Life at Rook Acre

Progress on The New House

2011-06-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

We are nearing completion! This has been a year in the works and soooo worth it. We did all the work ourselves on this house- demolition and rebuilding- up until it came to drywall mudding & texturing, tile and plumbing. We are also having a contractor do the finish work (doors, closets, trim, windows- etc.). I got it all painted and carpet came this week and the tile guy is nearly finished. We are so close!

My kitchen- I love this backsplash and my hickory cabinets. Can't wait until it's complete.

Kitchen BEFORE-

Upstairs bathroom before-

My shower-

My 6 ft. tub- ahhhh...can't wait to soak in it! (well..after a whole lotta bleach, huh? LOL) It needs grout too.

Remember the ugly rock fireplace?

It was just so dirty and hard to clean. There was no way I was ever going to get that dusty look off.

So, I painted that sucker! And I love how it turned out.

Living room now- trim and crown moulding and window trim still to go but what an improvement, huh?

Remember the "Stairway to Hell"?

Not so hellish anymore! Yay!

Wanna make some kids REALLY happy? Paint their living room bright green and put some carpet in. Instant happiness!

Cuz it looked like THIS before...

This may be the best transformation though. The Infamous Basement Bathroom-

Here it is now!

More pics to come when it's all finished, cleaned and shined up. Can't wait!
For MORE before pics click here (or copy and paste)
http://rookacre.blogspot.com/2010/09/demolition.html

Snowpocalypse 2010

2011-01-24T20:38:00.000-08:00

It snowed and snowed and snowed.....

And we shoveled, and shoveled, and shoveled....

We shoveled for 6 hours! The deck was covered with snow that had slid off the roof and it was 4-5 feet deep!

The boys played and played and played....

The boys built snow forts and had snowball fights when we had our first snow (not the BIGGIE storm that dumped 3 feet of snow everywhere)

Chores at Sunset

2011-01-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

Time for the horses' dinner. Beautiful night, 10 degrees.

Karter throws hay while Kai drives. The Rook Brothers get it done!

The horses start their feeding frenzy

Lucy can't wait for it to hit the ground.

Hoosier...he likes to get up close and personal. LOL

And he's getting FAT!

Oh Hoosier...ya big ol' Love!

Kai finally let Karter drive. I think Karter had to pay him though. LOL

Dinner Time in Neola

2011-01-24T19:09:00.000-08:00

Lots of moose around town this year. They're hungry!

Happy Birthday Kenyon!

2011-01-24T18:54:00.000-08:00

Kenyon turned 5 on December 27th, 2010. We went to Park City for a little tubing fun and met up with some crazy people from Arkansas.

What a crew! Kenyon, Karter, Kai, Ally, Carter Drennon, Avery Drennon, & Sierra

5. I'm 5.

Tubing!!

Kai's freestylin'

Waiting in line...

The Tubing Crew- Avery, Sierra, Carter, Karter, Ally, Kai, Kenyon

Jenn & Gina

How to Embarrass Your Daughter by Kolby Rook

2011-01-24T18:29:00.000-08:00

The kids were all modeling their new Christmas clothes. Lookin' good Rook kids!

Kai looks great. Rockin' the Old Navy boot cuts and his favorite big buckle.

Karter the Stud

Sweet Ally- looking gorgeous...

And along comes Dad in his DORKY hat!

SMILE ALLY!!!

There he is again.

I'm so ashamed!

Rook Kids 2011

2011-01-24T18:00:00.000-08:00

Successful photo shoot! Great pics. Thank you Ragan Eaton- Captured By Ragan Photography. (If you click on the pics they'll come up bigger)

These kids make that old barn look good.

Karter- 12

Ally- 9

Kai- 6

Kenyon- 5

Good lookin' kids!

Rookie's 1st Buck

2010-10-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

Ol' Deadeye Karter got his first buck today. He is so excited. He and Uncle Grizz went up on Goslin Mountain, the spot where Kolby killed his first buck and the place Karter used to hunt with Pop. It proved to be the perfect spot. And somewhere Pop is smiling down on Karter and is as proud as he can be.

It should also be noted that Karter was shooting my Grandma Mary's trusty ol' .270. We have affectionately the gun "Mary". It was bestowed to me in 1995 as a Christmas present, and Grandma Mary has never regretted her decision to hand this gun down to me as it has been used well and I treasure it dearly. It had been quite a few years since "Mary" (and Grandma Mary) killed a buck with that gun, but Karter got it sighted in this week and told me, "Mom, I could drill a quarter at 200 yards with it now." when he came back from shooting Thursday night. He was excited and ready for his first rifle deer hunt.

His day started early as he and Uncle Grizz got up at 4 am to make the long drive to an area near the Utah/Wyoming state line above Flaming Gorge. Karter tells the story like this: "We were hiking up on top of Goslin, looking down the hillside. We were headed towards a patch of trees when we stopped to glass the hillside. We saw a few does first but then I heard Grizz shout Pop's famous words, "The last one's a buck!". I sat down and put my gun up to scope out the buck, resting my elbows on my knees to steady my rifle. It didn't take long for me to decide I was going to take this buck. I had buck fever and I had it bad. I wanted him. I told Uncle Grizz "I'm going to shoot him, Grizz. I'm going to shoot him." The buck was standing broadside to me, about 187 yards away, so I jacked a shell in, got the buck in my crosshairs, and squeezed the trigger. The next thing I know Grizz was shouting, "HE'S DOWN! HE'S DOWN!".

"At first I didn't believe him and I sat there saying, "Really? Really? Are you sure?". But sure enough, my buck was down; one shot through the lungs and he moved no more. Then the work began. I took on the task of field dressing the buck myself then Grizz and I drug him back up to the truck."

"I am very excited to have killed my first buck. I was so pumped up about it and very proud of myself for hitting the buck in the vitals with the first shot, right where I was taught. I thank my Pop for teaching me how to hunt and instilling in me a love of hunting, and my Uncle Grizz for taking me with him all the time and being my hunting buddy. I also love "Mary", my mom's .270. I like hunting with a gun that has been passed down through my family and has killed deer before."

Karter Rook- 1st Buck- 1 Shot- 12 years old, Oct. 23, 2010

Karter- Everyone Needs One

2010-10-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

What would I do without my Karter? He's such a great kid. He is Kolby's #1 helper on this house project and has worked his butt off. We are very proud of him and love him very much.

So...this one's dedicated to KARTER.

Hanging Sheetrock-

Kai helped where he could too. He's spraying popcorn ceilings for me to scrape off. (and might I just add that I HATE those stupid popcorn ceilings? What a mess!)

Ally is good at looking cute and avoiding work....

But it just leaves her plenty of time to teach Kai how to dance...

and shoot her .22

And even though he worked all day, big brother was still there to help his little brothers with the gun. What a great brother!

Showing Kai how to load it...

This kid's a good shot!

Karter adores Kenyon and will help him with anything. The other day Kenyon told me, "Mom, guess what? Karter sayed he loves me today!" Awwwww!

And he cleans up nicely too. What a handsome kid!

DEMOLITION!

2010-09-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

We tore into that house right away and worked on demolition all summer. Karter's favorite tool of choice was a tire iron. LOL (Hey! It worked great, ok?)

"Wanna spend the night at my house?" really meant, "We'll make you work in our remodel house for food." Karter and his buddy Weston had fun busting out walls.

Knocking the wall between upstairs bedrooms down...

Upstairs living room stripped down (almost)

DURING- basement- from living room looking to the south down the hallway. Drywall gone- insulation still needs to come out. Major improvement already though, huh?

Kid's living room- black stuff on vapor barrier is mold. Lovely, huh? It still smells wet down there. I think it will until all that insulation comes out. Heating and air yet to go in at time of photo (it's in now tho).

Taken from corner of little boys' room. The brick wall will stay and so will the cool western looking chandeliers. I'll clean them up and keep them. The little boys want a western/cowboy room so those fit perfectly. The built-ins will get a paint job and that brick will get a wash down. The hole where the stove pipe went for the wood burning stove will be covered up, but that brick pad where the stove sat stays. The little boys say that will be the town streets when they play farm.

We will also put some french doors in that large opening to the kids' living room.

Other corner of the little boys' room. We'll build a closet over there. They've got a HUGE space. We're excited about it.

5 HUGE dump-trailer loads hauled off so far

Kitchen and hallway- see my pretty hickory cabinets? They're ready to go in. We ust need to sheetrock!

Upstairs bathroom expanded- picture it without all the pipes in the middle. The tub will sit here, toilet will go in the corner and that other box is the shower base. I am standing where the vanity will go (you can't see me tho since I'm taking the picture). 1/4 bath will go on the other side of the shower base.

Lots of sheetrock and tile ready to go in the upstairs living room. That's what the drywall looks like when you rip the paneling off, too. That'll take some fun mud work once we get the sheetrock up in the rest of the house...

Kenyon- this little boy has worked his butt off in this house. He is always willing to help with anything and he works HARD. He loves tools and fixing and helping out. LOVE this child!

Poor guy even stepped on a nail one day. It went right through those sandals into his big toe. It was very traumatic for him and he talked about his "injury" for 2 weeks. Awwwwww!

WORKIN' HARD or HARDLY WORKIN'?
These two slackers would help for a few minutes then go play outside. They love the weed jungle and searching for grasshoppers. Told ya those weeds were just gonna get bigger....

Grasshopper hunting...

Total slacker... ;-)

Ice cream break!

Summer storm...

Results of a HUGE storm that put down a lot of water. The water came right in the windows, down into the walls and all over the floor. No wonder the insulation all along the west wall was so wet! The bathroom leak didn't help matters either. But...we'll get it worked out! It will be fixed. We now have window wells and the new windows will be installed any day now. Yay!

The New House

2010-09-26T19:01:00.001-07:00

We bought a house in June that needs A LOT of work. It's 2400 sq feet on 2 acres, but it required a complete gut. We have an awesome neighborhood though....

