Back to Blogging Easter

Wow it has been so long....I have been through so much and will little by little catch you up on the past months. For now let's enjoy some fun times like Easter Egg Art.

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Our family has grown. Chase and Serina are Howards now with the adoption final. And Baby Zane was born April 3, 2011 We are having so much fun with this new addition to our family.

Howard Happenings

Fall has come fast here and it is getting cold already. The colors are just beautiful this fall.
We are having fun with all the Halloween activities.
Pumpkin carving night

We had fun but missed Kassie being with us. She goes to Cosmetology school at night and College in the day so she is on a very busy schedule.

4-H Fair Time

This summer has gone by fast. It's fair time and then school will start.

The Howard bunch had a very good fair.

Madison was 3rd and 6th I think with her goats

Chase was class champion with his goat

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Kassie was able to show in the round robbin showmanship and had a ball!

Kassie was class champion with one goat and placed 3rd with the other one...

Great Fair over All....why am I so tired?

Busy Summer....

Greg has been busy playing with the SLV Big Band this summer. This photo was taken in Red River NM.

Greg and I on the Taos bridge. We were on our way to Red River for him to play with the band.

Chase likes to play with this little gal.

Kass spins her dad a nice one on Wally who is 20 years old this year

Our dear friends from TX here to visit and rope a few

We enjoyed the nephews from Longmont for almost a week.

The big boss and her brother out watching everyone partake in horsey stuff

Maddie and Romo just chillin

This photo captures my heart...My little girl (now 18) all grown up and doing what she loves.
As you can see we have had a full summer. I have not taken the time to blog but will do better...or more often.

Wonder what I have been up to?

In reference to my last post....the wind is still blowing but it is warming up. Everything is turning green and coming to life.
Greg helping Kass with her invites

Kassie Powder Puff Football Game

May is a crazy month for all of us. Kassie is graduating and she already started cosmetology school. She will go through the summer and then in the fall she will start classes at Adams State and go to Cosmetology school at night.
Serina is doing great healing more every day.

Greg Danced with all his girls at the Wedding ....here he is with Serina
Chase has been busy at school and he did very well with his 1mile fun run at school. He placed 4th out of his age group of boys. He is getting ready to turn 9 and can't wait to have a Birthday Party. He has gone on so many fun learning field trips for school. He goes to the Great National Sand Dunes tomorrow. He is excited because Greg is going to be the Bus driver for the trip.
Maddie is super busy she went out for track. We went to her band concert last week and it was a delight. She has been riding her horse and seems to be bonding so that is awesome.
The kids weighed in their 4-H goats and are feeding and working with them. We built a new pen for them. That was fun all of us out there getting dirty and productive.
Greg has been working for the school driving the bus and still working hard to try to close loans ( tough business right now).
I have been busy overseeing all of this! My mom and I had the opportunity to take photos of a good friends wedding last weekend. I have been on my horse more times already this year than in the last 2 combined so that is progress.
Sorry I don't make time to blog more...I enjoy reading all of yours.
God Bless you all

Good morning

Good morning it is...no wind this morning.
There are so many wonderful things about where I live in Colorado...but in the spring we have winds like you can't believe....you know dirt flying constant winds for weeks.
This morning there is none....yippee
It's going to be a great day!

Putter Putter

Today I just puttered around my house picking up this and putting away that. Scrubbed the kitchen floor and ran the vacuum. Didn't really do anything to set the world on fire but enjoyed just being home all by myself.
Wishing you all a putter putter day.

First Day Of Sprin...

Today was the first day that it seemed like Spring may really come. It was beautiful and we spent most of the day outside. Everyone here is trying to leg up their horses so everyone rode without wind or snow. Chase, Serina and I fertilized some flower beds and put some on our garden area.
I feel new life in me and around me. Amen

Busy Week!

Came back from relaxing in the sun and had to pick up the pace real quick. You don't realize how fast your life runs until you take some time off and get away from it. We got Kassie's Prom Dress ordered on Tuesday and it came on Thursday. It is beautiful and fits very well.

My cold is getting better but now Greg has it and the kids have all had a touch of it. The kids go back to school today after a week home for Spring Break.
Madison is finishing up with her Gymnastics and Kassie is getting ready to start Beauty School. Kassie wants to go to Beauty School in the evenings and take classes at Adams State to get started with the classes she has to take before she can start the nursing program. It is hard for the young kids to get jobs here so she is thinking that Beauty School will allow her to work with me and our business is flexible for her class schedule.

The little ones are doing well. Chase is doing pee wee wrestling and loving it. Serina is finally doing better after her surgery in Sept. I think that we finally have a good med regimen going on. She has new wheelchairs that sit her so much better and that is a God send. If we can get her to put on weight and get stronger we will have it made.

Now if it will warm up so spring can come we have it made.

Vacation

Greg and I just got back from Mexico...wow what a fun week of just doing nothing. We stayed at a beautiful Resort and had a ball.

