Summer

In no particular order, this has been our late spring and summer so far. I have been really busy doing my part for the Owyhee County Rodeo, so my blogging has gone by the way side. I am the advertising secretary; I contact our sponsors for $$$, etc. 2 1/2 more weeks and the rodeo will be here, so I'm getting closer.

We all gathered at the Murphy courthouse on July 6th to accept a plaque in honor of my Grandpa Don & Uncle Gene, who both passed away this year. They were very valuable members of Owyhee County, wore many hats so to speak. My grandpa was county commissioner for 22 years and they both fought for what was best for Owyhee County all their adult lives. It was nice to be there with our family to receive a plaque in his honor.

Keiser with my mom (Mamm) and my grandma (GG). Cassie Davis, my cousin looking on.

Keiser is getting to know his cousin Drew.

Here is my sister Kelli and her blue eyed baby girl, Mackley.

Paisley and Kinlee show their "Davis chins" and their gum!

This was the 2nd year we've spent July 4th up at Silver City with my mom's side of the family. We pull our camper up there and spend time with cousins, play in the creek, pitch horseshoes, roast marshmallows (among other things) and smell like smoke for a weekend. We always pull out of Silver City saying we can't wait for next year.

Kasey had a few fire crackers. He & "Teacher" Erica are smirking at
what's about to happen. Bang!

Kasey & Kinlee got comfy while watching the horseshoe tournaments.

A nice man walked by us and thought we needed our picture taken as a family, minus Keiser.

Kambell wanted to try pitching horseshoes, too.

Here is everyone that could come this year. We are standing in front of the cabin that belonged to my Great Granny & Grandpa Walt. There have been SO MANY special times there...for generations. It now belong to my mom's cousin Janie Burke, our most gracious hostess.

It's been years since my Grandma has been up to Silver City. She took care of my Grandpa for a long time and didn't want to leave him in the valley to take part in the festivities. Now that Grandpa is gone she wanted to visit this special place again.

Keiser's first dip in the pool.
He was well taken care of by Kambell, Annie & Emma Kraupp and Kinlee.

They gave him the dirty brush to play with after they scrubbed the pool out :o)

This was Kambell's 3rd year of going to Vacation Bible School at Deer Flat Church.
She has made some good friends and learned so much.

Just before Keiser was 6 months old, I was sure he was ready for food. I tried giving him rice cereal one night. He got so mad. He's never mad, so I was sure he didn't like it.

About 4 or 5 days later, Kasey gave it a try. He gave him prunes...Mmmm. He loved them. We all love to sit around him as he eats. It took him the longest time to figure out how to keep the food in his mouth. We would get the spoon in there and the food would immediately come bubbling right out on us. He's got the hang of it now. Prunes and pears are his favorite. Well, you can tell he's not wasting away, he pretty much likes anything we give him.

Notice his legs in that Bumpo seat. We have to pry him out of that thing, but he LOVES it!

Kambell started T-ball this year. Kasey was one of her coaches. It was entertaining. Kambell learned a lot and Kasey learned a lot of patience. For 5 year old girls, it ended up being social hour and they were most excited about snacks. However, they did improve a great deal from their first game! Good job Kambell & Daddy!!!

She even tried her hand at catching. Too bad the catcher's suit was enormous on all the girls. They looked like robots trying to maneuver in that thing.

Over Memorial Day weekend we were invited to stay with our good friends, Gayle & Roger Batt, at a cabin in Anatone, WA. We had a great time. On the drive home we stopped at the Hell's Canyon Lookout to stretch and take a few pictures.

I just had to have this hat for Keiser, from a little shop in Joseph, OR.

We started hosting ropings at Garrett Ranches Arena.

It's been fun...for the whole family.

Corby holding Keiser, Boston, Kambell & Kinlee, Kasey on Yogi
(the newest addition to our family)

Kinlee was a trooper. She dug in the dirt and took turns riding Yogi til she
couldn't do it anymore. She grabbed her blankey and was out (in the back of the Tahoe).

Kasey's sister & family were here from Buhl during the first roping.
Carli, Kristie (Kasey's mom), Angie (his sister) holding Keiser, McCoy & Brady (Angie's husband)

Gymnastics: Kambell in green & Kinlee in black/pink

Dance Camp: Kambell LOVED it.

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Kambell snapped a close up of Kinlee, Keiser & I.

The trauma of the summer. Every kid does it right? Hair was cut; a lot of hair! During a recent trip to my parent's house in Bruneau- Kambell, Kinlee & Paisley decided to play barber shop. As days pass, I continue to hear little tid-bits of the real story. Evidently Kinlee started it all, according to Kambell. Kambell cut Kinlee's hair. Kinlee cut Paisley & Kambell's hair. It was shocking and devastating for my poor mom who discovered the pile of hair on the floor. But it's just hair...it grows back! Honestly I was horrified at first, but I'm good with it now- AS LONG AS IT DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN! Kinlee has received compliment after compliment about her new hair-do. We might just have to keep it short.

A Little Choppy!

Thank goodness for Amber. She fixed them both up so cute. Kambell got long layers and Kinlee has a new asymmetrical style (kind of "Kate + 8ish, before the extensions).

Spring Pictures

We finally got around to getting our Spring pictures taken. The photographer had a blast with Keiser, as you will see. It was fun.

I really wanted to use my Grandpa Don's hat in some pictures with Keiser. He passed away the week before the pictures were taken. His hat has always been so recognizable and I just thought it would be special for Keiser to look back someday and see "the hat" since he didn't really get to know Grandpa and how special he truly was.

The pin on Grandpa's hat was his wings from WWII.
He was a paratrooper in the 11th Airborne - Army.

