Happy 12th Anniversary

12 Years and he can still swing me over his shoulder - Amazing!  We celebrated yet another anniversary, time is flying by.  We had a great Anniversary and enjoyed reminiscing over the last 12 years.  We watched a video from our wedding and it brought back good memories.  

Jeff planned our anniversary this year and it was a fun night.  Our first stop was at Goodwill. Jeff informed me that I was to find three outfits for him and he would find three for me.  The only catch - they had to be country western clothing. We came together and chose one, out of the three, that we liked best.  It was really fun, and different.  I ended up with boots, western pants & belt, a shirt and white jacket.  Jeff ended up with Wranglers, a belt, a very western style shirt, and a cowboy hat.  We looked Great!  We then went to Texas Roadhouse and ate till our tummies were stuffed (we still brought home three to-go boxes).  Then, the fun part,  we went to Cowboys.  It is a Country Western dance hall/bar downtown.  We weren't sure what to expect when we got inside.  We were both surprised.  There were all different ages, and styles of people there.  We fit right in, and had a great time dancing the night away.  We could both use a few tips on country western dancing but we enjoyed swinging it up as best we could.   The next morning we told the kids what we had done and they wanted to see our attire.  So we dressed up for them, and they wanted to dress up for us.  We ended up having a hoedown in our living room.  The kids loved it and were all smiles dancing with each other and with Mom & Dad.  I love my husband and our beautiful children.   

One of the best part of our anniversary that at  7:00am Jackie, Brea, and Alyssa came in with pancakes, juice, Tims Chocolate Cake, and precious homemade cards.  I was so impressed with Jackie . She had set her own alarm for 6:00am, got up on her own, made breakfast (the pancakes were leftover in the fridge). Got Alyssa up at 6:30 am because she was awake (Jeff and I never heard her).  She kept Alyssa and Brea happy and brought us up breakfast at 7:00.  It was a special treat and we were touched by her sweetness.  She had made the cake herself as well, the night before, with a babysitter supervising.

Fountain Nature Center one last time this summer

We were able to go to the Fountain Nature Center again before summer ends.  It has actually been quite a while since we went.  The kids had a great time and we saw some interesting animals/rodents.  

Our four happy kiddos.  We all seem to be happier when we are outside in nature.  

 We saw rabbits and squirrels right at the beginning.  Then...Dallin saw a SNAKE, that was very exciting, until Dad poked it with a stick and the kids all jumped back and screamed.

 Our two year old is so full of personality.  She is quite independent and can do just about everything her self.  Some things are ok for her to do and some I would still like to help her.  But the ability to go to the bathroom herself is a definite positive, we have had a successful couple of days.  Once she decided she wanted to do it (not Mom deciding ) it has been great.

 This is how we get our kids energy out...racing through the trails at the nature center.

 The Cramer boys spotted an otter.  We haven't seen much of him this summer, so it was a special treat to spot him.

 Brea searches for some sign of living life in the water.

 And the final destination, the climbing tree (that is what my kids call it).  It is a huge tree that we always let the kids play on.  They could easily spend hours there.

 Maybe we let them climb too much, this is where Dallin went...and walked across it without any fear.

 Jackie got a hold of the camera and told us (Jeff and I) what to do.  She said, "Make your hands like a heart and then kiss in the middle.  I think that would look so ROMANTIC".  We were laughing as we did so, but we wanted to let our 8 year old know that we were pretty ROMANTIC.

 She is growing up so fast and is a really good girl.  I am constantly amazed at how responsible she is.  She tries hard to do the right thing.  It has been a fun summer with all the kids and Jackie has been such a helper.

Tony & Nicole 'n Family visit us in Colorado

Tony & Nicole were able to stop by for a night on their way home to Alabama.  The kids were so excited for them to come.  They played hard and loud all evening.  It was great having them stop by.

MEP & POBAL 2012

 We were able to attend MEP this year.  We all enjoyed it.  It is nice that Jeffs work schedule is so flexible now.  We were able to take a whole week and do more than just the family reunion.  I got a good picture with my Grandpa, he is a sweet guy.  Because of him and my Grandam MEP is what it is.

