The Whitaker's

Jenae turns 8!

2012-02-16T16:12:00.002-06:00

We started her birthday off with a birthday pancake! She was born at 12:30 in the afternoon. Before we went to be the night before her birthday she told Kyle & I not to wish her "Happy Birthday" in the morning since she would still be 7 years old until the afternoon, Well she came into our bedroom first thing to tell us that she had decided she wanted to live it up right away, so we could go ahead and start celebrating instead of waiting until 12:30!

Whitney was all smiles in her swimming suit at the hotel.

Aubree & Karsen in the pool at the hotel.

Kassie & Jenae in pool.

Kyle taking Whitney for her first ever swim in a pool. She looks pretty serious, but I think she actually enjoyed it.

We stopped at the Western Store in Grand Island on our way home and Bree asked me
to take this picture her with the horse in the store. We never know what Bree will come up with!

Jenae reading a birthday card. She is someone who loves card and she reads every word of every card she gets!

Chase playing with big brother Trey!

Jenae getting a little help blowing out the candles on her cake!

Jenae celebrated her 8^th Birthday a week ago! Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday she was my baby and now she is getting so grown up! Some things about her have not changed. She started talking very young and she has never stopped!!! I think at 5 months she was saying actual words. Grandpa was her first recognizable word. It was” Bompa” It scares me how fast she is growing up!

We had a great birthday weekend. Kyle was home for her birthday this year, which made it more special. I worked Monday-Wednesday last week and took Thursday & Friday off. Thursday I took treats to school. I let her pick what she wanted for supper & she chose shrimp, so that is what we had!

Friday we picked Jenae up from school when it got out and we headed to Grand Island. We met up with Melinda, Kassie & Karsen & got a room at the Holiday Inn. We went out for supper then back to the hotel for an evening of swimming. Kassie & Karsen made my girls day that they would take a Friday night to come hang out with them. They are pretty special girls!!! If only we lived closer. Kyle & I had a great time catching up with Melinda. One crazy thing about the weekend was when we went to the pool I ran into my former coworker, Sheila. Sheila & I worked together for 9 years before she moved away to get married this summer. It was so fun to chat with her!

Saturday morning Kyle and the girls went swimming again then we packed up made a few stops in Grand Island and headed for home. We were only home a couple hours before we went to into the Chamber’s Fireman Prime Rib Supper. We met Kyle’s parents, Hope & Ben there. The food was so yummy!!! After supper we went to Chip & Marilyn’s house to have cake & ice cream for Jenae’s Birthday. It was a fun day, but a really long day!!!

Sunday we got up and went to church & spent the rest of the day in the house. It was the catch up day I needed to get laundry done & unpacked from the weekend!

Tuesday night Kyle took all his girls out for supper for Valentine’s Day. In the 11 years Kyle & I have been together, this was only the 3^rd V-day we have spent together! We went to the corner for supper & it was really good! I think we were the only couple crazy enough to take our kids on our Valentine’s day date, but they were really good & seemed to like getting to celebrate the day with their Dad too!

This past month

2012-02-08T16:52:00.000-06:00

Well January has came and went and here we are in February. So much has happened in the last month I am going to do my best to recap it.

My Grandma
She called us on New Years Day (We were celebrating Christmas at my parents house that day) and said she had fallen and broke her leg. My Dad, Kyle, Dusty & Kevin went and got her up and Dad took her to the hospital in Albion. She had surgery a few days later and they put a rod in her leg. A few days later she fell while in the hospital and broke her ankle in the opposite leg. Then a few days after that she had a stroke. She appeared to be doing ok and they transferred her to Madonna Rehab center to learn to walk again and have some rehab for the stroke. I got a call while at work on January 20th that she went into cardiac arrest and passed away. I love my Grandma very much and I really miss her. She was a such a neat person and loved her family. We will all miss her. I will plan to do a blog post in the future in memory of her.

Hope & Ben bought a new house
I think in my last post I mentioned that Hope & Ben were in the process of buying a new house. Well PTL they got it!!! We are all so excited to have them living closer to us. It is a beautiful house & a great location! It is going to be a lot of fun for our kids to grow up together & go to the same school! We are thankful it all worked out ;-)

Nephew's Baptisms
3 of my nephew's were Baptised 2 different weekends. It is always a blessing to be a part of their special day!

Marilyn celebrates her birthday
With all of the craziness of the month we were still able to get together to celebrate Marilyn's birthday. It was a fun to spend some as a family together and just socialize a little bit.

Whitney's 4 months
I took Whitney in for her 4 month check up and she is 13lbs 8 oz & 24 inches long. She is in the 50% for both height & weight. For the most part she is a happy easy going baby. This past week we have had some sleepless nights with teething issues. She has not had any teeth pop though yet, but I know they are bothering her. She spikes a fever some nights but it is gone by morning. Last night it was a little bit better, so I am hopeful we are getting into a better phase for awhile.

The Weather
We had beautiful weather in January. Many days in the 50's some even in the 60's we had one day that got darn close to 70! We didn't even have any snow that I can remember. February not starting off the same. The last couple days have been cold and we had a some accumulation of snow this past Saturday. At least it is a short month & March is not too far off!

Well I am sure there are a lot of things I have missed. I will try to do a better job of posting as I go!

Jenae came up with the idea to put a rope on Whitney's seat. Both girls are really great entertainment for Whitney.

My sister, Danielle, & her family at Jaxson's baptism.

Jace & Colin on their baptism.

My 3 girls at Jace & Colin's baptisms.

Aubree thought Marilyn needed a hat on her birthday.

Marilyn blowing out her candle's on her birthday cake.

Whitaker Christmas

2012-01-20T14:58:00.000-06:00

Once again I have gotten really behind in my blogging. Here are some pictures from the Whitaker Christmas that we had on January 8th. It was another beautiful day and we took advantage of it by spending some time in the saddle. The kids all had a great time riding. The Whitaker gift exchange was an entertaining as always. Robert actually ended up with a useful gift. He usually gets the bag that has lotions etc.

The worst part of getting behind with my blog is that I forget so much of what happened that it makes it hard to write about. I am short on time, but I at least wanted to get some pictures posted. I will try to write captions under the pictures another time.

Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-06T04:07:00.000-06:00

Well 2012 seems to be starting off like a roller coaster! Some really good things going on & some not so good things. I am officially a minivan mama! I really drug my feet about getting a minivan, but with the addition of Whitney I knew a car was not going to cut it any more & with driving 50 miles to work round trip I knew I needed something that would get good gas mileage so a mini van was the obvious choice and it turns out I LOVE it!!!!! It is so "mom friendly"and really designed for a family.

The girls really enjoy it as well.

We took the van on its first road trip to my parents house for New Years. We went down on Saturday night to ring in the New Year at my brother & his wife, Erin's, house. My sister Danielle and her family was there as well and it was a fun evening. Whitney was not really being her happy little self so about 11:00 I took the girls back to Dad & Moms and we went to bed. Kyle stayed and played a few more games and waited up to welcome in 2012.

We spent New Years Day celebrating Christmas with my parents and siblings. The day got off to a bad start when we got a call from my Grandma Forre that she had fallen. Dad, Kyle, Dusty & Kevin all went in to help her up. It turns out that she broke her leg. Definitely not the way she wanted to start out the new year. She had surgery yesterday to put a rod in her leg and she should be able to put weight on it right away.

Other than the call from Grandma, the day was great. All the kids had a great time playing and it was fun to get all 4 babies together. My Dad had found that there was a Rawhide marathon on all day, it was fun to catch a few of those episodes. Rawhide is my all time favorite western!

The week between Christmas and New Years was an eventful one. Hope &
Ben are in the process of buying a new house. They have run into a little snag that is holding the process up, but we are hopeful it will resolve and they will soon be living just 8 miles from us. It is a beautiful house & Jenae has already figured that Trey & Chase would be on her bus route once they start school. She is excited about that.

Last week Kyle and Trey both had mishaps & ended up with eye injuries. For awhile there both of them gave us a bit of a scare. Trey fell off Speedster and when he landed on the ground he got a big clump of dirt in his eye. He didn't open his eye until the next day and it was pretty sore for a few days. Kyle had the rope come back and smack him in the eye while roping ReRun the calf. His vision in that eye was not good & he had a lot of swelling. Thankfully both are on the mend and are doing well.

I am sure there are things I am missing from the past week, but at 3:58 in the morning this is all I can remember to write about :-)

2011 was full of so many blessing & I am excited to see what 2012 has in store for our little family!

Whitney on New Years Day.

The 4 newest Forre Cousins. (Clockwise from Whitney) Jaxson, Culin, Jace

Cooper, Brooke, Kellen & Aubree waiting to eat.

Tyson, Allyx & Jenae at the table

Whitney was all smiles on New Years Day.

The kids opening their gifts.

Christmas

2011-12-27T06:30:00.001-06:00

I apologize up front for any typo's the post may have. It is 5 in the morning and I am not quite awake , but I realized if I am going to get caught up on my blogging it needs to be done now!

We had a very busy 3 days!!! I took Friday off to try to get ready for the busy weekend. I am very glad I did! Friday night Kyle took Jenae and Aubree on a "date" They went out for pizza then to the movies. They went to see the Muppet's at the theater in O'Neill. Whitney & I stayed home and finished up some last minute wrapping of gifts. Santa came while Kyle & the girls were gone and we had our little Christmas when they got back from O'Neill. Of all the things Aubree got, I think she was most excited for her electric tooth brush she got ;-)

Saturday we got up and did things around the house in the morning. After dinner we went over to watch Kyle rope the new toy, ReRun the calf roping dummy. It was entertaining!!! I actually got a chance to ride, I didn't rope ReRun yet, but I am looking forward to it once Kyle gets the horses used to the dummy.

We went home and got ready for the evening and went back over to Chip & Marilyn's house to begin our Christmas Eve Celebration. We took a bunch of pictures of the kids in front of the tree & then it was time to go to church. It was a nice service and a great way to start of the Christmas Holiday. After church it was supper time! Marilyn made a really delicious supper that we all enjoyed! Opening presents was of course the highlight of the night for the kids. We spent the rest of the night sitting around and enjoying each others company ;-)

Sunday we got up and headed to Newman Grove for the big Forre Christmas. Grandma had made the traditional Norwegian meal of Lutefisk & Lefse as well as an American meal of ham. It was a fun day, but I think my girls and I were so tired we were ready to go home and call it a day by mid afternoon. We finished up the evening watching Rio Bravo, or at least part of if. I was so tired I was in bed by 9:00 that night!

It was back to work on Monday morning for me. Kyle and the girls had a great time trying out the new saddles. It was hard on me to be at work and not home with them. We have been so blessed this week with beautiful weather. It is going to be in the 50's most of the week, it should be a great Christmas break for all the kids to get out and enjoy the outdoors.

We still have 2 Christmas celebrations left! We go to my parents house on New Years to celebrate with my siblings & then we have the big Whitaker Christmas on January 8th. Two more weekends of fun ;-)

Jenae trying on her new snow pants.

Aubree with the basketball Kyle gave her.

The Whitaker grand kids in front of the tree at Chip & Marilyn's house.
We have found it nearly impossible to get them all to look one direction for a picture!

Whitney & Chase on their first Christmas.

Never again will I buy white Christmas dresses for my girls! Trying to keep them clean during supper
I tucked their napkins in their dresses. Trey made sure everyone else did the same!

Chip & Marilyn opening their gifts from the grand kids. New lawn chairs for them to
take to jr. rodeos!!!

Ben helping Trey open a gift.

Aubree with a shirt from Aunt Hope. A very fitting shirt for our little fashionista!

Aubree with her new saddle. She was very excited to be getting it! First we had her open the new cinch that went with the saddle. When we asked her if she was excited about her cinch she said "NO! I wanted a saddle!!!" Next she opened a headstall and breast collar (which she later referred to as a breast pump!! :-) and we asked what she thought of getting that & she responded the same way "I wanted a saddle!!!" Finally we let her open her saddle :-)

Jenae when she realized she was getting a new saddle!

