Winter Fun

Winter was never Mom's favorite time of year at times they could be pretty long. But we found ways to get through them. One year we all got cross country skiis and decided to make that a fun way to pass away these long winter days. It was so fun watching everyone learn how to make these long skiis do what they were supposed to without breaking our neck. And of course we couldn't have asked for a better place to live to put these skiis to use....we went everywhere! Our favorite place to go was out to the sands.

But I have to admit that going out there on a white-out day was suicide! We done that a couple times and that was interesting. We couldn't tell if we were going down a hill or up a hill until one of us would totally wipe out and then the laughing would start! Oh if I could count the times we all wiped out and laughed until we cried. Mom and I decided to go skiing out to Pine Butte, which is out on the Red Road, the Clark County line. What a beautiful day it was and the snow was just right. Coming back to the Red Road it's a pretty easy ride, gets a little steep for a bit though. I remember taking off down this hill first and all of a sudden seeing Mom coming up beside me with that cheesy grin on her face. By this time we were going pretty fast, the snow was melting just enough that it was slippery. All of a sudden I hear Mom's skiis clank together and then this sound of skiis, poles, water bottle, camera and the "swooosh" of snow all combined together! Mom was down!! And usually if Mom went down I wasn't far behind because of laughing so hard! Needless to say she was just fine, hurt the pride a little but just fine! It's amazing that we never broke any bones. We all took some pretty crazy crashes!

Another fun activity we all enjoyed doing was snowmaching. Especially the night rides across the desert. Dad would gather a bunch of riders and we'd all set off out across the desert about 5:00pm and ride up to the A Bar or the Shotgun store in Island Park for a burger. That was always such a fun time. I remember Mom always saying how it scared her the whole entire time but she loved doing it!

It was always fun rounding up the family and going out to play in the snow....but watch out for those snow tubes! They will kick your butt if you let them...haha another Mom story! :)

Christmas Memories

Christmas has come and gone yet for another year. Every Christmas I think back of when I was little and how much fun Christmas was. As I searched through the family albums I found myself laughing at how much fun we had as kids during Christmas time. I'm sure Mom and Dad wanted to strangle us kids on Christmas morning because we were always up so early....no really, like 4am. I remember getting told to go back to bed for a couple more hours....those couple hours took a lifetime to pass!! Every Christmas Eve Santa would find our house and always leave us spoiled rotten. I remember times being tough when I was young, but Mom and Dad always made sure our Christmas was one to remember. Thank you Mom, Dad and Santa!! I've added a few pics of us kids and our Christmas trees over the years.

Me and Jennie

Jennie and Lacey

Me and Jennie playing with our new Legos...those were the best!

Lacey playing with her new baby doll.

Us girls playing with our new dolls. I got a Roller Skate baby and Jennie got a Rainbow Brite doll.

Kelly catching a ride in our new wagon and Lacey stripping in the background! haha! Always gotta have one in the family! J/K Lace!

Dad, Jennie and Lacey trying to get toys working.

Kade posing with his new coon skin hat!

Kami getting excited for Christmas.

One of my favorite gifts under the tree...Tazzi, his favorite place to be this time of year.

I hope that we always remember those fun Christmas memories and never let the child in us die!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the things that we are most thankful for. I think it is fair to say that Mom was most thankful for her family as are so many of us. When asked, "what is some advice about family," mom said this...."Stay so close. Even though things get tough and frustrating. I've never had a close family until I had my own little family and husband. When you get frustrated it's time for some space but not so much that you start to loose time and closeness with eachother."

I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving surrounded by lots of delicious food and most important of all.....lots of loved ones to make precious memories with!! Happy Thanksgiving and Enjoy!!

Girl Number Three

It was on November 16, 1983 when Lacey Dawn decided to join our family. Another sweet little girl weighing 6lbs, 14oz. I was still too young to remember too many details of that day, but I do remember being pretty excited to have another sister!

This is Lacey when she was just 2 weeks old. I remember her being a good little baby, hardly ever cried.

This is Lacey on her 10th birthday with our dog Sammy at her feet. She and Sammy were pals. I think Sammy only liked Lacey and Lacey was the only one that liked Sammy. He was such a mean little stinker.

Look at her go! Climbing our favorite tree in Kilgore.

Ha ha Lace....sorry but I had to put this one on here! This is my most favorite picture. This is what true camping hair looks like! And notice the toad accessory! I miss those days, miss catching those huge toads!

Lacey is quite an animal lover! She loved Buddy, the family poodle. If she wasn't snuggled up to him on the couch or dressing him in doll clothes she was toting him around!

Here is Lacey with her cute family....Zach, Kaidynce, Karter and Twitch the poodle!

Happy Birthday Lacey! Hope you had a great day! Love ya lots!

YOU'RE HOW OLD!!!

