The Terrific Two's!

Let me tell you about "this guy"
Wyatt turned 2 this past September and has finally started to grow some hair.
People say, "Oh no, it's the terrible two's!" but I think it's the "terrific two's!"

Wyatt is so fun to have around; he really is my little friend.

Here's what I've learned about my little friend thus far:

WYATT LOVES . . .

*Cookie Monster, Mickey Mouse, NEMO, Buzz/Woody/Jessie, Chipmunks, Grinch, watching "shows", drawing with markers, shaving with Daddy, brushing his own teeth, running errands, hammers, cowboy boots, SWINGS, playing at the park, riding in the wagon, pulling flowers out of the ground, reading books, singing songs, clapping, marching, getting chased by the remote control car, drawing w/ chalk, chasing Daddy's truck, wearing his "aqua shoes," fake toy foods, pretend cooking, finding sticks, climbing up hills, playing in the mud, climbing on Daddy and MUCH MORE!

Wyatt's favorite foods:
*Applesauce "appulsauce"
*Broccoli "Brockee"
*Oatmeal "oatmeaaa"
*Edamame "beans"
*Strawberries "BB's"
*Bananas "mi-mi's" (I still don't understand where he got that?)
*Grapes "Brrrrapes"
*Noodles "noo-nees"
*Toast "toast"
*Pretzels w/ PB "petzul butta"
*Fruit Snacks "Foonack"
*Chocolate Milk "Choc-mulk"
*WHITE CANDY LIFESAVER MINTS (Oh my gosh! He is obsessed with these.)
*Popcorn "paw-kern"

*He loves dipping his foods into any kind of sauce (yogurt, hummus, ketchup, syrup etc.)
*He must have "BIG" pieces (whole banana, 1/2 an apple, whole toast, entire chip)
*He wakes up every morning and wants oatmeal with berries on top :) Lovin' it
*He and I eat treats sitting down together and he thinks he's special- like popcorn outside, or Edamame's on the bar stool, or fruit snacks on my run in the morning.

"These are a few of his favorite things . . ."
*Pulling all the lids off of markers and lining them up perfectly or putting them on his fingers.
*Tracing his hand on paper.
*Telling Daddy what he did with Mommy during the day.
*Pulling off stickers and putting them everywhere.
*Pretend pooping with Mommy on the pot.
*Climbing on top of Daddy and jumping on his head.
*Going to the "Poo" which means, the pool.
*Singing along to the Disney Sing Along Songs.
*Getting the mail at night with Daddy and his flashlight.
*Searching for golf balls outside.
*Drawing chalk on people's faces.
*Running to the door to scare Daddy as soon as he hears the garage door open.
*Carrying books one at a time from his bed to a different location.
*Performing karate moves to the Kung Fu Panda theme song.
*Putting shaving cream on his face while Daddy shaves.

*NEW favorite SHOWS: Tangled, Disney Sing Alongs, Nephi, & Letter Factory

*BOOKS*
"It's Potty Time"
"Llama, Llama, Red Pajama"
"I Am a Rainbow"
"I Love You, Stinky Face"
"Nutra Fruit Heroes" (Thank you, health teacher :)
"Wally the Whale"
"Snow White" (Mostly because of the "Hi-Ho" song)
"I Love to Laugh!"
"The Mine-O-Saur"

*Favorite SONGS*
"Hi-Ho" from Snow White
"Rio" (the Rio movie theme song)
"BINGO" from Disney Sing Alongs
"Horsey Song" from Disney Sing Alongs
"Following the Leader" from Peter Pan
"Mickey Mouse March"
"Dynamite" by Taio Cruz (yes, he knows almost all the words)
"Clean Up" from Barney
"I love Wyatt, he loves me, he loves Daddy, yessireee...."
"Popcorn Popping"
"Edelweiss"

Wyatt's birthday was very simple--it was all I could do this year. Student teaching was consuming my time and I had barely enough time to relax for 2 hours and celebrate with family.

