Natural Bridge pics

Ayres Natural BridgeNo pets are allowed in the park because of health and safety issues. Located smack dab in between Douglas and Glenrock is Ayres Natural Bridge. This massive 150 acre solid rock arch is a perfect peaceful place for picnicking and free camping.
The Oregon Trail passed through this area, and it was a haven for white settlers passing through Wyoming. Legend has it that an Indian was struck by lightning and killed while atop the bridge. After that, Native Americans would not ever go near the bridge or its surroundings. The Natural Bridge was often visited by emigrants. It was, perhaps, Wyoming's first tourist attraction. An 1843 pioneer described it as, "...a natural bridge of solid rock, over a rapid torrent, the arch being regular as tho' shaped by art...." The stream, originally known as Bridge Creek, is now called LaPrele Creek and flows through a beautiful public park surrounding the Bridge.
Contact: (307) 358-3532; open April through October
Ayres Natural Bridge Park is located 11 miles west of Douglas, WY on I-25, Exit 151 (Natural Bridge Exit), then 5 miles south on County Road 13. It is one of the few natural bridges that still has water running under it. It is in a very nice little county park with some camping.

The Gang (Chelsea, Bri, Liz, Mikaela, Danielle)

Theresa and Tearney up a tree:)

Playin around

The Falls and Natural Bridge

On Friday we headed up the mountain to the falls...this is our little water fall we have right here in Wyoming. We made this trip with some special friends Tearney and Bri. The falls did not take long so Tearney and I decided to make a day and go on a road trip. This was to the Natural Bridge about 1/2 hour East of Casper. Here we took some more beautiful pictures and enjoyed the weather.

The Gang

Chelsea

Danielle

Bri and Mikaela

Liz (such a teenager:)

Next outing....

Theresa was feeling generous this day and took 5 girls age ranging from 9-5 years (Brianna is the darker haired young lady who is good friends with Mikaela, the littlest is Riley and the rest of the blonds are related to me:) to the movies. After the movies we went to Washington park for some more gross motor play.

Visitors...

Danielle and Chelsea (Theresa and Kens nieces) came for a visit for 5 days. We had many adventures as well as many rocky roads to cross. As all the girls are close in age there were many challenges that had to be overcome. Both girls were wonderful to have and are going so very quickly.

Our first trip or outing was the Castle park, Liz came and played chase with the girls on the playground.

Brett is doing great and sees the girls 2-3 times a week. He is staying clean and doing well for himself! I am very proud of him and these two girls and the road they have all had to travel.

New Style

So after long contemplation mom has decided to go with a new hair style. This took lots of magazines and debating. But all in all I love it and it feels Great!

Mom is Home!!

To start with I want to again thank everyone for the support and help through the past 8 plus weeks. My trip to Thermopolis was wonderful and I had a great experience but can honestly say I am glad to be home. During my trip of being away many things occured.... our niece Rachel went to Poland to lead and English camp and returned safely, Dennis and Deb are leaving this week for Poland and a wedding in England, and Brett is staying clean and has been reunited with his two girls and 17 year old son, and hopefully my best friend Becky Jo does not mind me sharing that she is pregnant with her 3rd child. I am so glad to have family and friends that I do and all the exciting things that God leads them to.

I have had no difficulty falling back into the mom role and the girls and Ken have had no problems allowing that role to be filled.

The girls did come for a week to visit in Thermopolis and I wanted to share a few pics of the Thermopolis scenery.

Theresa softball team from her Thermopolis

Two fawns that came to visit nightly at the house I was staying at.

