Randomness

Earlier this year my camera died.  It was about 7 years old, so it had probably outlived its life expectancy, anyway.  We have found, though, that the camera on my cell phone is actually better than my old camera.  As a result, I find all kinds of random photos on my phone.  Or, like today, my children will pull out the phone while we are our and about. 

Here are the latest random photos:

The cat had been outside and came in looking like this. 

At the mall - no desire to go in here!

In my class last week on Diversity we learned about Afghanistan culture. The women in class got to use henna to decorate their arms, hands, and feet. This was my henna "tattoo."  The mark can last up to 3 weeks, but mine faded after about 5 days.

 We get a lot of Daddy pictures!

 

Sleepover with our friend Mercedes before she left for college

 

 Emily called this "James Bond's license plate"

 

This one says "RUBBISH", which is a phrase The Doctor uses on Doctor Who, a favorite British TV show.  The bumper sticker on the right is a British flag.

 

Heather's chemistry class learned how to change the color of pennies yesterday. One was changed by chemicals; the other by fire exposure.

 

Welcome to Adulthood!

We used the deformed cupcakes to celebrate Emily's 18th birthday.  It was fun to have almost the whole family together for her special day.

Abby, Megan, DJ, Uncle David, Lily, Grandma K

David, Lily, Grandma, Aunt Nancy, Heather

DJ, Uncle David, Lily, Grandma

 

Rabbit ears never get old, do they?

Birthday girl Emily, Grandpa, Uncle Devon

Megan and DJ were inseparable the entire weekend

 

I love this picture!

Megan, Aunt Nancy, Heather

 

I love this one, too!

I'm Melting!

DJ is a HUGE Cookie Monster fan.

He has a shirt, hat, and other Cookie Monster things.

While we were visiting Grandpa and Grandma K we decided to make Sesame Street cupcakes. 

DJ was SO excited!

We didn't have the white chocolate wafers so we used marshmallows for the eyes.

 

It was SO hot and humid that the frosting kept melting.  We would decorate one cupcake and put it in the fridge.  It didn't help.  The poor things looked like a sci-fi toxic meltdown!  Their faces kept sliding onto the cookie sheet.

 

Lily didn't care.  She ate a cookie monster cupcake anyway.

 

Look at the BLUE tongue!

 

Megan made cookies with Grandma, too. 

 

She gave this "zombie cookie" to Uncle Devon in honor of his Walking Dead obsession. 

Animal Farm

In addition to the plants and trees, Grandpa and Grandma and the uncles have animals!

GOATS:

Molly and Maggie - the mama goat and her daughter

 

Grandma loves the goats.

 

The family uses only goat milk now.

(Except Uncle Devon, who still buys his cow milk.  We tried the goat milk but made a trip to town to buy cow milk for our stay.  Perhaps goat milk is an acquired taste...)

 

Mama goat had three bucklings: Bruno, Jackson, Rex.

 

They also purchased a breeding male:  Apollo

The bucklings LOVE Grandma!

Actually, they seemed to love anyone who would come near their cage. 

(I think they were hoping we had brought food!)

 

 

CHICKENS:

 

They have a rooster and a bunch of chickens, too. 

They lay enough eggs for the whole family to eat LOTS of egg dishes!

 

One baby hatched right before we got there.

David shared this photo of the baby 10 days later. 

 

No other eggs seem to want to hatch.

 

PIGS:

 

It rained while we were there and the poor pregnant pig had nowhere dry to lay.

Grandpa and Uncle David repaired her roof so her babies could be born in a dry spot.

Grandma saves fruit rinds and other food scraps to share with Lulu.

 

Lulu knows she is going to get treats! 

Grandma showed Megan how to feed the pig without losing fingers.





 

This week Lulu gave birth to ELEVEN baby piglets!

 

I am SO glad I only had one at a time!!!

Isn't he cute?

 

Uncle Devon said the piglets are extremely cute and walk around making pig noises.  I wish we could have seen them!

 

DOGS:

Tank loves Uncle David!

 

Tank and Shadow run all over the property but are especially fond of the shady spots under the trees.

Sometimes they even share the shady spots with Grandma.

 

There are three other little dogs:  Leo, Tucker and Missy.  However, they wouldn't stand or sit still long enough to get a picture.

Fourth of July Rodeo

The reason we took our trip to visit my parents last weekend was because there is an annual Fourth of July Rodeo in the area.  Last year, the girls attended with their dad and their stepmom's family and begged to go again this year. 

Handstamp for rodeo admission

(It reminds me of the Wyoming cowboy logo when I was growing up there.)

While we didn't get any good pictures at the rodeo, we did have some memorable moments.  We loved watching the different events.  One participant roped and tied up his calf in 12.5 seconds!  WOW!

Megan was NOT happy I took her picture.  (That's Grandpa in the background.)

The bullriding was fun to watch, though I bet they could all use a chiropractor the next day.  One of the bulls didn't want to re-enter the pen after bucking off his rider.  It took about 8 tries and 5 riders with ropes to get him back into the pen.  The announcer called him an "Obama Bull," because once you let in you can't get him out (of the arena). 

Another bull tried to horn the downed rider, but one of the rodeo clowns jumped in front of the bull and distracted him.  The announcer said, "That man who jumped in front of the bull is a grandpa!"  The man next to Emily muttered, "He's a STUPID grandpa!"

But my VERY favorite memory was watching fireworks and listening to Lee Greenwood sing "I'm Proud To Be An American" and hearing nearly everyone in the stands sing along.  What a beautiful moment!

Here's Your Sign!

My parents moved out of the Valley in February but they are still only a few hours away.  While visiting them this past weekend we took a walk one evening through their neighborhood.  Here are the highlights of the walk:

Dad's first name is Scott:

Emily has a friend named Robby who dressed as Robby Hood for a youth archery contest at church.  Now many of his friends call him Robby Hood.  These signs were for him:

We were also adopted by two dogs along the way.  Two black Labs came running around a corner and ran right up to us.  Because the girls loved on them, the dogs decided to follow us.  They walked with us from Robin Hood Lane all the way back to my parent's house, which took about 40 minutes.  When we got home, we called the number on their collars.  It turns out that their family a) lives on the street where we found the dogs, and b) goes to church with my parents.  Too funny!  They were really sweet dogs.

The weather was a lovely change from the heat in the Valley.  Cool breezes.  Quiet streets.  Pine scent.  Street signs that made us laugh.  Adoption by furry friends.  All in all, it was a relaxing and memorable hour.

If I Were A Rich Man

Emily's school performed "Fiddler on the Roof" for the spring musical.  They did a great job!

Emily with her sisters

Emily's seminary teacher and her husband came to the show.  Sister Miller teaches Emily's class and Brother Miller teaches Heather's class.

Emily was happy to put her old Trek costume to good use once again.