Whew! what a busy month

When the weather finally settled down and decided it was time to be summer, we loaded up the trailer and headed to the Big Horns. Tanner didn't want to miss out on a camping trip so he went with us. The guys spent most of their time fishing so I just lounged around and read a book.

They may have brought me along to cook, as I did plenty of that too.

This is one of my favorite spots on the mountain. It's the south fork of the Tongue River and it's a beautiful hike up the river.

We camped at the Sibley Lake campground, there were a few other trailers parked there, but for the most part it was nice and peaceful.





Ken and Tanner fished while I hiked and took pictures. They caught a few fish, but threw them back (thank goodness). Not a fan of trout.

While we were driving down the highway I spotted this moose off the side of the road, but by the time we got stopped he was partially hidden by the brush.

The day after our camping trip we started painting our house. I shouldn't say "we" as I didn't even touch a paintbrush. Ken hired Wendy, Colette, Cami and Tanner to help him. Before you all think I was just being a prima donna I was at work while they were painting. I'm working 10 hour days now so I had a good excuse not to help. They all worked their tails off and had it done in two and a half days. Taylor got the job of watching all the little kids while their moms were painting. We made sure she was paid well too.



When I got home from work, rather than put on my painting clothes I offered to relieve Taylor and watch the little kids and get a meal on the table for the painters. Watching six kids under the age of 8 and making dinner for 18 people kept me pretty busy too.

When all the kids are together there is always one who gets feeling a little left out. This was Caelen's moment. She got over it quickly and they all had their "poor me" moment.

Talen is usually off by herself making messes or getting into things she shouldn't be into, but here she's entertaining herself with one of the nets we bought at the dollar store. These nets have been used to catch crayfish at the lake and butterflies in the yard. They're a popular item at our house and of course, been the cause of a few fights because we only have a few of them. For a buck each, I could probably spring for a few more.

While I was on the deck playing with Luke the kids decided to climb the tree. Trey was climbing with one flip flop on and still managed to make it up pretty high. Lexie and Kenzie didn't have any shoes and they didn't get too far. High enough that they were squealing for help to get down.

Luke loved being outside, watching the kids play.

It was a busy week, but the house looks great, the girls and Tanner made a little money and I didn't have to climb the scaffolding or get covered in paint.

Sometimes it really pays to have a big family.

As the boy grows, so do the fish

Tanner caught his first fish when he was eight years old and that began his love for the sport. He is 15 now and spends most of his free time in grandpa's canoe on the lake. In the winter he's at the same lake boring holes in the ice to do some ice fishing.

This is the walleye pike he caught last Thursday in the lake. It was 27" long and weighed almost 7 1/2 pounds. He's pretty proud of this catch, just like he was of the one 7 years ago.

Visitor

This pretty little bird was sitting between my flower planter and the house for about 15 minutes this afternoon. I walked right up to him and he kind of puffed up but continued sitting there. When I ran into the house to get my camera I thought he would fly away, but he sat there and posed for several pictures.

I watched him for a few more minutes before I decided to see if he was hurt. My mother is deathly afraid of birds and although I'm not afraid of them I don't like to pick them up so I went in the house to get Ken, but by the time I got back he had flown away.

This is the most exciting thing I have had to blog about for several weeks. Pathetic, isn't it?