Okay, I'm back!!!
I was so far behind I wasn't sure where to start, so I just posted some of the pics from Easter Weekend, and some of the things the kids have been doing the last couple of months. I thought I would make note of some things worth mentioning that has happened since the beginning of the new year.
* Dallas
had her first Hula Recital, was a school spelling bee finalest, published her first book entitled "My Old Nevada Home", Turned 9 years old!, Did a solo for Arts Night from Taylor Swift "Love Story", spoke at her cousin Yates' baptism
*Jabin
lost his two front teeth, was a medal winner at his first wrestling tournaments, is an excellent reader, and really loves transformers lately
*Haddy
had her Kindergarten Assessment, enjoys preschool with Mrs. Jennifer, loves daycare buddies, and also cut her toe at grandma's house leaving her a "bubble toe" because it should of probably had stitches but the skin just kind of bubbled up and healed.
*Matt
is just busy fixing everything that needs fixing and he does it so well. Thanks for the recent oil change honey! He also welded an awesome stove for his dad's cook tent for the buff hunt.
*Ralaina
has been extremely busy at work, thus the lapse in blog postings, continues to be on the run doing various mom stuff, and last but not least- had a warrant out for my arrest! Yes, a warrant out for my arrest over a 10 year old traffic ticket!!!! Now, I admit I did not have a perfect driving record back in the day, but I have been on the straight and narrow for 10 years now and the past has come back to haunt me. This has not been a pleasant experience and I am still working on getting it taken care of. I'll keep you posted. I did post bail so I didn't have to go to the "clanker".
Easter at Notem 
Camp fire songs!
Tie dying eggs in the camp trailer. Ask me if this gave me anxiety! :)
Easter Egg Hunt
Poor Buster! Buster had a really rough weekend. There were a lot of dogs at camp and he ended up getting in a fight with another dog and his ear was bitten half way off. FYI, if your dog's ear gets bitten off it will bleed for several days. He lost a lot of blood and he would shake his head getting blood all over everyone and everything. Matt ended up taping his head with duck tape to help stop the bleeding and so he wouldn't shake blood all over. It was really sad because he was so exhausted and probably in shock and he couldn't rest so he would just stand by people and kind of collapse. It was torture to watch but he seems to be just fine. He will just be missing half of his ear for now on.
Taylor's Easter '09
Some of the kids at the sand hill. Dallas is the second one on the left, Haddy is the fifth, and Jabin is the seventh one from the left. Dallas played all day on Friday and came back with raw hands from digging in the sand. Jabin had fun on the 4-wheeler and Haddy hung out at camp with Hayzen. She liked to dig holes right in front of the camp trailer even though we told her someone was going to break their leg.
exploring abandoned mines
Matt, Jeff, and Ryan
Sorry this isn't a very good picture but this is the famous Bloody Hand Gap. Above our heads you can see some little smudges and those are the red hand prints. There is a 4-Wheeler trail we take to the Bloody Hand and then on to the Blue Notch and tons of hills and trails. Matt hated not having his motorbike. We have a lot of good memories at Notem and Matt holds a lot of the "high mark" titles for getting the highest on some straight up hill climbs in this area.
Hayzen and Hadden had lots of fun with grandma on the four wheeler. The Easter Bunny brought Haddy fairy wings! She was so excited. It is so nice to be on the desert at Easter because the Easter Bunny comes one night earlier. The legend is that he lives at Notem, and some of the little kids even claim they saw him over the weekend, or at least several of his holes.
Wag, me, and his knee medicine.
It finally warmed up enough and the snow cleared just long enough for Matt, Marcus, Wag, and I to go on a little ride up South Cedar. It was a beautiful ride. Matt was on Dan and I am riding Badger, who tried to buck me off again, but thanks to Matt telling me to hold on to the back of the saddle instead of the horn, I didn't fall off.
Dallas has been taking Hula. It is such a beautiful dance and she has learned so much about the Hawaiian culture. She has a wonderful teacher and they are looking forward to an upcoming recital.
Jabin has been wrestling with Cody's Gym. They are Team Takedown and this is a picture of Jabin and his buddies after a tournament. Jabin has loved wrestling and him and his dad have had a lot of fun with it so far. The idea of wrestling is still growing on me. Everyone tells me it is really good for the boys. I think it is mean, but I can see the self discipline and respect it instills, and I think they have a great coach.
