Underwater

Just wanted to share some pictures of Bailee and a couple of her CKAT friends at a recent practice.  Mark let her borrow his underwater camera that he uses for work....needless to say they had some fun with it:}

{Bailee & Miranda}

{Bailee & Maddie}

Child Labor

Last night Karsyn got a little taste of a being a working girl.  The Sunset PTA held a "Family Food and Fun Nite" at Arby's as a fundraiser for a new fitness course. 

The Student Council officers were asked to work during the 3 hours, cleaning tables, sweeping floors, refilling drinks and just making sure the guests were comfortable.  I would guess Karsyn did more running around with friends than actually doing her job, but she had so much fun she didn't even mind working for free.  Let's hope she has that much fun when she has a "real job" in the future........many many years in the future:}

Presidents Day Petroglyphs

We have all (minus Mark) just come off a 4 day weekend.  Mark was off on Monday as well for Presidents Day and so we were itching to get out and do something.  With all the time Mark spends in the Big Horns, he has learned of several little areas that he is anxious to check out.  These little places hit the spot whenever we are looking for a day trip adventure!  We got up Monday morning and headed about an hour NE to the Big Horns in search of Petroglyph Canyon.  The cold temperature didn't deter us, we bundled up and began exploring.  These particular petroglyphs are not marked for the general public....they are on BLM property, but they are intended to have limited access to preserve them.  The hidden nature of the petroglyphs makes for a fun treasure hunt off the beaten path.  We were well aware that we may or may not actually find them:}  Well we did not find any of them this time, but we had a great time looking.  We did find some markings [aka "bandalism"] with a date that appeared to be 1914...pretty cool anyway!

We had a ball just hiking around.  It actually was pretty pleasant once we were moving and this area is a bit of a desert, so there wasn't all that much snow.

This was not paved trail and it felt a bit like rock climbing at times.  But the girls didn't complain once...it was a beautiful thing:}

Emmrey was a lil' trooper and she kept right up with us with her "stick" in hand.

We finally made it as far back in the canyon as we could go and took in some beautiful views from the top.

On the way back down we stopped for a snack/break.  Our girls quickly started scoping out potential "homes" for them to play in.  This added some time to our hike but we didn't mind at all.  We relished in watching them play so good together using their imaginations.  This is sooo typical of them.....it makes me laugh and reminds me so much of when I was little:}  This one was their favorite!

It was one of those pleasant days together.  No arguing....lots of laughing....and my favorite company.  It was one of those days that holds fond memories even though you didn't do anything spectacular.

The kind of days I love!!  {Don't let that GIANT hand scare you...it does look a bit intimidating I know:}

CKAT Wrap

Well another season of swimming has come to an end.  I think Bailee was more than ready.  This year has been a tough one for her with advanced classes, piano, swimming and choir, she has been one busy girl.  Cody hosted the Polar Bear Splash as the final meet of the season.  Since it was our home meet and Mark is on the board, we had volunteered to help out.  He spent the entire 2 days in the booth running one of the computers and I did the Event Board.  It was nice to have a job, but it made it harder to get pictures for sure.  I did snap some of these two little CKAT fans......this is how they entertain themselves through a long swim meet.....

They could not get enough of the air vents and it became quite the attraction.  Karsyn started using a wadded up tissue to float up and down in the air over the vent.  This little side show was beginning to get the attention of both coaches and swimmers (who were amused), so I had to put a stop to it....although it was pretty cool:}  Emmrey got a kick out of letting her hair fly all over the place like she was on an amusement park ride.  Whatever gets them through it...right?

Bailee did very well this meet and took time off all but one event.  She placed 6th overall in the 100 yard Backstroke ...Way to go BUG!!!  Way to go CKATS!!!

Superior

Last weekend was a busy one.  On Saturday Bailee and I headed out to the College in Powell for another year of Showalter Music Festival.  This is how it works....you have to be selected to perform at the Festival, you spend weeks practicing your music, and then you are assigned a room and time to perform.  Each room is assigned a professional musician/voice coach to judge each ensembles performance.  You {squeeze} into this room in the Music department along with other parents and beam as you watch your child shine.  Bailee's little group of 6 did soooo well and received a 1+ or Superior which is the best you can get.  There are several performances in each room throughout the day and the judge chooses only one group/soloist as the overall best......and guess what?......THEY WERE SELECTED...woo-hoo!!!!  I think their were nearly 400 Middle School kids who participated this year from around the area so this is a HUGE honor for these kids.  I am so so proud of our little bug (and her group:)  They got to perform their piece, "The Dance of Life" at a special concert.

