Ashdown Whistle Stop Pageant

 
 
 
 
Last night Victoria was in a Pageant in Ashdown. Every year Ashdown has this festival called Whistle Stop Days where all the local merchants get together and close Main Street to cars and have street venders and games for kids. There were nine other girls in her division and she knew all of them from school. She had a great time getting all dressed up, and her hair turned out really cute, too bad I didn't get a picture of it from the back. She didn't place but of course we thought she should have. It was good experience for her and she wants to try another one sometime. We are proud of Victoria for all the things she does and tries, she is a pretty good kid.

P.S. Victoria counted how many bobby-pins were in her hair when she took them out and there were 32! The girl who did it made sure that hair wasn't going to move.

A Home Run Night!

 
 
 
 

Cole is playing baseball this Spring and it has been a little rough. Many times he has wanted to quit but mom has persevered. Well when he hit a base hit that then turned into a home run because of error he was on cloud nine, NOW baseball was fun! He was able to get on base again and get all the way home, which for those of you who know about little boys baseball is quite a feat. We are glad he doesn't want to quit just yet and are proud of him for hitting his first home run!

Hunting for Diamonds

During Spring break some of Jeff & Julie's kids got to come out for a visit. And of course what is a visit to Arkansas with out a visit to the the famous Diamond Mine in Murfeesburo about 40 miles away. The kids had a great visit and we are so glad Jeff was able to come out, maybe more can make it next time.

RV

Brad and I are officially old now, because we just purchased an RV! We are pretty excited about it. Brad and his brother Kevin have been searching for the perfect RV at a reasonable price. They both finally found what they have been looking for, after many looooong phone conversations and internet searching.

We flew to Indiana last Saturday to pick it up and drive it home so Brad could make it to work on Monday. Well not ever owning such a beast of a vehicle it took some explaining and figuring out what all the gadgets were to finally get on our way. We drove for a few hours that night and spent the night in a KOA camp ground in Kentucky. We lazily got up the next morning and started our 9 hour drive home. All went well until Little Rock. Brad was talking to Kevin and I pulled off to get some gas. After starting the RV I came out from the gas station and noticed something leaking from the engine area. Brad quickly figured it out to be diesel fuel that we just filled up with. Thankfully across the street was a 18 wheeler repair shop that also fixes RV's. So 2 1/2 hours away from home and the kids dying to see the thing we had to call and tell them we were staying the night because we wouldn't be able to make it home. They were very disappointed as we were too. We stayed the night in hopes that we would be able to get things fixed early and head out. But we ended up renting a car and going home, then traveling back on Wednesday to pick the RV up. I picked it up and oh yes it was fun driving home by myself. I still ended up with some problems related to the transmission, we are hoping it is only electrical but we'll see. Other than that I made it safely home and now I feel confident that I can drive almost anything. I'm sure some of you are thinking "why did you get this thing because it is so much trouble and cost". Well it was too good a deal to pass up and if we put a few thousand dollars into it, it's still a good deal. The economy has helps us out with being able to afford this luxury.

We look forward to many weekend camping trips to the many lakes our area has to offer. We have a family reunion this Summer in AZ. and can't wait to drive it out there. And then hopefully I can talk Brad into taking some time off to head to Destin, FL. and camp on the beach for a while and relax. Happy Trail to US!

Cole's Baptism

Well it's official Cole got baptised Feb. 14, 2009. It was a wonderful day. Victoria gave a talk on baptism and to my surprise got emotional talking about her brother. Also Garrett gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost which meant a lot to Cole. He really looks up to Victoria and his older cousins. Many friends and family came which made it extra special. After the baptism the family went to eat at "Smokey Joe's" and it was delicious. Cole was exhausted by the end of the day. His cousins from Ca. Weston and Garrett were here so he had lots of fun playing with them but he didn't get much sleep that weekend. Thanks to my sister & family for flying out here and to my parents too.

A thing For FEET

Victoria takes dance and one of the mom's in her class has 3 girls taking dance (hate to pay for that) anyway she gave Miss Lana (the teacher) the cutest Christmas gift, pictures of all 3 of her girls ballet shoes. So Victoria and I stole the idea and took pictures of her feet in all 3 dance shoes. I thought they turned out cute and we are going to hang them in her room and give Grandma a birthday present.

If any one wants to copy the idea, you should, baby shoes would be an adorable picture keepsake for any Grandma or mom and what an inexpensive way to decorate or give a gift.

Tip: Turn off the date thing on your camera before you start taking pictures.

Cole is getting excited!

Make a Smilebox invite

Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed all the traditions of the season. The parties and food, programs and music and remmembering the Christ child and the miracle of his birth.

Family Pictures

Here are some pictures that Cori took of us on the ranch for our cards. Thanks Cori you did a great job!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had another delicious Thanksgiving this year. We invited several of the interns in the fellows program and they brought friends too. Kevin's boss Dr. Bailey and his wife came and our missionaries also. Brad smoked 2 turkeys that turned out great! Everyone else brought the rest and it was very good eatin. We sure miss all our old friends but are grateful for the opportunity to meet new ones too!



In this picture left to right: Suzanne Butler, David Butler, Chris Bailey, Terry Bailey, Torche (friend of Ricki Anderson) and Suzanne Butler's mom holding baby Noah

Missionaries- Elders 1,2,3, Melanie and Robert Anderson with baby Kaden, Linda (friend of Ricki's)Victoria and ME


Brad, Me holding Isaiah Jenkins,Ricki Anderson, Kevin,Jileen & Lawsen, Lavina, Victoria and Henry.


Lawsen found out that I cleaned out the cubby hole he likes to get into

Lawsen loves Brad so much he shared his paci with him, what a sweet boy

Megan & Ryleigh

Megan brought her sweet little baby out for a visit back in October and we loved seeing her. Ryleigh is such a fun little baby we look forward to seeing her again at Christmas.

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Ashdown Junior High Volleyball

Victoria played volleyball this Fall for the junior high. It was a short season but she learned a lot. Thier team wasn't great but they were all first time players since vollyeball isn't offered until 8th grade. Cole and I had fun going to the games watching and eating junk!

Our Horse Family

Our little horse family is growing. They have grown to 12 now. They are such sweet horses we have had some of them for 10 years now let me try to name them all here it goes. Poco, Quincey, Jordan, Starburst, Peppi, Sidney, P.J., Sassy, Patriot (non-agreed by everyone) and 3 more of which are currently not named. Any suggestions? I like Sassy Pants for Sassy's baby, but that still leaves 2.

Brad's Birthday

Another year older and wiser too! Brad's Birthday was Nov. 3rd and we celebrated it Saturday the 1st with family at home. I tricked him by putting those re-start candles in his birthday pie. It was funny, he kept blowing and blowing and it only seemed to fuel the fire.