Happy Birthday to you Daddy Poo!! Today us kids and a few other family members went out to celebrate Dad's birthday with him. How old you say.....51 years old today!! But don't worry Dad all that gray hair and those "old man" glasses that you have to wear when you are reading don't mean a thing!! It just adds character! When the hearing aids and Depends start appearing then we'll worry about ya!!

Dad and Diane with the help of Grandma Larson and Aunt Patsy cooked a great meal. Thanks for such good food! Then we got to watch Dad open his presents. It was a fun afternoon hanging out with the family!

Here is one of Dad's most favorite things to do!

Dad showing off a couple different birthday cakes. Mom always made sure Dad had a nice birthday cake!

Just out enjoying a day with the family! (love the shirt, haha!)

Dad I just want to tell you how much I appreciate everything you do for us! I love you so much and look forward to celebrating many, many more birthdays with ya!! Hope you had a great day!!

Halloween

Well the time is here....Halloween Time!! Mom loved Halloween! I think it is fair to say that Halloween was her most favorite holiday. When we were young she always had so much fun dressing us kids up. Her and Grandma(Miller) had some pretty crazy ideas for us kids, and we loved every minute of it. Carving pumpkins was another fun thing that we all loved doing as a family. I'm sure Mom just loved cleaning up the mess we made too!

Jennie, Me (lazy eyes) holding Kade, Kelly, Lacey, and Kami

Lacey as Mickey and Kelly as Kissfur.

Jennie, Lacey, Kelly, and Me.

We loved going Trick-or-Treating. Mom and Dad would take us around to houses all over Egin, then we'd go to Parker. We used to get so much candy! It's fun to think back on all the adventures we had Trick-or-Treating. There was always a dog that we'd encounter that wanted to chew off our leg, or some elderly couple that just wanted to sit and visit....ALL NIGHT LONG! And the best is when we were gathering candy off the ground because one of us tripped in a hole or snow drift. Good times!

As we got older, the Trick-or-Treating faded but Mom decided to start having Halloween parties, and we all had to dress up!

The whole family.

Dad and us girls!

Kade, Mom, Dad and Kami (holding Buddy).

Lots and lots of laughs! Since Mom has been gone we've been good to carry on the tradition with the family Halloween party. It's not the same, but I know she's there laughing at all our crazy costumes! We love you Mom and we'll be thinking of you this Halloween!!!

Favorite Time of the Year

When asked, "What time of year is your favorite, and why?" This is what Mom wrote....

"My favorite time of the year....guess? FALL! I love the colors, the smell of the air with the people burning their leaves. Mostly the mountains, hunting bugling elk. The fall sky, how it is so clear at night time. Notice the big dipper and how it sits in the sky, all the other stars. In the day time the sky is so blue." Then a little while later on the same page Mom wrote this, " Jamie I got up at 2:30 this morning. I went upstairs to look outside. I have never seen so many falling stars. It was absolutely beautiful. Almost every little minute I seen one."

Fall has always been Mom's favorite time of the year. I think she passed it on to us kids too. Along with all the amazing colors and smells that comes with fall, would come the laughter and the thrill of hunting season. All of us kids had lots of opportunities to go hunting with Mom and Dad. Never a dull moment either and we usually had something to show for all the hiking and rough roads we had to travel. My most favorite hunting trips were those out in Davis Lakes, sitting on the rock piles while Dad and sometimes the boys, would walk the trees in hopes to push something out to Mom and I. While waiting for the elk to run out of the trees, Mom and I would be usually laughing our butts off about something stupid one of us had done or we'd be lounged out eating candy bars. I know Dad would get so sick of Mom and I after spending the day hunting with us. We just simply couldn't be quiet....no matter what! It was too easy to make one or the other laugh. And Dad....oh the looks Dad would throw our way! That would just make it that much harder to quit laughing! I miss those hunting trips!

Not just anyone can look this good in camo!

What a scary looking clan this is!

Lucky day!

Mom's first deer.

Ssshhh....LISTEN!!

And what about all those beautiful colors! Mom loved to take pics of the pretty fall colors. The fall before she died we tried to get as many of the family that could make it and take fall pictures with Mom and Dad. What a beautiful day that was.

This is Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids.....since that picture there have been a four more little cuties added to the family. (I think that's how many!)
This is kind of our family. There were a few that couldn't make it that day.

And one to remember FOREVER!!

So when your out and about this fall....remember Mom when you see the pretty colors or smell the burning of a wood stove or piles of leaves. Keep an eye on the bright blue fall sky and remember to look up at the stars once in awhile....you never know what you might see!!

I found a bunch of fall pictures so I added them as a slide show. And brothers and sisters or anyone else who might have a hunting story they want to share, PLEASE type it up and email it to me! I'd love to share other fun stories on this blog!!