Okay, since I can't get these to e-mail to Brooke, I am gonna post them here so that she can copy them for herself. These are pictures I took of Ellee last week and I cleaned them up a bit with my Photoshop. Boy, I can't wait for school to start just so that I can start my new Photoshop class!! Yippee!!!
Hope you like them Brooke!! :)
Finally!! Here is the reason there has been no new post lately. The kiddies and I were gone to Snowflake for the week and I've been so overwhelmed with all the pictures I took that I haven't gotten any new posts ready. Until now that is!! Get ready!! This is a 4 parter so I hope you have few minutes! :D We had a great time and enjoyed seeing family, feeling cooler weather, hearing thunder storms, and just relaxing. But it was nice to get back home to Tim and the doggies. I think I took about 150 pictures for the week, but don't worry, they aren't all posted in these posts! :P I have posted a lot of them in my 366 Photo Challenge so if you want to see more than what is here, you can go there and maybe see some extra stuff. It was fun to take pictures and hear everyone saying over and over my Mom's new favorite phrase -- "This one's goin' on the blog!" Buckle up cause here we go!!
Friday -- July 18th
We are on the way!! One of my favorite parts about the drive to Snowflake is seeing all the mountains along the way. When I was younger my brothers and I would always have contests to see who could spot what mountain first. Here is Four Peaks, which is just north of the Superstition Mountains and on the way out of the Valley.
Finally, getting onto the Rim. It feels like you can see forever from up there.
So pretty!! Who couldn't love this view???
My favorite part of the drive is when you get up onto the Rim and the weather is cooler so you roll down the windows and you can smell the pine trees and the rain, which we did. And we even got a couple of rain showers on us. Oh yeah!!!
Jorden decided to see how fast I was really going. Oh the things 13 year old boys do to entertain themselves on long drives! :D
Finally, we were there!! It's always such a great feeling to see this sign! I'm home!! :D
As soon as we got there the kids headed outside to play with Ellee (Brooke's little girl). I guess the fact that it wasn't 150 degrees and they could go outside and not melt was just too temping an offer! :)
We sure did miss our Army boys!! Beau is in Texas finishing up his training before he heads off to Fort Lewis in Washington state, where he will be stationed. Elliott is in Iraq fixing any vehicles that need him. He is finally at a base where he should stay until he gets his vacation sometime in November/December. Hopefully no more moving around for awhile.
Love you guys!!!
Saturday -- July 19th
The Big Day!! The kids had lots of fun at the parade chasing candy. They each ended up with a good sized bag full so we were happy. And there were lots of Tootsie Rolls, so Aunt Brooke raided a few bags... I doubt anyone even noticed! Jensen was excited to get a Pin Wheel at the parade, but she needs a little practice at actually getting it to spin. :)
The kids had fun playing with Marshmallow Guns that Granny bought for them. Not only did they shoot at each other but they also tried to see who could shoot the farthest. Supposedly the birds would come along later and eat the marshmallows, but I think the ants may have gotten to them first since there were sure lots of them around a day or two after these guns showed up. :)
Here are Blake, Laurissa, and Jorden having some fun.
The kids also had fun playing with the new little bow and arrow sets Granny bought. Jayden's face was priceless when he saw them as we were leaving the Craft Fair Saturday afternoon, and then to find out that one of them was for him... I thought his jaw would hit the ground and you could hear him gasp from probably a mile away. Here is everyone playing "Shoot The Arrow High Into The Air And We Will Try And Catch It With Our Hands." Probably not the safest game ever...
Here is Jayden with his Green (like camo) bow and blue and yellow tipped arrows. Oh, he's so easy to please! :D
The girls enjoyed playing in the grass all afternoon. Jensen and Ellee jumped on the little trampoline.
Then Ellee jumped by herself, which is apparently something she likes to do all the time. Good for the old heart... And she has her "Daddy's Girl Forever" shirt on. She was so festive and cute!!
Here's Jillen doing cartwheels. Finally, somewhere other than the living room! Yippee!!
And as we sat enjoying our fun afternoon I glanced down and found this fun little guy coming towards me. I guess that's what I get for trying to kill it's baby, which I had seen a few minutes earlier. Luckily Blake and Jorden killed it with the wagon tire and Jorden's shoe. Ellee must have been watching because a few nights later she brought me a nice, freshly squeezed spider in her little fingers. She was so proud! She had seen it crawling on the floor and grabbed it with her fingers and squished it. We told her to get a tissue next time...and a grown up! :)
After the fireworks Blake decided he hadn't had enough exercise for the day, so he and Ellee danced for everyone. He played the songs on his cell phone and they entertained us. I did video it but I never seem to have much luck loading videos onto this blog. I guess that should be my next blog-related project.