 Dallin got to help out at the annual MEP auction.

Chess was a constant game at MEP this year.  Dad and Zach are thinking hard about their next move.

 Ben helps Ryndon decide where to go.

 Brea met a 2nd cousin of hers named Logan.  They were close cousins.  They spent all of their waking time together.  They would have spent their sleeping time together if we would of aloud it. We have been back for almost a month and Brea still talks about Logan and wonders how Logan is doing and if she will ever see Logan again.  They were really funny.

 The Talent Show!  Jackie and Jeralin did a cute number together, with the help of Jaxine and Evan.

 Dallin told a joke and got the whole audience to laugh.

 We did a Cramer family number, with the help of Corey and Dad.  Dad was the old blind man!

 This picture turned out blurry, but Dad did his famous "Fly" number and he got the crowd laughing as well.

 That night, after the talent show we heard that Tony & Nicole were almost there.  The kids decided to set up their beds at the entrance to our campground.  They pulled out blankets, sleeping bags and pillows and camped out in front of the dumpster.  They waited for about an hour and I finally told them to come to bed.  Luckily as we were putting everything away, Tony & Nicole came rolling in.  Everyone was happy to see them, it had bee two years since we saw them.  Their kids were happy and friendly with everyone.

 Dallin & Dallin.  I have a cousin named Dallin and my Dallin got the biggest kick out of saying "Hi Dallin" everytime he saw him, and visa versa.  He thought big Dallin was pretty awesome and wanted to know where he was when he couldn't see him.  Big Dallin is a great guy and I would be happy to have my Dallin grow up to be just like him.  He made the reunion even more exciting for Dallin.

 We arranged to have Pobal at the same campground as MEP, which made it really nice for us traveling from Colorado.  My Mom got us all matching shirts so we could take a nice group picture.  Here is our Cramer family.

 And here is the big Ricks gang all together.  We haven't been together for two years, so it was very exciting and the cousins had a blast together.

 A few more Cramer family pictures. Dallin really did not want to take a picture at all.  We were all trying to persuade him.  Finally I told him if he took a nice picture first then he could do whatever he wanted in a silly picture.  So....the next picture is our silly picture and what do we see of Dallin?  His backside, yes that is what he wanted to do for the silly picture, and since he smiled good at first he was allowed to show off his backside.

 The popular Aunt Elly.  This picture turned out cute, in their matching pink shirts.

 It was nice to be together for a couple of days and visit and play.

 We did a talent show as well.  There was an amphitheater in another campground by us.  We asked the camp host if we could use it, no one was there at the time.  She said that would be fine . It was a great place for a talent show, the kids loved showing off on a real stage.  We got to see a lot of talents from those Ricks kids. Here Haley, Brea, and Clara are doing a skit about Mom and kids.

 This one was great - all of the men got up and did the "Fly" together, it was hilarious to see that many "flies" on the stage at once.  I think Dad enjoyed watching even more than doing.

 We took a beautiful hike around a lake close by.

 Tony holds Clara and Alyssa.

 Ryndon and Tony got a bit hot, so they dived into the lake and swam the rest the way back, which was quite far.  They said it was very refreshing.

 The kids did not think it was fair that Tony and Ryndon got to swim and they didn't, so we let them jump in a splash around to.  Some had swimsuits and some did not, but that didn't stop any of them.  Will and Dallin got completely soaked and completely loved it.

 Brea was careful to not let those shorts get any water on them.  She got her feet wet, but that was about it.

 She enjoyed staying on the sidelines with me.

 Corey goes full in as well.

 We were able to see one of our ancestors gravestone in Paris, ID.  We also so the town that he helped start a school.  It was neat to learn a bit about him, although we were sad not to find more.

 We stopped at a spring on the way back from Paris.  Oh boy that water was cold, but the kids some how walked through it.  There were some cool caves up above that they discovered as well.

 Climbing up to the caves.  I had a small flashlight in my purse that they used to go back as far as they could, which was pretty far.

Dallin and Will, I love the faces Will makes when he gets his picture taken.