A note from Mo and Oak...

Our grandma is crazy! No, seriously. She's crazy.

You know this from reading her blog, but you at least have the option of switching over to another blog, or closing it, or turning off your computer altogether. But not us.

We're subjected to her constant singing.... have you ever heard Nanny sing? It's not pretty. Especially when she makes up songs. She can make up a song to anything about everything. She sings about our hiccups, our clothes, the activity we are doing.... she even has a song for our diaper (She pooped. She pooped. Yada da dadadada....) It's never ending not to mention embarrassing!

And look at what she made us endure yesterday~

Yup. Corn syrup and food coloring! I mean, really? Is this necessary?

OK. So it wasn't too bad.

We may have liked it.

A little.

So? We loved it? Our Nanny is making us crazy! You would be too if you were woken up to the Rubber Duckie song every time you woke up from a nap!!!!!

Mower Family pics 9/11/10

My cousin's husband did us the honor of taking my extended family pictures. We met him at The Granite Quarry at the base of the canyon, and it was absolutely beautiful, even though we were just in a dry river bed. We are so glad to have new pics with everyone it them. Thanks, Tyler!

My whole family!!! Top L-R: mom, dad, sister-in-law, brother, me, husband
Middle L-R: youngest daughter, daughter-in-law, oldest son, son-in-law
Bottom L-R: sister, youngest son, niece, granddaughter, nephew, niece, granddaughter, oldest daughter

This picture captures their personalities perfectly! Oldest one (1 yr) outgoing, smiling all the time. The youngest one (9 mos) very serious, and watching things very carefully.

My mom and dad..... they are the best! This was a hard place for them to go for pictures but they were troopers. They are both struggling with health issues, but work their butts off at their jobs as well as at home. They have taught me so much in my life and I am so lucky to have them as my parents!

My little brother's family. Yes, I'm the oldest, but only by 15 mos. He got the brains, and I got the hair! His wife is the sweetest person who would do anything for anybody - that is if her mom hasn't done it first! I am lucky to have a sister-in-law that I love as much as a sister! And their kids.... well, let's just say it's kinda creepy but their children are our children

re-incarnated! Their birth order all the way down to their personalities. I guess that's why I love them so much - they're just like my kids!

This is my beautiful, little sister! She got brains AND hair. She's the reason we all know sign language; she was born deaf. We aren't as proficient at it as we should be, but she's patient with us! She's the hardest working person I know.

ALL the grand and great-grand kids; Top Row L-R: youngest daughter, daughter-in-law, nephew, oldest son, son-in-law

Bottom Row: youngest son, niece holding younger granddaughter, niece holding older granddaughter, oldest daughter

And then there's my immediate family - daughter-in-law, son, and granddaughter...

...son-in-law holding granddaughter, and daughter...

...you'll notice my youngest daughter is missing her individual picture. That's because she's hoping to get some nice pictures taken of her and her boyfriend soon, so she didn't want to take any with just her. (Awwww. Young love!)

...then there's the baby of the family, the infamous Alex. Cute pic, huh!

This man is the light of my life. He makes me happy beyond comprehension. He takes such good care of me and our whole family and loves me no matter what. I trust him, I love him, I like him, I admire him, and I'm so glad he's my husband!!

Awww! Old love!

We went to Alex's orthopedic surgeon yesterday

~and got great news!

We bumped the appointment up from the 29th to yesterday because we have had some concerns. He has been slowing down a little, complained a little, goes up and down the stairs a lot slower and even has trouble getting on and off the bus. But comparing yesterdays x-rays to old x-rays you can see more growth in the bone, nothing has moved and after an exam the doctor says there is even more mobility than he would have expected! So why the pain and complaints? His body has been through a lot and he will probably have pain a lot more in his life. Something we will all just have to help him through.

Way to go, Alex!! You don't need the brace anymore, and you can do ANYTHING you want to!

And, yes! That's a new family picture! Thanks to my cousin's husband we got our family as well as my whole extended family's pictures taken. I will share more later...

It's been a while....

...and there's a lot to say. I'm trying to put our summer together in pictures, and it's taking longer than I thought. I'm almost done with it but until I am I have a little funny to share. Taylor showed this to me - shown to her by her boyfriend BRANDON!! - and I couldn't stop laughing!!

You know the '80's hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart" ? (Yes, I'm an 80's girl, anyes I wore my hair and makeup like that!) It's one of those songs that has a catchy tune and everyone knows it, but what the heck does it mean? Well, this is the actual video from the original song - which if you're going to watch it just to try to figure out what the song means, good luck! - but some funny fool put their twist to the words. It's hilarious! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA

Our summer in pictures!

Finally! I finished downloading pics from our summer! This will probably be boring for anyone but our family, but here it is...

We spent our 4th of July at my parent's property in Indian Canyon. Mike and I got in a lot of trouble for not being home on the 4th. It so happens that the 4th of July is all of my kids' favorite holiday, and they just couldn't believe we weren't going to do the usual bbq, fireworks and homemade ice cream. Even Taylor got mad and she wasn't going to be home, either since she was at scout camp being a leader on the rope course.

