Major Update! Part I

Wow, it's only been a couple months but time flies! I was having a really hard time uploading pictures on our computer with dial-up. It was very frustrating, so we finally made the switch to DSL. Now I will be able to update our blog more often, as it only takes a few second to add a picture. (as opposed to the 5 minutes it took before!)

February was a very busy month!


Feb. 3rd~ Otherwise known as Super Bowl Sunday, was spent down in Santa Barbara with our friends, the Turners. We had more of a fiesta bowl, with tacos, nachos, and and everything else spicy! YUM!


Feb. 9th~ We were on our way to go get the kids pictures done at JC Penneys, and had to make a stop to pick up some boots for Kate, at Farm Supply. (formerly known as Roemer's) There was a lady in the parking lot, sitting in the back of her truck with a couple of Australian Cattle Dog puppies. Soooo I made a beeline for the store. Of course, the children did not follow my attempt to avoid the cute puppies. So meet the newest member of our family....KC (short for Kenny Chesney for any of you folks not into country music....Ha ha)



We met both her parents before deciding to get her. Her mom is the most playful, friendly ACD I have ever met.


Unfortunately, her baby pics, were accidently deleted off my camera. This is her at about 5 months. She is just a love! She is highly socialized, and loves everyone she meets. Shianne is going to be using her for agility shows, and 4-H conformation shows. So, we put off getting the JCP pictures done until the following Saturday.



Feb. 16th~ We went and got the kids pictures done today. They turned out really cute...now to get them sent out to everyone!

Feb. 22nd~ We left Friday afternoon, for a weekend in LA. We made it down there in record time, so we had about 1 1/2 hours to relax before we headed out to Medieval Times. The kids had a blast! Only problem..... I left my camera home! Shianne had hers so we will have to transfer photos.
Feb. 23rd we went to the LA museums... California Science Center and LA Museum of Natural History. Other than the really cool IMax movies, I am pretty sure the kids liked the Natural History Museum the best.

Signs of Spring

This is how you can tell spring is well on its way! Too cute! This little lamb is about a week old. They are so adorable at this age, because they hop and run, and spring into the air, just for the pure fun of it.

This will be the only little ewe lamb at the ranch this year, but hopefully she will be the start of a new flock. Something wiped out the rest of the flock leaving only 2 ewes. Fortunately one of them was Shiannes breeder lamb, Chloe, from a couple years ago. Although, she is a bit PSYCHO...LOL She is like a scared deer, never warmed up to people, like her other really sweet ewe, Jenny. We really miss Jenny, that was a tough loss. Here is a picture of her. Shianne had raised her from the time she was weaned. I think she only weighed 26 lbs, when she was working on halter breaking her. We should be getting the kids sheep, for the fair, in about a month. Shianne is determined to raise a pig this year! HELP!

Sunset

On our way home from the ranch, Shianne and I stopped to take this picture. I wish we could have found a better vantage point, because this overlooks our whole neighborhood looking towards the ocean. If we could have climbed higher, you could have seen the beach just to the right of the hillsides, above the trees. (this might be the goal of our next hike up in the hills) Still it is really beautiful, especially after the rains.

It is a straight shot to our house from here, but since it is only an 'emergency road', it is blocked

to all normal traffic.

As promised, here is Noah's new toy, the Black Pearl. It is really a well, detailed Mega Blocks set. He can now 'blow it up', and put it back together, very quickly. The first time he and Shianne put it together. The first pic, is Noah putting all the pieces back together, and the second is the finished product. Noah is looking forward to Friday, because I promised to go on a hunt for the Flying Dutchmen. So he can have battles between the two ships. Ohhh that reminds me, I will have to post a pic of Kaitlynn's room. She completely decorated it, with Pirates of the Caribbean. I mean posters, bedding, cardboard cut outs, the works! Now she wants a boat for a bed....LOL

Riding Cali

Last Friday Shianne was out riding Cali, getting her ready for her 3rd attempt at becoming an Elks Rodeo Flag Girl. (they are the girls that ride around the arena carrying the flags of all the sponsers of the rodeo) This first picture is of Shianne and Cali when I pulled up. The second is Shianne trotting Cali down from the sheep pen. Third and fourth our pictures Shianne wanted me to take for her myspace page.