We knew if we had a big box under the tree with Jenae's name on it, that it would not take her long to figure out that she was getting a saddle. This fall the tree in her saddle broke and as much as she rides a new saddle was a necessity. She was a little disappointed when she watched Aubree open her big package with a new saddle in it and all that was left under the tree for Jenae was one small package that was labeled "open last" It was a new cinch as well. We thought as soon as she saw she was getting a new cinch she would figure out she was getting a new saddle too, but she didn't. She looked pretty sad when she opened the package. Chip then told her she better go downstairs and see if she could find something to go with the cinch.
As you can see she was thrilled to find out indeed she was getting a new saddle too!

Happy little girls!!!

Trey with this Christmas present from Grandpa Chip! As you can tell he was excited ;-)

Whitney trying out Jenae's saddle!

The 2 night owls sitting in the bumpos. The bumpos are for Whitney & Chase to sit in,
however the 2 year old AND 4 year old found them very entertaining!!! The other 3 kids had all fallen
asleep, but not these two! They had so much fun playing together on Christmas Eve.

Whitney woke up and was ready to socialize a little bit before falling back asleep.

Jenae fell asleep at Chip & Marilyn's. She ended up spending the night there!

With in 2 minutes of being home on Christmas Eve, Aubree was fast asleep!

My Grandma Forre on Christmas Day with all of her Great Grand Kids that were there.

The count down until Christmas

2011-12-26T14:33:00.000-06:00

Some years I have felt so ready for the Holiday season a least one week before Christmas. This year was not one of them. We sent our Christmas letter out on the 21st of December, cookie trays were not deliver until the 22nd of December and I was still wrapping gifts on the evening of the 23rd! Oh well, it all got done in the end ;-)

This year we did a lot of our baking with Marilyn in her new kitchen. Her kitchen was so nice with all the new appliance and the extra counter space. Jenae & Aubree had fun getting to "help" with the process! Toffee is a hit in our family. I think we made a total of 8 batches along with many other treats!!!

Aubree & Marilyn making some Christmas Cookies

Jenae's Christmas Program

2011-12-19T14:31:00.000-06:00

Jenae's Christmas Program at school was on Friday night. The Chambers Christmas program is like no other school Christmas program around. It is more like a musical where there is acting and singing. This year the program was about Santa wanting to get his daughter married off and Jenae's class was all dressed as "old people" meant to convince Santa's daughter that being married was a great thing. Her class did a dance to "Love & Marriage" it was so cute I think the entire gym was laughing.

Chip & Marilyn, my parents and the Blackmore family were all there to watch the program. Trey & Aubree were really into the program and watched it really well. Chase was a really good baby, I do not think he made a peep the whole evening. Whitney on the other hand, was not such a happy camper. Kyle & the girls stayed for cookies after the program & I had Chip & Marilyn give me and Whitney a ride home.

Jenae dressed as an old lady for her Christmas Program

Jenae in her class room before the program.

Jenae's class dresses as old people.

Aubree & Kyle waiting for the program to start.

Jenae & her" husband" in the program.

The "old couple" dancing during the program.

Jenae with classmates, Cade, Ellie, & Cole.

The Blackmore family

Whitney, Kyle & Chip at the program.

The Noble Christmas

2011-12-16T16:54:00.000-06:00

Life is just not slowing down any!!! We have went right from Vegas into the hustle and bustle of the Holidays. I still have so much to do before Christmas, I guess I am going to do what I can and what doesn’t get done, just won’t get done!!!

I am going to go back a few days here. We got home from Vegas late Monday night and I took Tuesday & Wednesday off. Whitney had her 2 month checkup on Wednesday & she was 11 lbs 10 oz. She is 50^th percentile in both height and weight. She is such a happy easy going baby.

Saturday afternoon we went over to Marilyn’s house to make some Christmas goodies. Hope & her family were there as well. We really enjoyed using Marilyn’s new kitchen to make some yummy Christmas treats. We made toffee, fudge, oreo balls, chocolate dipped pretzels and chocolate dipped ritz peanut butter cookies.

Saturday evening some friends from church had us over for supper. We had a nice visit and watched part of the NFR with them before heading home.

Sunday we got up and went to church, then headed to Albion for the Noble Christmas. My Aunt Jean hosted it at her house and we had a lovely time. She goes to so much work to make sure it is a special time for all especially the kids. By the time Sunday night rolled around I think we were all exhausted!!

This is my first full week back to work since before Whitney was born. It was a bit of an adjustment to work a full week. Whitney had her first shot on Wednesday. It was a long night for her, she ran a fever most of the night and didn’t sleep very good. I try to not wish my life away, but I will be so glad when the immunization stage is over!!! I hate when my babies have to get shots L

I am looking forward to the weekend. We have Jenae’s Christmas program, it sounds like it is going to be as cute as always. Saturday I think I am going to go over to Marilyn’s house and make more toffee. All that I brought home from the first batch has seemed to disappear!!! (Kyle really really fond of toffee ;-) Sunday I am hoping to stick close to home and work on Christmas preparations!

The kids waiting to eat their dinner.

Jenae reading the Christmas Story to the kids.
All the kids got to help set up the Nativity Scene as she read the story.

Jenae looking for the pickle hidden in the tree. One thing my Aunt always has for the kids
is "find the pickle" It is a pickle ordainment hidden in the tree. When you find it you get to pick out a prize.
My girls really look forward to see what prizes my Aunt has each year.

Aubree with her pickle & her prize.

My Grandma Noble with the Great Grand kids.

Grandma with Jaxson, Whitney & Jace.

Whitney & Santa

Aubree, Whitney & Jenae with Santa

Vegas Baby!!! Vegas!!!!!

2011-12-09T16:13:00.002-06:00

Yes, we took a baby to Vegas!!!! Crazy as it sounds, it really did not go too bad.

When we left for Vegas the weather was great! It had been mid 50’s and the sun was shining. We left on Friday morning after we got Jenae on the bus. We dropped Aubree off with Chip for the day and we met up with our friends Matt & Heidi. Our flight out was at 11:20 so we had plenty of time to ease down to Grand Island. We are so lucky to have nice flights out of the Grand Island airport. It is a very small airport and it is very easy to get around it. I was pretty nervous flying with Whitney, I just didn’t know what to expect but she was a really trooper!! She slept on all of her flights. Even taking off and landing did not seem to bother her ears.

When we landed Heidi & I were in charge of getting the bags while Kyle & Matt went to get the rental car. The guys picked us gals up and we went to get a bite to eat when Kyle’s cell phone rang. It was baggage claims from the airport letting us know that still had a bag that we had not picked up. I had kind of forgot that I was supposed to get Kyle’s bag in addition to mine!!! I still can’t even believe I did that!!! I am thinking me & traveling to Vegas is just doomed!!! (Look back at my blog post from last year’s flight out to Vegas to see what I am talking about) Thankfully my wonderful husband had a good attitude about it and didn’t make me feel bad for starting our trip off on the wrong foot!

The PRCA put us up at the Mirage. It was a nice hotel/casino. I guess I should back up and explain why we were out there. Kyle won the Linderman award for the 6^th time. The PRCA flew us out to Vegas so they could present his award to him during the rodeo on Sunday. It was a really special time for him and it just so happened to be in time for us to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Matt & Heidi also celebrated their 10 year anniversary back in September. It was fun for all of us to take a trip together. For our 5 year anniversary we took a road trip to Estes Park, CO with Matt & Heidi as well. We are trying to figure out what we will do for our 15 year anniversary to celebrate!!!

After we got checked into our hotel we rested for a little bit then walked part of the Strip close to our hotel. It was a really nice evening, the perfect night to have a baby out on the town!! We went back to the Mirage to watch the rodeo in the lounge. It didn’t take long for them to kick me out of the lounge. Apparently they do not allow babies there. Whitney & I went up to our room and hung out until after the rodeo was over. It was a bummer that I couldn’t watch the rodeo, they did not get the channel the rodeo was televised on. We met up with Kyle’s friend Travis and he took us all out for supper to a Brazilian steak house. It was a really fun experience, no one went away hungry. It was 10:00 Pacific time (12:00 Central time) when we finished supper, needless to say we were all exhausted!!!

Saturday morning we got up and went to South Point. Kyle, Matt & Heidi went for breakfast there while I hit the trade show!!! Shopping is one thing that I could do with a baby in Vegas!! From the South Point we went on a little tour of Vegas and made our way to Cowboy Christmas at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Matt & Heidi really seemed to enjoy shopping there, especially Matt! Kyle & Whitney were shopped out which made shopping not much fun for me.

Sunday Kyle, Matt & Heidi got up and had breakfast at our hotel while I stayed in with Whitney. I didn’t want her to tired out for the rodeo that afternoon. By noon we were headed to the rodeo. Chip got to Vegas in time to get to the rodeo and he ended up sitting with us during the rodeo. The Linderman presentation was really nice & it really meant a lot to Kyle that his Dad made it there in time to see. Whitney slept through most of the rodeo.

Sunday night my parents flew into Vegas. The plan was for my Mom to watch Whitney while I went to Fremont Street with Kyle, Matt & Heidi. Well as it turned out my Dad thought he was coming down with the stomach flu. I for obvious reasons did not want to be around them so Whitney & I stayed in our room again that night. It was kind of fun to just hang out with Whitney and watch Las Vegas local news. Their news stories are very different than Nebraska news!!! The Las Vegas Marathon was going on that night which made for a CRAZY busy night on the streets. There were 44,000 runners and they shut down the west side of the Strip. It probably would have been hard to meet up with my parents with the traffic that night anyway.

Monday Kyle got up early to take Matt & Heidi to the airport to catch their flight. Unfortunately they were not there 2 hours before their flight and they would not let them on the flight. They ended up having to buy tickets from Southwest and fly into Omaha. I knew it was recommended that they be there 2 hours before the flight, but I did not know it was required! Kyle & I flew out that afternoon. We got in to Grand Island about 10:30 that night. Our car was covered in snow and ice. Not much fun to come home to!!!

We had a lot of fun on our trip. It had a few little snags along the way that make for some good stories!

Kyle & Whitney on the flight to Vegas.

Matt & Heidi at the airport in Grand Island.

Kyle, Whitney & me in our hotel in Vegas.

Kyle & his Little Honey

Whitney & Me at the Mirage.

Kyle & Whitney at the Mirage in Vegas.

Kyle, Heidi & Matt at the water show at the Bellagio.

Kyle, Me & Whitney out side the Bellagio

Matt with Woody & Buz.

Whitney in our hotel room.

Kyle & Chip with Kyle's Linderman Buckle.

Eating supper at the Brazilian Restaurant. It was a neat experience. They brought us all kinds of meats to try. They would slice off how much you wanted right at the table. We had a couple kinds of steak, chicken, turkey, lamb, sausage. It was all really good!!!

Matt & Heidi on Fremont Street.

Kyle & Chip on Fremont Street.

One tired little baby!!! Whitney was played out from all of the excitement of Vegas!!

3 Thanksgivings in less than a week!

2011-12-02T00:25:00.000-06:00

Our family ate a lot of Turkey in one week!!! We started with the Phifer Thanksgiving at Chip & Marilyn's house on Saturday the 19th of November. Marilyn's sister from Colorado was back for the weekend so Marilyn thought it would be a good chance to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was a cooler day so we were mostly in the house. We were cheering on the Huskers, but our cheering was not enough for the to win. Jenae & Aubree had so much fun hanging Kassie & Karsen up for the day. Kassie & Karsen are so good with kids, it is always fun to have them up. I wish they lived closer to us so we could see them more often.

Alec, Karsen, Kassie, Trey, Aubree & Jenae at the Phifer Thanksgiving.

Whitney & Chase

Sunday we got up and went to Church and Sunday School before heading to my Grandma Forre's house for Thanksgiving. I was excited to go meet my newest nephew Jace & also to see Jaxson again. Whitney looked pretty big next to her 2 newest cousins. They are so cute & really look a lot a like at this age. They could almost pass for twins! Kyle is pretty sure Whitney will not be the biggest for long

Whitney with her 2 newest cousins. Jaxson Herchenbach (left) Jace Forre (right)

Thanksgiving Day we went to Kyle's Aunt Amy's house. She always host the Whitaker Thanksgiving. It was a beautiful day!!! We have been so blessed with good weather in Nebraska this fall & Thanksgiving day was not excception. It had to have been close to 70 degrees. We all were able to get out and get some fresh air after filling our belly's! It was a really good day :-)

Jenae & Aubree by a cactus that Kyle's Uncle Zak made.

