Happy, Happy Birthday!

What a great week for special people to have special birthdays.

So, a big birthday SHOUT OUT to the wild and crazy Anna Croft of Vancouver Washington who is 9 going on 19 TODAY! Happy Birthday Anna Claire! We had so much fun with you this summer. Hope you have had a great day and have a great year coming up.

Then there is my amazing little sister Marilee who hasn't aged a day since this picture was taken, we just like celebrating how special she is to all of us every September 7th. I love you Marilee and am always so proud of what an amazing mom and grandma you are - you are such an example to me!

Then my very handsome new grandson had his very special Birth Day on September 4. Welcome to the family sweet baby James. Grandma can't wait to kiss you back.

Goodbye to a Loyal Friend

This afternoon we lost a most loyal and dear friend. Maggie was hit by a car a few hours ago. We got her on my birthday exactly three years ago. We will miss her snuggliness, her craziness and her ability to make us laugh. I will miss her keeping my feet warm this winter and Kaytee will miss her TV watching buddy. Dad will miss getting her all excited when he tells her that he has a rabbit for her to chase or that he is going to take her for a ride in the truck. And Meeko will miss the little sister who has kept him young. She has been a good friend to all of us.

Our Visit to the State named after the First US President!

Kaytee and I took our last road trip of the summer and had the greatest time with our CROFT cousins in Vancouver, Washington! Most of you haven't seen them since they were pretty little so here is a little introduction.

Robert and Erin's oldest is 15-year-old Tyler. He and Kaytee will both be sophomores in high school next year and have a lot in common. More than a bit of a competitive spirit - good thing his sport is soccer and Kaytee's is volleyball.

Next is Lauren, 11 years old and so much fun to be around. She is absolutely amazing at putting puzzles together and going into middle school this year.

Last, but certainly not least, is Anna. She is an absolute ray of sunshine and soooo smart. She is 8, (but almost 9 on September 8) and a great soccer player.

Our first day there we crossed over the Columbia River into Portland to visit the beautiful temple grounds.

Where Kaytee and Tyler proceeded to pull Anna in different directions.

Although neither Tyler or Kaytee could go more than a couple of minutes without texting someone.

This was one of my favorite pictures, Robert and Lauren in front of one of the beautiful fountains at the temple.

Once I dropped Kaytee off at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma for her EFY week, I got to spend some time relaxing, getting lesson plans ready for the coming school year and visiting some beautiful sights. Here we are at some amazing falls. Washington is so beautiful with so much water and green everywhere - not a lot like Wyoming!

Kaytee's New Do

First some pictures from earlier this week. Kaytee had some friends over to play water balloon volleyball and then they wanted to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. Buuuuut they were too lazy to make an actual bon-fire so they roasted them over a little turtle candle. (sorry Jami - Kaytee thinks it may have been yours at one time.)

I think Kaytee was trying to finish this one off in one bite. Notice the poor little turtle going up in flames - first the turtle went, then the paper plate, then the towel, then out came the hose to put out their "little fire."

Meeko was sure they would want to share - but he was out of luck. Just a kiss, no chocolate.


Kaytee got her hair cut this week and was really unhappy with it when we first got home, but after she got to work with it and straighten it so she didn't look like "someone who is old enough to be married" it is starting to grow on her. Still some issues with putting it up in a pony tail and getting used to the shorter look. To celebrate we took Chantel and her mom to Cody to do some back-to-school shopping - Maurice's and Wal-mart! Look at Kaytee's shirt - she definitely needs something that says "high school sophomore" a little more clearly.

Every street in downtown Cody had these giant bears on display so Kaytee and Chantel had to ham it up with one of them. (Oh, yeah, we hit the dollar store too for new, sophisticated eye wear.)

Saturday Fun

What a glorious Saturday! Jackson is definitely getting to feel more comfortable at Grandma and Grandpas and is getting a little routine down. First thing in the morning he likes to play the keyboard. He is pretty much in heaven with all the buttons and numbers to press and make different sounds and songs.

Then he helps grandma in the kitchen - loves using the big knife to cut up the pineapple and limes for Jamaican Jerk Chicken Salad. (Sorry Jami, Kaytee freaked out when she saw this but J and I have an agreement about safe knife usage!)

After all that sticky (and a stinky diaper besides) it is time for a bath. Finds it pretty hilarious to be all wrapped up and waddle around like a mummy.

He spent the morning very loudly expressing his opinion on a number of matters so we chose his clothes for the day as a reminder for all of us to tread lightly! After a nap (and a much happier outlook) he helped Kaytee fill tons of water balloons for the party we were having that night. He loved counting them and identifying all the colors.

