Why? Wyoming!

That's a silly silly post title, I know, it just came to me! Two weeks ago we loaded up the car and headed to Dustin's parents home in Casper, WY. We left on Damen's birthday and got in the next day to the joyously full house. Both of Dustins sisters, husbands, kids and two of his brothers, wives, kids, and dog were there. We had lots of fun staying up late, playing games, doing headstands (talents), hiking and watching the fourth of July fireworks. The sibs started to head back to their respective homes and by Wednesday it was just us and Nana and Pa. We went out to Martins Cove, went shooting, to the park, shopping, out to dinner and Dustin and his dad spent a morning golfing. There are about a million pictures to share, so be fore warned and enjoy!



Damen's birthday cake out of rice and cocoa crispies, made with love by Nana and Aunt Stacy:

Nana and Pa gave Damen a sleeping bag to which his gleeful cry was, "Oh YEAH for my dates!" We had to explain to everyone that when we go out we often leave Damen with friends and we tell him we're going out on a date so this will be his "sleepover" sleeping bag, for when Mommy and Daddy go on dates:)

The Sean H. family gave Damen this great "Lightning Mcqueen" pillow that Aunt Stacy made, he loves it!

Uncle Brett playing this game in the backyard, what's it called? Ghetto golf or something, it was fun and we spend most of our daylight playing it!


We had a talent night that consisted of well, interesting things; dancing, singing, violin playing and ended with handstands. This is Dustins slightly older brother Sean. Below is his 11year old son Garick.



Casper falls that we hiked to together. This shot is of Uncle Evan and Conner climbing, Sean followed soon after and they were quick to shimmy up, a little slower on the way down!

Beautiful falls though.


The museum at the Casper College just got this mammoth, the most complete one ever found. We visited there for a while.

Damen getting golfing tips from Pa.

Ok, our trip to the Martins Cove visitors center could have been it's own post, it was amazing! In the 50 minute car ride we read about the pioneers that traveled through and were stranded and buried there. The stories of courage, love and faith were just beautiful. So was the landscape! The Platte river winds through the fields and the giant gap in the rock. We had a picnic, pulled the handcarts around and hiked out to Devils gate. I would strongly recommend visiting if you're ever in eastern central Wyoming, or just take a special trip, it was really neat!



Can you spot Dustin and Damen below?


Nana and Pa with Damen, saying goodbye.



Our good friends moved recently to Utah, sad huh? They took Olivia too and luckily we got to spend some time together.

Melissa, Dan and Olivia


We also got to stay the night at our friends Brian and Corinnes, here are their little monkeys Whitney and Westin being silly.


Christi, my sister, came over and took me and Corinne out to a piano bar downtown for some grown up fun. We sang and danced and drank (water), and had a blast! We rang in Corinne's "21st" birthday and then headed back to chat until the wee hours of the morning.



It was really a wonderful trip full of family and fun and friends!
(wow that's a lot of "f's")

Birthday Boy!

Damen was born on July 2 at 10:57am, he has been the joy of our lives ever since. And now my baby turned four. I've been told that I can't call him a baby anymore, but I'm pretty sure I can still call him MY baby, that's acceptable right? Until he graduates from High School or college, or when I die!

This year we traveled to Casper, WY for the fourth of July and stayed with Dustin's parents for the week. We had to leave on Damen's birthday so we had a party for him on June 30th with some of his little buddies and our good friends the Cheesemans, it was lots of fun!

His "train" cake.

Since we were leaving I didn't want a whole cake to try and get rid of so cupcakes came into play. The ones we didn't eat are in the freezer, easy!



All of his loot, with Everett standing by. The boys wasted NO time playing with all the new stuff. Playing with Darrell.

This picture's the BEST! The kids decorated their own cupcakes and this is Chelsea basically just eating the sprinkles, what fun!


On Damen's actual birthday we surprised him with this:


Isn't he cute riding around at 6:45am?(He slept in) He seemed to get the hang of it quick, but since we left that night and it's been SMOLDERING hot since we got back he hasn't got to ride it since that morning!

Later in the day we had to go to the "K" store (KMART) to spend his birthday money from Grandma and Papa S. and this is what he wanted, an Ironman arm thing. He's seen the cartoon, thanks to Netflix, and has envied his cousins Buzz Lightyear arm band things since April. It shoots darts, yay and makes lots of noise!


We had another party in Wyoming, but that's part of the "Vacation" blog that I'll be posting soon, maybe tomorrow even:) So, Happy Birthday to my baby, my how time flies!

Summer Fun

I love to shop.
I do, I love to try things on, to look, to judge, to find the PERFECT bargain. I love it.
I also love to swim. Put me in the water and I am at home, comfortable, exercising, floating, it is joy.

Something that I don't love though, that is an evil necessity to the aforementioned activities, is shopping for a swimsuit.

Why oh why must this be so difficult? It's just a bit of material, arm, leg and head holes and wa-lla, swimsuit! Oh no, it must involve many many trips to the dressing room in at least three different stores, mirrors that showcase(emphasize) your "qualities" and at least one "WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING WALKING AROUND IN PUBLIC WITH THIS BODY!! SOMEBODY STOP ME!!" Yeah, that's how it goes.

Target, Walmart, Kmart and Kohls all had their chance to wooo me into something shapely, flattering, and water worthy and failed, miserably. Taking a three year old along might have added to my haste, but it didn't change the fact that my (ahem) size women need certain comforts when floating free. They do not include metal rings/loops/or other assorted bling placed squarely in the chest area, a neckline that stops just above the belly button, or colors that outshine the sun.

One suit I tried on had a lot of promise, it's tag stated specifically that I would appear 10lbs thinner, instantly! How could that not be good? I tried it on fully expecting a small lipo machine to begin sucking the fat from my pores, naturally what else would I expect? How else could I look 10 lbs thinner while standing there practically nude, well except for the thin layer of spandex & nylon? I ask you HOW??
Nothing nearly so dramatic happened, it fit, it covered, I turned to view the back and it sagged, sadly so. I took (inherited) something from my Grandma S., her lack of a back-side, no Jay-lo issues here, nope, quite the opposite in fact. Thanks Grandma:)

In the end Ross turned out to be THE store. With exactly two onepiece suits in my size I tried them both on and found a winner!
I fully expect this suit to last me at least two if not three swimsuit seasons so that this kind of "necessary evil" shopping can be avoided for as long as possible!

Dads

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!

Age

I'm exactly 10 times older than Damen, for another day.
Dustin is 12 times older than him, for a few more weeks.
I am not a fan of getting older.

From the mouths of babes

So every sunday I have the pleaseure of teaching some sweet five year olds. The things they say each week are usually silly or unusual, but today was special!

One little boy told me this story:

This guy keeps calling us over and over and over! His name's Steve Poison-er and my mom just has to hang up on him! (the story was very dramatic) Over and over and over again! Ya know what I think? I think Steve Poison-er is a blockhead!


The closing prayer, said by a little girl included this plea:

And please bless that no one dies. So we can all get baptized when we turn eight.


What a lovely, memorable Sunday!




(Steve POIZNER is running for Gov. of California)

Baby? Where!

No, not here, not anymore.

Damen's not a baby.

There, I said it, maybe one day I'll believe it. He's three, almost four. He used to be a baby, but now he's closer to something else. Something new, maybe exciting and wonderful, but I miss my baby.

When did this even happen? Wasn't I looking, paying attention? Well of course I was, I just didn't notice it until it was too late, he's a big boy now. (sigh) I miss my baby. . .