Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Watching "the little bub"

Blake and I took another trip to Texas! We flew in on Wednesday, the 22nd of February.
Blake was worried that Maden wouldn't know us, but he did! He loved holding our hands!
Maden has always loved my camera, and that has not changed, but what has changed is that he figured out how to take pictures with it!
Coloring at Texas Roadhouse.

On Thursday, we went to a place called Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. It's a really cool place, takes up about 1700 acres, you drive through and see all sorts of animals. But the best part is that you can feed the animals out the window. You can't open your door or get out of the car, but you can open your window to feed the animals.
We took "surprises" in our suitcase for Maden. We gave him a surprise every morning. He loved the puzzles best, especially the abc one.
Having a teeth brushing party before we left.

Blake is feeding this Red Deer.
Of course, Blake had to pet them too. Boy do they stink!

The "Billy Goats"
Getting ready to throw some food out the window.
The zebra didn't take the food right out of Blake's hand, he had to drop it on the ground.
The giraffes were the most fascinating.
They are HUGE!
They had to bend way down to get to your hand.
Brian sat on the window sill of the car and snapped some pictures. The bottom of their bellies was taller than the car.
Halfway through the park was a petting zoo. Maden liked to brush the goats with two brushes.

Maden had not been feeling very good, he had a cough and would fever up once in a while. He would say the funniest things, and really didn't act that sick. He would put his hand on his forehead and ask himself "Do you have a fever?'. Later, Thursday night we went to Rita's for some frozen treats! Just as we got in the parking lot, Maden coughed hard enough to make himself throw up. It got all over his shirt, so Brian found one of his shirts in the trunk. 
He didn't care that he was wearing a huge shirt, just wanted his Rita's!
Jumping on the couch in his huge shirt.

Friday, we played tennis, and then went to the Children's Museum, then drove over to Weatherford. 

Playing tennis with Grandpa.
Romping on the bed with a lot of pillows. When he looked up and saw me taking pictures, he said, "Grandma's watching the little bub". Blake has called him the little bub since he was tiny. I laughed and laughed at him saying that.


Maden going down the "intestine" slide.
We watched a little 4D movie.
Blake and Maden herding cattle.
On a swing at a park in Weatherford.

Saturday turned out a little different than we planned. Maden really didn't feel well and woke up feverish. Brian and Celia took him to an Urgent Care to have him checked out. We fully expected them to say that he had ear infections, but they found something totally different. He had bilateral pneumonia and strep throat. They gave him a shot in his leg and some antibiotics to take at home. Poor baby!
Resting on Daddy's lap before they came in to give him a shot. When we got in the car, he told us that his leg got hurt.

Sunday, we decided that Maden should not go to church, so Blake and I stayed with him while Brian and Celia went to Sacrament Meeting. After they came home, and after dinner we went to the park where the turtles are.
"Resting" with Grandpa.
Looking for turtles.
Look at all the turtles!
Maden loved kicking the football from the swing.

We had to fly home on Monday. It is so fun to go see the Texas Purcell's. We skype with them all the time, but it is so fun to see them in person, and actually hear and see the funny things Maden says and does. He is so smart and knows so many things. We are sorry he was sick, but were so amazed at how good he was even if he didn't feel good. 

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Sunrise, Sunset

I have had a project in mind for quite awhile now, and have finally completed it! It wasn't easy getting it from my head to actually happening! The inspiration for this project were the words from "Sunrise, Sunset" from the "Fiddler on the Roof". It was quite a process getting the pictures in frames that were the right size, and getting them arranged so they were straight. I am very pleased with the finish product! It is even better than it was in my head! The sunrises and sunsets are all pictures that I have taken, some of them right out my front door, some of them in places we have visited!
This is the grouping of pictures on my family room wall! I have a section for each of my four kids starting with their baby pictures, then their first 5 years, then the portrait Darlou sent when they turned 8, then their school years, then a wedding, then a current family picture. 

Cindy's section....the sunrise or sunset pictures between her section and Brian's say "Is this the little girl I carried?", and "Is this the little boy at play?".

Brian's section

The center section....Blake and I when we were young, and a current picture. The sunrise, sunset saying is "I don't remember growing older, when did they?"

Randy's section.... the sunrise, sunset words between Randy and Jared say: "Wasn't it yesterday when they were small?', and "When did he get to be so tall?"

Jared's section....since he is not married yet, I put the picture we took before he left, and a current picture he sent home.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Annual West Yellowstone Adventure

Last week we took our annual trip to West Yellowstone. There were some differences this year, though. First off, only 3 of us went on Wednesday, Blake, Randy and I left about 4:00pm and got to West Yellowstone about 6:00. Courtney came up on the shuttle on Firday morning. So compared to the last 2 years when we had 8, it was very quiet. Next, we had two brand new snow machines and one brand new pickup! They all worked really well, much improved over the old ones.

There is not much snow this year, see the small black light pole to the right of the wooden doors? Other years that has been completely covered by snow.

It was really cold on Thursday morning!
Blake and Randy went to Two Top on Thursday, this is a great view of the Tetons!
Randy thought this was cool, the way the wind blew the snow all over this tree and made a hole around the tree. It's called a ghost tree.
After Courtney got there on Friday, and after it had warmed up a little, we all took off for a day of riding.
We rode to Meadow Creek Lodge for some lunch.


Here we are, waiting for our food.
We went to Big Springs.
We did find some trees that had snow on them, but mostly they were green.
  Sure not as much snow this year.
Blake at the top of the hill.
Randy at the top.
On Saturday after Blake and Randy got done riding, we went to Gushers Pizza. There were a bunch of guys that rode their machines to get some pizza. We rode in New Big Red.


On Sunday, we went to Sacrament Meeting, then ate a great Sunday dinner, played some games and watched 17 Miracles and some other movies. It was a nice relaxing day. Monday morning, we woke up to a little new snow, too bad it was time to go home!



Monday, January 9, 2012

Pictures from Jared

I received Jared's memory card in the mail today! It was a real good Monday! He is serving as a District Leader in Columbia, MO in the Highland Ward. His companion is Elder Hansen. 
I think this picture was taken in Fulton, pretty cool wall.



Boo hoo, no mail.
Thrust in your sickle!
Very nice quilt from Nikelle.