Year of the Horse

Karsyn celebrated her 9th birthday on Sunday and you could say it was the "YEAR OF THE HORSE". The irony is that the year she was born (2002) is the year of the Horse in the Chinese calendar...pretty cool right? This girl is horse crazy right now, and her entire birthday wish list consisted of horse items. She woke up to breakfast in bed...French Toast and Strawberries per her request. Emmrey loved being at her beckon call and took her job of refilling Karsyn's plate with great pride:)

The fact that it was Sunday was a real bummer for Kars, it meant she had to wait until after church to open her gifts. We let her open the ones from her grandparents and she was thrilled with her dinero from Grandpa & Grandma Smith and a horse blanket with the movie Secretariat from Grampa Wayne and Gramma Cheryl...she wrapped right up in the blanket and was asking to have a little movie morning.


Later that afternoon she opened to rest of her gifts and it was horses galore....stable with corral and several horses, a jockey named Eva, an Eyewitness Book about Horses, horse PJ bottoms, and much to my chagrin ...Emmrey picked out a stuffed horse. She also got a NY Yankees cap since she has been obsessed with the Great Bambino.

The girls ALL played together with the horses and stable (this does not happen all that often, so we cherish it when it does:) They had fun naming them all and getting them set up in their new homes. Bailee only lasted a while, but Kars and Emm played most of the afternoon.

We had hoped to take Karsyn on a trail ride or to visit the Wild Mustangs east of Cody, however the weather had other plans. Since it rained most of the day, she settled for wrapping up in her blanket and watching Secretariat, such a good movie. Her dinner request was a dish from a local BBQ place, so I decided to bring it to her instead. I made BBQ beef sandwiches, beans and fries. We also drank Rootbeer from canning jars...Kars thought this was the BEST!!

We made her a horseshoe cake for Lucky #9 served with good old fashioned vanilla ice cream. She made her birthday wish, however, that remains top secret;)

We hope it was a special day for our very special little girl who has made everyday of the last 9 years an adventure:) We love you Eva Lu!!!

Last Week of School

What is it about the last week of school that gets so CRAZY? It's funny, because it is a relatively easy week and sometimes I wonder why we even have school those last few days. However, it seems like there is some sort of celebration or party every day of the week!! I am always trying to squeeze things in and spend whatever time I can at the school with my girls and their activities. Wednesday was a double whammy.... Bailee went hiking with some of her class and of course I wanted to tag along on that one.

Of course, Karsyn also had Field Day that afternoon and really wanted me to be a parent chaperone for that. So....being the INSANE mother that I am, I did both and spent the entire day running around like a crazy woman.


And Emmrey is my little buddy who pretty much goes with the flow. She has fun being around all the kids, although don't expect her to show it too much, she has to play it cool:)Today was the last day of school and it was an early release day (11:45). Bailee was served pancakes in the morning by her teachers and the rest of the day was spent signing yearbooks. I suggested that she take her camera to school and get some pics of the last day....she came home with just one. Her with Mrs. Blatt....of all her teachers she is the favorite:) Bailee had her for Math and PAWS this year and I think it made all the difference. We got pretty lucky this year with Middle School teachers, only had to get after 1 or 2 of them:)

Karsyn had an awards assembly this morning and then they cleaned desks and watched a movie. I went in to her classroom a little early to take birthday treats (mini muffins were her request). I also took in a framed/signed picture of the class and a diaper cake for Mrs. Hill who is having her 2nd baby boy this summer. Karsyn hit the jackpot this year. I will be Student Teaching with her in the fall and I am thrilled!!

Bailee is now swimming with friends and Karsyn and Emmrey are playing in the playhouse. Ahhh ....here comes summer!!

While the parents are away....

....the kiddos will play...with Aunt Ashlee:) We flew my sister Ashlee out to Cody to stay with Kars and Emm while we were gone. They had so much fun with her. Emmrey had a stack of about twenty books from the Library and I think Aunt Ashlee read everyone with her...at least once. Karsyn got to have her as a special guest in the lunchroom at school, which she thought was the greatest!!

We sang to the Bieber and Taylor Swift (or Taylor Smith as Emmrey calls her:)

She stayed for a whole week and unfortunately it rained the ENTIRE week:( It did clear up on Saturday long enough for us to do the MS Walk...and then it rained again!!

The girls were excited to visit our little airport...but not excited to see her go. The car ride home was pretty somber. Emmrey told us that she still liked Ashlee as a "cousin", but she wished that she could stay with us.

Thank you Ash for coming out to visit and for being such a super Aunt. We love you and miss you already!!