Jenae on Thanksgiving Day 2011

Robert holding Whitney.

Aubree on Thanksgiving Day 2011

A tired Aubree trying to catch a Thanksgiving nap.

Hope & Chase on Thanksgiving

Annual Thanksgiving football game at the Whitaker Thanksgiving.

Whitney Thanksgiving Day 2011

We got to keep Trey at our house on Friday night. Jenae & Aubree had so much fun having him. We had a very lively house that night & a lot of good laughs.

Jenae, Trey & Aubree riding the day after Thanksgiving.

Aubree & Trey cleaning my kitchen floor.

Sunday church & Sunday school we put the tree up. Jenae & Aubree decorated most of it my themselves. I was really proud of how well they did. I didn't even have to rearrange things when they were done this year :-)

Jenae & Aubree decorating the Christmas Tree.

10 years

2011-11-29T15:40:00.000-06:00

Where has the time went?? Kyle & I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on Thursday the 17th of November. It happened to be my first day back to work from maternity leave so it was a bit of a difficult day for me. Kyle sent me a dozen yellow roses which made my day!! (especially since he remembered that my favorite color is yellow and we had yellow roses at our wedding ;-)

He also took me out for supper.

10 years seems to have went by in the blink of an eye.

I am excited about what the future holds for Kyle and me.

We have had so many blessings and have so much to be thankful for.

Louisville

2011-11-28T15:10:00.000-06:00

Here I am very behind in my blog posting again!!! I will try to sum up Louisville as best I can just to get this post done then try to recap our Thanksgiving celebrations in another post.

Our trip to Louisville went pretty smooth considering that it is was almost 2000 miles round trip. As we were pulling into our driveway the odometer read 1995. Kyle had tripped it before we left home. All 3 girls travel good. I really couldn’t have asked for them to do any better.

Kyle came away with winning the circuit All Around title and the circuit Steer Wrestling title. By winning the steer wrestling title it qualified him to go to the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo in March. The rodeo used to be held in Pocatello, but they have now moved it to Oklahoma City at the end of March. I am excited for that upcoming trip.

On Friday Kyle & Chip took Jenae & Aubree to Churchill Downs to watch the races. They met up with some friends there and they all had a great time. Whitney & I stayed back at the hotel to have a little r&r!

I am so glad we took all 3 girls. I was not sure about taking all of them, but we could not decide who we should leave home so we just took all of them. Jenae & Aubree had a blast playing with the Burks girls. Whitney was a superstar traveler. She slept most of the trip.

As fun as it was to go, it was so nice to be home again!!! We got home Sunday around 4:00 in the afternoon. It was nice to still be on maternity leave & have a few days to get rested up before making the transition back to work. I went back to work on Thursday the 17^th for ½ of a day & also worked a ½ of a day on Friday. It was nice to go back for ½ days so it was not too hard on me or Whitney. We both found out that we could survive me going back to work ;-) I am not sure who it was harder on Kyle or Whitney to not have me home all day!!! All in all the transition back to work is going as well as can be expected. I had a few tears on Thursday when left Whitney for the first time, but I have done good since then. I am so thankful to have a great daycare to take Whitney to & a great husband who is also taking care of her some of the time I am back to work. I am also thankful that I enjoy my job. I can’t imagine having to go back to work to a job I didn’t like or leaving my baby with a daycare I was not 100% comfortable with. I will not work a regular work week until the middle of December, so hopefully easing back into work will be good for all of us!

Girls being silly kids at Churchill Downs.

A race at Churchill Downs.

Chip & Aubree watching a race

Jenae & Aubree & Churchill downs with Bridee.

Jenae looking so grown up :-)

Aubree washing up after playing at the petting zoo.

Whitney

Aubree, Jenae & Whitney before the rodeo on Friday night.

Little girls cheering on their daddy's!! Jenae & Aubree along with the Burks girls.

Kyle and Miss Whitney after the rodeo.

Our first snow!

2011-11-11T13:07:00.000-06:00

Well I am hanging out in our hotel in Louisville! This is where I was when I started my blogging in 2008. It is kind of crazy for me to think how fast the last 3 years have went. I am so glad I started my blogging when I did. It is so fun to go back and look at things from year to year & to see how much the girls have grown. I had a few minutes of quite time I thought I would try to get my blog caught up.

We had our first snow of the year on November 2nd. Jenae & Aubree were so excited!!! I am not sure why snow is so fun as a kid. I remember being excited for the first snow of the year when I was little too. Aubree was really looking forward to snow to make snow angels, but I am not sure she even made any.

A week ago on Friday we took the girls to Bartlett to a family fun night that the schools put on. There were games to play and it was a fall theme so they wanted kids to wear their Halloween costumes. Of course Jenae & Aubree had no complaints about getting to dress up again!

Since my last blog post I am excited to report that I have 2 new nephews. My sister Danielle and her husband Kevin welcomed Jaxson into their family last Friday night. My Brother Dusty & his wife Erin, had baby Jace on Tuesday night. I got to see Jaxson on Saturday when we went to the Noble Thanksgiving in Albion, he is pretty darn cute!! . I have not yet met Jace, but I am sure he is absolutely adorable too :-)

Aubree and Buster in the snow.

Whitney with her pretty blue eyes!

Jenae playing a game at the family fun night in Bartlett.

Aubree after she visited the face painting booth! Usually when you get your face painted
the kid pick out a flower or heart or something else little to put on their faces, but for some reason
Aubree came back with her whole face painted green!!!

My nephew Jaxson! He has the longest hair I have ever seen on a baby!!!

Thankful

2011-11-07T14:37:00.000-06:00

Yesterday in Sunday School Jenae & Aubree had to write down what they are thankful for. In case I misplace the original papers they wrote on I thought I would make sure to keep record of it in my blog so down the road they will remember what they were thankful for at ages 4 & 7.

Jenae is thankful for:
God, Jesus, The Holy Ghost, Cats, Dogs, Faith, Food, Water, Horses, Mom, Dad, Whitney, Aubree, Emma, Zebras & all her pets

Aubree is thankful for:
God, Giraffes, Brooke, shows, lakes, horses, cats Jesus, toys & noses,

I am not sure where they came up with some of their ideas, I thought they were all good things to be thankful for :-)

Halloween 2011

2011-11-03T15:06:00.000-05:00

We had a very nice evening for trick or treating. Jenae was a pirate, Aubree was Snow White & Whitney was a pumpkin. Kyle got Dad of the year award for taking Jenae and Aubree trick or treating while Whitney & I had a nice quiet evening at home :-). The girls got so much candy!!! They should be set for some time with the sugar :-).

Chip called over on Halloween morning & told us that Lucy had her puppies. Aubree, Whitney & I went over to see them right away. She had 10 puppies!!! Unfortunately one of the puppies died and we are down to 9. We will have Christmas puppies for sale. If you know anyone looking for a loving pet for a Christmas gift for someone, be sure to send them our way. They are pure bred Australian Shepard puppies out of working parents. They are great family pets, working ranch dogs & watch dogs!

Jenae, Whitney & Aubree in their costumes.

Aubree & Jenae

Our little pmpkin
Whitney.

Aubree with a one of the new puppies.

A cattle sale, A birthday party, & a Halloween party.

2011-11-01T14:18:00.000-05:00

We had one busy day on Saturday! It started off bright and early with getting ready for the cattle sale. Kyle and Jenae left the house around 7:00 to get ready to help get the cattle rounded up. They were riding by daylight! We all headed down to the sale by 11:00 and got home around 4:30! The cattle sold really good, so we are thankful for that!

That evening helped Trey celebrate his 2nd birthday! He is growing up to be such a big boy! Marilyn fixed yummy ribs for supper. It was a really nice party! The kids were all pretty tired after a long day, but they were all really good and had a lot of fun playing together.

My cousin Heather was having a Halloween party at her house. I was tired, but I wanted to go out and see everyone.I dropped Kyle, Jenae & Aubree off at home. Whitney & I made a quick trip to Heather's house. It was nice to see everyone and visit. We got home shortly after 10:00 & it didn't take long for Whitney & I to fall asleep.

Jenae holding Whitney before the sale.

Hope, Aubree & Trey watching the sale.

Kyle, Chip, Jenae & Whitney at the sale.

Marilyn holding Chase at the sale. He really watched the calves come into the ring.

Jenae took this picture of Whitney. She is really big on making sure that I get good pictures of Whitney
to put on my blog and on facebook.

Trey, the happy two year old!! He got so excited when we sang
Happy Birthday to him.

Chip, Ben, Jenae, Aubree & Trey enjoying the bon fire.

Some of my relatives dressed up for my cousin, Heather's, Halloween party.

Family Time

2011-11-01T10:55:00.001-05:00

A week ago on Sunday our Church hosted a shower in honor of Whitney. It was very thoughtful of everyone. They brought in soups, sandwiches & all sorts of other yummy food. Whitney got a lot of really nice gifts. It was a fun day!

I took Whitney in for her 1 month check up on Thursday. She was 9 lbs 10 oz and 21 inches long. She is really starting to grow and change a lot. She is a really good baby and is doing really well at nights. Most nights she is only up once, usually sometime between 3:00 and 4:00. She wakes up to eat and then she falls back asleep until about 6:00. If she keeps that up it will make going back to work a lot easier!! She is a very happy baby and has really started to smile this week. Nothing like a smile from a baby to melt a mama's heart!!

Kyle, Me, Aubree & Jenae at our Church shower for Whitney.
You maybe wondering where Whitney is??? She was being passed around
by the ladies at church! She got a lot of attention that day :-)

Jenae & Aubree helping open Whitney's gifts.

Chase & Whitney holding hands :)

Kyle & Aubree enjoying a nice day!

Marilyn holding her new grand babies!! It is a lap full!!

Kyle, Aubree & Jenae making the most of a beautiful fall day!

Harvest Time

2011-11-01T10:41:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago I took the 3 girls on our first little road trip. Kyle was at a rodeo in Billings Montana & it was fall break for Jenae. We went to Newman Grove so that Whitney could meet her Great Grandmas. My parents were still harvesting & the girls had fun taking turns riding around with them in the field. My Dad had bought a ear of caramel corn that Jenae & Aubree had ate. While driving to the field with my Mom the next day Aubree said "is this the special field Grandma?" My Mom said "no there is nothing real special about this field" Aubree said "is it the field that grows the caramel corn ears?" It is no wonder Aubree wanted to go to the corn field :-)

It was a nice visit. Danielle & the boys came over on Friday for awhile to give the kids a chance to play. The weather was so nice they were able to run and play outside a lot.

Whitney with my Grandma Forre.

Jenae riding with my dad in the combine.

Jenae with my Mom in the tractor.

Aubree with my Dad, unloading the corn.

Aubree in the corn field finding things for her "collection"

The girls with my Grandma Noble.

A fun fall day!

2011-10-30T14:24:00.000-05:00

Here are some random pictures from the past couple of weeks. I have had a hard time getting pictures to load to my blog. I finally got some posted!

Jenae, Aubree & Trey enjoying some time in the saddle on a beautiful fall day.

Whitney & cousin Chase getting to know each other!

Jenae spending some time with Chase.

Aubree painting her pumpkin.

Jenae painting her pumpkin.

Kyle and Jenae with our giant pumpkins.

Whitney's first ride!

Whitney just hanging out!

Aubree getting some snuggle time with Whitney

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-22T17:42:00.002-05:00

Here I am a week behind in my blog posting again! Last Saturday was a beautiful day! We took the girls to Lambert's pumpkin patch. It is always a fun time! We are lucky to have it so close to home. We had a great time going on the hay rack ride to pick pumpkins, walking through the haunted forest & eating caramel apples & kettle corn! It was Whitney's first real outdoor outing. She slept through most of it!

Jenae picking her pumpkin. I told her she could get one as big as she could carry. I think she was
about at her limit with this pumpkin!

Kyle, Aubree & Jenae on the hay rack ride.

Me with my 3 daughters in the haunted forest.

Aubree taking a ride on the Molly Trolley,

Jenae took Aubree by the hand in the pumpkin patch and said "come on Aubree"
It was so cute I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Aubree looking at bats in the haunted forest. She really enjoyed the haunted forest.

