Blanche

We have a new family member! Blanche is now 8 weeks old and shares a birthday with Emerson. It has been great having a dog back in the house, but just when I thought the potty training was over (Emmy) we are back at it. She is already figuring out the doggy door, so we are hopeful. As you see from the pictures, she is as cute as can be...has a great personality, however, we are anxious for the biting phase to pass.

Thank You!!!!!

Hey everyone. I just wanted to thank grampa mike and grama kathy for my awesome trip out there. I miss you and am looking foreward to your visit in September!
Love you,
Jackson

A Visit to Grampas.....So Far

Well, my yearly visit to Grampa Mikes in Idaho has come around again. As always, he has been keeping me busy and TIRED. This is my fifth day and we have already done so much. It is a wonder how Grampa plans these trips and always manages to top them every year. My flight arrived in Spokane, WA at about 11:00 PM local time, so I had very little time to chat with Grama and Grampa before I was in the car and fast asleep. When we arrived at the garage of the townhouse in Clarkston at about 1:30 AM, I heard Grama and Grampa debuting about leaving me in the car, so I got myself up, brought my pack to my room, and passed out on the bed. When I woke up at about 10:00, I went into the kitchen, ate some cereal, and talked with Grama before I got my clothes on. When Hallie and Nick got there, we finished some last minute details and headed out to the farm.
We unloaded all the cars at the farm and when we were finished, put the stuff we weren't taking on the backpacking trip into separate bags and loaded up our backpacks with the essentials. Not much else happened that day except for catching up, playing with Nellie, and working in the little details of the trip. I then slept pretty well after a couple WarnockBurgers and some TV.
Hallie, Nick, Grampa, Nellie, and I left the frog farm at like 8:00 AM the next morning for our backpacking trip to Stanley Hot Springs. We arrived at the trailhead at about 10:00 AM and hiked the five miles to the Boulder Creek crossing. Luckily, someone hat a rope stretched from a log to a good sized island in the middle of the frigid cold creek. After almost having a major Jaccident and falling halfway into the creek at the end of the rope, we put our shoes and socks back on and crossed a few logs to the other side of the creek. We hiked another half mile to the the 110 degree hot spring and set up camp not far from it. We heated up some water for our dehydrated dinners, put out the fire, and collapsed into our sleeping bags for a fitful night of sleep.
The next day, our plan was to hike a COUPLE of miles to this nice little lake to fish for our dinner. We hiked maybe three quarter miles when we came to this little Rock Creek where we had more trouble crossing. We climbed over the hill on the other side and navigated to where we found the trail. We hiked and stopped and hiked and stopped and hiked and stopped and hiked and stopped and kept on rapidly gaining elevation. Every time we stopped, it seemed like the GPS said there were two more miles to go. There was deadfallen trees all over the trail, so we had to go under, over, and around more trees than you can imagine. Finally, the trail leveled out and we decided to bushwhack off and down to the trail that led to the lake. We got to the lake four hours, 3000 feet in elevation, and like SIX miles later. Nick was the only one with a pole, so he fished and Hallie and I filtered water while we waited about an hour and a half. Since we were getting tired, we decided to take the trail all the way from the lake back to the original trail. It took us a little under three hours to get back to camp. As soon as we got back, we stripped into our swim suits and relaxed in the hot spring for a while. We got dried off, ate dinner, roasted marshmallows, and slept.
The next morning, we got a later start than we had hoped and had gotten across Boulder Creek by 11:00 AM. We trucked back and only stopped to rest halfway and got back to the car in under two hours. On the way back to the farm, we stopped and ate burgers at this cafe-inn thing by the river. I slept in the car and woke up on the gravel road by the farm house. We got home in time for Grama Kathy's lasagna for dinner.
This morning, we ate breakfast around eight. We got ready for the day and finished fixing my shoe laces and put them back on when my shoes finished drying. We made Grampa get the ToteGote out which he hadn't gotten out and used in years.....it was so fun. After the .22 rifle and Grampa's pistol were loaded and ready, we went to the frog pond to do some frog hunting. Grampa missed a shot with his pistol, but my first shot with the rifle, I shot the frog's heat right through. Nick got one that we couldn't retrieve because it sank to the bottom so quickly. I missed a couple shots so I went to the other side of the lake, saw Nick get one, and proceeded to get two more. There were five in all, so Grampa and Nick started preparing the legs for lunch. While the frog legs were cooking, Hallie gave me some driving lessons in her car, so I drove along the wide, mostly deserted roads by the farms. We drove back, ate some legs, and set up the hammock before Hallie and Nick had to drive back to Seattle.
Sometime while we are here at the farm, Grampa and I will be shooting clay pigeons with the shotguns. Tomorrow, we set out to try to find a string of 21 Geocaches called the Dalmatian Run on the ATV. Thursday, we will try to find as many caches as we can on a string of 70 caches that make a geoart called Signal the Frog. I will be back with more as more happens.

