Our Newest Member

Morgan celebrated her 8th birthday this year. 

She was baptized on December 16, with many of our family and close friends in attendance. 

We are happy she chose to follow our Savior, Jesus Christs example and be baptized. 

On Sunday, December 17 she was confirmed a member of

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Many ward members commented on how she looked like a little angel (I'm pretty sure they have seen her running wild and climbing trees on previous days.)

Little brother with his cheeto face, anxious for his day! 
What a great example all the girls have set for him. 

Remember the Fair?

I know it was months ago, but does anyone but me remember the two long weeks we spent running from one fair to another, towing along 3 sheep, 2 pigs, 4 kids and our own veterinarian? 
We started out August 17 at the Clallam County Fair and ended August 24 leaving the Kitsap County Fair. 

We really did have a good time and we all learned ALOT about animal care, people care and how to be ready for next year! 

Jordan bathed, shaved and even hand sheared her sheep to get them ready for the ring.  She took a turn at trying out other livestock as well to see what she was going to add for next year. 

Tori was unstoppable in the ring and didn't let her pigs run the show, instead she ran them.  She even made the newspaper with her smile and ribbons! 

Morgan spent the two weeks gearing up for when she can show with the 4H group.  She showed in just about every Open Class she could get into and learned from her sisters how to work those animals! 

Don't think Kordale just sat back and watched.  Before we knew it he had his own sheep picked out and was headed for the show arena.  He stole the show in our opinion!  Look out girls, your little brother will have ALOT of years of learning and watching! 

We even got the fresh from the city Lougy Cousins to join in the fun. 

Let's just say they are no longer city kids! 

 Lexi and Rielly both have joined in the 4H fun for next year.  They aren't to sure about taking on a full sized animal, but with time they will come around :) 

Look for us next year in both Clallam County and Kitsap Country Fairs!  Only our entourage will be much bigger.  It's looking like it will be 2 steers, 1 Heifer, 3 Sheep, 2 Pigs, 1 Bunny and possibly 1 Guinea Pig!  Oh and don't forget 6 kids, 1 crazy mom and our we never leave home without our truck driver, feed hauler and veterinarian- they come in one package! 

Someday has arrived!

It's in the format of collage's, but here are a few pics from just the past few weeks.

Okay, mainly just Halloween weekend. 

Adam, Marissa and baby Leona came to celebrate in the fun with us for Halloween,

we had a really fun weeekend and I'm sure Leona was cousined out for a while.  

 Our house was filled with elephants, a pig nurse, monkey, witch, devil and two werewolves (we are in Forks afterall)! 

 The sunny day beakoned us to the beach as the sun was setting.  It was absolutely gorgeous and the kids had fun running on the sand!

 We take pumpkin carving serious around here. 

Stay tuned, I'm on a collage roll.  So with any luck you might get to finally see some county fair pictures. 

Someday!

Someday, I will sit down long enough to post ALL the pictures from the fairs we went to in August, showing all the fun and ribbons the girls earned. 
Someday, I will talk about my kids and their cousins first day of school. 
Someday, I will organize my thoughts enough to brag about Jordan and her volleyball playing this season.  Not to mention both girls are playing in the school band and making their big debut tomorrow at the high school football game!
But for tonight, you the few readers I have will just have to know I'm wanting to show off my beautiful, talented kids but they never let me sit still long enough to have my own thoughts before running off to play taxi driver. 
So....rest on this thought- tomorrow, that would be Friday, October 7th is the 1 year mark for Olympic Northwest Veterinary Services!  That's almost as exciting as Kordale dumping the chocolate chips all over the kitchen floor- which is what he was doing while I took 30 seconds to type this!
Farewell, I have a mess to clean up!  Pictures to come SOMEDAY!

Memorable moments

 For birthday posts this year, I thought it would be fun to have memorable moments from the year. 

Here are some of the fun times with Tori.  We love the laughs you give us and enjoy having fun with you!!

Happy Birthday to our Tori Balori!

Birthday post to come tomorrow, when I have better internet access. For now, I hope Tori had a great day!
We love you Tori Balori!!!

Two years of growth!

We took the challenge to grow out our hair to donate to Locks of Love. We are required to give at least 10" of hair- that's ALOT!
Here we are before...

Don't worry Jordan those ringlets will grow back!

Here we are during... we did the royal treatment and everyone got a splash of color.

Here we are after...the finished product!

Mom even covered up all the gray hairs we have been giving her.

Jordan was a little stressed about cutting her hair and having it to short, but she was happy with the finished product.

Morgan was the bravest and went for some wild purple in her hair. She's our tom boy- primmadonna!

Our 4 braids! Final measurements of the braid show mom's was the longest, Jordan's was the curliest and thickest, Tori's was the healthiest and Morgan's what the blondest (I know that's not really a word).

We will send off our hair to be donated, knowing that we are helping people with cancer have affordable wigs.

Whirlwind July!!

It's a been a doozy of a month, we have been on the run just about all 31 days that the month had to offer us. Consequently, you get the pleasure of a VERY long blog post!

A few days after the 4th of July we hooked up the camper and headed east to Cle Elum, Washington for the Girls State Fastpitch Tournament.
Jordan and Tori were on seperate teams and Chad was the coach for Tori's team.

Jordan and Tori played their hearts out. They have improved so much over the season.

While they played in the heat and wind of the afternoon sun, Kordale got comfy on the back seat of the truck and snoozed and Morgan entertained herself on the dirt hill.

Early morning games were chilly and we were all thankful for blankets, sweatshirts and hot chocolate.

We came home defeated but still proud of our own growth and accomplishment.

Immediately we put our experience to use at a ward softball game.

Even Morgan and Kordale got in on some action with the younger crowd.

Not to many days later, mom had cleaned up the camper mess and got all the laundry done just in time to reload it all back up and head to Tumbling Rapids for our 2nd annual Burt-Merrill camping trip.

Chad took us all crab fishing at the pier in Port Angeles. The kids were intrigued with lowering the pots and pulling them back up with crab inside.

Tori liked to catch them, but wasn't about to touch one to get it out of the net.

Some of us just enjoyed cooling off our feet in the COLD (ICE COLD, that is) waters of the Pacific Ocean. You could see the steam come off our feet when we pulled them out!

Our little man was very sick for the weekend and we all worried about him and he got the royal baby treatment. It was worth it though because after 4 long days of a sick little boy, he is finally back up and running.

The kids had a blast in the river and seeing who was brave enough to jump in.

Kordale wanted so badly to roast a marshmellow, but wasn't about to get close enough to the fire! He was content to just hold the stick and let it bob in the air.

Of course, there was an evening of campfire songs and silliness! Afterall, it was Pioneer Day and we had to celebrate somehow.

The fun ended on Monday and once again mom hurried to get the laundry done. She and Jordan left bright and early Wed. morning for girls camp.

The girls had a week of nonstop activity and late night talks.

The beach was the biggest hit for our Forks girls. Everyone wanted to play in the sand and climb the logs.

So there you have it our month in a nutshell! Don't worry August won't be any slower for us, but maybe, just maybe we can sneak in a blog post here and there before school starts in September.