Cassius the Obedient

We've had our chickens for a few months now. When we first got them we took them to play outside in the sun but they had to sleep in the house until they got all their feathers. We also introduced them to Cassius. The first meeting didn't go so well. He tried to play (eat) one of the yellow ones. Since then we have worked very hard to keep him away from them. Now that they have moved outside permanently (to the Hilton of chicken coops that my awesome husband built) we have been very diligent in watching over them. We use to lock Cassius up when they were out. Then one day Clay found Cassius locked up and all the chickens right by him. Not fair! They've become friends, I hope! Cassius hasn't bothered them once since that first meeting. The chickens are pushing their luck. This is how I found them yesterday (try to see the animals through that dirty sliding glass door, yuck. I'm going to go clean it right now!). This black one is always laying down by Cassius. One day, if it's not careful..... Good Boy Cassius!

Toy Story 3

Last night I took the girls and my mom to see Toy Story 3. I loved the first two movies so I knew the third installment would be great. It was well worth the ten year wait Pixar!! We laughed, I cried, we got scared, we were happy! It was an amazing movie! The theatre was packed (it was opening night and on a Friday during summer), with little kids, big kids, parents, and Grandparents. I haven't been to a full house movie showing in some time. We try to catch the matinee when most people are at work, plus it's cheaper. At the end of the movie the theatre erupted in clapping and hoots and hollers. I guess we weren't the only ones that LOVED the movie. There were so many parts that kids wouldn't get but they were laugh out loud for adults! One of my favorite parts is when buzz gets reset and..........you have to watch it. If you do go, stay for the clips during the credits. Hilarious!!!

My favorite character is Trixie the Triceratops, My mom's favorite character was the Telephone, Alex's was Big baby, and Sydney's was Chuckles the clown (those last two characters freaked me out a little but to each his own I guess) . I recommend this movie 100%, To infinity and beyond!

Summer Reading Program (week 3)

Yesterday was the first time we have been able to attend the summer reading program this year. The first two weeks of the program we were gone. The girls look forward to going every year, they were very excited to get to go. In the above picture Sydney is holding a spider that goes along with the story the presenter told us. Alex was holding a fly but the little old lady ate it, and the spider too!
After some fun stories we learned to recognize dessert plants, and the names of the plants. Every plant we learned about had an action that went along with it's name. Here the kids are doing the Ocotillo, I think.

Then they got to decorate a can, put sand in it, tape on a cardboard lid and do a rain dance. Actually, mom wouldn't let them do a rain dance. I just put up my massive pool, spent hours filling it with water and I want to enjoy it before the monsoons. Ok, truth be told, I let them do a LITTLE rain dance but I was secretly wanting it not to work. No rain as of yesterday! We had a lot of fun and we're looking forward to next week.

POOL TIME!

We started setting up the pool yesterday. With the help of Clay and the kids, the set up didn't take long at all. Clay got sunburned even though we weren't outside more than two hours or so.
The girls were so excited to help. Once we started putting the water in there was no keeping them out of the pool.

They splashed around and had fun as the pool filled.

The pool is full, the sky is clear, and the sun is hot. Pool party anyone??

MINUTE TO WIN IT (Stanley Style)

Apple stack! If you haven't ever seen this T.V. show, you're missing out on a rip roaring good time. We had so much fun playing this game together.
We're hooked. I like it because it's a game that anyone can play. Most of the items you need to play are common household items.

Everyone, young or old, gets in on the action.

It's our new favorite family reunion game to play. We played it for Mother's Day, we played it for Whoop Up Days, and we can't wait to play it again!

This picture is kind of dark. Will has taken a few sips out of his soda can and made the can balance on it's side. Good job Will!

MINUTE TO WIN IT, play it now!

WHOOP UP DAYS!!

This was the first year we had been to Whoop up days. My parents went last year. People from all over go to Conrad Montana for this event. There's a parade, a rodeo, mud trucks, rhubarb festival and lots of vendors selling things.
Tammy's next door neighbor came over and asked if the kids wanted to be in the kid parade. Of course they did. The neighbor supplied the costumes and off we went!

Araya was the cutest little lion I've ever seen!

I tell ya, Montana sure knows it's farm equipment. We're use to seeing big mining trucks, fire engines, and police cars.

Here it's all about the farm! The parade lasted over an hour. It was amazing. The best parade we've ever seen. There was a huge variety of floats. tons to look at. The kids made a pretty big haul of parade candy too!

Then it was off to the rodeo grounds. I can't tell you the last time I went to a rodeo. Probably for Butterfield Stage Days in Benson when I was in high School. This rodeo was awesome.

The wind was blowing but it didn't spoil the day. We all went home a little sunburned

Z-MAN rocked. This is one of the coolest rodeo clowns I've seen. He was so funny and entertaining. He's in james ward too. What a hoot!

The rodeo clowns stole the show. Not one of the bull riders were able to ride for 8 seconds, but man could the clowns keep us entertained for hours!

