Wild West Jamboree

Howdy Partner!

Tonight, we made our way down to the Wild West Jamboree at Rendevous Park. It's a free event put on by the Parks District. We've gone several of the last 5 years. We had lots of fun LINE dancing!

When we got there the food LINE was humungous! I mean HUMUNGOUS! (Maybe 250 people) Mom waited in LINE while the kids headed for the Archery LINE. Unfortunately, that LINE took forever so by the time they made it to their turn, Justice was the only one that had stuck it out. He looks awesome though! Way to go Buddy! They finished just in time for us to get to the front of the food LINE.

Meanwhile, the girls decided to join me in the food LINE. Along the way we came to the Face Painting LINE. Luckily, it went parallel to my LINE so they hoped in to wait. The Swansons (or part of them) found us and joined us for the rest of the evening. The girls LOVE Kaitlin so it worked great! {After a half an hour, I actually called Heather on he cell to tell her who had stole her daughter. LOL!} Timing was fabulous because as soon as they got to the front of the LINE, Justice got back to get his hand painted and we had just got our food. Gotta love LINE dancing! The kids looked very cute with their faces painted:

As soon as we got our food (hotdogs with no buns, chips but no water. LOL!... They had WAY more people than they had expected but hey- free is free, right?) and the kids were being body-arted, I had Brett stand in LINE for the Horse-y Ride (Wagon Ride to ya'll). We ate dinner while we walked in the LINE. LOL! (In case, you are beginning to wonder--Even with the constant LINE hopping, we were having a great time!)  Heather and Trae met us just before our turn so they joined us for the ride. Glory was so excited for the horseys. She would have rode them all night. The was very short but sweet.

It turns out that LINE standing was not a favorite for the kids but while we aited for our ride, they found the sand and the lake. Did you know that water is magnetic? LOL! Well, it is to kids at least. Before I could even turn around, they had their shoes off and were in the water. With the "NO Swimming" Sign posted on the beach, I had to be the mean Mommy. They resorted to building sand castles. :) But hey, it passed the time. Whatever works, right?

After our horsey adventure, we turned our real Cowboy on and did some Lasso Twirlin' and some Steer Wranglin'. It was way fun! Cowboy Buck showed us how it's done! He actually had a booth setup for Cowboy Buck Engraving. His Laser stuff was so neat! And his prices AT the Jamboree were great. I have so many ideas to take to him. Maybe even some ideas for my Christmas Ornament Exchange. I'm so excited! http://www.cowboybuckengraving.com/

We finished the evening out with a little rock climbing. Less cowboyish but fun nonetheless. We actually even ran into our neigbors, the Alms. Tina & Taelyn visited and played with the Swansons and us until the mosquitos did us in. Gotta love ND in the Summer.

The Wild West Jamboree gets too thumbs up from the Seamons clan. It was a lot of fun!

Big Girl, Big Bed

My babies are growing up!

A few weeks ago, there were some people that were leaving our ward that were getting rid of some twin mattresses. We jumped on the idea that maybe it was time to switch the little ones to big beds. We didn't quite have plans but after a little Craigslist searching, Brett found some Bunk beds. We went and looked at them and liked them. However, they are red which one one hand is totally our family but on the other, doesn't go very well with the pink and purple room decor. Dang! Guess we'll have to redo it all. YEAH for me! Bummer for the pocketbook. I did find some fabric in the To-Do box in my Craft room. If I add a few more things to it, I think I can make 2 matching quilts. Then, when the quilts are finished-- of course, there's the pillowcases and throw pillows, and rug and curtains and wallart and flower basket-- am I leaving anything out? LOL! It will be SOO cute! Stay tuned for the finished products. Hopefully sooner than later. :) I get a little obsessed when it comes to Home-made room themes. Can you tell?

Here's Dad setting up the beds: (of course, the girls had to help)

We left the crib up becuase I was a little worried about how Glory would do. Well, she constantly surprises me with how grown-up she's getting. She slept great! She even did well for naptime. One more night- Awesome! So we took the crib down. :( BooHoo! How did that happen. No more babies at my house. Wowzers! She does look so little in that big bed:

My sweet little (BIG) girl!

