Bloggin' Once A Week

At the beginning of this week we gave the greatest surprise ever to our kids--4 horses! We got a smokin' deal on them and they are beautiful!

This one's name is Nitro and he's a beautiful gilding paint. He's about 6-7 years old and needs some training before we can ride him--they all need some training.
This is a pic of the mama, Hopi, in the background and Sisco, the bay, in the foreground. Sisco is the first to be trained and is doing great!

The one with the fly mask on is Scarlet. She is the sweetest thing ever and will probably be the kids favorite to ride--after she's trained.

This is Susan, of course, and her new foreign exchange student, Tonya (that's not how you spell it). She is from Norway and Susan loves having her here. We can't wait to get to know her better. Susan and Tonya came with us to pick up the horses Monday night. We picked them up for FHE with the Durfees (really couldn't have done it without them).
Joann has been training Sisco over at Dad's all week. He's responding really well and may have a rider on him in the next few days. Tomorrow is saddle-day for him. Joann is amazing and I'm so lucky she wants to help us!
Mac and Mischa have loved coming over to Grpa and Grmas every day watching Sisco's training lessons. Actually, all the kids except Peter and Sterling have to see the horses every day. I'm sure they'll get on board soon, though. They are so beautiful and fun to be around. We can't wait to ride!
Wednesday night was mutual night. I'm over the MiaMaids now and we had a tea party and learned "5 Inexpensive Beauty Tips." The girls got to dress up if they wanted and we all had a great time.

Course we had to have a crazy pic, too. What is Sheri doing?

Today finished off the week with our first pre-trek hike. It was kind of last minute, so only three of our kids showed up. It was a beautiful morning, though, and a great hike. I love our ward! This week I also was overwhelmed with finishing the stain on our mudroom floor and stairs down to the basement. It's finally finished and we're moved back in. Now I just have to get the parlor and front entry-way/stairs done. I'll save that for next week. The kids and I are trying to get back into the swing of school. It's been hard, though, when we're on the tailend of a great summer. Anton's doing great at his online classes--I'll try and take more pics next week. Today was a crazy, busy day, but ended really nice and calm--at home for a few hours spending time with our kids. Nothing beats being a Mom! These 10 kids have no idea how much my life is wrapped up in theirs. I love you all--I'll try to get on again before next weekend.

Game Day

Tonight was Gallatin's first pep rally to start off the fall season for sports. Our whole family turned out to watch the pep rally and the Gallatin vs. Gallatin scrimmage game.
This is part of the junior high girls' softball team (some of the girls are also cheerleaders). Can you pick out Jade and Elena?
Sterling was the first to be announced and to run onto the field. Of course I screamed and screamed.
Peter talking to a friend and waiting for the game to start. Peter and Sterling both actually got quite a bit of playing time.
The Durfees came to eat before the game and spent about half the game with us. They're Hamilton fans (Gallatin's big rival) and didn't feel much like cheering for the Bulldogs. We were so happy they came anyway and relish any chance we have to be together. When school is in it seems like we don't get to see our ward family as often.
Even the little ones came and, surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. They did their best to watch and cheer for their brothers. Tomorrow morning is our first trek 3-mile-hike and we have to get up at 6:30 AM. I'll take lots of pics. Love you, family!

It's Been Another One Of Those Weeks

Last week...

Jenny came! She came to surprise my mom for her birthday. It was such a surprise and so much fun! We missed seeing her out here and only wish her kids weren't in school and could've come too. The next day...
Dani and Blair came! We had been waiting for this for, of course, two years. It was great to see Blair again and he's just as sweet as ever. The boys loved him because he's so athletic and would get up at 5:15 AM and go play basketball with Dad and them at the church. We just loved how cute he is with Dani and that he's such a good guy.
We all went to eat at Shae's Place one night for Mom's birthday and had a fun time talking and laughing.
We lucked out and got to have Sam visit during this same week only 2 weeks after she'd moved to Utah. We miss her, but know she'll settle in soon to her life out west. We're looking forward to Christmas when we'll get to see her again.
Just a cute quick pic of Niki, Dani and Blair before their food arrived. There were so many other happenings...

Sabrina sang her Tom Sawyer song for some sweet entertainment at Jameson Days...The girls "scored" when they beat the boys to the court after mutual one night...

Aubrey and Annie Nelson got to hang out all day and then sleep over and watch movies 'til late...

And Mike decided it was time to get this floor signed, sealed and finished. He got sick of standing, and figured if he was going to do it he might as well relax and enjoy it.One day we went to Jamesport, got rained on (check out the drops on Blair's shirt), drove to Trenton waterpark to swim (it was closed), ate some terrible McD's, and drove back to Gallatin. What a fun day!

That same weekend Elena, Mom and Sterling all had their birthdays. We had a fun party for them on Sunday. Here's Elena, all 14 and grown up.

