Cousin Fun

Clayton, Ryder, Max, Emily, Harrison, Megan, Melanie, Nicole
Fort Worth Stockyards

I guess I need to send Jerry Jones a thank you card. As a result of him building a state of the art football stadium for the Dallas Cowboys, and for TCU scheduling a game against Oregon State there, my brother Win (a die hard Oregon State fan and alum) brought his family for a visit over Labor Day weekend!!!

We had a wonderful time hangin'out and visiting, touring Prosper, watching volleyball and football games, bowling at Main Event, and swimming.

Now their trip did have a bit of a rough start.  Before they ever boarded their plane, my nephew Clayton walked into the corner of a metal laptop table at PDX, and gashed his forhead open. Paramedics were called to the scene, and amazingly enough got him cleaned up and put back together just in time to board. So when they arrived, first thing the next morning Clayton got to visit our pediatrician and have his wound evaluated and glued shut. Of course this meant that he couldn't get it wet, even though we went swimming a couple of times. Clayton was great at following the doctor's orders and found ways to be in the pool without messing up the wound.

He even kept it dry when they posed for this adorable group shot!

Clayton, Ryder, Max, Emily, Melanie, Nicole, Megan, Harrison

Of course we musn't forget the OSU vs. TCU game.  What a blast!!  Emily, Megan & Melanie made some signs before we went.

And my brother Win, bless his heart, got us 4th ROW SEATS!!! That's club level my friends, and the view is magnificent when you're sitting that close!! We even got on ESPN :) in case you were watching!

They also got to meet Blossom.  Megan liked having her do tricks.

And she got a chance to help bathe her.

Clayton loved her too.  I think they need a Havanese puppy!

And what's a trip to Texas without some authentic western fun?  We visited the Fort Worth Stockyards where Clayton got to ride Big Jake, our very favorite Texas Longhorn.

It was so funny to hear the crowd that had gathered around when Clayton got up there. I overheard, "oh, isn't he so cute!" "Bob, take that boy's picture, he looks better than Jeffery did up there." Everyone's cameras were flashing when Clayton was on :)

One of the things we did at the Stockyards was get a group picture (per Grandma Hjordis' request). Darren brought the tripod, and we used the timer to get this one.

Then we all moved over in front of the water tower to get our best group shots. Darren set up the tripod, and pushed the button for the timer to start. What happened was that he got a picture of us not expecting it, and when he ran over and joined us the camera didn't take the picture of us all smiling (we couldn't see the timer light on the camera to know what had happened because it was so bright out). So we got this picture.

Caught unawares - and where's Darren?

We were so disappointed! So I tried adding Darren in at home.

The perfect group shot.  Darren was able to join us.

Words cannot describe what a wonderful time we had. We are so grateful for family, and for this chance we had to spend time together. Y'all come back now y'hear!!!

6Romneys + 2Muffetts = Fort Worth Stockyards Fun!

We recently took a trip to the Fort Worth Stockyards to find our inner cowboy. Grandpa and Grandma Muffett were in town from Oregon, and we wanted to give them a taste of Texas history.  Not really knowing exactly what to expect, we rode into town on our old pony "GMC," and boy did we have a great time!  When we first arrived we had a chance to watch the "Fort Worth Herd" mosey through town.  They make this walk twice daily and seemed rather bored with it.  The cowboys riding with them (there were more than you can see from the picture) were definitely on the alert and making sure to keep everyone out of possible harms way.

Harrison and Ryder got some free souvenir FW sheriff badges from the Visitors Center.  You know how they like to keep the peace and all.

Next we visited the Stockyards Museum - "free" with a mandatory $2 donation per person.  While inside we found this cool tub the cowboys used to bathe in once or twice a year.

I'd definitely spend the extra dime for my bath!!

Then we took a look at what's left of the old Stockyards.  It's almost incomprehensible how much livestock used to pass through there!

Looks like Grandpa enjoyed the view from above a lot more than Ryder!

Next we took the kids to the Cowtown Maze.  For $5 per kid they get lost inside (I mean really lost) for about 15-20 minutes, or however long it takes them to find the letters in the word MAZE, punch their card and get out. They win a fabulous prize such as Chinese finger cuffs when they're done.  The parents get to stand on a platform overlooking the maze and shout out instructions to their increasingly frustrated offspring.  Boy was it fun!

Then Nicole and Ryder rode the mechanical bull. 

Nicole had lots of fun!

Ryder maybe not so much. . . but he held on.

Of course grandma found herself in a bit of a pickle -

Melanie met a special cowboy friend -

And Darren met a celebrity.

All in all it was a wonderful day, even though we never had that order of deep fried pickles like we had planned. I'll never forget Harrison and Ryder getting to ride Big Jake, the most patient longhorn in all of Texas.

We're fixin' to go back soon - y'all come and join us y'hear!

Wow, I Can Scrapbook

I have always admired and been amazed by other peoples' skills with the art of scrapbooking, but it seems to require a lot of stuff to do it, not to mention time and creativity, so my attempts to do it myself have been few and far between. Recently though I have become intrigued with "digital scrapbooking" and "hybrid scrapbooking." When my folks came down from Oregon for a visit, I ended up with lots of cool pictures and decided to try creating a mini album. It took tons of time, and was not inexpensive (since I have very few scrapbooking supplies on hand), but I am pleased with the results. I sent it to my mom for Mother's Day along with a photo CD of all of the great photos we had taken. Here are some pictures I took of it before I dropped it in the mail.

I love that living in Texas I get to use that good ol' Western theme.

Many of the page markers were cut out of an old pair of Levi's jeans.

The star on the left page was a freebie they hand out to kids at the information center at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

This is my daughter Melanie's favorite page.  She likes the ribbon trim around the picture of the antique bathtub.



Love the Levi's tag on this one - the paper is pretty great too!



Y'all come back now y'hear.

The (rear)end.