DEADWOOD RESERVOIR.

~LABOR DAY WEEKEND~

After howling with the wolves all night we got up the next morning, left our camp in Landmark and headed for Deadwood.  The weather forecast predicted that Saturday was to be the nicest day of the weekend.  We quickly decided that the warmest and sunniest day of the weekend should certainly be spent lounging on the shores of Deadwood Reservoir!  Deadwood is one of my favorite places on earth!  Growing up, we spent nearly every summer weekend camping there.  I have SO MANY terrific memories of camping in Deadwood!  Although we almost always camped somewhere along the river, we always spent alot time in at the reservoir.  Sitting on the gravely beach there just feels like home to me!  Our visit this time was certainly not a disappointment! It was absolutely gorgeous!  I don't know why it is but the skies over Deadwood are always the most fantastic color of blue!  We all left, late in the day, with a slight tinge of pink to our skin.  What a perfect send off to summer! 

  

Since we weren't camped actually camped in Deadwood, we had to search for an empty beach.  We ended up on TeePee Beach!

(don't actually know why there's a teepee on teepee beach.  there just is!)

    

  

beach bummin'

  

dad perfecting his diving form (while wearing mom's hat!) :)

  

cousin jessie.

  

the kids--sadie, jackson and daisy--playing on the shore.

notice how far away from the water sadie is!

jackson hunting fish sticks!

  

the old man making sure to get the last bit of summer all over him!

this awesome osprey snagged a fish right in front of us!

  

i love deadwood!

Just as Mom, Dad, Jessie and I were packing up to head back to camp, Laura and the kids showed up!  So back to the beach we went!  The kids are thrilled with the reservoir because it always has a BILLION teeny tiny frogs!

this is makayla's hand, so you can imagine how tiny this frog was!

garrett huntin' frogs.

    

the girls!

notice that one girl is particularly . . . NAKED!

she quickly stripped off her clothes and turned teepee beach into a nude beach!

  

you KNOW she had sand in more cracks than just those between her TOES!

aunt tess and little miss nakey claire.

  

  

GO NISSAN!  GO AUNT TESS!

ANNA MARIE IS ONE!

This week Miss Anna turned one and I still can't believe how much she has changed over the last year!  Obviously she's grown physically and learned to do some pretty amazing things (like walk!  She's still pooping her dainty little drawers but we're working on that!) but it is the appearance of her personality that amazes me the most.  She has always been a MAMA'S GIRL (can't say I blame her, her Mama is absolutely WONDER-F-U-L) but that means over the course of the last year, she hasn't let me (nor anyone for that matter) hold, interact or even LOOK at her!  In the last couple of months, however, she has become so BRAVE!  In fact, I'm getting to hold her for the first time since she was teeny tiny!  She is a gorgeous baby with an infectious smile and, if you ask me, she is an absolute perfect blend of my best friends--her MAMA and DADDY!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! 

anna and i on her "birth"-day.

and now on her first birthday!

  

  

  

  

mike, isaac and anna.

and don't forget, mr. isaac is pretty amazing too!

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS.

Last week I got home from work late, let the dogs out into the backyard and quickly got distracted.  Suddenly I looked around and wondered aloud, "Hey, where'd the dogs go?"  Just like true children, whenever fur children are QUIET, you know they are up to something!  I went outside, fully expecting to find the back gate open and my beloved children running around chasing the neighbor kids (who are terrified of them, by the way).  HOWEVER . . . that's obviously not what they were up to!  They were out in MY BACKYARD making CHICKEN ENCHILADAS out of one of Churchy's chickens!  Somehow one of the younger chickens from next door managed to hop the fence into my yard.  The grass might be greener in my yard but that's because there are two ferocious mini-doxies "watering" my grass!  Poor Chicken Enchilada didn't have a CLUCKING chance!  By the way, aren't you absolutely delighted I posted this picture?  >:)

  

Just as any good MURDERER would do, I quickly hid the body in a BLACK PLASTIC BAG and disposed of it QUIETLY!  

Meanwhile, Sadie, who is normally terrified of feathers, scoured the yard and made sure there was absolutely no sign of the crime whatsoever.  She ate EVERY SINGLE FEATHER!  When she was finished, you couldn't even tell they had made CHICKEN ENCHILADAS in the backyard!

We're so good at this, it's almost scary!