Emerson's 3rd Birthday Bash!

We had a great party! 18 foot water slide, lots of people and Colorado Weather. We started with sunshine, went to rain and lighting and back to sunshine. We all adjusted and everyone seemed to have a great time. Emmy had fun for her 3rd Birthday but can't figure out why Mother Nature needs rain every day this week.

We had a jungle theme and my sister made another amazing cake!

By the end we were all having fun on the slide!

Rest In Peace Harley

Well, the time had come. Without Joey around, Harley's condition deteriorated quickly. She lost the feeling in her hind end and could not function. Although her and the bunny had become friends, it was not enough to keep her going. We had to put her down on June 23rd as it was becoming painful to watch her struggle. We knew she would be OK once she met up with Joey and Belle again. We will miss her as much as we miss the others.

It is crazy how quiet the house can be without three dogs running around! They all were great dogs. Hopefully it won't be long until we add more puppies to the house. I just have to convince Yancey!

Summertime in the Rockies

Well, it has been a busy summer already and we are only a couple weeks in. The good news is that the rain finally let up and my flowers have recovered from the hail storms. So here is the update.

Emerson - She is getting ready for her birthday and she is very excited. She is progressing in her swimming and the pool is her favorite place to be. She is definitely in her two's and I hope with her 3rd Birthday she will learn to be less stubborn. She is talking all the time and singing Justin Bieber as if she was a back up singer. She loves music and her new bunny EB. She is taking a break from gymnastics and will start on a soccer team in the fall.

Jackson - He went to Scout camp and had a great time. He wants to work the camp next year. He is progressing in Scouts and received several merit badges last night. He is looking forward to his trip to Idaho in July. He also joined the Hunters Glenn swim team and had his first meet last weekend. He seems to enjoy it although he is learning that practices are tough. He finished the school year on Honor Roll with straight A's. No surprise there!

Annie - She is on the home stretch with only a couple of tournaments for softball left to go. She is doing great offensively and has had an impressive year catching. She is showing great leadership and is excited to play high school softball. She currently attends practice for both teams throughout the week. She also finished school with good grades and more then anything is working on logging hours towards her drivers license. Watch out!

As for Yancey and I, things are great. Work is good! Keeping up with these three kids keeps us moving but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy 4th of July to all of you!

Rest in Peace - Joey "Potato" Lamone

He was such a sweet dog! Not real bright but lovable from the start. He started battling cancer within the last month and it took him quickly. Rapid weight loss and an inability to fight off any injury. We did not want him to suffer. Last week the vet said it could be any day and that we would know when it was time. She was right, one day up and moving and the next day he was struggling to breath.

We will miss him greatly!

Joey "Potato" Lamone - 4/30/04 - 5/7/2011

Easter 2011

Easter was Sunday and we had a busy weekend. Friday we took Emmy to the mall to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap. Long line of kids and she was one of few that ran right up to him and jumped on his lap.