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Fun with the B-Ball Girls

Each week the parents take turns feeding the team the night before home games. Lori and I fed them at Tandi's. These girls really keep us young. I hope they all had fun. This is the last time I get to cook for Kassie's team...just a few tears....I will miss watching her play ball. She has loved it since she was little. She has had a very challenging year but Greg and I are so proud of her for going out when quite a few of the girls she has played with for 3 years chose not to play.

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Back at Last

Right before Christmas I got hit with the mother of all computer viruses. After many sessions with computer techs that I could hardly understand we had my machine where it would not even boot up. I was sick that I had lost the last few months worth of photos. Took my computer to a local Computer Dr......Fixed it. So it has taken me some time to get things back up and in order to suit me but I am back.

We had a very blessed Christmas and enjoyed good times with family and friends. Too much good food...that is another blog post all in it's self.

The New year brought Greg's mom and dad's 50th Wedding anniversary in Longmont were we had the opportunity to enjoy Christmas with all of them.

Basketball is in full swing. Madison plays on Tues & Thursdays. Kassie plays on Tues & Fridays and sometimes a third game on Sat. Well I bet you can imagine what I am doing most of the time...and loving every minute of watching my girls play.

Chase is doing well and wrestled with my nephews at the Who's Bad Tournament in Loveland over the New Years weekend. He did well and had fun with Lee & Kyle.

Serina is doing much better this week. She had a turn for the worst with her muscle tone issues over the break but is doing much better now.

Happy to be back and hope you all are getting into the swing of 2010.

Season for making Memories

I made a promise to myself to make this Christmas Season full of memories. I have always tried to do fun things with my girls at Christmas and teach them the true meaning of Christmas. It seems like the whole material hoop-la takes over every year. Giving becomes a task when I try to stretch the few dollars I have to find a nice gift for everyone. Receiving can be so full of guilt because I don't feel like the gift I gave measured up to the one given to me. I am not going there this year! Every gift that I give is going to be from the heart and I am going to be thankful that I had the means to give it. It's going to be a year of making memories....enjoying my family (I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family...every last one of them)...and having fun.

We made a day of Christmas Tree fun.

Sunday we had our annual Christmas Cookie bash.

What a day. We got started around 10:30 and I was finishing up at 10:00pm. I think we all had fun even Greg helped decorate a few(the smiley faces) cookies. The girls are such good help in the kitchen. All those years of being so stressed out and trying to teach them to cook is paying off.

The last ones in the kitchen...begging for a cookie.

Now on to basketball games and band concerts.

I think next weekend we will read the Christmas story from the Bible and have a great meal in honor of Jesus. You know plan it around the football game and kids activities....hehe. Life is crazy but you do what you gotta do.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

Burrrrrr.......

It is getting colder every morning....Or I am getting up earlier. Both I think.

Hope everyone has a warm Wednesday.

Funny

Sunday was such a fun experience for me. Watching my big girls put their expertise to work on our Christmas Tree was even more fun than watching them when they were little.

I let the big girls have at it first and then sent them shopping for a few things so the little ones could put their ornaments on with out anyone bossing them around.

Back to School

WOW...This morning we loaded Serina on the bus to go to school.

She was so excited but nervous. Greg asked her if she wanted him to make her a name tag so the kids would remember her name. She really gave him the what for and told him that she didn't think the kids would know her because her legs weren't crossed. It really makes me be thankful for the simple things I do without even thinking....like putting one foot in front of the other to walk.

Our Thanksgiving Trip

Our Thanksgiving was jam packed with fun and excitement. We headed up to Denver for Serina to see the Dr. on Tuesday. Then we went to Longmont to spend some time with Greg's folks. We had a very relaxing day on Wednesday just enjoyed being with that part of our family.
Thursday We went to Becky and Morgan's for Thanksgiving Dinner. It was WONDERFUL food and a great family get together.

On our way home we met Skeet and Mike so we could meet Keesa and see all of them. It was only for a few minutes but oh so worth it. They really have a beautiful family with those little girls. Can't wait until I can spend more time with my little nieces.

Mile stones

Tomorrow will be 10 long weeks with Serina being out of commission. Picture at the left is Serina before she had her surgery the position of her legs was permanently crossed. Sept 4 she had surgery in hopes of some pain relief and improve her seating and mobility. The Dr.'s worked her over and put her in a bright pink cast with stars that glow in the dark.

Over 7 weeks in the cast. We tried to get her out and about some and she loved it. We took her to Dusty's football games twice. Still she was a trooper...me waking her up every 2 hours to rotate her in the bed...all the caregivers who came to work with her. She never complained


Oct. 22 we took her to have the cast removed...we were so excited. Well it was not that exciting at all. She could not stand to be out of the cast and her legs felt so different. She has been out of the cast a little over 2 weeks and finally yesterday we were able to get her up and in a chair without causing her too much pain or grief.
Ya...what a milestone.