Mikaela checking the sulfar water as well as Kayleen and Liz

It's the final countdown

This has been one of the toughest fights for this reporter to have to cover. We have seen both conventional and unconventional fighting styles from both of them and truly one of the strangest fights I have ever seen. I have immense admiration and respect for both of these fighters. They trained very hard for this bout and now it comes down to this final round. It is now or never, all or nothing, leave it all out in the ring tonight. These two have forgotten all about the bumps, bruises, and cuts and are ready to get this fight over with. The judges have the fight scored evenly through eleven rounds, so lets see who wants it more. The bell has rung and both fighters come out of their respected corners confidently. After eleven rounds this has become second nature for both of them. They meet in the middle of the ring and exchange some meaningless jabs. There was a rumor circulating that this fight was fixed, but anyone that has been watching would know that nothing could be farther from the truth. Theresa starts to move Ken back into the corner and starts working on his body with some mean hooks to his stomach. It is like she threw a roast in the crock pot and turned it up to high. Ken pushes her back and lands a couple of quick jabs, but I think he is grilled cheese. The two of them square off in the middle of the ring and it looks like they are both going to try and deliver the knockout punch. If either one of them lands this it will be all over. I cannot watch! OH NO! They both missed! I cannot believe this most unfortunate series of events. They both fall to the mat from the momentum of their misguided punches and have knocked themselves out. As I look around the ring in utter disbelief, I see "The Tude" is getting ill in the other corner. As the two fighters try and come to, Liz looks like she is in some serious pain. The ref has started to call both of the fighters down and is starting his count out...1....2.....Liz is calling out to Ken, but there is nothing he can do from his position....3.....4......Liz tries to call out to Mom, but she is not able to do anything........5...........6.....
....Liz is getting worse and is doubled over................7....................8...................Ken calls out to a friend who tries to get Liz to the hospital, but cannot move her. Luckily there is an ambulance here at the arena, so they whisk Liz off to the hospital.......9.......and in Theresa's corner they are getting ready to throw in the towel and in a surprising move Ken's corner stops them............10!
The arena is as quiet as ScotiaBank Place when the Avalanche kick the Senator's bottoms in hockey. Both of the fighters have lost and to come this far only to literally fall must be heart breaking for these two competitors. I guess that concludes our coverage of this fight and .....wait! Someone is entering the ring from between the bottom two ropes. It can't be....NO WAY! It is....it's.......it's....."Mood swing" Mikaela is doing her signature tumbling to the middle of the ring and she is grabbing the microphone being lowered from the ceiling. Let's listen in....."Before my Mom hit the mat she reached out and touched my hand thus "tagging out". "In doing so she relinquished her power to me and I declare myself the winner of this fight". "I am the only one that did not have a glove laid on me during the twelve weeks, so the belt is mine". There you have it folks and we have received word from the hospital that Liz just had the stomach flu and has made a full recovery. Unfortunately there is no cure from a broken heart delivered from a boy who remain nameless, so we will just call him Joey. Only time will heal that wound. This fight has been brought to by these fine sponsors: The two Christy's, Guitar Hero Queen K, Grandma L, Grandpa L, Opa, Older Den and Deb, Bev, Tman, Unk B and Ant S with the precious O, and Paulster. You all have no idea how much we are indebted to all of you. Sometimes it was watching the girls, a phone call, an e-mail, or a game of golf, but you all were a huge help to our family. Thank You from the bottoms of our hearts.

GO! Go now! Go now and leave me!

It looks like Theresa is pulling out her bag of tricks this round and Ken does not know if he is coming or going. After "The Tude" and "The Swinger" arrived at the fight, Theresa quickly whisked them off to her corner. This has turned out to be a brilliant strategy by Theresa by finding Kens one true weakness....being alone. She has discovered Kens kryptonite as he has been listless and uninspired these last three weeks. It appeared back in round eight that Ken had an insurmountable lead in this fight, but Theresa has played Ken like a Stradivarius. Enough fiddling around and lets get back to the fight. Ken had to back into the kitchen to try and cook up something to defend himself from this onslaught. He resorted to calling Theresa names like Chicken Fajita, but that did not seem to faze her. Then he dug deep and lashed out with Turkey Tetrazzini and that seemed to hurt her a bit. Then without hesitation he we went with a low blow, he didn't...not....oh yes he did, Cookies and Cream Malt. Theresa stumbled back into the ropes with a little drool coming from the corner of her mouth. She shook her head and stretched her jaw and charged at Ken with both fists a flayling. She smacked Ken with a game night with the girls and then a combination of a family walk, minus him, and girls only television show. He wouldn't understan. Ouch! I think Kens eyes have swollen shut and they are going to have to get some cold compresses on those puppies ASAP. I cannot see how the judges cannot have this fight scored equally between these two fighters. We have seen a lot of action and thrills throughout this fight which seemed like it would never end. When this fight started it seemed to drag on and on like a gay parade in San Francisco, but now the rounds seem to be flying by. Next week is the final round and it is up to those of you who read this dribble to decide who is the champion. Please do not vote per family lines for Kens family is much smaller and riding the fence and saying that they are both winners in my book. Gag! I believe both fighters have left everything they have out in the ring and the fight would not have been if they didn't find a way to make it work. The two of them will be pulling out all the punches in the final round, round 12.

