Thanksgiving

Well as you know the cousins came down and it was so fun taylor came over almost every night and we would stay up till like 12:00 and watch movies till we would all crash but seh stayed here i think all but 2 nights and it was a blast. Then when we first saw tate and chase i had (got) to babysit them and it was so funny they just came in and act like we see them everyday tate came in and played x-box 360 with the older boys and chase saw the piano and went right over there and sat on it and was playing the piano with his butt. It was funny then he goes to the nearest light switch and just starts flickering it on and off. And we got to go on rides with grandpa we went to the movies. we had a girl party and a boys party. Mom and jennifer went to alot of craftshows. And cassi and taylor always went to. I dont know if grandma had any fun all she did was cooked and picked up. But i am sure she did The bybees came to watch the movie with us and reagan loved it she was laughing at anything. But it was cute. Baby jhett is so cute and he is getting so big he was half the size when i went down to see him with grandma. Bear wanted to play more video games than issac and that is hard to beat. Brian would say hey issac is it my turn yet and issac would go NO. WEll the memories will last forever and we are so glad that are cousins and aunt and uncle came to see us. LOVE YOU ALL


Madison Riner

Chelsea's Homecoming

I'll post chelsea's pics when she brings them home from school. She looked so pretty that night. We got to shop together for her dress and got lucky. It only took us one store to find the right one. She went to the movies with her date and a friend (cant single date DUH) then came home and got ready. They had steaks as big as your head. Whitby steaks. She couldn't finish so they got to bring the leftovers home. Needless to say, dad got hers. So anyway i'll post get back to you with the pictures. She had a great time though.

Homecoming

Colton had a great time the past couple of weeks. He got to go to two different homecomings. This one is Warden's homecoming with Casey, Amber Riner's sister. He had a good time. Their Homecoming is casual so he loved that he didn't have to dress up!
Our Homecoming was the next week and they had a blast. There were six couples that went flying. While others were waiting their turn to fly, they played croquet. Then everyone went to Grandpa and Grandma Nielson's house to eat a fancy dinner. Grandpa went all out on the meat and Grandma made everything look awesome. The girls served and were threatened with their lives if they talked. If you know Ashton you know why. She had a hard time at first. It took her a few minutes to compose herself before she could make it into the dining room without laughing. She's great! Here's the picture for his homecoming. Too bad we lost the game but he was ok with it.

Football, Fair and Fishin'

It's that time of year again. We have had two games so far against Othello (28-14) we lost, and Cashmere (17-14) we lost. What a tough game the last one was. Very exciting! Not like the usual blowout we have had in the past. THis year is going to be different. Colton is doing a great job and we are excited for the league games to start. We play Ki-Be this week.
I've received some pretty upsetting news this past week. Yes, Chelsea will be turning 16 just two days before Homecoming. Pray for me will you? HA! She has already been asking how long it will be before guys start asking girls. Oh Dear! Well at least Colton will be there. I don't think he's really happy about the whole sister being old enough to date thing either. Chelsea also won Grand Champion at the CBJLS with her pig. Cool huh? She did a good job showing too. She and Colton got to go back for the Championship round in Fitting and Showing too.
Madi is playing Volleyball and has her first game tonight in Othello. She loves Junior High and is a teachers aide for Wayne. She's also taking Spanish so she shares her superior knowledge with us occasionally.
Cassi got put in Fitting and Showing with an older group of kids. She did so good and we were really proud of her. It was the best she's ever done but since she was in with older kids she didn't get to go back. NO Fair! She cried.
Ashton is starting soccer today. There are 17 kids on her team. THat has got to be chaos! She pretty much has bawled through the past month. Two pigs brought down in the prime of their lives! And for what? Money?! WAAAAAAAAHHHHH! Life is so unfair! Can 9 year olds have hormone surges already?
Payton wanted to play football but hurt his foot practicing with Dad out on the lawn so he was out for the season. Then he thought he'd try out soccor but noone volunteered to coach. So no team. Darn. HEE HEE
Carson started preschool today with one of the boys I babysit. We were also surprised and happy to find out that Isaac (Kim's boy) is in the same class. He was kind of worried at first and thought he might just like to have preschool here with mom, but he's changed his mind now. He'll love it. We have bets on who's mom gets called first from the preschool. Isaac or Carson. The teacher said she's never had to call a parent yet. We'll see. When she met him the first time she asked which kid he was. We were at the high school at an opening social. I looked around and pointed out that he was the one in the tree. Then we went to meet the teacher night and he had split his eye open and had been to the emergency room to get it glued. I;m stocking up on super glue by-the-way. $750 for that and I could have done it myself. Now that's a good idea for enrichment night! Do it yourself emergency services.
Kellen is potty training. I know he's way old for that. Baby and all you know. He's so cute and speaks very well for his age (2 1/2). HE follows Carson around everywhere playing hunting outside. I'm not looking forward to the cold weather. I know they will drive me crazy.
I'm loving all your blogs! It's a good way to keep up with everyone. See ya!