1/2 a mile from the house

Our only neighbor to the west...my cousin Craig's house upon the hill above the lake

Southwest view (ugly fence but we'll fix that)

South View

Our driveway arch, only neighbor to the North and the awesome North view

BEFORE
Only 2 neighbors but A LOT of work. The house was in pretty rough shape. A family lived here, but they didn't take very good care of the place...

The only thing we're keeping- this cool rock fireplace. It needs a major overhaul and cleaning, but it will look nice when we're finished with it. The woodburning stove is coming out. We'll put a cover there for now...a new gas insert later.

The kitchen cabinets don't LOOK that bad, but they were pretty gross. I was really happy when those came out. The floor was quite nasty too. The stove was gross and had moldy food stuck to the side of it. Gag!

Nasty windows

Upstairs bathroom. I can't believe people lived here. Wait 'til you see the basement though....

Upstairs bedroom #1- this room shares a wall w/the bathroom. Clearly there was a lot of water damage.

Upstairs bedroom #2- dark paneling just made it feel so much more closed in.

The upstairs bedrooms have closets back to back. They're coming out, the rooms will be one giant master bedroom and the bathroom will be expanded into bedroom #1, and a walk in closet will be built in bedroom #1 as well.

Looking back into dining room/kitchen from living room. Someone tried to fix the house up a little...

Are you ready for this? You're sure? Going downstairs now! The ugly stairway to HELL....

Look at this! The bathroom downstairs. Major water damage from above!! Yikes!

Laundry Room- It's ALL coming out. Moldy drywall, insulation behind it, cabinets...the works. TOTAL GUTTING of the basement. (thank God!)

Downstairs living room w/ kitchen area- the kids get this room for themselves. It functioned as a kitchen and dining room for the people who built the house. It'll be the kid's TV/Game room complete with a juice bar since there are full kitchen hook-ups. That wood burning stove is going bye-bye. It doesn't belong there anyway.

Kitchen area that will be the kids' juice bar/counter and sink. See the dirt piled up against the window there? There are no window wells in the basement. Rainwater came right in those windows and went down into the walls. Once it saturated the insulation it went to the carpet. I just can't believe people lived with that in this place!

Check it out! Ghosts in the basement! Look at all the ORBS! (couldn't be all the dust and mold flying thru the air could it? LOL)

This was the downstairs living room. Oooo...white paneling! They went with a different look for this room. Love that plush red carpet! ;-) This will be Kai and Kenyon's room. It's huge!

Downstairs hallway looking south....straight into Ally's bedroom. On the right are the laundry room and bathroom, on the left is a big pantry and under the stair storage area. Nice storage area! On the other side of the stairs to the left is Karter's bedroom.

Karter's room- see the water stains on the carpet?

What the heck!? Weird bathroom medicine cabinet on the wall in Karter's room. That was the first thing he ripped down.

Ally's room- we pried up the paneling to see what damage there was behind the panels. Most of the drywall in the basement was moldy. It all came out. The insulation behind it was wet as well so it came out too.

Hole in Ally's ceiling. This is right below the upstairs bedroom that shares the wall w/the upstairs bathroom and is also right next to the downstairs bath were the big water leak was. It caused the ceilings to fall in the downstairs bath and this bedroom.

East side of the yard- sooooo much work to be done in the yard as well. That'll have to be next summer's work though.

2 acres of weeds. Don't worry...they're just going to get bigger and bigger! Also, there are mounds of dirt with trash in them. The person who was hired by the bank to clean out the house for sale came in, threw everything out into the yard and then buried it in big mounds all over the yard. Nice, huh? That'll be a fun task next year. That dirt pile you see running all across the yard is the ditch. It was dug out this year. Really pretty, huh? Ugh...

East side porch. That's actually the front door side. It's in poor shape, but better than the west side porch.

East side of the house looking to the south. Nice view...no neighbors..still a plus! (there is one neighbor to the East in a crappy house. She's a whole acre away though. There is a hayfield in between her house and ours. The only other neighbor is to the North. He's the son of the man who built this house. The family owned all the land, but when the old man died they carved out 2 acres, but never actually fenced it off so we have a lot more property here than what the fences show. We have land in that hayfield, to the south and more to the west as well. We'll have to get the surveyor over to plot it all out then meet with the man who owns the hayfield- 3 Rivers Ranch-.

Big ol' Cottonwood tree w/the remnants of a tree house in it.

Karter was pretty excited about it! This is his summer project next year (if we ever get the yard into shape)

Irrigation canal under the treehouse tree..west side of the driveway...looking North. don't think it's in use anymore though. Water does come in to that silver headgate there and then the water runs across our yard to the hayfield on the East, but I don't think that big ol' canal has had water in it for years.

Check it out! My very own HAM RADIO tower! Wohoo! lol Hey...when the internets go down in a big emergency who's still gonna be able to communicate with everyone? That's right...ME! Got your ears on out there folks? ;-)

SOFTBALL

2010-09-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

Ally had an amazing summer of softball. She and her BFF, Marleigh, played on a team with girls from Duchesne and Altamont. Ally started pitching and is doing really, really well. She got the chance to pitch in several games and did pretty good for just starting out. Her team really learned a lot and had a GREAT time.

On deck:

1st At Bat (I think she got walked)

Warming up

Playing 2nd Base

How cute is this uniform!??

Softball's always more fun when your BFF plays too! Ally and Marleigh

The Basin Brawlers 2010

SUMMER 2010

2010-09-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

We had a super busy summer in 2010- here are the highlights:

Karter turned 12! 12 is a huge milestone for boys in the LDS church. He has been given the Aaronic Priesthood and can now serve sacrament and attend Young Men's instead of being stuck down in primary with the little kids. (Karter couldn't WAIT for that change. LOL)

For his birthday party his scout troop floated the river from Flaming Gorge Dam to Little Hole. Afterward we roasted hot dogs then took the dam tour. There were many "Dam" jokes thrown around that day. Those boys had a ball and were so much fun.

In these pics you'll see- Karter, Ally, Kai and Kenyon along with Weston Horrocks, Marleigh Horrocks, Kyle Hanke, Gavin Henrie, Kason Miller and Kyler Campbell. Their Scout leaders are Kevin Duncan and Kolby Rook.

Waiting for the dam tour to start: l to r: Gavin Henrie, Kason Miller (behind), Weston Horrocks, Karter, Kyle Hanke, Kyler Campbell (behind)

The Dam Marmot

Beautiful scenery on a fun day too!

We also caught a movie at the Drive-in theater on FREE night. We found a bunch of friends there.
Karter and Weston found a really great Indian radio station.

Chillaxin

Ally and Ali Mortensen. Awww! We're gonna miss Ali! She moved to Colorado. :-(

BFFs- Marleigh, Ali and Ally

Kenyon loves his BFF Marleigh!

SWIMMING LESSONS
You'd never guess it was freezing cold that morning, would you? 65 degrees poolside!

Warming up in his blanket after a really cold dip in the pool at 8 a.m.

Synchronized swim team! Ally and Marleigh

A boy and his bunny. Kenyon caught this bunny in the Neola kid's rodeo.

Kolb's new car

Parade time! Ally, Kai and Kenyon on The Edge Magazine "float". Michelle's dad's 1950 Chev

Kenyon on his Farm Field Trip in May

The Band Geeks take Lagoon!
Karter and his 6th grade band buddies had a great time at Lagoon after competition in Salt Lake

Just like his dad, Karter loves the Go-Karts.

Thumbs up for going straight up! Karter on the Catapult

Catapult!

Snow in May

2010-06-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

We got quite a bit of snow here in May. It didn't last long, but it sure was pretty.

Shootin' Some Hoops

2010-06-13T22:12:00.001-07:00

Ally Rook has the ball...

She sets up for the shot....

She shoots.....

She Scores!!!

Ally's team

Kenyon is 4!

2010-06-13T21:39:00.000-07:00

The Birthday Boy at Headstart

Duck...Duck....GOOSE!

Christmas Program

2010-06-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

Kai was so cute at the Christmas Program. He doesn't love singing, but he sure put on a good show for us. LOL He's always surrounded by girls too.

So it was no surprise when I looked up and noticed him holding Mia Rasmussen's hand. Awwwwww!

Ally loves to sing

And loves to use the boomwhackers!

I miss winter....

2010-06-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

We got LOTS of snow this year. It was glorious. I do love snow...

Bald eagle in mom's tree. Very cool

Tuba Players Rock

2010-06-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

Check it out! Karter plays tuba in the band. He loves it!

Lagoon w/the Band Geeks-what an awesome group of boys! This was after they took 1st place in their competition and won Best All Around School for great behavior and being nice kids.

Band Geeks on the Bus to Lagoon

Bookcliffs Thanksgiving 2009

2010-06-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

We got some shooting in off the top of Sybil's Point

Our Christmas tree!

Best buddies!

Master chef!

Chef apprentice

Such good food...

Da Boys (and Bella)

Kai's Hike

Quite a climb back to the top

Halloween 2009

2010-06-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

A Zombie and a Go-Go Dancer. Ally and Marleigh ready to Trick Or Treat

Kenyon the Zombie

Prettiest Dorothy you ever did see!

Frankenstein showed up to trick or treat too!

And her little dog too!

Cowboy Kai

2010-06-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this little cowboy!

Big, Tough Football Player

2009-09-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

Rookie's a big, tough 6th grader this year and loves playing football. It's good to be the biggest.....

There he is...nose tackle and center...#90. Team Captain and leader.

Kai and Kenyon's 1st Day

2009-09-06T18:58:00.000-07:00

Kai is in Kindergarten this year and Kenyon is in Head Start pre-school. Kenyon was very excited to start, but after four days of 9am-2:30 pm he wasn't loving it so much. LOL He asked me, "Mom, can you un-sign me up for school?"

Cowboy Kai mounts his ride...

Kenyon

Kai and a few of his friends- Savannah, Tyson, Cade and Kai

Kai sits by Savannah and Mia.

"H-h-h-h H says h-h-h" Aunt Cindy is Kai's teacher. Yay! We love Mrs. O!

