Finding Balance...

 

A couple of weeks ago we spent some time up in the mountains (Island Park). It was such a nice getaway. Steven was too busy to come, so I hauled the 4-wheelers up for the kids and I.

We surely saw some pretty, green scenery.  

This is my sister's in-laws cabin that we stayed in. This hill in the winter is KILLER for sledding!

Lots and lots of pretty wildflowers.

Saydee had her 3 boy cousins do something like eenie-meanie-moe to see who would ride with her on her 4-wheeler - none ended up with her...she was bummed.

We had fun looking for deer and birds and bears....

And balancing on stumps:

And enjoying cute baby cousins:
We were actually up there to meet up with my Uncle Bryce and his family.  It was his 50th wedding anniversary and their whole family rented a MANSION of a cabin for a few days and were enjoying the area.

He asked me to NOT share photos of him on my blog and since I'm kinda scared of him - I won't this time...but you can click here to see what I did on his birthday (hee hee).

Here's what my mom had made for them for their anniversary gift:

 

And here was mine:

We stopped to let the kids swim on the way home - hoping it would help them sleep....not!

It was great to get out of town for a couple of days.  There is something soothing about enjoying nature....I know, I'm weird!

Last week we went to see Steven while he was baling 30 minutes south of our house. This was a 'custom job' - it wasn't our hay and a guy hired Steven to come in and cut it and bale it up.  It started as about 200 acres, but quickly became 700.  It was nice to have the chance for some un-budgeted money, but it also put us behind on getting to our own hay.

Steven needed his coveralls for repairs, so I jumped in the car with the kids.  

On the way out, my mom called and said "Wait for me, I wanna come". So, we found something to do for a bit and down she came to our house. 

She's the best! She brought yummy homemade bread for Steven's lunches (and ours) and we love her to tag along - it's that much more fun. 

Steven loves to see 'ol Joyce' because she asks all kinds of questions about his 'stuff' - hell, most of the time, she'll jump in the tractor with him for a round or two.

 

The kids were so cute - so missing their dad - he was truly working 15-18 hours a day.

My mom admitted later that she had a really uneasy feeling leaving the field that day because of how our kids were acting with Steven.

She said she couldn't help but worry that something was gonna happen to Steven and that our kids subconsciously knew it.

SO GLAD SHE WASN'T RIGHT! Come on, MOTHER!!!

We love our farmer dad.

And so proud of how hard he works.  It's very stressful this time of year for him.

He's far from perfect, but we love him because of that!

A few more:

Just a few more photos from our 4th celebration.

Two nephews - Nathan and Spencer....

Grandpa bought all the kids some ice cream and they LOVED it - and him!

 

Everyone getting settled in for the big firework display.

Steven had worked honestly 18-20 hours a day the whole week before this, so he mostly just sat around and tried to stay awake.  It was nice that he could do that because he really was tired.

It was a great day and we had a great time.  Saydee and Logan LOVE to be with their cousins, so it was perfect for them, too.

Ok, so here's my lame-o attempt at a firework picture......

Obviously, something to work on - but I'm not too interested in hauling a tripod around.

4th of July Celebrations

We had a great 4th of July.

We headed to the local parade. We were proud of ourselves for getting there early, although we weren't early enough to get a spot right on the road.

Still, it was good to see the floats.

I loved that both my kids knew to stand up and put their hands on their hearts when they saw the flags - with NO prompting from me.

After the parade, we headed home to grab some food (and Steven and I snuck a 'whittle' nappy in - we were 'wheely' tired).

Then, headed to our camper on the river...

Family and cousins came down to enjoy the afternoon and evening with us. There was a cute little creek that the kids had tons of fun playing in - and provided lots of great light for taking pictures.

 

Isn't that a cute one to end with?

We had a great day!

Tomorrow I'll share a few more from the 4th!

Joseph

Last week my mom bought tickets for Saydee, her and I to see Joseph and the Technicolor Coat.  Let me just say....

I

WAS

BLOWN

 

AWAY!!!

We will be attending this local event every year.  It was so fun, fast paced and entertaining.  Plus, the music was so great! We knew a few people in the cast, so that was fun.  It was so professional and I was so glad we had went.

Saydee, of course, wants to try out next year (there was a huge children's chorus) - I hope she does!

This was some of the streamers that were shot out during the final scene of the play - so great!  

Saydee's 9th Birthday

Bare with me this week.  I am a bit behind in my blogging.  I know, I know - big surprise - Shut it - would ya?! 

I've taken nearly 500 photos in the past week and need to share some - so get ready this week. Don't say I didn't warn ya.

Let's first stay current - Saydee's birthday!

She had one heck of time waiting for her present.  She had told me a while ago that she ONLY wanted Chrissa - an American Girl doll. 

So, earlier in the week of her birthday I out-of-the-blue told her that Steven had picked up her present. That meant it couldn't be the doll because they have to be ordered on line. And we all know Steven doesn't 'order on line'.  She cried and I told her maybe it would be something else she didn't even know she wanted, but would like it even more than the doll.