Can they go the distance?

It is the middle of round ten of this scheduled twelve round fight and both fighters are looking strong. They both received assistance in their corners this round from new and old friends. The alone time this week for both fighters has seemed to rekindle a mutual respect and, dare I say, love for one another. They took this round to "feel" each other out and there was a lot of hugging and dancing out on the mat. We predict that this round will produce a lot of the same as they gear up and figure out how to deliver that knockout punch in the final two rounds. Both fighters will be rejuvenated in between rounds ten and eleven when they will receive that added boost with the arrival of fighting legends, Lizzy, "The Teen with Tude" and Mikaela, "The Mood Swinger". Both of these fighters have fought each other numerous times and have even tried to spar with Ken and Theresa only to find themselves grounded back to reality. The "Mood" and "Tude" may come back in need of attitude adjustments after being at Camp G.A.I.N. (Grandma Always Is Nicer) for two weeks. One is claiming to be homesick while the other one is holding out and refuses to show any sign of weakness. This reporter wonders where she gets that from.

Getting back to the fight at hand and a quick review of the highlights of round nine. Theresa had the upper hand this round showing her agility and fancy footwork. She danced around Ken like he was a statue. Ken usually is solid as a rock, but this round he had his foundation shaken and started to show signs of crumbling. By the end of the round he had gotten back into his groove and came back to his true form. Near the end of the round Theresa had some equipment malfunction when she had a blowout in the rear of her shoe. She tried to call Kens corner to get a spare, but Ken only heard "blowout". He tried to call her back and to no avail with all the noise in the arena. Luckily she text Kendra who is over in Kens corner and let him know that she had a replacement and a passerby was changing the blown shoe. Theresa did not get home until late in the round. She decided it was time to clean out her corner and got rid of a lot of dead weight by having a "garage sale". Items that were laying around not carrying their weight were traded or gone. Ken was seen in his corner between rounds practicing his golf swing. That is the way he ended the ninth round and how he started the beginning of the tenth round.

There will be fireworks at the end of round ten, but they are not going to come from these two fighters. We hope to see these two fighters finish strong and that they both walk away to fight another day. Ken has tried to land a couple of windmill punches, but Theresa has kept her guard up. Theresa started out this round a little sluggish after drinking some outdated orange juice. Ken is still looking puffy and red eyed, but he claims it to be allergies. Will there be a victor in this bout or do both of these fighters walk away with their own personal victories? Both fighters have shown signs of greatness and moments of weakness. You will be the judge of the winner as you vote in the final twelth round. GO KEN!! Hey, no bias or bribing of the judges. GO THERESA!!! Now stop that!