Kai...surrounded by the girls. LOL

Summer wrap-up....

2009-08-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

Karter made the All-Star team....

Conference on the mound. Karter is #8

Tough loss. Kolby coached, too.

Karter got his lamb and pig ready for the Fair. His pig was naughty and an ornery SOB. He was the #15 hog in the fair though.

We went camping.....

Ally made the tumbling performance team, too. She was nervous during her first performance so she didn't do as many back handsprings as she normally does (she can do as many as five)...she only did one and didn't quite know what else to do. I nearly missed her back whip, too, because people were walking in front of the camera..grrrr...

The Tooth Fairy Visits Kai

2009-08-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

Kai lost his first tooth and the Tooth Fairy gave him FOUR BUCKS! Wohoo!

Summer's Over, Man!

2009-08-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

Back to School it is!

Karter's 1st day of 6th grade. He goes to the Middle School down in town now. Kai was a little upset about it. He watched Karter get on the bus and said, "I cried a little, but then I dried it up. He's just going so far away." (it's 10 miles, Kai...LOL)

Here is Mr.Cool on his first day. I let him make his hair blonde....

"Enough pictures, Mom...I gotta go!"

And one look back...

Ally is in 3rd grade and couldn't wait to get to school. Kenyon was a little upset when he watched his sister ride off.(but he dried it up too. lol)

And she's off....

Kai the Cowboy...the making of a rodeo legend.....

2009-06-24T00:11:00.000-07:00

Kai has a dream. He wants to be a cowboy when he grows up and have "a big, pretty ranch full, and I mean FULL, of longhorn cattle with giant horns.".

Kai dresses in Wranglers every day. His Pop bought him some boots for Christmas and that boy has put 1000s of miles on them already. He wears them faithfully and has nearly worn them out. He also doesn't leave the house without the belt with his name on it that Pop also bought him for his birthday in March, just before he died. He rides his bike all around the neighborhood wearing boots and a black cowboy hat. Damn he's cute!

He is enthralled with cows, ranches and the cowboy life and was happier than a pig in poop when he got the chance to go to the Frost ranch in Randlett. He got to meet two rodeo cowboys (Joe and Josh Frost) and they had a little brother who even let Kai ride a goat a few times...just like a bucking bull. Well...sorta...

I think he held on for 8! LOL

Kai is hilarious and quite creative as well. He is always coming up with catch phrases and new exclamations. One of his best catch phrases that really caught on within the family is "Sweet rockin dude!!" when something is good. And, just the other day, as he was enjoying some strawberry ice cream topped with yummy berries, he just couldn't get over how tasty it was. He exclaimed, "Oh my heck! This is SO STINKIN' BROWN COW GOOD!!!" lol Oh, I do love my Kai-Kai.

"Where'd he get that shiner?"

2009-06-16T22:28:00.001-07:00

Why do people always feel compelled to ask the mom, "You beating that kid?" when they get a black eye? (I would never hurt my baby!) But...that may sound better than the actual story...especially a few years from now. He'd probably rather say he got in a fight with his brother or got it playing baseball or something. Anything! lol

It actually looks much worse than in this pic. It's pretty black and blue.

The poor kid was on the toilet waiting for some assistance and got sick of waiting because he was excited to get in the bathtub with his brother, so he lunged forward and fell off the toilet and smacked his face on the side of the tub. Yep...a pooping accident. LOL Someday I'll pull these pics out and say, "Check out Kenyon's shiner he got when he was pooping!" Can't wait! lol

Cardinals Rule!

2009-06-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

This one's for you, Grandma Laura!

Kenyon got a package from Grandma Laura the other day and was so excited to open it and even more excited to wear his new Cardinals shirt. He said, "When I'm big I'll hit a home run like Albert Pujols!" (it sounds so much cuter in 3 year old speak though)

Go Kenyon!

Wahoo!! Water turn!!

2009-05-31T21:20:00.000-07:00

I loved water turn when I was a kid too. Tons of fun!

Arrow of Light

2009-05-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

Karter received his Arrow of Light scouting award! Congrats, Karter!!

Wanna win?

2009-05-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

Check out these SUPER cute plates! My friend, Gina, sells them at her shop Feather Your Nest. You could win them! Click on the plate to go to her website, comment and you are entered.

Decorating the Pauper's Graves

2009-05-25T15:11:00.001-07:00

It's a Memorial Day tradition in the Phillips family- we decorate graves. Of course we put flowers on our family members' graves who have passed away, but there are two other graves that we continue to put flowers on each year.

My great grandfather, Theophilus Phillips, began putting flowers on the graves of "the paupers" in the Roosevelt, Utah city cemetery years and years ago. Great Grandpa Phillips handed this tradition down to his son and my grandfather, Ted Phillips, who always made it a point to put flowers on those graves as well. My mother, Marsha Phillips Oleen and her brother, Fred Phillips (who passed away in 2002) kept this tradition up and have passed the importance of it on to the next generation, so my cousins & my brother and I take our children each year and place flowers on those graves as well.

It was important to Great Grandpa Phillips that they have a memento on their graves each Memorial Day as they had no family to mourn them and didn't have much money for burial or proper headstones. The concrete slabs that mark their graves are crude and each year we etch out FC Dunham's name with a pocket knife and trim the grass that covers the small stone that marks his or her final resting place.

Hopefully, someday we'll meet Charles and Emma Sexton and learn who they were, how they lived and how they died. For now, we'll make sure someone remembers them and pays tribute to them each year so that they know someone on this earth cared about them, if only in death.

Here Piggy, piggy!

2009-05-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

Teddy came over today. Gosh we love her! How could we NOT though. She's just SO cute.

She loves to visit the piggies too.

You get the limo out front....

2009-04-17T23:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Ally!!!
Ally is 8 today. Hooray Ally! She's such a cool kid. We had another rockin' birtyday party this year.

Kai wanted to be in the room with the girls, but he was bugging them so I told him if he wanted to remain in the room with them, he'd have to have a makeover. What a compromise! lol He promptly removed all makeup and the wig as soon as the pic was taken. lol

Just messing around....

Then we got all dolled up for a night out on the town and the Hannah Montana movie
<
Those girls had a BALL! They sang along with Taylor Swift all the way to the theater, they waved at cars and enjoyed parading on the Main Street sidewalk. They got tons of smiles, honks, waves, laughs and people telling them they looked great. It was such a fun time.

Hippity Hoppity Easter's on its Way.....

2009-04-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Easter morning 2009 dawned bright, beautiful, wet and chilly. The bunny had found its way to our yard and did its thing. Kai and Kenyon had a great time finding eggs and didn't want to stop after we'd found all 8 dozen eggs. Coloring them was great fun with Grizz and Cindy, but finding them was MUCH more fun.

Karter and Ally had to work a bit harder to find their 2 dozen eggs....

"I don't see any eggs, mom!"

"OH! Now I'm catching on...."

We spent about an hour out looking for eggs and finally gave up with 2 still missing. And then the fog rolled in.

But, it quickly burned off, the sun came out and the rest of the day was BEAUTIFUL. It was quite warm, actually. So, we went over to mom's and found more eggs.

The Rook kids, Sierra and Teddy

Lots of interesting places to find eggs at Narsh's house.

On random pieces of equipment and junk....

Under horse trailers....

In bird's nests....

In haystacks...

Check out the hat and earrings. The Easter Bunny's got style!

Grizz and Teddy...I love them.

So much!

Just a little hair nibble.... lol

Taking an Easter drive....

Ally the chauffeur.

She's a maniac...maniac...maniac..I sure know..... LOL Lovin' the legwarmers!

Looking outside for the kids.

Happy Easter!

Spelling Bee

2009-04-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

The 1st and 2nd graders at Neola Elementary had their annual spelling bee the other day. Ally, our 2nd grader, did well. She got really easy words like "also" and "good'. They ran out of time, but that was probably good because Ally and a couple of kids in her class could've gone on for a long time with words like that.

Ally in spelling bee line, waiting patiently. That's Chase on her right and Rhett on her left. Ooooo....she got to sit by RHETT!! lol ;-) (she's had quite a crush on Rhett this year)

Fixing her hair...gotta look GOOD when you spell.

GOOD, G-O-O-D, GOOd....

That's my girl! Always a lil' wink for me.

Kenyon was a good boy. He sucked his fingers and waited it out. That's what he does...sucks his fingers. He's not a thumb sucker. No way...gotta have those 2 fingers with the permanent tooth marks in them.

UGH! WHO FARTED!??? (I thought this was hilarious! Those kids were plugging noses, fanning the air, sticking faces in shirts....FUNNY!)

Spring done Sprung...

2009-04-12T13:42:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh...a refreshing spring day in the Basin....

Goodbye, Daddy

2009-03-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

Lost the greatest guy I ever knew this week. My daddy. Damn I'm gonna miss him.

Thanks so much for all the prayers and words of love and condolence. We appreciate it. It just sucks to lose your daddy.

We weren't ready to say goodbye. He was only 60 years old ane you're never ready when it's your best friend, dad and hunting buddy. Dad had been sick for about a month and a half. Maybe even longer, but the puking and other stomach problems had been dragging on for a month or so. We thought it was a virus or something. Then the pain started. He wasn't able to eat at all without great pain and getting sick. The doctors thought it may be his gal bladder, so he had it removed last Monday. He was still very sick and in alot of pain though.

He couldn't take it anymore and asked to go back to the hospital on Friday evening. All day Saturday they tried to figure out what was going on with him and finally a surgeon came in and said he thought maybe there had been decreased blood flow to the stomach. He thought maybe some arteries were clogged. Dad's had atherosclerosis for over 20 years (weak arteries...spongy and prone to collapse and calcify) and we kinda always knew he was on borrowed time.

He had his first open heart surgery when he was just 38. That was in 1986. He's had another one since then and had battled cancer twice, caused from exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. He beat it though, and the scans he had to have every 3 months also helped pick up some other problems (carotid arteries blocked, brain aneurysm, kidney probs..etc.). He was living in a body that was damaged, but he was doing a helluva job living.

