One of my favorites!

I just love this picture...it was taken about 2 years ago over at Mitch & Karla Lura's Ranch during their branding.  It is a picture of the "Cousins"...left to right...Jory, Bridger, Jade, Cedar and Dawysn...obviously on their horses!  Thought I would share...they are good group of Cowboys and Cowgirls!

Meet John!

Jade is the proud owner of a new horse as well...his name is Blurred News aka. "John".  He is a 17 year old barrel, pole, breakaway and goat tying horse.  We purchased him from the Mark Peterson family from Velva.  Jade is excited to start rodeoing this summer on her new "stick".  Her previous horse, "Classy" is officially retired...and deservingly so!  This horse looks a lot like Classy and actually runs a lot like him too! 

Jade, Jory and Alan sorted some heifers this past Sunday and this is a picture right before they left. 


Here is a picture of both Jade & Jory on their new horses...

Cowboy Ten Commandments

We received an Amazon.com Gift Certificate as  a baby gift from Terry & Bette (my BIL and SIL).   Now, if you have ever browsed Amazon.com, you know that there is a TON of things to purchase. They have it all! So, trying to decide what to use the gift certificate on was difficult. They have so many really neat things but I ended up going practical. I purchased another car seat base to put in the pickup and a little T-Shirt Onsie with the Cowboy Ten Commandments on it. Thought it was just too cute not to share! Thank you Terry & Bette!

Great Grandma Mac...

Great Grandma Mac and Jace at the Volleyball game...I think he is filling her in on the finer points of Volleyball!

5th Grade Volleyball...

Jade has been playing Volleyball for the past month.  They played the Harvey Hornets this past Monday night and did very well.  They are fun to watch!

Favorite Entertainment...

One of Jace's favorite things to do is lay in his crib and watch/listen to his crib mobile given to him by Grandma Boote. 

King of the Cowboys...

Alan and I attended a funeral yesterday for Bud Sperry.  Bud is the father to Robert Sperry.  Bud passed away last Thursday unexpectedly.  He came in the house from doing chores and died at home.  He was a great guy and by the many people that attended the funeral, he was a friend to MANY!  We met Bud when we purchased Alan's heel horse, Tejano at the Sperry Horse Sale about 4 years ago.  I want to share with you the poem that was printed the the Funeral Bulletin...I think it sums up Bud's life...

I've met a heap o' cowboys, and some was real top hands.

I saw a million cattle, and read a lot o' brands.

I've seen some hard old winters, when nearly all the cattle died.

I've rode some cutting horses that could turn right out their hides.

I ate my share o'beefsteak, and drunk some whiskey, too.

And did a little dancin', with nothin' else to do.

Been bucked off old outlaws that I couldn't start to ride.

An' saw some fine old buddies go over the Great Divide.

With friends and family now, I'm making my last stand.

An' hoping to be horseback when I reach the Promised Land.

                                                           - Author Unknown

Rest in peace Bud Sperry! 

Jace loves his sister...

Jade is a huge help around this place!  I often wonder how the heck I did it when she was 3 and Jory was a baby and I didn't have a 10 year old around.  She definitely makes my life a little easier and it helps that her little brother loves her to boot!  Thanks for all your help Jade!!

Jace is 2 days shy of 10 weeks here...

Lil' Mustang!

We received this sweatshirt as a baby gift from a couple of my co-workers/relatives...Gilbert & Jo Black...Gilbert is our High School Principal and Athletic Director...Jo is our HS English & Phy Ed teacher (Jo is also 1st cousins with Grandpa Ron)...besides these positions they both wear many "Hats" in our school and go above and beyond!  Anyways, Jace now has his own Mustang Sweatshirt to wear to the many basketball and volleyball games we have ahead of us!  Thought it was too cute!

Front...

Back...

Meet Bonnie!

Jory is the proud owner of a 19 year old Bay Mare and her name is Bonnie Bay Blitz!  She is a nice little barrel/pole horse and I think he is going to get a long with her real well!  We purchased her from Barbra Gullickson of Halliday, ND.  We got her home today and Alan and Jory went and checked heifers on the horses tonight.  Here is a picture before they left...