Crazy Driver

One title that Mom's are often known for is the Crazy Taxi Cab Driver. Well, today- I earned that title. We signed the kids up for a couple things this Summer and they ALL started to day. Oops! So, no more 10 o'clock sleepins. Dang! Here's my crazy driving schedule for the week:

A. Get people up WAY earlier than normal.

B. Get Liberty to the Native Amercian Art Class at Westside by 8:15 am

C. Then, Justice to Cheney for Packer Basketball Camp by 9:00 am

D. Uptown to the Train Depot to sign Victoria up for Summer Playground Camp

E. Drop Victoria late to Village West Park for Summer Playground Camp that started at 9:00 am

F. Back to Cheney to watch and pick up Brother by 10 am.

G. Back to Westside by 11:15 am to pick up Liberty.

H. Over to Cudneys who luckily picked up Victoria for us since Camp's over at 11:30.

I. Back home to say hi to Dad before he took off out of town.

Whew! I'm exhausted just typing about it! Gotta love the Titles that Mom's get to carry! Luckily it's for only a week. Hopefully, I survive. LOL!

Father's Day Feast

We celebrated all day today!

We started by making breakfast for Brett before Church. Fruit, eggs, toast and bacon. Yummy! Ok-- well it was a Little-Red-Hen morning but the kids were excited for Father's day! (the VeggieTale movie just won out the desire to help make anything LOL!)

After Church and nap, we opened presents! The kids get so excited for gift giving opportunities. Justice made Brett a DryErase board in RW&B, of course. :) Victoria has been making him cards for weeks. Liberty made him a flag out of Bendaroos. They are very thoughtful. We also got him a RWB eagle shirt, some candy and some money for a new Wii game he wants. Happy Father's Day, Honey! We love you so much! XOXO!

We also got to have Matt & Haylie over for the Father's day Feast. And I mean FEAST! We had 2 racks of ribs, humungous T-bone steaks, Potatoes on the grill, corn on the cob, green salad, and the yummiest dessert ever- Eclair cake! OMH! So good! Thanks Honey Haylie! ;) Unfortunately, I got one photo of the last rib and that's it! Oops! You'll just have to trust me how absolutely fabulous everything looked, tasted and smelled. It was SOOOOOO Delicious! [At least Brett and I thought so-- not that everyone else didn't enjoy it but Brett and I were at the table for an extra 45 minutes eating. Too funny. But it was so yummy! And Brett tricked his way into having like 4 or 5 helpings of dessert. I'm surprised we didn't explode.]

The rest of the evening consisted of relaxing in Brett's hamaca (we tested the 1 ton limit by piling as many people as we could fit- it worked by the way!), did the Zipline and of course, took our weekly Sunday walk. Then, there's the Super Mario Wii time whenever Matt's around. He can always get us to the next level. Thanks Matt! Even of you are a "stinker" as Justice says. We luv ya!

We are so grateful for Brett and Matt in our lives. We love you guys! Hope you had an awesome Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

There are many men that I am grateful for today.

First, on my list (especially because he was 2 inches from my face this morning :) is my wonderful husband. He is absolutely amazing! I can never say enough of how truly perfect he is. He works so extremely hard to take care of our little family. He is so fabulous with our children. He is so patient with me. He makes me feel so beautiful and loved and safe. He is majorly HOT!!! AND He is such a great example of the Savior- loving, thoughtful, full of charity, hard-working, prayerful, and diligent in his testimony of the Gospel. We love you so much, Honey! We'd be lost without you. XOXOXOXO

Next, are our earthly fathers. My Dad, Randy and Brett's Dad, Garold are amazing men. They are extremely hard workers and great examples to our family. They are constantly sacrificing for their families and always have. They have taught us so much of what hard work really is. They are both so kind to keep in touch with our family even with us so far away. There is hardly a week that goes by that they don't check on us. They'll never know how much that means to us. We love you both so much!