We decided not to make him fight anymore this time though. When the surgeons came out to talk to Mom, Grizz and me in the hospital waiting room I knew it was bad news just from the looks on their faces and their demeanor. They had decided to open him up to see what they were dealing with and it was just really bad. They told us the small bowel was necrotic...dead. The stomach was "dusky" and it just didn't look good. They could've taken out most of the bowel and stomach, but he would've been on a nutrition line pack thing forever. He'd never be able to eat again. And even if he survived that surgery, they weren't sure what his quality of life would be and he'd still need another major surgery to replace arteries in the stomach. Arteries to major organs (liver...etc). He may not have ever made it out of the hospital.

They explained all this to us and then said, "We can make him comfortable." and this was their suggestion. We were just in shock. "He's dying? This is it???" we were asking ourselves. My mother then asked how long it would be and they told us he would pass within hours. So, we kept him comfortable. We didn't want him to feel any pain anymore. And he didn't. After a brief period of consciousness (he could nod and he understood), we explained the options, told him we were letting him go, and he shook his head in agreement. He passed away peacefully at 5:58 am Sunday morning.

Alan Oleen lived life well. He loved his family above all and was devoted to my mother, Marsha. They enjoyed 37 years of marriage and had 3 kids who they dedicated their lives to. Dad was always our coach, teacher, leader, friend and our greatest mentor and buddy. He taught us life lessons and everything he thought we needed to know to lead a good life. He instilled a strong work ethic in us and always taught us to never give up.

He loved hunting, fishing, camping, and sports and he never went alone. He always took one of us kids or all of us kids plus some. We always had friends along for the ride. Always. Our friends became his friends too. Other kids were always welcome in Al's house and everyone loved him like a father. He coached for many years...baseball, football, girl's softball and even basketball a few times. He was our 4-H leader and he followed our orchestra around, hauling instruments in his truck, when we went on tour and to competitions. He supported his kids in anything and everything. Never missed a game if he could help it and was our greatest cheerleader.

He was a man who lived without guile. He was just GOOD. He didn't judge people and gave everyone a chance. There was always a 2nd and 3rd and 4th chance with Al. He was such a caring individual. He's the guy who would comfort the crying woman who's dog had just gotten hit in front of her and her 4 kids. Then he'd scrape the dead dog off the road for her and make sure she got home alright. I don't think Al had a single enemy.

And he was FUN. Al was always smiling, laughing and joking around. He was a people person and got along with just about anybody. He loved riding horses in the back country and was a founding member of the local Back Country Horsemen chapter in Uintah County. He loved riding with that crazy group of guys and his best buddy, Gale Robbins. Gale and Al were Call and Gus (from Lonesome Dove) and always had a great time. Al liked to stage shootouts at the food tent during the Outlaw Trail Ride every year too. It was always entertaining and much fun.

In his 6th grade talent show, Al sang a song that really fit his personality. He sang "He's got the Whole world in his hands" and that was true...Al always had the world in the palm of his hand. People were drawn to him and he was good to them all.

He always had the best stories too. He worked in the oilfield for many years as a salesman and he loved it. He loved traveling the roads in "the patch" and going to see folks everyday. He was good at what he did and always gave it 100%.

Al will be missed. So much. He was everybody's favorite guy. He was my favorite guy and I was a Daddy's Girl through and through. He taught me how to throw a baseball and played countless games of catch. He'd get mad at me, "JENNIFER! Don't throw so damn hard!" but then he'd be the one whooping the loudest in the stands when I'd peg a runner out at home from centerfield or nab a runner trying to steal second from behind the plate. "That's my girl!" he'd say and I knew he was beaming because he'd taught me how to throw and that cannon of an arm was his handiwork. I was his girl, but I loved hunting and fishing too, mostly because it was something I was doing with him. I just loved my daddy.

Damn, I'm gonna miss him. Alot.

Al will be buried on a hill above his home in Hayden, Utah, in the Hayden cemetery. He will be buried with full military honors this Friday, March 27th. Rest in Peace, Al. We love ya.

My kids clean up nice!

2009-03-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

Ally all curled up and in her newest pink flower girl dress...

I did her hair myself. It wasn't the greatest ever, but she looked cute and felt glamorous. That's all that mattered!

She's so much fun at weddings. She danced and danced all night. Josh's buddies were calling her "The Dancing Girl" and everyone has commented on how cute she was and how she danced. She was the life of the party. What a cool kid!

Look at those handsome boys with their double windsor knotted matching ties.

I clean up alright too, I think.

Brandy Gets Married! Yay!

2009-03-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

Presenting Josh and Brandy Wager, March 7th, 2009.
What a GORGEOUS setting for a wedding.

Red Canyon (Flaming Gorge Reservoir) It had snowed the night before and the fresh snow on the pines was beautiful. The canyon and lake filling it beneath was just so serene and peaceful. The sun was shining and it was just absolutely breathtaking. And so was Brandy. She was just gorgeous in her dress and was so happy to be marrying Josh. Yay! I'm so happy for them.

Ally and Darin...the flower girls

Wasps B-Gone! (take 2...or is it 3?)

2008-12-29T22:57:00.001-08:00

Karter and I found the Mother Ship and we shot it down!

We think this is where all our wasps originated from last summer. Although they typically don't return to the same nest every year, I'm still glad to be getting rid of that enormous home! If we could just find where the queen is hiding we could nip it in the bud right now, but she's tucked away somewhere warm, pregnant and ready to build a new nest when it warms up and lay eggs. Then she'll hatch a new batch of the little stinging beasts. Dang Wasps.

Links to my wasp saga posts from last summer.....
http://rookacre.blogspot.com/2008/09/waspsyuk.html
http://rookacre.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-camera-yay.html

Check out The Edge Blog!

2008-12-28T15:44:00.000-08:00

Hey Friends! Check out the Edge Magazine blog. Get involved with it! Post comments, ideas and let us know what you think.

Also, you can get a sneak peek at upcoming story ideas, photography and/or covers. Right now you can see what our January cover shot looks like. I love it. Beautiful picture and totally "The Basin". Check it out! On my bloglist ----------->

Also over there on my bloglist are the links to my other blog, my Confessions of a Super Mom blog that is also a chronicle of my weight loss journey and the diary of the contest I'm doing called "The Healthy Edge Weight Loss Challenge" between the two ladies who publish The Edge Magazine and me. You'll find links to their blogs as well. It's fun! Cheer us on, follow us, comment often and keep the enthusiasm going. We are inspiring all kinds of people to lead more healhty and fit lives.

Happy Birthday Kenyon!

2008-12-27T08:22:00.000-08:00

My baby isn't a baby anymore. He's 3 today. Kenyon was born December 27th and weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and he looked just like his daddy.

*Sigh* If I could just keep them little forever I would. But, they get big. They grow up. Kenyon is a big boy now. If you don't believe me, just ask him. "I big now!"

Here's the big birthday boy opening a few presents.

Having a birthday 2 days after Christmas is a bit of a bummer to some, but we kinda like it. It gives us another person to spoil and something to look forward to when the disappointment of Christmas being over sets in. And we make sure we spoil him, too. Birthdays are a big deal around here but especially when you're born close to Christmas.

"I got shot-gun!" It's really noisey too. Oh goody.

Happy Birthday Kenyon! We love ya!

Christmas Morning 08'

2008-12-27T07:48:00.000-08:00

The little boys got their Ford truck. They were thrilled.

Kenyon happily rides while Kai drives. For now.

Ally got an awesome Razor scooter. It is SO cute. She can't wait to go cruising around the neighborhood and ride down at the church parking lot.

Santa gave her that cute purse too. This girls LOVES purses and bags.

Karter got a mini-laptop. He loves it.

Merry Christmas Rook Kids!

And I refuse to let you see my messy shelves, but that's where the kids shove stuff when they pick up. LOL

Family Photos

2008-12-15T08:03:00.001-08:00

Rook Family 08'

SANTA!! I KNOW HIM!!!

2008-12-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

We had our Phillips Family Christmas party at my mother's house and Santa stopped by.

Apparently Karter is TOO COOL to sit on Santa's lap anymore.

The teenagers were too cool too.

Except for Em and Nat

Darin

Tedders loved Santa. She was very curious about that white beard.

Poor Cody. Another Santa-Hater. I think we may have traumatized him. Everyone was laughing and snapping pictures. We adults are cruel. Some kid is terrified and we just laugh. Terrible people. ;-)

It'll be ok though...Taylor and Syd, Rusty's girls, got over their fear of Santa. Taylor climbed right on Santa's lap this year.

And see...his mom will take a turn on Santa's lap. She helped Coy, Cody's big brother, get over his Santa fear.

My cousins Rusty and Casey and Rusty's wife, Theresa. I love my cuz's.

That's Cep. We love him. But, what's not to love? Look at that smile. He's always got it on.

I can't believe Sierra's a teenager now. She just looks so grown up.

Pop and his Rook grandkids

Mom, Brandy and Teddy

My boys all dressed in their Hi-waiaan flowerdy shirts

And so did Pop

More teenagers: Tina's girls, Kaylee, Em and Nat (and Ally and Sydney)

Darin and Ally, such cute cousins

Kai and Teddy

Miss Ted...such personality already! She was the life of the party. She kissed Cody so we grabbed the camera just in time to capture her grabbing his hair. Poor Cody...he didn't like it much! LOL

But who could ever be mad at this girl?? Certainly not me!

Finally! Snow!

2008-12-09T08:36:00.001-08:00

Well, it finally snowed yesterday and my kids were thrilled. Too bad it's just a skiff that will melt in a hurry, but they were all excited and wore their new snowboots today. After we got absolutely dumped on last year time and time again we're prepared in advance this year and watch, it'll be one of those years without snow or just a couple of inches here and there that doesn't even require snowboots. Doesn't matter to me though...I still love winter best!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Thanksgiving in the Book Cliffs

2008-12-01T11:45:00.002-08:00

We love our annual Thanksgiving tradition in the Book Cliffs. 4 days of dust, deer, dutch oven turkey (and an awesome brisket I made Saturday night) sometimes snow and tons of fun.

