Eat, Sleep, Ride...

Happy Birthday Papa!

2009-07-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

On tuesday we celebrated Lee's birthday at home with a bar-b-que and a carrot cake! It was very yummy! The weather was Ok,not great but definitely better than sunday and monday. On wednesday Mom & Lee took off to spend some time in Leavenworth then we will celebrate my birthday on Friday, most likely with another BBQ. Dave's sister Lisa and brother in law Troy will be here too. On Saturday we are planning on heading down to Deception pass and the Whidbey Winery for a day trip. Of course we are counting on the weather being good.....

Things Madi Likes...

2009-07-15T21:43:00.000-07:00

Madi definitely likes Maxx, but not getting kissed by Maxx.
Madi discovered she really likes corn on the cob, especially with butter!
Madi usually likes her pony but really likes to help lead her pony.

Spoiled or Lucky??

2009-07-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, definitely both! Dave got me this very nice wonderful saddle for our anniversary/birthday today! I was so surprised! He is the best at HUGE surprises! Madi loves it too, especially since it is not on top of a horse with a face! I know I am lucky and spoiled, but really lucky!!

A Pool!

2009-07-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

After checking out Cathi's new waterpark for Nick we decided Madi needed something to do to cool off with these record breaking temperatures we have been having! Dave found this great pool at K-Mart and Madi loves it, she doesnt even care that the water is freezing!

Dog days of summer

2009-07-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

Hailey has officially been on summer break for two weeks now which means Madi has been hanging out over here for the last two weeks. She LOVES the dogs, she follows them everywhere always tells them what to do, loves helping to feed them. It's definitely a one sided relationship, they tolerate her but don't return her undying feelings of love. With the exception of Maxx, he enjoys her attention because well he is just a puppy and he doesnt know any better!

Isabell's visit and Hailey turns 15!

2009-06-26T20:39:00.001-07:00

Isabell came to visit for the week, it was a quick trip but Dave managed to take some time off and do a couple of things while she was here. On Thursday Hailey turned 15 and to celebrate she and Isabell did some shopping at the mall then we had dinner at Taco Lobo and went to a comedy show at the Mt Baker Theatre. It was a pretty fun evening and we had a good time seeing Isabell after so long.

Madi vs Maxx

2009-06-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

Madi absolutely loves Maxx, and he is pretty crazy about her too! Since I had the day off today we kept Madi while Lindsay went to work. Madi and Maxx got to spend a lot of time together today. They fought over things, Madi loves to tell Maxx No No whenever he takes something she thinks he shouldnt have, which is almost everything that Madi has. Her sandal, her binky on a string, her little bath fish pretty much anything she is playing with. At the same time she follows him everywhere and loves to pet him, she is still being gentle although she did almost fall on him today! I think overall they will have a great time growing up together.

8th Grade draws to a close...

2009-06-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

Today was Hailey's 8th grade ceremony. All the girls dressed up and a lot of the guys did too. They did a recap of the year and some of the teachers spoke about the class. There was a slide show of the kids during the year, which was really funny. They called each student who was just supposed to rise in their seat as opposed to go up on the stage like a real graduation. It was pretty fun, and luckily not too long since we had Madi and she loves an audience! Mr Gosda, all my kids' personal favorite teacher ever tried to steal Madi and take her to the stage with him but she was having none of it! He was naturally crushed since the last time he saw her she liked him just fine, babies are so fickel. Hailey had a great time and we took her picture with as many friends as we could before the buses left. High school here we come!

This is Maxx!

2009-06-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

This is what Dave got for Father's Day (a little early) He really wanted one, imagine that!, and since we never say "No" to each other.....He is a seven week old mini doxie. He is very cute, sweet and cuddly. Madi and Lindsay came with me to pick him out and he was the unanimous favorite. Madi calls him "putty" and has been very gentle with him. However, we know better than to turn our back on her ;)
All the dogs seem to like him, well ok they are actually completely indifferent towards him unless he thinks about looking for a likely place to nurse. He started his crate training last night, he hated it, and proceeded to cry for an hour. He did eventually settle down and slept until 4:30 this morning. Dave took him out and then he put him back in the crate, a couple of minutes more of the crying and then back to sleep until 6:15 when he decided he was ready to be awake!
We made him this little shirt/coat out of one of Dave's sock because he kept shivering when we took him outside to go to the bathroom. We are used to hairy puppies so this was the best we could come up with given our lack of experience. Dave embellished it with "Tap Out", naturally.

Side Note: We know we are crazy, we will start saving for therapy soon :)

Hangin' out on Friday night....

2009-06-05T22:23:00.000-07:00

Madi came to spend the night with us on Friday night, we are of course having a blast. We waited for Grandpa to get home then we went outside to do chores, then drove to Ferndale to do more chores and after all those chores decided Dairy Queen was a great idea! Which of course it was, and now we are all headed to bed! It's a late nite for us old boring folks.....

