Total Cuteness!!

Did You Know That Cameron Hates Snakes?

Well, being from the land where nothing but the teenagers are harmless, I grew up loving snakes and my parents were always kind enough to let us bring animals home. Cameron's side of the family hates them. I don't find that hard to believe because just about every wild animal here bites, stings or stinks. His father hates them worse and his father before them would rather vacate a house than go after one. On my way home from a hike behind my house I found a harmless baby racer snake. It would try to bite, but had no teeth and was only 1/4" around and 8 inches long. I thought the kids would love and brought it home. Well, the kids did love it and played with it all day long. Hyrum even thanked Heavenly Father for letting "Slither" in our family. I didn't think about telling Cam that we had the thing downstairs in an old fish tank with a grasshopper waiting to be munched - it was too late and I was too tired. The next day was Sunday and Cam comes in to wake me up and starts to tell me about Hyrum crying and rambling on about some snake and how he lost it. I finally snapped out of it at that sentence and asked if he let it go. I sprint down the hall to ask Hyrum with Cam yelling my full name (he always calls me by my maiden name when I've done something wrong). Sure enough, Hyrum had accidentally let the snake go when he got up before the crack of dawn to hold the snake before Paige could take it away. To make matters worse, Paige decided that she should release the grasshopper as well so at least Slither could have something to eat - did I mention that I put it in our bottomless pit of a basement? Brilliant Melinda . . . So I don't even know if it's still down there, the kids have tried to look without luck, but at least we won't have any mice sneaking in for awhile. Needless to say - no Horsley man would go in the basement during our Sunday family dinner.

Hannah Can Escape

Unfortunately for me, Hannah has learned to get in and out of her crib without another sibling's help. So the training begins to teach her to stay in bed because that's where she's supposed to sleep, not just because she was trapped. I have a feeling that she took her nap on the floor of her room yesterday because I found her blanket there when she woke up an hour early. Ok Cam - I am ready for the other bedroom to be finished :)

Handart Trek 2009

What an amazing experience we had over the 24th of July! We were asked to be a Ma and Pa for Youth Conference this year. We had 8 kids in our family and did 12 miles the first day, 13 miles the second, and about 4 miles the last. The last day we marched out of camp and into the 24th parade in Lund. Needless to say the blisters on my feet prevented me from walking too fast. I still have one toenail that is really purple and still might fall off. But the overall experience was well worth the heat, exhaustion, and soreness. I loved getting know our kids and they were so amazing! They all worked really hard and had great attitudes!





We experienced all kinds of trials along the way, some were expected by the leaders, others were not. Handcarts broke down, people suffered from heat exhaustion, and some had their feet run over by a cart. We were also robbed by "bandits", had mail brought in by the Pony Express, and had all the men and boys taken away to march in the Mormon Battalion.



I was able to finally get an idea of what the pioneers went through. I always knew it must have been extremely difficult, but most accounts from journals say how much it was worth it. What those Saints did to be able to worship without persecution and have the faith to follow the Prophet is truly inspiring. I have a new, very personal respect for them.

Paige's First Gymkhana

Paige competed in her first Gymkhana this year and she had a blast! We weren't there to root her on (I'll explain in the next post), but both sets of grandparents were there to help and support - thank goodness!




She did a total of five events including barrels, poles, tire race, balloon race, and the water race, three of which she had never seen until the day she arrived. Impressive! She worked really hard practicing and loved every minute of it. She didn't win anything due to all the professional kids that make this rodeo part of their circuit, but we were all soooo proud of how hard she tried.

Here's she's keeping her eye on the next barrel.


She's holding a cup of water that she had to bring back to the finish line with her.


This is the first side of pole bending.


We are really glad she had such a fun time with such a great horse. Great job Sis!!

One of the coolest things I've ever done . . .

Cameron has a cousin who works for Las Vegas Metro Police Air Support. We have tried several times to do a ride along with him and it's never worked out until a couple of weeks ago. We were going to be busy during our anniversary, so went the week before and also we able to go to the temple and do sealings the next morning. We had a total blast over two days and thank goodness for Cams' sister, Jenny for taking the kids, it was a complete getaway!! Ray and Ruth are always the most gracious people and we had some down time too to do crafts :) , get in the hot tub and BBQ. It was a fantastic time!

I had never been on a helicopter before and it was one of the coolest things I've ever done. The doors were off and with just a seat belt we went out for two hours and flew all over the valley.


He took us up by the Temple and we had an amazing view from there . . .

and then clear over to Red Rock.

It was sooo fun and a lot like a 2 hour roller coaster ride. The pilots also responded to 3 calls which was also pretty exciting (more for Cam). They took us right over the strip and we could even see the dolphins swimming at the back pool of the Mirage. (Click on the pic for a closer look)



We were eye level with the Stratosphere.


What an amazing experience! I would totally do it again!

Fourth of July

We had another fantastic Fourth of July with a picnic in the mountains. It's also Cams' Mom's birthday, so it was her choice to 4 wheel up one of the canyons behind us. All the wildflowers were in bloom, the grass was tall and it was nice and cool up there. Even Cam's grandpa, Lynn, went - and he's 92! He drove the entire way by himself - it was awesome! The kids loved the entire trip, but mostly the picnic complete with fried chicken, potato salad and cookies - yummy! Brumbie had to go and she ran most of the 10 mile trip, so sometimes we made her ride on top of the coolers in the back of the ranger - she was pretty tired by the time we got home. This has been a such a fun summer!

This is the head of Sawmill Canyon where we started.


Here's Neva, Paige and Hannah being led by Brumbie.

Our family at the picnic site.


Grandpa and Hannah had a great time, except for when Hannah tried to kick him off the rock :)