Happy? 4th of July

We started the day by going to the Lewiston Parade. It's a ways out there, but since Morgan was marching in it, we decided to lend her our support, hahaha. It was a bit chilly when we first got there, but warmed up nicely by the time it started. There was....us with the visiting Kelli and Kiri, Drew and her roommate Emily, Andy and Leza and Leza's family. Lexie took posession of my camera.

Kiri was a little chilly

Me, Wynn, Kelli and Tanner.

It looks like I'm yelling at someone in the parade, but I was pushing up my glasses while talking to Wynn, the parade hadn't even started yet.

Morgan is the dark haired cutie in the middle.

She made rifle as a sophmore!

Yeah! She caught it!

(She's the one in the capris)

The horses

(County Mounted Posse)

The silliness that's so cute

The sign on front says Where's the engine!

The cute floats








The old cars

After the parade it was back home to rest, odds and ends, the kids playing, lunch. And on the way home the kids decided that my kids needed to go home with Kelli and Kiri on Sunday for the next week. So they were texting with their mother....all unknown to me. When finally asked, I was fine with Morgan and Lexie, but Tanner has been having nightmares lately and climbing in my bed every night. I didn't want to do that to my sister-in-law. But I finally decided I could drive the 2 hours to get him if he just couldn't do it. So Lexie decided to grab everybody's laundry so they could pack. They all worked on the laundry and the packing. Lexie grabbed a bag for her and Tanner and packed her clothes then helped Tanner choose and pack his. They were all so excited you wouldn't think they had just spent a whole week together here. I guess the prospect of 2 solid weeks together, just at different places, was an adventure!

Then it was time to get ready for the annual neighborhood 4th of July party. We have a bring your own meat and potluck dish bbq in the backyards of 2 adjoining neighbors. The moms and dads bbq (mostly dads) while they visit and the kids play. Then after, it's around to the street for the fireworks, we always supply the sparklers. Then usually back around to the backyards for a movie. (this year being a Saturday night, we'll do the movie another time. So no movie tonight) Since I have had a cold all week, I was pretty tired and opted to not go. That and I didn't want to spread it around. They got their hamburger patties ready and grabbed a fruit salad and headed over. I grabbed my book and settled in. Pretty soon I could swear I heard Tanner crying but talked myself out of it. Sure enough here came Wynn carrying a crying/sobbing Tanner. He was playing on the swinging bar of the swing set and fell. Being at our doctors house, they were sent home while he called xray, being pretty sure it was broken after observing him for a bit.

The doctor told Wynn to bring him to me and come back over and finish eating while he called and got everything set up. Of course Moose came running when he heard Tanner. I got a picture on my phone of them laying on the floor together (of course) to comfort Tanner, but I don't know how to get it on here. Then Doctor sent Wynn back over to get us to head to the hospital. He called me and told me to go through the ER to get him checked into xray, but no need to check in to the ER. So we grabbed Spotty (his new stuffed Leopard) and left. When we got there, they wouldn't do it and our doc was on the phone to the ER doctor, who just happened to be another friend of all of ours. Anyway, our doctor left the party and came down to meet us there. He had to sign a requisition, a phone call wasn't good enough, so we didn't have to go into ER. We headed to xray. Wynn held him and I was the one that got the unfortunate job of inflicting pain on the poor little guy in order to hold his arm in the unnatural positions they needed for the xrays. They took 4. He was a trooper and only whimpered even though I told him it was ok to cry.

The doctor then emailed the photos to the radiologist and they discussed them over the phone. Yep. A facture next to his elbow. There was a lot of fluid though. And now they don't cast for just small fractures. Kids heal so fast. (Lexie only had a removable splint on hers this spring) They figure if we can keep him from injuring it further,(mmmm hmmmmm!) he should be ok in 2 weeks of just a sling. So no trip to the cousins house for Tanner. Lexie got him unpacked.

What a trooper

Trying to smile

He actually chose to go back to the party after the xrays! Of course he was doped up on Motrin. So with Spotty in tow, he went to the fireworks with his dad. And slept in my bed when he got home.

Happy birthday America!!!

Early Celebrations

Yes, today was the 3rd of July. The day before the celebration of the Independence of our great country...the USA.