My greatest desire, being Wyatt's Mom, was to make him a birthday cake. Honestly, that's all I wanted to do for him. I felt like I would be a good Mommy if I could just take the time to at least make him a cake for his second birthday. I kept seeing so many Mom's making these gloriously themed birthday cakes with cool frosting and action figures on top etc... It looked so cool and so fun. I felt like that's what I was supposed to do for my son. After all, he only turns 2 once and when he looks at pictures in the future, he's going to want to see a big, cool birthday cake that his Mom made for him. This was my expectation. I tried so hard to do it.

I called a friend and asked how to make an ice-cream cake. I felt like this would be high tech for me, but not too crazy and expensive (we couldn't afford to go buy a store bought cake either). I tried to bake the night before, I tried to get all the ingredients, I tried to get things ready for my son's birthday and by the time I got home from doing my student teaching that day . . . I came home terrified. I had no birthday cake ready for my son. I couldn't even make a simple, stupid CAKE! I am a horrible Mother. What kind of a Mom can't take the time to do this?

All these thoughts kept going through my head as I frantically tried to whip up a devil's food cake mix. Tears were streaming down my face. I felt like I had failed. I felt pathetic that I couldn't even do this. This is all I wanted to do to prove to MYSELF that I was a good Mother. Of course, Ethan didn't understand these feelings and couldn't understand why I was crying over a cake; no husband would understand I presume. I felt worthless and that my priorities weren't straight.

Then came Wyatt around the corner . . . eyes sparkling, teeth shining, mouth grinning from ear to ear as he yelled, "Ma-ma!" with the most excited look on his face. He ran into my arms and gave me a hug. Nothing could explain this moment. He did not know it was his birthday. He did not know I was crying about his cake. To him, nothing was wrong, nothing was different. He did not see me as a failure-- he saw me as his Mommy--his happiness.

More tender tears streamed down my face as I hugged him tight and stared into his happy face. His eyes pierced my soul and filled me with an overwhelming love that I cannot explain. My incapable thoughts of being a good Mommy vanished and all I could feel was love. The cake didn't matter anymore.

My boy gave me a new perspective that day--one I hope I never lose.

I still managed to finish a simple devils's food cake mix and he didn't know any different....

*Favorite Sayings/Phrases*
"Noooooo!"
"Draw, draw, pink?"
"Getchu-me!" (Get you me? Like I'm going to get you)
"Back, back." (I'll be right back) He puts his hand up like stop.
"Watch show?"
"Pay friends?"
"Tiss dis" (kiss this)
"Green beans go!" (Green means go)
"Me fall down."
"Watch, me, now. Otay?"
"Momma.......dat sound......?" (When he hears something strange)
"2 more minutes, otay?"
"Run! Mama! Run!" (As he encourages me when I go running)

Wyatt brings nothing but surprises each day and reminds us of what a privilege it is to be parents of an easy going, innocent, loving child. It's the little things in life that really matter.

I've realized that I care less and less about the mess, and more and more about what life is for.

FUNNEST SUMMER EVER!

I think all of us are guilty of getting too comfortable and complacent in our present situation at times. We start getting used to our personal routines, responsibilities, jobs, and whatever else we are consumed with in life. A problem that can occur is that we stop pushing ourselves to do more and we can forget about those things that we love doing.

I think mothers, especially, can get caught in this trap. They have so many responsibilities and spend so much time doing things for others that they can forget about themselves. This can be admirable at times, but mothers (fathers, students, teachers, etc.) must not forget the things they need in their life to make them happy.

To be honest, Ethan and I reached a point where we forgot how to get out and have fun together. Like REALLY HAVE FUN :-) Trust me, we have gone on lots of dates and have had a good time but it was usually in a 20mile radius. You know how it is with a child- you aren't able to go out alone without finding a babysitter and sometimes they're hard to come by. It's like we kind of accepted the fact that we were stuck at home and couldn't get out.