Click on the pic for a closer look. You'll see it was snowing..at least spitting snow anyway. Nothing sticking yet

The Healthy Edge

2008-11-21T21:16:00.001-08:00

Ok folks...new thing going on in my life. Check out my other blog (link to it over there on the side--------->), Confessions of a Supermom. Me and my two buddies who publish The Edge magazine, http://www.theedgemagazine.org, are having a weight loss contest. It's a Biggest Loser type contest. We'll be blogging about it faithfully, working with personal trainers, nutrionists, and our local doctors. Check it out. Join in if you want and/or be our support staff and/or just follow our progress and read our blogs. The three of us will be chattering back and forth on our blogs alot. There are also other comments at The Edge website blogfeed as well. Leave us your comments, thoughts, and tips and advice, please.

And yes....there will be before pics posted! YIKES!

Rat Results.....

2008-11-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

So, I let Karter do his science fair project using rats. He did a great job checking on them daily and conducting his experiment. He handled the rats with ease, fed them, watered them and just did a great job with them. He did one of the 12 hour food withdrawals then neglected to feed the rats before he left for school one morning. When he got home here is what we found....

White rat was busy eating and washing his face.

Test Rat was busy ignoring his sugary treats....

And Rat #3 was gone in search of food and water and other entertainment.

OH CRAP!!! A RAT LOOSE IN MY GARAGE!!!

I wasn't as freaked out as you would think though. It was just ONE rat. No other rats loose and none around here for it to breed with and it was in the garage. I wanted to catch it, but it didn't gross me out and it didn't worry me too much.

Besides, it's a rat with a Rockstar Complex! He (or she) did NOT want to miss its big debut at the Science Fair so, it made its way back to its former cage just as Karter was going out into the garage to get things ready for the Science Fair. He saw it in its cage so SNAP! he shut the lid on its cage as quickly as he could. WOHOO! We caught the rat and just in time for the science fair. Alright!

Little guy was thirsty!

Oh, and btw...Karter won the science fair. He got "Overall Showman". His presentation was very strong. He knew his project well and that's what put him over the top. People can say what they want about parental involvement in these projects, but you can't fake the kid's knowledge. He knew his stuff. It was HIS project, he did all the work and his efforts were recognized. I'm very proud of him for that. He put forth 100% effort and didn't half-way do any part of it. I love that it was all his idea too. He's got a scientific mind and he's a curious kid who is always learning. Way to go, Karter!

Oh Rats!

2008-11-04T07:44:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am THAT mom.

Karter is doing the science fair this year and wanted to do an experiment using rats. So, I let him.

Here are the new additions to the Rook GARAGE (come on, you didn't really think I'd let him put them in the house did you?). There are 3 of them and he is still working out the small details of the experiment, although he has started it. So far, they're not really cooperating like we thought they would. I thought rats had voracious appetites, but we are not finding that to be the case.

Fluffy likes them. LOL

I love Halloween!

2008-11-02T17:12:00.000-08:00

Scary Werewolf!
My one masterpiece this year. Ally's costume was great. She looked so real and people didn't recognize her at all. I glued all that hair on her face and hands with theater costume sticky stuff called Spirit Gum. Then I used some really good costume makeup. It was so easy to work with and blended beautifully. So much better than that nasty grease paint stuff you get in those store bought kits.

The werewolf costume fun to do, but she cringed a bit when it came time to scrub all that spirit gum off. LOL You can click on these to make them bigger.

Kai was a Dracula-era vampire but he wouldn't let me put blood on his mouth or make his lips any more red. He was a cute lil' Dracula.

Kenyon was the dog again. This could also be a great baby Sasquatch costume.

Karter and a few of his buddies dressed up as nerds. They were one big ol' Nerd Herd. Here he is with Kyler and Ky's big brother, Kaden. Great nerd costume, Kaden!

Tedders was the cutest lil' polar bear EVER!

I got in a bad wreck that morning. Had a little bit of glass in my face. But, I didn't have time to go to the hospital so I just had to walk around all day like this.

I was decorating for the school carnival all day though. We brought back the good ol' Neola Elementary Halloween carnival and it was a HUGE success. It was packed and I think we made quite a bit of money(I hope we did anyway!). I was in charge of decorating so I enlisted the help of my magazine editor and friend, Michelle Spencer and she and I made a spooky forest and graveyard in the entry way and put up spiders, ghosts, and other fun stuff inside the school. It was a FUN night. And our decor ROCKED! Thanks, Michelle! Couldn't have done it without you.

Here are a few of our creations. (don't bother clicking on these, I uploaded them from Photobucket so they won't come up any bigger)

We bucked those bales, cut those corn stalks, draped that webbing, carved those jack-o-lanterns and pretty much just worked our butts off to make the school look great.

Ya Buncha' JERKS!

2008-10-21T07:41:00.000-07:00

Ok...so THANKS alot for not commenting on my Thanksgiving traditions post! Scardey cats. Noone sent me a comment or quote about their favorite Thanksgiving traditions. LOL Guess I'll have to make stuff up.

Let's see...Doni's favorite Thanksgiving tradition is laying around after stuffing herself as full as the turkey she just ate, watching "It's A Wonderful Life" to get in the Christmas mood and farting all that full belly out.

Carol, your favorite tradition is scrubbing dishes til' your hands are so wrinkled you look like your great grandma Betsy's roommate at the nursing home. (isn't that lady dead yet? She's like, 110!)

Amy, you are quite fond of picking off everyone's plates as you clear the table. "These folks sho do push away from the table with a buffet o' leavins' still on da plate!!", says Amy as she noisily licks each one of her fingers.

Shall I go on? I will if you don't start apologizing..... LOL

Just Kidding!

4th Folder, 4th Pic

2008-10-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

I got tagged so here is how this works. Post the 4th Pic from the 4th folder in your "My Pictures" folder. Oh, and I tag, Jessica Bastian, Jamie Allred, Carol Olsen, and Doni Horrocks. And what the hell...Adree, I tag you too even though I can't see your blog still. Send me an other invite! (she just doesn't want me to see her blog, I just know it. LOL)

Ok....Since I have mine organized by year, here is the 4th pic from the 4th folder of 2006. And, I didn't put these pics in from Photobucket so you can click on them to make them bigger if you so wish.

It's Grizz's colt, Harley, and his mare, Lucy and Otter the Chessie. What a crappy pic! I would normally crop things too.

Check it out, Jamie! Shally's Invention from 2007! This invention won 1st place at the Invention Convention btw. Shally got a huge trophy. It's a very "cool" invention too!

And my 2008 files are jacked up, so here is the 4th pic of my 4th folder in 2008. SO CUTE!!!

Magazine Poll!

2008-10-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

Ok Friends! I need you to answer this question in either my comments section or email me a response and please tell all your friends to comment as well. Consider yourself tagged, I guess. My email is jennifer@theedgemagazine.org.

This is for The Edge magazine's November issue. It is our Hunting and Traditions issue. If it's a good one, your comment will be published and I will include your 1st name and town (and state name if you're out of state).

And, if you have pics of your favorite traditions, I'd LOVE them as well. If it's getting a Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving or a pic of your Uncle taking a nap after his turkey dinner...whatever you do...we want the pic. And, tell your friends, husbands, dads, uncles, aunts, moms, sisters and neighbors to send us pics of bucks, bulls, birds...whatever animals you/they may have harvested. Send them to jennifer@theedgemagazine.org.

The October issue of the magazine is on newsstands now so pick up a copy today (or look at it online....follow the link above. Just click on the cover).

Snow On The Peaks

2008-10-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

Well, it's officially cold. Fireplaces are glowing all over the Basin. It even snowed in the mountains the last two weeks.

Karter went elk hunting with some friends last weekend and I was worried that he'd be cold, but as you can see...the boy dressed quite warmly. I think he had on jammie pants, levis and snow pants then a few shirts, sweatshirt, coat and a big orange sweatshirt over it. Nice n' snug!

Karter and Jacob Spencer riding Anastasia

Book Cliffs..Oh Yeah!

2008-10-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to the Book Cliffs this weekend. It's our favorite place in the world. We love it out there. We had tons of fun.

Teddy stopped by our camp for a visit. Isn't she just absolutely adorable? I could just kiss and kiss and kiss her!

Another chapter in Kai's Art of Ruining Family Photos...his new thing...tongue out for pictures. Oh great. That's not annoying at all, Kai.

At least he doesn't do it for every photo....

Karter and Weston did a little shooting....

Built a fire....

And went looking for deer in the back of the truck on a cold morning. Good thing we found our buddy, Chuck's, giant insulated coveralls. Gotta love oilfield worker guy clothes. LOL

The wild horses out there are in great shape. Fat and sassy.

Kenyon's just sassy

Kai works hard around camp. He's the best helper...for real. Give that kid a job and he'll do it. Very good boy. He likes to help.

Helping dad get wood

Wishing I had that fire right now. It's getting COLD here at night now.

Go Cougars!

2008-10-04T08:48:00.001-07:00

Last night was the big rivalry football game between my high school, Uintah, and the high school my kids will go to, Union. My kids and Kyle and Weston were all decked out in Union Cougar stuff.

The game was over in Vernal, on Uintah's turf, so When we got there I told the boys to stick close to me in case anyone wanted to start a fight with them in all their Cougar gear. Karter said to me, 'Umm...you couldn't have told us this BEFORE you painted our faces???" LOL

As it was, the boys had a great time, watched the game and cheered for the Cougars. It was a great game, but the Utes ended up winning 28-24.

Ally and Carsen Kelly...just having fun!

Weston and Kyle...photo by Karter.

It really sucked to be sitting on the Union side, especially since they lost but, yeah, I sang the Uintah High school song. "A valiant band of warriors brave from Uintah High are we......." but I did cringe when they did that stupid tomahawk cheer.

