3 Boys at 3 Rivers...

After the fair, we finally got a chance to break away and spend some time up at Three Rivers. Jeremiah's cousin Chris and his family were able to go with us, as well as Grandma and Grandpa and Jeremiah's other cousin Vanessa and her fiance' David. Oh and Tucker got in on the fun too.

We spent alot of time on the Lake and the weather was pretty nice the whole time we were there!
Swimming while we waiting for Jeremiah and Grandpa to come back with the pontoon boat that they rented for a few days...
This was SO much fun! We used this boat to let the kiddos play on and around and used Grandpa and Grandma's boat to ski and tube with. We jumped on and off of it all day...swim and then lay on the back to dry out! Yah! These couches were SUPER comfy for us mommas and Grandma!

Captain Travis and his trusty mate, Tucker.

Floatable love...

Justin rode this dirtbike ALOT.
Coming in for a landing...


And, thanks to Grandma Rita, we have documentation of the beautiful sunsets in Central Oregon...a very relaxing way to end the day....

The Not So Fair Fair...

Our Oregon weather seemed to completely go psycho this year during the Yamhill County Fair. Why? I don't know. But I will tell you this: IT WAS HORRIBLE. Trying to survive 105+ weather inside our house with AC would have been hard enough, but we had to survive it down at the fairgrounds, trying to keep our animals and kids alive! We were armed with squirt bottles and hoses, alternately squirting ourselves and them. A few kiddos lost chickens, which was bad, but we were lucky not to, and our bunnies did OK and rode out the hot days cuddled up next to frozen water bottles. All in all, Jared did great this year. He was disappointed in a Red ribbon for his market fryers, but ended up getting a decent price at the auction. Other than that, he got all blues...and came home with three trophies! One for his Grand Champion Pigeon hen, one for Grand Champion in confirmation for his new rabbit Bernice, and one for Grand Champion in rabbit judging! Awesome! He also got some plaques for his woodworking project as well.

That great Horton smirk!

Bernice the GREAT!

Accepting his Woodworking award.

Mr. Justin had a fun time as well...he made a great poster about dogs, baked some cookies and participated in the Animal Show-n-Tell with my cousin Alex's dog Dixie. That was an experience. As we are entering the building with the dog, Jeremiah reminds me that Dixie is basically a trained bird dog, and I am taking her into a group filled with small children and their pets...namely a few chickens, parakeets, bunnies etc.....YIKES. Needless to say, we stayed in the back, and I asked the leader if we could go last, and if she could make sure that the kids put their "eatables" away! I made Jeremiah walk up there with Dixie because I knew if she saw something and took off, she would take Justin right along with her! It all went well, but boy did her ears perk up!
It's a little hard to see Dixie, but she is the black thing that Julia is holding onto! When asked what Dixie ate, Justin took the microphone and simply stated "birds." Nice son. Nice. As a last hurrah, she asked him if there was anything else he wanted to tell them about Dixie, he looked really serious and said "Yeah, she's a John Deere fan." HILARIOUS. Totally Justin. Leave it to this kid to get a laugh from the crowd without even cracking a smile!

So now we pack up a few things to send off to the State Fair of Jareds. Two of his display boards and his cookies, as well as his woodworking project will go over. Hopefully he will score some more awards!

YIKES! A month already?

Wow! I cannot believe it has been a month since I posted last...we have been slightly busy. We literally have not slowed down one bit since school got out, and here it is time for it to start again already. That's stinky.
I will post pictures of fair and our vacation as soon as I can catch a break...We barely survived 100+ degree weather during fair week! But, we had a relaxing time over at Three Rivers this last week.
Until then, here's a moment etched in my memory from this morning...

Travis lost another tooth yesterday morning so now he looks like a little Jack-O-Lantern! He very carefully put it in a little box of mine last night....and at approximately 6 am this morning...showed up on my side of the bed grinning from ear to ear with a dollar bill in his hand. So cute. He was barely awake. And even cuter was the site of him wrapping his little arms around Jeremiah's neck with a death grip on that dollar bill, heading back to bed. Definite deposit in my "I Love My Little Guys" tank.

