Horse riding with Grandpa Rose!

The weather finally got nice enough for us to go to Blackfoot for an afternoon and ride Grandpa Rose's horse, "Snip"!  I have a few horse lovers in this house, namely, Kamryn, Morgan, & Kaleb!  The others like the idea but they are definetly more apprehensive.  Dad (and Snip) were good sports and took each kid for a couple of rides. Snip was amazing, especially for as young as he is and also for the fact that it was the first time he'd been out of the corral in quite a few months.  Morgan is not a bit afraid of the horse and she desperately wants Grandpa to give her private horse riding lessons:)  She dreams of the day when she'll be able to ride all by herself with out any one leading!

Grandpa giving Morgan a few pointers--Morgan's listening intently to his instructions!

                                       
                         The kids thought it was great feeding Snip right out of the bucket.  They'd start giggling             when he'd come and put his mouth right in the bucket while they held on for dear life.

Kamryn never tired of feeding Snip and waited patiently at the end of the truck for him to make his rounds and then she'd call him over for a snack!:)

Regan was not thrilled about riding..let's just say it's been a long time since she's been on a horse and she was a little freaked out and I think the fact that she was sick that weekend didn't help at all. Once she got on and comfortable, she decided it wasn't so bad after all!  I think she's giving Grandma the rodeo queen wave:)

Not sure why I don't have any pics of Porter, Jordyn, or Kaleb on the horse!  Bummer!

Kami and Kaleb decided that Snip's grain looked pretty delicious so after Snip's snot was all over the grain from his mouth being in the bucket, they reached in to try a bite.  YUCK!!  Kaleb thought it was pretty yummy so he filled his pockets so he could take it to school for a snack.:):)  Yum Yum!

I think Kamryn's made herself a good buddy!  She had perma-grin the whole time we were there!

Now there is a "city-slicker" if I've ever seen one--shorts and flip-flops, riding a horse!:)  

This little girl loves her Grandma with all of her heart.  She cries every time we have to leave from our visits!

Future Rodeo Queens!  Kamryn is my animal lover all the way!  She's not afraid of any animal big or small and just loves them with all of her heart.  She'll go up to the biggest dog and just start hugging and loving on it and the horse was no exception.  She kept giving Snip the biggest hugs and talking to him as she fed him his grain.  I was glad she was up in the truck because every time she got down, she'd get so close, I was sure she'd get stepped on or kicked--she wasn't a bit afraid of that happening:) 

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And...did I mention how much she loves her Grandpa too!

Kaleb jumped down from the back of Grandpa's truck and caught his pants on a sharp edge...luckily it only ripped a gaping hole in his pants and not his leg.  I don't know why it struck me so funny, but I got the giggles so bad just watching him keep putting his hand back there to feel the large hole.  He was totally embarrassed but kept a smile on his face and he even kept giggling about it!  

He didn't want me to take a picture of it so Grandma was sneaky and gave him a hug so I could snap a shot.  Nice!!

Morgan got to do the honors of letting Snip loose in his corral.  She was pretty excited since she's dreaming of having her own horse someday!

Anything to make piano more interesting and fun!

I think it's safe to say that my girls do not particularly love playing the piano.  Actually, I think they really like playing the piano, just not PRACTICING the piano!  They whine endlessly about piano lessons and how they would just love to quit and I give them the same speech (lecture) every time about how they'll thank me one day for making them stick with it. :)  These days they are trying all sorts of things to make it more interesting...hence the silly hats!  

Primping!

Porter has been cracking us up lately with his need to "primp" in the mirror at the start of each day.  He's almost as bad as Regan (14) but not quite! :)  He gets up and gets dressed and then goes in the bathroom to spike his hair which he's got down to a science.  That is, until dad got a hold of him for a hair cut, which he wasn't happy about.:)  A couple of weeks ago, he came to inform me that he was really glad that we hadn't gone anywhere that day because, in his words, "I looked really goofy because my hair isn't done."  Seriously, where did this kid come from??  

A step-by-step "spike your own hair" tutorial by Porter (4 years old)

Doesn't he look proud!  Not bad for a little guy!