Whitney

2011-10-16T22:13:00.000-05:00

Whitney 5 days old in this picture.

Jenae's Baptism

2011-10-14T13:22:00.000-05:00

I am stilling finding it hard to make time to update my blog. So as you can see I am still over a week behind.

We came home from the hospital on Friday night after having Miss Whitney. On Sunday Jenae was Baptized. I was really emotional at Church that day. It was such a big day for Jenae and I was feeling so blessed to have had Whitney arrive into this world so healthy, strong & perfect. My emotions got the best of me and I started to cry. They were truly happy tears!! I am guilty like I think most people are of taking for granted all that God has blessed us with. I was sitting in church when it really hit me hard that I have so much to be thankful for.

Jenae has wanted to be Baptized for the past couple of years. I was not sure if she was ready to, but after a visit with Pastor Joe, he said if she can say that she believes that Jesus is our saviour and he was sent to this world so that we my have eternal life then she was ready to be Baptized.

Pastor Joe had a really nice service. All of Jenae's Grandparents were able to be there as well as the Blackmore family to see her be Baptized.

After church there was a potluck dinner. We had some nice fellowship time before heading home for the day. I think we were all exhausted by the time we got home!

Whitney did well for her first time in church! She slept most of the service :-)

Jenae & Pastor Joe before she was Baptized.

Jenae getting Baptized.

Jenae coming out of the water.

Whitney's first week!

2011-10-09T20:03:00.001-05:00

Well you may guess from my lack of blogging for over a week, that adjusting to life with a new baby in the house has been a little crazy.  I had this silly idea since Whitney was by 3rd baby & Jenae is 7 and Aubree is 4, that it was going to be a piece of cake to add a baby to the mix. Well....I think I may have over estimated my abilities. Don't get me wrong, we are all doing really well. I have just been a lot more tired than I was expecting. It has been a busy week, so that may have something to do with being a little more tired.   I am very lucky as Whitney is a really good baby. She sleeps a lot! At night she is up every 2 to 3 hours to eat, but goes right back to sleep when her belly is full.

We left the hospital about 4:00 on Friday afternoon. We stopped by my office on the way home so I could tie up some loose ends. It was close 5:00 until we got home. Hope fixed supper and brought over. Whitney got to meet her cousins Trey & Chase. Chip & Marilyn also joined us for supper. Whitney did not sleep very good her first night home from the hospital.

Kyle had told some friends he would help load out cattle Saturday morning so he left home at 7:00 in the morning. He got back from that about 10:00 and had to leave right away to help Chip work cattle. We did not get to see much of Kyle on Saturday, most of his day was spent working the cattle.

Sunday was another big day. Jenae got baptized at Church & we had a potluck after church. I plan to make a separate blog post to recap that day.    In the afternoon my sister-in-law, Erin, & her girls came out to visit.

Monday Kyle & Chip finished working the rest of the calves. Aubree is a real big help when Jenae is at school. She gets to be the "big" sister not the "big/little" sister. Jenae is really good help with Whitney. She has done really well figuring out how to hold her and is willing to do what ever I need her to do to help out with Whitney.

Tuesday Aubree & I made a quick trip to O'Neill to get the car seat installed correctly in the car. It was nice to get out of the house and have some one on one time with Aubree.

Thursday it was back to O'Neill for Whitney's 1 week check up. Dr. Winkelbauer said she is just perfect!! Her weight was 7 lbs 8 oz.   By the time we got home from O'Neill, Kyle had taken off for Waco Tx.

That was a very short version on Whitney's first week!   I know a lot more happened than I am remembering to write about. I will try to do a better job of keep up with my blog :)

Kyle with Whitney leaving the hospital.

Whitney getting some love from cousin Trey.

All 5 Whitaker Grand kids.

Whitney & Cousin Chase. They are exactly 6 weeks apart.

Aubree, Whitney, Brooke & Allyx.

Whitney getting her first sponge bath at home. Aubree was excited to get to help.

Aubree helping out with Whitney.

Whitney after her bath.

Aubree being my "helper" in the kitchen.

Whitney meets her family!

2011-09-30T14:04:00.000-05:00

I am feeling so blessed and happy with the precious little bundle of joy the Lord has blessed us with. My original due date was Oct 4th. Jenae was 2 weeks early & Aubree was 2 days early so we really did not know when to expect little miss Whitney! I went into labor about 6:30 yesterday morning. I had a doctor appointment scheduled for 9:00. I despite being in labor, I was actually feeling pretty good. I decided to go to work for an hour before my appointment. When I got to work I started tracking my contractions and they were 6-7 minutes apart. When I got to the doctor, it did not take him long to decide I needed to be checking into the hospital as opposed to going back to work. I was already dilated to a 5. By the time I got checked in to the hospital I was already a 7. Kyle headed up to the hospital and got there just after my epidural. My progression slowed way down after my epidural, but I didn't care, as I didn't feel a thing! Whitney made her grand entrance at 3:02 yesterday afternoon. Chip had been in town most of the day & kept checking in with Kyle through out the day. Marilyn picked up the girls after school and they came up to meet Miss Whitney. Jenae & Aubree were both pretty shy & had a lack of word at first. It didn't take them long to settle in and start acting like themselves. I have a feeling Whitney is gong to be getting a lot of love in the Whitaker house! Jenae & Aubree went home with Chip & Marilyn so Kyle could spend the night in the hospital with me. We kept Whitney in our room with us. She was a very content baby. She only woke up at 2:00 to nurse and she went right back to sleep.

It sounds like Jenae & Aubree were both pretty wound up last night and this morning talking about their new little sister. I talked to Jenae on the phone this morning. She was all worried how she was going to concentrate at school today thinking about Whitney. She said to me "Mommy, should I just pretend that you have not had Whitney yet?.....but I can't do that because I need to tell my classmates that she was born" Marilyn said that Aubree kept forgetting Whitney's name. I am afraid there is going to be some fighting as to who gets to hold her first when we get home. I am so thankful that they are both so excited about their baby sister!!

Our first family picture as a family of 5!

Happy Daddy with his baby girl! I think she already has him wrapped around her little finger!!

Jeane takes her turn with Whitney!

Aubree finally getting to hold Whitney. She has waited a long time for this moment!

Chip & Marilyn holding Whitney for the first time!

Whitney Faith has arrived!

2011-09-29T20:15:00.000-05:00

I am feeling very bless and happy that our baby girl Whitney Faith came into this world at 3:02 this afternoon. She is doing so well & she is just perfect. She was 7 lbs 9 oz 2 1/4 inchs long.

Rounds 2 & 3 of the Mid-States Rodeo Finals

2011-09-22T16:34:00.000-05:00

I got up Saturday morning and made a trip to Norfolk to get stocked up on baby supplies. It was not a "fun" shopping trip, but a good feeling to have all of the necessities for Baby Whitaker to arrive. The Madison County Fair Board hosted a Husker party equipped with 2 big screen TVs. It was a lot of fun to be able to watch the game right there on the fair grounds. The game went right up to the time of the rodeo & Kyle was able to go get saddled up during half time and get ready for the rodeo.

Night 2 of the MSRA finals was another cold and wet night. It never did rain, but there was a wet mist in the air all night. Kyle had a good night at the rodeo. He was 79 on his bronc, 4.6 on his steer & 11.0 on his calf. Jenae & Aubree went home with my parents after the rodeo. Kyle and I went to the dance for awhile. It was a good chance to visit with some friends, but we were both pretty tired so we went back to the trailer and called it a night.

Sunday when we got up we could tell it was going to be a much nicer day! They were calling for mid 70's and lots of sunshine! The weatherman was actually right!! It was a beautiful day!!! The girls even got to enjoy ice cream during the rodeo :-) A huge change from the other 2 days of rodeo!! Kyle & I went to Cowboy Church service in the morning & my parents brought the girls back about the time church got over. Jenae was very eager to get saddled up and start riding firecracker.

The rodeo was just so so for Kyle. He did not draw the greatest in the steer wrestling and he knew he had to be quick to try to win something. Well he was a little too quick & broke out. He made a nice run in the calf roping and was 3rd in the round with a 10.9 & ended up 4th in the average. Then it came time for the bronc riding. He drew a horse that really bucked, but kind of stalled when the gate opened. In my opinion the judge made a really bad call and said Kyle missed him out. I guess that is rodeo!!!

We got home about 6:00 that evening. I was busy trying to get things unpacked and clothes washed. Bless my mom's heart, she had washed all of the girls clothes before she brought them back on Sunday. That was helpful, it saved me 1 load of wash :-)

Now that MSRA finlas are over it is time to get ready for this baby to arrive!! Still lots to do, but I am feeling much more prepared after having the day at home yesterday to get the room ready! The count down has begun until the arrival of Baby Whitaker!!!

Aubree, Brooke & Allyx with Brooke's pony Pepper.

Another cold night at the rodeo.

The sun is shining!!!! We were all so happy to see the Sun on Sunday!
My parents, Erin & all the girls getting ready to head to the rodeo

Chip, Jenae & Kyle riding around before Sunday afternoon's rodeo, they actually
are riding around without coats on!

First Round of Mid-States Finals

2011-09-18T05:37:00.000-05:00

The first night of the Mid-State Rodeo Association Finals was a cold one! I took Friday off & we got Jenae out of school around 1:00 so we could get to Madison and get checked in for the rodeo. All week long I had been checking the forcast and it was looking pretty good! Originally they were calling for low 60's on Friday, upper 60's on Saturday & 70's by Sunday. Lets just say the forcast was a litte off. Friday barley made it out of the fifties & it was a cold damp night. Jenae was so excited to get to take her horse, Firecracker, along for the weekend. She has been wanting to take her along a few other times this summer, but it didn't work out. I was suprised how well Firecracker handeled her first trip away from the Whitaker Ranch. The fairgrounds at Madsion it a fairly big & busy place with lots for a young horse to be around. Firecracker never seemed to get upset or spooked at anything.

Kyle had a good night at the rodeo. He was 2nd in the Saddle Bronc rididing with a 75, he was 4.6 is the steer wrestling, which was 4th in the round & he was 16 on his calf. I know he was not happy with his calf run, but the calf kicked when it came time to tie him.

Jenae & Aubree had fun playing with their cousins during the rodeo. The Herchenbach family came over to cheer on Kyle & Dusty so the only cousin on the Forre side that was not at the rodeo was Riley. Aubree went home with Brooke to spend the night at her house & Jenae went home with my parents. I have to admit it was kind of nice to have a quiet night at the trailer! I didn't realize traveling being almost 9 months pregnant would be as hard as it is, so I have been very thankful for the extra help with the girls.

Kyle & Aubree on Rambo. Jenae on Firecracker.

Jenae working Firecracker

Jenae & Aubree with their cousins at the rodeo. You can see by how they were dress how cold it was!

A birthday party for Ben & Bree

2011-09-17T07:50:00.000-05:00

Kyle made it home early Sunday morning from a rodeo in MN. The girls were so happy to have him home! He gave Aubree a really cute pair of boots for her birthday. Hard to believe, but I did not have my camera in my hand taking pictures of her opening her gift that morning. She is pretty happy with her new boots!!!

We all went to church in the morning and spend the afternoon getting some things done around the house. We went over to Hope's house for supper to celebrate Ben & Aubree's birthdays. Their birthdays are just 2 days apart. Hope made a delicious supper & it was a beautiful night to spend some time outside. It was a fun evening!

Ben, Aubree & Trey with the yummy Birthday dessert Hope made.

Aubree eating hear dessert! As you can see, she REALLY enjoyed it!

Aubree opening her gifts.

Happy Birthday Aubree!!

2011-09-15T14:33:00.000-05:00

My little girl turned 4 on Saturday! She is growing up so fast. I asked her that morning if she knew how old she was. She said "I am as old as Jenae is now!" I do not know where she got that idea! We never know what she will come up with. Last week she told me "Oh Mommy, look at your fat belly with a baby in it....you look like a pregnant billy goat!"

We had a really nice day at home on Saturday. The weather was so nice that the girls played and played and played outside! Aubree was not happy with my dinner of left over potato soup that I made, so I said she could pick what ever she wanted for supper & since it was her birthday I would make it for her. I listed off a bunch of kid friendly options. Of all things she wanted a plain ol' hamburger! Jenae made her a birthday cake in the Easy Bake Oven. Aubree thought that was special :-) After supper I rented the movie Gnomeo and Juliet. It was a really cute movie & a nice way to finish up her birthday!

