Tattoo Day

Some of Dave's co-workers have been talking about getting tattoos together for about a year. Dave finally decided that it was time. His co-worker Sarah knows someone who does tattoos so Dave called her and set up a day for all of them to go in together. Her shop is in Mountain Home and she had them all come in on a Sunday so that they would be the only ones there. We all showed up and spent the entire day there while the tattoos were getting done.
Dave's co-worker Doug was the first one to go. This was his first tattoo and he was really nervous. Once she got started though he did fine. His clover has both of his parents initials in it. Sarah was next to go. Sarah is a HUGE Michael Jordan fan...she even has a Michael Jordan room in her house. I thought hers turned out really good.

Our friend Megan went next. Megan has been wanting this tattoo for at least a year. She was really happy to finally get it done. Hers took about two hours, and she was a total rock star...I only saw her wince twice while she was getting it done.

Ryley worked this summer at Lansing. This was her first tattoo and she decided this was what she wanted while she was in Oregon on vacation this summer. She was really scared before Laura started, but once she got going she did really well. We all thought she would be the most freaked out......(more on that later)

At about this point I said that I should take a picture of a picture of a tattoo and send it out to Marcy and Perry by phone (they were camping) and put it on Facebook that I had gotten that tattoo. Megan had been posting all the pictures as everyone got done. Sundii picked out a picture of Betty Boops head in a shot glass and we said that I had that done. We were sure that people would start calling me asking me what the heck I was thinking. We were very disappointed that not one person called...I finally decided that we picked one that was too realistic and everyone was afraid to say anything for fear of offending me!! So, I really didn't get a tattoo of Betty Boops head in a shot glass.

Tattoo Day

(I am not sure what happened, but I can't seem to add any more pictures so this will have to be in two posts....hopefully this is the second, but if not please see the other have of the Tattoo Day post!!) Stephanie Campa is a summer worker that has been at Lansing for the last three years. (I think) She got this on her foot and is turned out really pretty.

This was Colton before she got started on him.....at this point he was still excited. Shortly after this he was not so excited! This was his first tattoo and he got really nervous....then she started and he didn't do so well. He literally turned green and Laura had to stop the tattoo because he was about to pass out. Her helper had to fan Colton with a magazine for about ten minutes, and Ryley must have given him about twenty cups of water. We were all giving him a little bit of a hard time, and told him it was Ryley we thought would have the hardest time! After that though he was totally fine. It took her about two hours to get his done and he did great.

Colton is a huge comic book character fan so he got this tattoo to represent that. The CK is for Clark Kent, but also Colton Knopp which I thought was pretty cool. The Spider Man is half regular and half the Black Spider Man. It turned out really cool.

By that time it was 8:30 at night and Laura had been tattooing for ten and a half hours. She was awesome and totally worked her butt off. She never stopped to eat lunch or dinner, and had just had a few snacks we had given her. All she did was wipe everything down after each person, and start another one. So by this point she was tired, and she still had to draw Dave's up and do it. They both decided that it would be better if he came back the next week to have his done since it was very detailed and would take a long time. He was really disappointed that he didn't get to get his with everyone else, but he knew it would be better if he waited.
That next Friday he left the house at five in the morning and went to Mountain Home to have Laura do his tattoo. It took about five hours and turned out amazing. It has huge meaning for him and he has wanted it for a long time. He had her hide the girls initials in the wood like he had them hidden in the rocks on his dragon tattoo so I really liked that he did that. I told the kids.."I never thought I would be married to someone with so many tattoos." Brooke replied, "I never thought I would have a mom who didn't want any tattoos!" He totally loves it so I am glad that he finally got to have it done.

This is Laura, the tattoo artist. She did an awesome job on every tattoo that she did, and was so much fun to hang out with all day. She totally entertained us with fun stories about stuff she has done and she fit right in with everyone. When we left she gave Dave a hug and said, "I feel like I am really going to miss you guys." If I ever do decide to get a tattoo I know where to go now!