Grandma Boote Visits...Jace is 8 weeks today too!

Grandma Boote came for a visit yesterday and left this morning.  She caught a ride with Ron and Jane as they were bringing up pork.  This was Grandma's first visit seeing Jace.  He definitely got a little "holding" time while she was here but that's OK...that's what Grandma's are for!  Thanks for coming to visit!  See you in a month for Baptism!

Followers...Anyone???

This blogging is hard to keep up with when a person has a few things to do...so, I started asking myself this question this past week, "Why am I blogging?".  So, after much thought I concluded:

• It is a nice keepsake for myself as well as my kids
• It is fun to look back at what we have done over the past year
• I am a little bit hooked now ;)
• I love reading other family and friends' blogs
• It is nice for our family that lives a distance away

My conclusion is:  I guess I will try to continue to Blog...I know I have at least one follower, Grandma Marilyn ;)!  I just hope I don't bore anyone! 

First Bath!

I know this is a little out of sequence (too cute not to put in), but this is a picture of Jace taking his first bath...at 5 weeks...yup, 5 weeks!  His little cord took forever to fall off!  So happy when it did...he LOVES his baths!

Sick Baby!

The night before Jace's first day at daycare, he was so fussy!  He eventually settled and slept all night, went to daycare the following day and my daycare provider said he was a good boy, however, when I picked him up that afternoon I noticed that he was coughing.  That night, again, he was fussy before he went to bed and was really coughing.  The next day, Wednesday, I called and made an appointment to see Dr. M as I had heard RSV was going around.  We made the trip to Jamestown but Dr. M didn't think he had RSV, only a bad cold.  Orders for No daycare for the rest of the week and to use a vaporizor. 

By Friday he was really miserable, coughing and congested in his chest, however, not running a temperature.  I called the clinic help desk line and asked the nurse a few questions and I also asked the nurse, "Do kids with RSV always run a temperature?", her reply...Yes!  So by Friday night, he still wasn't feeling well and we had decided that he needed to go back in Saturday AM.  Back to Jamestown to the walk-in clinic, once we were seen they sent us over to the ER because his heart rate was faster than they liked and he needed chest x-ray and blood work..but still NO temperature!!  Tests came back that he DID have RSV and an ear infection!  Ugh...he's only 7 weeks old!!  Our options were to be admitted to the hospital or we could go home but with specific things to watch for in case he got worse, however, there  is NO TREATMENT for RSV.  We opted for home with no antibiotics only Tylenol!  At home, he was still miserable and  by Sunday night he was eating only about 1 oz every couple hours and was starting to get dehydrated.  Back to Jamestown Monday AM we went...this time to actually see Dr. M (Thank goodness)!  After our visit we left with a Nebulizer and Amoxicillin...by Tuesday morning...things were looking up!  Wow, what a different these drugs made!  Thank Heavens!  I think we finally have our little man feeling better and we all can get some sleep again!!  Scary stuff!!!  So, needless to say, we have been at home again this week so, next week we will try daycare again! 

Jace's daycare provider is a stay-at-home mom and only has one other little boy so he should be in a fairly "germ-free" environment...thank goodness! 

Favorite Auntie!!

Over the past 4 years, whenever my niece Lauryn would come and visit I would ask her, "Who's your favorite Auntie?" and when she didn't respond...I would reply, "Nikki!". Eventually, as she got older (she is now 4) she would shout out "Nikki!" without prompting! Then, we started adding, "Who's your favorite, Uncle/Cousins?"...you get the idea! Now, Lauryn actually has a little song she sings with these phrases! Obviously, she has some really good Auntie's besides myself, but I am the lucky one as they live over the hill from us and I get to see my nieces often!

