Two Weeks of Random Pics

These are all from Elena's camera and have been taken in the last two weeks. We're busy and having fun, but missing our Daddy. Mike's been in Arizona this last week and will get home tomorrow night--we can't wait for him to be home!
A cute pic of Kristina in her new hat...
I love this pic of Nitro. He will be Mike's horse 'cause he's so huge. Anyone else would be doing the splits when sitting on him.
Jade, Sheri and Kristina just don't get along. I don't know what to do with all their fighting!! :)
This is from one of our mutual nights. Joann is having everyone memorize The Living Christ and hands out a candy bar if they pass off a section of it. Everyone, including the adults, love to pass off to her for their candy bar.

Cold, cold day! This was crazy weather and we're glad it didn't last. The Durfees met us for Cisco's horse training session. Check out my outfit! I was staining the floor and ran over there. Do you remember Punky Brewster--yah, that's the look I'm going for.
Jeff Durfee (or I should say Brother Durfee, since he's in the bishopric now) at his best! :) I think he's telling Elena, "Don't you dare take a picture!"
Oh, no! Kitty in a tree! Where's the fire department?
Isn't this cute of Nik? She's even smiling in a picture, which is rare. See how cute you look when you're smiling, Niki?
Labor Day...BBQ with the Durfees and Rosamund's birthday. It was so fun hanging out with them for such a long time!

Our September sister's night we went out to Susan's and all took in the Greek Festival. Good food and fun dancing. It was great to do something different and be with the Durfees, Susan and Tonya. I love this pic of Rosamund at Susan's house.
A little blurry, but I had to put this one on of Sharlee and Tonya.
Getting ready for church...the girls always help me get Mischa ready and she loves the pampering!
Sabrina and her crazy sense of humor. Kristina is usually the last one to get up and loves her beauty sleep.
We have kittens! Anyone want one?
My favorite pic of Cisco and me. He's so pretty. I can see why people fall in love with their horses. As lame as this sounds, I am officially a horse lover--and proud of it! Update your blogs, family! We want to see what you're doing.

It's Been Two Weeks!!

My life is kids, horses, school and more school. I can't seem to get to the blog--it seems less important somehow since I'm falling in bed around midnight every night after helping with hours of homework. I thought I was finished with school! I've really been fighting the grueling schedule of being back in school, but have decided to throw in the towel and join the other crazy parents who's lives revolve around the public school system for nine months out of the year. My kids, surprisingly, are actually taking this a lot better than I am. Now I have to try to remember what's happened the last two weeks...
This pic was taken at the beginning of last week. It was pouring rain, just like it has been today, and Joann still trained him. This was his first day of being really stinky--bucking and rearing and everything. He didn't like the rain and couldn't understand why he had to do what she said when he's been doing whatever he wanted for the whole first 6 years of his life. Go, Joann Durfee!

Wednesday of that same week we had a trek mutual and learned how to square dance. A lot of kids were there and it turned out great!

The kids were supposed to pair up at the beginning, so of course my kids chose their siblings?? Peter looks thrilled, doesn't he?

Cute one of Jade, Sterling and Sheri.

Another great one of the masked man.

After Cisco realized he was going to work every day, no matter what, he learned to calm down a little. I love this pic of Mike laying on his back. He's so fun to lay on and rub down. Mac was the first one to actually straddle him this week. We can't wait 'til we can ride him!

Earlier this week Cisco got his first lesson out in the open. He did so great that she's been training him out in the pasture all week. I'm learning a lot too, and loving it! Going to train with Joann is the highlight of my day. Today it was raining again and Joann didn't come up. I went over with the kids after school and caught Cisco up, put on his halter, and let him eat out in the pasture for a while. He was such a good boy and did whatever I asked him to do.

Last week we finished staining our flooring and installing the lockers in the mudroom. It's been such a chore and I'm so glad it's over! I think it turned out pretty good.

These are the stairs down to the family room. The paint for the walls and the railing will be done another day--sometime when life slows down a bit, or when it finally drives me crazy and becomes a priority.

A couple of days ago Sabrina and Kristina got Mischy all dressed up and taught her some ballet. I have it on video and will try to put it on here if I can figure it out. Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. Hopefully I'm getting used to the school thing and will be back blogging regularly. Grandpa & Grandma Steele are coming next week and we're so excited! They'll be here for 2 whole weeks! Love you, family!

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!!