I'm Thankful For ...

This past monday night we had a family home evening lesson on "I'm Thankful For" with Grandma & Grandpa Tippets. We wrote down various things we were thankful for, taped them to leaves and placed them all around our fireplace. We taught Max that when we say our prayers, sometimes, we can just tell Heavenly Father everything that we are grateful for and not ask for any blessings. We went through lots and lots of blessings, from toys, indoor plumbing, family, gospel, airplanes, swimming pools, good health, etc.

Tonight after work, Max and I went to Michaels to get a couple of things for our wards trunk or treat party tomorrow night. While there, somehow Max convinced me to get him a new light sabor for halloween. Tonight while saying his prayers, Max told Heavenly Father, thank you for the "best light sabor in his entire life!" I had to hold back a little chuckle but, at least he is getting the concept for thankfulness and gratitude.

Here are some of our "fall thankful" leaves.

Lincoln County Fair - Best of Show!

Last week we went over to Afton for the Lincoln County Fair. The fair lasts all week long with so many things to see and do! Each city has a "booth" that members of the community can enter various items in to be judged. Everything from blankets, quilts, weavings, vegetables, flowers, food of every kind, photography, etc. Dad entered his Wyoming Cowboy lap blanket and won blue ribbon along with Best of Show! We spent plenty of money on rides and later that night we went to the horse pull competition. This was a first for both me & Max. There were three categories of horses, light weight, medium & heavy weight. The horses started out pulling 3000 lbs and then after each group of horses completed that weight another 500 or 1000 lbs were added. The heavy weight horses pulled over 7000 lbs of weight! It was amazing to see these horses hard at work .... and for what? The owners of the horses received a belt buckle ... but dad says the real reward is the bragging rights for the next year! Here are some pictures from our day at the fair.

Horse pull - the horses pull a sleigh full of the weights

placed by the local high school wrestling team.

These horses are warming up.
So Max could not ride the ferris wheel by himself, so mom climbed on too!

Merry go' round.

The train ... Max had a blast! He rode it 4 times!

They had a live animal area - some could be petted - some not!

Turtles & lizard - max did touch both.

Alligator

And last but not least ... BEST OF SHOW!

Congrat's Grandpa Tippets!

This blanket (along with all of dad's creations) are done on sticks. Check out his new blog site that he is getting up & running! Western Weaver

Oh Where Have We Been?

We have been pretty busy this summer and these photo's take you through June & July 2010. We had a great visit with Mark in May with his family and of course the time went too fast. After Mark left to go back to Afghanistan, Max and I headed north to Star Valley Ranch, Wyoming with mom & dad Tippets. These are in reverse order but here is a recap of our adventures this summer thus far!

Max swimming in SLC at our hotel ...

anytime there is swimming available, Max will be there!

Max with cousins Jatae & Nakiya at the Monte L. Bean Museum at BYU Provo.

Childrens Rodeo - Thayne, Wyoming (Max did not ride the sheep or calf's!)

Max & Grandpa Tippets cutting the lawn at Star Valley Ranch, WY.

Last night dinner at Lake Keuka, NY - celebrating Grandpa

& Grandma Tippets 50th Wedding Anniversary ...

Lake Keuka, NY - We all went for a ride on the raft!

Water balloons with cousins in Lake Keuka, NY!

Soooo tired! Lake Keuka rental house.

Helping Grandma with rice krispie treats - NY.

Grandpa & Grandma Tippets with all their grand kids

Sacred Grove, Palmyra, NY

Max waiting and waiting for cousins to arrive

... finally fell asleep at 11:20 pm!

First night in NY at our crazy HOT hotel!

Grandma Bridges & Max at Palisades Reservoir.

Grandpa Bridges, Uncle Garrett & cousins at Palisades Reservoir

July 4th Celebration!

July 3rd at Star Valley Ranch - kids games!

Star Valley Ranch - Max & Grandpa Tippets

The day after the big fall on the deck stairs - NO broken jaw but,

Max did not eat for 24 hours, x-rays, bloody mouth, pain ... not fun!

Fathers Day - June 2010 - SVR, Wyoming

Pocatello, Idaho - Visiting Heather & Curtis Sandy

Local Community Pool

Montpelier, Idaho ... on our way to SVR, Wyoming

Bryce National Park, Utah - early June 2010

Kite Festival 2010 - St. George, Utah

This afternoon we drove down to the kite festival which was held down at one of the golf courses here. By the time we got down there, the amatures had taken over the kite flying but apparently there is quite a great competition that went on in the morning. (This morning I spent out at Tuacahn selling plates, etc. at Saturday Market) None-the-less, we had fun looking at all the kites and of course Max was in heaven simply because there was a ton of rides for him to go on and some free activities as well. Here are some pictures of todays events!

ATV - Max and both of his Grandpa's want one of these toys!

First Mini-Ferris Wheel Ride

Train Ride - Max was sure this car could be Diesel 10 (Thomas the Train)

Lots and lots of kites to see!

Half of the field ... lots of people & fun activities.

Cousin Kennedy

A couple of weeks ago, Mike's Family (my oldest brother) came down to St. George for soccer tournaments. Kennedy, (5) their youngest, spent the weekend here at the house with us as she would have been bored at the games. Max and Kennedy had a blast together. They went hiking, swimming, bike riding with Grandpa, baked and decorated cookies, went to church together, laughed and carried on all weekend! We had so much fun with Kennedy. Here are some of the highlights of the two of them:

My New Niece

Meet Ruth Ada Bridges ... born Wednesday, January 13th! We had a baby shower tonight and got to meet our beautiful new niece ... thankfully mommy was not too tired to keep the party on! Below are some of my *martha* moments from the shower. I had fun putting these together and Max thought it was totally great to help make a diaper cake!

Favors ... a small bottle w/bubble bath and recipe for relaxation!

Family Fun - Christmas 2009