Aubree with her birthday breakfast!

Aubree with her cake Jenae made her!

A busy day

2011-09-13T18:55:00.000-05:00

I had a meeting on Wednesday in Grand Island, so I took Thursday as my day off for the week. I have been having a lot of swelling in my legs and feet so I was hoping for a nice quiet day at home. Well no such luck! Kyle was at a rodeo in Fort Madison, IA & Chip was off on a trail ride in the mountains in Colorado, which left the girls of the family in charge. With me being very pregnant, Hope having a brand new baby & Marilyn with her hip, we are not is a best shape to be taking care of things on the ranch! Long story short, Chip had a horse that needed to get to the vet.After spending the morning over at Chip & Marilyn's place dealing with the horse & the chores Hope took the horse down to Ord to the vet, while Aubree & got a few hours to snuggle with Chase. He was a tired little boy & slept most of the time he was at our house. Aubree was really disappointed that he was not awake more! When he did wake up, she was so exited to feed him a bottle.

After Hope left with Chase, I got roped into a Kirby vacuum demonstration. Little did I know it was going to be a 4 hour demonstration!!! I was very impressed with the Kirby, however I am not sure it is worth $2700 :-) It was 8:00 that night until I got him out of my house!!!

So between our horse situation in the morning & the Kirby salesman in the evening, my day did not turn out to relaxing!

Oh well... relaxing days are over rated anyway!!!

Aubree was so happy to feed Chase his bottle. She is such a little Mama!

Labor Day

2011-09-11T02:04:00.002-05:00

I love paid holidays! I think they may be the best things ever invented!! Chip sold some cattle on a Labor Day sale. Jenae rode Firecracker to help round them up. After the cattle were loaded we got ready to go with Kyle to a rodeo in Johnstown. The weather was perfect for a day out and about!

When we got home from the rodeo we hurried up to get chores done and then we took Jenae & Aubree to see Smurfs. It was a really busy day and I think we were all ready to crash when we got home. The girls really enjoyed the Smurfs.

Jenee helping to round up the cattle.

Aubree enjoying a hot dog for dinner.

Jenae was Kyle's helper again at the rodeo. For some crazy reason they had Kyle ride his bronc
in with the bareback riding. He had to rope his calf right after he rode his bronc. He had Jenae get Comet
warmed up for him. She did a really good job helping him out!

Jenae & Aubree having some fun dip at the rodeo.

A day at Lacey's

2011-09-11T01:46:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday my parents came out to help with our bunk bed project. My Dad build them up a little bit so Aubree would have a little more room. We made a trip up to Lacey's for dinner. It was a really fun day. After we ate we wondered around outside eating grapes and apples that have growing around there place. Then we headed up to Rock Falls. It is just a bout 5 mile from there place. It is so peaceful & beautiful up there. The kids had a great time playing in the creek.

Aubree playing in the creek. She was all smiles!!

Jenae getting in the water. The water was a little on the cool side!

Riley playing in the water.

Aubree & Jenae at the waterfall.

My paretns at Rock Falls.

Picking apple at Lacey's house

Aubree & Riley playing with Anne.

a birthday party, a wedding & a rodeo....one busy weekend!

2011-08-31T19:01:00.022-05:00

As you can see by my title it was a really busy weekend. Kyle was on the rodeo trail so the girls & I got up early to head to Newman Grove. My friend/past co worker was getting married in Fullerton, which is only 35 miles from my parents. I thought it would be a good opportunity to see my parents. As it turned out we ended up having a last minute birthday party for all the kids with summer birthdays on my side of the family. With all of the new arrivals we are realizing it is getting harder to find time to celebrate each kids birthday individually so we have decided to group the parties together as much as we can. The kids do not seem to mind. They are just always happy to get to spend time together.

I met up with Susan & Natalie in Albion to go to Sheila's wedding reception. Sheila looked beautiful and with all she has been though in the past 8 years, we are all so happy to see her so happy. Unfortunately with Sheila getting married, means she has now moved away and I am sad to not have her as a coworker anymore.

I left Jenae & Aubree with my parents while we were at the reception. They had a great time going fishing. They each caught a fish, they caught 7 in all. After they were done fishing my Mom build a fire in their fire pit. When I got back there we had nice relaxing evening sitting around the fire roasting marshmallows. Aubree had fun running trying to catch fireflies. We were planning to spend the night and head home after dinner on Sunday. Kyle called me that night and said he had decided to go home before Norden so that he could get his young horse to rope on. I really do not like to miss opportunities to go with Kyle to rodeos. If I do not make the effort to go then we miss out on some good family time & it seems this summer I have not got to many of his rodeos. We got up early on Sunday morning and got home just in time to jump in the pickup with Kyle and head to Norden.

It is crazy to me that today is the last day of August. If September goes as fast as August has went I am in real trouble. I am down to having one month left before Baby Whitaker is going to arrive! Jenae surprised us and arrived 2 weeks early. Aubree waited for her Daddy to get home from the West Coast and only came 2 days early. So when will Baby #3 arrive???? That is the ultimate question. I am really hoping for an October baby, but I plan to be ready by mid September just in case!!!

Jenae & Aubree are getting really excited for the big day. Jenae is really hoping for Baby Whitaker to make her arrival on a weekend so she does not have to miss any school and can be sitting in the waiting room. Aubree has been putting babies up her shirt pretending to be pregnant. The other day she had a baby up her dress and she said "the doctor just pulled it out" I told Kyle I it would not surprise me if Aubree was the little girl who "nurses" her dolls. Aubree did not hear me say this to Kyle, but less than 5 minutes later she had her dress up "feeding" her baby. Never a dull moment in the
Whitaker household!

Jenae helping Aubree open her birthday gifts. Jenae was really into reading the cards to Aubree.
She would read the entire card.

The Forre cousins! Crazy to think in less than 4 months there will be 4 more in the group.

Jenae being Kyle's helper. Kyle roped on his young calf horse, Chuck, at Norden.
Chuck needed to be rode a lot more than his good calf horse Comet. While he was
busy riding Chuck he had Jenae ride Spud & pony Rambo. I was proud of what a
little hand she is becoming! With me being pregnant I was not going to be a lot of help & Chip was at
some rodes in Wyoming. I am
not sure what he would have done with out Jenae there to help get his horses warmed up.

Kyle getting ready for the bronc riding.

On the way home Aubree thought sitting by the fuel pumps looked like a Kodak moment.
Do you think maybe I take too many pictures of my children that they look for places to pose?

Sheila's wedding. This is the group of gals I have spent a lot of time with over
the past years. We as a group have been through a lot together. I am so happy for Sheila, but
I am sure going to miss sitting next to her at work. We have worked together and sat side by side for
9 years.
For all my blog followers who have wanted to see my prego belly....there you go!

If you can be rodeoing on your birthday....you might as well be ranching!

2011-08-26T23:32:00.000-05:00

We were so happy to have Kyle home on his birthday this year. I do not remember the last time that he was actually home on his birthday. I helped Kyle rope in the morning and then when Jenae got home from school she & Kyle moved the heifers. Aubree & I were along in following behind in the pickup and trailer. Chip was at some rodeos in Wyoming so it was just Jenae & Kyle moving the cattle. With me being pregnant, Jenae has differently become very important in helping Kyle & Chip move cattle.

After we got the cattle moved we hustled home to get cleaned up to meet Marilyn, Ben, Hope, Trey & Chase at the cafe to celebrate Kyle's birthday. The food was really good as always & it was nice to spend the evening together.

Wednesday also was the 2 year anniversary of Chip's 3rd open heart surgery. We are all very thankful for the success of the surgery and that Chip is getting along so good.

I am finally caught up with my blogging. I hope to not get behind again! It is much harder to play catch up than it is to just blog a little a couple times a week.

Aubree running through the pasture.

Kyle and Jenae moving cattle. Jenae has started riding our 5 year old mare, Firecracker for ranch work.

Kyle with a a lap full at the cafe.

Aubree & Trey having fun at supper.

Jenae enjoying some ice cream at the cafe.

Jenae holding Chase.

A visit to the Blackmore's

2011-08-26T21:01:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday me and the girls made a little trip over to see the Blackmore's. As you can see a real high light for Jenae & Aubree is getting to hold their new cousin. They are both pretty fond of him!! They had a great time playing with Trey too.

Chase is such a good baby. We do not get to see him awake very much, but I am sure that will soon change ;-) Trey is pretty proud of Chase and seems to be enjoying being a big brother!

Jenae & Chase

Aubree & Chase

Trey, Chase, Aubree & Jenae

First Day of 2nd Grade

2011-08-26T14:48:00.001-05:00

A week ago Wednesday Jenae had her first day of school. It is crazy to me how fast the summer went. Looking back it sure was a fun summer! Now we are back to schedules and bed time routines to make sure Jenae gets enough sleep to handle the long school day. They got out early the first 3 days, but since then they have had full days. Chambers has no a/c so it gets a bit warm in the school. I think teachers and kids will all welcome some cooler weather.

Jenae LOVES 2nd grade! She really likes her teacher and seem like she is eager to learn! Reading seems to be of high importance to her teacher which goes along great with Jenae. Jenae is such a little book worm and really loves to read. She is into reading chapter books and her first book of the year that she is reading is Old Town in the Green Groves. It is the lost years that Laura Ingalls did not write about in her books. She has finished that book and is on to reading Little House in the Big Woods.

Jenae keeps telling me "I can't believe I am a big ol' 2nd grader.....doesn't it seem like yesterday that I was just starting Kindergarten??"

Burwell Jr. Rodeo

2011-08-24T20:47:00.000-05:00

A week ago Sunday was the Burwell Jr. Rodeo. Kyle & I were a little tired after 2 nights of all night driving and getting home 5:30 that morning, but we managed to have a great time. We left home about 7:30 and I think it was almost 6:00 that evening until we got home.

Jenae was still on cloud nine from winning her buckle the day before. All in all the rodeo went well. She placed 4 in the barrels. Her pole run was a little wild, but the ground was really hard. So Speedster didn't run his best pattern. Jenae's goat stayed tied so that was good. She was disqualified in the flag race. Hippie was not being the most cooperative horse. He had a couple times during her run where he kicked up a little bit. Jenae did good and rode him thought it like it was noting.

It was so nice to have Kyle there for the day. I think Jenae really enjoyed having him be there.

This wrapped up our jr. rodeo season for 2011!

Jenae & her friend Fayth at the Burwell Rodeo.

Jenae working on her trick riding at the rodeo.

Kyle giving Jenae a pep talk before her events.

Kyle & Jenae watching the rodeo.

Aubree is such a good little rodeo fan. She is always there to cheer Jenae on.

Chip & Jenae watching the competition

Jenae & her rodeo friend having a good laugh!

Jenae's first belt buckle

2011-08-23T20:27:00.000-05:00

The Saturday I was with Kyle in Fergus Falls. MN. Jenae had a Jr. Rodeo in Taylor, NE. It was really hard on me to miss that rodeo. I just knew Kyle needed a driver along with him. Marilyn kept Aubree & Trey had spent the night Friday night at Chip & Marilyn's house too. Just Chip & Jenae went to the rodeo. It was a great day for Jenae. She won the barrels and got 2nd in the poles. She was not old enough to enter the goat tying there. As hard as it was for me to miss watching Jenae winning her first belt buckle, I know Jenae will always have the memory of she & her Grandpa going off to the rodeo together and winning her first buckle. Kyle said his it was his Grandpa Whitaker that was with him when he won his first belt buckle too, so that is kind of neat!

Chambers Rodeo

2011-08-23T08:13:00.000-05:00

I am getting a little behind in my blog postings. A week ago Friday night Kyle & Chip were up in the rodeo in Chambers. Chambers is always a fun rodeo as we get to see a lot of our friends there. 2 of Kyle's aunts were there watching too. It was fun to visit with Danni & Amy. Kyle was entered in the Calf Roping, Steer Wrestling, Saddle Bronc Riding & Team Roping. Chip was entered in the calf roping & Jenae got to run an exhibition barrel run. It was a busy night for the Whitaker's at the rodeo! Jenae was a real crowd pleaser. Everyone cheered really loud when she ran. She made a good run so it was fun to watch. I have had lots of comments since then that Jenae's run was the highlight of the rodeo.