Birthday Boy Blog

Up next, we celebrated out little man turning FIVE!!! YIKES. I cannot believe how fast five years has gone. I know, I say that about EVERY birthday the kids have, but this little guys first 6 months were LONG, and at that time, I couldn't imagine we were both going to live to see Birthday #5! God is good though, and we both survived and he blesses us everyday with his adorable personality and cuteness. I am thinkin' God knew that when he created him.... :)

We had his little friend b-day party early, before school was out, so we could make sure his friends were there before everyone scatters for summer break. He has been wanting to have a party at Scotty's playhouse (an indoor play area) for a while, so we got on the books. The night before, he woke up at 11 pm screaming in pain and we were up ALL night with a massive earache...hmmm...party in a few hours? I got him in ASAP the next morning, and sure enough, ear infection, and a nasty one at that. Well, as you know, thanks to good drugs, anything is possible and an hour before the party (and after a good nap), I drugged him to the hilt, and he totally enjoyed his party!! YAAAHHHH!

He wanted to have a BEACH party, which was fun. We found cool plates and gummy fish and cute treat bags.

It was really bright and sunny in there, so my pics didn't turn out the best, but it was fun! Even Kendyl got in on the action!

On his REAL birthday (which was, by the way, a little confusing to him :) ), we had family over and he opened his gifts from all of us...

Look at this smile...or Horton smirk as I call it:
He is really into these "big boy" Lego sets these days...

This was his FAVORITE gift this year...a new BIKE! Grammy bought this for him, and Grandpa and Grandma bought him a new helmet. The training wheels are off and he is cruising around like a pro already!

This is HILARIOUS! I love it!!!

And we enjoyed a yummy BIG cookie and ice cream:

All in all, a wonderful 5th birthday. Sigh, he will be leaving home soon. What am I gonna do then?

Proud Mommy moments

So I hit the floor running when I got back from Missouri, and haven't slowed down since. Summer was in full swing and I had to jump in! Had a WONDERFUL time catching up with cousins, laughing until my sides hurt (they know why:)) and getting NO sleep at all. It was super fun. Enjoyed meeting Doug and his boys, and the wedding was perfect! Best wishes to them!

BUT, let me catch up on what happened before I left! School came to a close, and the boys all had a great year. Jared got his academic medal...for his almost 4.0 all year long....

This kid works his BEHIND off for the grades he gets, and we couldn't be more proud of him!

Then, my little 2nd grader got his recognition. They had a small awards ceremony for just their class, which was fun. Their teacher gave them individual awards that matched a certain candy bar...Justin got a Cow Tail...SUPRISE! He and his teacher talked horses and stuff all year long. He will certainly miss having that connection with her. I bet I will find him in her room alot next year, chatting about horses.

And last but not least.....our BABY graduated from Preschool. AAAAAHHHHH!! Where did the time go? He is headed to Kindergarten already. Can't believe it. He had a great year with his wonderful teacher, and I will miss working with her and visiting with her everyday!

What a big boy. Oh, how life travels TOOO fast. My babies are moving up the ladder of life way to fast for me, but I am trying to savor each moment while I can. All I can hope for is that I have trained them well to survive in this crazy world and that they treat everyone they come in contact with with respect and love. But most of all, I hope I have instilled in them that God loves them more than anything, and that he will never fail them. Good job boys!

Almost on my way...

So I am frantically packing at the last minute for a trip to Missouri, to see my cousin Sara get married! I am SO excited for her! Although I haven't met him yet, Doug seems to be just the right guy, and he sure has made her happy.

I am so glad that she found somebody to love her the way she deserves to be loved, and I hope that they have MANY happy years together! She has been down a long, hard road, and has grown so much....we are pretty proud of her. Their new little family will be super blessed, I just know it.

I am running ragged today trying to get all of those "Mom" details in order, so poor Jeremiah won't be completely lost while I am gone...trying to remember everything I do in a day is a little crazy! Feed the birds, water the hanging baskets, etc. etc. ! He will be busy working on our front entryway, so Grandma will get in a lot of quality time with the boys!! Thanks Grandma Rita! I will sure miss my babies while I am gone. They wear me out on a daily basis, but there is certainly something missing in my heart when I am away. Love you guys!

Toddler Tidbit

Me: Standing in my bath towel at my mirror, combing my wet hair...

Travis: Laying in my bed, looking in the bathroom door, watching me...

He says: Mommy, guess what?
I say: What Honey?
He says: When you comb your hair, the skin on your arms flaps back and forth!
I say: Thanks son...for noticing that.

Such honesty. Gotta luv it.