Kyle's turn at the ranch

Our mom's group took a trip to the Ranch, so we got to go an extra time this month.  They let Kyle participate too and what fun he had!  I forgot my memory card, so thank you Martha for taking pictures of the boys and sharing them with us!

This is Red, what a big gentle horse to let a 2 year old to ride him!

K was a little timid at first, but Cowboy Max and Cowgirl Melissa convinced him to try

Yay for Kyle!  Do you like his make shift cowboy boots?

"I am having fun, but I am not sure I want to smile yet."

Even the little guys have to pay their way with some ranch chores!

I had double duty with little J on my back

Josh and his friends had some great conversations over the watering hole

One of the high lights of the trip was this rattle snake that was caught on the ranch that morning... Kinda scary to see up close!

Orange

Smoothies are very popular around here lately, so we have been experimenting with different fruits and veggies... Josh likes to pick the color and then we blend stuff up accordingly.  Last week, orange won and we blended up everything we could find that was orange in our fridge/freezer.  The refreshing treat was a hit and even Jacob enjoyed his share...

This is what we came up with:

2 large raw carrots
frozen mangos
frozen peaches
orange juice
milk
sparkling water to give it an extra fizz

If you think hard enough while you are eating it, it kind of tastes like a an Oange Deamsicle!

Refreshing, huhh?

Jacob thought so!

All that beta carotene in it is great for his beautiful skin!

A walk in the park... hee, hee!

Usually I feature our good and happy moments, but that is not always the case!  This past month has been challenging in many ways.  It seems that everyone is short with each other and the new stage bubble is bursting for each of our kids.  Milestones are at the horizon... Walking, talking, understanding, drawing- they are all trying so hard to reach the next step in their development journey.  Our patience is being tested and we hardly ever make the 'A'  (or even a B or a C) in that category!  At the end of the day (after they have gone to bed) we talk about how much we love each one of our kids, but some days all we want is to get to that point of them sleeping soundly in their own beds so we can have our 'down time'!  I guess that is why God made kids sooo stinkin cute... Just looking at their cute little faces makes us quickly forget how much work they require!  We know we are blessed with these wonderful little boys :). 

We took them to park before church a couple of weeks ago to try to burn off their energy before having to sit quietly on the pew for an hour.  Good thing we did, they got their gripes, climbs & loud cries out and sat as peacefully as 3 little boys can during the service. 

Let the complaining and screaming begin... We are going on a walk!

Run Kyle, run!  How did you get so tall, so fast?

Doesn't he look ornery to you?  Well, he is!

Get those climbing urges out on places that you are supposed to climb!

Tree climbing is on of our new favorite activities...  too bad there aren't too many trees that are big enough to climb around our house, we found a gem that day!

Sorry daddy, it has been a long morning already!

10 months

This is our vocal kid!  He is actually an awesome communicator even though most of the communication is done though non verbal cues.  He has a good set of lungs on him, I know because I hear him screech loud and clear all the way to store and back when we are driving!  Even though the screech is annoying, it is a happy one most of the time...  He loves to play games and make himself known.  This week he stood up on his own and took a few steps toward dad, he is our earliest walker so far.  Happy kiddo, he just needs to learn to sleep for more than 3 hours intervals at night, that would make a happier mama!

Hi!

"SO BIG"

I love eating my shoes!

Hummm... what can I get into?

Yay!!

River House

About two weeks ago I was talking to some friends of ours about renting a cabin in the mountains to go "camping" with the little ones... One thing led to another and before we knew it we had booked the 'River House' to stay during Mother's Day weekend.  We are so happy we did!  Even though we did not get the R & R that we craved, we shared some precious memories with our family and friends!  The house was so nice, situated on the edge of a small village on the base of the Jemez Mountains and right in front of the river.  Only a little over an hour drive from our house.  Fresh mountain air and a change of pace cured the cabin fever in us!

This is the view from the back yard.

When we first arrived, everyone wanted to go down to the river and start fishing!

I think J and his buddy Ben were sharing fishing secrets

The river and fishing brings solitude

Marissa, isn't she a cutie?!

This is the wonderful family that we spent the weekend with pictured in front of Soda Dam

The big boys and dads on top of Soda Dam

We had to keep Kyle locked up (to my back that is) so he wouldn't go exploring on his own!  He is giving me a kiss :)!

Fresh Air!

We went to a fish hatchery and there was a kids fishing pond... the boys caught FOUR fish!  We ate three of them for dinner and let the boys tote around the fourth as their trophy for a day...

Mike & Kyle sharing a moment by the river

The four year olds loved climbing on the rocks and looking for bugs

The two year olds had a dance party on the patio!

Ron fired up the grill to cook the fish, the fire stopped the boys in their tracks!

Outdoor cookout

Ron did a great job pulling the bones off the fish after it was cooked.

The kids waiting patiently to make smores

Kyle learning how to roast a marshmellow

Bedtime fun... flashlight book readings!

Hike to the waterfalls

The boys had to stop to eat Cheetos!

Kyle gave me a workout!

Family picture on the top, the falls are on the right :)

Group picture

The kids had fun throwing rocks into the river

On our way back from the hike, I think Mike got a good workout too!

Wonderful times with good friends!  Thanks for going with us G family... You taught us a lot about fishing and it was nice to get to know you all better!  We can't wait to visit the River House again someday!