Payne Posse

This morning after we woke up, Faye declared: "Lets all get dressed at the same time after we eat breakfast." I mumbled something in response (I was still half-asleep) as I pulled out left-over pancakes for breakfast. Then after breakfast, true to her word, Faye gathered these outfits for everyone, made sure everyone had at least one horse, and then told everone to start riding their horses. And that's how the Payne Posse began...
Cowgirl Faye:

Cowgirl Daisy:

Cowgirl Lizzy:

Then, of course, I had some fun trying to get some good pictures of them riding their ponies. I think our camera is getting worse and worse resolution. We have started saving up for a new one, but until that day, I apologize for the "fuzzy" photos. I still enjoy looking at them...:)

Liz was a bit tired of me taking pictures of her, and I love the look she gave me for this one:

I know they all look so cute, and you may be wondering where I got such cute capri-overalls. Here's my confesion: My 4-year old is wearing size 2T overalls, and my 3-year old is wearing size 12 Months. Yes, that's right--12 Months. She got a quite a few wedgies with them, too...

Once in a while I can still see that my Liz has them sweet cheeks!! I think she keeps them just for me, since a lot of her other chubs are disappearing:(

The Payne Posse setting up camp after a long day of ridin' (I think Daisy was really just tired of get wedgies:)...

And here's a cute video of them ridin' (I apologize again for our sad footage from our camera)...

August in G-town

I think my kids are so funny with their stuffed animals. The fuzzy things are living creatures according to my 3 little princesses. This is Faye standing by the bed(s) she just made (Faye & Daisy share a bed). There is a perfectly made bed underneath all these stuffed animals. As I watched Faye make her's and Daisy's bed, she placed each animal carefully & lovingly into their spot, taking time to re-arrange them if they seemed uncomfortable to her. It was fun to watch her be so sweet & tender...
One of my favorite times of day is bedtime, although not for reasons it seems (although it is nice to get things done). I like bedtime, because I get to go in the girls room & sing to them as they go to sleep. They love this, and will relax the minute I start to sing. I sing Primary songs (with an occasional "Thomas the Train" song for Daisy), and then I think about each of my children-how beautiful, talented, hilarious, fun, smart, and thoughtful each one of them is. I feel so blessed to have been sent such amazing angels into my home. As they drift off to sleep, or close to it, I kiss them goodnight and then watch them sleeping. I love watching sleeping babies!! So, here they are, amongst their fuzzy friends...

Princess Faye...

Princess Daisy...

Faye & Daisy--you can almost play an "I Spy" with this one...

Princess Liz, and this is her favorite sleeping position, too...

Last night, I took my girls to their first play. One of my Cub Scouts (Trey Rabago) was the White King & also Humpty-Dumpty in their performance of Alice in Wonderland. The girls all loved the play, and Faye & Daisy were so perfect the whole time. Lizzy kept getting really mad at me for not letting her climb onto the stage with performers:)...

Daisy likes watermelon...a lot...

When I got home from my Idaho trip, Brian surprised me with roses. I love the smell of roses, and all us Payne girls enjoyed the flowers. I tried photographing my girls with some roses...

Kids are so FUN!!!

Home again, Home again, Jiggety-jig

I was a little leery the morning of our flight. Faye had diarrhea, and those of you who attended the family reunion know what the other symptoms were. I did not want Faye to throw up on that airplane. So after 3 trips to the airport restroom, I boarded the plane with a prayer in my heart. After using the plane restroom (before take-off), Faye declared, "Mommy, I got the skirts (squirts)." This I already knew from scrubbing her panties 20 minutes earlier. She then layed down in her seat and fell asleep the whole trip. I was relieved to say the least. Daisy played with Flarp the whole trip (I highly recommend this to any of you flying with children--I didn't care for it before, but I love the stuff now, and you can't even hear the gross noises over the plane engine). Lizzy did very well for a one-year old, especially in such a closed space. The plane was completely full. She did fall asleep once the Houston airport came into view--what is that--five minutes, or so:).

