Wild cow milking 2010

Well, now that most have heard...

Most people know that Preston, Matt (bro-in-law), and my cousin Art did the wild cow milking... If you ask any of them, they LOVED the adventure and would gladly do it again... I know there are others that might think it's a little too dangerous, but I guess boys will be boys!

Oh and I forgot that it loads the pictures backwards and so here is the rodeo in rewind! :)

After the Adventure... Spirits were still high... little dissappointed because they came SO close...

If I were the cow I would run... little intimidated... hahaha...

Oh precious Spence fam!

Sierra bug was all over the place... like usual! :) What a cutie...

Uh... Mickie? hahahahaha!

Oh and I tried to post the video but my internet is wonderful so after 5 hours I am officially GIVING UP! :) Maybe another day...

Seven Peaks for Memorial Day!

I don't remember much about our Memorial Day, but I do have pictures to remind me it was our first trip to Seven Peaks! We got our season passes a just in the nick of time... Little did I know I would get an extended summer vacation a couple days later… or I don't know we would have gotten them! 60 bucks total! Gotta love it!

After they rode the big white one...

This big white one... No he isn't wearing a shirt... :)

All smiles from that one...

I don't think Nate cared for Matt and Preston to tell the life guard to push him down backwards, but he enjoyed it none the less...

Oh precious lil Ty guy...

This is the guys going down the big orange slide... nothing too crazy... Oh and for the record Nate didn't win... the camera battery died right when he was about to go!

Capitol Reef Trip

Wow… hahaha… So I guess the next post is about the rest of that week…

After a 12 hour drive home, we quickly finished packing our stuff for a trip to Capital Reef National Park! We had a lot of fun despite the incredibly LONG day of driving.

Because I wasn’t able to drive at all on the Oregon trip (Spence and Steph have a manual and I don’t know how to drive those) I told Preston I would drive to and from Capitol Reef. The drive started out that way, but after we got off of I-15 things changed. I am totally fine driving curvy back roads at night, but these were a little different. You know when you see a sign with a deer on it or ELK you are warned that there might be some around so watch out for them. Well after swerving to miss two of them, then speeding up to miss the next couple that were going to jump in the road my nerves couldn’t take it anymore. We switched, and Preston drove the last hour while I navigated…

We got there just in time to go to sleep… it was quite late and both of us were definitely tired. Since we showed up last we got stuck on the hide-a-bed in the front room of the apt. we were staying. It wasn’t easy to sleep on AT ALL but I managed by taking a Benadryl… We woke up bright and early with the sun shining through the windows at 6:00! That was just wonderful too…

Other than the more than crappy sleeping arrangements we had a lot of fun. We went on a few hikes and got to enjoy a whole weekend with our friends! It’s so hard these days to get together since we all have CRAZY schedules! Anyway, we had a lot of fun! We were SO tired after both vacations that we just slept forever when we finally got home. I did drive the entire way home btw…

I liked this picture... classic really...

I thought this was a good one too... Oh and even though it may look hot, the days started of quite chilly...

This is why I usually hold the camera...

They led the pack the entire hike... Thanks again for your help Scott!

Basking in his glory of whiteness...

One of the only front shots of Suz... hahahaha...

Have I proved my point yet? Should have been holding the camera here too...

Hahahaha... We had to run the second half of the Goosenecks (?) hike... It was FUN! Mostly...

The only pic I think of Chelsea we have... oh look at the cute Elison Fam!

Was it that rigorous Kyle? No... no it wasn't... hahaha

He didn't move it one bit... surprised?

And that's as high as he got...

The Elwood Boys!

Just typical Preston...

Oh Precious... The other Elison family!

I don't know the name of the arch... but we made it a whole mile to see it!

Colt had to get out and walk a bit... he is roughly 18 months... hahahaha! Such a cutie! (He is now in 3T for the summer)

Oregon Trip!

I guess the idea is to put syrup and waffles together, but for the sake of time... waffles first, then the syrup!

As the job hunt continues, I figure I can at least make a few post of things since I am WAY stinkin behind on them. I know there have been requests to post things from sisters of pics that I got and haven’t taken the time to do it… so I guess with the newly find time, I will make sure I get a few up!

