4/11/2013 Mother's Day at the Farm

This year for Mother's Day, as in the past we went to the farm and cooked Pocket Stew (tin foil dinners) over the coals for my mother.  David was there, Tanner and Chelsey came up on their way to Idaho Falls, Tracy and Tyler came after Tracy got off work. Bo, Tracy's dog came.  He was busy chasing the chickens everywhere. It started out as a nice day, but then just as we finished eating it started to rain and Mom didn't like the rain and thought she would get stuck in the mud with her truck so she left.  Tyler and Tanner and their wives shot Tyler's new handgun.  Chelsey needs to wear different clothes when she shoots the gun - if you want to know why you will have to ask her. Abby and Jaxon were busy playing with David's new Russian Blue kittens which someone dropped off at the farm.  David has been feeding and taking care of them.   The robins were busy building a birds nest in the barbecue grill.  All in all it was a fun day and I think Mom enjoyed having all of us at the farm.

Roasted Robin Nest???

Look at those beautiful blue eggs - we tried hard not to move them.

Bo -  chasing the chickens!

 Mom eating Pocket Stew! Her favorite meal over the fire.

 Dennis, Abby and Jaxon making lime cupcakes with lime frosting, sprinkles, and candy eyes! (Dennis and I were on babysitting duty while Tracy and Tyler went to the movies.

Cooper's first driving experience in our truck? (He looks a little guilty)

Blake's Birthday

Blake and his family came to Idaho Falls for his birthday.  We had lunch in the backyard and then went to Tautphaus Park Zoo to see all the new animals.  They had a baby zebra born and few weeks earlier and the baby sloth bears were out playing instead of hiding in the tree trunks.  Several people came for Blake's birthday- Tracy & Tyler with their kids and Tanner and Chelsey with the twins.  Everyone had a great time at the zoo especially in the petting zoo where you were allowed to brush the goats.  I was surprised that the twins and Lizzie would get close to them.  All in all in was a great day and I hope that Blake had a fun birthday.

Perfect picture - I think the "Goat" was posing for the camera!

Life is Expensive

This year has been very expensive and it is only April.  It seems like every time I turn around there is something that needs to be fixed, repaired, replaced or just thrown away.  It started in November with my Washer and Dryer going out.  So we replaced them.  Then Dennis sold my car because I was telling him that it was starting to nickel and dime us with all of the repairs. So then we had to go and get a different car. (I had to drive his BIG truck for 2 weeks before we found another car that we liked).  Then on the day that I decide to finally drive the new car to work, I try to back out of my garage and the garage door would not work (I just couldn't believe it would just break like that - the big spring broke in half) So, I had to drive Dennis's truck again to work.  And now, my microwave in my kitchen is gone out - they don't make a replacement that will fit in the space).  The floor in the bathroom upstairs is getting to soft - Dennis things that the toilet is going to fall through the floor (not really, but it is getting worse).  And, we need to replace the furnace in Pocatello. Whew!  What a list of things in such a sort amount of time. (And I still need to fix the downstairs bathroom, replace the carpet upstairs and the flooring in the dining room - to name just a few)

The washer and dryer are nice - to long of a cycle for the washing machine though.  If you every buy a new one, check to see how long the cycles are on the washing machine.  The dryer works great.

It has a lot of bells and whistles that I am still trying to figure out!

After the garage door

Before the new garage door

 

04-21-13 Babysitting Kaytina

Tyler and Neta decided to finally go to the movies since having Kaytina.  They drove to Idaho Falls to watch a movie and I had the privilege of babysitting Kaytina for the first time.  She is still pretty little considering she is almost 2 months only.  I think she is around 8 1/2 pounds or so.  I tried to take a few pictures, but she is wiggly for such a tiny body.

Here is Kaytina Sleeping so peacefully.

 Here is Kaytina - same pose but awake.

 Here is Kaytina after discovering that the rattle made noise.

Snoozing again - the rattle is about 4 inches long so you can tell how small she still is.  She still weighs the same as a newborn baby.

 Dennis holding her while I fixed warmed up her bottle.

04-16-13 Saturday with Abby

Abby and I decided to go and visit the Idaho Falls Library where they were having a book sale.  It took Abby all of 20 minutes to pick out a stack of books that she wanted to take home.  Thank goodness the children's books were 5 for $1.00. After we went to the Library we went to Arby's for lunch and had Dennis join us.  The strangest thing happened while we were there.  There was an elderly lady in the booth next to us who seemed to be listening to everything that Abby said.  We were talking about cheese soup with cauliflower and broccoli in it.  Well, the elderly lady started to leave, but before she left, she came over the table where we were sitting and started singing a song to Abby about how beautiful she was and how pretty her brown eyes sparkled.  Everyone in Arby's starting watching as this lady was singing this song to Abby.  I was not sure what to make of the whole event.  It seemed that where ever we went we were having the same kind of response. 

