Braces

After (sorry they are out of order)

during
Before

After three years of prepping and waiting for permanent teeth to arrive Liz had to have two teeth pulled last month and today was the official day of braces. They only put the top ones on today because they will take the longest after they get going they will put on the bottoms and all will be done at the same time.

Nieces

Last weekend we traveled to Denver for one of our usual trips. During this visit we accomplished making two dresses one for liz and one for mikaela. These were needed for Bree's wedding on Aug. 1st. Thanks again to my wonderful sister-in-law we completed them in one day. Then it was off to family putt putt golf. In 10 years I finally BEAT Ken at minature golf HA! On Sunday we hit the mall, had a lovely meal with Dennis, Debby and family (including Rachel as she was in town for the weekend as well), then off to pick up Danielle and Chelsea. Last year we have them for about three days, this year we took the plunge and had them for an entire week. We played games, went for walks by the river, spent time at the pool, and did lots of jumping on the trampoline. We met our challenges with Gods guidance and made it safely through. Liz did lots of growing up as she had to babysit while Ken and I were at work. (I heard lots of "mommy" comments come out of her when it came to her cousins). Liz did get a break in between the week and headed back to Denver with the youth group to go to water world and eliches for two days. Whew does she ever slow down. Mikaela held up well but when she does want her space invaded watch out! Danielle and Chels departed from us this past Saturday to return to colorado with dad (Brett). Who by the way is doing well. This week it is back to a normal schedule with only two kids in the house.

At the river

Game night (mom beat dad again at aggravation! must be my week:)

at the pool

Danielle, Chelsea, and mikaela

Wounded Knee Missions Trip

Liz returned late Saturday evening from a week long missions trip in Wounded Knee South Dakota. They painted a building, mowed and weed wacked the yards, and ran a vacation bible school for the children during this week. She had a wonderful experience and God led them in so many different directions. The children and families are the poorest in the country for and Indian Reservation. Our young adults go and give them an opportunity to share the word of God through hard work and a loving hand. We are very blessed to have Liz in our lifes and two of these children remember her from last year and are blessed to have her as well! The trip also brought her and some friends closer together. I will have her blog tomorrow to give some stories about the adventures she came upon.

4th of July

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY....

This year we were more anxious about Lizzy returning from her mission trip that we did not really focus on the holiday at hand. As we headed out the door to go watch the fireworks we got the call from Liz that they were 30 minutes from home....so instead of heading to our original destination we headed to the church for a quick pick up.

With everyone helping to unload and the announcement that the fireworks were going to be released early (we had another heavy storm coming our direction) we headed to the open area and were able to watch the firework display as a family. It was not the traditional sit outside the car and wait...wait ....wait. It was sit in the car and 5 minutes later the show was on. (I like this version).

I do have to say that I miss big family gatherings and BBQing before the big event with our own little fireworks on the street. Well maybe next year:)

Missions trip

Please pray for Liz and her team as they head to Wounded Knee South Dakota for their missions trip. The will be going and cleaning up the chuch and yard work as well as running VBS for the kids on the reservation. Pray that she will grow as an individual and as a team member. Pray for the leaders as they guide this group of young adults as God leads them to do His will.

Bless this TEAM and all the challenges and good times they have before them!

Lone Tree Camp

Mikaela had a safe return from camp. She did not stop talking for the first 30 minutes of the drive home. We then stopped for our traditional pizza (we use to do with Liz) and she was fast asleep for the remainder of the 45 minute drive home. She got to shoot archery and brought home her target with marks in all the "right" areas. They went to the lake and did boating and swimming, sing-alongs at the camp fire, worship and prayer time, horse back riding and stunt horse riding (see pics below), she even remembered to shower more then once the entire week! We were very blessed because her counselor was a young lady that we used as a back up babysitter ofter when they were little. ( how lucky do you get with that) To be honest we were afraid she was gonna back out at the last minute. The night before her departure all was well...we put her to bed and kissed her goodnight without any problems....ten minutes later she comes running out of her room full of tears saying she didnt think she wanted to go. Mom fell asleep with her in bed asking God "okay what do we do". He was very clear to me the next morning when she flew into my bathroom stating "we leave in 1 1/2 hours will you be ready". What a great experience. I have posted lots more pictures on FB but these are a few of my favorites.
Kelsey (counselor)and Mikaela
Mikaela having fun


Camper friends

Crazy counselors

at the lake

doing stunts on the horse

Xenia Departs

Xenia Departs
Xenia left with her dad last on Friday. We had a nice visit the last day she was here and emotional. My only regret with her stay was that we did not do many things with her in the end. I am so thankful to all my family for the support they gave her and us during her stay. I was able to complete a scrapbook album for her to take back with all the events that occurred during her stay. Wow was this a chore....it consisted of 2 back to back Saturdays 12 hours of scrapbooking. Thanks to my sister Deb who came up to help I would never have been able to complete it. I even had Ken do a few pages on the last day so that it would be done. I have to say it turned out beautiful.
Just got word that she is currently in Kansas with her dad and was driving around in the car while dad was at work....I am sure this was a completely new adventure for her.
Few funny memories:
-"that's a stupid rule"
-"do we have to get up that early", "why does school have to be so early"
-driving lessons....she did very well but wow was that an adventure
-floating the river
-cross country skiing
-watching the three of them come up with things to do when they were bored
here is the last pictures I have of our German family member.
Xenia and Mikaela putting flowers in my pots.
WE LOVE YOU! and will miss you!

