"Hey, Pig Farmer!"

Whoops! Even Pig Farmers make mistakes. Yep, Dave realized this when he went out to feed Saturday night and saw baby pigs walking around. Oreo was having babies and Dave was not prepared for that. He told me earlier that he would be able to tell when she was going to have her babies, but she surpised him. Well, he couldn't put her in her crate until after she was all done. So I started calling him, "Hey, Pig Farmer!" I told him he better stay up until she was all done. So he did. He finally got to go to bed at about 2:00 a.m. "Oh well," I said, "That's what Pig Farmers do!"

Mother Daughter Retreat at Flaming Gorge

Mariah and I got to go to a gorgeous cabin in Flaming Gorge for a Mother/Daughter retreat. (Young boys with curly hair got to come too!) She and Gage filled her pinata with candy for the event.
The Whitings enjoyed their own personal exercise room and put the machinery to good use. Well at least for a minute!
There was a little IPOD Karioke (please tell me how to spell that word) going on as well.

Where's He Going?

We wished the Grandparents could have been here so we did the next best thing. We called them and let them listen as Dayton read his letter.

Houston Texas South Mission. That mission runs all along the Gulf of Mexico. He'll be right next door to his roommate, Jason, who is going to the Houston Mission. Dayton will leave on October 1st.
These are the candybar winners. They guessed the closest to where Dayton would be going!

The 6:00 p.m. Letter Opening

The Whitings came.
The Wallaces came.
More Wallaces.
And, of course, we came.

Dayton's Mission Call Came...

Today our mail carrier brought this special envelope right up to our door. She was willing to face our vicious dog, just to bring it to us because she knew it was important! It made me start crying as soon as I saw it. I guess that's a mom's right. Dayton saw it when he came home for lunch. He started to tear the corner and that's when we knew we would have to closely supervise that kid so that he wouldn't open it until everyone was here. I hid it in a strategic spot until 6:00 p.m.
We got out the maps and started to guess where he might be going. Cayden chose the Volcano Islands. Hum, do people live on the Volcano Islands?
Mariah could not decide between these three places. She finally settled on Italy. After Dayton opened his call, she 'wished' she would have chosen Louisiana!

The Grill Master Is Back!

Dave's "manhood" has been reclaimed! He is the grill master once again. He lost that priviledge 3 years ago when he burned down the gulch. Yep, he was expecting to receive a new grill that year for Father's Day but he didn't; he paid for those 30 firefighters and 3 fire trucks instead. He didn't get a grill the next Father's Day either, nor the next. Finally, Father's Day of 2008 he has been reinstated to Grillmaster. His name is restored and he is a happy man! So are we, those shish-ka-bobs were rather tasty!

Check Out Our Farmer Tans

We've decided that our boys must have some of the best farmer tans in town. There's no "sittin" by the swimming pool for these kids. They're workin' in the fields, (well golf course), and gettin' some mighty fine color. Those girls will be impressed.

Is It Legal to "Bet" at the Golf Course?

You know that if the boys get Dave to go to the golf course, there has got to be some betting going on. Mom has banned this type of gambling in the past, but I don't think that they are listening. All I know is that money is exchanged when they come home! Dayton is usually the one receiving the money. Oh well, it's going to a good cause...he can use it on his mission!

Mr. Demanding Goes To Timberline

We've renamed our kids and this week Mr. Demanding went to scout leadership camp. It was so quiet around our house. We named Dayton, "Mr. Expecting" because he just expects things to be done for him. Cayden is "Mr. Demanding" because he simply demands it to be done. Bo is our saving grace. We call him "Mr. Appreciative." He expects nothing and demands nothing. He just always acts quict surprised and thankful that we do anything for him; like cook him a meal, wash his clothes, or say he can go to a movie! We don't have a name for Mariah however.

Can you believe that these kids spent all week in a dusty scout camp wearing these same clothes every day? They looked amazingly clean on Saturday when we picked them up and they smelled good too! I was simply shocked!

So this week, Mr. Demanding was gone to scout camp and Mr. Appreciative was gone to Youth Conference and Mr. Expecting worked from dawn to dusk. It was a pretty quiet week.

Dayton't Mission Papers Have Been Sent In!