I'm glad Kinlee chose the blue outfit...goes perfectly with those sparkly eyes.

From day 1- Kambell has been so photogenic,
such a perfect little poser.

Long Time No Blog

I found these adorable tutus for the girls thinking that I would have their pictures taken in them. Well I never got around to that, so I took some pictures myself. They turned out very amateur-ish, but what cute models I had!

Look at those sweet mugs!

Kambell and her good friend Maci, after the Easter Egg Hunt at Preschool.

My Grandpa Don passed away so we were in Bruneau for several days over Easter. We did a make shift Easter Egg hunt at my Grandma's house. The girls and several of their cousins had a blast finding eggs. That Easter Bunny was very tricky; Grandma came across some "un-found" eggs the following week.

Aunt Kelli (4 days before she had Mackley) got Keiser smiling.

So we had quite an emotional week. I feel so blessed that we were able to see Grandpa one last time before he died. We were able to say goodbye and let him know how much we loved him. He passed away on a Friday. We went to Bruneau that day and spent the next 5 days planning his funeral, spending time with family, celebrating Easter, then celebrating Grandpa's life with his friends and family. Then we began preparing for a new baby. A good energy ended our week. Kelli was induced on Thursday and welcomed baby Mackley Perle to our family. She came into this world at the perfect time.

Kambell was so anxious to get her hands on Mackley.

4 Generations: Mamm and GG look on as
Kelli gets acquainted with her new daughter.

When the girls were babies they LOVED taking showers, so we were anxious to see if Keiser would feel the same way. When I give him a bath he just relaxes and loves it. He enjoyed his shower, too. They become so slippery though; it scares me a little. Keiser definitely doesn't share his daddy's physique. :o)

Never send your child and husband into D & B alone! I repeat...NEVER.

Because they may come out with chicks.

Our dilemma...we had 2 grown dogs, several neighborhood dogs and our 5 remaining puppies. Dogs and chicks don't usually get along. Well we still have the chicks!

They are hiding out in our garage.
Kambell named hers Goldie. Kinlee named hers DeLisa.

Kinlee loves her alone time with Keiser (while Kambell is at Preschool).
She likes to be his little mama.

Our Smiley Baby

Keiser is a very content and happy baby. He smiles when I visit with him, he smiles when Daddy rough-houses him, he smiles in his sleep and he even smiles when the girls smother him.
But can I ever catch it on camera? NO
I finally caught the end of a big smile.

My Baby is 5!

For nearly a year now Kambell has been so excited to turn 5. You'd think life was changing drastically the way she talked. When she turns 5 she is going to buckle up by herself, she's going to eat all her dinner, she's going to start Kindergarten...it became the reason for so many things. So we decided we needed to really celebrate this "life changing" event. So she invited 5 friends (including her little sister) for a Tea Party. They dined on chocolate covered strawberries, tea sandwiches in the shape of flowers and butterflies, pink and purple marshmallows, rice krispy treats, chocolate candies of all sorts and tea (lemonade or raspberry juice). The girls each got purple satin elbow gloves adorned with "diamonds." They got colorful beaded necklaces and jeweled rings and to top it off...lipgloss. The table was set and after singing happy birthday to Kambell she said "dig in." So they did.

I put up a ring of tulle (left over from my sister's wedding) and decorated it with butterflies. It draped over our "kid sized" recliner...a perfect place for the little princess to open her gifts. She got coloring books, bubbles, jewelry, movies, ice cream gift card, pajamas, books, fingerpaints, and so many fun things. It was a fun party.








The hit of the party had to be Keiser. They gathered around him in his little bouncy seat and kissed on him over and over and over.

That night the celebrating continued with a small family gathering.

Kasey hooked Kambell up with all the T-ball necessities.
Not sure who was more excited about that one!

Grandma and Grandpa got her a very fashionable basketball.
It already had to be retrieved from the neighbor's "creek" across the road.
She also got all the necessities for ballet because
that was one of those "things to do when I turn 5."

The next day we were off to Bruneau to help brand and of course have more birthday!
Thanks for the tasty cake Aunt Kelli.

Notice Keiser in the background...he's the one in the hula hoop.

Time for a slumber party with Paisley at Mamm & Pappy's.


It was windy down at the arena so the girls and I snuggled up during the branding.

Our Weekends

Lately our weekends have consisted of swimming lessons in the morning then clean up duty in the afternoon. Kambell and Kinlee started lessons the beginning of March. So far so good. Kinlee had a smile on her face the entire time. Kambell was enjoying herself but a little more careful. Their instructor Sarah is very good. I was the only mother there with a video camera though...I'll let Kasey take them next time.

My intentions are to introduce them to water in a positive way...that way maybe they won't have the fear of it that I do!

Kasey and his family have been working around their ranch the last several weekends. Cleaning it up has given them all a great feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. There is smoke rolling out of that place every Saturday and Sunday! Here is Kambell loving every minute of it! Her and Kinlee have been down there in their snowsuits most weekends "helping" their dad.

Update on our Boy

The weeks are flying by. Keiser is almost 6 weeks old now. He is doing great. He seems to sleep a lot still- waking up every 3 1/2 hours to eat. He was up for 3 hours yesterday and just as alert as could be. Kambell & Kinlee still don't leave him alone, he doesn't seem to mind
(Thank Goodness because I can't keep them away).

Keiser in his 1st collared shirt...I think it makes him look much older :o)

Keiser and Kinlee.

Kasey and the girls made their 1st snowman during our last snow-fall. I should say "snowgirl." The girls decorated her with beads and wanted to give her a crown, too.

Corby & Boston came over to take part in the fun,
however Boston wasn't sure sledding was his "cup of tea."