Great Day for Kids, Bad Day for Dog....

These Pictures belong at the end of this post. So sorry for the mix up. This is pictures of the flooding that just happened at our house. Clayton's tractors were not able to stand up to the water. I hope he has hazard insurance. :)

Water rushing from the front yard to the back yard through the little drainage ditch Wilfred dug.

Saturday: Our poor dog Russell.... He has been a matted mess for sometime. I've tried to brush him but always end up sneezing my brains out. His long shaggy fur has been a magnet for weeds, bugs, poop, and other disgusting things. And Saturday we discovered he had mites. I have been planning to get him into the groomer, but never made it happen. (I guess I need more doing and less planning in my life!) Long story short.....Wilfred ran over to my parents house and grabbed a stock tank. I boiled several pans of hot water on the stove to make the hose water not so cold. In went the dog.
Clayton loved being able to help. Here he was contemplating where to dump the next cup of water.

Russell is a great dog. He never once tried to get away or fight. I think he was happy to finally be getting cleaned up. He ended up having to be shaved short. He was so matted there was no way it was getting brushed out. Wilfred did the grooming honors. With all the helping Clayton did he got wet and covered in dog hair. So the next thing I knew I was boiling more water. When the tank was rinsed and cleaned and the water properly warmed....in went the kids! Their first chance to skinny dip.....I hope we haven't started something we will regret!

While all of this water play was going on I was working in the kitchen. Great news! Grandpa's Apricot tree finally had a good year. This is the 5 gallon bucket Wilfred picked for me. I had picked 2 bags full. I spent Saturday making jam and canning.
Too tempting for little hands....

I also picked our first Zucchini on Saturday.
And the fruits of my labor. This picture was taken at 2:30am Sunday. I had finally finished and cleaned the kitchen up. It shouldn't have taken me so long, but I had to keep stopping to make meals and warm up water and, and , and........


Tuesday: I thought this was neat. I've never seen the roots of a corn stalk stick out before.

Squash blooms




This is a storm cell over our neighbors house. This same storm has now flooded out our yard. (See first 4 pictures)

An update of my planters.

Nothing cuter than kids in jammies......

Daddy and kids before bedtime.

Horses, Kids, Snakes.....

Do you remember My post about my mom's new horse? We called her Lilly at the time....My mom got her home on the 4th. Her name is now Serena. Here is the little squirt drinking from Wilfred's water jug. Wilfred leading Serena around.
Yesterday afternoon we went and rode horses. I have finally gotten my saddle cleaned up and ready to use again. Here is Lindsy riding Sequoia. She loves the horses!!!!!

Clayton didn't want to ride yesterday. He was more concerned with digging in the dirt. I got tickled when I looked out my kitchen window yesterday evening. This is what I saw....The shirt is too perfect!
Sunday night we were coming home about 9:15 pm. We were right in front of our house when we saw this baby(?) rattlesnake crossing the road. We ran it over several times with the car. Then got out to make sure it was indeed dead. Apparently the snake had just eaten a mouse. If you click on the picture you can see the mouses fur, tail, and a foot in the guts of the snake. This the second baby rattler that we have found in the year we have lived here. We are guessing there must be a den nearby.

Trip to Wyoming....

We had a great trip to Wyoming. We enjoyed getting to see lots of Family and Friends! I could go on and on telling you about the trip but you would get tired of reading.....so hopefully the pictures will give you a glimpse of what we enjoyed. I love to read all your comments so if you have a moment please leave one!

Here is a water lily on one of the live springs at Morris and Jeanie's.
Whoops...Clayton fell in the spring! Notice the wet leg?

Uncle Will took Wilfred and Clayton fishing. It was the highlight of the trip for Clayton. I was getting worried as it was getting really late and they weren't back yet. As it turns out Clayton didn't want to leave the lake and he begged to stay until morning. Will was only too happy to stay on the lake and make Clayton happy. Of course when they finally got the boat out of water and headed for home Clayton didn't last too long in the pickup. Here Lindsy is very worried about Clayton. Here it is almost midnight and they bring her brother in slumped over his car seat. I think Will has earned favorite uncle status in Clayton's book
The cows...Yes, it was raining!!!!!

The little waterfall.
Neat little flowers growing out of a rock.
The 'mountain goats' hiking ahead. I was lagging far behind because I kept stopping to take pictures.

Clayton, Grandpa, and Daddy behind the waterfall.

Sunday Morning of Chugwater. Little Cowboy.


Finally a Family picture...Of course Wilfred would have to have his hat jammed down on his head so you can't see his face....... Clayton's grin more that makes up for it.

The brothers.
Lindsy and Bop-ba. (She is quite a grandpa's girl for both Morris and my Dad.)
Getting taught to stick Aunt Crystal's hair sticks in the ground....Can't blame the kid she had help!
When we got home:

Korina's birthday lunch! The kids adore Korina if you can't already tell that.

The whole family pitched in to buy Korina a bike.
Back to work on the projects at home. Doesn't Daddy look proud of his little girl out digging in the dirt.
Egg update: They Hatched while we were gone. Only 2 of the 3 eggs made it and they flew out of the nest yesterday. I got a little sad when I watched them leave....The mother bird seemed overjoyed that her babies made it. I couldn't help but think of something that we humans call 'empty nest syndrome.' We mothers want to hold onto our babies as long as possible...and when they leave home it breaks our heart. (which my mom told me when I left.) When the birds finally leave their home the momma seems to be filled with joy that they have made it. I was thinking maybe I should take a note from mother nature. I need to do all my loving, caring, feeding, nurturing, and tending to my children while I can. That way when they do leave home I can be filled with joy that I have done my best and that they have made it! (I guess we will see when that time comes, I am sure someone will have to remind me of the momma bird!)

How We Keep Busy.....

UGH!!!! I CAN'T TAKE THIS HEAT! This has been a regular occurrence the last few days. Today it was even hotter but I didn't get a picture. To go along with this heat we have had a HOT, DRY wind. Like I said UGH! Lindsy got a new stroller last week. She loves it!!! She will just sit in it for hours and be happy.

Clayton riding Sassy on Saturday night.
He looks good up there doesn't he!?
I thought this was way too funny when I rounded the corner and saw him. Even little kids know how to read on the pot!