Home Again

This is my last week of work after being a "professional" for a year. I miss being with my boys and since Nanny left I really don't want to have someonelse babysit them. It has been a huge financial blessing for us and I leave with a ton of knowledge, experience and a new perspective on being a stay at home Mom. I must admit at times I was jealous that men got to choose what they would get to be and do. That was stupid of me. I have the best job in the world right here at home and an opportunity to be with my children that most just don't get. So we will be living on alot less but I am babysitting for some neighbors and it is satisfying to know that if I needed to I could have some skill set to help support us. I will miss work and the people that I get to talk with every day but it is going to be worth it. A lot of praying and crying has been included in this decision. I know that I'm doing whats right for us. And Wayne has been able to start up a little guiding work for fishing. It's been a long weekend starting it up and he puts in long hours, but he really enjoys it. Maybe this is how the Lord will help us to make what we need to support our family. Hunting season is coming soon and that should bring in some good money. The good part is that we have the apartment for people to stay in and we cook them dinner and breakfast. Anyway since I'm quitting and addicted to high speed internet now, we just got high speed at home today so now I can attach pictures. THe kids are getting ready for the fair so Payton has been working with THumper. The pigs are about the right weight and we are getting the trailer ready. Pray for me that I can keep eight kids safe, unlost and out of trouble for a week alone. Wayne starts school Wednesday and Football the same day. I can't believe it's Colton's senior year. I hope we all survive it! HA HA

cassi's wreck and little Jhett

Today was a bad day for cassi. She wrecked the motor cycle and had to get steches 9 on her head and 3 on her knee. But she was mad because she then could not go to see little jhett in utah. but then grandpa took the stiches out of her head so she got to go after grandpa took the stiches out. Cassi was glad grandpa took it out because she said thet the doctor would take for ever to pull them out and make a big deel about it and grandpa just took the pliers out and chucked them out and cassi said it did not hert at all.

So then we saw baby jhett oh boy he was cute. It was funny because he has a cone shape of a head. Brian always calles him my little man it was so cute. There was a lot of people visiting there also when we where there we where at mikes house and saw kenna we did a lot of stuff there like makeing necklises and braclets and watched movies there it was fun. and wild as u see if u look at the pictures.

Wallowa Lake - FUN in the SUN

this trip was so much fun we did a whole bunch of things well the first day we went up onmonday wow it felt like it was for ever but we found it then we went to the main place to get the keys to get in to the lodge thenwe got done unpacking and us kids went and swam it was so fun well we were all so tired we went to sleep early the first night then we woke up and went on a hike but it was kind of scary because there was a bear there when we went up then we went to the lake and we were there for a long time chelsea acculy got in the water for the first time that night are family went out for ice cream yummmm... then on the third day the little kids went fishing while me and chelsea went on bumper boats with the bybees it was so much funthen straight from there we went and rid hourses up a moutain mine was trotting the whole way up and down so the guy had to make it listen then it bucked but it was still fun thenwe went to the lake and then we went go karting then the next day we went home but it was so much FUN love,
madi-fadi

Summer Fun!