Ha, Ha, Ha..Oh Superman

We are now two-thirds the way through this fight and we have some sad news to report. You hope that the allegations are not true and that something like this will not rear its ugly head in your sport, but it has. At the end of the eight round one of the fighters tested positive for speed. We are not at liberty to tell you which one, but SHE showed 52 and the legal limit is 40. Sure there is going to be a fine, but she will not lose her license and will be able to continue to fight. Some other oddities between rounds eight and nine was Ken running back to the dressing room in Denver and shipping two priceless packages to Gma and Gpa L. Ken would not elaborate on what was in the packages besides saying, "A dance with Cinderella" and "butterfly kisses". On the way back to the ring you could visibly notice that Kens eyes were red and puffy. We hope that he has not fallen into the grasp of performance enhancement drugs and he said it was from watching "My Girl". In round eight both fighters looked good and it was a well reffed round by Kendra. She called it like she saw it and was more than fair to all parties involved. In Kens corner he had two huge supporters who will be dearly missed these next two rounds, but before leaving they told him, "Ken let the dogs out, ruff, ruff, ruff" (Just don't use any other names, true that L) Ken did receive a boost at the beginning of the round when the Breester abducted him and took him to dinner as a belated fathers day gift. Theresa is looking strong this week as she did last week. Last week she was given her midterm report and she is doing very well. They would love for her to come back and work their after she completes her last eight weeks. Ken is looking like popeye without his spinach. Ken looks like he has no wind beneath his wings. We shall see how these two fighters do now that it is just the two of them. I think we are going to see a lot of hugging and dancing in the middle of the ring from these two. Theresa may tie Ken up in the ropes and....well this is a family blog so I will leave the rest up to you. At night when you go out and look at the moon, know that I will be looking also and I hope to see the reflection of your face smiling at me.

one and won

That one / won was for you OPA. Round seven was not a very exciting round. Ken is showing signs of fatigue eventough he was off from work this round. He tried the training habits of Rocky Balboa in Rocky III and the karate kid in going old school in his training by prepping the house for painting when he prepared for this fight. Sand on, Sand off ladder balancing boy! The weather co-operated with Ken on the first two days and then some nasty cold front came down from where else, Canada! Forty degrees for a high in June and the mountains to the north got up to 15 inches of snow. As Ken says, the only two good things that ever came out of Canada is hockey and a very precious niece. Enough mushy talk lets get back to the fight. Theresa has been a step behind this round and seems to be at a slight disadvantage. She did not have any animals to take care of this week and was able to find the time and energy to go workout between rounds. Ken WON this round by bobbing, ducking, and weaving around everything Theresa threw at him. Watching Mikaela is not hard work, but keeping everybody fed and entertained is a cross hook that Theresa cannot defend. If both of these fighters are still standing at the end of this fight, then there will be no loser. It will all come down to how the judges score each round to determine the winner of this war. At the halfway point Ken has managed to stop the early bleeding inflicted by Theresa and Theresa has been able to dance her way back into the fight with some nifty combinations. The ultimate challenge comes for both fighters in the ninth and tenth round when we will be near the end of the fight and both fighters will be unleashing everything in their arsenal with no support from their respective corners. We will finally see what these two fighters are made of when they go head to head on their own. Theresa may gain an advantage here since she will have had more experience of being on her own in the previous rounds. In the other corner, Ken may be posting more blogs, going golfing more, or completing the many jobs he needs to get done around the house. In the final two rounds be sure to vote for who you think has WON this epic battle.

2008 Family Photos

Hard copies to come out soon! What a darn good looking family:)!! Love to all!

Home for the Weekend

I am glad to say really there is not to much to report. My fieldwork in Thermopolis is going good and we are heading into week 4. YEAH! Needless to say Ken is holding down the fort nicely and believe it or not I have no complaints. During the week after I get off from my site I go to the hot springs pool for and aerobics workout two nights, then I use the facilities wellness gym and work out two days a week. This is how I keep myself from getting depressed from being away from the family. I have learned so much in the following 3 weeks and really realized that even with all the academic education I am not ready to be on my own just yet.

Liz so far this summer has hung out with friends and started in the new youth ministries at church. She is loving this. This current week she is on a missions trip in South Dakota (Wounded Knee Reservation). They do not have phone service there except for emergencies. Guess what kind of call we got......yep it would be my kid who got the flu:) She is doing fine and has stuck it out but they made her call just we had a heads up. Liz also got a letter in the mail just before leaving stating she was accepted into another year of Casper Youth Orchestra playing her trombone. This was awesome!!

Mikaela has spent the summer lounging around the house. She goes to the movies with Riley and Christy once a week and had a sleepover with them this last week. She spent this week with dad trying to get the exterior house painted. This is not an easy task living in WY where the wind blows 350 days of the year. She has been a big help. Mikaela has even admitted to missing her big sister this week. Gymnastics continues and both girls head to Grandma and Grandpa Lights house on the 22nd to spend two weeks with them and their aunt and uncle and baby cousin Olivia.