Anyways, Lauryn had called the other night asking me if she could ride with us to piano lessons this week and watch Jory and Jade during their lesson. So, yesterday afternoon I stopped at daycare to pick up Lauryn to take her with and her sister, Karsyn (2) woke up from a nap and wanted to go with me too. However, knowing that a two-year old would get bored sitting in a vehicle for 1 1/2 hours waiting for lessons I thought I better leave her at daycare! Before I got out the door, Karsyn was sobbing, because she wanted to go with "Keke" (aka Nikki)...Lauryn and I slipped out the door with my heart breaking! I was pretty sure I wasn't Karsyn's Favorite Auntie Today!! So, after piano lessons and we returned to Binford, I redeemed myself and stopped by daycare and picked her up too and brought her home to play as well!

I think I am the "Favorite Auntie!" again...you really can brainwash kids!  Sorry Robin, Dawn & Darcy!! ;)

Math Master!

The Midkota school uses Accelerated Math as a supplement to the student's everyday math.  Last year both Jade and Jory mastered all of their objectives by the end of the school year.  They have both been working hard at achieving "Math Masters" again this year and each of them LOVE Math!  I am pretty sure that trait comes from the Boote side!!  Anyways, Jory became a Math Master last Friday...already completing the 104 objectives for 2nd grade...now, on to 3rd grade math!  He was so excited!  Jade isn't far behind...
Pictured with his Teacher....

Snowboarding..

While Jade was at the Class B Tournaments last weekend, Jory headed to the slopes! Well...it might not have been Vail, CO...rather Fort Ransom, ND...but hey, it worked!! Jory had never been skiing and he got a Snowboard for his birthday so he went with Uncle Bruce and Cousins Kelsey and Steve. HE HAD A BLAST! Here are a few pictures...

Steve & Jory...

He has added Snowboarding to his long list of "Favorite" sporting activities...rodoeing, basketball, football, baseball, hunting and now snowboarding!  He is a busy kid!!  Thank you Bruce, Steve & Kelsey for taking him!!

State B Tourney

Jade was a lucky last week and got to spend the weekend at the ND State Class B Tournament in Minot with my sister Robin and her family.  My sister lives in Carrington and the Carrington Cardinals were playing in the tournament.  She had a blast!  She was a brave girl and dressed the part...in Cardinal clothing and all!!  Only for the weekend though...back to a Midkota Mustang on Monday!! 

My Nephew Bridger...

My niece Cedar...

My niece Dawsyn...

Thank you Anderson's for taking her with!!

First day to daycare

My time at home has blazed past and for the month of March I planned to work Tuesday's and Thursday's.  Since Lady Luck hasn't arrived on our door step (ie. ND Lottery) I would go back to working full-time in April.  I have been so fortunate to be able to spend the past 7 weeks with Jace and we have enjoyed our time at home!  His first day of daycare was March 2nd...Here is a picture of him on his first day...bundled up and ready to go!

Jade rode with me to drop him off...I think she had a harder time then I when we left!  It's tough being a mom, but equally tough being a "Big Sister"! 

Cousins...

Lauryn visiting last Sunday after Sunday School.  After 6 weeks...Jory still loves to sit and hold his brother any chance he can get...

A little skiing...

My aunt Elaine and cousin Kelsey each have a set of cross country skis.  The weather has been very  nice the past week and this is Jade and Jory trying out skiing.  Jory is actually headed out in the morning to go try his hand on his new snowboard at Fort Ransom with my cousin Steve!  

Jace...6 weeks

Jace was 6 weeks on February 26th...and also attended his first wrestling match that day.  Here is a picture of Jace with wrestlers in the background...  My nephew, Bridger, is a wrestler and does very well at it (I might add)...and I had never seen him wrestler so we headed to Carrington last Friday night to watch him.

Jace loves it when you talk to him, loves his baths, and still loves his brother and sister!  We have gotten a few smiles out of him over the past week and he continues to be such a good little guy.  He tends to take "cat naps" during the day and eats alot throughout the day AND continues to sleep all night long.  Praise God!  A friend of mine (that is my age and has identical triplet boys who are 1 1/2 years old) told me that our babies must know they have "older mamma's" that need their sleep!  Maybe they do!  Regardless, thank goodness he does...it sure helps!