Wow! I've only got 4 kids at home right now! It's so quiet and no one is fighting. I feel like I'm a bad parent and the shocker is that the reason I feel that way is because I think it must be so boring for the ones that are left in this quiet house. Weird huh? We need to import some cousins or friends so I don't feel so bad. Colton and Cassi are at Grandma's house. Chelsea has already been to basketball camp and is at church Girl's camp now with Madison. Payton is at Science camp (just a day camp thing for the week). We are excited for the big family reunion at Lake Wallowa and are pumping up all the tires and oiling our bike chains to prepare. We're excited to go hiking and are looking for a baby backpack for Kellen. Wayne is playing Mr. Mom until cherry harvest begins so I'm expecting the yard and garden to be spotless. HAHA! Kellen is attached at the hip to him and the boys have been practicing their football passes and running routes. Payton is good at it, Carson is funny and always jumps and dives for it even if he doesn't need to and Kellen just likes to give orders. "Down, Set, Hike!"

Go RIners!

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Good Bye and Hello

We are sad say Grandpa nad Nannie Riner have left. We had them for a couple of years here, but I guess the pull of the South was too much for us to overcome:) We had our turn I guess and now they get to visit their other grandchildren. It was hard to see them leave though. The kids have really become attached to them, especially Kellen and Carson. She babysat them everyday while I worked. So now we've inherited 8 chickens and a rabbit (Thumper). The kids are having fun with them and Brian and Candace came up from Utah for the weekend so they helped us build the coop for them.
Candace is nice and basketball shaped. She will be having a baby boy in August and looks so cute. It was such a nice visit but she got sick the last day here. Sorry Candace! We loved having them come to visit when things were'nt so crazy around here so we could take time to talk with them.
School's out this week! YAY! But it seems like summer is already planned up with science camps, basketball camps, volleyball tournaments, work, reunions, etc. It will be a fun kind of busy though. Well, gotta go. Hope your weather is better than ours and you have a great summer too!

FAMILY PICTURES

We decided to take family pictures while the flax is in bloom behind our house. This is at 7:00 am and we actually made it on time! It was a fast photo session but when you've got to get it done and get to work, school, etc. I think it turned out ok!

Spring has Sprung!

We had a great weekend. Our family got to go to Ellensburg on Saturday to see Dane play baseball for Central Washington University. Rick and Cherri and Devon came up to see his game from Tennessee. We love to visit with them and it was fun to get outside and spend a whole day together. That is a rare occasion with all the sports that bigger kids are involved in. The girls and I walked around the campus to check out the college life. I think that Chelsea thought it was pretty ok with kids hanging out on the lawn and tanning while listening to the stereo blasting. Ashton on the other hand got the willies about the whole thing and decided she would be going back to watch the game. I wish I could post the picture we got of Kellen. He did a nose dive into the pile of chalk dust that they had to paint the lines with. What's worse is that he just got done eating an ice cream cone when he did it. I was still cleaning the chalk out of his nose when we got home that night. HA
Sunday morning we woke up to a flood in the apartment. Every room had water standing in it. We had to get a professional carpet cleaner to pump out all the water and have some industrial fans airing it out still. Then after church Tammy and Neal and came for dinner and the kids spent lots of time flirting with all the mud that the flood left. They had a great time!
We love you all and wish you could come play in the mud too. See ya!

H-pilori Attack

We finally took Colton in to the doctor after years of complaining about acid reflux. We thought it was just something he was going to have to live with but the tests showed an advanced case of H-pilori bacterial infection in his stomach. They took biopsies of the worst bumps but we are pretty confident everything will come back ok. He is on some pretty heavy duty doses of medicine and should be all better in a couple of weeks. I just wish we would have done all of this a little sooner! We will see if he starts to be able to eat and gain weight now. He's really growing! He also hurt his foot and hasn't been able to run track. Did I mention his fair pig died? The one he named NFL (naturally freakishly long). I don't know why! It was perfectly fine, but dead.