Here's the girls waiting to board. That's our plane in the back. The airport was crowded, so we got a taste of the "snugness" even before getting onto the plane.
Faye and Daisy, patiently waiting to fly...

Lizzy playing? and Faye sleeping in our 2 seats on the right...

And Daisy was the lucky one on the left (notice the Flarp on her leg)...

ps. Faye did throw up eventually--the next day--but that's where it stopped for us (thank goodness).

Reunion Fun!!

It was sooooooooo fun in Idaho. The only thing that would have made it perfect was having my hubby with me. Here's one of our family photos. There are 3 spouses missing, but everyone else is present. It's an impressive group, if I do say so myself.
Here's Grandma & Grandpa with all 21 grandkids. Wow, that's a lot of kids!!

My girls and I sure had a ton of fun during the reunion.

We went canoeing down Warm River (it's freezing water, or close to it)...

Hiking to the Windcave (Faye hiked all 6+ miles by herself!!)...

Water-balloon-launching at the Sugar City hill...

and a whole lot of hanging out at Grandma's house.

Golf-carting

Uncle Aros can get just about any machine to run. He worked on this golf cart for a little bit, and got it running so he could take little kids for rides. The girls sure loved it! (left to right: Zetta, Daisy, Alea, Liz, Uncle Aros):

Squash Girls

Grandma Woodbury has a garden that is growing an abundance of squash & zuccini. We've been enjoying fresh produce (as fresh as you can get:), but Faye & Daisy's favorite part is helping Grandma harvest the vegies:

Daisy loved the "twin" squash. She carried it around for a couple hours, and I even found her kissing it at one point:

Faye liked the big squash the best, just like everything else in her little life:

The squash girls showing the success of their harvest (thanks to grandma & papa's labors):

Wall Climbing

Ty had a work party, and he invited me and my girls to go with him. They fed us a yummy bbq with all the fixin's, and they had a climbing wall. It was fun watching the girls climb the wall in their climbing gear.

Daisy was a little small for the harness (notice the extra straps hanging down). She wasn't allowed to climb past our reach, because she wasn't heavy enough to pull the rope back down:).

Just fyi, Ty made it to the top in about 15 seconds--maybe less. He makes a good monkey:).

Rigby Lake

Rigby Lake is about 15 miles from my home. It's a small lake that is perfect for little kids. Lana & I brought our families to play and get wet in the cold water of Idaho.

Emry, Faye, and Daisy:

Liz and Daisy aren't quite use to the lower temperatures of Idaho, and they spent a while wrapped up in towels trying to keep warm:

Lana and I swam our kids out to a floating dock that was loose out in the lake. We played on it for a while, jumping off it & trying to kick together to make it move. It's always fun being a little kid again:).

Folk Dance Festival

This last week we went to the Opening Ceremonies of the Folk Dance Festival in Rexburg, ID. It's an annual event where they invite dancers from all over the world to come and perform. I remember participating in it when I was a kid, so it was fun to share it with my kids.

This is a dancer from Mexico that took a few minutes to dance with Faye and Emry:
These are 2 dancers from Japan that were playing with Liz. She was a bit nervous and walking back to me:

All the crazy kids dancing to the music. Aros & Lana were involved with the Festival this year, so we helped watch their kiddos during the event. It was a lot of fun, although it was tricky trying to keep track of 6 kids:

I caught Ty kicking my daughter:). He was actually helping her complete her somer-sault, and she absolutely loved Ty's help. She didn't want him to stop:

Ty dancing with Liz:

Ty dancing?...with Faye & Daisy:

6 Years!!

Today, B and I have been married for 6 wonderful years. I have learned so much from that Payne of mine. He has helped me be a better person, and I look forward to being with him for all time and eternity. I love you, Hun--Happy Anniversary!!