{This was the write up in the college paper}

Showalter Music Festival results announced 

Posted by: NWC News Desk — February 15, 2012

POWELL, Wyo. - Twelve middle school musicians won awards and scholarships at the 39^th Showalter Memorial Music Festival held Saturday, Feb. 11, at Northwest College.

Each individual recognized for outstanding musical abilities received a plaque and a scholarship to the 2012 Yellowstone Summer Music Camp. They were also asked to perform in the festival's closing concert.

The Dance of Life won an award for outstanding vocal ensemble and featured the talents of Cody Middle School students Sara Capiello, Jack Corr, Heather Mandella, Bailee Smith, Elisha Smith and Dani Wilde.

I don't think this video quite does them justice, but hopefully you can get a glimpse of how well they did- ENJOY!!!

Welcome Winter

Well it finally happened.  Cody got a real snowstorm this past weekend.  I mean snow that actually stayed on the ground (and still is) and made the roads scary to drive on....yikes:{  Karsyn and Emmrey took full advantage and spent Saturday morning playing in it.  It was a bit too cold for me....but not this little troopers.

They were making snow angels.......

And Karsyn even got out Emmrey's little sled, which she just might be too big for this year:)

They had a ball and stayed out there longer than I expected before they came in to warm up with some yummy Hot Chocolate:}

{HEART DAY}

Hope everyone had a LOVELY day yesterday.  We celebrated with school parties, Heart Attacks (Karsy's classroom and Bay's locker:), and our candlelight dinner. We exchanged a variety of Valentines this year we did cute little Owls, techie Ipods, colorful Heart Crayons, and yummy Love Bugs.  We also made little metal mailboxes for teachers (which I failed to get a pic of:)

After dinner I read this book called "How Full is Your Bucket?".  It has a great message about how we all have an invisible bucket that is either filled or emptied through our daily interactions.  It reinforces the idea that we can also fill or empty others buckets by the things we say or do.  When we finished the book, Emmrey said, "I don't get it, that didn't sound like a Valentines story"--ha.  She may not have "got it", but she totally got the idea of finding her own little bucket filled with goodies that was hid somewhere in the house!!

 

Mark is not all that crazy about the love holiday (overblown...commercialized...money trap...etc=).  So this day has become more about our girlies over the years because they get really excited about it !!  

I{heart} these 3 little Bambinos more than life!!!  And as for Mark and I.....well we live like it's Valentine's everyday:)

                                     

Riding Lessons

Karsyn continues her love affair with horses.  It began a few years ago when she informed us that she was saving her money to buy a horse...never mind that we have nowhere to put a horse:)  Then she began to look through magazines for horse trailers.....never mind that we have no horse to put in the trailer OR truck to pull it OR place to store it!  We have come to learn that our little Karsy goes through phases...(very rapid phases) where she is totally into something and by the end of the month (or weekend in some cases:) she is totally over it and onto something else.  This keeps life interesting....often aggravating, but interesting.  Well this horse thing has really hung on.  Mark has a co-worker who has horses and a love for teaching kids (especially 4th graders), that has so graciously accepted the role as horse trainer.  So whenever she and Kars have a free afternoon we take her out to her property for some lessons.  She just lights up and can't stop talking about what she learns.

On this day she was working with her buddy Dubbs.....leading him.......

Grooming him.......

And practicing balance so she can start trotting.

We will be taking our "baby steps" with this whole horse thing for a while I am certain....I don't know that we will ever be horse owners (quite frankly those massive animals intimidate me), but we are loving seeing her get so much enjoyment out of something that is just for her!!

Homebodies

I have to admit...I become a bit of a Homebody this time of year. I just realized this year, as a matter of fact, that as much as I dislike winter time for the most part (the wet feet, the dirty car/floors, wind chills so frigid that it's lethal, driving with ANY snow on the roads:) I do like the coziness of it.  I like having my family together in our warm home rather than running all different directions outside like in the summer.  I love working on things at home that I don't get around to when I am lured away by beautiful weather, and I love settling in and watching a movie after dinner because it is too cold and DARK to want to go out again:)  I just love having my family close to me......


maybe playing LEGOS......

 or snuggling up with a good book!!

So this year I will try to look for the positive in our long winters....and appreciate the change of pace it brings while still dreaming of day trips to Yellowstone in the future:}