Natural History Days

Last week Mark and I were able to spend a few days in the mountains with Bailee. The middle school takes all the 6th grade to a little camp for Natural History Days. The kids spend three days learning about the natural world, playing games, hiking, doing skits and singing around the campfire. They really don't "rough it" though...the accommodations are pretty sweet:)


Mark has helped with this event in years past, but this year was special because he got to be a dad as well as an "Expert". I went along as an assistant to the expert!! Mark and I used the opportunity as a mini getaway, and stayed at the Game & Fish cabin a little ways from the Field Station where the kids stayed.

Mark taught the kids all about Fish Ecology and they got to do some Electrofishing in the river which they thought was the coolest thing ever!!
We went on a Night Hike using only headlamps....Bailee and her friend Niki were 2 of the 3 girls that ventured out, they were the few, but the brave of the group!!
We had such fun and are enjoying the fact that Bailee still likes us enough to have us hang around. We love you BUG:)

PP at the Park

Emmrey graduated from Preschool last week (okay, not really since she will be returning next year again:) but she did receive a cute little diploma and awards for homework books and reading logs.

Miss Lori had written on the school calendar "PP at the Park" short for Preschool Party and it became a joke with the cute lil' preschoolers...thus the post title;) We are so proud of our little Emmrey and all the learnin' that has taken place this year in the Yellow Sun class.

PJ's and Pedi's

As if I didn't get pampered enough already, the week after Mother's Day I was treated to another evening of royal treatment. Bailee and Karsyn hosted an Achievement Day activity for the mom's of all the girls in the group. My little Bailee was in charge of planning the entire activity by herself, and I could not have been more proud of her. We wore our PJ's and were given pedicures by our daughters in the most relaxing Spa setting:) I was extra lucky to have 2 girls doing my nails and rubbing my feet.


We were also served yummy sundaes and sent home with these adorable Spa Sundaes to use in the bath.

What a fun night with two of my favorite girlies:)

Here Little Fishy

One Friday when I was subbing, Mark took Emmrey fishing for a few hours. They went up the North Fork for some quality time. It was still a little chilly, so they started off the day with a campfire and then it was time to get serious....Emmrey loved having the job of setting the little fishies free:)


Mark spent what time he could working with his little "fisherman in training", although she was a bit busy finding and burying TREASURES so that she can go back and find them:)

Don't Stop Believin'

Bailee had her final choir concert for the school year, although she will be attending All State in a few weeks and performing some more. This concert was a compilation of all sorts of goodies....namely "Don't Stop Believin", one of my favorites right now....who doesn't love a little Journey? This is what happens when you let your 8 year old take over recording duty....YIKES!! Oh well, you get the idea:)


We are so proud of our little singer and hope that she keeps on believin' in herself...we sure do!!

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day and I feel blessed......

...Blessed to be the Mama of these three little bambinos who brought me breakfast in bed, pampered me all day with spa treatments and massages, and made me the most beautiful and heartfelt gifts that I will treasure forever:)



...Blessed to have a Mother who is such an example of strength and perseverance to me. A person I can talk to about anything at anytime and I never have to wonder if she will judge me. She buoys me up and makes me believe I am a good Mama to my girlies. Although we live far apart I feel her in my life on a daily basis....love you Mom!!

...Blessed to have a Mother in-law who has raised the son that I am so happy to be with. She is a great example in being resourceful and teaches me a lot about living simply and I still feel that I have so much to learn from her:)
..and blessed to be able to share this little message with you....


"This is the mom song
Cause mom's are great
Mom's are better
Than chocolate cake!"

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!!

Kids Fishing Day

Every year, Mark volunteers his time (and Saturday)to help at kids Fishing Day in a little town east of us called Basin. And every year the girls and I make the trip out there to spend the day with him and do a little fishing as well. They typically do it a bit later in May or early June, so this year I wasn't sure if the weather would be inviting enough for us to be outside....the day was absolutely beautiful (upper 70's and SUNNY:)

The fishing wasn't very good, even though they had stocked the pond:( But the girls had a fabulous time. Bailee and Emmrey were our fishermen, and they kept a good eye on the poles and any bites.


They also took a ride on this little train around the pond and thought that was pretty fun!

Karsyn didn't fish much at all...surprisingly. She preferred to act as Mark's assistant all day and in no time she was doing the presentation and educatin' the folks that stopped by.


Mark tries to bring something different each year to share with the kids. This year he brought a huge tank filled with all different types of fish from the Big Horn River and the kids and adults alike were fascinated to see the fish up close and personal. He does such a good job talking to the kids on their level and answering all their questions. I think he loves to see them get excited about fish in general and the idea behind the program is to get kids turned on to fishing and Mark does that well:)


I loved watching him interact with the kids and it made me think about what a good dad he is for our girls...he loves to share what he knows with them. I so admire his dedication to his job and his willingness to spend a day bringing the love of fishing to these little ones who might have fewer opportunities in a tiny town with a population of 1300.