FALSE!

This summer has proven that to be a false statement. We most definitely are NOT stuck at home with a child and we most definitely CAN do a lot of things with/without Wyatt! We have done so many fun and adventurous things this summer and it has made us SO HAPPY! We found ourselves doing activities we did when we were dating and it was a blast. Similarly, the two of us have been able to do things by ourselves with some of our personal friends and that has made a huge difference as well.

I think I have smiled and laughed more this summer than the past two combined! (School was probably a huge factor in this too. This is the first summer the two of us haven't had to worry about school). Either way, this summer has been the FUNNEST SUMMER EVER!

Here's some of the things we/I/Ethan did:

BRIDGE JUMPING

I did a lot of things with my girlfriends this summer & it helped me release a lot of my cooped up energy! One of the things we did was go bridge jumping and it was sweet. I haven't gone bridge jumping for a few years now so it was a thrill!

Random Games & Girl Time:

This is at Smith Park- I have made many visits to Smith Park for free lunches, basketball games on the asphalt, visiting with friends, and doing random stick poles this summer haha. Ethan let me have a lot of girl time and I am so thankful for it. I was able to do some pretty spontaneous things and it has recharged my energy and need to HAVE FUN! All these fun times have done so much for me. After all, I'm still only 23 yrs. old.
(A HUGE THANKS TO ALL MY SINGLE LADIES)

White Water Rafting:

Although Ethan was outnumbered by women on this trip, we had a BLAST! Even despite the fact that I almost died in the water. (A slight exaggeration, but I really did get thrown out of the raft and went under the water about 3 times before I was pulled back into the raft.) This was probably the most thrilling thing we did this summer; thanks to Chalyse and her Dad :)

Rexburg Rapids:

We have spent a lot of time in the water this year and Wyatt is really starting to like it. Our Dad treated the whole family to a day at Rexburg Rapids and it was a lot of fun. Ethan LOVED taking Wyatt around the park and on the tube. They really are becoming such good friends and I thoroughly enjoy watching them spend time together.

SPLASH PARK:

I go to Porter Park AT LEAST once a day but usually two times a day. I love it because Wyatt loves it. He can just run free and play on the playground, draw on the sidewalk with chalk, or play in the water when he gets hot. This is "Wyatt's time" during the day. He loves the water.

DANCE FESTIVAL PARADE:

We've gone to a lot of activities put on by the town. One of which is the farmer's market, and we go there every Friday together. At this parade, however, it rained HARD and it was cut short, but we still had a great time.

MIDNIGHT FUN:

We rode Segways for the first time together! Ohhhhhh man this was fun! Ethan and his friend even went through the Taco Bell drive through with these things. So funny. We've definitely become more closely related to night owls this summer.

5 YEAR REUNION:

I got to plan my High School reunion with some of my long lost friends. This was a treat. The actual reunion turned out to be a success after a lot of hard work, and it was so fun to see my classmates again and talk about what they are accomplishing in life.
(Kaylie Walker, Ashley Siddoway, Me, Kim Dangerfield)

PETTING/PLAYING w/ ANIMALS:

This particular picture was taken at our county fair. Wyatt freaked out when he saw all the animals :) He got to pet a cow, rabbit, horse, sheep, duck, and a chicken. Wyatt and I have also spent a lot of time at the Nature Park feeding the ducks our moldy bread Ha-ha. Wyatt even rode a horse for the first time this year. Way to go lil' buckaroo!

CAMPING:

We've made it a tradition to go camping at least once every summer as a family. We look forward to this every year and this time did not disappoint.

ROCK CLIMBING:

This was Ethan's adventure this summer. He has never been rock climbing before, let alone repelling off a cliff. He went with the guys. He said at the top of the cliff when he was getting ready to repel downward, his leg was shaking uncontrollably. He was so scared but when he came home and told me all about it, he said that everyone called him a pro. Way to go babe.