Ken had the week off this week and as stated tried painting the house. I will keep you posted on this job.

I hope everyone is doing well...as the Anthony household still stands and no knock outs just yet!!!!

For whom the bell tolls

Fooouuurrr!.............Everything is white with little colored stars dancing around....Fiiiivvvveee!.......What? This cannot be. Ken is on the mat and the ref is counting him down. Get up KEN!!! Siixx!........Ken grabs the bottom rope and tries to pull himself up, but his legs feel like two cooked pasta noodles. He shakes his head to clear the cobwebs as the ref asks him, " Are you going to burn the ribs tonight?" "What?? Come again?" He says, " Are you ready to fight?" "Uh,yes, I am ready to fight." Obviously Theresa's added support in her corner between the fourth and fifth round did her a world of good. Ken lost the fifth round when he let his guard down and torched the ribs. She unleashed a flurry of punches to his head like she was beating a rug. When the dust cleared Ken was staggering wondering where he was and it was to late to defend himself. Then she unleashed the knock down blow to his cheek that cut a gash into his manhood. During the graduation melee, comments were made about Ken and Ken would say that this was a low blow, but that would open the door to a ton of inappropriate jokes. We are now in the midst of the sixth round and both fighters are seeming tentative. Neither one wants to make a mistake so they are both dancing around with a few jabs here and there. Theresa has Toby in her corner this week and he is giving her an added boost. The hospital that she is at in Thermopolis is giving her ample opportunities to prove herself and she is proving herself to be up to the challenge. Ken has the added support of Opa in his corner this round and the last. He will head out on Friday and then Ken will be off next week to be with Mikaela. Liz will be heading up to S. Dakota on a mission trip. It looks like Ken will have the upper hand in the next round and both fighters will be challenged in rounds nine and ten when the girls will be with Gma and Gpa in Missouri. Though the bell came close to tolling for Ken in this last round it appears that things have equalled themselves out once again and that it is any ones bout to be one.

Graduation Day

This past weekend was full of lots of events for Graduation. We had our class ceremony and fun awards were given, I of course got mother hen award. I actually take great pride in this title! My parents (mom and dad Light) as well as Deb, Dennis, and Neal came into town. Everyone joined me for the class ceremony. Then it was home for pizza and off to the grad ceremony. Two hours later I have the fake diploma in hand and ready to party for the night. This consisted of dragging the entire family out after 10pm to listen to a band and have a few drinks. Nice but we were ready to call it a night. Whats the saying if the music is to loud you are too old, in this case if you cant understand the words the band is singing its time to retire. Dont get me wrong it was nice but just not my style. Saturday, was busy preparing for an open house for family and friends. I am so greatful to have mom, dad, and Deb around because I basically did nothing. They are so awesome (Thanks again guys!). Not as many people showed up but the ones that did it was a good relaxing time in the fresh air and with food and drinks to go along (again, thanks mom and dad). Not to mention that Kendra and her mom were here and did lots too. Like napping on the trampoline so Dad Light could hose them down. Love you! Here are some pictures of the wonderful weekend.

A special thanks to my friends and family for all there support in the past few years...this has been a wonderful adventure and now it is time to open some new doors for me and my family.

Its off to Thermopolis for 8 weeks on Tuesday! I will keep you posted.

Class Ceremony with the Girls!

Guitar Hero played by Deb Anthony during the evening

Kendra and Shelley(her mom)getting hosed down by Dad Light

Its time to graduate

Mom and Dad Light with the Graduate

Mom Light entertains Liz on the Tramp

Bar-B-Q or Charbroil???

Just when you think the boxing match has ended with Theresa down with the last punch you better wake up. Ken has been coming in with some good blows and showing his stuff and impressing the crowd until........