I don't have pictures of it but Sydney got to ride a sheep in the Mutton Busting competition. Both girls were signed up to do it but when it came time for us to go there was only one sheep left. There was a long line of kids behind us too that didn't get the chance to ride. The little girl just before us fell off the sheep and hit her nose on the ground. There was quite a bit of blood from her bloody nose so Alex very quickly decided that Sydney could have the last sheep. They got a shirt for participating. After a day out in the wind in sun, we were all ready to get home and shower and take naps. This made the trip memorable. I think we're going to try to make it an annual visit. WHOOP UP!

Montana

We went, we saw, we survived a week with my family! This was the first time the girls had ever been on an airplane. I don't like flying. Sydney felt pretty sick during take off, but once we reached our cruising altitude and got some snacks and a soda she was just fine.
On the way to Montana we had a female pilot, the girls thought that was pretty cool. We also had an amazing flight attendant named Kim with us. If you ever fly Allegiant Air and see a brown haired lady named Kim passing out snacks, tell her we said Hi. The girls also got these super cool certificates and gold wings for it being their first time flying.

Once we got off the plane it was time to meet Uncle James. Then it was off to Conrad to see the rest of his family. It was a beautiful drive.

This is his back yard. Everyone has grassy yards and the air smells soooo good.

Then it was time to meet our newest cousin. James Mason Stanley. What a cutie! He was such a good baby. Tammy was very nice to let me hold him as much as I did. I loved every minute of it. I was such a baby hog but I couldn't help my self.

Tammy was amazing. Never skipped a beat. She cooked us amazing food every day, had a new baby, tons of family staying in her house, and it was no big deal. Seriously, she was a super mom!

The girls loved playing with Araya too. Since mom was always holding Mason they had to find a new friend to play with. Araya is so cute and sneaky. She loved to drink any one's drink but her own milk. I love the way she got so excited when she saw James. She would wake up in the morning or from a nap and you would hear her walking around saying Hi to all of us. She was so much fun. I loved snuggling and loving her. Who knew you could have so much fun with a 2 year old.

Anytime you said "Say Cheese", this is the face you would get. Araya made me laugh so much. Uncle Will was a great babysitter and Araya kept us all on our toes!

I couldn't get enough of these kids. I don't remember my kids being so much fun when they were this little. I know I wasn't as happy or as organized when I had a two week old and a two year old!

James took us on a couple of drives during the week. There was so much to see. The scenery was amazing and green! We couldn't get enough of the cool weather and all the wildlife. Everywhere you looked there was beauty.

On this truck ride Sydney was a little too tired and cold to get out of the truck for a picture. Like I said BEAUTIFUL!

On the way home we ran into some sprinkles and then a complete DOUBLE rainbow popped out. It was the coolest thing I've seen. We were all glued to our windows.

Almost every night we played games and had Snack Time! This is how the Grandpa's lived it up at the party....

and here is the rest of us. Party time!

I didn't realize how much I missed hanging out with my brothers until this trip. I had such a good time. It made me really miss the times when we would all get together and play games at mom's house. This was one trip I wish could have lasted longer. We had such a good time, I was sorry to see it end. I bawled like a baby when James left the airport after dropping us off. I really miss him and his family. Thanks for everything guys! We love you.

Araya was always the life of the party!

The girls loved being outside with Precious and throwing the ball to her. She was a very smart and lovable dog. She'll be greatly missed.

This is James back yard. He has grass out front and back without even trying to get it to grow. Grass is everywhere! We loved being outside in the cool weather and having grass to play in.

We took daily walks. Alex snapped this picture on one of our walks. We love you Araya!

My girls were outside a lot. If I couldn't find them, all I had to do was look outside and there they would be.

Why a picture of a clock you say? It's almost 9 o'clock at night. Should be dark right?

This is what it looked like at 9 o'clock at night in Conrad Montana. CRAZY! We ate dinner late, worked outside later, played late. Come ten o'clock when it was time for bed you could still play outside. This was the biggest adjustment we had to make. Then come 5 o'clock in the morning the sun was already back up and waiting on us to get out of bed.

Alex and Sydney loved the truck rides we took. I don't think they saw much of the scenery but they had a good time.

BEAUTIFUL!

We saw mountain goats, among other things, on one of our drives. You can't see them in this picture. Will was looking at them, they were WAY up on the side of a mountain.

We were watching a mountain goat drink from the river when something scared it off. Then we saw the water rafters. Can you see their blue raft?

It was a lot of fun to spend time with the girls and my family for week.

Will was a real trooper for hanging out with all of us and his nieces and nephew for so long without complaining. My girls love their Uncle Will.

Sydney standing out on a rock being Sydney. Ms. Nature herself!

We were all a little sad to say goodbye to Araya and the rest of the family. I want to go back again sometime in the near future!

Sydney loved Mason, she wasn't the baby hog like her mom and sister. She held him for a few minutes the last day we were there. That was enough for her.

Then off to the airport to come back to Arizona and it's dry heat. We arrived early like we were supposed too. Then we find out our plane has been delayed a couple of hours. The nice people of Allegiant Air played games with the crowd, gave away Walmart gift cards (I won one), and served soft drinks to all of us to help pass the time. We had an excellent flight home. Kim (the flight attendant from before) was on our flight on the way home as well. She sat by the kids and asked them all about their trip. She was great! The trip was memeroble. Now it's time to do mountains of laundry.

I LOVE SUMMER VACATIONS!