BBQ with Friends

BBQ with friends
This past weekend we had some very good friends of ours over for BBQ. Mom convinced dad that we needed a new BBQ and he could call it his fathers day gift. (the BBQ really was for me, but hey whatever works) You should see the BBQ he brought home...this things can feed the entire neighborhood. So BBQing we did! The weather was beautiful after having tornadoes and thunderstorms the night before.
After BBQ the girls wanted to get out their new water toy...this things is cool. You put a water balloon in a this plastic object...turn on the timer and pass it around like a hot potatoe, if the timer goes off and it is in your hands you WILL get wet! Liz freaked out and threw it at her friend so the first time the timer did not get a chance to go off....it just popped. I love this toy!
I was also able to do some weeding this weekend and was shocked at my chics and hens farm I have created....look mom I got something to grow!!!! Now if I just do not kill it my watering it with weed killer that would be great (I did this about 5 years ago and have not lived it down yet)
Hope everyone is having a beautiful summer.

End of School Year

Finally wrapping things up for the end of the school year. For junior high I say amen! As these kids are sick of each other and the drama just gets thicker. As for elementry we had talent shows, award assemblies, and lots of movies. (they dont do awards in the junior high any more:()

Mikaela received the "Good Citizenship" award. This is only given to a select amount of students for the year. She has received it ever year and works very hard for it. She also received the "superior" award for all A's in all subjects all 4 quarters. Liz also brought straight A's for the past two quarters and made High honor roll. Liz has not decided which school to attend for next year as she has some things to hand over to God this summer and move on with her life. Lots of events for the summer....Mikaela camp, Liz missions trip, swimming, and riding bikes, with a few road trips in between.

Good Citizenship Award

Mikaela's best friend Londynn

Memorial Day Weekend

Well to make a long story short....we were suppose to go camping this weekend with our church family but this ended up being moms weekend to work:(. So we were invited to come up on Sunday but after a crazy Friday with Liz and a story that will be laughed at when she is 30 we decided it be best if we stay home and devote our time to the girls. We did lots of yard work and then on Sunday took all three girls to the Ayers Natural Bridge. We got some beautiful shots of the girls and truly enjoyed this time as a family and with the beauty God has created. I hate having to work but in the end we made the best of it....I guess this is what you get working for a "hospital setting". The Natural Bridge was another Wyoming Landmark that we felt Xenia needed to see before her departure on June 11th.

You can go to facebook to view lots of great pics.

Oregon Trip

As we traveled to Oregon to celebrate the graduation of my niece and nephew we had the opportunity to explore the beautiful state of Oregon. Okay total different adventure when you have lived in the desert for the past 7 years. It is so green and full of beauty. We were fortunate because it did not rain the entire time we were there. Some site seeing we did was Multinoma Falls, zoo, and the coast. It was all amazing however the coast was outstanding. We were told it would be cold and raining and to bring extra clothes. What we arrived to was sunny, clear, and no wind. The girls got to see star fish and many other sea creatures that you do not get to see here in Wyoming. For all you "Twilight" fans....the falls and the coast are some of the sites that were filmed in the movie.

I have put a few pictures here but many more on facebook. If you are unable to view the many photos there let me know and I will send them via walgreens.

A funny vacation stories.....

We lost Ted (OPA), Liz, and Xenia somewhere in Portland OR only to find them one hour later (mom was a nervous wreck). They finally arrived at the restaurant with laughter and not a care in the world. Xenia says Opa is the best and they should get lost more often.

Sad story....

Mom left the camera in the hotel when we went to the ocean. More pictures will be shared when Deb and Den return from their road trip as they had the camera and took great pics.

At the zoo (hey were is the excitement this was fun!)

Yes we even saw the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile while we were at the zoo.

More pics of the beach to come later.

Congratulations Neal and Rachel

Both my niece and nephew graduated from colleges this month. Neal has become a fine welder and Rachel received a 4 year degree in bible study. We support them with love and prayers as they adventure into an adult world with their new found education.

Happy Birthday

Xenia and Theresa celebrate their birthdays....thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes and gifts.

Happy Mothers Day

To all the special moms in the world have a

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!!

We love you all....this is to all the mothers and mothers-to-be (Bree and Stacy)

Love the Anthony's

We got Forked

Well as bad as it may sound it really was rather funny. My lovely Niece Rachel taught my children about "forking" someones yard. This is a more pleasant way to "TP" someones house. With that being said a few weeks ago Liz and Xenia set out to "fork" our neighbors yard. We did not have any forks at the time so they "spooned" the yard. Which leads to last nights event.....

At around 9pm the doorbell rings and we walked out to find no one at the door but we found our yard had been "forked". We laughed forever....now the revenge is on!!!! What will forking a yard lead to next???????