It all starts innocently enough.....

2009-06-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

but then Madi realizes that pushing her stroller towards the dogs makes them scatter, which of course makes pushing the stroller even more fun! Ford was horrified as evident by the look on his face but I think Joey found it sort of funny.. (Hair and Wardrobe compliments of Daddy)

Technical note: I have no idea why my photos flipped when I uploaded them....

Just humor me.....

2009-05-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

My friend Jen came over this morning and helped me get these great shots of Buffy. Actually it was way more than helped, without her they would have looked like all the other pictures you have seen up until now! She looks like a million bucks, well at least a couple thousand! :)

Coffee Table -1 Madi -0

2009-05-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I don't have a coffee table is partly because I want a round or oval one to avoid Baby Head/Sharp Corner conflicts. The sharp corners always win. The other night Madi was running around the coffee table at her house and tripped then hit her head on the sharp corner. Luckily the cut is very small and the bruise is small as well but it does make me cringe to think what could have happened.....which is why I am still looking for the corner-less table.

Arizona '09

2009-05-18T18:38:00.000-07:00

At long last the pictures! I guess I kind of stopped taking pictures Friday after noon, at least until I was on the plane and we were SO close to Mt. Rainer and the Cascades. It was really beautiful. It looks a little blurry probobly because of the plastic window.
We had such a blast in Tucson! We slept in EVERY morning, had breakfast at the hotel and ate out for lunch and dinner. On Wednesday after my flight got in we checked into the hotel then went shopping and to dinner. We finished off the evening sitting outside with our feet in the hot tub and a beer or two.
On Thursday we went to Colossol Cave, it is the largest dry dormant cave in the United States. It was really cool-we went on a tour about 45 minutes and hiked down which was the easy part and then back up again. After lunch we went back to the hotel for a swim. Later we went to dinner and a movie, we saw the new Star Trek movie which was really good!
On Friday we went back to the mall for a couple of things then hung out at the pool all day long. Cody's friends Jason and Matt joined us and we swam, drank beer, ate pizza and watched the boys do tricks until about 6:00. Later that night we went out for margaritas and ended the evening at the Cactus Moon which is a country bar. We had a few more drinks there along with some unidentified shot of something and danced until the wee hours (at least for me). Cody and I took a cab back to his place to pick up his truck to go back to the hotel.
I paid for Friday night ALL day Saturday and didn't really start to feel human again until sometime on Sunday! But it was well worth it, the boys were so great and I've decided to make them all my honorary sons. Cody has some wonderful friends and they obviously have a great time together. Then I flew home about 4:00 with a fairly brief layover in Seattle. It was great to be back home, and it was great to be able to spend time with Cody and meet his friends in Arizona, maybe I will go back one more time before he gets out of the service :)

Goodbye Grandma, We will miss you....

2009-05-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

May 18, 2009
I just got a call from my dad this morning that my grandma passed away. She had been in the hospital for the last few days in a coma. She had really been struggling lately and I know that she is at peace now with her mom and dad.
These pictures were taken in June 2008 when Dad, Lindsay, Madi and I drove to Montana to have a 5 generation picture taken and introduce Madi to her great great grandparents. We had such a great time on this trip and I am soooo glad we had that time with her. Thank you again Dad for being such a good sport taking the two worst travelers in the world across three states to have those memories.
My Grandma was a strong woman who seemed able to accomplish any task. She was so much fun to grow up with and loved all her grandkids. I remember the way she loved to sing and we would often break into songs any where. She had a wonderful sense of humor and loved to laugh. There were so many people who knew her and loved her, she truly touched the lives of so many.
Dad, Cindy & Jan I am so deeply sorry for your loss I know how much she loved you all and that you were her greatest joy in life. She was so proud of her kids and loved to show them off. I love you all very much and wish I was able to be there with you to give you a hug in person.

Princess of the Playset

2009-05-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

Hailey and I were able to put this great playset together for Madi before I left on my trip but Madi hadn't had a chance to play on it until today. She loves it, and definitely will have years of fun with it. Hailey was a great sport and played with her on it and poked her into all the little crevices. She really likes the tube but has to turn around in it so she can come out feet first, she hates to put her hands on the ground in the dirt! Silly Girl!

Update on Heffner

2009-05-17T22:08:00.000-07:00

It's been about 6 weeks since we brought Heff home. Alot has happened in his life since he came here. He now leads (without biting you) stands tied, lifts all his feet, lets you brush him everywhere (believe it or not this is impressive) and lets Dave pony him when he rides Annie. He has also shed out all his poodle hair is clean and has grown considerably. So far so good......