I guess the first one should be of the Oregon Trip! That was last month at about this time and it was SO much fun! We went with Spence and Steph (Preston’s brother and wife) to visit every site in Oregon there is to see… At least it seems like it… I know there was a ton more to do but we only had so much time…

I have ALWAYS told Preston that I wouldn’t mind one bit if I had to move back to Oregon. I just love the green, the weather, taxes (or lack there of… which might not stay around much longer… who knows… I am not living there to stay updated… lol) and the drivers! Gosh. I can’t tell ya how nice it was to drive there! Anyway, (SR)² has decided they wouldn’t mind moving there too, since all of that was right up their ally as well!

We started off with a trip to Bend to visit the Reading grandparents. It was a nice relaxing time we spent there, and Bend is a lot bigger than I realized. It has really grown since I have been there last, or should I say been through… Anyway, we spent mothers day there, and it was fun to go out to dinner with G-ma and G-pa Reading to celebrate! Not to mention, the food was amazing! Preston was in heaven!

After some good times/tours of bend we drove up to Seaside/Astoria. Preston served in Seaside for quite a few months so he knew the area really well. Of course while we were there we had to go see the Goonies rock and the Goonies house! Then we made our way over to the Louis and Clark Column that is 200ish steps high on a winding stair case. At the top you can see a huge range of land and its pretty dang high! Man did my legs feel a little Jell-o like after that ascent! Then Preston had to show off his jumping skills… We did try and do a little shopping, but who knew the stores all closed around 6:00! What the!? Oh well… We stayed on the beach and got some good shots of the sunset! Preston also got to see some people he served around while he was there on the mish! Apparently they did all their laundry there…

After we spent the night in Seaside we drove to Portland to go to the OMSI museum. That place is huge and there is SO much to do! We spent 5 stinkin hours there looking at everything and I didn’t even get to one level of the place. By then we were tired and ready to go… We got to go on a submarine tour, and watch an IMAX on the Hubble satellite. Then we walked around discovering all the stuff they had on display. We even talked to this retired biochemist guy (I think that’s what he was…) who taught one of the women astronauts that died in the Challenger accident.

We also went to take pictures at the Temple grounds and to the Test Rose Gardens there. So you know, there aren’t any flowers in bloom the middle of may at the gardens. I think I saw one rose… hahahaha… It was very green and pretty though! The temple grounds were MUCH more colorful!

After our time up north, we went to Medford to visit my old stompin grounds! I love Medford. Can I just say that!? Lol… We went to the shooting range (which only took an hour… should have brought more guns and ammo), did a session in the Medford temple, watched movies on the big screen!, went on a Jet boat cruise through Hellgate, went to No Ho’s (a definite family favorite even though it wasn’t Friday to get kaluah pork) and had dinner with some family friends, the Schmidts! Of course we didn’t take many pictures of this part… Maybe we were all camera’d out?

We made it!

Why so serious?

Gotta love G-ma Reading!

The four of us at the top of some hill in Bend near grandmas house!

The Goonies rock... Hayward Rock I think is its actual name... could be wrong though.

It was REAL windy in Astoria... hence the trees...

Don't worry... we didn't

Preston's attempt to do the trufle shuffle in front of the goonies house... People live there... hahaha... they had a make shift sign at the end of the gravel road saying "No cars please," and "Goonies Never Say Die!" lol

The L & C Column... it was pretty cool! Mickie... don't look down!

A normal picture!!! This one is going up somewhere! lol

Look at all the pretty tulips!

Tada! (A patented dance move in the up coming Hello Dolly... I didn't know I already had one of them down!)

Look at those beautiful lines!

Preston testing out the seat of a space pod... some things are better for the little people...

A normal picture!

The beds are quite fitting for those under 6'

Preston doesn't really fit in these...

Look! We are driving the submarine!

Taking a break from the long day at OMSI. The gardens were peaceful, that's for sure!

The only flowers we really saw at the gardens... not even roses...

Good news, bad news...

Well, The good news is that I will have a little more time on my hands to get things done that I have wanted to. On the other hand, the bad news might outweigh the good this time...

I have now joined the ranks of the unemployed. I am hoping it's not for too long, of course. As most know, I was the bread winner in the family till Preston got out of school... at least that was the plan. I am not really sure what the plan is now. I haven't had much time to soak in everything. I will be busy today working up a new budget plan, filling out unemployment papers, revising my resume, and hunting for any new possibilities!

If anyone knows of any prospects out there I would appreciate the help. I know that there are so many out there looking so who knows in this day and age what will happen.

I must say that I have already seen the hand of the Lord in the way things have worked out, and I know that he is still watching over us. As long as we keep doing what we are supposed to he will bless us as he has been. Just breathe...