Promised Rodeo Pictures

If you went to my sisters blog and saw theses already, sorry, but I have to put this post in my blog. I grew up in Pendleton Oregon, home of the famous Pendleton Round-up. This was an annual rodeo that really brought the town to life for the 5 days it lasted. We went to the rodeo often. School was closed for this event and it was always a fun vacation. I always wanted my kids to experience it. But alas, it was always the second week of September and my kids were always in school. One year, when I only had Talon and Tanner, I took Talon out of school and we made the trek to Pendleton for the rodeo. Ironically, Talon loved the bullfighter clowns and got an autograph of one of them. Flash forward to Taz. Eversince Taz was a baby, he wanted to be a bull rider. He would get a cowboy outfit everyyear for his birthday. He was obsessed wtih bull riding. I even wrote him a story about his obsession. He has since outgrown it a little as his fear of bulls has kicked in and he now just enjoys watching the crazy cowboys on the back of those big bulls. So when we were in Boise and my sister Ky's friend was in the rodeo and she wanted to go, we decided to attend. It was Taz's first rodeo and it was pretty fun. Here we are waiting for the festivities to begin: Cynjyn, Ella, me and Taz.

Ky's friend is in a famous group of riders that go all over to rodeos to perform. They did a preshow here and it was in the dark and they had their uniforms lit up with lights and it was pretty cool.

After the rodeo, they had an autograph section which we waited for and we got all the autographs of the clowns (3), the rodeo court and the riders. We got the picture with the famous clown!!

Here's Ky's friend Emily posing with the kids. We had a great time.

Pay it Forward

Remember way back in Jan. or Feb. when the Pay it Forwards were going around? I won on my sister Ky's blog. When I got here to Boise, she had my homemade gift all ready for me. Isn't it adorable?? For some reason, Tanner is missing. I think she's planning on getting me a Tanner before I leave!!

Week three, back in Boise

So this week we were back in Boise because my mom and dad work in the temple the second week of every month. We didn't see much of them as they worked all day Tue-Fri. We got there Monday night. Tuesday, we didn't do much. Brian's niece Kylee came over and spent the day with Cynjyn. They made cookies with Krissy and played all day. Taz, Tanner and I spent the day at Ky's house.

Wednesday, we spent the day at the local water park Roaring Springs. It was a fun day, we were there from 11:30-4.

Taz and Cynj take Kres down the kidie slide.

Tanner, Taz and Cynj go down a family slide.

We made Tanner pose with Krissy, he didn't want to, but he did!

Taz and Cynjyn needed no coaxing to pose here.

We ordered a family pizza special around 2 and that was a nice break for lunch.

The kids all loved the wave pool. Taz got as close to the front as possible.

Cynjyn and Ky were right behind him.

Tanner had already been, so he volunteered to stay with Kres in the kiddie pool so Ky could go as she hadn't been in it yet. Actually Tanner was quite the trooper and spent a great deal of time watching Kres.

Krissy stayed in the middle of the pool.

Here we all are getting ready to float down the lazy river. Taz was taking Kres on the tube and Tanner was right behind them. Just after this was taken, Taz and Kres got their tube tipped over by the waterfall and they both went under. Taz bravely held Kres above water even though he was being held under by the waterfall and the weight of Kres until Tanner got to them. He saved the day. He is Kres's hero!

At the very end of the day Taz and Cynj had been dying to go on the Avalance, but were kind of chicken and none of us were brave enough to go with them. Finally they decided to go. Tanner carried their tube up for them as it was pretty heavy, then they went on it. It was so steep and scary looking, but they both liked it. The picture doesn't do it justice.

After the water park, it was a night of bliss. We'd been waiting all year for Harry Potter 6 to open. We all went that night to a 6:15 movie. Ella, Taz, Cynjyn, Me, mom, Clay, Ky and Tanner. Ky got sick about 20 min. into it and had to leave (she'd hurt her neck at the water park and it made her very nauseus). We all really enjoyed the movie.

Grandma and Tanner waiting for it to start. We got to the theater about an hour early to get good seats and there was a really long line for the 5:40 show. We got in that line, we were about in the middle, and when they let them in that put us in the front line for our 6:15 movie, we had prime seats and ours wasn't nearly as crowded as that earlier showing.

Lola, Taz and Cynjyn relaxing on Thursday after our long Wednesday!

Cynjyn and Taz rolled up in a blanket entertaining Kres and Ella at Ky's house.

Friday before heading back to La Grande, we ate lunch at a Souper Salad bar. Taz had to reminisce over the cruise we'd taken in Feb. by recreating his biggest cone ever!

Cynjyn happily ate her Sundae. We did have a little adventure on Thursday night. We went to the Snake River Stampede! Krissy was the only one to remember her camera, so when she gets here to La Grande tomorrow, I'll steal her disc and blog about that. We had a fun time. In the mean time, you can go here to see her explanation about it. You'll have to read through mine too though once I get her pictures for posterities sake, I'll be blogging it.

A scary end to our summer evening

I was working on my previous post last night about 10:30 pm. Everyone had gone to bed but me, Tanner and Trey. It was still raining and there was thunder and lightening. Trey was in the kitchen brushing his teeth, I was on the computer and Tanner was on the couch right beside me watching me blog. All of a sudden there was a loud pop, and the light went out. Trey screamed adn came running at full speed into the family room where we were. The computer was the only light on because I'm on a laptop and it went into battery mode. Soon Grandpa came out of his room with a flashlight. We went outside and all the lights were out in our neighbors land and even the truckstop down the street had lost power. So, Tanner, Trey and I got a flashlight, I finished my post and we attempted to go to bed. Trey was too spooked to sleep on the couch so he came in the bedroom with Tanner and I and slept on the floor!! Around 3 am, the power came back on and all was well. Here is Tanner right before we went to bed, having a little flashlight fun!!

A Sunday drive in the mountains

This is our last night here in La Grande. We are headed back to Boise for Mom and Dad work in the temple this week and Tanner flies back to Vegas on Thursday for scout camp. So we took one last drive int he mountains for Tanner's sake even though the rest of us will be back here next weekend. On the way, we hit a summer storm and it was pouring rain, we did see this beautiful rainbow over our cousins land!

We managed to spot deer through the fog, can you see two?

We only saw rain, but when we got up to Grandpa's property, we pulled over and let the kids play in the hail that looked like snow!!

Then the whole reason for our drive, the elk. We saw huge heard of elk and at the very end this bull came through!! Love summer evening's in Oregon!

Week one in Boise

4th of July antics: Grandpa and Cynjyn at the end of a long day.

A tired bunch doing fireworks at 11: 30pm

Sparklers

Fireworks show in Melba: Grandma, Taz, Uncle Brian, me, Aunt Krissy

Ella, Tanner, Cynjyn, Taz and Trey

The BBQ at Brian and Krissy's

The Goon's in our matching T-Shirts.

Cynjyn and Ella with matching 4th of July hair

Taz and Kresimir watching a video

Ella, Taz and Cynjyn with their made up house at Brian's

3-D sidewalk chalking

Slushies and a fountain park on a hot summer day

Meeting our newest family member: Beckham La Grande Thurston, 2 months old.