TUCKERED OUT:

This is just a representation of how much playing we've done this summer. Both Ethan and I have joined Wyatt for his daily nap because we, too, needed a nap.

Trips to the Temple:

This summer we've gone to the temple a lot and Ethan has also brought his camera to take INCREDIBLE pictures of the temple. I love the temple.

OREGON TRIP:

We just randomly decided to pack up our bags and head to Oregon for a week with our friends, Tyler & Jamie! We are so glad we went because we had a ball. We went hiking & tubing, ate delicious food, watched a few movies in their amazing theater room, and Ethan even got to fly a helicopter! WOWZERS.

WATER PARKS & REUNIONS:
Luckily, we were able to make it to all of our family reunions this time. Of course, we ended up playing a lot of games (minute to win it, human checkers, fishing, scavenger hunts, fireworks etc.) and of course, ate a lot of delicious food. This picture is of us at Siera Pool down in Utah and Tanner, Mom, Dad, and I had a one length race to the other side. Tanner beat us all . . . even the champion swimmer, Jill. (We know you were going easy on us Mom)

"FSHHHHH!"
We named our fish, Voldemort.
I die every time I say, "Ethan, it's time to feed you-know-who." HA!
I bought this fish because Wyatt's two favorite movies right now are "Nemo" and "Shark Tales." Plus, all of his bath toys are underwater creatures, so he's kind of into the whole aqua family these days. I was so gitty and excited to surprise Wyatt with his little Beta fish. I got the same thrill I used to get when I went doorbell ditching. You know, when you ring the doorbell and leap off the porch to run behind the bushes. . . and then you wait for the family to open their door. Well, the waiting behind the bush was the same feeling I had as a watched Wyatt walk into the kitchen only to find a REAL FISH swimming around!

He totally freaked out with joy! It made me so happy :) He could not stop looking at it. This was the best $4.00 I've spent in a long time.

FLOWERS & THE OUTDOORS:
I am seriously so sorry for all these yellow balled flowers that Wyatt has plucked from my parents front yard. He just can't help it (ha-ha) they look like bright yellow balls and they are right at his reach! This is actually something we're working on with him because every flower or weed that he sees and likes, he has to go pluck it. Weeds=fine, but flowers=not ok. I've sure enjoyed these moments when he runs up to give me a pretty flower though :)

CHALK:
Ok, Wyatt has this thing for drawing on himself when he picks up chalk. He also loves to draw on other people's faces, so be ye warned! (Thanks to you-know-who...no, not Voldemort our fish, but the other you-know-who, you know who you are HA) Chalk really is the coolest thing though. I wish I would have invented it so I could have millions to spend right now.

Truth is, I've really enjoyed drawing on the sidewalks with chalk too. My favorite thing to do lately is to draw a huge, silly looking face on the walking path at Porter Park and then sit back on the tables or grass 30 ft. away and watch people's reactions while listening to their comments. I laugh so hard. One little kid said, "Woah! Look at that guy. He's cool!" Then his friend said, "Dude watch out! You're stepping on his face." Hahaha One of my favorites is when I drew a bicycle on the path and underneath it I spelled, "SLOW DOWN" in BOLD print. Every biker that rode over it ended up reading it and literally SLOWED DOWN! Hahaha so funny! Now you know what I do to entertain myself. Maybe next time I'll write "Scream if you're happy" and see how many people really do it. (Hee-Hee)

BBG KING:
Hello stud muffin.
Look at that cutesie dutesie apron Eth is wearing. Every time he wears it, someone makes a comment without fail. We have been hosts of many BBQ's this summer because we enjoy throwing get togethers. We've enjoyed having family & friends over to our humble abode to eat some good food. I love how food brings people together.

