It feels so wonderful to have the sun shining again.  The boys and I celebrated by going to the park and take a walk down to see the river.  There wasn't a whole lot of river bank to play on but there was plenty of rocks to throw into the river.  The boys spent a good hour just throwing rocks and exploring the trail.  It did us all some good to be out of the house and enjoying the beautiful area in which we live!

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

A Visit From the Tooth Fairy - Finally!

Austin finally lost his first tooth and you can't even tell because the big tooth has already grown in behind it!  I wasn't even going to take a picture, because you can barely tell were he lost the tooth.  But, I couldn't not take a picture of this milestone.  So here is Austin, with his not-so-missing tooth and his tooth envelope he colored for the tooth fairy - it's a picture of the tooth fairy in his bedroom.

Poor Bees

Austin feels sorry for the bees. They work so hard and never get a break just so we can have honey. He wants to learn how to speak to them so he can tell them thank you. He wants to find a recipe to make honey so the bees can have a day off. Poor bees!

Helping Hands

This is Austin's version of helping us clear out all the dead trimmings from my plants:

Fresh Lemons

Fresh lemons from my Grandma's lemon tree, they brighten up the dreary winter days and make a great tasting lemonade!

Oak Trees . . .

 . . . feel like home to me.

STUCK!

A trip to the snow is just not complete until Bryce 4 wheels us until we get so stuck that we have to use a winch to get out!  Here are the pic of our spectacular stuck moment on this trip!

Notice the angle of the dashboard vs. the road - we were stuck in a ditch.  We could keep going forward but we couldn't get back on the road!

 Mark and Bryce setting up the winch to pull us out:  (pics by Tanya)

 

A neat shot of the tires spinning (and spinning and spinning)

 

Snow Day

As an extended part of Austin's 7th birthday we went up to the snow with a bunch of family and friends!  We drove up Mormon Immigrant trail til we found a snowy enough spot.  Bryce, my Dad and Mark worked hard to make a really great sled run.  There were no major injuries and everyone had a fun time.  I really enjoyed getting to make some great memories with some of my most favorite people!

Danny and I (pic by Oma)

Austin opening his gifts (pic by Oma)

 

Danny kept hitching rides:

 

Nessa and her puppies - Switch was catching snowballs!

 

Hauling the sled back up the hill:

 

Danny went down once all on his own!

 

Nessa and grumpy boy!

 

Danny directing Andera as to whom the snowball should be thrown at!

 

Bryce catching some air:

 

 

My friend Darci and her son Leland:

 

And her daughter Alexis, who is a die hard sledder!

Danny and his "Gypy"

 

Bryce helping Mark get a bit more speed.

 

Danny was so tired he fell asleep halfway through eating his cupcake!

 

Mark, Maysie and Tanya

 

My Uncle Dick, Aunt Marie, Cousin Angela (holding Gypsy) and her children Brendan and Heather, Cousin Andera and Cousin Miriam!

 

Alexis and Austin after a crash!

 

Mark jumping the sled over Bryce!

 

My mom and dad:

 

I wanted a family picture but Danny was already asleep!

 

I love having so many photographers in the family!  I don't have to worry about getting pictures of everything because I know someone else will!

Here are some pictures that my cousin Miriam took:

Danny getting ready to go sledding:

That's me, setting up the lunch table.

 

 

Danny snitching as many marshmallows as he could!

Thank you to all our family and friends who joined us on our snow day adventure!

Ringing in the New Year - Jukes Family Style

New Years Day is the day for our annual Jukes Family Shoot Out!  Thank goodness the rain held off enough for us to be able to get out and play a little bit!

Austin, Maysie and Tanya

 

Our collection . . .

 

The muzzle flash from Bryce's black powder rifle - it took me about 15 tries to be able to catch it!

 

Austin loved shooting the .22 rifle the best.

 

Making sure I know how to properly operate our home security system

 

 

Bryce and his hunting rifle

Pictures from other family members!  I am so glad they captured these moments!

Brendan shooting, Austin waiting . . .  (by Miriam)

(by Miriam)

 

Me and my .22  (by Miriam)

 

Teaching Austin how to shoot my .22  (by Keith)

 

Me and Bryce  (by Miriam)

 

Me firing Bryce's black powder rifle for the 1st time (by Miriam)

 

We always have such a "blast"!  heehee!