Saturday Night dinner, Ken was going to cook dinner (I get sick of cooking everynight, so I figured he could handle a little grilling) he started the grill and was going to slow cook the Ribs ($20.00 ribs mind you). He got it all set up and headed down to the yard to do some yard work in our gorgous spring weather. The porch filled with smoke and flames were starting to grow up the side of my house (the house is fine). He informed me the ribs were ready, and what was I fixing for a side dish (as he was filtering the house out from smoke). As we sat down he dug into the nicely charcoaled ribs to find the insides RAW (yes folks when you flame broil ribs it only cooks the outside, but my loving husband did not think of this). So we had noodles with corn and lunch meat ham instead. He was suppose to cook for mothers day the following day but I figured I better cook for myself as the beef may not get cooked thoroughly:)

With this being said I am buying the girls lunchables for the next 8 weeks to ensure the get a healthy cooked meal.

With all this said I remind all you that I am back in the ring ready to win this round! (all with love). Do not fret, if you are coming to the open house this weekend to celebrate my graduation Ken will not be in charge of the Bar-B-Q!

I love you dear husband!!

Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day (belated) to all my family and friends that celebrated this wonderful day. To my sister who celebrated her first mothers day with her beautiful family, Kristy Barr who celebrated her first "official" mothers day, and all the mothers who have been doing this for many years and pregnant with their next one (becky Jo:).

It is important for me to say how special Mom Light is to me...as she has supported me, given advice, and been a friend in the past several years. I dont think I could ever show how much her love is for me and my family!!!

Love to everyone.

Here are some pictures because not only is it mothers day but I celebrated my 34th birthday. I had the pleasure of celerbrating this time with my family and Kendra as her 20th birthday was celebrated on May 13th.

Misc. Pictures

I have finally downloaded a few pictures of the girls so that I could post them.

Liz and "bob" the trombone at band recital.

Track day for the girls...only got a couple of pics though.

Finals week

Wow I did not realize how long it had been since I had last posted a blog. I do have some pictures to post too. Where has the time gone??? This week is my official last week of classes and next week is finals. Then it is time to party before heading out for 8 weeks. (thermopolis rotation). Ken thinks he has won this boxing match but just wait for 8 weeks of #####.

Updates on girls: Liz had a band concert and did very well. She took a growth assessment test to see how she has done through the school year. From the beginning of the year she to the end of the year she went up 24 pts in math and 8 pts in reading. These scores are awesome! Here comes junior high:( both girls had track day this week and Liz took 2nd in 100meter run (again this is not like her, she hates running)

Mikaela: Took 2nd in two areas of track day but had melt down in the afternoon because mom was not there (this is the first meet I have missed in 3 years). She is now doing back hand springs in gymnastics and progressiving nicely with piano.

Pictures will be posted later.

Hope everyone is well and I will post again real soon

Ring the #%*! bell

Theresa has Ken up against the ropes and is being merciless with her combinations to his mind. Tonight Ken was informed that if the weather does not let up, Theresa may not be coming home until Saturday. OUCH! Would someone nudge the time keeper because I think he has fallen asleep this round. If Ken does not get his guard up he could be taking a canvas nap. He looks like he needs to go sit in his corner on his little stool and have the trainer tell him that he can win this fight. The last round it was the youngest who was having a hard time with Mom being gone and this round it is the oldest. I guess the next round is Kens. His bedroom has become the Motel 6 and yes, they do leave a light on for you. (There are scary things in the dark or so I am told) It is pretty much impossible to get a good night sleep in a queen bed with two dogs, a daughter who practices karate moves in her sleep, a cat who wants to be on your head, and another daughter who can strip all the blankets off the bed with a quarter roll. The cat and Ken usually do not get along, but since he is feeding him, He is now his best buddy. The dog Ojo will not eat when Theresa is not home, but a couple of days of not eating has cured that problem. The newest addition, Toby, is still a pup and is in his own little world. He will do something he is not supposed to and you can see Ojo roll her eyes and shake her head in disappointment. Ken better get his mind back into this fight and remember to keep his guard up because he does not know what is going to be thrown at him next. Ken and Theresa wouldn't be able to get through these rounds if it was not for all the wonderful people that they have in their corners. Whether it is a phone call, email, instant message, or just stopping by they are all huge boosts to these two. Though they haven't had to call on some of you yet, it is a huge relief knowing that you all are there. Tune in next time for "Whom the Bell Tolls" to see if Ken makes it out of this round standing.