Kyle had to be up in Fergus Falls, MN on Saturday morning. It was going to be 8 hours up there and he was going to be driving all night. Last minute I decided to ride along with him to help him drive. It was a lot of driving and I was glad I was able to help Kyle out. We left Chambers a little before midnight and got to Fergus Falls about 7:30 that morning. Kyle was up in slack at 10:00 just in the calf roping. That night he was up in the bronc riding and steer wrestling. We left Fergus Falls that night about 10:00 and got home at 5:30 Sunday morning.

Aubree helping Grandpa Chip get his rope ready.

Cowgirl Aubree! I told her if she wanted to ride in the grand entry that she had to
wear her boots & jeans. She was all decked out as a cowgirl. Kyle told her she looked "awesome"
That made her night to have her Daddy tell her that!

Jenae on Speedster waiting to run her exibition barrel run. She really looks forward to
running barrels with the big girls! Her barrel run at the Chambers Rodeo is always a crowd pleaser!

We were excited to see a puppy we sold this past spring at the rodeo. Her new owner
seems really happy with her. She is a well loved puppy!

Grandpa Chip & Trey riding around before the rodeo.

Kyle, Aubree & Jenae riding in the grand entry. Aubree was all smiles going around the arena
waving and smiling at the eveyone.

Kyle, Jenae & Aubree at the rodeo.

Welcome Baby Chase

2011-08-17T20:07:00.000-05:00

On Thursday morning we were excited to hear that Hope & Ben welcomed Chase Gentry into their family. He is so adorable!!!

Kyle was on his way home from a rodeo on Thrusday morning. He was able to stop at the hospital and meet little Chase on his way home. Kyle had Jenae & Aubree all cleaned up and dressed when I got home from work. I was able to pick them up right at 5:30 and we headed to Norfolk.

The girls were very excited to meet their new little cousin!! We all took turns holding him. We didn't want to over stay our welcome & kids and hospitals is not really a great combination so after about an hour we left to go make a couple stops in Norfolk before going home.

We were shopping when we got a call from Ben that he watched the weather & there were bad storms to the west of Norfolk. We finished up our shopping quickly, grabbed a bit to eat & headed home. My Mom was very helpful for my trip home. She was able to watch the storm on the Internet and tell me when it was looking bad or if it looked like I could drive out of the down pours. I had to pull over in Tilden & Clearwater to wait for it to clear a little. I am not a fan of driving when it is raining so hard that you can see the lines on the road. It took us 2 hours to get home compared to 1 hour 15 minutes that it should take. Thankfully both girls fell asleep with in 10 miles of leaving Norfolk so the longer trip did not bother them.

Kyle & Chip took Trey into the rodeo in Chambers that night. It sounds like they had a good time until it started to rain. We kept Trey at our house that night. We had a lot of fun keeping him.

It sounds like the Blackmore family is all doing well with their new addition!!! Trey loves his little brother and you can bet the 2 of them are going to be good buddies as they grow up together!

Jenae & Chase

Jenae, Aubree & Chase

Aubree & Chase

Bartlett Rodeo

2011-08-10T18:36:00.000-05:00

Kyle had a good weekend rodeoing. He made the short go at Dodge City & ended up 3rd in the short go and 2nd in the average. He was up in Bartlett on Sunday morning. We got up early and met him there so we could see him for a couple of hours. I took him some clean clothes and took home his dirty ones. He got home about 5:00 Monday morning from Dodge City. It was nice to have him home for a couple of days before he hit the road again!

Kyle & Aubree riding around at Bartlett.

Kyle, Jenae & Aubree warming up the horses.

Kyle & Aubree trotting around the arena.

Aubree was all smiles riding with her Daddy!

Jenae like to warm Spud up for Kyle. She is a good little helper!

A day a the lake

2011-08-09T13:24:00.000-05:00

On Thursday night Erin, Brooke & Allyx came out to our house for me to take pictures of the girls. On Friday I had to work, but Erin had plans to meet her friend Amy & the lake in Burwell. Being the nice Aunt she is, she took Jenae & Aubree along too. The girls had a blast playing!!! From what Erin said the Calamus was a great place to take the kids.

Aubree at the lake with Brooke, Allyx & Riley

The kids eating their lunch

Payton, Jenae & Paige

Kids playing on the beach!

Swimming Lessons

2011-08-09T07:57:00.000-05:00

Last week the girls had swimming lessons. They both learned a lot this year, which made me really happy. This was their 3 year in swimming lessons and prior years they did not seem to get much out of them. I tried to take the girls to the pool a few more times this year before lessons started so maybe that helped get them more comfortable with the water. Or maybe they were just at a point of really wanting to learn. Either way I am glad they did so good. I would like to take them swimming one more time before school starts, but I am afraid we are going to run out of time since school starts a week from tomorrow!!!

Aubree under water.

Jenae swimming

Burwell Rodeo & Valentine Jr. Rodeo Weekend

2011-08-06T18:34:00.000-05:00

Last weekends was one of the hottest weekend of the summer & we spent most of the weekend outside!

Kyle was up in slack at Burwell on Friday morning. It was the first time since we have been together that I have missed the slack. We were having an open house at work & it just was not going to work for me to go to Burwell Friday morning. Chip, Marilyn, Jenae & Aubree all went down for the morning. He roped his first calf & bulldogged his first steer in slack. He didn't have any luck in the calf roping but made a decent run on his steer. It didn't place but he was good for the average. He had his 2nd calf & steer in the Saturday afternoon performance. Needless to say it was HOT!!! He did well and placed on his calf & placed in the average on his steer.

On Sunday, we loaded up and headed to Valentine for a Jr. Rodeo for Jenae. We left our house at 6:15 and left Chip & Marilyn's house at 6:30. I was mistaken and thought the rodeo started at 10:00, however it actually started at 9:00. It is a good thing Chip wanted to get there plenty early. We got to Valentine about 10 till 9. It ended up that Jenae had plenty of time before her first event anyway. She was disappointed that she did not place in any of her events, but on the positive side, her goat stayed tied, she had a qualified ride in the flag race, and did not tip over a barrel or a pole. It turns out her month of being on the go in July was not great for her rodeoing. She just didn't have the time to practice before the rodeo. It was a hot & muggy day. Thankfully there is a nice covered grandstand so we were at least able to get out of the sun. We got home about 6:00 Sunday evening. We were all so tired after being out in the heat all day long!

Jenae & Aubree at the Burwell Rodeo.

Jenae riding Hippie at the Valentine Jr. Rodeo

Aubree trying to stay hydrated during the hot day at the Valentine Jr. Rodeo.

The Daddy Of Them All

2011-08-06T17:40:00.000-05:00

My traveling girls were back on the road again with Kyle & Chip the end of July. Jenae & Aubree were at rodeos in 4 states in the month of July. They have turned in to little rodeo kids and they love life on the road. This is the first year Aubree has got to do much traveling with out me along. I don't think Jenae is going to get to make many trips with out Aubree tagging along anymore!

Cheyenne didn't go well for Kyle this year, but there is always next year to look forward to!

Jenae riding Spud at CFD slack.

Jenae & the Morton Kids during CFD slack.

Aubree playing toys back at the trailer during Cheyenne.

Jenae & Aubree at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Museum

Jenae & Aubree at the CFD museum

On the go

2011-07-26T15:20:00.000-05:00

This summer is just flying by! My girls have been on the go!! I looked back at July and there were only 5 days that Jenae & Aubree have not had somewhere "fun" to go & it looks like the rest of July they will be on the go as well!

Last week we got home from De Smet on Monday afternoon about 2:00. Mostly we spent the afternoon resting and trying to get laundry caught up. My parents like to have the girls come for a couple days in the summer to have a little "vacation" at their house. As the summer is flying by, I had told mom that last week was looking like the only time between now and school starting that would work for them to come for a few days. The plan was to meet up with my parents on Tuesday evening after work and send the girl with them & Mom would bring them back to me on Thursday evening on her way to my sister's house. Well, Mom called about 7:00 Monday evening and said "is there anyway we could meet up with you tonight and Jenae & Aubree?" Danielle, Dusty, & Erin were planning a day at the water park in Columbus on Tuesday with all of the kids and they thought they wanted to have Mom, Jenae & Aubree join them. I quickly packed bags for the girls and we meet up with my parents at Pizza Hut in Neligh. It sounds like they had a blast at the water park!! They enjoyed the few days at my parents and I got them back on Thursday night.

Friday Hope was over to her parents house and helped Jenae run barrels. She wanted to take the girls swimming in Orchard that afternoon so they went home with her. It ended up that the pool was closed due to a pool party so they didn't make it to the swimming pool, but had a lot of fun playing at Aunt Hope's house! Marilyn & I went over to get them that evening. It was fun to see Trey's big boy room & the baby's room.

Friday night Kyle was at Wahoo. His Aunt Linda and some of her family was there to watch him. He won the steer wrestling there. From there Kyle & Chip headed to Iron River, MI. It was a long ways up there but both Kyle & Chip won a little so it was worth the trip. Kyle said it was nice and cool up there, they did not even need to run the AC in the trailer. I sure wish we could get some of that coolness to come our way!

Saturday morning I went over and helped Marilyn with chores. Then the girls & I headed up to Lacey's house to help her pack for their move. Jenae & Aubree were really good help & entertainment for Riley and we were able to help Lacey get quiet a bit done. I had told the girls if they were good we would go home though Atkinson and go swimming for a little bit. It was such a hot day that the pool felt awesome!!! We got home and went over to help with chores again then home to do our own chores and then it was off to bed! It was a big day!!!

Sunday we went to church. It had been about 3 weeks since we were there, so I felt like I needed to make the effort to get there. After church I spent the morning trying to get caught up around the house. That afternoon my cousin, Heather, came over. She had a little mishap and ended up locking her keys in her pickup. While we were outside trying to get them out Jenae & Aubree were busy playing in the yard, barn and sometimes would go back in the house to cool off. It had been about 15 minutes since I had seen Aubree, so I thought I should go check on her. I thought she was probably in the barn playing with kitties. I checked there no Aubree, then I went to the house to look for her, no Aubree. I headed back to the barn thinking maybe she was in the haymow as I was walking toward the barn I could hear a faint cry coming from the shed I park my car in. I went and found her in my car. She was a ball of sweat and crying hysterically. Sunday was in the upper 90s. I was just sick to think what would have happened to her if i had not found her when I did or if my car would have been parked in the sun on such a hot day. It still upsets me when I think about it. I asked her what in the world she was doing in the car. For some crazy reason she went there to cool off and thought the air conditioner would be going in my parked car.....hopefully she learned her lesson, I know I sure did!!

Jenae checking out Lacey's new house.

Jenae & Aubree having a treat at the pool.

Aubree floating around the pool.

Jenae loves the water!!

Aubree decided to try sticking her head under the water coming off the mushroom.

De Smet, SD----Home of Laura Ingalls Wilder

2011-07-22T16:42:00.000-05:00

For any true Laura Ingalls Wilder fans, De Smet, SD is a must stop! It was an experience that my girls especially Jenae will always treasure.

We got to De Smet about 9:30 on Sunday morning. Our first stop was the original land that Pa & Ma homesteaded. The buildings on the site were replicas of the originals. Most of the pictures I have posted are from the homestead. Sunday night we went to a pageant with a storyline from one of the little house books. It was fun to see the story in the book come to life.

After we left the homestead we went to find a place to eat. It was right about noon. We we to a little restaurant and enjoyed sitting in the cool. Jeane was asking Marilyn 1001 questions about Laura & her family. A lot of what she was asking us was things about Laura that were not in the books. Such as who died first Grace or Carrie? how many kids did Carrie have? etc.... A gal was sitting across from us at her own table. She was listening to all of Jenae's questions and she said to us "excuse me, can I ask how old she is?" When we responded that Jenae was only 7 she was a little surprised! She thought Jenae was much older based all that she knew about Laura & her family & the questions that she was asking. The gal happened to be a historian who made her living studying & doing research on the Ingalls family and was visiting De Smet from New Hampshire. She knew all of the answers to all of Jenae's questions :-) It was really fun to hear all that she had to say. Marilyn has he email address so if Jenae comes up with more questions we can get the answers for her!