Hey! Hey You!
There's nothing you can do
Cuz the mighty Utes are gonna
tomahawka you!

I HATE that cheer.

Kenyon had fun too. He danced when the drill team music came on and he just had a great time.

The Art of Ruining Family Photos, By Kai Rook

2008-10-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Had To Be Done

2008-10-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

Guess it was necessary, but my once pretty, stately and proud spruce tree in the corner of my yard.......

Now it looks awful. It was touching the power lines though. It had to be trimmed.

There were two big, heavy equipment trucks in our yard though, including a really cool wood chipper that just ate those limbs and spit them out, and Kai and Kenyon thought it was the most excitement EVER. LOL Kai, especially, loves big trucks and tractors and all types of heavy equipment.

New Camera! Yay!

2008-10-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

I got a new camera! Wohoo! It's a Fuji Finepix and I LOVE it.

Great pictures.

I took this one right before I killed them all.

Update on Tedders

2008-10-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

Two weeks post-op and Teddy is doing great. She is healing well and everything is going well. She is still sore and won't lay on her tummy yet and she's a little more fussy than usual at times, but she's really not doing too badly. She's recovering well.

Big scar on such a little girlie, huh?

Volleyball

2008-09-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

My family loves sports, but we all especially love volleyball. Karter can't stand to sit on the sidelines and watch any game being played and he can't wait until he's 12 so he can play church sports, but the kids were just messing around the other night so Karter joined in. I must say, he's a great volleyball player. He's already got a fantastic overhand serve going on and he isn't bad at bumping either. Ally is going to be great too.

Serve it up, Rookie!

Kenyon loves to play with ANY kind of ball. He is going to be a sports fanatic, for sure.

Kai makes a party everywhere he goes. This kid just has fun anywhere. He talked Cassie Houston into swinging him.

Whatever big brother does little brother does too, ya know?

Wasps....YUK!

2008-09-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

I'm a killer. Yep. I'm a big ol' killer and proud of it!

I've killed a ton of wasps nests in my yard the last couple of days. I still have a few to go though. Dang I hate them! And, my kids are terrified of them. Kai and Kenyon have been stung alot this summer. Kai got attacked and stung 4 times at once, one day. He was just screaming and I asked him where he was stung and he just screamed..."AAAAHHH!!! ALLL OVER!! They were allll over me!!!" Awwww...poor dude!

The Menace...ewwww I hate them!

The Nests-
I killed them in every post of my pipe fence (right next to the gate that goes to the back yard on both sides too), there was a huge nest in the propane tank lid, they were in the playhouse, swingset, under the deck, on the house, in the eaves...everywhere! The nests looked like these-

As much as I hate them though, I'm still glad I didn't find THESE WASPs in my backyard. lol That would be truly scary. Raaarrrrrr!

Dude...you KNOW you're rockin' out now. Gotta LOVE 80's hair bands! lol

Home now!

2008-09-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Yay! Teddy's home!

She was so cute! She smiled and laughed at us and talked to us in her squeaky little voice. It was SO good to see her. Poor Cindy is so tired and worn out. I hope she and Teddy both get some good rest this week to catch up.

Coming home!

2008-09-21T17:44:00.000-07:00

Teddy is coming home tomorrow! Yay! She'll be so much happier at home and so will Cindy and Grizz. Thanks for all the prayers so far. Please continue to pray for a good recovery. So far, she's doing wonderfully.

Doin' Great!

2008-09-21T09:00:00.001-07:00

Our little Teddy is doing great! She's recovering beautifully. She's unhooked from everything- no tubes, no wires, just an IV port, but she's not hooked up to the iv. She is only getting Tylenol as a pain med and she is even eating formula again. She doesn't trust it at first, but once she gets a taste she's alright with it and she chows down.

She is definitely on her way to being released and coming home. We're hoping she comes home by Tuesday the 23rd or Wednesday the 24th.

We have Smiles!

2008-09-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

Yay! We have smiles...sorta. All in all, Teddy had a much better day today. They took her for a little walk, she played on her belly for a while, they backed off the pain meds a bit, and she just had a much better day. I think they may start her on clear liquids tomorrow so that should perk her up even more.

About those smiles...if you've never had a child who has undergone surgery you may never know just how much those little smiles mean. But they do, those first post-op smiles are so reassuring, heartwarming and just so needed for parents. I don't think these kids will ever know the power of their smile on their parents.

When Karter was just 4 months old he underwent surgery to repair a tethered spinal cord. There were nerve fibers coming off his spinal cord that were attatched below the spinal column and would've caused many problems later in life such as no bowel or bladder control, atrophied leg muscles, and limited movement. So, at 4 months old, he had the surgery to clip thos tethered nerve fibers. When they wheeled him out of surgery he was so swollen and had tubes and wires everywhere. It was so upsetting to see my little baby like that. I was just so worried and upset. I nearly started crying, but just as I was about to turn on the water works, the nurse lifted the blankets so I could see him better and I smiled and said, "Hi buddy." and he gave me this little dopey, half smile and at that moment I knew he was going to be just fine. That smile meant the world to me...and still does. Grizz felt the same way about Teddy's first post-op smile. It's all in the smile, kids.

1 day post op

2008-09-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

Teddy is doing great. Her vitals are good and everything is going very well with her recovery from surgery so far, but she's mad. She's hurting, she's hungry, she's just mad. Poor lil' sweetheart! She can't eat for a couple of days and she is uncomfortable. It's hard for Grizz and Cindy because they're not sure whether she is hungry or if she's in pain. She's on some heavy pain meds for a couple of days and that seems to help.

Please, once again, keep her in your prayers. Grizz and Cindy too. Who, by the way, are holding up very well and are just there, being the amazing parents they are. Grizz says you'll never know how much your prayers are appreciated.

Teddy Surgery Update

2008-09-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

As I write this, Teddy is still in surgery, but they should be finishing up soon. They did have to take a kidney. The tumor is very big and was all over the kidney. They could have left it and done chemo, but we're hoping they can get it all without having to put her though chemo. They are not saying there will be no chemo, but that's the hope. She's doing great through the surgery. More prayers for continued strength and lots of "not much pain" vibes for our little sweetheart, please.

Well, Teddy came out of surgery right around 4 pm. She was in surgery for about 4 hours. She is doing fine and will spend the next couple of days on some pretty heavy pain meds. It was quite an involved surgery and will leave a rather large scar on our girl, but they think they got the whole tumor. Chemo is still not being ruled out, but we're hoping they got everything with the surgery.

I will keep updating on her condition as I get updates.

We Did It! Well, almost....

2008-09-15T16:51:00.000-07:00

The Uintah Basin Back Country Horsemen hold a charity horseride, auction, BBQ and raffle every year to raise money for the Children's Justice Centers of the Uintah Basin and the goal this year was to raise 20 thousand dollars. We just barely missed the mark and raised about 19k. How awesome is that though? We're just a bunch of cowboy hicks on horses but, cowboys and cowgirls with generous hearts (and a few fat checkbooks) and many friends who like to help out a good cause as well.

Here's my honey, dealing poker hands. My kids LOVE the poker part of the whole benefit. Karter had the high hand this year with 4 Kings. He got his pick of the prizes and he went straight for a knife/flashlight set he'd had his eye on from the second he arrived at the campsite. Way to go, you lucky kid you!

You don't have to ride to be a part of the event, but it sure is fun. We ride the Lake Fork Trail just North of LaPoint, Utah on the way to Paradise Reservoir.

Riders heading in.....

One of my favorite cowboys, Kent Morris

We tease Kent alot, but he's got a huge heart. Every year he brings alot of money to spend and he always buys the doll Jackie Robbins crochets. He'll spend between $400 and $500 on her dolls, just because it's a good charity and we like raising money for the CJCs. Kent and all his dollies...*giggle*. Wonder what he does with them all?

Kent in action at the auction...

Where there's smoke, there's fire and when there's fire around Ed Peterson's BBQ, you know it's going to be awesome. The meal is the BEST part of the CJC charity event. Wish I had some of Ed's Excellent BBQ right now. mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm GOOD!

That's Ed on the right with UBBCH member, Ray Messer.

Brandy and Kenyon love Ed's awesome BBQ too. How cute are they? Brandy is my cousin/bestfriend for life. She's Sierra's mom.

More BBQ lovers-
Sue Sawyer and Donnie Sawyer(her brother in law)

Kathy and Rod Harrison (and some guy I don't know)

These are the hicks I'm talkin' about. Good guys! They come with their pockets loaded just to spend money at the auction. They'll easily give $1000 for a handmade quilt or $800 for a handcrafted bench and sometimes they donate it back to auction it off again.

The Wild Bunch...

Ally, Brandy and Wade Robbins

Ally and Darin- cute cousins!

Karter and Kyle Hanke had a great time. They worked, played and we taught Kyle how to play poker. Hope his dad, the High Councilman, doesn't care. LOL

Just as soon as the sun dropped behind the mountains in the West, the temperature dropped too, and the full moon began its ascent out of the East. A beautiful day turned into a very beautiful night.

Hello hat! Where are you goin' with that cowgirl? (Gotta love Kathy Harrison! The funnest cowgirl around)

Just a little FYI- The Children's Justice Centers, in a nutshell, are places where kids who have been removed from an abusive situation (sexual abuse and physical abuse) can go to be in a loving, homey, comfortable environment to give police a statement, get counseling and the love they need after such traumatic experiences. Alot of times, their testimony at the CJC is taped and they aren't forced to endure the scary experience of sitting on the stand in a courtroom, facing their abuser and reliving the trauma that has already been inflicted. Great charity!

Big Scary Football Players....

2008-09-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

Awwww! They look pretty sweet to me! Not like scary football players at all.