Last Weeks Menu

I read Danelles blog and it said to list your menu so that you don't repeat so many meals. I don't repeat too often because I have a list of most of the foods I cook and I mark them off as I go and I try to cook them all before I start over. Most of the time it works pretty well. So, here is our menu for last week.

Monday-Pampered Chef taco bake-the one with the crescent rolls
Tuesday-worked late..Dave and Lindsay had a cheerleading meeting till nine-I got home at 8:30, had leftover taco bake-Brooke wasn't hungry.
Wed-Leftovers from steak and potatos we had last week
Thurs-made the girls grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Our friend Megan made Olive Garden Soup and gave us some to try so Dave and I ate that.
Friday-Chinese takeout-we wanted taco wagon, but he was already closed.
Saturday-Girls had Little Cesars pizza I brought home because I worked till eight. Dave and I had leftover chinese.
Sunday-Ate at Wingers in Mt. Home

I think I will move in with Danelle.

I Did It!!

Today I ran five miles for the first time ever.
For those who don't know here is a brief history of my running experience.......

Jr. High-HATED running
High School-HATED running..didn't play basketball because it involved running. No track either.
Army-HATED running...the farthest I ever ran in the Army was 3 miles...once. I ran the two miles we had to in training, after that I ran two miles twice a year.
Post Army life-HATED running...I love other sports, just not ones that involve a lot of running.

A little over a year ago I decided to run in the Turkey Trot 5K in Paul on Thanksgiving Day. Don't ask me why...I really don't know. So, I started running.
Here is a brief history on my running experience since then.....

I HATE running.

The farther I run the harder it is for me to go. It's not too bad to say, "I'm going to go out and run a 1/2 mile." It's much harder when you say, "I think I will run five miles today." But, I have found that running is as much in the mind as in the body. So, I try to keep my mind occupied while I run, and I set little goals for myself to keep me motivated. And then when I am listening to that last song, and I get that last burst of energy, and when I look down at my pedometer and I see a number that I have never seen before....

I LOVE running!

(but only for a minute!!)

The Ranch

This is the sign that we have been driving under ever since Lindsay was just a baby.

I love "The Ranch"....

my kids love it......

my husband loves it...

pretty much anyone who has ever been here loves it.


It's not that we have spent weeks, or months here...but the times that we have been here have been some of the absolute BEST EVER.

I know it's not much to look at, but when we came around the curve and turned down the driveway a hundred memories came back to me.

Like this one....I have the cutest picture of Brooke and Jacob posing just like this with their hands on their faces, their cheeks all red from being outside in the snow. It is one of Brooke's favorite pictures and she mentioned it while we were there.

And this one....the snow gets really drifted around the house, and the kids favorite thing to do was to climb onto the second story deck and jump off into the snow.

And....Brooke also mentioned the time that she came running around the corner, hit the edge and got her first black eye...and that the kids used to bring a little snow in and throw it on the fireplace and we would get mad at them.

And...the time we had a picnic on the knoll and it took us two hours to get everyone to the top because the snow was so deep we all kept getting stuck trying to get there. One of the best picnics of my life.

And...when Tom, Marcy and I took a midnight ride up to the top of the knoll. The moon was out, the stars were amazing and we just spent some time talking.

And...Dave's work trip when "Fat Albert" made his first appearance, or all the times Tom begged and finally got Dave to tell "The Bear Joke".

And...When six of us piled onto a huge tub and flew down the knoll....and crashed...and someone's glasses got broken.

And...The million hands of poker that we have played there..and the list of all the poker games we know...and the poker game that someone (I think Dave, but I'm not sure) made up called "Flat Top".

Yes, we absolutely, positively, without a doubt love the ranch.

So, after being at the house and thinking about all our great times there we decided to go and check everything else out. We went out to the house where my nephew Cory is staying.

He is home from college and working at the ranch.