We spent it pretty quietly just hanging around the house all morning. But the afternoon got busy. Our nieces, Kelli and Kiri have been here all week, and after going swimming last night, Kelli decided she needed some goggles. So we went to our favorite store, Kohl's. After getting goggles, Tanner some khaki's, and Morgan, Lexie and Kiri miscellaneous things, we went home to go swimming again.

Wynn was finishing up the shelves and fixing the pipes under the stairs for our food storage (since it flooded yesterday after the family party!!!) and Drew was home from school for the weekend. They all changed clothes and we headed to the rec center. It turned out to be a better idea than we thought since they had the pool all to themselves the whole time. They had fun playing water basketball, dunking and jumping off the diving board. They all decided to do front flips off the diving board. Even Tanner decided to not be out done and did a front flip off the diving board...3 times!!! (I have a video on my phone but don't know how to get it on here.) He has become quite the daredevil!

After swimming, we took them up to the University for ice cream cones. They didn't know we were going, but soon didn't care that they looked like they had just gone swimming!

Then it was back home to change for the fireworks. They set them off at the University football stadium every year on the 3rd. I was pretty worn out where I've had a major summer cold all week, so I didn't go. Our niece and nephew, Ashli and Rian drove over and went to the fireworks with them though. Drew went with her friends. I sent my camera with Lexie and she took 87 pictures and 1 video! I won't put them all on here (only 10 plus the video) but will add them all to facebook, but I think she did an absolutely fabulous job. Maybe I should give her my camera more often. Here is a sample of her photos.

Happy 4th of July weekend everybody!!!

(I think she did super considering she couldn't see what she was taking a picture of or filming the whole time! And she's only 12!)

Big changes on the horizon

Last post was on election day. I have been very busy sewing & haven't got to the computer to comment on the outcome. The country has voted for change and it's interesting to see where we have gotten to.

In 1968, Martin Luther King was fighting for civil rights for all people, every race. He was assassinated for this. People didn't feel that all races were created equal, nor should some of them even be recognized in any way other than less than human. Unfortunately, some people still feel this way. But America has come to a place where they have voted for their first African American President. It took 40 years to get here, which is sad that we are still so backward toward our fellow man that it never would have or could have happened before now. Barrack Obama won the popular vote as well as the electoral vote. People of America feel that he will bring the much needed changes to this country. We all hope & pray that this will be the case. We are in a big recession. The country is in trouble. We need a leader who will bring us back to where we need to be. I just hope everyone realizes we didn't get to this point overnight & it is not going to be fixed overnight. (I hope they realized this no matter who had been elected.) Now that it is said & done, let's hope this is the change America needs. Let's hope America made the right decision. Let's pray for President-elect Barrack Obama, & his family, that he will seek God in his decisions & that God will be with him.....And pray for The United States of America.

Yes you should, and you know you should

Today is November 4, 2008. Election day. Have you voted? I have. My daughter, Drew, & I went as soon as I got home from work. This year there are 5 people in my family that will be voting for President of the United States, Wynn, myself & our 3 oldest children, Andy, Drew & Gary. If you haven't, are you planning to? If not, why not? This is something that so many people take for granted. It is not something that everyone on the planet gets to do. We actually have a voice & can make a difference. Why do people sit around & complain & then not vote when the time comes? This is actually a country where you have a say. My sister is much better at expressing herself about this than I am. We have people that have sacrificed everything they have, time, money, belongings, family...even their own lives, so we have the right to vote, then we just don't take the time to do it. One of my other sisters has not one, but TWO sons that are Marines. They are being deployed to Iraq in a couple of months for...quite a while. When we lived in Freedom, Wyoming, we actually had a vote that ended in a tie. That one person did make a difference, their vote did actually matter in who won & who lost. And so does yours today. If you stay home & don't cast your vote, your opinion, you have lost any right you have to complain or pass judgement or of saying ANYTHING for or against the people elected today to whatever position they are elected to. You lost any right to make any comment on anything that was passed or denied today no matter how you feel about it. If you want to make comment in the future, you better vote today. This is when your opinion really matters, not after all is said and done, and you did nothing.