National Day of the American Cowboy

You may or may not have known that July 19th is the National Day of the American Cowboy. Thanks to our Grandpa Joe we now get to celebrate it! My bonus dad, Joe was selected from Cache Valley to represent those that carry on the spirit of the American Cowboy and their significant role in our western culture.

Here is what President Bush had to say, "From the early days of the Western frontier, cowboys have exemplified integrity, courage, and the American spirit of adventure. Today, cowboys and ranchers continue to embody the values of hard work and determination that built our country. They are stewards of our land, and their efforts are essential to conserving our Nation's resources and advancing our prosperity."

He was honored at a dinner and rodeo the evening of the 19th in Ogden, Utah. We were excited to share that rare opportunity with him. Thanks, Grandpa Joe, for being such a great example to us! You truly deserved the honor you received, and much more. We all love you!!!

Here is the bio they published in the programs on him...

Joe Fuhriman is a fourth generation rancher in Cache Valley. His ranch is one of the last undeveloped parcels of the historic Elkhorn Ranch and is designated as a Utah Century Farm. Joe has been an active voice for agricultural conservation and preservation. He serves as Chairman of the Cache County Agricultural Advisory Board, President of the Cache Cattleman's Association, and is on the Board of Directors of the Cache County Farm Bureau. In 2007 Joe spearheaded a project to help central Utah ranchers who had lost their grazing lands in the Milford Flat Fire. Joe donated hay and challenged Cache County ranchers to do the same. With help from the media, contributions came in from neighboring counties and states. Joe and Carol have 4 children and 11 grandchildren.

A needed reminder

Summer brings a new challenge to myself and all moms out there. Whenever errands need to be run it becomes a matter of packing up everyone in the house to go do them. Today was one of those days. We got a little later start than I’d planned (which isn’t unusual). The kids were pretty patient as I dragged them in and out of stores, the carwash, and other places we had on our list. We were on our 6th and final stop for the day, when I could tell that I had pushed my limits. I know all of you out there know the feeling when you know that any minute the dam is going to burst. The older kids were restless, Sabrina had fallen and skinned her knees twice, and I was holding the baby whose diaper was overflowing (if you know what I mean). Kalista was not happy with being held (okay, she was screaming), but the last time we were in Michaels she broke two art pencils that we didn’t need to buy costing us a needless $6. I didn’t want that to happen again.

Relieved to be done with our escapade I ushered the kids through Michaels’ parking lot and into the car. I thought I’d heard someone call to me, but I glanced around and saw no one I knew. As I was putting the last kid in her seatbelt when I heard a whistle and a “Hey” coming from two cars over. I turned to see two older gentleman, maybe in their late 70’s calling to me. I cautiously walked over to them. They must have been patiently waiting in the car for their wives to come out. The man in the back seat proceeded with a conversation that went something like this.

“I was just telling my buddy here how lucky you are. Those were the best years of my life - when my kids were your kids’ age. You have wonderful treasures. There are other women that are your age that look much older that don’t have kids. Having kids makes you look young. You are so lucky. They are treasures.”

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. When I was completely pushed to my limit (as were my kids) and feeling overwhelmed with my load, the Lord sent 2 elderly angels to remind me what treasures my children are. I often spend so much time trying to get things done I forget to cherish the few moments that they are mine. I marvel that in the 80 or so years that these gentlemen have lived that these years I’m living now are really the golden years. Just a shout out to all you moms out there to keep up the great work you’re doing! Besides all these kids make us look younger! :) (Okay, so maybe their eyesight wasn’t what it used to be.)

A little work and lots of play!

Rory really enjoys his job at Qwest. As a coach he gets to do some pretty fun things. They constantly have contest running to get the employees motivated. I guess the people planning those contests must have it in for the managers because these are a few of their rewards.

For this one they got to "earn" pies to be thrown in the faces of their coaches. Apparently Rory's team did well!

Two weeks later this was the next contest. The kids had a blast watching, and participating in Daddy getting dunked! Thanks, Qwest, for letting us play too and for taking good care of our dad!

Kali's 2nd Birthday

Kalista celebrated her 2nd birthday on the 10th of July. We kept it pretty low keyed with the eating of the birthday cake and visits from grandma's and grandpa's. It's hard to believe that Kali has only been in our family for 2 years. She has a great big spirit wrapped up in that little body of hers. Here are a few things about Kali...

Her first piggy tails!

She gets away with more than she should. Here she climbed up on the table, laid down and started drinking her juice. She loves to climb anything and everything she can. We've had to lock the bathroom doors to keep her off the counters and out of the water! (Check out the non-matching shoes - she loves shoes, especially if they're not hers.)

She's just started smearing things in her hair. This is whipped cream but she also has tried peanut butter a couple of times and her favorite food - ranch dressing.

She has a serious drinking problem! She would just drink and drink and drink all day if we let her. She prefers gatorade, but is happy with anything but water.

Kali loves to move and play and be busy. We've said she's the brother Jacob never had.

Kali loves sucking on her two fingers. They are her constant comfort. It's better than a binky because we can't ever loose them, but worse because we're going to have a hard time getting rid of them.

We all love you, Kali!!!

Our Independence Week

The week of July 4th we spent camping at Hyrum Dam. I know, you're thinking, "Don't they live in Hyrum? Don't they live just a few blocks form the reservoir? Isn't that kind of silly?" Well, the answer to all of those is YES! But with gas prices at $4.07 at least we didn't waste any money on gas!!! It was actually nice because the kids were still able to go to all of their camps and classes and I was able to come home and take a shower! We had fun playing on the beach a couple of days. You won't be surprised that our friends, the Lamb family came to camp with us. The kids have so much fun playing together. The Lamb's sister and brother-in-law have a boat, so we were able to go boating on the 4th. We all loved it!!! Thanks to Katie and Jeff for sharing with us! While we weren't able to do fireworks in the state park, but we did catch the Hyrum parade and a few fireworks over the tops of the trees. As we were packing up to go home, Sabrina started crying, saying, "I want to stay here forever and ever!"

A Funny Moment...

We have to clean up really fast after dinner in order to keep the cats and Kali from taking care of the dinner that didn't get eaten. Well on this particular evening it didn't happen. This is what I found...

Kali taking someone else's food...

And feeding it to the cat!

They're both completely content!

(Check out her shoes - their not hers either)

Fun at Lagoon

June 25th and 26th we went to Lagoon. Or "The Lagoon" as some of my kids like to call it. The kids had a blast! Maybe starting Jacob on Lagoons new ride "Wicked" wasn't a good idea for his first roller coaster experience, but they were troopers to try everything. We kind of divided and conquered with Rory taking the older three on the big kid rides, while I took the little two to the safer and much calmer kid section. The big kids loved the tilt-a-whirl, white roller coaster and the tidal wave. Sabrina loved the carousel and Kali just wanted to keep riding. She would scream every time we took her off, until we convinced her there were more rides to ride (she loves that adrenalin rush).

We rode rides until we were completely exhausted and they kicked us out at 10pm. Then we camped in Lagoon's campground. The next day we "bounced back" and started our day at Lagoona Beach. We didn't get any pictures since we were just trying to keep all the kids from drowning, but the kids had a blast! You'll also notice from the pictures that we're all dressed the same. I know, it's kind of nerdy, but there was no loosing kids when they were dressed in bright green and orange. Yes, we drew more attention than I had expected, but just for the ease of keeping track of the 7 of us I'd do it again. By the second evening we were all way past tired. The temperatures had been in the mid to high 90's, so we were glad to be heading home. Thanks to the Lamb's for putting up with us for 2 days and for helping with the kids, it wouldn't have been the same without you!