Climbing Colten

It took forever to post this video, so I have had it as a draft for a long time. Finally finished it.

Two or three weeks ago I walked into the girls room and found Colten sitting on the top bunk. I was frustrated that the kids had put him up there and left the room. So I went and told the kids how dangerous that was, and that they shouldn't be putting Colten up there, ever. They assured me that they didn't do it and I walked away thinking they were little liars, until 10 minutes later when I couldn't find Colten again and went in search of him. Much to my surprise this is what I found. I think the part of the video where he acts like his foot is slipping is just a tease, because I have seen him climb that little ladder many times now and he is really quite proficient at it. Unfortunately, climbing has become his newest hobby. When ever I hear him "calling for help" (screaming), I know he has climbed up on something and can't get down. At least he hasn't discovered how fun jumping is. His latest climb landed him on top of the stove. He borrowed a nearby stool and scaled his way to sweet treasure. He had eyed a tub of cookies from down below. Aaron walked past only to find him devouring his hard earned treat. Colten was quite pleased with his successful quest. Too bad we didn't think to photograph that, I think we were too shocked to find him sitting on the stove.

The Ranch

In April my friend Katie and I entered a contest for a stay at Rancho de la Osa guest ranch in Sasabe, AZ. We had both agreed to take each other if we won. Well....she won!! Of all the vacations we could have won, this one was the best. Both of us could hardly wait to go, so she booked a stay in June. It was hotter than heck, but we were the only ones crazy enough to be at the guest ranch and that more than made up for the weather.



The wranglers were great people and really catered to our desires. The let us run on the trails. They have over 170,000+ acres to ride on, so you never ride the same trail twice. All of our meals were included, so we were really able to relax.



This is the entrance to the ranch. Isn't it pretty?





This is the building were our suites were located, they did a great job decorating, I thought it was very charming.




Aaron and I before our first ride, Aaron really enjoyed the trip inspite of the look on his face, and I was determined to help my farmers tan fade.




Ready, set, go!


Aaron favorite horse, Brando, he was a morgan, shire cross and by far the best horse on the ranch. I wish they had given him to me, but they save the big horses for the big guys.




This was one of the many scenic vistas, we enjoyed.





Riding the range.




Here are your tax dollars at work, That is the new 8 mile border fence behind us. About 1/4 mile west of were our picture was taken it ends because the is the Indian Reservation. There is also a little watering hole on the other side of the fence with a herd of wild horses that hang out there. That was fun to see, there were several babies with them, but they were pretty thin.




Just another day on the range.




Katie and I after our last ride, we will definately be saving our pennies for a return visit. That was one of my most favorite vacations.

Cody's Kindergarten Graduation

Wow, it's really unbelievable how quickly our kids are growing up. Cody graduated from kindergarten this month and Chance will start in a month. Cody's class had a musical presentation they performed for all the families. They did a great job.


We couldn't get the other kids to leave the toys and come over for a picture.

Cody and her friends

Cody giving us the "I love you" sign and Isaac with a darling smile.

Cait and Cody with their little friend Alexis

Farmboy

This first picture has nothing to do with Colten playing in the garden, but I love watching him and Chance play together. I hope their relationship never changes. They really love each other.



Colten just figured out how fun a garden can be. There is dirt and food, what's not to love. It actually took a while to get him to look at us, because he was so happy playing with the dirt.



Colten and Nonnie picking strawberries



I'm afraid we will have a hard time keeping him out of the garden now.

Girls, Girls, Girls

Time sure flys when you are having fun and it goes twice as fast when Aunt Jodi's in town. It's always nice to have a helping hand with the kids, so I talked Jodi into helping me go do a couple of the things I had been putting off. Up first was Caits music presentation. Cait really enjoyed this class, she learned about music history, how to lead music, several songs and they even had lessons on the keyboard.

Next on the agenda was a haircut for Cody, much to Aaron's dismay I decided short hair would be much more manageable for Cody. This first picture is the before picture.

We weren't quite sure if Cody liked having her hair cut or not?

Still unsure...

Getting better.

Ahhh, she loves it. She had about 5 or six inches cut off.

Oh the peer pressure starts young these days. Anna's little friend Ali has her ears pierced and Anna started asking for her ears to be pierced. We had Cait and Cody's ears done when they were babies, but wimped out on Anna. So after Anna telling me she wanted earrings several times I decided to take her, with Aunt Jodi's help of course.

So trusting and unsuspecting, as she anxiously awaits for her ears to be pierced.



Hole number one. We could tell it hurt, but she didn't cry. We asked if she wanted the other ear done and she answered with a slow nod.



We are pretty sure she wanted to quit after hole number one, but she's no sissy so she carried on.



No holding back after that, she let those tears roll.





But just for a minute. When she saw the finished results she was very happy with her new earrings. No pain, no gain.