T-Ball

June & July, 2016

Maden played T-ball this summer.  I had never been to a T-ball game, and found it very funny and entertaining.  They don't keep score, and everyone gets a chance to bat and run around the bases even if they should be out! And, the last batter in the inning always gets a home run!

His team was called the Chili Heads.  (His coach is the general manager at Chili's!) 

They even had real baseball pants. Loved that he wore red socks and shoes and belt, so that we could find him!

Sometimes he played catcher, 1st base, fielder and 3rd base.  

He decided to slide into every base during his last game.  

Annie and Clark were great cheerleaders during the whole season.  It was a great season, way to be undefeated Chili Heads!

Yellowstone Bear World

July 11, 2016

Maden, Annie and I had the chance to go to Yellowstone Bear World with my parents (Grandpa Chin Chopper, and Grandma Beth) and my nephews Ryan and Samuel. We loved it, it was so fun.  

We saw lots of interesting animals and lots of Bears!

It was a chilly, windy day, but that didn't keep us from having fun at the petting zoo.  They thought it was way cool to feel the velvet on the deer's antlers.

We had to take pictures with all the bears!

It was great fun to feed the fish and ducks.  The beautiful swan didn't care about the food.

Everyone loved the rides that were included with the park fee.  

We went to Leo's place after going on the rides many times.  All children love Leo's place, we had good pizza, fun in the play land and the arcade.  On our way home, Maden asked if we could schedule the exact same activities every July 11th.  He thought it would be a great tradition!

Independance Day

July 2 & 4, 2016

We had an improptu, traditional fireworks show in our driveway on the 2nd of July.  Just like old times on Cindy's birthday.  Molly was a little frightened by the noise.  

Brian, Randy and Jared took their families to the parade, these are the pictures they sent to me, looks like they had a great time.

After the parade, we had hamburgers at Jared and Nikelle's house, then all the guys went to help Jared finish up the electrical work at Brian's new house.  We think Ryder would have made a really cute girl!

More of the shenanigans on the 4th.  It was a fun day.

6 months of Grandkids

Jan. - June 2016

Here are some random pictures of our grandkids for the first half of the year.  They are the light and joy of our life!  I took some of these pictures, but some were sent to me by their parents. And, they're not all in exact chronological order.  Enjoy!

The babies are all 1 year old!

Overnight in West Yellowstone and Party in Island Park

June 24 & 25, 2016

 We were able to book 1 night in the West Yellowstone Worldmark. We were excited because we needed to be in Island Park the next day. It was a fun little stay. The kids love the swimming pool.

 Dr. James had his office annual summer party at his cabin in Island Park.  Randy and Courtney came along with Brian and Celia.  We love being in their cabin and appreciate so much the hospitality that we feel there.  We had a great breakfast and lunch.  Ryder loved Gidget the dog.  

It was not a very warm day, but Maden, Annie and Celia braved the cold and got in the lake. I think they're pretty brave.  They had a good time, but were glad to get out and warm up.  It was a fun weekend.

Clark's 1!

June 18, 2016

This cute little guy is 1! We actually had a party on his actual birthday. For some silly reason, I didn't get any pictures of him opening presents, but it was a lot of fun for his siblings.  He wasn't very interested in the cake, but he sure is cute.  We love you, Clark!

38th Anniversary & broken tree

June 9, 2016

Our anniversary fell on a Thursday this year, so we decided to celebrate on the weekend after, and it's a good thing, because mother nature caused a problem that would have changed our plans anyway.  

About 2:00 am there was a lot of thunder and lightning and wind. Blake didn't hear a thing! When he woke up at about 5 to go out to the hot tub, he noticed something strange in the front yard. The wind had blown down some huge limbs from our tree in the front.  Some of the limbs had fallen across the road.   He got dressed and went out to clear what he could from the road.

This is better pictures of the damage from two or three large limbs breaking and falling when the wind blew.  

When Blake and Brian got done working they started the clean up process.  Courtney stood by the limbs to show how big they are.  We sure did appreciate Jerry and Blaine Anderson coming to help saw up the limbs so they would fit into the horse trailer.  Then a man stopped by and said he would like the larger logs, he would saw them up and haul them off. That was a huge help.

They filled the horse trailer twice. When the limbs fell, it left a pretty big hole in the grass.  Luckily, the swing was fine! The man got a lot of firewood.  After it was all cleaned up, we felt pretty lucky that more of the tree had not fallen and there was minimal damage to the yard.  

Maden's Kindergarten Graduation

June 1, 2016

I was lucky to attend Maden's kindergarten graduation.  It was a very cute program and he was so excited! They sang some of the songs they learned about the calendar, numbers and letters, then got cute diplomas.  Such a fun day!

Ryder's 1!

May 21, 2016

Ryder's birthday is May 23rd, but we celebrated it on Saturday, May 21st.  Courtney planned a Mickey Mouse party for him. He  loved his presents and didn't want to quit playing with one to open another one.

He was very careful with his Mickey cake. (Nikelle and her mom made the cake!) We love you Ryder!

Randy's 28!

May 7, 2016

We celebrated Randy's 28th birthday by cooking hamburgers and a fire in their pit, and roasted some marshmallows.  The babies had a cage to keep them from the fire. Maden and Annie loved the cake and helping to blow out the candles. 

Tulips

Blake planted more tulip bulbs last falls, and this spring they were absolutely wonderful.  It seemed that everywhere you looked there were some tulips.  It was amazing. I just wish they would last longer.

Molly's 1!

March 31 & April 1, 2016

Molly turned 1 on Thursday, March 31st! She celebrated her birthday by going to a wedding luncheon and a reception.  She had her real celebration on Friday, April 1st.  Her cousins loved helping her open her presents.  Aunt Cindy and Uncle Ken made sure she was all decked out with everything Superman!

She was very dainty and didn't really smash her beautiful cake.  We love you, Molly!

Easter Egg and Treasure Hunts

March 19 & 26 2016

We had an impromptu "treasure and candy" hunt because other plans fell through. We had it in the house because it was windy and cold outside.  Maden and Annie loved finding their treasures and helping the babies find theirs.  Clark's favorite part was climbing up the stairs.

Then the next week, Maden and Annie had a real Easter egg hunt outside.  It was still windy and cold, but not as bad as the week before.  They had great fun finding all the eggs, even the ones that were hidden way up high.  Clark loved watching from the door.  After all the eggs were found, Brian blew some bubbles to chase. 

Super Bowl

I am finally catching up with my blog posts! 

February 7, 2016

Jared and Nikelle hosted our family Super Bowl party in their wonderful new family room. It was a great party filled with good food, and fun with the babies. I don't really care who wins the game, it's just a fun excuse to be together!