Happy Birthday Jack

It's a milestone birthday for Jack! Happy 14th Birthday. It is official, Jack will be able to go to Stake dances now. Cole is looking after his brother by teaching him how to dance with the help of some very cute girls. Lucky for Jack, Cole has connections.

Preschool

Chloe and Max have started going to preschool two mornings a week. They are loving every minute of it. So is mom! I have about 5-6 hours of free time a week wa-hoo!!! They do lots of fun crafts and activities and are very proud of everything they make. they are so cute!

Cole gets HOOKED!!!!

Cole had a little mishap this past month. He was working for his Granpa Reno at his place mowing grass and doing yard work. Grandpa has a little herd of cows and one buffalo named Buffy Lou. The herd needed to be moved to a pasture so Cole and another employee opened the gates to the patures and waited for the herd to move to the new pasture. They have done this hundreds of times and the cows know exactly where to go as they usually run to the next pasture where the tall green grass awaits them. This time though, as Cole stood in an open space the buffalo stopped to eat some grass. She then looked up and saw Cole (he was standing about 30 feet away) and charged him!!! He ran to jump up on the nearest fence but not before she hooked him between the legs. He was very lucky because although he had injuries in a very sensitive area no vital necessities were harmed. He did have to have some stitches and has a long scratch on the back of his thigh about 18 inches long. He had called me after this happened because he knew he needed medical attention. He said to me, "Mom I've been gored in the _______ and I'm bleeding what should I do?" I thought he was playing a practical joke on me so I didnt belive him! He was very calm and matter of fact about it. It took a little while for him to convince me he wasn't joking. Then I felt so bad when I realized it wasn't a joke. Cole has since recovered but missed a couple weeks of football practice. He walked bull legged for a while as well and endured much teasing and nick names from the foootball team and friends at school. They called him Buffalo Bill, Rodeo Clown, and Buffalo Balls.

San Clemente Beach

We spent a week in San Clemente this summer with the Wagner family. We spent a few days soaking in the sun and enjoying the cooler weather. It is so very hot in Bakersfield July and August. We took the time to go to Sea World and Lego Land. It was so much fun! Great times!

I just love this picture of Max watching the beluga whales through the window!

Chloe and Max are exploring the tide pool sea life at Sea World.

May the force be with you Max!!!

Even teenagers can have fun in Lego land. It's just a little disappointing the rides can't go a little faster huh Cole?

Now this ride is definitely for the big guys. It's called the King's Tournament. Cole and Jack call it the "Nut Cracker"

Chloe's 4th Birthday

Chloe celebrated her 4th Birthday this summer. She had a flower party with all of her little friends. We painted faces, planted flowers, made flower necklaces and played pin the spot on the lady bug. We had a blast! It was girls camp this week so I didn't have my usual helpers for the party. Instead I enlisted Cole, Jack, and Riley to help. We had 8 kids including Chloe and Max and we were hoppin! A couple of little girls were quite smitten with my helpers too!

Summer Vacation

If it looks like they are up to no good, your right. Cole and Jack bought all their fireworks at Valley of Fire in Nevada. You know, the kind that are illeagal in California and just about everywhere else. But since we are at the ranch out in the middle of the country we let them have their fun. Just one word of warning, if they catch the haystack on fire, they will be dead!

This is the first time I have ever had to bundle up on the fourth of July! It's always so hot in Bakersfield!

We went to Sun Valley for Independence Day celebrations. We watched a parade and went to a kids carnival. Mom went to an antique show. We didn't stay for the fireworks because Cole and Jack had their own firework show planned.

This was Chloe's favorite part of the parade. Pretty girls on horses.

Checking out the carnival games

Of course we take our dogs on vacation with us!!! Idaho is doggie Heaven. We even rented a trailer to pull our luggage behind the Yukon so that Snickers could have the back of the car all to herself. This is a bird that Snickers hunted and killed all by herself. I wish I had filmed Fritzi-girl killing the squirrels as Jack and Cole flushed them out of their holes with the hose. It was hilarious. Fritzi-girl has a new nick name, "Killer".

We visited a new fishing spot this year. It was Bayhorse Lake. It is a peaceful lake up in the Sawtooth Mountains. We explored a the mining ghost town of Bayhorse on the way up to the lake. We took note that there are lots of ATV trails around the mountain ghost mines. We may have to explore this next year.

This is Cole, Chloe and Max enjoying a snack at Bayhorse Lake.

Chloe caught this good size fish. I had to hold it for her because she didn't like the way it wiggled on the hook. Notice the pink Barbie fishing pole. We caught lots of fish on this pole.

Max catches his first fish.

Nice fish Cole but...........................................

Now that's a BIG fish. Jack caught this huge fish at the fish hatchery pond and it was a beauty. Too bad Cole wasn't there to see it. He was hunting squirrels. The funny thing is we had just run out of worms and Jack pulled this old and I mean really old stink bait out of the tackle box and baited his hook with huge wad of it and caught this huge trout on it! It was unbelievable!!! We did release it so hopefully it will still be there next year.

Jack has been riding quads for quite a few years but this year Grandpa Reno taught Jack to drive his tractor and pick up truck. Jack was loving it! But after Rob, Cole and I rode with him on two separate occasions we decided that there is a good reason 13 year olds don't drive. THEY CAN'T SEE STOP SIGNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We spent the rest of our vacation at the Reno Ranch in Idaho. This is Chloe and Max riding "Flash".

This is a picture of the grandchildren and great grand children singing for Grandpa Harding. Chloe is in there wearing the purple lei. She loved running around with all the kids.

We started our vacation in Utah to surprise Rob's dad with a surprise party for his 80th Birthday. It was so fun to see the whole family and meet all the new additions. Our kids met lots of cousins they didn't know they had.

Swim Lessons

Chloe just finished swim lessons and she is really learning to swim! With a little more practice she will be on her own! Big difference from last year when she cried every day! Now She loves swim lessons so much she pretends to be "Allie" her instructor. She will pretend to give her friends swim lessons in the pool and in the bath tub. She will even ask me to be "Allie" and tells me to talk to her the way Allie does. Now Max is another story. He dropped out after the first day. We decided to focus on potty training which is proving to be more difficult that I expected of him.