It has been the most wonderful EIGHT years in my life. We have had a few rough spots, but I think that makes all of the good so much sweeter! We have grown together and separately. We are raising some of the best kids in America - thanks to you for not allowing me to make mommy’s boys of them. We have bought a great home and have done so much to improve it - and have so much more to plan to make it even better. We are on a great adventure together! I am really looking forward to all of the years that we still have. Thank you for loving me and being such a hard worker and dedicated husband and father…..
Family at Painted Desert - Oct 2003
Fourth of July Parade with Larry - 2004
Phoenix Renaissance Festival with me - March 2005
Your 50th birthday with the King - March 2006
But this one is my fav :-) posted with lots and lots of love!
Your mother’s 85th birthday - Aug 2007
Your oldest son’s high school graduation - May 2008
Yes - Yes, you are funny and FUN to be with!
And now to the mushy, sappy stuff because that is me
The greatest gifts are those that cost us least:
Price varies inversely with true worth.
Life itself’s a free gift of the earth
Born of ecstatic joy in plant and beast.
What more exquisite present than a bower
Of wild roses in adolescent bloom?
Yet all that vivid color and perfume
Exist to serve the interests of the flower.
Love is such a gift. One trusts its treasure,
Free as the strange bright outbursts of a bird,
Equally uncanny and absurd,
Comes not from sweat or sacrifice, but pleasure.
I’m grateful for the gift you bought. But do
Remember that the greatest gift is you.
by Nicholas Gordon
Life with you has been like a ride on a roller coaster with all of the thrills and fun. I do not want life to be like a merry-go-round with you…… just to round and round and round.
Thank you, great husband, friend and lover for always being there for me and loving me just the way I am and sometimes in spite of just the way I am! I am living over the Rainbow, my fairytale come true because of you!
We went to HarvestofDailyLife’s Fleeing Poverty yard sale last Saturday. It was nice to see them, again, and I got to meet her mother - I read her blog, Life On The Ranch, too. The yard sale was great and we got to see Dixie, the dog that T & N adopted from us because our old dog, Star- 13yrs old, could not take all the playing that Dixie wanted to do. Star is having some really bad days, lately. I hope that I do not have to have her put to sleep. She is a great dog!
Star
Monsoon
We are getting lots of rain this monsoon… some areas within 10 miles of my house are getting up to 3 inches in two hours. Flood warnings are everywhere.
I went on my first real ride on Ruskie today. A friend rode his horse, “Biggin”, over to my house and we left from here. He was a really big help for me. His horse told Ruskie that he was not as great and pretty as he thought he was, and was a great leader for him. My friend kept me calm when Ruskie didn’t want to go across the highway and through a gate. We rode for almost 2 hours. It was as I had dreamed of for nearly 2 yrs now. Ruskie had a wet saddle blanket and I will probably be sore tomorrow - but it was SOOOO FUN!!!
I hope to get many more hours of riding now that I have gotten the first under my belt
First, the duck laid the 4th egg today. I am pretty sure that it is the grey duck. We are not leaving them in the duck house. They seem to be pullet eggs, smaller eggs laid in the first laying. She is not trying to sit on it at all… in fact, she is pushing it out to the edges of their house.
Second, some of you asked me to let you know how the FlyPredators are doing…. They are FANTASTIC! The horses are not as bothered by the flies. And in the house, I am only finding about 10 flies at night - instead of hundreds. They are well worth the 18.45 (delivered) a month.
And third - Great Husband is in Cheyenne, WY at the Cheyenne Frontier Days, World’s Largest Outdoor Rodeo and Western Celebration, with Rascal Flatts. He sent these pics that he took with his camera for me to enjoy. Cowgirls. Indians and up close and personal with Rascal Flatts. Wish I could be there with him! Maybe next year we can make it a family vacation.
And….
I got to see my younger daughter, Jessica, yesterday. She came and got Leavi so that he could stay with her for a week or so. It is very quiet here with only Luke! Leavi will be missed. I nearly cried when they left yesterday. That is a very kind and warm little boy….. but also very very busy all the time!
Not to lessen the excitment of the last post and push it down the page……
But I found the first duck egg this morning!! I thought that it would be bigger. But it is the size of a medium chicken egg. I do not know which duck it came from or when there will be more.