This is the stove that is in the house...everything is a little old, but he has the cutest sun room with lots of books and a little table that is perfect for sitting down and playing a few hands of cards. So, we took a few minutes and played a round of 21. Brooke was the winner.

Our next stop was to go to the top of the knoll. Brooke wanted to try driving my new machine so she took off, like the Nelson that she is, heading straight for a huge puddle...of course I'm yelling at her to

"Slow down" and "don't get me all muddy".

That only worked for the first couple of puddles....after that she pretty much smiled and plowed right through them.

She got to drive up to the top on a trail that was pretty steep and really rocky, and she did really well. She was a little scared, but she made it.

The view from the top was spectacular...everything was so green and pretty.

This is the grave of the original owner of the ranch.

Brooke, Jacob, Tonia, me, Marcy

This was an awesome experience for us. Being back at the ranch and talking about all our memories was really great. We will be forever grateful that Tom has been so generous in sharing a place that means so much to all of us.

Update

Well, I keep thinking that I will get my life for the past few months updated, but it just doesn't ever seem to happen, so I thought I would post what is going on right now with all of us.
Brittney has moved to an apartment in Twin Falls. She is still working in Gooding for now, but plans on transfering to a facility in Kimberly in July. Her apartment is older, but is good sized and has a cute little balcony that she has a great view of the country from. She called me today and said she say a police chase...I guess that is life in the "big city"! Dave is swearing that he will not move her stuff anymore or store it in the garage again....I keep telling him that the moving won't be done for many years to come if she is anything like us, and he should just be glad she doesn't have as much crap as we always have to move.
Lindsay is already bored this summer. Neither of the girls are playing softball this year which is what keeps them busy during June. She has cheerleading once or twice a week, but we are trying to find things to keep her busy. I am going to print some pictures out for her so she can start scrapbooking some of her own stuff. She can't drive on her own yet so it really limits what she can do.
Brooke has been at a friends house, or had a friend over almost every day since school got out. She has only called me once to tell me that she is bored. I have noticed that she seems to be on Facebook taking all kinds of quizes and leaving lots of status updates! She went swimming at the pool today and came home totally sunburned. I don't think she thought about suncreen since it really wasn't that warm.
Dave and I are just working, like always. We went to Natsoopah for Memorial Day and loved our trailer. It was so nice not having to pull things out of a tote every time we were cooking, and the heater was awesome since it wasn't very warm at night. We got a used 4-wheeler last week so we are excited to go up to the mountains and try everything out for a weekend. We are hoping to go soon since there won't be too much time before harvest starts.
Dave has started a new project...he is going to try and see how many different styles of beard/goatee styles he can grow this summer! He is starting with the "soul patch". He is such a goofball sometimes, but he sure does make life interesting. I need to take pictures so I can document his experiment.

Lansing Snowmobile Trip

After being in Pine for the last two years the Lansing crew decided to go to Featherville for a change of scenery. The weather was AMAZING both days...on Sunday we actually took some of our gear off because it was so warm. Saturday morning we stopped at Rocky Bar, which according to Jody, was once one of the most populated towns in Idaho. There were only a couple of buildings there, but during that time period there were tents galore. We explored an old house and an old bar...it was pretty cool, except for all the mouse/rat poo everywhere you stepped. Dave, Sundii, Marcy and Megan

Kelly and Diane in the house

oops...I hate it when I forget to rotate the picture. Saturday we went on a big ride to the town of Atlanta where we stopped and had drinks and played "3 ball". Saturday night we hung out at the big cabin and played cards and had a foozball tournament. There were a few really good players so it was fun. (In case you were wondering I was not one of them..Marcy kicked my hiney several times)
Sunday we decided to go to the Trinity Lakes area. We stopped at Rocky Bar again and a guy that had stopped there was nice enough to take our group picture with no less than 5 different cameras. He took a far off and close up shot with each camera..we decided his wife must scrapbook because he was a really good sport!

