HELGA

When Stan heard that Blue dog died he brought Helga to us. We didn't want Helga because she is Jed's dog (and because her name is awful, really awful). Jed is on a mission and will want Helga back when he gets home. Basically we just didn't want someone else's dog in case something happened to it. Around our house dogs die, they just do; its a bad deal. Jed trained Helga to be a pretty good cow dog. We had her one week and she got stepped on by a cow. Her back leg came out of socket in the worst way, a way that it wont go back in. The vet tried to help her but basically said he can't. So she is wounded for life, go us. Aside from that we actually love Helga. I'm not sure why but I have a soft spot for her. Maybe because I love Jed and maybe because Helga is so good to my kids. They love her. Josie talks about Helga being sad every time we pull out of the driveway because she will miss us. Then when we pull back in she says, "We are home Helga". Today Josie said she needed to go out side to babysit Helga for a while. So she did. 

Pumpkin Patch

 My friend Andrea invited us to go to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins. Josie took it very seriously and when she found the one she didn't let go of it for two days. She took it to Jenna's house and accidentally forgot it in the fridge; thank goodness. I was getting sick of babysitting it. We were going to carve pumpkins but Leann and Jade came over and painted pumpkins with the kids. They seemed happy with that so we will wait and carve next year.

Shipping Cows

 Dean shipped some calves last Saturday. I went to take some pictures but they weren't really doing anything cool.

 That is the brand inspector there working the tail end of the shoot. I'm pretty sure he is going way beyond his call of duty.

Clearly this horse would "SOONER" sleep then work. Classic picture huh dad?

Dean came and got Josie to help him tie up all the loose ends of the day. According to Josie they rode all the horses back to the barn, and helped the calf with a broken back.

Josie took this picture the week before when TJ was up helping ship Lawrence's cows I just think its cute and she really is getting good at taking pictures.

Friend Halloween Party

My friends threw a Halloween party a week or two before Halloween. It was so fun to visit with everyone and see them dressed up. I took a bunch of pictures but I had my camera on a wrong setting and they were all blurry. I switched settings at the end and got this one of my crazy neighbor Brian as Nacho Libra. Brian won the costume prize for the adults, which was obvious because anytime chubby guys were tight pants they win. And Trig won the kids costume prize, which is also obvious because he looked to dang cute. I just wish I had better pictures. Dean dressed up as Obama and I was a pregnant skeleton, but the pregnant part is true. 

Halloween 2012

We had a fun Halloween. I tried to get Dean to take off work so we could play all day as a family. He thinks he did, but he didn't; he only kind of did. He came down and stayed the night with us in Utah, he woke up early and went to work some cows he has at a feed lot in Tremonton, so our morning was shot. Luckily Alyson let Trig nap at her house so the rest of us could go to lunch and shopping. We came back and picked up Trig then headed to see Grandpa Virg. He was adorable as always, he had a hard time remembering what we were talking about, but Dean was so sweet to answer all of his questions over and over, I left more in love with both of them. Next we stopped at Alyson's for a picture and then headed Trick or Treating. Our kids only lasted three houses and they were done, it was perfect. Trig just wanted to eat the candy instead of go get more, and Josie didn't want to meet any more strangers. Then we were off to grandma great's party, that is always a fun tradition. We had a full day! 

Doctor

I took the kids to the Doctor for well child appointments. Trig needed shots and Josie had been complaining of stomach pain for quite some time. We have been playing doctor at our house so Josie was really excited to go to the doctor and get a shot and a sticker. She cried when I told her she didn't need a shot, she was just sure that was the only reason you went to the doctor. When we got inside we both had another thing coming...
They checked Trig first he weighed 29 pounds which is average, has a big head, and is very tall for his age. He is healthy and funny. He got three shots followed by a sucker so he was happy. Next they checked Josie, she weighed 24 pounds. She isn't on the charts for weight or height her head in like 30%. The doctor looked at her eyes, ears, and rubbed her stomach.
He turns to me and says, "I'm really worried about her size, I wouldn't be so concerned if her brother wasn't a line backer".
In my mind I flipped out, I know doc I've been telling you that for three years, weird that it's today you decide to care.
Anyway he was worried about her stomach and wanted to test her for a bunch of stuff. Instead of a shot she got a blood draw (way more scary and way more painful when your three). I think the purple wrap they wrapped around her arm to stop the bleeding was hurting her worse than the actual hole but she wasn't letting me touch it for nothing. Finally I held her down and ripped it off when we got in the car and she never said another word about it.
All her tests came back normal but he still wants to do a few more things just to make sure we aren't ignoring an internal problem.

I'm guessing next time she isn't going to be so excited about going to the doctor, even if they do offer her a sticker.

I really hope its obvious that this is not Josie, me, or our nurse but just a googled picture to give you an idea of what we went through. 

Hunting

Mike brought Jake and Gracie hunting last Saturday. Gracie got her first pheasant and a sharp tail. Who know what Mike and Dean ended up with I was only proud of Gracie. Jake isn't old enough to hunt but he wanted to come drive the 4-wheeler. He came in the house for a minute but Josie tried to get him to play house with her and he darted right back out.

Back Surgey

Ang had back surgery. She had to get a disc replaced, it's a big deal. She is doing well but I'm pretty sure at the end of her 4 week bed rest she is going to be real crazy. 