Great Husband is one of the 11 semi-trucks that is hauling Rascal Flatts equipment. They were recently in Sarnia, ON at Bayfest. Here is a video of what the trucks look like and the lead driver’s interview.
Great Husband and many of the other drivers spent 5 days in Nashville so that his trailer could be “wrapped” with the bands tour logo - Bob That Head. Husband says that when he driving on the freeways, people will drive up to the trailer, match his speed and take pictures of the trailer.
The boys had soccer games on Saturday. I am thankful that their games are on the same street in Flagstaff about a mile from each other. It makes trying to get to games a lot easier. Last year they were on the same team (age difference of 2 and half yrs puts them on diff teams this year) and the year before they were on diff teams and it was very hard to get them to the games on time and be able to stay and watch each of the games.
Luke
Leavi
And we did some weedeating. We did the half acre that the horses don’t have of our entire acre. We picked up tons of rocks that we will use in the duck/wash project.
Yesterday the oldest boy, who is 12 and a half (a little George Carlin there) was at a skatepark with some friends. The skate park is in the park where his soccer practice is located. I usually drop him off early so that he can “hang” with some other kids his age…. then I take the younger boy to his soccer practice. Anyway, the oldest called me to ask if he could go to a girl’s party that was about to start. I told him no, because he was there to go to soccer practice. He made the right decision not to try and sneak out to the party…. I know that telling the “cool” girl that he couldn’t go was probably embarassing for him. I think that I am borrowed time with him - that based on my experience with my older girls, I will become “stupid” soon for about 4 years and then I will become “smart” again. My thought is - does this happen with boys, too? Will I get “stupid”? I do not regret or doubt my decision - I am just wondering if teenage angst is teenage angst, no matter the sex? I am very proud that he made the right choice……. this time.
On another note - great husband is in Canada for a few days. Rascal Flatts has one concert tomorrow night. We do not have cell coverage out of the states, so I will not be able to talk with him unless it is an emergency until Sunday afternoon. I will have to stary extra busy so that I do not miss him too much. With him on the road 90% of the year, all we have is talk and we do LOTS of it!! Sometimes, when he is home, I want to call him so that we have time for just talk…. life and chores get in the way of our communication, other than what is needed for the day…. no just chatter, and discussing life, politics, kids, world events. Staying busy should be no problem…. the boys and I are about half way to finishing the weedeating the acre that we have and there are soccer games tomorrow morning to attend. Maybe I will have some pics of the games and the great looking acre to post on Sunday…
I got to experience the 4th of July again today but in a VERY different way. One of the boys left some parade gum in his pants pocket. I did laundry on Sunday. The gum became liquid in the dryer and then hardened all over the inside of the dryer. I used a nonflammable cleaner because I have a gas dryer. This is a pic of the label….
It was cleaning the goo pretty good off of the dryer walls….. but then I had to go pee…. my hands were all soapy, so I tried to wash them before using the toilet-NOT! My hands were so slimy and I tried to pull the zipper of my pants but could not get a hold of the zipper pull………. I nearly wet my pants trying to get them off. My hands are still slimy and the open cut on the finger of my right hand is throbbing from the cleaner… I hate plastic gloves enough to deal with the throbbing. I wish I had some vinegar to “neutralize” the cleaner (since it has alkaline in it) but we decorated Easter Eggs with the last of the vinegar.
The dryer is all clean and is being used again.
That job was inbetween being shipper, bookkeeper, log book enterer, photographer and It tech person for great husband’s business. He is doing his other job right now… driving Rascal Flatts equipment from Nashville to Ontario.
I am soooo ready for bed, just as soon as I fix dinner, wash dishes, fold the clothes in the dryer and feed all of the animals. I LOVE my job!
Yesterday the boys and I let the ducks out to roam the yard for the first time. We stayed very close - actually the ducks stayed close to us - to see what the cats and the dog would do to say “hi” to them. The dog is old but, still, her ears went up when the ducks would stand high and flap their wings… the cat (don’t know where the other one was at the time) stalked them. Then she got right up to them and action began. I just love to see them wag their tails -er- tail ends.