The ride on Sunday was incredible...the weather was so nice, and the snow was great. We stopped and had sack lunches of sandwiches, chips and candy bars on the trail. After that I had to go to the bathroom so I went behind a tree...while I was going Sundii threw a snowball at the tree and ALLL the snow(which was a ton) came crashing down on my head. Hilarious for everyone else...not so funny for me!! The worst part was that I'm squatting down with my rear hanging out, snow is everywhere on me, my nose is bleeding because ice hit it and scrapped it, and Marcy is taking my picture!! Even I had to laugh about it!! After that we found a hill that we all had fun playing on. There were a few places where you could make some good jumps which was fun. We stopped at the warming hut and signed our name to the list of people that had been there which was kind of cool.

The food was good, the weather and the snow were awesome and the people Dave works with are always fun to hang out with. We had a great time and can't wait till next year!

Football and Face Paint

The Knopps invited us over to their house to watch the last of the playoff games on Sunday, and we were told we had to wear Jets or Vikings colors or pay a penalty. Of course this made Sundii and Dave decide to go all out in support of the Colts and the Saints! So Sundii and Megan came over to our house Sunday morning to get ready. Megan painted Sundii's face while Lindsay worked on Dave. Brooke helped by doing tattoos and I ran around trying to get everything else in the car ready to go.

Dave made his own wig, and I even sprayed the back of Sundii's hair blue!

All the Colts fans in the house....

and the Saints fans....

Marcy is a huge Brett Favre fan so of course they were cheering for the Vikings. (Notice her L for Loser finger!) She played the Vikings fight song all day and had the lyrics printed and hung in every bathroom! She had printed out a picture of Favre and hung it right under the TV so Dave kept putting his Saints monkey with his tail hanging down on the mantle right over it.

The games were really good, a little too good in the Saints game. Dave was so stressed out because the game was so close that he couldn't get too excited until they won. We had a lot of fun and FINALLY after 18 years of waiting Dave's team is in the Super Bowl!!

This is one happy Saints fan....."Oh when the Saints go marching in...oh when the Saints go marching in..."

Happy New Year.....or not

On New Year Eve and New Years Day it snowed a lot in Gooding. We got over a foot of snow. Brooke decided she wanted to go out and build a snowman...but she says she has never made one so she really wasn't sure what to do. Troy and Rhonda gave us this cute snowman kit several years ago for Christmas so she used that for her "accesories"! The hair is filler from a basket we got for Christmas which I thought was a pretty cute idea she came up with. Over all she did a really good job for her first one. The Jensens came from Twin so we could take the kids around in the snow on the four-wheelers. First we started to build a huge snowman...it was really hard to get the middle ball on! We got all three balls on, but we were running out of light so we had to get going before we could finish.

We went to Dave and Perry's work where there is lots of space to ride around on. The kids really liked being pulled on the tube and riding the four-wheelers in the snow. Dave pulled out both of our snowmobiles so we had those to ride too.

That was the funner part of the day....now the not so fun part of the day....while Dave was riding with Kayden he hit a frozen pile of wheat and flew over the handlebars of the snowmobile and flew about fifteen feet before he hit the ground. Several hours later after he had changed into lounge pants everyone noticed that his leg was swollen up really big and was as hard as a rock. He was in a lot of pain so Troy called his sister, who is a nurse, and she said we better go in to the dr. So off we went to the emergency room for the next three hours. I just happened to still have Brooke's camera so I took this picture while we were waiting.

They did a CT scan, iced his leg really good, and most importantly gave him some good pain medicine! We decided it was a good thing it happened on the first day of the year for our insurance deductible rather than the last day. He took it easy Saturday and didn't go to work, but by Monday he went back. He showed me his leg on Wed. and I had to take this followup picture...his leg looks like someone took a baseball bat to it. So, hopefully our hospital trips started and finished on the first day of 2010!