A lot of dead trees up at the property. Not a good thing, in fact we had to cut 4 down before we left so they didn't fall on the trailer, but at the same time I have a fondness for the beauty of dead trees...

...I had to take a picture of this. I was backing my brother Shaun's car up - I don't even remember why - and ran into this brick wall. Can you see the tire tracks in the grass? He didn't kill me!! "Didn't you realize you were going up hill?" That's all he said. And no. I didn't realize I was going up hill.

We have a little 'shooting range' at the property. It's fun for the kids to shoot in a safe environment. See all the holes on the right hand side? Yup. They're mine! (I think.)

Shaun, Suzee and Caden made this really cool fort...

...and Caden set this trap to see if he could catch anything...

...notice the trap is sprung, but the critter outsmarted the trap and got the food, but got away...

...I got to practice with my camera on a lot of beautiful things while we were there......and even though we missed the fireworks at home, we were blessed with this beautiful sunset one night. Who needs man-made fireworks when God is able to do it au natural?!?

...and then of course we got to spend time with family. My favorite part!!

...ok, so this bear isn't family. But we're proud of our heritage and family name!!

...I didn't know Mo could do magic! That picture turned out cool. I took it through the campfire.
Alex thought it ws great to cook hot dogs over the fire and be dirty most of the time. What boy wouldn't? What a goober! Check out this cheesy grin!Josh and Mike decided to sleep outside. They slept good, but at one point Josh yelled, "A little help here!" because he was falling out of the hammock. He crashed on his bike a few weeks back and didn't have as much mobility in his arm and leg to upright himself.

...here's Mo peeking out at them in the morning...

...Good Morning, Sunshine!Yes, it was the 4th of July, but the weather was freezing and wet! Notice we are all bundled up, and mostly indoors.

...even Ellie had to be indoors. AND Shaun wouldn't share...

...when it started to warm up we couldn't get enough of the outdoors...

...in June we had a Maughan family reunion. We went to Yellowstone and enjoyed a lot of fun there. Especially family!...

...my favorite person in the whole world! And I got to spend a week with him!!

...it was fun to see the babies (3 out of 4 of them. Mo and her parents couldn't come) interact with everyone, and each other.

...Part of the fun of the trip was all the men in the family that has motorcycles brought them and drove through the park on them. And then one day they gave everyone who wanted one a ride. Don't they look cool?!? We tried to come up with a 'gang' name for them - my vote is still The Maughan-sters.

...we managed to even get Alex on the bike with his body cast. Doesn't look too comfortable, does it?

I even got a ride with Zack-a-roni!

O's first time on the bike. She loved it until she realized she was hungry. When this girl is hungry, she is starving NOW!

We saw a lot of buffalo in the park. Yes, that's our bikers with the buffalo crossing 10 feet in front of them!

...these are the only bears we saw. We weren't even scared!!

...and then there's always the random pig.

...And OH! such beauty everywhere!!

...and whenever you get this big of a group together, there's bound to be some silliness...

...I think Jace should use this for his Facebook pic...

...and Reggie DEFINITELY should use this one...

...looks like trouble to me!!!

...no, he wasn't really drinking this! The lid was on. But it was a cute pic.

When I went on my bike ride, I asked Colin to hold my camera. This is what I get for trusting him. A bunch of skanky pics!!

Yes. His head was stuck! Mike and I just laughed as he got himself out while Grandma freaked out. I guess that's what Grandmas do!

...what the 'Colin Clown' holding the 'Strong Man..'.

While packing up to leave, Alex went Snipe hunting. Yes, he is walking, and no he shouldn't have been. But he had been cooped up all week in the building or in his chair, and it had been 6 1/2 weeks! I gave in! And for all you Snipe Activists out there - there were no Snipe injured or killed during this escapade. The snipe were too elusive for my gimpy guy.

...a new cheesy grin she started doing while on the trip.

We also got to do a few other things. We went waterskiing a couple times. I guess we didn't do a good enough job with the sunscreen on Mo this time.

We love being outside!!

And when it was too hot and we had to stay in, we took all the couch cushions off and made a fort (out of picture range) and a HUGE mess!! But what fun!

Alex got his cast off and a new brace to wear.

...when TJ got home from scout camp we took her, Alex and the little boy I babysit, with his brother and went bowling. This pic is of TJ telling me not to take a pic. HAHA! Too bad!

...Oakland got the best score... for hair anyway.

Cute little boy I babysit, Brendon.

And Brendon's brother.

And, of course, Big Al.

And then there's Mallory, my niece that comes once in a while to play. Good times!

Summer was awesome. Mike and i celebrated our 26th anniversary, Alex got out of his cast, Mac celebrated his 2nd birthday, and Mo celebrated her 1st. A lot of goings on this summer - but glad to be back in a schedule and enjoy some cooler days!