Happy Birthday Jake!

We celebrated Jake's Birthday last Saturday. We started out the day by stopping by Jake's favorite breakfast place, Wheat Montana, for their gigantic cinnamon rolls. Then we were off to the fair. This was the first time we have been to the Gallatin County Fair. Of course we wanted to show the girls all the animals. Maddie hated the pigs, but loved the sheep. I think Sierra's favorite were the sheep too. Sierra got a little unicorn painted on her face, but later told us she didn't like the unicorn, she wanted a butterfly... maybe next year. They started the rides up just before we were ready to leave, so we bought a few tickets and went on two very fun rides.

After the fair we went to lunch and headed home to relax a bit before it was crunch time to make a cake. I wanted Jake's cake to be special this year so I made him a tape measure. It turned out pretty cute. We invited our neighbors and Megan over for some cake. Overall it was a nice day. Happy Birthday Jake! We love you!

The 71 Ranch

Last week was the Ellison family reunion at the 71 Ranch near Elko Nevada. Jake's great grandpa Ellison bought the Spanish Ranch (Tuscarora Nevada) in 1935 (Sorry Margaret if I have the information wrong). The Ellison Ranching Company now has several ranches throughout Nevada. The 71 Ranch is a ranch the company bought and is turning it into a dude ranch. They have fixed it up and are ready for visitors. It is really a nice and relaxing place. We pretty much just sat around and visited and took a break from relaxing to eat. They have a cook at the ranch so all of our meals were very good and plentiful. The girls rode horses, played on the slip n slide and just ran around with all the other kids. It was really a great environment for a family reunion. Sierra found a new best friend, Great Grandpa Jones. She wouldn't leave his side the whole time. She always made sure to save him a seat next to her at every meal.

These girls just love horses. I am so glad they had the opportunity to ride one. Amigo was a very friendly and patient horse.

Slip n Slide time! They had a big slide set up for the older kids. It was a very long slide going down a very steep hill. Sierra begged and begged me to let her go on the big slide. She told me she's big now, so she can go down the big slide. I eventually gave in and she had a blast!

From The Desk Of

We are leaving for a family reunion tomorrow, Jake's moms side. One of the things we are doing is a silent auction. We are all suppose to bring something homemade to auction off. I made this little package. Inside this package are four cards - all different, four stamped envelpes, a magnetic post its thing for your fridge and a matching pen. I really like how it turned out. I am proud of myself for stamping everything. Lately I have been using printed patterned paper - so to stamp the whole thing was really fun. I love the way it all turned out and I am pretty proud of it really.