Weston Horrocks, Karter, and Kyle Hanke mess around after a tough game in Altamont. Karter played center and snapped the ball very well, Weston tore em' up on defense as he recovered a fumble and got several tackles, and Kyle helped out on offense alot. Kyle even took a hard hit that absolutely just leveled him, knocked his feet right out from under him, but he got right back up completely un-phased. Kyle also made a miraculous looking catch in their last game as wide receiver. Tough kiddos and might I say it's just so cool to watch them become such good, competitive athletes. We've got many years of ball playing and watching in our future and we are looking forward to every minute of it.

Run, Ally, RUN!

See...she's fine! They may be tough, but they're gentlemenly enough to take it easy on little sisters.

Growing Menace....

2008-09-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

One night, I was awakened at about 4:30 am from a peaceful slumber by a noise in my kitchen. I groggily got up to see what the noise was, flipped the light on in the kitchen only to find cats scattering everywhere in my dining room. CATS IN MY HOUSE!!! ACK!!

My cat, Fluffy, who is quite talented at getting the back sliding door open, had gotten the back door open and led all the other cats into the house. There were 8 cats in my house. The wild baby kitties were all 4 in and quite amusingly ran for the door as soon as I hit the lights. They were skidding and peeling out on the laminate floor and it was actually quite humorous. I would've found it alot more funny if there hadn't been 8 freakin' cats in my house.

BTW...I only have 2 cats of my own. I never had a cat in my yard and had a mouse problem two years ago when I got McGally and Fluffy. As soon as I started feeding my two cats, the whole neighborhood shows up and starts multiplying. Lovely...just lovely.

Look at this...they're growing. And eating more and more each day. And they're still quite wild. Havahart traps anyone?

At least they provide good entertainment for Teddy. She loves to watch the kitties.

Girl's Night!

2008-09-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

Ok...so we totally suck at taking pics of Girl's Night, but Ally, Sierra and I had a fun girl's night. We ate pizza and other junk food, painted toenails and watched chick flicks. It was great!

Orange toenails! Yay!

WARNING! Product plug coming in
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The Ped-Egg! OMGosh I love mine! If you don't have one, you've got to get one. I never thought it would feel so good to have my hard, cracked heels cheese gratered off, but the Ped-Egg works wonders and my heels look TONS better. Thanks, Ped-Egg!

Cuteness...

2008-09-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

How cute is Teddy in her lil' pink cowgirl boots? I'll answer that..she's dang cute! I stole this pic off Cindy's blog. Thanks Cindy! lol

Tough Guy....

2008-09-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

Football bruises...gotta love em'. Karter absolutely loves playing football. He's playing center and is doing a great job snapping the ball. He's also playing defense and is undaunted when it comes to taking on those bigger guys. He loves playing the line. He says his favorite thing about football is "knocking people on their butts." Oh yeah!

If you look closely you can see the bruises on his arms.

Kenyon's tough too...

And so is Ally....

Kai-Kai only LOOKS like he's been playing football, but really his sister "accidentally" squirted hand sanitizer in his eye. Ouchie!

Words We Hate to Hear

2008-09-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

You know...there are just some words you don't ever want to hear in relation to your loved ones, especially children. CANCER is one of those words. But after the initial shock of hearing that word wears off, there will inevitably be other words that make you cringe just as much.

Teddy is at Primary Children's Hospital today and the words the surgeon is using are, bone marrow aspiration, biopsy, surgery, chemotherapy, kidney removal, risks of surgery, spleen removal, tumor growth, tumor board, very large tumor, suspicious spot on leg bone....the list goes on.

Teddy had 5 vials of blood taken last night and was a lil' sweetheart throughout the whole ordeal. Grizz said she didn't even cry. She underwent a bone marrow extraction today and the tumor board recommended surgery so they scheduled her for surgery to remove the tumor on the 17th of September. The surgeon said some of the risks of the surgery include: removal of a kidney and/or spleen and that she will probably have to spend about a week in the hospital. Of course he'll do all he can to make sure they don't have to take her kidney or spleen, but apparently he's dealing with a large tumor here. And this kind of cancer doesn't follow the rules or any pattern (you know...some cancer is first a tumor, then in the lymphnodes then in the lungs) well this cancer can spread anywhere in the body and it moves rapidly. So, if the cancer has spread to the bone marrow, that could throw the surgery date off because they would first do chemo then surgery later, but this is what is scheduled for now.

Hopefully surgery is all she'll have to deal with in her battle with neuroblastoma cancer. Keep her in your prayers.

1st Day Pukes...

2008-09-02T11:21:00.000-07:00

Kai was SO excited for his first day of school in Whiterocks. He goes to Head Start (a Ute Indian Tribe program) and his classroom is in Whiterocks this year. He could hardly wait to get there. He picked out his cowboy clothes to wear the night before and got his back pack ready and everything. He was all set.

See..notice the boots. He said, "I bet I'm the only cowboy there today, Mom." (and he was)

He got to school and he was so intent on what he was doing he didn't want to look up for a picture.

He said, "MOM! STOP IT! I'm focusing!!"

SO, Kenyon and I left him there and came home. Kenyon was enjoying being the only kid home. He got a popsicle and was watching "Barnyard".

But then not even halfway through his movie I got a phone call. Kai was sick and puking. So away we went, back to Whiterocks, to get our little puker.

Poor Kai-Kai! Heckuva first day.

Yes, it's cancer.

2008-09-02T10:08:00.001-07:00

Little Teddy does have cancer. She is going to Salt Lake this week for a bone marrow aspiration and a biopsy. They want to keep her overnight afterwards because they have to "move things around quite a bit in her belly" to do the procedure. Yikes! Poor lil' Tedders!

They will then stage her cancer and decide on a treatment option. Her doc may take a "wait and see" approach though. The tumor could go away on its own.

"Neuroblastoma is a form of cancer that occurs in infants and young children. It is rarely found in children older than 10 years.

Ganglioneuroblastoma is a tumor that has both malignant and benign parts. It contains neuroblasts (immature nerve cells) that can grow and spread abnormally, as well as areas of benign tissue that are similar to ganglioneuroma(a benign tumor which is composed of mature ganglion and nerve sheaths that do not continue to grow.).

The tumor itself can behave strangely. Sometimes the cells die without any cause and the tumor disappears. This is part of a normal process known as programmed cell death (apoptosis), the normal process that occurs when cells die. This tumor disappearance is much more common in very young infants than in older children. Another behavior that is unusual for childhood tumors is that the cells sometimes mature spontaneously to normal ganglion cells and stop dividing. This causes the tumor to become a ganglioneuroma, which is benign (non-cancerous)."

Clean room, Yay!

2008-09-01T23:01:00.001-07:00

Why are these two children so happy?

Because Ally's room is CLEAN again! YAY!!

It may be crammed full of stuff, but at least it's clean and organized. Only took me about 2 hours this time. Two months ago I spent 4 1/2 hours in there cleaning. It's amazing how messy that room gets. But, it's the kids' playroom and has all the toys in it and one very creative little girl who makes things out of paper, glitter, glue, tape, material and any other little piece of junk she can glue to paper.

Strike three! Yer out!

2008-09-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

Karter's traveling team participated in a tournament in Spanish Fork over the Labor Day weekend. They lost 3 of their 4 games, but they actually played very well. They were up against some really good teams from Salt Lake and Lehi.

They boys had a great time though. Karter, Ally and I stayed in a hotel room with Kara Campbell and four of her kids so that was fun. We got an "executive size" room in Provo and stayed two nights. The Saturday games weren't until 6 and 8 pm, so Karter, Ally and I went shopping and bought some way cute clothes for Ally at Justice (Just for Girls), and Old Navy. She loves to shop and was mad at Karter for complaining that we were taking too long. LOL

But, since we chose to stay the extra night on Saturday, we let the kids swim on Sunday morning before we went home and Karter thought that was alright. He even woke up at 7 to hit the pool.

Here he is playing ball. I was keeping score so these are some of the only pictures I snapped of him.

On Deck....

Watching his coach for the signal....

About to smack a double....

Hey Uncle Rico! He would've worn that thing to play the game in if I'd let him.

"I bet I can throw this football over that mountain!" (you HAVE seen Napolean Dynamite, right?)

Croc Haters UNITE!

2008-08-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

41% of the respondents in my Crocs: Love em' or Hate Em' poll HATE Crocs and think they're ugly.

I concur! UGLY!!

Teddy Update

2008-08-26T22:50:00.000-07:00

Teddy went through a few tests at Primary Children's Hospital this week and was a little trooper throughout the whole ordeal. The doctors will convene and go over all her blood tests, urinalysis, scans and ultrasound and get back to Grizz and Cindy by Friday, but they're pretty sure they're dealing with Neuroblastoma. She may have to undergo a bone marrow aspiration and possibly a biopsy, but Cindy said they may not have to biopsy.

Neuroblastoma is the most common form of childhood cancer but, most children under the age of 12 months who are diagnosed with it are cured. If Teddy's tumor hasn't spread they may just take a 'wait and see' approach. That is pretty much all Grizz and Cindy have found out so far. More info will be coming Friday.

Your prayers and positive thoughts mean so much to our family at this time, you'll never know how grateful we all are. Especially Grizz and Cindy. And you know, they're handling it all very well. I know good priesthood blessings and prayers are all a factor in this. Don't get me wrong, we're all scared to death and there are still tears, but Cindy and Grizz are facing this bravely and are hoping for the best for their beautiful daughter.

At any rate, keep them all in your prayers, please.

Thru the years....

2008-08-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

Past first days of school....

Here's my sassy lil' girl on her first day of Head Start when she was 4.

And Kai waving bye to her as she goes....

Big 3rd Grader!

Kindergarten! Awwww!

Ally's first day of Kindergarten, but Karter's 2nd week of school. Kindergarten started a week later than the rest of the school.

1st day of 1st Grade

1st Day of 4th Grade

And Kenyon stayed home to drink pop from mom's big ol' mug...

Or was it to play with Karter's football equipment?

Or all of Ally's stuff?

When the kids got home they played with the camera....

Definitely funner to be one of the little boys who stays home, huh? lol

1st Day of School

2008-08-25T08:22:00.001-07:00

Yay! School's in!