After he got to throw a bunch of them at all of us around the patio, Jackson was in charge of the balloons while we played water balloon volleyball.

Whenever a balloon would break Jackson would come running with a replacement to toss in our sheet. Each time he would tell us, or himself, "Good Job!"

Once all the balloons were gone, J took on Kaytee and Ethan in a rousing soccer match. He's so good he can play and hold onto his ice cream cone at the same time!(Of course the best soccer ball we've got around our house is a volleyball.)

Now he was way comfortable with Ethan so he got Ethan to blow bubbles for him to catch.

Jackson and Maggie are pretty interested as Kaytee pours bubbles into a bowl so they can use the really big bubble wand - I think Maggie thinks she is getting a treat.

Especially since all night she followed Jackson around licking her lips and just waiting for something to drop or for him to put his food down low enough that she could get a taste. Jackson spent a lot of time running away from her, especially with his icecream cone, which he declared to be "Mmmmmmm" but hardly ate any of. Then he finally gave in and fed her a whole bunch of gold fish crackers and thought watching her eat them was pretty hilarious.

After all the company left, Jackson honored us with a piano concerto of his rendition of "The Living Sculptures of Pemberly" from "Pride and Prejudice."

Then it was wrestling time with Kaytee.

Which he wanted to do again and again!

Grandma Time - All J - All the time! :)

(I promised Jami that I would blog EVERY DAY so she could keep up with Jackson's doings - well, having a 2-year old around isn't the most conducive to getting that done. My hat is off to her for all that she does get done - and being such a fun, good mom to this little boy besides - its a lot of work, but definitely worth it for what a great kid he is.)


I spent the last week out in California with Jami and Tim and Jackson. Of course he is the most brilliant (and adorable) 2-year-old ever to walk the face of the earth. His computer skills are amazing and he loves learning.

There is a program at http://www.starfall.com/ that he just loves. He calls it "letters" and he has learned so much about letters and their sounds and even putting them together to make words. There is also a way cool classical music section that he really likes.


Then Jami and Tim were so nice and let me bring Jackson back to Wyoming for a week. I know this wasn't his first plane trip but I think it is the first ride on an airplane that he really knew what was going on. He was soooo good the whole time on the plane some people near us when we were getting off were so surprised to see him because they hadn't even known he was there. He loved looking out the window, especially on the ground to see all the other planes and the "trains" taking luggage back and forth. He also really liked the little tray that came down to set his toys on and pushing the button on his seat.


Once we flew into Salt Lake we spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's and then drove 7 hourse home! J is such a good little traveler. He was so good in the car that even though I was driving it by myself we had no problems. Of course I came prepared with lots of fun, new car toys. He really likes his Thomas the Train book with sound effects.

We spent our first day in Wyoming at girls camp. Kaytee got to ride up with us and play "letters" with Jackson. He is especially obsessed with the letter "O" - although right after we took this picture we realized that he had gotten the O really stuck on his finger and it took a bit of pulling and putting all sorts of wet things on it to finally get it to come off.

When we got there Jackson helped Grandpa get the fishing gear all set up. He was in charge of the clippers as they fixed the line. They went fishing at Sibley Lake while I was helping the girls from camp with their canoeing skills. J caught a fish and reeled it in all by himself but of course there was no camera anywhere near at the time (maybe it's just a fisherman's tale they are both telling me!)


There were squirrels and chipmunks everywhere, but of course all stayed just out of Jackson's reach.

The trees and stumps everywhere make for the most amazing natural playground.

Then we were off to the cabin for a few hours. Jackson loved looking in Porcupine Creek for fish.

We went up to visit Ed and Charlene Horsely at the Kienlen Cabin and watched Uncle Ed working on a totem pole. Jackson was fascinated by all the sawdust on the ground. This was supposed to be a cute pic with the totem pole in the background but he decided it was a good time to come running at me to throw some sawdust.

Jackson thought it was so much fun sitting on this little chair just his size carved by great-grandpa out of a stump - of course the bribe of a little "choc-lit" helped with the holding still long enough for grandma to snap a few pictures.

Isn't he getting to be such a big boy! All ready to be a big brother.

OUR Baby!

If Tim, and those Mickelsens, can post - then I guess I can too! (Just hard for me to work the editing tools - I tried to get rid of the red-eye look but it doesn't work too well on my gorgeous green eyes.)
But look how scruffy Mom and Dad and Kaytee have let me get. Time for a haircut.

Wow! Now I feel soooo pretty. And the beard is gone too - now I look like a real girly girl!


I can even pose like my favorite statue.

Of course now Kaytee wants to cuddle with me all the time now that I am so clean and beautiful.

But as soon as she falls asleep I get to text all my friends and let them know to check out my blog. I am hot, hot, hot!