Sunday with Madi

2009-05-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

I have several posts to catch up on but they are not going to be in order, just warning you now...I think we will go backwards from our day today when Lindsay and Madi came to play and have dinner and eventually wind up with my trip to Tucson, which was amazing and wonderful beyond belief! (Pictures to follow)

WKN Icons Blessing or "Buffy"

2009-04-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

I have been putting off posting pictures of this horse because of the way she looked when we got her. She was really under weight and just generally a mess. She is a super sweet girl who had a great start but just a tough winter. I really felt sorry for her and I really liked her disposition and I was hoping she would grow back into her head! The first picture is of her as a newborn on the ranch where she was born. The second photo is of her the day we brought her home on March 9th. The last photo is of her on April 18th after her bath, which is why she is still wet. She has grown and filled out quite a bit since we have had her and she remains calm and level headed, thankfully. We have great hopes for her future under saddle, we'll keep you posted!

Happy Easter 2009

2009-04-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

Despite the weather, the constant pouring rain, we had a wonderful Easter sunday. Lindsay and Madi came over this morning around 11:00. Jacob had to work today, which is sad, but great pay! Madi had a great time opening her Easter basket and playing with all her stuff, then she had some lunch and took a nap. Nathan drove up from Monroe and helped Hailey hide Easter eggs out front for all the littles to "find". The rest of the Murphy clan show up around 1:30, we opened more Easter goodies and ate quite a bit of candy....Ashley, I caved-I had candy today :(...We then ate ham, chicken, sweet potatoes, tortellini with pesto, green salad and rolls. I decided not to get a dessert as we had a ridiculous amount of candy! The Easter bunny is apparently a little sadistic as it KNOWS it is going to have to wear a bathing suit in less than a month! Anyway, the kids all had a blast, especially Madi, she adores Patience and Jordyn! She pretty much followed them around and wanted to do whatever they did. In fact she had such a good time she wants to have daycare at Auntie Cathi's house! We finally figured the rain wasn't really going to stop so we donned mud boots and rain coats and toughed it out. As you can see the eggs weren't much of a challenge to find, but the kids had a great time collecting, even Madi got the concept of find the egg, put it in your basket. We had a great time, we were just missing some of our people! Happy Easter.

Heffner Hugh

2009-04-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

This is Dave's new "poodle" horse. He is one year old, we picked him up last weekend from one of his clients house. Heff is a Baskir Curly, he is supposed to look that way :) In the winter when his hair is long its tight little curls, like a poodle. His mane and tail are dreadlocks, like Nathan's Captain Jack Sparrow hat. In the summer time when they shed out they look just like any other horse. Heff looks much better now, we have been able to clean him up a little, he was living in mud and was just a mess. He is slowly and not completely willingly learning to be a domestic horse, like haltering, leading and so on. It has been a challenge but Curlys are known for their calm dispostions and gentle nature. We'll Keep you posted on how that pans out... He will be having an appointment with the vet soon to be gelded which should definitely help move him in that direction!

All County Wrestling Tournament

2009-03-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

Well it's hard to believe it's already over, but tonite was the last and final meet and tournament. Lindsay and Madi came to watch with us and Lindsay even made Madi a sign to hold up and cheer Auntie Hailey on! It was really cute until she noticed Grandpa had Gummy Worms, then her alliance quickly changed. Hailey did so awesome tonite, it was super amazing! She had 4 matches all with boys, she won her first and third matches and lost her second and fourth matches. In the end she took 4th place overall. She was so happy with herself because she really gave it her all, it's really her thing, she's just a natural. She came home from school yesterday not feeling well and went right to bed until she got up and drug herself to school today. She really didn't want to miss tonite, I know she is glad she toughed it out. Just for reference: I had the school nurse make sure she didnt have a fever before she stayed for the tournament, in case anyone was feeling bad for her. The high school coach and assistant coach both came over and made a point of making sure Hailey planned to wrestle for the HS team. We are going to look into a wrestling camp for her this summer! Who would've thought?

Madi and her Princess Minnie ears...

2009-03-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

Finally! I have been promising my favorite sister that I would do this for days, so here it is. Hailey brought these cute ears home for Madi from Disneyland, she really likes them and there is definitely room to grow!

Happy St. Patricks Day 2009!

2009-03-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hailey's wrestling tournament at Nooksack

2009-03-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well Ok it is a little strange for me, I have never had a wrestler before Hailey. I never would have thought that this could be Hailey's thing but she is really good at it. Whats more she really likes it, and has been told numerous times that she has some natural ability in this area. This match was the first time I have seen Hailey wrestle and although I didnt understand every little thing I did know the basic idea was to get your opponent "pinned" by both shoulders touching the ground. Hailey won her first match against a girl who beat her last week, and lost her second match to a girl who takes wrestling to a whole new level. Seriously I think the girl could beat me if she had to. I was so impressed with Hailey and so happy for her that she liked what she was doing and most of all proud of her to have the courage to try something new and give it 110%. Way to go Hailey! We love you! (in case you were having trouble telling the girls apart, Hailey is wearing the blue cap)