The girls also had a lot of fun swimming in the pool at the motel. We left De Smet Monday morning and got home about 2:00 in the afternoon. We were all so tired!!! It was a really fun weekend!!

Jenae & Aubree on the look out tower.

Aubree was in a hurry to get to the barn. She took off running down the hill &
was hard to catch up with! One thing about it, I was not worried about anyone "taking" her, as
everyone at the homestead appeared to be very family oriented.

Marilyn & Jenae walking toward the barn. Soon after this picture we sent Jenae
after Aubree to catch up!

Jenae & Aubree in a stage coach.

The girls headed into the school house.

Jenae & Aubree sitting in the desks at the school house. It was a really neat experience.
There was a teacher in the school & she told the kids what school was like back in Laura Ingalls time. She asked the kids
if they could see any differences between schools of to day and schools from back in time. Aubree raised her hand
and said "There aren't any lights on!"
Another question the teacher asked was "Do you know what kids took for their lunches back then?"
Jenae raised her hand and said "Apples" The teacher said "Yes, you are right! Apples were the one fruit the
settlers had access to since it did not need to be kept cold so they could ship it out west easily. Aubree
then raised her hand and said "I think they used to take hot dogs!!" The entire room busted out in laughter!!

Aubree in the classroom.

I thought this was a neat saying, so I had Jenae stand in front of it!

Jenae, Aubree & Marilyn on the covered wagon.

One of the highlights for Jenae was getting to drive the team and the covered wagon.

Aubree was not going to be out done by Jenae, so she drove them too!! I am not sure
what the wagon full of passengers thought of a 3 year old taking the reins!!

Both Jenae & Aubree had to make sure to hold the homestead's baby kitties.

Aubree making a jump rope.

Jenae taking her turn making a jump rope. They each got to make a corn cob
doll, they were pretty excited about that!

A tired little miss Aubree!

Jenae & Aubree waiting for the Laura Ingalls Pageant to start. The souvenir
they got was a Charlotte Doll. A replica of Laura's original rag doll.

Mary & Laura AKA Jenae & Aubree :-)

Jenae soaking in the experience.

All smiles Jenae!

Jenae and the actress that played Laura.

Part 1 of our trip to South Dakota

2011-07-21T13:32:00.000-05:00

Marilyn wanted to take the girls up to De Smet SD, to visit the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Jenae is a HUGE Laura Ingalls fan. We have read her all the books twice and she has also listened to them on audio books. So she has a pretty good knowledge of Laura and her family. We left Saturday morning and made our way up to Mitchell, SD. Kyle was up in a rodeo there that night. We checked into our hotel room then took the girls to the Corn Palace. It was fun for the girls to see how the Corn Palace was decorated. We went to the rodeo to watch Kyle. It was so hot!!!! I actually let the girls poor bottles of water on their heads to stay cool. The rodeo did not go so well for Kyle that night, but we were still glad we went to watch him.

We got up early and headed out for De Smet. Jeane was so excited to get there!!!

I will try to get my blog post done tomorrow about our visit to De Smit!

Jenae & Aubree with the flooded Fort Randall Dam.

Aubree, Jenae & Marilyn at the Corn Palace.

Jenae & Aubree eating corn on the cob at the Corn Palace.

Jenae riding Comet at the rodeo in Mitchell.

Kyle & Aubree riding around before the rodeo.

Aubree was so excited to get to participate in the candy toss. She climbed the fence
and jumped in the arena with the other kids. We had no idea how much candy she would be

getting so we did not send a bag with her. She grabbed all she could hold with her little hands.

Hartington Rodeo

2011-07-20T13:42:00.000-05:00

It has been another busy week!!! I worked Mon-Thurs last week and Tues-Friday this week so I had a nice 4 day weekend. It was a needed break from work :-) Thursday night Kyle & Chip were up in Hartington. After work I drove over to meet up with them. Kyle won the bronc riding and Chip won the calf roping. It was so hot, muggy & muddy! I was wondering what I was thinking going over to watch, but I am glad I did. Kyle headed on to Mitchell, SD that night & Chip, the girls & I came on home.

Friday was a nice catch up day around the house. It was so hot out that we did not leave the house too much. We got all packed up for our next little venture.

I will try to get the rest of the weekend blogged about tomorrow!

Jenae riding Spud before the rodeo.

Aubree before the rodeo. Both girls were wanting to ride in the Grand Entry at the rodeo
so they wore their hats. It was so muddy there I do not think they even had a grand entry!

Chip was doing his pre rodeo stretches. Aubree joined in ;-)

A rodeo weekend

2011-07-12T10:56:00.001-05:00

Kyle, Chip, Jenae & Aubree packed up on Wednesday night and headed for Madison County Fair & Rodeo. It was the first stop on their weekend of rodeos. I grew up going to the Madison County Fair & I still love getting to go back for it. Unfortunately I did not get to go along. My parents met up with the girls there & helped entertain them during the rodeo. Danielle's family also came over for the night. Jenae & Aubree always love getting to see their cousins! Kyle did well in Madison. Kyle won the saddle bronc riding and was 5th in the steer wresting.

They loaded up after Madison and headed for Hamel, MN. This is one of Kyle favorite rodeo weekends and he has taken Jenae with him every year since she was 2, I think. This year he thought he wanted to take both girls. Thank goodness for Grandpa going along to help out! The girls had a blast & I think they are kind of liking this living on the rodeo trail life style. At Hamel slack a news reporter was there & interviewed a bunch of little girls sitting there watching their dads compete. Jenae & Aubree were in the bunch. They did not ask Aubree any questions but she was sitting right there. Jenae did really well answering the questions. I was able to see it via facebook. Kyle made a nice bronc ride and ended up 7th. The timed events did not go so well for Kyle at Hamel.

From Hamel it was off to Spooner, WI. From what Kyle says Spooner is a great place to take a family. They have a nice place for trailers to park under trees and plug ins. The Morton Family was at Spooner the same time. Jenae & Aubree had so much fun playing with the Morton kids. They have a daughter a couple years older than Jenae and her name is Danae. Aubree did not realize her name started a "D" instead of a "J" and Aubree referred to her as "the other Jenae, not our Jenae, but the other Jenae" it was cute!
Kyle was 8th in the Steer Wrestling at Spooner.

They spent the night in Spooner & made there way over to Isanti on Saturday afternoon. No luck at Isanti for Kyle. They headed for home and made it back to chambers by 6:30 Sunday morning. I was so happy to see my girls!!! (& Kyle too :-) I missed them so much. I was the official chore girl for the weekend. Me & my go ol' trusty dog Buster! I actually one time on Saturday called him Bree instead of Buster. We were finishing up chores over at Chip's and I turned to him and said "ok, lets go home Bree...I mean Buster"

Something with Aubree changed while she was on the road. She went from a little girl who would change her clothes 3-5 times a day to a little girl who whats to wear the same outfit all day/night and the next day. She is my child of extremes!!!

Marilyn is out in California to for the FCCLA Nationals. It sounds like they are having a great time.

Kyle & Chip were up in the rodeo in Nelson, NE last night. They left before I got home from work & so they took the girls with them again! Jenae & Aubree were more than ready to load up and head to the rodeo again! They did not get home until 1:30 this morning so it was another evening at home alone for me. As much as I have missed getting to spend much time with them over the weekend, I know the time they are spending and the memories they are making with their Dad & Grandpa are priceless!!! I guess when they left the rodeo last night Aubree was wanting to go to another. She thought they should be going back to Wisconsin from Nelson!!

Jenae & the Morton kids on the go carts. Jenae was excited that she is finally
tall enough to go on her own! Kyle said she had a few crashes!!

Aubree playing miniture golf.

Silly Aubree!!!

Aubree eating some lunch!

The kids playing in the camping area.

Eating some lunch!

The Whitakers & Mortons eating lunch

Dunning Jr. Rodeo

2011-07-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

On Monday, Marilyn & I loaded up the horses & girls & headed to Dunning for their annual 4th of July rodeo. It was an early morning. Jenae woke up at 4:00 so excited for the day & I got up at 5:00. We were out of our house by 5:45 and got over to Marilyn's to get everything fed before we headed out. Chip was on the rodeo trail with Kyle so it was a little more for Marilyn & I with out having him along to help out.
Despite the heat it was a fun day. Jenae was pretty disappointed that she did not win any money. She did really good, but she has moved up to 7-10 age group & let me tell you they are a tough group of girls!! There were 35 girls in her group & she was 9th in the poles & 10 in the barrels. She made very respectable runs!

Kyle had a good rodeo in Manawa, WI. He won the average in the calf roping & 2nd in the average in the Steer Wrestling. He also placed in both rounds of the calf roping & in the first round of the steer wrestling.

The girls have went with he & Chip this weekend. It sounds like they are having so much fun!!!

Jenae & Hippie before the goat tying.

Aubree having a snack.

Aubree & I hanging out at the pickup.

Jenae & Taylar Doggett on their horses.

Aubree & Marilyn trying to sit in some shade. Shade was hard to come by in Dunning!!!

Caden & Aubree having fun on the fence!! They have so much fun together.

Jenae had her first goat run in a rodeo. She made a great run,
unfortunately the goat got up, but it was a great learning experience for her.

Swimming

2011-07-07T12:23:00.000-05:00

I give the Atkinson swimming pool 5 stars! It is a fun place to take little ones swimming. We met my sister, Lacey & her little boy Riley and also my cousin, Heather, for a day for swimming at the Atkinson pool. It was a really fun day!! Heather really worked with Jenae & gave her a mini swimming lesson which was great. Hopefully they will start swimming lessons in the next couple of weeks & this was a great chance for both of them to get familiar with the water again before they start their lessons. Jenae had a blast going down the slide & Aubree enjoyed just chilling in her floaty. When we were done at pool we let the kids dry off while playing in the park. We were all starving after a long day of playing so we grabbed a bite to eat before heading home. It was nice to spend some time with Lacey & Heather. We all live fairly close to each other, but we do not take the time to get together. Hopefully we can do it again sometime :-)

Aubree, Riley & Jenae having an ice cream break at the pool.

Jenae under the water of the mushroom.

The super fun slide. I did not know if Jenae would be brave enough to go down it,
since it was so big. Thanks to Heather working with her on it, she had a great time!

Jenae & Aubree by the pool.

Aubree & Riley drying off in the park after a day of swimming.

Friday agian!!!

2011-07-01T16:50:00.000-05:00

Well here it is Friday again! I am just now making my weekly post.

It has been another busy week for all of us. Last weekend the girls & I stayed close to home on Saturday. I took the girls over to ride their horse in the morning. It didn't take long for it to heat up. After lunch we got out the little swimming pool and Jenae had the idea to put the pool at the end of the slid on their swing set. They had a blast running water down the slide & having a water slide. I was able to get some weeding in my garden done & some general house work. Kyle got home late Saturday afternoon.

Sunday we all went to church & then stayed closed to home most of the day. Kyle was up in the Clearwater rodeo that night. It was nice to be able to go along and watch. He split 1st & 2nd in the bronc riding & ended up 3rd in the steer wrestling. He took Chuck, his young calf roping horse & try out at a rodeo. He made a nice run, but not in the money. I was impressed how well Chuck did for his first rodeo.

I took some good pictures from the rodeo. I will try to get them added at a late time.

Father's Day

2011-06-24T16:21:00.001-05:00

It took me a little longer to get this posted than I had planned! You got to love the craziness of summer time. The days go by so fast :-)

The girls & I had a great day. We got up early for church & Sunday school. After Sunday school we went to Foster & Sue's house for breakfast. I had told the girls if they were good in church that I would take them to the creek in the afternoon. Well I was not thinking of all of the rain we had been getting and once we got out there the I realized the water was way too deep and moving way to fast for it to be safe for us. The girls had to settle for getting out the little swimming pool. They had a great time anyway.

When Kyle got home about 5:00 we all went over to Marilyn's house for supper. It as delicious as always. The kids were eager to ride and had a great time riding with Grandpa Chip. It was a fun evening!!

Jenae giving Trey a ride on Beauty.

Chip working with Bree in the round pen.

Aubree riding on Comanche.

Trey swinging on the gate.