Next is my Uncle Bud. He and his wife took me in at a time in my life that was critical. I never can repay them for saving me from a situation that could have altered my life forever. They also took our little family in before we moved here so that we could make some plans for the future. We really appreciated their sacrifice of part of their home, time and money for us to be there. We have so much fun laughing and joking with their family when we are with them. (although I have learned well to tune Uncle Bud out when he goes too far - Oops! Sorry about that. LOL!:) He is also a great example of a hard worker and making the most out of life. Thank you so much for the influence you have had on me and my fam. Luv you!
I also can't forget those special men here in Fargo that always look out for our little family when Brett's away and are so kind and loving to our children. Thank you so much for being our family away from home. You are men that are teaching our children things that I hope they will continue to do the rest of their lives. We love you!
Finally, but by no means the least, is my gracious Heavenly Father. He has given me everything and I would be very ungrateful if I didn't take the chance to honor Him today. Thank you so much for your Son, Jesus Christ and the sacrifice you both made for me. Thank you for this earth and the beauty that surrounds me every day. Thank you for your watchful hand upon me daily and for your forgiveness in my shortcomings. I am truly blessed because of YOU! Thank you for being my FATHER!

Happy Father's Day

to all those amazing men in our lives!

We love you!!!

Brain Surgery & Flash Floods

When I was growing up, my cousin Tasha had brain surgery. OK... not really! It was just a visit to the dentist. But Uncle Bud videotaped her when she got home. She had no use of one side of her face so needless to say, the video went down in history known as "Tasha's Brain Surgery" So mean! LOL! Today, I had BRAIN SURGERY of my own. When I was finished at Dr. Debates, I came home to this....

While I was being paralyzed on the left side of my face, Brett and the kids were at home battling a FLASH FLOOD that hit our neighborhood. At 4am this morning, we had a crazy Thunderstorm hit right above our house. It drenched everything. Then about 8:30am, another one hit. This time with QUARTER-size hail and way too much water. Brett was hoping out of the shower when things in the basement started dripping. There was a leak in the bathroom and a spilling-over-the-foundation fountain in the back room. The kids came to the rescue with 8 of our brand new bathroom towels. LOL! They're washable, right? Thankfully, they did stop the water from going farther into the house. Outside was an even bigger problem. Within minutes, the backyard was a LAKE.  Luckily, Brett didn't electrocute himself as he hooked up the outdoor sump pump to start pumping the water out to the road while the rain was still coming down hard. The front gutter (which is missing the end piece) was shooting water half way across the driveway at incredible force. We think we got almost 6 inches within that 1/2 hour. CRAZY!!! Our poor little garden!!!! I hope it will survive.

When I came home with my stroke-like face, neighbors were out discussing what disasters had hit their homes. I'm sure I was quite a site chatting with them through the Elvis-style smile. SO embarrassing!

Our next door neighbors, the Rays, got 2 inches of rain water in their basement with 10 minutes. Val said that there was a phone book on the floor that was completely under water. So sad! They spent the entire day trying to clean it up. They lost quite a bit of stuff down there. We feel very blessed our home didn't get any more damage than it did.

Just two houses down, our street had filled completely with water. Liberty waded down through it to say hi to a friend. It was almost up to her calves. It was just amazing how much rain we got in such a small bit of time. Even more amazing was that where I was (at the Dentist) which is only 12 minutes away, we saw the clouds & heard the thunder but only got a few drops of rain. Isn't that crazy??

The kids had a blast playing in the water. They swang, splashed, sat and jumped in puddles all morning. I think we went through 5 different outfits for Glory throughout the day. LOL!
Amazingly, within an hour or two, not much evidence remained of our natural disaster. In fact, if you had been on the other side of town and no pictures were taken, there's a good chance, you wouldn't have even believe us.

Gotta love Mother Nature!!!

Brett's Hamaca

Brett got a new toy that he has been sharing. The whole family LOVES it! We're living the good life. Supposedly, it can hold 10 Brett's. Don't think we'll be trying that though! LOL!