Ashton won her first game and really hit the ball well. She loves machine pitch and is as good as any of the boys! So, that was our excitement for the week. Love YA!!

OOPS I FORGOT!

While we were shopping yesterday I sat Carson on a chair and told him to stay there while I went to give Chelsea some clothes to try on in the dressing room. When I came back out I saw Carson standing next to the chair and a bewildered looking young lady standing next to him. I said "Carson you need to sit back down in the chair". The lady explained to me that she had been sitting on the chair when out popped Carson from underneath. He had been hiding under it when she sat down! OOPS!

SPRING BREAK!

Well, it's Spring break and supposed to be officially warm with all this Global Warming going on. Actually, there are record breaking lows here and the windmills are busy trying to keep the blossoms warmed up.

Colton and Chelsea are competing in High School Track with their Dad as the coach. They are doing really good and Colton wishes he had tried this out before now. He usually will practice with them, but never has offically been in track. He has been to two meets now and has jumped 19' in the long jump and 5'8" in the high jump, along with running the 4x100. He made the finals in the long jump and high jump and placed in both events.

Chelsea is running and jumping too. She jumped 13'something and is almost back to the 14' feet she jumped last year. Funny story, Last week she was competing and jumped two times. They are supposed to get three jumps, but the officials told her she had already been marked for three times. Both Chelsea and Wayne tried to explain to the officials that she had not but to no avail. Chels went to check their chart to make sure they had three marks for her. Much to her surprise they had marked her as jumping 14'6". She stopped arguing and collected her medal.HAHA!

Madi look forward to her first junior high track meet after about 4 weeks of practice. They only get 5 meets at that age. She assured me she is lightning fast though and is ready to run the relay.

At home right now we are really moving things around. We are taking out the ditch behind our house and putting in pipes. Yeah! Wayne is having quite a time trying to figure out how to best get that ditch out in big pieces. We are also getting rid of our extra baby pigs soon. Yeah! They eat a bag of food a day. That's about $350 a month on pig food! They won't even take nights and weekends off. Non stop eating!

Ashton starts baseball after spring break and Payton just finished up wrestling. He brought home a first place medal from all 5 tournaments he attended. We'll have to get Uncle Mikey up here to train him. The Mendez brothers want to take him around to tournaments in the off season. He got sick and had to stay home from the state tournament up in Spokane. He was devastated but had a fever and was sick for a week after that so it's a good thing that we didn't go.

Cassi wishes she were dancing again. She got to play basketball and Volleyball this year, but she really loves to dance so we might try her in it again next year. They little boys are loving having dad home for SPring Break and spend the mornings crawling all over him in the bed, teasing him and each other. It unfailingly ends up with someone crying and then it's time to get up and get some work done. Kellen got his shots yesterday and was very brave. He cried for just a second and then said, I got my shots!. To reward him dad took him to the dollar store to pick out a prize. Much to his shagrin Kellen chose the only ball left in the store, a bright pink princess ball! Carson went shopping with the girls yesterday and was bored so he decided to hide in the clothing racks. The next thing I know one of them is swinging back and forth and almost fell over. He just isn't built for shopping. We went out to the play place in the mall and let him run for a few minutes.

We are looking forward to going to the movies with the cousins this weekend and might even venture a sleepover! See ya later.

REALLY! IT'S THIS EASY?

The Riner Family has officially arrived! I love reading everyone's blogs and can't promise to be so creative...but with so many of us, there has to be some story to tell. Plus, what a fun way to keep a journal. I chose black for the background because, unlike Candice, I aspire to be "black", sophisticated and clean! Those things just come naturally for some peole. With kids, animals, and work, the only "black" things in our lives may be this website and the bottom of Carson's socks. If you don't know what I'm talking about you haven't read for enough back in Candice's blog. Anyway here we go!