Pics from our Trip to Ouray

Ironton Ghost Town

Ironton Ghost Town. The white building was the schoolhouse.

Ouray Colorado Hotel

Cascade Falls

Coley enjoying the pool

Mini-Vacation...

We went this past weekend to watch Cole play baseball and spend the weekend in Ouray Colorado! It was a much needed break from "life". Only thing missing was Jasie and her family! Mom, Jeremy, Taylor, Cole, Jorden and myself had a wonderful time. We went swimming in the Hot Springs Pool at our Hotel, it was opened until guests were ready to be done! Adults enjoyed some much needed beverages and the kids played in the pool until 11:00! I also schooled the kids on how a proper "cannonball" was done... their previous attempts were WEAK:)! The next day we enjoyed breakfast out on the hotel patio and then off to play tourist. We went to the Box Canyon Falls that was within walking distance of the hotel, next to Ironton a ghost town off of Red Mountain Pass, next we went to Cascade Falls that we had to drive to but could see from our Hotel and ended with a quick walk in downtown Ouray for homemade ice cream. If anyone gets the opportunity to go to Ouray don't miss it! The scenery was amazing and the people in the town are so laid back and friendly! We can't wait to go back and stay more than a weekend!
I will post pics soon.....

Real Family in Iowa..

Please click on the button to the right "Real Family in Iowa". Read their story.... and help them out if you can.

Lagoon was perfect!

Weather was great, the company was even better! Only thing missing is Coley... but of course don't get between a boy and his baseball! Jeremy, Taylor, Jorden, Jasie. Spencer, Aven, Max, Mom and I all went and had a great time. Didn't make it home until after 11:00pm. Kids were exhausted!

Jasie, Mom, Taylor and I waiting in line to get on the Rocket.

Mom, Jasie, Taylor,. Max and Aven on the "Tidal Wave" for the lil' ones.

Quality is not great on this pic, but it makes me laugh! All of our mouths are wide open!

Getting ready to take off, Don't ask me why Taylor insisted on going on this ride! She was an emotional mess! That is me yelling at Jeremy "Enough with the pictures already!"

Guess Jorden didn't like it?

Taylor far left!

Mama Bear and her littlest cubbie Max

Mom, Jasie, Taylor, Max and Aven - Aven loved Lagoon! He wanted to ride everything,... so brave!

Chasing Maximo around the tree.

Jasie and Aven - Red Car Taylor and I - Blue Car

SCHOOL IS OUT FOR THE SUMMER!

Today is the last day of school for Jorden and Taylor.
Cole's last day of school was May 26th!

Cole is in the middle of baseball...........so he will miss Lagoon again!

Going to enjoy Lagoon tomorrow with all of my family! Jasie and Spencer and their adorable rugrats will be there and MOM! Bring on the sunshine!

Our Memorial Day Weekend....

Happy Birthday first of all to my now 14 year old Cole! Love that kid.
We spent the weekend enjoying our horses, and remembering what Memorial day means.
Thank you to all the men and women that preserve our freedoms and way of life.
Some pics from this weekend:

Memorial Day Weekend

It is Memorial Day Weekend and the weather is awful.... we are all going to float away and/or have loads of fungus growing in our yards! YUK!
So with the cold temperatures and rain we are not going camping or really have anything planned, kinda depressing. Doesn't feel like summer...

Well we will still make the best of it and have a great weekend. Jorden and Taylor are with us this weekend, no baseball games this weekend, so maybe batting cages? Cole is in Grand Junction for the College Baseball World Series and it is his 14th Birthday tomorrow!

Tribute to our heritage and historic West being destroyed.

Helicopters chase these horses from their homes to the "round-up area".

Terrified horses trampling each other, as they are forced into pens and separated from their herds. Studs and Mares separated, Mares and foals.

This is heartbreaking... our tax dollars are paying for this "round-up" to take place.

The BLM is standing behind the pretense of protecting and managing the number of wild horses, as to prevent starvation and over population. These round-ups are cruel in how they are implemented and carried out. Numerous horses are seriously injured and/or killed either during the actual round-up or when brought to pens and so called sanctuaries, provided by the BLM. You can actually look at the pictures and see fear and terror in the wide eyes of these horses, trampling over each other. The pictures I posted are the family friendly pictures, the injuries, broken legs, exposed broken flesh, etc., are to much for me to look at. These amazing animals are a tribute to our heritage and history of the West.  The BLM needs to be held accountable for their actions and return to their actual mission statement of PROTECTING:
In 1971, the United States government/congress recognized Mustangs as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West, which continue to contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people.” Today, Mustang herds vary in the degree to which they can be traced to original Iberian horses. Some contain a greater genetic mixture of ranch stock and more recent breed releases, while others are relatively unchanged from the original Iberian stock, most strongly represented in the most isolated populations.
Horse fossils have been recently found and date back to prehistoric time.