Jenae on Hippie. A 7 year old girl on a 6 year old horse.
Aubree on Comanche. A 3 year old girl on a 4 year old horse.

Trey & Aubree watching on as Chip was working with a colt in the round pen.
They were both pretty fascinated!!

Aubree was tired!! It was time for a nap :-)

Chip & Jenae were having a little pole bending competition. Jenae was riding Beauty
and Chip was riding Comanche. Chip beat Jenae so she wanted to trade horses. Chip also
beat her when he rode Beauty & Jenae rode Comanche.

Chambers Jr. Rodeo

2011-06-20T13:12:00.000-05:00

We had a great day on Saturday at the Chambers Jr. Rodeo. I had so many good pictures from the day it was hard to choose what ones to post. The weather was perfect for a Jr. Rodeo. It was mid 70s, lots of sunshine with a little breeze. We could not have picked a better day for it. The rodeo ran along very smooth, it started around 9:30 and was all over with by 2:00. I wish all Jr. Rodeos were over that quickly!! The girls both did good. Jenae won the barrels & was 2nd in the poles. She made a nice goat run, but did not place. She was excited to win $70! The Chambers Jr. Rodeo was a profitable rodeo for her :-) When I showed her the barrel run on my computer she said to me "Mom, is your computer in slow motion?" I said "no" She said, "Well I can't believe I won going that slow, next time I will have to push him a little harder!"
Aubree did the stick horse events. She was not to crazy about doing them, but with a little pep talk from Grandpa she was ready to go. She was glad she did them as she got 4th in the stick horse barrels & 4th in the goat tail untie.

The Zutavern crew came up for the day. It was so fun to have them there. My girls play & enjoy the boys so much! We are looking forward to the Dunning 4th of July Rodeo to see them all again.

The Halsey family did an outstanding job putting on the rodeo. We are very thankful that they got it going again. It is so nice to have a local Jr. Rodeo to attend!

Since this post has so many pictures on it I thought I would do a separate post for Father's day. Hopefully I can get that done tomorrow!

Chip helping Jenae into the arena with Speedster.

Jenae starting her barrel run.

Speedster long stride really shows in the picture as they turned their 3rd barrel.

Chip getting Aubree ready for her stick horse events!

Aubree running the stick horse barrels. Not sure how long we are going
to keep her interested in stick horse events!

Aubree running the stick horse poles.

Trey hanging out on the roping dummy.

Aubree with her first rodeo winnings!!
She won money in the stick horse poles & the goat tail untie.

Caden & Aubree looking to see what kind of treats they got in their goody bags.
Each of the stick horse contestants got a bag full of candy!

Aubree & Caden walking back to the arena. They are such good Buddy's!

Jenae & Reece hanging out on their horses. They had a great time riding around the fair grounds.
At one time they even went and found a barn to tie them up in for a little bit!

We were walking to the concession stand and I looked back & Aubree was not with me.
I found her several feet back laying on the ground. I guess this rodeo lifestyle is just hard
on a little girl!

Jenae getting ready to run her pole patten.

Jenae & Speedster running the poles.

A fun day.

2011-06-17T12:55:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my birthday and it turned out to be a fun day despite having to go to work! My co worker, Natalie brought all sorts of goodies to eat, Kyle sent me flowers, Marilyn brought me in a DQ blizzard to the office & then Chip was in town for the cattle sale so he dropped the girls & I off at the park to play for an hour. We had a lot of fun!!! When I got home from work I got the girls picked up from Chip & Marilyn and we went back to our house and had a nice relaxing evening! The evening even included a "spa treatment" by my two little angels. It started by them giving me a foot massage, followed by them rubbing wet Kleenexes up & down my legs. Then they had the idea of using wet q-tips on my face. At one point Jenae asked if I had any pickles.... She was a little confused and was thinking that pickles are what some woman put on their eyes. I explained to her that it was cucumbers that are used NOT pickles!!!!! Then Jenae went & got my makeup bag and started putting makeup on me. She said "Wow Mom, this makeup makes you look really young, you look like you are in your 20's!!" It was a really interesting experience, but very sweet of them to think of!! As crazy at it sounds most of what they did actually felt really good!!! Who knew a 7 year old & 3 year old could give such a great feeling spa treatment!

We are looking forward to a fun day with the Chambers Jr. Rodeo tomorrow! The girls have been busy practicing! We have had a lot of rain this past week, so things are a little on the muddy side. I think 3 of the last 4 night we have had thunderstorms!

Aubree Joy on the monkey bars.

Jenae Grace on the monkey bars.

Aubree had lots of fun on the slide

Jenae at the top of the slide.

Weekend!

2011-06-16T14:49:00.000-05:00

I started this post on Sunday & I am just now getting around to posting it! The craziness of summer has arrived!!

Friday morning Jenae left with Chip & Kyle to go to some rodeos in Minnesota & Wisconsin. She is finally old enough that she can go with Kyle with out being to much trouble for him. She is pretty good at taking care of herself! While on the road I think she pretty much took over Chip's cell phone. I think it helped to keep her entertained on the trip. She would call me and chat for a while then would lose cell service. I would try to call her back & the phone would go right to Chip's voicemail. One time after several unsuccessfully attempts to get though to her I finally called Kyle's phone. He informed me when she lost me she decided to call Grammy instead of calling me back. As much as she likes to talk on the phone now, I can only imagine what her teen years are going to be like!!!

Friday night my Mom was in the area, so I met up with her & she took Aubree to their house. I would have went down for the weekend, but I had some chores I needed to take care of on Saturday, so I just did everything up good on Saturday afternoon & headed down there to spend the night. It was Newman Grove's town celebration so we had to in for the kid carnival. Aburee, Brooke & Allyx had a great time playing games and winning prizes.

Kyle & Jenae got home around 10:00 Sunday morning & Aubree & I were not far behind them. Sunday was a nice catch up day around the house & then Marilyn had us over for supper.

Here we are at Thursday already, I am not sure where the time goes!!

Brooke, Aubree & Allyx at the carnival in Newman Grove.

Never a dull moment.....

2011-06-09T12:50:00.000-05:00

Tuesday night Kyle was leaving for a rodeo in Garden City, Kansas. The girls & I were outside waiting to say good bye to Kyle. He was off getting his horses caught & loaded up and the girls were playing in the barn. I really did not think much of it since they spend a lot of time playing with the baby kitties. Erin, Kyle traveling partner's girlfriend, went into the barn and I heard her say "Aubree what are you holding" and with in seconds I hear a scream followed my crying. It turns out that Aubree was holding a baby shrew. Her cat, Buddy, was in the process of killing it & for some crazy reason she felt compelled to pick it up & hold it before it was dead. It scratched & bit her, thankfully not very hard. It barely broke the skin & it only bled for a couple of minutes. I wish I would have taken a picture of Aubree & what she was wearing when she had she shrew incidence. A picture is worth a 1000 words but I will do my best to explain it. She loves to dress up in what ever she can find. She had on a tie dyed tank top of Jenae's that Aubree wears as a dress. She had put a belt around her waist, & a shrug over her her dress, topped off with her pink cowboy boots. It was an interesting look! I am not sure what would possess her to pick up such a critter, but Aubree is one of those kids who is not afraid to pick anything up. She loves to catch frogs, toads & butterflies. Last summer I found her picking up snakes & now she picks up a shrew??? I told her she does not need to be trying to catch wild animals!!! Right after it happened she was crying saying it was a gopher that she had picked up. She said, "well, it was either a gopher or a beaver" Jenae actually saw it and she said it was a shrew. I didn't look at it as I was more concerned with Aubree than seeing what bit her.

With kids life is never dull! Aubree is someone who we never know what she is going to come up with.

The other day when she was riding she looked at me and said "I want Beauty to run....Duh!! I am not sure where she learned that word!!!

At my ultrasound a few weeks ago she said to the ultrasound tech "Now this is very important....where is the baby's butt?" We had not done a good job of explaining the ultrasound process to Aubree. We told her she was getting to go along to find out if she would be having a baby sister or a baby brother. We failed to tell her that the baby would still be in my tummy for 4 1/2 more months. When we were finished with the ultrasound I sat up & pulled my shirt back over my stomach & Aubree said "but where is the baby?" She was so sure we were going to get to take it home!! If only having a baby was that easy!!!

Jenae has been busy spending time in the saddle. She is currently riding one of Chip's horses that he really does not enjoy riding that much. She has taken off & is doing really well with him. Chip is wanting to sell him, but I am not sure Jenae is ok with that. I am sure she is thinking he would be her next barrel prospect!! Her big task of the summer is mastering the goat tying. Last night Kyle was working with her on her tie & she made some good progress.

One of my facebook friends had the following on her status. "Always look at the good things in life & never dwell on what keeps your head down...if you keep your head down you will miss the blessings" This quote is so true & my blog helps me to realize all the blessings I have in my life. When I write about our day to day life, I really appreciate the simple moments in it & all the blessings I have been blessed with!

A ranching weekend!

2011-06-07T08:55:00.005-05:00

We had a busy weekend with helping Chip AI. Kyle was off on the rodeo trail from Wednesday night until Saturday night. With Kyle gone, Chip had to rely on his back up crew(Jenae, Marilyn, Hope, Ben & me) to get things done! Jenae was his main ranch hand all weekend. Friday night she was riding Bently, Hope's barrel horse & she took a little tumble off and hit the ground. Bently is a really quick horse & up until this point she was really enjoying tearing around on him. The dogs I think are to blame for spooking Benltly & he went one way & she went the other way. It shook her up for a bit & she was not brave enough to get back on him that night.

Saturday morning Chip called over to see if Jenae was up for helping him move some cattle. The night before did not seem to phase her as she was happy to be back in the saddle again. (This time on good ol' Hippie) She & Chip moved the yearling heifers from the place down south to the home place, I am thinking it is about 3 miles, but I may be off my estimating how far it is between places. . Moving yearling heifers has its challenges as they do not usually know exactly where they are going like the old mama cows do. Aubree & I followed behind in the pick up & trailer. All in all it went fairly smooth considering that Chip's only rider besides himself is a 7 year old!!!

Saturday night we got to keep Trey overnight. Everyone was so tired, so it may not have been the best night to have him stay with us, next time we will get him mid afternoon & keep him through the the night. He was so happy to see his Uncle Kyle come home! Kyle did good on the rodeo trail. He won the bronc riding at Cherokee, IA & won the steer wrestling & bronc riding in Tekamah. He also placed 4th in the calf roping at Tekamah.

Kyle & I went to church. Chip & Marilyn said they would keep the kids. Taking 3 overly tired kids to church was not something that sounded like much fun to me! Church ended up lasting a hour & 1/2, so I was glad that we did not need to try to keep the 3 little monkeys quiet for that long :-). When we got home from church the kids were all busy riding. They were having a great time. Marilyn grilled steaks for dinner and Hope & Ben came over as well. After our bellies were full we headed home to take a nice Sunday afternoon nap! Well that was the plan anyway... I was hoping my tired girls would think taking a nap sounded as good as I did, however they decided playing was more fun! I did make they lay down and at least rest, but no sleep for them! About 3:00 we headed to the creek for a nice little swim on a hot day. It was as fun as always. I am really thankful to have such a nice creek in our back yard! We have lots of fun there & make lots of memories!

Jenae & Aubree riding their horses.

It takes a bit of a kick to get Beauty going :-)

Happiest on a horse.

Aubree & Trey

Jenae flanking her goat.

Jenae tying her goat "Wally"

Jenae & Aubree off to the creek for a swim.

Memorial Day

2011-06-02T12:51:00.000-05:00

Memorial Day was a really fun day! The Zutavern crew came up for a visit. It was a warm windy day & the creek was so inviting! The kids had a blast!!!! Of course they did not want to leave, but we told them they could have an ice cream treat when we got back to the house. After about 3 times of telling them it was time to go back to the house they finally came along! The water was perfect. It was cool to get it at first, but as we were there it seemed to warm up. It was just deep enough that the kids could have fun, but not not so deep that we had to worry about it going over their heads.

The Zutavern boy's play so well with my girls. Jenae & Aubree are always so

excited to have them come visit.

Mattee, Caden & Aubree playing in the sand.

Jenae, Reece, Bryan & Aubree.

Reece, Bryan & Jenae. They found mud and marked themselves as warriors.

Aubree & Caden