Four

Happy Birthday to our sweet Gabi! We had a little celebration on Sunday evening with cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream (Gabi's favorite!) My parents were here, so it made the day extra special! On Monday, Gabi did "Show and Share" at her Preschool. She insisted on bringing our cat, Rocky, to show her classmates. She did an excellent job of telling everyone about Rocky, including that he eats mice, he purrs a lot, he likes to petted on his chin and ears, and that if you pull his tail, he will whap ya! We were very proud of her.

Gabi has also been playing soccer this fall. She really likes it, but isn't very aggressive and is the littlest one on her team. Nonetheless, she runs around the field after the ball with a huge smile on her face (and that's all that matters).

We were able to attend the Nebraska vs. Wyoming game in Laramie last Saturday. I grew up a huge Nebraska fan (and still am except when they play Wyoming!) My Mom & Dad came out from Iowa and my brother came from San Francisco (where he recently moved to). We had a great time tailgating and watching some good football (well, kind of....)

We called this "The Poke Sandwich"...it isn't too different than what happened on the field!

There were a lot of Nebraska fans in the stadium, but not enough to create the usual Sea of Red.

Maya kept stealing cookies at the tailgate. She is becoming a cookie monster like me!

Grandma Phyllis' 80th Birthday was last Sunday (the 18th). We had a big party for her at Amanda & Greer's home. Everyone had a wonderful time and the kids were excited about helping her blow out her candles.

Silly Maya:

Things have been super busy around here. We will be moving into our new house this weekend!

Lots of Love, Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya

End of Summer Happenings...

It seems like we've been going a mile a minute around here, but thankfully our days are still filled with lots of fun as we enjoy these last days of summer. The ranch kids (and dog) enjoyed a swim outing to the creek. A great time was had by all!

We celebrated Gio's 5th birthday! I can't believe it has been 5 years since I held that cute little bundle of joy shortly after he was born! I'm loving that Gabi & Maya are able to have so much fun with their cousins.

It has definitely been harvest time around here. I've canned 16 wide-mouth jars of greenbeans and 12 of dill pickles. I made 6 pints of bread and butter pickles, 6 pints of zesty zucchini relish, and 8 pints of our favorite so far...sweet yellow tomato chutney. I've also frozen lots and lots of shredded zucchini, chopped green peppers, and swiss chard. Last Wednesday, we had a corn fest where we packaged and froze 55 bags of corn off the cob. It was quite the production with the turkey fryer used to boil the corn, 3 electric knives decobbing the corn, and lots of helpers. We've probably only harvested 1/3 of the corn! The tomatoes will be next...I have my sights set on canning some salsa and bruschetta. The best part of the garden's harvest is the fresh produce! We have been stuffing ourselves with as many fresh veggies as we can take!

Grandma Phyllis with Milan and Gabi:

Grandpa Don with Maya on our newly built fence!


Gabi had her first day of preschool last week. She was soooooooooo excited about going to school. I was able to drop her off and Joe picked her up. She had a permanent smile on her face the rest of the day. We are so proud of her! I was crying as I left her at school, which really surprised me because she has gone to school when we lived in Golden. They were tears of joy because I am thankful that she is such a happy, healthy little girl. She also started playing soccer last week. It seemed like she was more interested in socializing with the other kids than actually playing soccer. It will fun to watch her during her first game next week!

First Day of Preschool:

Maya is doing great as well. She has been singing quite a bit lately (ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle). I'm actually surpised it has taken her this long to start singing since her sister sings (and talks) nonstop. ;) Maya colors like a rock star. Don't tell Gabi, but I think she colors better than her sister! She LOVES to color and would spend hours at it if we let her. She is also able to draw smiley faces, her shapes, and some letters. We're working on her name and it won't be long!

That's all for now! Lots of love to you all! Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya

Check out our house progress: wyomingishome.blogspot.com

Cabin Time

We were lucky enough to enjoy some quality time at Joe's parents' cabin this past weekend. We enjoyed a few hikes, making s'mores, playing in the loft, and cuddling by the fire. The girls slept in the same bed, so they pretty much giggled themselves to sleep. :) Enjoy the pics.

Lots of love,
Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya

Trip to Iowa...

We made the long voyage to visit my Mom & Dad in Iowa a little over a week ago. The drive went as well as we could have hoped even though it takes about 2 hours longer from Buffalo than it did from Denver. It was great to see my parents and the girls loved every minute.