Saturday night we had a Northern units dance for the youth at our church building. Dani, Blair and Jenny came as extra chaperones. Of course, Dani was her shy, introverted self and even won 2nd place dancing disco with one of the priests in the Cameron ward.

Doesn't Jadey look sweet dancing with her Daddy?

Doesn't Sheri look sweet dancing with her--who is that?

Anton went out for one last fishing trip on the boat before summer break ended. This time he let Brig, Mac and Molly (the dog) tag along. Why does summer have to end...

And school begin? Mac isn't sad at all--he loves his Pre-K teacher, Ms. Critten.

Sheri and Niki of course look adorable for their first day back.

Today was the first day back at school--cute...

And crazy! My life (and the kids) is more hectic when school is in and we miss the lazy days of summer, but we're excited for the upcoming holidays and, of course, all the sports events.

Jade would be very upset if I just put in those two previous pics of her with her eyes closed, so here's one of Brina and Jade, sweet and with open eyes. We have a 2 1/2 week lull until Mom and Dad Steele come on September 15th for 2 weeks. We're so excited they are coming and hope to get the floor finished before they get here. How will we do that with all this traffic? Keep blogging--we love your words of wisdom and your fun pics!!

Catching Up On All These Events...

Okay--don't look at this post unless you've got some time. I haven't posted for a week so there are a lot of pics on here...

Anton loves his watermelon patch. It's his very own that he planted and takes care of by himself. For some reason he thinks he'll get rich off this so he babies it and carefully watches over it every day. He's doing pretty good and has 18-20 little watermelon growing on all his plants.
One day this past week Anton was headed to go fishing and Mischa begged to go with him. He was so sweet and careful with her. He even took her out in the boat in the middle of the pond. Within 1 minute they had caught a fish and Mischa was so excited!
A quick pic of Me and Peter that Kristina took. Why doesn't this boy ever wear a shirt?
Since Peter took a picture with me, Kristina had to have one too. Check out Peter in the background--he's telling Jade to "stop being such a baby."
Mischa loves to organize: shoes, clothes...chips.

Anton had a lot of fun in AZ hanging out with Vova Stirling before he left on his mission. This was taken at Mount Graham where the Stirlings go camping every year.

Hey--this pipe is a good idea for naughty boys to sit for a while out in the hot sun.

What a cute boy! He's already starting to look like a missionary...

The Stirling's were so gracious to host Anton for a week. We also had a lot of fun with them here in Missouri the week before.
Anton took this right before he left. I'm so thankful to Michelle for helping him so much and for Jenny and Brian for getting him the ticket. We love you, family!
Saturday we spent 5 1/2 hours weeding in the garden. The kids worked so hard and we finished it all so Mike and I treated them to dinner in a restaurant called Pastimes in the nearby town of Hamilton. Our water was turned off (and still isn't back on), so eating out was great! Above is an example of the perfect restaurant manners our kids have. First it was Mac...

Then Brig...

And, of course, Mischa had to follow. Somehow she doesn't look so scary--just cute.

Krissy, Sterling and Jade posing--no smile out of Sterling, though.

This took a few tries, but we finally got Peter to smile with Elena.

We spontaneously stopped by the Durfees on our way home. They were so sweet to let some of us take showers (they still had water). They even fed us homemade brownies and put on a great movie--The Greatest Game Ever Played. We barged in on them so early, they didn't even get dinner. By midnight, when we left, I realized that most of them just got a brownie for dinner. Sounds like I have some payback to do, huh? We had so much fun with them--we only missed Anton--he was out searching for arrowheads on the Grand River.

Jonah and Sharlee putting the mowers away. Yardwork is a family affair.

As soon as we arrived Peter started sweeping their concrete. We thought he was just happy to help, but he was only clearing a path to ride his Ripstick.

This is Brittany, their oldest daughter, keeping the flower garden beautiful and weed-free. Doesn't she have the greatest smile?

The Durfees garden puts mine to shame. I was a little chagrined 'til I found out she's done a garden for years. This garden will hopefully be my role model for next year.

Jadey and Moo-moo by the corn.The Durfees have some beautiful horses--Joann rides in the English style and it's so pretty to watch and fun to learn. Jade can't get enough of horses!

I love this picture of Anton & Mischa. It seems to bring up all my feelings of summer and the Missouri country life. This summer, more than any other, has brought with it feelings of anxiety in regards to my kids growing up too fast. The days seem to fly by and I can't hold on to them. We have one year left with Anton and he'll be gone. What do you try to teach your child when you have one year left with him? I'm so grateful for family and this beautiful world we get as our testing ground. I'm not a world traveler yet, but every place I've seen has something of beauty that tempts me to stay. There is so much to be thankful for.