Apricots

Games in the Park

Every year following the 24th of July Parade we go to the park to play games. I must say the prizes are much cooler than when I was a kid.

A little softball toss!

The line to the fishing pond was INSANE! We got a little bored.

Fishing for canning lids.. Got some way cool prizes here.

Like this cool ball that Piper kept ripping the pokies off of and trying to eat.

Foot races. Every year they have foot races for everyone from the crawler up to the old guys and gals! Pretty funny to watch. This cute kid won 2nd place for the 7 & 8 year old boys and won a two dollar bill. Made him the happiest kid ever! I especially love the fashion statement he's got going with the rolled up wrangers. Classic J.D.

Little Buckaroo

Another Piute Country tradition. The Little Buckaroo Rodeo, a chance for the kids to ride a sheep, swing a rope and have a good ole' time!
Piper did not compete this year. Maybe next year.... I didn't think she'd do it, but she is pretty tough. She spent most the night hanging out with Andie. Thanks a bunch to Andie, because I couldn't have done it without her.

My cute Mason riding a stick horse.

I have a little head inside a BIG hat!

Look at those baby blues!! This kid is cute.

Wrangler butts!

My Little Cowboy......

Tyson showing his roping skills. Dang cute...

2009 Piute County Mutton Busting Champion

Brenden Smith

And he's also a pretty cute kid, I might add...

I got a hug and picture of the dirt in his teeth!

What a stud! He didn't even cry and he did awesome. It's all he can talk about. Looks like I have another cowboy on my hands.

Do you see the fear in his face? He did a great job, but it made him not want to ride a calf. Apparently it hurts when you fall off the sheep.

I LOVE MY LITTLE COWBOYS!

Fish Rodeo

Never been to a fish rodeo? Well in Marysvale it's a tradition. Every 24th of July they fill up the old dance hall with water, turn loose a thousand or so trout and sick hundrends of children on the poor unsuspecting fish. It's a riot to watch and one of the very reasons we go home every year.

Here we are hanging out on the back of the fire truck waiting for the rodeo to start. My sweet hubby is a fish cop every year. And Austin is on the fire department. It helps to know people in high places!

Flint went with us this year and he got to help. Lucky him! He looked a little confused at the whole concept.

In the midst of the filling of the dance hall a call came in for the ambulance. Sherry handed Riyo to me and took off running. It was the Barbens and they had been in a wreck at the Cottonwood Rd. turn..... Well, luckily they were all okay, but they called for the ambulance because Jordan's wife had to be cut out of the car. So off went Austin, Troy and Clay, which left Josh and Flint the only guys there. Imagine our suprise to see the Wilde's (used to be our neighbors) in Marysvale. Luckily Tina was waiting by us and she took Piper off my hands until my mom could come and get Riyo. HECTIC!! Thank Heavens everyone was okay and the fire truck came back pretty quickly.

My desert dwelling children freezing to death in the 80 degree weather.

Brannigan did not want to go in the water once they released the fish. He was perfectly happy standing on the sidelines.

My husband in his sexy fish cop shirt!

One fish, two fish, rainbow trout fish......

On the hunt.... The kid behind J.D. was ruthless.

It doesn't get any better than this!

Wanna come next year????

Marysvale

This is only a few of the pictures that I took during the week that we were in Marysvale. I have hundreds of pictures to choose from and some of them I will post in groups in the next few days. We had a GREAT week hanging out with the cousins and living the small town life. We went 4-wheeling, on lot's of picnics, swimming, and just in general had a great time. We went to Tugs every day for a .25 cent ice cream cone and once we rode up to the cemetery and I showed my kids my dads grave. Then we walked over and looked at the old Pioneer cemetery. It was so sad to see all the baby graves. J.D. especially found the cemetery interesting.

We went to Richfield and went swimming with Linsey, Tyler & Parker. We had Happy Meals in the park and went for walks on the track. We enjoyed the mild weather so much! I pulled into St. George last night at 11 p.m. and it was still 93 degrees! Ugh!