After Arby's we went to Reed's Dairy for some "Huckleberry Ice Cream."  Abby was wondering why there were making "WAFFLES" at an ice cream store.  I tried to explain to her that the cones were made from a batter.  But, Abby wanted to know more so we went over closer to the area where they were pouring the batter into the machines.  She was very interested in the whole process.  The clerk showed her how they were made and how much batter it took to produce one waffle cone.  We started to leave and the lady said, please wait, I have a special one for you.  She had made a child size waffle cone and gave it to her.  Wow it was an interesting couple of hours.  Oh, if you are reading this be sure to ask Abby how her mail order caterpillars are coming along?

03/28/13 - 04/05/2013 Trip to Seattle

It is always amazing to me how time just flies when you are traveling.  We left on Thursday night March 28 after work,  and headed for Missoula, Montana. Tracy, Abby, Jaxon, Chelsey, Cooper and Kylie left around 1:30 pm the same day knowing that they would have a lot more stops than us.  We stayed at our favorite place, the C'mon Inn.  It has a beautiful waterfall, hot tubs, large swimming pool and kid's pool for the under 2 year olds.  It's a great family place to stay.  We got up the next morning, ate breakfast, then packed and we were on the road again.  We made it to Travis and Ryann's house late in the afternoon on Friday.  The next morning we got up earlier because the community was doing an Easter Egg hunt at the park.  We loaded up with all of our Easter baskets and "kids" (Cooper, Kylie, Jaxon, Aftyn, Maddie, Hunter, Kaylee and Aftyn - 5 of the kids were under the age of 2 - what a handful.  It's a good thing that we had lots of parents and adults helping with this little adventure) It was a great Easter Hunt  with Hunter receiving a very special egg - he received an extra large chocolate bunny - Way to go Hunter!  The next day was Easter Sunday - Grandma and Grandpa slept in the living room hoping to see the Easter Bunny while the kids all slept upstairs.  The kids hunted excitedly for eggs - including some hard boiled eggs that they had colored the day before.  After the Easter Egg scavenger hunt we all dressed and went to church for Easter Sunday. The kids looked very nice in their Easter clothes. 

We left on Monday for Troy and Laura's house.  While there we visited the Woodland Zoo and also the Sea Aquarium.  We went to Ivar's for lunch one day which was a little embarrassing for Dennis and I.  Our credit cards would not work and we were planning on paying for everyone.  Troy's card did not work either.  The clerk told us our meal was free because it was a problem with their cash register.  (that was a nice gesture on her part - we did try to pay again at the end, but it still was not working).  All in all we had a wonderful trip visiting family.  We left on Thursday, April 4 and headed home.  We made it to Missoula late Thursday night, and then got up the next morning to head for home.  We put a lot of miles on the car, but it was a very comfortable ride.  It was such a great trip watching the kids play together and enjoying each other's company.  Tracy was the champion "BIG BOSS" winner at Troy's house.  I think that I will challenger her to a rematch next time we go.  I want to thank Travis and Ryann and Troy and Laura for their great hospitality, great food, great company, great kids and an all-around wonderful time. We always enjoy the time that we get to spend with our children and grandchildren! And now for the pictures - I took over 580 pictures!

 

 Here is Abby at the C'mon Inn standing in bear paws.

 Aftyn at the Easter Egg Hunt in Quincy, Washington

 All of us showing off our baskets.

 Hunter - the best Easter Egg Hunter of All - look at the size of that chocolate Easter bunny.

 Bath time - ever single night - the kids loved their bath time together.

 Coloring of the Easter eggs.

 Dennis can't have Easter without his PEEPS and this year PEEPS on a STICK!

 Kylie in her blue, fluffy, Easter dress.

 Ryann getting Kaylee ready for Easter Sunday Church

 Cooper - the business man!

 Jaxon spilled on his white shirt, but we found a matching vest for him and Hunter.

 All the kids in their Sunday best - This was quite the challenge since they were all high on Easter Candy.

 Troy and Collin - it's all about the books!

 Tracy and Abby - all about the books TOO!

 Dennis and I scuba diving at the Seattle Aquarium

 The bench with grandkids

 Our bubble children, Jaxon and Abby.

 Troy and Laura on the hippo!

 Abby and Jaxon on the elephant!

 Troy with his ape friend.

 The under "two" picture.

 Tracy, Abby and Jaxon on the bench.

Chelsey, Cooper and Kylie enjoying some bench time too!

03-24-2013 Kaytina Mae Blessing Day

Kaytina Mae Loftus was blessed by her Grandfather Dennis Loftus on March 24, 2013.  It was a very exciting day with lots of family, friends and kids.  She was blessed at the Fort Hall LDS churchhouse on the highway.  Her mother, Neta dressed her in the same dress that she was blessed as a baby.  After the blessing we went to Neta's parents house where we visited and had lunch.  Kaytina was so cute and adorable - everyone wanted to hold her.