Polar Bear Swim Team

Jordyn has been begging us to put her on a swim team for the longest time so we finally decided that we could squeeze it in during the winter months when the other kids were on a small break from all of their activities!  We always do swim lessons in the summer but I decided that since I was already making a trip to the Aquatic Center, I might as well put the other kids in lessons at the same time!  Lucky me, I was able to get the 3 younger kids in lessons right during swim team and then, being the sneaky mom I am, I decided to throw Morgan on the same swim team since she was on a small break from soccer.  She was not too thrilled about it in the beginning, and it certainly isn't her favorite thing to do, but I think Morgan and Jordyn had a fun time being on the team together and it kept us all together (minus Regan) in the same place at the same time!!  Jordyn, on the other hand, just ate it up!  I think we might have found something that she really loves and that she's pretty darn good at!

Swim team lasted for 6 weeks with 2 practices a week, an hour and half each with one big swim meet at the end.  It was amazing to watch how much both girls improved with the strokes and they had so much more strength and stamina as the weeks went on.  I never thought I'd get too in to swimming but I really enjoyed watching them each practice and the swim meet was so much fun!  Jordyn had one of her major stomachache attacks right during the meet so she was feeling less than good during her events but she still did really good considering.  Morgan did really well too, it just kills me how athletic this kid is.  She is good at everything she does but just lacks the confidence..:(  (except for in soccer) And, she claims that swimming is not her thing and informed me that she is done with swimming lessons all together.  That's alright with me, I'm pretty sure she's a way better swimmer than I've ever been so I guess she'll be fine!

As for the younger three, they absolutely loved swimming lessons and were pretty bummed when their sessions ended!  They had really great teachers and they significantly improved during the 4 weeks.  I'm super happy and relieved that I won't have to try to cram swimming lessons in during the summer with all the other activities and family stuff we've got going on!  We'll be doing swimming lessons in February next year for sure!!

Cousin Time!

We got to go home to Cokeville last month for another missionary "farewell."  I know that's not what you are supposed to call them but what else do you call them???:)  This time it was for our Nephew, Bronson Teichert, who was called to serve an LDS mission Rome, Italy !  How cool is that?  He's such a great young man and I'm sure he'll be a really great missionary!  Our Nephew, Jake Garn, just left on his LDS mission to Africa, and our niece, Katelyn Teichert, is leaving this month to serve in the Nicaragua Managua Mission.  We're so excited for all of them!  I'm loving this picture of Bronson, with 3 of the cutest babies--Betsy and Minerva Tuiaki, and Julius Teichert!  It's hard to believe that they will be close to 3 by the time he gets home.  

It's always a party when we get to go and visit DJ's family in Cokeville!  This time was extra fun though because a lot of DJ's siblings were able to be there so that meant lots of visiting, laughing, eating, joking,  playing, singing, partying...and yes, of course, babies!!  The kids had so much fun spending time with their cousins and tending and holding their baby cousins and believe me, when it was time to go, there were many tears and temper tantrums and hiding:)  No joke, I think I went in Grandma's house 3 different times for missing children.  They love it in Cokeville and they love Grandma & Grandpa Teichert's home!  

Jordyn holding either Betsy or Minerva..hmmm..can't tell these twins apart yet!:) 

Porter and Tristy playing in the snow, yes, the snow, in their bare feet.  I quit caring about such things as shoes and socks 5 children ago.:)   

Porter eating the snow, hoping it's not yellow snow! 

Janae, Leona, and Morgan had a blast playing together! 

Tristy, Porter, and Kam--darn those faces are adorable! 

My niece, Moriah, giving Regan a little trim!  She's the mother of the adorable twins and she also has her beautician license...bonus for me because she offered to do all the little girls hair in all different kinds of hair do's over the weekend!  My girls enjoyed the break from me doing their hair, in fact, on Sunday morning, the woke up and made sure to tell me that I would NOT be doing their hair and that Moriah already had something planned!  So cute!

Kam showing off one of Moriah's cute hairdo's!  

Porter chillin' with Grandpa Teichert! 

This is my brother-in-law's foster baby named, Precious, yep, that's her real name and she fits it! She is just so adorable and my girls (and boy=Kaleb) couldn't get enough of her!  Kaleb kept playing with her toes and saying, "oh, mom, she's just got the cutest tiny toes."  Morgan played with her for probably two hours downstairs..she and Jordyn are definetly my baby lovers! 

Kaleb can't get enough little Precious's toes! 

 

Regan and Janae looking super enthused:)  I think they were watching babies playing on the floor! Man, they are both growing up. 

My beautiful niece, Ashlee, with her little girl, Leah 

                                 Bad lighting on this pic--Janae, Morgan, Trevor, & Porter 

The drive home...yes, we were all totally worn out which made for a super quiet ride home!