From www.savingamericasmustangs.org:

• The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers America’s public lands, totaling approximately 253 million acres. The BLM’s stated mission is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. (Wikipedia) 110 years ago there were 2 million mustangs roaming free.  Now, there are approximately 30,000 wild mustangs roaming the country.  They are not protected from government (BLM) round ups.
• American horses are being sold to killer buyers who slaughter these animals in various parts of the world for financial gain. It is illegal to slaughter horses in the United States.
• Controversy surrounds the sharing of land and resources by the free ranging Mustangs with the livestock of the ranching industry, and also with the methods with which the federal government manages the wild population numbers. (Wikipedia)
• The gathering process consists of low flying helicopters chasing the horses for miles at a time to a designated area. Then, trucks load up the horses and bring them to short-term holding facilities where they will potentially stay up to 3 years at a time if not adopted or sold.

 Please join Madeleine Pickens Wild Horse Sanctuary on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/mustangmonument (savingamericasmustangs.org) to see how you help.

 Thanks, for reading!

Cole is turning 14!

Time really flies.... one minute he was this tiny little baby that I couldn't put down and now he is this funny, easy going, smart teenager that (almost) always makes me smile! I could not be any prouder of Coley, I love him very much and it is my privilege that I get to call him my son. Happy Birthday Cole!


Cole is spending his birthday at JUCO (college baseball world series) in Grand Junction... kid loves BASEBALL!
Last year Cole's Grandma and Grandpa Lee took him to Hawaii and that is how he spent his 13th birthday! Hope he knows how lucky he is!

Why I am blogging...

I had seen recently at my cousin Marty's house a cute printed blog that she had made. I think it is a great idea! How fun for my kids as they become adults to know what we did everyday, what made us laugh, what made us cry and the memorable milestones that sometimes go undocumented and forgotten. So thanks for the great idea Marty!

Best songwriter of his generation!

Jamey Johnson, is going to be the type of artist that 20 years from now we will compare to the greats like Don William, Hank Williams Sr., George Strait! I hope he finds his way to Salt Lake soon!

Things that make me smile:

Aven... AKA Mister Dimples

Cole and his "beetles" hair...

Cole and Max

Jingles and I Extreme horseman competition March 2011

Jorden #65 Hunter Football

Jorden in his natural habitat!

Awww.. Uncle Jerms and baby Maximo

Jingles and I - moving cows

Me and Maximo

Jeremy and June

Aven and Taylor

Taylor and Doc

Willow Canyon.

Bear, Flash, Glen, Lou and Jerms

Attitude Adjustment

Finally! Taking our 5 year old Mare with more attitude than sense sometimes for some much needed training!
Flash thinks she is a dog and will follow you around, not realizing she is 1000# and rub and cuddle, but get on her back and she turns into... well a mare. I am excited for her to get this much needed attention. We take her to a guy name Blake tonight after work in Grantsville, hope all goes well! She is very selective about who she will let ride her as well. She is very sexist and pretty much hates men :)...girl after my own heart :). Our dear friend Glen that we got Flash from told me this last summer when we were riding; I asked if he wanted to ride her and he said "Hell no, she scares the hell out of me." I laughed because he is the seasoned cowboy, tough guy and I can't imagine him being scared of any horse. Turns out she broke three of his ribs with an incident that I was not aware of prior to owning her. On another occasion I wanted to ride with Taylor, so I wanted to ride Lou and told Jeremy to ride Flash. I got off of her and handed him the reins. Taylor and I were walking towards Lou, I turned around and Miss Flash is trying to get rid of her rider.She is running into the gate and is just going to slide Jeremy right off of her... (kinda funny if your not Jeremy). He gets off of her and says "No way". So me and Taylor decide to try Flash double and wouldn't you know it behaved like a dream...

Flash and I, last summer.

sleepless nights...

Poor Miss Taylor was not feeling well last night. I was pretty sure that this sudden mystery illness was a direct result of her room needing to be cleaned. But nope.... she was a trooper went into her room hung up her clean clothes and picked up her room.  End result, Taylor has a cold that is made more problematic due to her asthma and I was able to log 1 hour and 15 minutes of sleep last night. I feel like the wicked stepmother for making her clean her room now! Lucky for me she is simply amazing, she tells me "your crazy... your not mean your my BFF". I love that lil' girl!

Aww... the keys to my happiness and sadness...

                                              COLE 14       TAYLOR 9       JORDEN 14

Virgin Blogger.....

I am so excited to start this process.... let's just see if I can actually stick with it! I know I am "tardy to the party", but better late than never?
Can't wait to thrill you all with tales of our fascinating domestic life!