Dayton is now faithfully checking the mail! His mission papers were sent in Sunday. We should find out where he is going in about a week. We're taking any guesses here on the comment link! He's really secretly hoping for something in the States!

A Little Family Golf...

The boys have really enjoyed golfing together. Whether it's at the golf course or at home. I had to kind of put a few rules down when I saw Cayden taking Dayton $10.00 in change that he had lost in a golf bet though!

Cayden Turns 13!

Well we added another teenager to our family. Yep, Cayden turned thirteen on Friday the thirteenth. He was so busy working at the golf course that we really didn't do a lot of celebrating. We gave him his headphones early and Mariah made him a cake. He left for work at 5 a.m. and returned home at 11 p.m. (Aren't there child labor laws for these things???) Anyway, the Whitings came Sunday morning and apologized for missing our birthday boy. I actually had to ask Lezlee whose birthday they had missed!

The Driveway is Done!

Dave and the boys worked hard Saturday afternoon to finally get the driveway done. Boy it sure looks great. We are all hoping that Dave will let us eventually walk and drive on it someday!

Hoping for a Garden Miracle

Cado and Roo spent the morning planting rows of corn. Dave and them are really hoping that we can have a successful garden this year. (Yep, that would be a miracle).

The Great Picture Mysteries...

The Great Picture Mystery is happening again at our house. Every once and a while this occurs. It seems that randomly a picture gets put in the coveted spot of the wreath above the fireplace. Hum, we can never tell who did it. We never see them do it. We can only guess! Usually the pictures of our four children are placed neatly along the mantle in chronological order, but not right now...the Great Picture Mystery has hit again. If anyone has any clues, please let us know!

Are Family Projects Really That Fun?

Here are Dave and the boys as they work on the family project of retarring our asphalt. This is a money saving endeavor and an attempt at building family unity. Hum, I'm not sure if it is working. Just look at the expressions on the boys' faces as they watch Dave scrap every inch of dust off of the driveway. The boys' jobs are varied and exciting as well. We have shovelers, sweepers and Dayton is the blower. (Everyone wonders how he always gets the cushy jobs.) Anyway, the look of amusement on the boys' faces is sure to tell you that they are not amused. They realize that they are just going to have to do this same process tomorrow and again and again until we finally have a warm day to spread the tar. Keep up your sense of humor... children! HA

Is It Really June?

We built a fire in our fireplace this morning. Can you believe that? It's June! Dave said it was probably the first time a fire has been built in our fireplace...ever in June. It warmed up the house though and by the time afternoon hit and the sun finally came out, I was turning on the air conditioning to cool off! (Not really, I just opened doors!)

Summer School Success...

It was the first day of summer school at our house. Mariah and Dave have worked diligently to be ready for this day! Five friends came and they followed the schedule that Mariah had planned out. They first read for 15 minutes and then they had a book discussion.
They did some puzzle pages and a reading page and then they made a collage where they created their own stories. It was cute to watch them tell each other their stories.
I think that their favorite part of the day was the Around the World time. Each week a girl will spotlight a part of the world and tell about it. Mariah told about Mexico. Her friends "oohhed and ahhed" over the things that she showed them. They were a very good audience.

Then the girls got to make Mexican Wedding Cakes as their final activity. I don't think that any of them had ever had them before. They thought they were grand!

So Far, So Good..

Well we have had our first 2 days of summer and I can honestly say that things are going well. Usually I can't say this because it seems like these first few weeks are big adjustments for everyone and there is often quite a bit of bickering. This year is running a little better. Dayton and Bo go to work at 7:00 a.m. and work all day at the golf course. We see them for a minute at lunchtime. They have both decided that riding motorcycles is the way to go and saving a lot of gas that way! Dayton has to ride on the side streets because his bike isn't street legal. That humors Bo! Cayden is working diligently with Dave. He is earning $3.00 per hour and his goal is to get in 300 hours this summer. Dave told him that he is going to have to work more than 4 hours a day if he wants to get this in. Mariah is just busily happy. She is busy getting summer school ready and has played with Denielle. I've been going into work in the mornings and then Dave has been going in in the afternoons. It's working out well for both of us. Like I said before, "so far, so good."