My family planned a party for her before her surgery, it got combined with two birthdays. It was fun to hangout with almost everyone in one place. 

 The birthday girls and Ang (my mom sent her that dress from Africa to wear after surgery) o and then there was Josie too.

 Dinner and birthday cake. 

GIL

This is Gil not to be mistaken for the other two palomino horses in our field. Dean buys horses if they are red roan or palomino. He doesn't buy horses because they are good, broke, sound or gentle; he buys them if they are red roan or palomino.  Then he does what he wants with them rides them a few times and decides if he wants to keep them, if not he sells them for equal of more money then he paid -every time. I can't believe it works out for him, it drives me crazy. When I buy stuff it is because I want to keep it, not him ever.
So anyway he buys this horse; he brings it home on Tuesday and on Thursday he tells me to take its picture and put it on KSL; he is going to sell it. He decided that it has to easy of a disposition that it will make a better kids horse than a ranch horse. So I have to ask how he came up with this theory because clearly he didn't break it in just two days. He tells me that he got it out of a field on Tuesday and it had never been handled. In two days he put shoes on him, halter broke him, worked him on the ground with absolutely no trouble.
So what I gather from that is that he is a good horse, not freakin crazy and didn't try to kill my husband... yes lets send him down the road cause clearly we don't want anything around here that is gentle or isn't going to kill us.

Snow Day

It had snowed three times this year at my house but it hasn't stayed very long. Josie has been asking to touch the snow. We read a book about snow and she didn't really grasp the concept so she has been very curious. Today we were finally in town on a snow day. I dressed the kids in their snow clothes, I was sweating by the time I was done; that is intense. 5 minutes later Josie got an itch and we had to do it all again.

 Making a snow ball like the book we read. 

 This little guy ate a lot of snow.

The BIG One

Finally after hunting morning and night Lawrence got it. Now that The Big One is dead all hunting has come to a halt; Hallelujah! Dean was so excited; they brought it to the house to show me and Dean couldn't stop talking about it all day and night.

Good Job Grandpa Fox!

Josie

Joise can be so sweet; she has always been so good to say please and thank you. She can also be so sassy and mean to her little brother. Lately she is really into playing in her room, she likes to play in there because its a safe spot where her brother can't get her thing. Her things is another story. She will use all her bags to hoard toys into her room to hide from brother. He plays in her old crib (that I have been temporarily using as a place to keep the quilts) and on her top bunk bed; both places that brother can't get to... yet. Each day we clean up all the toys and by the next night I'm amazed at how many toys she has horded back into her hiding places. 

Josie is shy for the first 10 minutes of every new activity and I secretly like that she hasn't grown up and left me too fast. She loves to sing and dance. She loves her babies, purses, and chapstick. She likes her horses and takes roll of them each morning to see which one Dean took for the day. She is very independent, she bosses Trig around, she is not always nice to him but if I ever get after him she scolds me every time so at least she is protective. She is learning her numbers and is amazing at puzzles. We love her so much!

"Brothers getting to get my fings"

Watching Confrence, she loves her dad

Trig

He is growing up so fast he is so much fun to have around. I love it when he and Josie play together. Sometimes I even like to watch them fight, it’s funny, but only for a second. He is talking more and more and I’m not happy that he learned to say “mine”; we hear that all to often. He loves to be outside, He LOVES to go with his dad, and he loves to wear a hat. He is pleasant to company and he is the child I can always count on being nice to the grandparents. O he loves to sweep, several times a day he will sweep the floor or just drag the broom around. He is almost 18 months and I couldn’t be more excited because church is not easy with this little man. 

"MINE"

The Deer Hunt

I didn't know it until yesterday but I don't like hunting. If you asked my husband he would probably fancy himself a hunter but truth is he is more of a hunting guide. He hasn't really hunted for himself since the first year we were married. Anyway this year his dad scouted out a big buck and Dean turned back into a hunter. He had to sight in his gun, he went with the neighbor to strategize a plan. He asked where his 'orange clothes' were, he even pulled out the hiking boots. He was literally giddy. Turns out opening morning he ended up guiding... taking the lawyer and his wife hunting, his dad went after the big one and when the day was done they had piled up 5 deer, nice deer, but not the ONE. Now he goes morning and night; O how I wish somebody would get the ONE so this madness could stop.

I took the kids to see the trophies; while Josie was busy trying to grasp the whole thing Trig was trying to break himself off an antler to take home.

Mother of 6

Casey and Alyson went to Africa a couple weeks ago. I watched their kids’ part of the time they were gone. I went from 2 kids to 6. Alyson has a hard job; school starts early, lots of stuff happens on the weekends, and she must sweep her floor 7 times a day.  Anyway I was too busy to take many pictures. I did have a lot of fun while I was down there visiting with my sisters and grandma. 

I really did take good care of the kids so it's a wonder how Hannah ended up with a diaper rash, and swollen eye lid, and her clothes and shoes covered in marker the very hour her parents arrived home. 

FHE making a welcome home sign for the garage, the kids were so excited. 

Cameron was so nice to come over and mow the lawn before they came home. This pose (while the mower was in motion) may be part of the reason the lawn didn't look so good when he was finished, sorry Casey.

Some Pictures

TJ + Ashton

 Baby Lila