Here is Blake modeling all of Ellee's sunglasses, at once. Jillen sure thinks he's goofy! And the flashlight adds a touch of scariness... At least she thought so! :D
So, I'm not one to usually let the kids swim on Sunday but this seemed rather harmless, and being that we'd been out late the night before watching fireworks and the kids hadn't had showers...one thing led to another. I think the idea initially was to let the kids cool off a bit but before long it turned into a swimsuit/underwear, goggle wearing, drenched, free-for-all. But they sure had a good time!
Here are Jorden, Jayden, Britt, and Jillen trying to figure out the wiggling, water shooting arms to Granny's new sprinkler.
Jillen was sure glad she brought her goggles...
Here are all the kids, minus Jayden who once again pulled the "I don't take pictures!" routine. Seriously, he is my child right???
LtoR - Britt, Jensen, Jorden, Jillen, & Ellee
Jillen and Ellee -- Mickey Mouse Eared - Pony Tail Wearing Girls!
Britt, who started out the afternoon fully dressed. Guess it was a good thing he wore his camo undies that were able to pass for a swimsuit! :D
Jillen got some new dress-up hair pieces and of course she couldn't resist putting them on Britt. But in all fairness he did enjoy all the attention. He's such a cute boy!!
Those pink curls almost match his red ones. But I think the Bow is a little out of place...
"Wow!! I do look fabulous!! I knew I looked great but I never imagined it could be THIS good!!"
Monday -- July 21st
Jensen went for the zig-zag part and 2 big ponies. Well, that's what she calls them anyway!
Here is little Ellee with Brett's kitty that she LOVES!! And he's usually a pretty good sport about her lugging him all over the backyard. Although he does occasionally get his fill and he runs to hide in the wood pile. It's sure cute to see Ellee standing there, calling for him. But the part of her trying to climb through the wood pile herself to find him doesn't always thrill Brooke... :)
We also got to see Tim's sister Polly and her kids that day, of course I didn't have my camera out for that. We went to the park until it started to rain and the lightning got a little to close for us as we sat underneath a big tree. So back to Granny's house we went and the kids were able to keep playing in the rain and enjoy the marshmallow guns Granny bought. Who knew a marshmallow could be shot so far?
Tuesday -- July 22nd
The kids love playing on Granny's stairs. Of course now that Brett is living in the basement they were limited to JUST the stairs, hence the drawn curtain in the doorway. They were actually really good about it and never went into his room. I was a little surprised...
Granny decided to take the kiddies and I to a movie. Too bad no one could agree on which one to see. We finally decided that the girls and I would go see Journey to the Center of the Earth and Granny and the boys would go see Kung Fu Panda. Everyone was happy and the movies were really good. It's always fun to take a trip to Show Low. And some fun school shopping afterwards made it extra special!! Thanks Granny!!!
As the girls and I waited for the boys and Granny to get out of their movie, Jillen decided to play a video game. She picked the car racing one. Let's just say it's a good thing she has 6 years before she gets her real drivers license... :o
Wednesday -- July 23rd
We were ready to head home after some fun filled days. I thought I would take some pictures of my mom & dad's new "Outdoor Themed" guest bedroom. They have been planning and working on it for months so I was super excited to finally see it. It's clearly my dad's new favorite room in the house! :D
This is the Fishing Wall. The fishing poles are old ones from my Grandpa Loe that my mom used to use when she was a little girl. There are lots of fun family pictures of everyone fishing and several fishing lures attached to the net on the wall. They were ones that my dad had been saving.
Here's a close up of the fish line with little pictures of us all fishing over the years. Cute idea!!
This is half of the Hunting Wall, the other half can be seen in the above fishing wall picture. :P Lots of fun deer and elk hunting pictures and some cool, antique rifles from my Grandpa.
Here is the Archery Wall, kind of. A few more pictures plus my Grandpa's old Bow and Arrows that he used to hunt with. The kids favorite part was the bear skin rug hanging on the wall. It's not a real bear, but the kids were sure hoping it was! Make sure and notice the camo outlet covers. My dad is so proud!