Saturday we took her to the Easter egg hunt in our community and then followed it with some Easter egg coloring. We couldn't use the word "dye" as she thought the eggs were actually dead.

Sunday the Easter bunny hid baskets and eggs and all three kids enjoyed their findings. We then went to dinner and all the kids looked great. However, Emmy got bit at the petting zoo by the Donkey. She was only sad for a few minutes but has a bruise to show for it.

We returned home and grandma brought a gift. The older kids spent a long time finding eggs filled with money while Emmy played with her new bunny. YEP..that's right a bunny! Now two dogs, two hermit crabs and a bunny.

She named it E.B. from the movie HOP that she saw last weekend. Fitting for her Easter Bunny. We are learning all about bunny care and hopefully EB can learn about Toddler tendencies.

Only time will tell!

Lots of photos on our shutterlfy site to the right.

Spring Break in Arizona

We traveled to Arizona with the kids last week for Spring Break. Stopping along the way in Albuquerque, NM we car pooled to Scottsdale with our friends and god daughter Hayden. She is 10 months old now and Emmy enjoyed her much more this time then the last.

We stayed for almost a week and were able to get one of the Rockies Spring training games in. They have a beautiful new facility down there and we couldn't get any closer then first row behind the Rockies Dugout.

Emmy reignited her passion for the pool! She was a fish that needed no help. At one point as we floated on tubes in the lazy river, she floated alone in the current not wanting to be on a tube at all.

We had a great time and Annie was able to get some highway driving time in. We drove home through Durango, CO and the Four Corners. We arrived at the Four Corners at 4pm to them closing (I know a National Park closing?) but we realized it was now a different time zone and it was 5pm Mountain Time. I am just curious how they decide which time zone to go with when you are standing in four states one of which was Arizona and they should still have an hour before closing. Anyway, they let us take one picture. Emmy had fallen asleep so our quick photo was not very well staged.

I have uploaded all the photos to our shutterfly site...link on the top of the page.

Heading into Spring

Well, a couple more sports down and heading into a couple more. Jackson and Annie both finished their winter basketball seasons over the weekend.

Annie played for the high school on the freshman team and they had a pretty successful season. She has also begun her full practice schedule on her new competitive softball team, the Colorado Majestix. Their first tournament is March 11th. She is also praticing her driving skills. I am practicing patience! :)

Jackson finished basketball and had a great year. He is still active in Scouts and is the troop bugler. He is preparing to advance in rank by April. He has a jazz band concert on Tuesday and is still doing great in school.

Emmy and I just returned from a visit in Myrtle Beach, SC to visit my aunt and grandmother. She wanted to spend the winter out there. My mom, sister, niece and Emmy and I flew out for a long weekend. Although it rained the majority of the weekend, it was a good visit. We spent the last day in Charleston and Emmy loved the boat ride to Ft. Sumter.

Emmy is still in gymnastics and is loving it. She looks forward to Saturdays. She is doing great on potty training and tells a mean story. She is growing so fast.

Christmas Time

We had a wonderful Christmas and a very uneventful New Year.....just like we like them! Emmy was very interested in all things Christmas and is still discovering new toys she received. She has been making us lovely plastic food meals in her new kitchen and the trampoline has since been moved inside due to the snow. She loves to do her "exercises" on it. She has had a lot of practice at her gymnastics class on trampolines and this was a better option then a balance beam :) It is amazing how the house continues to transform into a TOYS "R" US.

Jack and Annie are back to school and basketball. Scouts will begin again this week and Annie will also start winter practices for her new summer softball team the Majestix. Both kids and Yancey received ski passes for Christmas and hit the slopes snowboarding last weekend. Good news....they all came back in one piece. Annie also got her new driving permit and so far has done well behind the wheel. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Here is wishing everyone a happy new year! I hope 2011 brings us all together at some point. I have added more photos to our Shutterfly site on the right as well.