All through the week she wanted hints as to what her present was. Steven and I told her all kinds of things:

It's 20 feet tall

Steven bought it at the tractor store

It was being stored in a shop down the road

It was yellow and had hair

It would be wrapped in a black tarp and tied with baling twine

We didn't want to let her open it until her little party that night.

So earlier in the day we headed to the pool to swim with cousins.  It was great fun for all of us and the weather was nice and hot!

Caden, my nephew.

My brother, Randy pulling Caden, Brynley and Logan. Randy is such a good dad!

Logan licked every bit of the frosting from the lid of the cupcakes.

After swimming, we headed back to my house for take and bake pizzas, etc.

 

Saydee was just dying with anticipation over her gift - she and my nieces were so crazy with curiosity.  So, after they ate, I brought it out.

 

And this is the reaction we got:

She cried because she was so excited to have gotten EXACTLY what she wanted.  So, then I cried because she cried.

She told me later that night that her birthday was perfect because she'd gotten the doll of her dreams.

After presents, we had DELICIOUS cake:

Watched a bit of TV (while we waited for it to get dark):

And painted fingernails:

My mother had sliced her finger while cutting up veggies....ouch! It's all ok - BTW.

And we finished up with some fireworks to celebrate and wish Saydee a Happy, Happy Birthday. It was a great day for her.

Guess who's 9?

 

Guess who was born 9 years ago today??

This is Saydee Cleo on her blessing day with her three then-living great-grandmas. She is named after her fourth great-grandma, Cleo.  This is one of the photos she has looked at quite a bit recently. We've been talking about her family tree, etc.

She is a sweetheart.  My view of the world, myself and Steven and I's future "shifted" the second I saw her - and it's never been the same.  (I know, I know - I'm a corndog -)

I hope you can tell on this here blog what a good girl Saydee is.  We love her terribly and Steven and I are proud to be her parents.  I truly wish everyone could know her as well as we do - they would truly love her!

We are going to try hard to make it a special, special day for her.

She has just been beside herself this week trying to figure out presents and waiting.  She's always been really big about birthdays - probably, because we've always tried to make it a big, big deal for her! Hell, there's fireworks on her behalf this whole week....

Happy Birthday, Saydee Cleo Longhurst!!!

Do this....Now!

 

See this little boy? He is in the late stages of cancer.  He is not expected to make it through the summer. He is so cute, isn't he?

We do not know him. I read about him here.  I had a knot in my throat for a long time - tears escaped several times thinking about his family and making EVERY SECOND this summer count.

And here is what we did:

In case you didn't click over on the link above to read more about him, here's the information from the blog that I read: 

One of my sweet neighbors, Dana Lyman, has a dear friend whose son is in the final stages of cancer. He most likely will not live through the summer. She just spent the last week at his house in Portland, Oregon and since that time has been brainstorming to come up with something fun to do for Spencer. She finally thought of it. She's asking people everywhere to send an envelope to Spencer with a dollar bill inside. Think how great that will be--a mailbox full of envelopes containing a $1 bill. Do not include your return address. This will add to the fun and mystery. He'll know where all envelopes have come from by the postmark. And--if you live in a different country, please participate too. I think Spencer will get quite a kick seeing currency from different countries. This really is easy--no card or creativity required!

Please address your envelope to:
Spencer Hardy
17968 NW Gilbert Lane
Portland, OR 97229

Immediately after reading this, I knew we needed to participate in this.

I want to be a positive part of humanity for this family. And I want my kids to realize how blessed we truly are and that we can do small acts of kindness for ANYONE at ANYTIME!

I challenge each of you RIGHT THIS SECOND to address an envelope to this sweet little boy and make his day with a simple dollar bill!

 

We're all busy getting ready for this fun-filled weekend.

But, Hank, Saydee, Logan and I took a minute to take this silly shot the other night.

Is it just me that wants about 24 hours of just evening?  We all LOVE to be outside when it's evening. We water, weed and ride 4 wheelers. Just BE outside!

Steven is working long, long hours (6:00 a.m. - 11 p.m.) right now trying to get the hay cut and baled.  He's about 2-3 weeks behind because of the rain.

We're all happy for sun and even a bit of wind (sorry - it dries the hay so it can get baled faster).

Father's Day

I never did document our Father's Day events, so here goes it:

The kids put together little coupon books for Steven.  I downloaded a kit from Sweet Shoppe and it was so dang cute!  Here's the fronts for the cards they made him:
I made the cards in Photoshop, but the coupons came done and looked like this:

These were my two favorites - and they EACH got 2 of them.

Here's a couple more:

And here's Steven opening his cards and coupon books.

The kids could hardly stand waiting until after church to give them to him.

These two kids of ours TRULY do love their dad.  He really loves them, too.  Steven has a less-than-stellar dad (to put it kindly), so he truly takes pride in being a good one and he succeeds!

In fact, Logan wanted to be just like Steven that day - even dressed like him.

He found Steven a blue button up shirt and they both wore their belts and had pens in their pockets. OH! And matching hats!

We took a road trip and got some square ice cream. Logan thoroughly enjoyed his.

We ended up at my dad's house.  He's a good dad, too and I appreciate all he does for us.  They both love him and so do I!