WATERFALL:
This was our latest venture into the mountains last weekend. Now when the weekends come around, instead of instinctively going to red box and staying at home... we do things like this :)

I know this is a long post but trust me, I could've put a lot more pictures on here. This summer has been marked as one of the funnest summers I've had in my life so far and it is one that's going to be hard to forget. I love making memories :)

Gone Campin'

We've decided that camping is going to be one of our family activities. Every family has their specific hobbies they do for fun--my family was in to music, Ethan's was in to hunting and ranching--but the Felix's will be

CAMPERS!

This year we took another couple with us, Justin & Hayley Marshall, and they introduced Kelly Canyon Campground to us. It was fun traveling to a new area we had never been to before since we usually go to the same spot every year (haha). The spot we picked was perfect.

I think Ethan and I could be very happy living in the outdoors together.

Can you guess what I asked Wyatt to do?

Yes, I asked him to smile and say "cheese" and he gave me his classic look

He LOVED sitting in these camp chairs.

Our two crazy friends from TEXAS. I think we can all expect nothing but craziness from Texans. These two are a hoot together and we laughed our heads off with them around the camp fire after Wyatt zonked out.

Great people. Great friends.

Everywhere we go, Wyatt has to find a flower or weed and PICK IT.

(Sorry that half your ball-like, bright yellow flowers are gone from your garden Mom & Dad . . .

it was you know who.)

I turned around after scavenging wood and this is what I saw.

HOLY CUTENESS!

Wyatt totally felt like he was helping Ethan cut the wood and Ethan was as thrilled as Wyatt was. I love these moments.

Dun, dun, dun! Little Wyatt was caught creeping amongst the rocks in attempt to sneak up on his mother who he THOUHT was still sleeping. To his dismay, mother startled him when she jolted up and tried to grab him through the tent. The poor little guy jumped off his feet and ran off. HA!

I concur. You HAVE to take us camping again sweetheart.

Call me, "COACH"

There are a few specific things I've wanted to do while attending BYU-Idaho, so I created a little bucket list for myself while I was a freshman. Here are some of the things I wanted to accomplish or do while being a student here:

*Be an EFY counselor
*Get a boyfriend :)
*Experience my first kiss
*Take on a high church calling
*Move out with random roommates
*Go on a cruise with all girls
*Give tours of campus
*Be in a class with Aubrey
*Attend cool concerts and plays
*Become a teacher
*Take on leadership opportunities
*Make the Symphony Orchestra
*Befriend someone seriously in need
*Participate in sports on the competitive league
*Go on lots of fun and crazy dates
*Get married in the temple
*Take a religion class from Dad
*Learn how to take tests
*Graduate with a grade point average higher than a 3.5
*Take a cooking class
*Be an I-team leader
*GRADUATE WITH A BACHELOR'S DEGREE
and
BE THE HEAD COACH OF A GIRLS COMPETITIVE B-BALL TEAM

I've successfully accomplished the majority of this list so far and only have a few more to check off my list. I didn't know if I'd ever make this dream come true to be a head coach or not, but I made it happen! I knew it was a unique opportunity for me to be a head coach here on campus because we are a church school. I knew this experience would enrich me socially, physically, mentally, emotionally, and most importantly, spiritually. Plus, I didn't have to worry about getting fired if I did a bad job or not! That's the greatest part about this university . . . it's a training ground. BYU-Idaho provides so many opportunities for us students to learn and take on leadership positions. All I had to do was sign up for the job :-)

Of course, I couldn't have done this alone, so I asked Ethan, Chalyse, and Staci if they would be on board with me to do the job. All three of them agreed- YES! So this is how it went for the season:

HEAD COACH
Ashley
ASST. COACH
Chalyse
ASST. COACH
Staci
BABYSITTER :)
Ethan

(Chalyse, Me, Staci)
Oh I love these girls! It was so fun being able to coach and be around my two great friends again. Both Chalyse and Staci helped me so much throughout the season and they gave me the support I needed to make this experience a success. We had a lot of fun together--THANKS GUYS!

