).  Elena Loved Bryce Canyon, we got lots of great pictures, and made lots of memories that will last us our whole life.  Then Ray and I took Elena, Chylie, Kelci and Ryan to Vegas to show her the Strip.  We had some bumps along the way, but all in all it was a great trip to Sin City.  The temps were horrible, and I am pretty sure Elena thought she was going to melt (at midnight the temps were still at 105), but we made it back to "God's Country" as my mom used to always call Utah, and were glad to finally make it back to our own beds, and cool house when our vacation was over.

Baby Puppies, and a house full of dogs!

My dad came up to help us finish getting our home ready for the arrival of our exchange student.  We had some baseboards we needed help finishing on the main level, and also in Ellies room, and we also had the door in our hall closet that need to be hung, plus a few other things.  I am so grateful for my dad and his willingness to share his talents and knowledge of wood, and finish carpentry.  
My dad brought with him his 2 dogs (Maddis parents).  Button just happened to be pregnant, and had 2 puppies while my dad was in town.  When it was time to head home he decided to leave the momma pup and her two babbies with us, and then decided to leave Bandit with us as well.  Dad's 2 big dogs, my big dog, and 2 new pups made for 4 more dogs than we like to have in our house.  lol  We enjoyed watching the pups grow, but had a hard time having extra pets in the house.  When the pups were 10 days old we took them back down to my dads house, and said goodbye to these 2 cute pups. 

Button with her 2 baby pups. 

This is the little boy we named him Buddy Boy!

This is the little girl, we named her Little Sissy
Jake absolutely loved watching these puppies grow, and getting to sneak in holding time everday!

Typical family time at our house but this time with extra dogs.  ;)

Mini Vacation to Idaho

We headed to Idaho for a little one day. We had heard that the Fall were running full so we stopped and grabbed some KFC, and then headed down to the park for a picnic. Ray grew up just above the falls, and spent his life playing here. The kids enjoyed swimming in the water, and feeling the wet breeze from the water running over the falls. After we were done we stopped by Aunt Lynne's house to drop off a paper Ray had for her, and to say a quick Hello, before heading of to Explore the Minidoka Relocation Center.It was a hot day to explore, but we enjoyed reading about the area, and seeing the remains of what are left of this Ghost town.