Swimming In Thermop!

We had sooooo much fun swimming in Thermopolis. Grandpa, Dad and I all got our workouts taking the boys up the stairs to the slides and back down again...about 500 times! It was great! Dad and Sawyer heading down the slide. The boys learned to plug their noses....it seemed to help with the very minimal splashing they experienced entering the pool....their heads NEVER went under the water:)

Things like this are really fun for Garrett now because he is getting to be a good little swimmer and tall enough to touch in the shallow water. We still have to watch him close, but he is now big enough to go down the adult slides by himself and he felt so big! We just had to teach him how to pretend that he was 6 years old for the age limit! One little girl actually asked how old he was...it was cute!

Chase and Mom going down the slide. For some reason I could get going the fastest and actually had a hard time slowing down at the end so that I didn't dunk the boys all the way under.

Sawyer and Mom

Grandma's job was to entertain Teeka for hours while we were on the slides. But eventually Grandpa even took Teeka down the slide. It was so cute because she didn't even know what was happening. She just sat on his lap chillin'.

Grandpa and Chase hauling butt down the slide. Great action shot, Grandpa!

Chase and Mom

Picnic In The Park!

Here are a few things we did while we were in Thermopolis with Grandma and Grandpa.... All the kids with Grandma and Grandpa by the "hot pots"

Walking over the river on the swinging bridge. They were all really brave...just a little cautious.

Picnic in the park

Grandpa and Grandma set up an Easter egg hunt in the park for the boys. They loved it!

Only bonked their heads a couple of times:)

Their baskets were left over fast food bags that we had from our picnic. We improvise well!

Grandma & Grandpa!

The boys always get so excited to be around their grandparents (both sides!) and we love the relationships they share with them. We were able to spend a really great weekend with my parents over Easter weekend in Thermopolis. We went swimming, to the dinosaur museum, and on a fun walk over a swinging bridge over the river. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We had a blast!Grandma with the boys at the dinosaur museum.

Grandpa with Teeka!

I love this picture.

Dinosaurs!!!!

Over Easter weekend we decided to take the kids to Thermopolis to go swimming and enjoy the nice weekend. Grandma & Grandpa Anderson decided to met us there for a little fun. It is always helpful these days to have some extra helping hands around to help us take care of the kids and we love being with our grandparents! While we were there we decided to take a trip to the dinosaur museum. None of us had ever been there and we were all pleasantly surprised! What a great museum for little Thermopolis! It had so many dinosaurs and the boys just went crazy with excitement! Just a fun dinosaur they took turns riding.

The boys are looking in the window where the scientists make molds and work on projects.

Teeka was really interested. She slept the whole time!

Garrett was such a big brother. He held Chase's hand almost the whole way through the museum.

Chase loves "Sharp Tooth's", but when he saw how big they are he was a little intimidated.

T-Rex A.K.A "Sharp Tooth"

I loved this display of a nest of baby dinosaurs and their mother. Chase and Sawyer wanted nothing to do with it. It looks very real.

I wanted a picture of them close to the dinosaur, but the twins wouldn't get very close. I love Sawyer's expression. He is such a poser, but this is how he felt, I'm sure.

I highly recommend this place! We had a blast!

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!!!

The last two snow storms we had really added up. I love snow this time of year because it gets so nice after the storm and the snow doesn't stick around for long. In fact, it is already gone, but it is so nice to be snowed in once in awhile! That means I don't have to pack up all the kids to go ANYWHERE! Lance teaching the boys about snowballs!!!! I think?

Lance is so great about going out and playing with the kids. They were outside this day for 2 hours building a snow fort.

This is only the beginning!

The dogs made trails to and from their dog house. Didn't even touch the ground it was so deep. We had a hard time keeping them in the yard because they could jump over the fence so easily.

Check out the fence line. The snow is about 3 feet deep. It was such a pretty snow. No wind at all and it just looked like an ocean of snow with smooth white waves everywhere!

Shed Hunting!

At this time every year Lance gets so excited to go shed hunting. The ranch limits their employees as to when they can go to give everybody a fair chance. It always cracks me up as to how competitive shed hunting can be and how Lance just can't wait to go. He is like a kid in a candy store! It is really fun to see his enthusiasm and I am so thankful that he can go do the things he loves to out here on the ranch! He did really good this year. So for all you shed hunters out there...check this out! Lance had been watching this bull with barbed wire wrapped around it's antlers and was hoping to find his sheds when they dropped....And he did. This is pretty cool!

This bull must have had a rough time getting out of this predicament!

This bull had its antlers caught in the fence and ended up dying that way. Lance found him tangled in the fence. Big bull (360?)!

Lance with all his sheds! Look how proud he is! And so am I!

Garrett is growing up:( He'll still always be my baby!

Garrett has quit taking naps during the day unless I really need him to. Sometimes when I am really tired I take a short nap when I put the other three kids down. Garrett is so grown up and so responsible, so I can totally trust him to play quietly on the computer or watch a movie while I am down. He knows not to wake me unless it is really important.

So the other day when I was napping I woke up to find that Garrett obviously got tired too, and instead of coming in to cuddle with me (like he usually does), he got a pillow and a blanket and laid down on the couch all by himself. When I came out of my room and saw this I almost started to cry. My baby is really growing up and becoming so independent. I am so proud of him and the example he is to all his younger siblings. He is not needing me as much anymore and in ways that is good. I realized that this is what is supposed to happen, but I'm not sure I am ready for it. Time goes way to quickly....Cherish the moments!

Easter 2009!

We got these adorable outfits for the kids for Easter. We will soon be taking a family picture in them. The Children's Place is a great place to shop!
Teeka in her Easter dress. Pretty Girl!

Sawyer is such a poser! He looks so handsome.

Garrett wasn't sure about this shirt until everybody at his Easter program told him how handsome he looked. Then he decided it wasn't so bad:)

Chase looks like deer in the headlights, but still oh so handsome.

This is a video of Garrett saying his part at his Easter program. He always does a great job of memorizing. He is so smart!

Teeka @ 8 Months

This isn't our typical Teeka, but it looks so cute. This is how she cries when she wants me to come get her. It looks so pathetic and so sad.
This is our typical Teeka. She is such a happy girl and so full of love. She is sporting 4 teeth with 2 more upper teeth on the way.

Teeka is crawling all over the place these days. Started at exactly 8 months old and is into everything in site. She is starting to get really fast and tries to crawl away from you when you are chasing her. So cute!

This is one of my favorites and I have been trying to capture it since Teeka's birth. It doesn't matter which brother is sitting next to her, they are holding her hand all the way to Buffalo on our way to work. This happens to be Sawyer, but they all do it. They love their sister so much and are the best big brothers ever!

Teeka has started finger feeding herself. As you can tell she is so proud about that and thinks she is such a big girl. And she is!

Here is a video of Teeka crawling!