Last night we had a great time with Dawnelle and Josh at the ranch. We were so glad they made the long trip to come see us. The children had a wonderful time; they love to see Dawnelle. Austin & I really appreciate being so close to her and her fabulous family.

just some more pics

we got some fun pics the other day when we went for a walk.

Salem Days

What a great year at Salem Days! We really had a lot of fun, as the kids get older, it gets better and better. We went to the gravity grand prix, the little buckaroo rodeo, the baby contest, the children's parade, tunes in the trees, the grand parade, the library auction, and the fireworks. Saturday was especially full of fun things to do and the children arrived home that night completely exhausted (Austin & I as well). At the gravity grand prix we watched several fun races, we even saw a spectacular crash. The car rolled twice and fortunately no one was hurt, though the poor little guy driving was bummed that he lost. The baby contest didn't go as great as past years. Fiona woke up that morning with a high fever. She was even more clingy that usual and refused to let me put her down even for the picture (the main reason we do the contest). I suspected she wouldn't be the judges favorite this year, but she did look adorable and I got some pics of her later in the day that were much happier.

At the little buckaroo rodeo the children really enjoyed watching the mutton busting, and Ian was quite upset that he didn't get a turn to ride the sheep. Fiona just loves the horses and was thrilled when they would ride past us fast.
Friday and Saturday were by far the best days. We went to the children's parade. Wesley dressed as Buzz Lightyear and Ian was a cowboy (sometimes Woody, sometimes not), Fiona rode in the wagon and got to wave the little wand that I'd made for her.
We stayed after the parade for the tunes in the trees and had a picnic dinner,
played with cousins and listened to the music (Alli did a great job).
Saturday Wesley and Ian rode in Amberlee's little train for the parade, they loved it.

Fiona and I watched the parade and Fiona loved the marching bands and the tractors. We caught several balls at the helicopter ping-pong ball drop,

and got some great prizes (bubbles, suckers, $1, and a large tootsie roll). Later that night we went to the library auction and Austin bought me a tricycle (I've always wanted one), it's beautiful. Shiny red and has a cute basket in the back. Now all we have to do is sale our home and move downtown off the hill where I can ride it. I donated a chocolate lover's dessert of the month, which ended up being bought by Nadene and Karen for $60 (not too bad). After the auction we went to Grandma Davis' house to let the kids play during the pageant and await the fireworks. The fireworks were quite delayed because of a thunderstorm and we ended up leaving before they started. But when we got home we saw them from our front porch and the kids had a good time watching them before going to bed. Fiona was absolutely mesmerized by them. All in all it was a great day. And I'm looking forward to doing it all again next year.