I think I could live in Marysvale. The slower paced life is so nice and enjoyable. My kids thrive in that environment. It was just an awesome week. Thanks to Sherry for letting us stay!!

This should be a pampers commercial

That's a lot of water batman!!

Holy Absorbent!

I should send this to Pampers???

Judge's Favorite

Nothing beats a small town parade!

Here we have the Fauntins .... An old pick up truck a cougar skin, some deer horns and some sage brush!! Wala, you have a float. A pretty cool one at that, if I must admit.

Here was our float. WE WON JUDGES CHOICE!! $50.00, BABY!! We used it to buy pizza and fireworks that night! It was pretty cute, it I do say so myself. We had 300 Otter Pops to throw out and they were gone before we had even done 1/3rd of the parade route!! The kids were throwing out 10 to 20 at a time, I swear..

I didn't get very many pictures because I was driving the truck. Here is a bunch of 4-wheelers that were in front of us.

My little nephew, Brannigan. He won in the best bike/walker division, which was a great thing, because later that night, he shout out Grandma's truck window with the BB gun. So much for prize money!!

Nothing beats a small town parade!! They are awesome. They are full of ATV's and horses and kids on bikes. The best ever!

Fireworks

Hanging out with the cousins on the 24th of July. We watched fireworks on Thursday night down at the park. Josh loves the 24th for the one reason that he gets to go and set off fireworks with the fire department. The kids were so noisy sitting in the bed of the truck. They had a blast. On Friday night, we watched fireworks at Sherry's house in the front yard. You get a lot of OOH's & AAH's no matter if they are big fireworks or little ones at home. It's always a good time!

Going Home

Cascade Falls in Marysvale Utah

I love going home. It rejuvenates me. Every year we go home for the Pioneer Day Celebrations. I love parades that consist mostly of 4-wheelers and horses. Oh, and kids on bikes with streamers coming out of the handle bars and cards in the spokes of their wheels. And a float or two! I love to see the American Legion, presenting the colors of this fabulous nation, in which we live. The Rodeo Princesses and the DUP float. Good times, good times!!

I love playing games with the kids in the park. Running foot races to win a a dollar and visiting in the shade with childhood friends and family. I love a good rodeo and a GOOD hamburger. Throw in a cotton Candy and a snow cone and the day is complete. I love being eaten to death by mosquitoes while we wait for the fireworks to start. I love that my husband fits in so completely and gets to help out with these events even though we don't live there.

I love watching hundreds of kids chase fish in the dance hall. I love watching the firetruck play it's part in making sure we all get soaked. I just love everything about the 24th of July in Marysvale. It makes me happy.

With that said, I hope you all have a great Pioneer Day and remember those brave pioneers who sacrificed so much to make a home in this great state.

I was bored

Your sitting in a parking lot, in a 105 degree weather with a ton of humidity. You have 20 minutes to wait, what do you do? You take self-portraits of yourself!!!

Okay, it's hot. Time to get back in the car and turn on the air conditioning!

This one looks kinda cool.

GOOD NIGHT!

J.D.'s Family Party

This is the happiest Cowboy in the whole wide worlds. The boy made out like a bandit and got all his cowboy wants and wishes filled.

Maggie and Eric gave J.D. an Ipod shuffle for his birthday. He was so excited! They wrapped it in a box filled with Reeses. He was excited and went to set it aside and Kris said, "J.D. count how many reeses there are." So he started counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ( screams it)IPOD!, 6,7,8,9,10. He just kept right on counting. It was so funny. This was right when he saw the ipod. He listened to it all day today. It was frustrating me at the store because he couldn't hear me because he had it on. He also sings at the top of lungs to it. I don't think he realizes we can hear him, since he can't hear himself. A cowboy who sings High School Musical 3 songs all day!

Every year the boy gets boots and wranglers for his birthday. It started the year he turned 3. You think he would be sick of it, but nope. Every year, it's what he asks for.

Hope your day was the greatest, just like you. Love you J.D.