April 2011 pt.1

I think I realized how much happened in April as I was going through pics for this blog entry. So I think I might break it up into a few smaller entries! To start with I want to focus on the growth of my little kiddlies! I found these two pictures which sum up Brennan lately: from Attitude
to Angel

He has such a way of being so kind and gentle. Giving so much of what he has to others. Always making sure that everyone has a snack if he wants one, or a piece of candy, or a drink, or whatever it is he thinks about. He never wants anyone to be left out. This kid is one of a kind.
Briley has been growing so much and with that growth comes exhaustion! I caught her here more than a few times this month!

I was able to take Briley and Brennan to the Library Tales for Tots, early in the month. We were lucky to catch it on a day when they were giving carriage rides! It was a little chilly, but such a blast!


Briley has started crawling over the last month and the kids have loved following her everywhere. They think she is just amazing and hence, she never gets much time on her own. Here is a great example of her crawling practice with all the kids supporting her:

This month was the beginning of spring in our area, which means gopher hunting! It means time out at our favorite place: The Ranch! Nathan's "Aunts" (Susan and Marcheta- whom we lovingly refer to simply as "The Aunts") are living on the family ranch while his Uncle Ricks runs the cattle. He is always welcome to help with the rodant issues they have out there, so we take our guns out for target practice on the menaces. This year Nathan bought the kids a single shot Henri rifle to learn to handle. They mostly only shot at our stationary target. But they had a great time learning the ins and outs of gun safety.

When I think of it the Ranch should almost have a blog post of it's own. Why? You might ask? Well, probably because so much happens out at the ranch! Here are a few pics to illustrate my point: early on in spring the ranch is always dealing with melting snow spots and water.
Water+4 year old curiousity=
Thanks to a mom who always packs an extra change of clothes in her "Go Bin" and amazingly prepared Aunts (who had a pair of yellow gum boots just his size for an Armour of God primary presentation) we were good to go again!

Shortly after pulling onto the road after Brennan's trip through the mud we came across a heffer who had just given birth to this little one. It was a great chance to talk to the kids about the birthing process and why there were "stringy things" (as Davin put it) coming ou the cows bum! Man all the opportunities the Ranch allows is amazing!!!