Hopefully they will both be ready for the March tryouts. Cali seemed very familiar with the flag still, so now Shianne just needs to work on her stubborn streak. The horse's not Shianne's...one thing at a time....LOL

After the Rain

We had lots of rainbows, when it finally stopped raining. We even saw a very vivid full rainbow, and the rare double rainbow. (Noah was finding all these for me, but unfortunately it was while driving, and I couldn't take pictures) We did get this picture of one in our backyard, Thursday morning before school. Everything is turning SO green, which is also a rare, but beautiful occurrence on the Central Coast. We are now feeling the spring cleaning bug. And so it is time to organize for some yard sales! Kaitlynn is now well enough to go back to karate tomorrow. And she is currently practicing daily for her upcoming talent show. Her and her friend Jessica are doing a routine to 'Cotton Eyed Joe'. Yes, I now hate the song...LOL It has been banned from the house. Noah got tired of waiting for his Nintendo DS to arrive at Toys R Us, and so decided to use his gift card to buy a Mega Blocks version of the Black Pearl. It is REALLY cool, I will post a picture of if in the next post. Shianne is working to improve her grades, since they took a little dip on the last progress report.

Kaitlynn, Jessica, and Noah have started preparing the backyard for their turkeys, yes the live, feathered kind. And now Shianne has decided she wants to raise one this year also. Nothing like deciding at the last minute. I now have to whip up a letter of intent for her to show the turkey at the fair as an Independent. And take it downtown to the fair office, to be date stamped. Deadline- Jan. 31st! Thanks! Ugh, kids. Here is a picture of Kaitlynn's turkey hen last year at the fair.

Yea, today is my Friday at work, so we are looking ahead to the weekend. We are really hoping to head south to my dad's house. Then it is Super Bowl Sunday at the Turners! Whoo Hoo! Go Patriots! Hopefully everyone continues to get healthy, at both of our houses.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Well, for the last week, the only healthy one has been Shianne. Noah is almost over his stuffy nose, and Kaitlynn is now on antibiotics for her sore throat. I am still running a fever off and on...so this last week has been real fun with all the rain. We are about ready to have Noah build us an ark!

We are hoping after everyone is better, and the storms are over, we can make a trip to the snow.

Santa Barbara Zoo

Well, Shianne decided to take a two day trip with her friend Ashlee, to a show in Santa Rosa. So Kaitlynn, Noah, and I decided to head the other direction...LOL We went to Santa Barbara to visit with our good friends the Turners. (Rachel, Bill, Joseph, Hannah, and Rebekah) We met through our mutual hobby...RABBITS!

We took the kids to the Santa Barbara Zoo. The weather couldn't have been better, until the sun was going down.

Poor Kate was not feeling very well, and ended up resting on a bench while we went to check out the African animals. We then went back to Rachel's, and had dinner and a fun couple rounds of 'Catch Phrase', before heading back home.

Shianne's 15th Birthday~September 2, 2007

I will start with a few updates of some special or fun events over the last couple of months

Shianne's 15th Birthday~
Sept 2, 2007

It was a VERY hot day (for us that is), of 102. So the kids were having a fun time with water balloons and getting soaked with the hose.

We then went inside and had BBQ'ed, and her cake and icecream.

The Beginning

Ok, I have succumbed... Here we go with our family's blog. I came to this decision for many reasons. 1. My family and friends are spread all over the country, and so it is really hard to stay in contact with everyone, on even a weekly basis. 2. I love reading other families blogs, and hope our family will feel the same about reading ours. Also, it will give them a chance to see what is going on with us, through pictures and posts. 3. My kids and I are involved with so many things, that is only makes sense to put it all together in one online journal. 4. After reading my Great-Grandpa's journal, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I decided I would also like to write one...and this seemed to be the easiest way.