LADY BRUINS
These are the amazing girls I got to coach:
Back Row: Me, April, Myra, Shandy, Sam, Jacquie, Staci, Chalyse
Front Row: Annalise, Annie, Kenzie, Maddie, Shantell H, Shantel T.

You can just tell from the smiles on their faces and the looks in their eyes that they are all good girls. I couldn't have been blessed with a greater group of girls to coach. With all their different personalities and examples, they ended up teaching me a lot throughout the season.

Before the season even officially started and before I knew who my group of girls was going to be, my mind started going crazy with ideas. I was thinking about practices, drills, team bonding activities, spiritual thoughts, plays, rules, expectations, and everything! I was losing sleep already! After thinking long and hard, I finally decided that my main goal for the season, no matter who was put on my team, was to teach the reality and significance of exemplifying Christ in all that we do--even in a game of Basketball. Sounds crazy and dumb for a basketball team? Ya, sure, some people might think so, but they can think what they want. God should be the main focus in everything that we do.

This is why I chose this for my personal goal as a coach. I wanted to help them understand this. Too often we get caught up in the things of the world and with athletes especially, sometimes they/we get so caught up in the game and winning that we don't remember what's truly important.

"True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior."
Boyd K. Packer

All I wanted to do was to help them UNDERSTAND as best as I could. I knew that if I could do that, and even help just ONE of them understand this about exemplifying Christ in basketball, I knew that they would change their own attitudes and behaviors for the better. I knew the spirit would then do the teaching for me.
Some other things that were neat about this experience is that we were to focus on our weaknesses and expose them to one another. I've discovered that there is great wisdom in doing this. This is the only way we can become better people; no matter how hard it may be at times. So to help accomplish this goal I decided to have the girls each keep a personal journal for themselves. They brought them to every practice, they wrote daily goals each day, they sometimes answered specific questions that we asked them to think about, and they wrote periodic reflections as well. At the end of two weeks, we would gather their journals and read them.

This was probably my favorite part of the whole experience because of a few things A) It allowed me to get to know them better as individuals and players, B) It provided a time for them to ponder and think about themselves and to write those thoughts down, C) It allowed us coaches to help expose their weaknesses to them and provide suggestions on how to make them strengths, and D) we were able to give them compliments and praise on what they were doing well. I truly believe that through using these journals during the season (along with some other things), we were able to be taught by the spirit more and we became more united as a team. This is why our team got so much more out of the season compared to some of the other teams in the league. We grew a lot as players and individuals.

It's interesting that most of the things I learned throughout this experience have very little to do with actually playing Basketball. Don't get me wrong, I did learn a great deal about coaching, motivating, planning, subbing, plays, drills, teaching, explaining, and more, but these other lessons I've learned are the things that have made me grow most from this experience.

A few of the things that really stood out to me were these:
1) Coaching is harder than it looks and seems. Even though the game comes naturally to me, coaching wasn't so easy. I didn't sleep well most nights because I was too busy thinking about the girls and the plays and the other teams and what else I needed to do for them etc... It definitely takes practice and dedication to do a good job.

2) To be a true leader, you must lead by example. When you're in a leadership position, you can have a great influence on those you are over. You can set the mood, you can help change attitudes, and you can take time for teaching moments. "Teachers can tell but cannot teach, until they practice what they preach."

3) Spiritual needs first: I've realized that when I put CHRIST first in everything I do, he blesses me and helps me achieve the desires of my heart.

4) Motives: have you ever thought about what your motives are before doing something? Have you ever stopped to think, "What is my motivation for doing this?" Most people, probably don't, but the next time you decide to do something you should try it. I've found that if I think about WHY I am doing something before I do it, I discover if I'm doing it for the right reason or the wrong reason. It keeps me humble and on the right track.