Here's an overview of the room. Jillen likes to call this wall the Cabin Wall because she thinks it looks like a cabin. :) Also notice on this wall the deer antlers that are holding up the garland over the window. ;)
And maybe you noticed in that last picture the spiffy camo ceiling fan. If not then here's a close up! Who knew you could buy so many camo things for your interiors? I guess I probably should have... Maybe those will come in handy for some school assignments this fall... :)
One of the fun things we did over the weekend was to go through old pictures. It was fun to see how things used to be, but it was more fun looking for new Birthday Post pictures. Brett, Bri and Blake had best beware... :D I found this old newpaper picture of me when I was 4 years old and was the 4th runner up in the Little Miss Gilbert pagent. I'm the tallest one, 2nd from the right.
All weekend Jensen had a little shadow. Ellee became attached to Jensen's side and wanted to do everything Jensen did. She even wanted her hair fixed like Jensen's. What cute little girls they are!
As we got ready to leave (we even had the car all packed) it started to rain. Not just any rain storm -- not like the rain storms we had had all week -- it RAINED! It started about 4:45pm and didn't end until around 9:30pm. Streets all over town were flooded and so I decided that we should probably stay another night. There was tons of thunder and lightning and even some hail. The power went out for a while so we decided what better than to get some ice cream and enjoy the evening. We drove around to see the water and it was flowing everywhere. Reports said there was about 3 inches of rain that fell that evening. It was sure exciting!
So as we sat out on the back porch and enjoyed the weather the kids played and ate Oreos. Here is Ellee with Brett's cat, Gremlin. He is sure a sweet little kitty and is obviously the object of Ellee's affection. He might be cute but he's not nearly as cute as little Ellee. Oh, we love this girl! We had so much fun getting to play with her and trying to teach her what different animals say. And Jorden's goal for the weekend was to teach her what Buckwheat says. Remember that old Eddie Murphy Saturday Night Live skit -- "Buckwheat say O-Tay!!" Yeah, we're still working on it.
Here's cute little Jensen still chomping away on her Oreo's. Silly girl!
Jorden waiting for the rain to stop...
Thursday -- July 24th
Since we got to stay an extra night I made sure that we went by the cemetary before heading home. Tim and I both have ancestors buried there and a couple of graves that I hadn't seen yet. I didn't realized until too late that my camera batteries were almost dead, yet again, and I hadn't recharged them. So I guess we will have to get more pictures next time we are there.
This is the headstone for my Great-Great Grandpa, William Henry Oliver.
And the headstone for his wife, my Great-Great Grandma, Maud Vileta Cooper Oliver.
Tim's Grandma and Grandpa Church are buried here so we finally got to see their graves. I loved the piano and horses engraved on the headstone. Anyone who knew them would know how much Grandma Church loved to play the piano. Even well into her late 80's when she was living in an assisted living center she would go down to the common room and play the piano. People would gather around to listen and some would even come and sing along. And the horses on the headstone are Grandpa Church's beloved Brigham T and Daybreak. Everytime we would go to see Tim's Grandparents we would see the picture of them sitting on the table near the television. They sure loved those horses.
Another ancestors' headstone we got to see was Jesse N. Smith, Tim's Great-Great Grandpa. I used to see this headstone when growing up in Snowflake and think "Wow! What would it be like to be related to that guy?!" Now I know!! :D What a wonderful heritage my kids have with pioneering ancestors from both sides of their family!
And here is Tim's Great-Great Grandma, Augusta Maria Outzen Smith, the 4th wife of Jesse N. Smith. She came from Denmark as a young woman and we always love seeing her room in the Jesse N. Smith Memorial House. I remember seeing that room as a teenager and thinking how hard it must have been for her to leave her family and come to America to be the 4th wife of someone. Now that I'm kinda related to her it's even more fun for me to see. Hopefully I can continue learning about all of these great ancestors my kids have so that I can teach them all about their lives.
And as it was time to head home I had to get a couple of pictures of Ellee in her cute little hat. How many girls do you know that have camo hats with lace and sparkly deer on them? Yeah, I didn't think you knew any. :D
Well, that was our trip. It was lots of fun and we had a really good time. Thanks Mom & Dad and Brooke & Ellee and Brianna & Britt & Justin and Blake & Laurissa and Brett for entertaining us!!
