William is Nine!

William had a birthday! He's now a big nine year old. He was looking forward to and counting down to his birthday for weeks. The few days before his birthday he kept saying, "I wish it was Friday!" And, "I don't think I can wait for my birthday!" I assured him he could and he would, since he didn't have a choice. :)

The kids didn't have school that day so that was an extra treat. He opened his presents after scriptures in the morning. He got Jenga, an Animal Encyclopedia, a Wii game, four erector set things from Grandma R, and cards and money from Grandma and Grandpa K and Grandma Flash. He has happy with his haul. :)

There was a lot of Wii playing in the morning, and McDonald's for lunch. Then he had a friend over to play in the afternoon. We had chicken alfredo for dinner: Will's choice. And for his cake he picked hot fudge pie. Which wasn't so pretty for pictures, but was so gooey and delicious with our ice cream!

After cake and ice cream we watched a documentary on Netflix that Will chose. There weren't any good movies at Redbox or on Netflix, so I asked if he wanted to choose one of our movies to watch or pick something on Netflix. He decided on a documentary, so we spent the evening learning about Animal Odd Couples. It was very interesting and entertaining!

Now that Will is nine he will be in Bears in Cub Scouts, and he's done a great job of finishing up his Wolf before his birthday. He's also in Jr. Jazz basketball right now, as well as doing piano lessons. He's quite a busy boy, but he does a wonderful job of balancing everything and not complaining about being busy or having to miss certain things because of his commitments. We are so proud of him, and feel very grateful that he's our son. Happy Birthday, William!

First Day of School

This young lady entered 6th grade this year. It's hard to believe! Doesn't she look so grown up? And beautiful!

And these handsome boys are in Third grade and Kindergarten! I thought they looked adorable in their matching shirts. :)

And here's our little Adam in his classroom. He told me about a month after school started that he was really nervous on the first day because he thought some people might be mean. I asked him if anyone was, and he assured me that they were all very nice. It was so cute!

Big Horn Mountains

While we were up North, Joel and I wanted to take the opportunity to take our kids up on the Big Horns. We don't get to do that often enough. They've been to Five Springs many times, but we wanted to take them up on top. So the Saturday after Erin's wedding we packed up some fishing poles and headed up the mountain.

First we stopped at a little creek, which I'm 98% sure is called Half Ounce Creek, and did a little fishing there. First we had to walk a little ways from the car to a spot that Joel decided was okay for us to fish in. The kids had a fun time learning to fish (it's not really something they've done much), and Will even caught a little fish!

See that little fish on his line?

While we were walking around Jenna fell into a muddy swampy thing about up to her waist and she was soaked and filthy! When we got back to the van she put on some of Joel's shorts and my sandals that we happened to have, and we tied her pants to the top of the van so they could dry out on the ride over to Bald Mountain.

When we got to Bald Mountain campground we had some lunch, Jenna changed back into her filthy (but dry) pants, and her wet shoes and we headed up Baldy.  Now, that large hill is a lot steeper and longer than it looks, I've decided. But we all made it to the top and enjoyed a nice view.

After that we decided to head to Sibley Lake for some more fishing. Again, Will is the only one that caught a fish. But the other kids didn't seem to mind too much. They seemed to be happy just being there, doing it. And it really was a good time. It rained on us a bit while we were at the lake, but we persevered. Audrey and I did hide under a tree for a bit.

It was a great day on the mountain, and by the time we got back to Cowley we were all thoroughly exhausted. It was wonderful!

Erin and Mycheal's Wedding

Joel's baby sister, Erin, got married! On August 9th she married Mycheal Wiles in the Billings, MT temple. We were so happy to be a part of her day.

I got up super early to get ready and ride to Billings with Brenda so we could be with Erin while she got her hair and make up done. Then we headed to the temple! Joel came up later (than me) with the kids to be there for the sealing. Thankfully there were a couple of uncles outside the temple to help take care of our kiddos. 

The sealing was beautiful, of course. Erin was beautiful, and it was very emotional. I kind of felt like an old woman, because I just kept thinking of Erin as a little girl and watching her grow up. That sounds like an old lady thing to do, doesn't it? Well, I cried the entire time, and we were so happy for Mycheal and Erin. 

I didn't bring our camera, so all of these pictures were taken by the photographer. I wish I had at least pulled out the camera at the reception! Although, the battery might have been dead on it by then, I don't remember.

Here's the happy couple! 

Here are the immediate families...

The entire group...

 All the nieces and nephews...

 After pictures was a luncheon at a church building in Billings. Then back to Cowley to get ready for the reception. There was a chance that it was going to rain, and that was a problem since the reception was all set up in Roland's back yard. But I'm sure there were many prayers said that the rain would hold off, and luckily it did. So Erin and Mycheal had an absolutely beautiful outdoor reception.

Now, here's were I really wish I had had my camera, because I only have these few candids that the photographer took that have Adam (and some cousins) in them. But we had a lovely time, ate some good food, and enjoyed ourselves.

We are so happy for Erin and Mycheal!