5) Being an instrument: I know the Lord uses us to be His instruments in this life. He can best use us when we have prepared ourselves and are living righteously. He puts people in our path throughout life when we need to learn something or when we need lifting. For some special reason, these specific girls were all put together on the same team--and it wasn't just a coincidence.

6) Effort in = Effort out: as a coach, I noticed that when I gave my full effort and all the energy i possessed into coaching, I learned a great deal more and was more successful with the girls. The few times that I did not plan out a practice schedule or when I forgot to a personal prayer beforehand, things didn't run as smoothly and we didn't get as much out of it as we could. I could see, firsthand, that the girls who tried as hard as they could to be a leader, write in their journals, practice B-ball skills, and to make it a good experience, were those who got the most out of the season.

7) Helping others: I can see now, why coaches have assistants. I could NOT have done this job alone and been as successful with it. We need to realize when we need help. I also couldn't have done it without the help of Ethan. Ethan agreed to help me out because he knew how badly I wanted to do this. He sacrificed a lot of his time so that I could do this and I am so grateful for his support throughout the season. (With this, I realized that if I am to do this in the future, I'm going to have to decide if coaching is worth being away from my family so much.)

8) The power of LOVE: I just keep realizing more and more that Love is the most powerful force on earth! Love makes us do incredible things; love makes us happy; love makes us act differently; love makes us strong etc. When I came to love and care about these girls and when I tried to show that to them, I noticed that they did it back to me.


I know a lot of these things I learned seem random and totally not connected to Basketball, but that's what makes it so neat. I didn't expect to get these things from the season, but I'm so grateful I did. Being a coach has taught me so much about myself and about how I can help others.

I had a blast dressing up for our games and trying to give pump up speeches (haha), I enjoyed the stress that came with figuring out who to sub & when to sub, I learned how to cope with bad sleep at nights, I enjoyed preparing for practices and games, I looked forward to our spiritual thoughts before practices and the discussions that followed, and I LOVED getting to know each of the players. I've really come to love these girls and I'm actually quite sad that the season is over and we are all going our separate ways. I'm grateful that they were in my life this short period of time and for how they have helped me and made me happy :) This has been a highlight of my BYU-Idaho experience and I will never forget it.

Wyoming on the 4th!

What do you do in Wyoming?

Well, let me show you....

Please notice the gorgeous background which just so happens to be the backyard Ethan grew up in. The whole time we were in Star Valley I just felt so free and relaxed! It's quiet and peaceful everywhere; I love it.

We enjoyed the outdoors!

Yes, and of course the GUNS. The guys had to go have their manly-man time together "shootin' them guns ups on the ranch."

OF COURSE WYATT... thanks again for such a lovely version of "cheese!"

There were lots of grandchildren running around getting wet from the hose and muddy from the dirt, yet look at this face. . . Wyatt loved it!

There were lots of cowboy boots and cowboy hats of all different shapes, sizes, and colors :) When you're a male on the ranch, you gotta have a good lookin' pair of boots with a hat to top it off.

Wyatt stole Papa's hat for a while and we HAD to take a million pictures of him with it on, of course. SO CUTE!

Fortunately for me, since Ethan enjoys our camera so much, I get to be in a lot of the pictures now! Most of the time it's the opposite way around but I'm loving how I get to be seen in the action with Wyatt. I want my little boy to know that I bathed him most the time, that I dressed him every morning, that I ran around in the dirt with him, and that I made him laugh hard. He'll be more likely to believe me if there are pictures to show him :) Great picture taking babe. Mmmmmwa!

Ahhhhhh, here's my boys. The handsomest boys I've ever seen and they're all MINE! These two spent a lot of time together this weekend and it was really fun to watch the two of them. Wyatt learns a lot from his Daddy :)

If Ethan could do this every day, he'd be in heaven. I love seeing Ethan like this because HE loves it so much. It's always fun when we get to go to Wyoming because we get to do all of THIS

TO BE CONTINUED...........