We were able to attend the Iowa State Fair while in town. The girls really liked riding the bus (park-n-ride), seeing all the animals, and riding a few rides. I have lots of great memories of hanging out at the fair with my friends in high school...especially all of the people watching and eating that we did!

The food at the fair is incredible...everything from your regular corn dogs to deep fried butter (yes, a stick of butter) on a stick. We opted out of the butter novelty items, but had our fair share of artery-clogging delectables. :)

In addition to all of the regular livestock and show animals, there are quite a few novelty critters on display. The girls loved the ostrich!

There are also contests for the biggest (enter name of animal, vegetable, or fruit). The largest bull weighed nearly 3000lbs. and was unbelievably huge. However, I thought the smallest bull was by far cuter:

As we were browsing the FFA and 4-H animals, Sarah Palin's entourage came travelling down the same aisle. I'm not a huge fan, so Joe & I just pushed Maya & our gigantic double stroller out of everyone's way and stood to the side as they passed. My Mom & Dad had Gabi and were able to shake Sarah's hand. She apparently asked Gabi her name and told her she was a beautiful little girl. (Tell us something we don't already know! hee hee!)

The rest of the time we just hung out at the house, including eating lots of yummy food, playing, and doing sparklers! Joe & I were also able to do quite a bit of shopping for the house while Mom & Dad babysat, so that was nice.

On the way back, we stayed the night in Lincoln at my Grandma Dot's house. It was nice to spend some time with her and with my Auntie Virginia, Uncle Gary, and cousin Allie. My Uncle Gary and the girls hit it off for sure and there were lots of giggles throughout the evening. :)

I'm back to school now and wondering how I'm going to survive all of this. It seems like the minute I went back to work, everything else needs my attention (mostly our new house in progress). I should have planned that a little better....:) So far, the girls are doing great with the new schedule and I'm loving my new school. I could go on and on about how much better it is than my old one, but I don't want to make my teacher friends in Denver jealous (just kidding) and I also don't want to jinx it!!

Lots of love to you all, Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya

Fair Week

The Johnson County Fair & Rodeo took place this week at the fairgrounds in Buffalo. Since agriculture is such a large part of this community, the fair is a big deal and super fun. Most of the livestock shows were during the week and the parade and rodeo were today. Joe was very involved with 4-H and FFA while he was growing up, so he enjoys attending as much as he can. The girls had a blast as well.

Here are some pictures from the parade this morning:



Cute little Wrangler butts (and yes, that is a camel walking by):


Patiently waiting for the parade to start:


We went to the Rodeo this afternoon. Even though it was during our usual naptime, the girls were stellar. Gabi loved the horses and Maya loved all the treats. :) It was also fun to listen to Papa Dave announce the rodeo.

Yummm.....cotton candy:

Maya's first experience with cotton candy...she was shoving it in in no time:

Gabi, Gio, Kate, & Ella ran in the kids foot race. They all did great, had fun, and received a $1 coin for their efforts. (The competitor in me thinks we need to work on Gabi's starting skills a little more....but there's lots of time for that!) ;-) The girls also entered some things in the fair. Gabi's radishes won Grand Champion! She was pretty excited about her big purple ribbon! They also entered wildflower arrangments. We spent some time one morning on a wildflower hunt and then they each "arranged" them in their rain boots. Maya's won First Premium and Gabi won Third Premium.

A proud Gabi in front of her arrangment:

Maya's arrangment:Gabi also baked some cookies with Grammy Joyce that won a ribbon (but I can't remember which one). They each made a dried flower arrangement with Grammy as well! This was my first experience with the whole exhibit deal, so I've got lots of ideas brewing for next year! This will be really fun as the girls get older!

Our garden is really starting to go crazy! We've picked radishes, lots of lettuce, swiss chard, cucumbers, zucchinis, beans, and peas so far. I've processed 7 frozen quart bags of swiss chard and 7 of green beans....and we're just getting started! The girls and I enjoy going to the garden most every day to see the changes and pick some goodies. They LOVE peas....especially Maya. She tells about everyone she meets, "I LOVE peas!" Here are some pictures of the girls shelling peas the other night: Gabi had a pretty good effort and about 1/4 cup in her bowl when we were done. Maya's was empty...somehow they ended up in her mouth instead.

Check out the http://www.wyomingishome.blogspot.com/ blog tomorrow evening (hopefully) when I'll have some pictures of the house up. It is coming along quite nicely. :)