Seven years and a few weeks ago . . .

I delivered this 9 pound bundle of awesomeness! I don't know if I have not been wanting to admit that my little guy isn't so little anymore and is turning into a big kid instead of being a little boy or if I have just been lazy but it has been hard for me to sit down for five minutes to post that Darrell turned SEVEN a few weeks ago. It makes me sad to look back at pictures when he was little and realize that time has passed by so fast that I don't hardly remember getting to this point. I have had this little boy in my life for SEVEN years! I have kept him alive for seven years! ha ha ha that amazes me! I have loved being his mom and it has been a fun, hilarious journey with him so far.  

A little about Darrell.

 He is a fire cracker and has always kept us on our toes and laughing. Some of the things he says, I swear he was born in the wrong century. He has been adventurous and fearless since he was born. He is super strong and all boy! He loves to work and help his dad out with anything he is doing. He loves his dad and loves to spend as much time as he can with him. He has LOVED trains for as long as I can remember. He can tell you all about steamies and how they work and diesels but he likes steam engines the best. He is fascinated with the mechanics of them. When you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he will tell you a Pioneer. ha ha ha I have to remind him that a train driver is an Engineer not a Pioneer. I think he has it down now. He is a smart, smart little boy and always has been. He pays attention to the littlest details and loves to learn. His favorite dinner is meat loaf and his favorite breakfast is biscuit style cinnamon rolls. He loves his little legos and will spend hours building houses and trains and trucks and Optimus Primes with them. He has a great imagination. He loves his bike and his sand box and to be outside. He is way excited for his tenth birthday so that he can go hunting deer with us. He is a genuinely sweet child and loves people and is always thinking of others and how he can help them out. His hugs are AMAZING!!! I love to sneak one any chance he'll let me. He has an awesome, awesome little spirit. I love to watch it grow. I love that he is MY little sweet pea and as hard as it is to watch him grow up and become independent, I love to see the young man he is turning into.  

WE LOVE YOU TO PIECES BIG D!!!

Beautiful Day . . .

The other Day the boys were playing in the pasture and ran across this "Little Fella" as they would call it. They know how cool I think these "Little Fellas" are so they brought him to me to make a new home in my flower beds. Tad even offered to let him live in his little bird house he built.  So sweet.

I wish I had taken pictures of the things we did on the 4th but I didn't even think of picking up my camera. Joe and I are both in Young Mens and Young Womens and they were in charge of the annual pancake breakfast so we were up by 5 to get to the park by 5:30. The boys and I were a little slower at getting out the door and didn't leave the house till almost 6 but we got there. My sister Autum came over with her family for the weekend to celebrate with us. This little man is her newest be-be! He is so stinkin cute!!!! I love him to pieces. I guess I just love babies to pieces but he is especially sweet. He would just sit on my lap and laugh and coo at me. I loved it. The fireworks were in town at the airport this year so we had a BBQ at my sister Zenicas house where it rained most of the time but it was still really enjoyable. Made me feel like I was camping. We had tarps all set up over her grass to sit under. After dinner we all headed over to my sister Tishas house to watch the fireworks and play with sparklers. Growing up, every 4th of July my grandma and grandpa Nielsen would buy a ton of sparklers and we would sit up at their house playing with sparklers and eating watermelon all night. I love traditions and I am glad my mom has kept this one going.

More stormy days! I love stormy days! They are dark and cool and make sitting out in the front yard so nice. We have had a couple of rain showers but not a really huge, make ponds in your yard soak down yet. I am looking forward to those showers. Now that the boys are older it will be a lot more fun to take them out in the mud on the 4 wheeler!!! We have plenty of dirt out here to go mud bogging!!! It makes me sad to think there are only a few short weeks left of summer then they are off to school and I get to find a new hobby to do during the day!

Proud Mamma!

There are little moments in a moms life that she is extremely proud and excited for her child. Last night was one of those moments for me. We have tried to teach our children how to be responsible hunters and it made me happy to think he has listened to what we have taught him. This little boy and his brother stalked across our field on their bellies quiet as could be. He showed restraint and waited till he was close enough to make a good shot. He shot it all by himself with no help from me or his dad. He did learn a lesson about making sure what you are shooting at is what you were intending to shoot. He thought it was a Jack Rabbit but it was a cotton tail and I like my cotton tails so we explained that he needed to be 100% sure next time. Either way I am one proud mamma and his daddy is pretty darn proud too!

 I couldn't resist posting this picture, you can't beat an Arizona sunset during monsoon season!!! The rains are just starting to come so the sunsets are amazing!!!

Mud men and scoutin' time

We love getting irrigation at our house. We look forward to it as much as we do the 4th of July! The month before it is supposed to come, the boys start asking, " Is today the day we get water?" This is the result of their irrigating fun the day after we get water and all the ditch is is a muddy sick mess! I love it though, little boys and mud go together like peaches and cream! I do believe Ky has a picture of Doc the dog that strangely resembles these of the boys in my fountain. I don't think I will ever get to enjoy it as a fountain. It is dubbed the new hot tub!!!

 (stolen from Ky and Lynaya's blog)

 

For Fathers day we decided to drive around the unit we got drawn for for our elk hunt this year. We were just checking for roads and water and sign. Kind of getting familiar with the unit which is a huge unit! On our drive we came across this little homestead that I thought was really awesome! I love old buildings and I love trying to imagine what it would have been like to live back then. The second picture is of the inside. The wood is probably just a bed roll or twin bed size bed frame. That was about all that would fit inside. Maybe an old wood cook stove. It was really neat to see. I could not even imagine having to stack all those rocks!

 One of the roads we went on took us to the backside of the power plant that Joe works at. We were able to get really close to it. I didn't think to take a picture till we were farther away. The boys really enjoyed seeing where there dad worked and had a million questions to ask about how things were ran there. I love their curiosity!

It was a great way to spend the day with an amazing father and husband!!! 

WE LOVE YOU DADDY!!!