Ok, so I'm not really happy that I have to wake up early every day, but the kids are excited to be back in school. Karter loves school and couldn't wait to get there and Ally was very excited to meet her new teacher. They split her 2nd grade class last week so she has a different teacher now and she heard really good things about her so she was excited to meet her. Also, she found out that Marleigh, Jaicee, Brindy, and Shyanne were in her class so she was even more excited to get to school. Ally is friends with everyone in her grade though so it really wouldn't have mattered whose class she was in. The girl makes friends everywhere she goes. She loves when new kids show up too. She is like her mother.

And here's what the little boys are up to while the big kids are at school.

Kai is cleaning up after the weekend wind storms.

And Kenyon just barely got out of bed.

Last Day of Summer

2008-08-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

We got in a camping trip this summer...finally! We always go camping in the fall in the Book Cliffs, but we do like to spend time in the mountains as well.

Karter brought Kyler too...we call him 'the other brother'.

Kenyon was helping Daddy and Karter back the truck up to the camper.

I love where we live. Just 15 minutes from town and 15 minutes from THIS:

New Feature

2008-08-21T10:52:00.001-07:00

Hey check it out! I'm going to start a new thing on my blog. A weekly poll. Be sure to vote each week!

Make your own Blinkie

And..don't forget to get your copy of The Edge magazine. It's a local, Basin magazine and it has fabulous writers (who me? Yeah...ME!). It's a fun lil' magazine. Check it out and download a sample copy today. Click here:

If you've missed my fun articles about life in Neola you can check them out here

But I'll post just one excerpt here:

"I’ve also been accused of speaking a whole different language when I begin talking about the activities in a rural town. My vocabulary particularly baffles one of my friends in Florida. For example, one evening I was describing a fist fight that happened in my yard between two women during our weekly water turn. My Florida friend had no clue what I was talking about."

You'll have to access my writing blog for the rest of the story!

Growin' Like a Weed

2008-08-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

Look at our lil' Teddy Bear! She's getting SO BIG! She's 5 months old now and can roll over. Yay Teddy! We love her soooooo much. I don't think I can convey just how much Kai loves her either. He is totally enamoured with Teddy. He loves babies anyway, but he's got a real soft spot for his cousin, Teddy. The other day at church we were holding Teddy while Grizz and Cindy spoke and he looked around and said, with surprise and conviction, "MOM! Teddy is the cutest baby in here! She's the cutest! She really is, Mom."

Yeah, well I think so too, Kai-Kai.

Please keep our lil' Teddy-bear in your prayers and thoughts. We're not sure what the official diagnoses is just yet, but Teddy has a mass on her adrenal gland. She will undergo further tests to rule out neuroblastoma, the most common form of childhood cancer. The outlook, however, if that is the diagnoses, is quite encouraging, as most children under the age 12 months are usually cured and go on to lead healthy, full, normal lives. Please keep Grizz and Cindy in your prayers and thoughts as well as they face this trial and tough time in their lives.

Down! Set! HUTT!

2008-08-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

It's football season!

Karter comes from a long line of big men who played the line in football and he's got his heart set on being a lineman as well. He may be the littlest lineman out there right now, but he's all heart and he is learning the game very well. He's very smart, perceptive and listens well.

And he loves football. Loves it!

Here he is...my little lineman...#76..wearing his dad's high school jersey.

"MOM! I'm late! I don't have time for pictures!" lol

Mmm..summer food

2008-08-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

It's squash and zucchini time!
That means eating alot of one of my favorite summertime meals. Fried squash and zucchini.

It takes quite a bit of time and it's a huge mess, but it's so yummy!

Ummm...yeah. Probably not the healthiest option but oh so tasty!

MESS!

Freakin' Cats...

2008-08-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

Oh goody. Look what showed up in our yard. Kittens. Wild little kitties. They're cute to watch now, but they're going to get big and be a bigger problem. They're really quite mean, too.

Last Week of Summer

2008-08-16T09:50:00.000-07:00

Summer is just about over! Drink up the last of it now.

Good Job, Karter!

2008-08-08T20:56:00.001-07:00

Karter and his hog ROCKED at the Duchesne County Fair this year! His pig won its class and went on to the Star Round. It got mad and started fighting with every other hog in the ring and I was worried that it might get kicked out, but he lucked out. It didn't place in the top 10 because it was just too light, but the judge liked what he saw anyway and came and found Karter to tell him how great his hog was the day of the sale. He just couldn't pick a hog that was that light. If only we'd had 40 more lbs on him. He weighed 235, but was a perfect hog. As it was, he was the #13 hog in the show. Our other hog that Haley Houston showed was the #15 hog. We were happy with that.

There he is...a boy and his hog. He was so happy.

Karter did awesome in Fitting and Showing as well. I was proud of him no matter what the judge's final word was. His lamb didn't make weight, but he still showed it in Fitting and Showing and did well with it too. It came home with us so now we have a sheep that we don't quite know what to do with.

There's the judge looking his hog over once again. You could tell he liked Karter's hog quite a bit. He just kept looking at it.

And here he is when the judge said, "I'm going to go with the young man in the cowboy hat for the #1 hog in this class.". He celebrated a bit in the ring. lol

Whatta smile! He was just beaming after the judge picked his pig in his class.

The judge explains what he liked about Karter's hog....

Star Round. The judge liked the bigger, heavier hogs. The Grand Champion hog weighed 278 lbs.

Star Round pic...rare moment when his hog wasn't fighting other hogs. Mean lil' sucker.

Haley's hog did very well too! She was 2nd in her class and the #15 hog overall.

Look at that awful, pink sunburned pig next to Haley's beautiful piggy.

What a beautiful girl, Haley is. Such a good kid, too. Love that girl!

Kenyon said, "Hello cows!" everytime we went by the Houston girls' steers.

Aww..brotherly love! How much do you think I could've gotten for these two little piggies at the sale?

Kai really wants to be a cowboy. I don't think cowboys ride in bare feet and shorts much though, do you?

Flash Flood!

2008-08-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

We've had a very cool and rainy week here in the Basin. It rained so much, in fact, on Thursday August 7th, that there was a flash flood in Maesar, just West of Vernal. A deluge of water rushed down off Little Mountain and washed across the road just before Horseshoe Dugway in between Vernal and Lapoint. Grizz, my brother, was driving home at the time and was turned around. The water washing over the road was over a foot deep. Crazy!

This little piggy went to market....

2008-07-31T14:22:00.000-07:00

The Duchesne County Fair is next week and we've nearly got these hogs ready. They're looking great and we're hoping to do fairly well. I can't believe how much they've grown in just 2 months. Here's a comparison pic:

Sometime around the 1st of June...just little piggies. We were worried they might not make weight.

And here they are today...my guess is they weigh about 280/290 lbs. Perfect!

Look! I gave that pink pig a bath in buttermilk and it's glowing! lol (not really buttermilk) I do believe we'll call that pig Wilbur.

A week in Salt Lake

2008-07-31T12:54:00.000-07:00

We spent a week in Salt Lake City for Karter's All-Star baseball tournament in Kearns. Not that I have pics though. I have one picture of Karter playing baseball in All-Stars and it's kinda blurry. There was just so much action and intense baseball going on I didn't even get my camera out.

His team ended up taking 2nd in Roosevelt after a heartbreaking loss to Tabiona and they played great in Kearns but didn't end up winning that one either. The boys had a great time though but are ready for football season now.

Here he is, playing 1st base...

While we were in Salt Lake we met up with Doni and Weston Horrocks, one of Karter's teammates and one of his best friends, for a movie. We saw "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D. It was very cool. I highly reccommend it. Great movie for all ages. See it in 3D if you can.

Kansas? You're going to Kansas?

2008-07-31T12:03:00.001-07:00

Yep, Kansas. The funnest state in the lower 48. Yeah RIGHT!! Kansas is not the most thrilling place to have to travel through, but we actually had a nice time and enjoyed our quick trip to Kansas.

We met Grandma Laura in Salina, Kansas to get Ally who had spent a week with Grandma in Missouri. Ally had the BEST time. She went swimming every day, went to the Precious Moments chapel and went shopping for some new clothes with Grandma and her cousin Tiffany. She said her favorite part of the trip was shopping with Tiffany and Grandma but she loved going to the pool every day too. Papa Chelmer said she'd turned into a water dog. Ally loved spending time with Papa Chelmer and told me she sure missed him and Grandma Laura once she got home. Papa Chelmer said he was missing her too.

Good shopping trip, Ally! Cute clothes.

We went to the Rolling Hills Zoo while we were in Kansas. It was 100 degrees and Hot! Hot! Hot! But, the zoo had a nice tram to ride and was a really beautiful and peaceful zoo. There was hardly anyone there the day we went and we really enjoyed our time there.

We all thought this big orangutang was cool, but Kenyon did NOT like him and wouldn't go near him.

The Reptile house was fun, but Ally and Kai were afraid of the pythons and the giant monitor.

Looks as if this monitor is saying, "Mmmmm...I'll have that little girl for lunch!"

Kai loved the camels, giraffes and rhinos.

We all loved this strange animal the most though. It's a Maned Wolf, but it's really not a wolf at all. It's not a fox either. It's its own species that lives in Brazil and Peru and, it STINKS! It smells like a skunk.

We drove all the way to Kansas and paid 15 bucks apiece to see a freakin' prairie dog in a zoo?? lol

Ally thought this spot at the zoo was especially beautiful and said she wants to build a house here someday. It IS right by the lion's cage. That would be kinda cool. lol

There's No Place Like Home.....

2008-07-31T11:36:00.000-07:00

Whew! It's been a whirlwind 2 weeks! It's been All-Stars and baseball tournaments, a trip to Kansas and back in the space of 3 days, a week in Salt Lake then a weekend in Spanish Fork. But, we're back home now and life is still hectic. We're getting the hogs and lambs ready for the fair next week and we'll be off all next week at the fair. Can't wait! We love being extra busy.