Ryan & the walleyes

Chris and Doug took the boat out on the first fishing trip of the year on Saturday (5/2). Ryan was so happy when they brought walleye back (of course he asked why they didn't bring back any trout too!). He had his first lesson on how to clean them...and he was the one that made me get my camera for a picture with them. I think we are in trouble with this kid! :)

Almost finished...

With Chris traveling so much for work lately, we decided to have the landscaping professional done so we can actually do things as a family when he is home. We are so happy with our decision and how it looks. The first picture shows the house with only the 2 trees that we did plant and the edging done. The second picture is it almost all done. We are waiting on a few more boulders and then the front will be finished. Ahhhh....love it! :) Make sure to click on the pictures to really see how nice it looks :)

Sprinklers in April?!?

Yes, only Ryan would be crazy enough to run through a sprinkler in April!! It was not that nice out...but he was set at doing it. At least he had pants and a shirt on, but the crazy kid was ALL WET when he was done. Now he wants to do it all the time! :)

Scrapbooking with a special friend

I was so excited to have Julie come from Rochester to Billings to spend a nice loooong weekend with me. We got to do quite a bit of scrapbooking (she actually did MORE than me!! Great job Julie!!), got pedicures, did a little shopping, went to Red Lodge, out to eat a few times, and had great talks. I loved my time with her and am so thankful to have her in my life and that she took time away from her family to come see me. THANKS SO MUCH MY FRIEND!!!

Donuts with Dad

On Wednesday, April 22, Chris got to go to breakfast with Hailey at her school. It was "donuts with dads" day and Hailey was SO EXCITED to have him there! Thankfully he wasn't traveling then and was able to go. They both had a fun time and enjoyed their breakfast together.

Sick Hailey

Poor Hailey. She has been sick off and on for about a week and I finally brought her in on the Monday after Easter (4/13). It was a surprise to find out that she had strep, but no sore throat! She has step with a scarlet fever rash! On meds she went and finally got better. I am glad I took her in!!

Easter Sunday

The favorite Easter present this year....having Chris home from being in Germany for 2 weeks!!! The kids were so excited to see HIM, they didn't care as much about their baskets! :) But, they got over that, and then wanted to see if the Easter bunny hid their real eggs or not. Yep, he did! :)

Finding their eggs in the house on Easter morning....

Then it was time to dig into their baskets....complete with fresh, yummy chocolate from Germany and gummy bears too!

As you can see from the picture above, Hailey wanted to get dressed right away! :) Then Ryan finally got dressed and I got a cute picture of them together!! I love it!!

And of course one of each of them! :)

And, after church and a yummy lunch, we had the egg hunt outside. We had to use the front and back yard to use up all the eggs! :)

Ready........................set..................................go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I told you they had plenty of eggs to find! Yes...multiple buckets just for them! :) And, Ryan was so excited to sort his candy...that is all he wanted to do when it was over! :) Cute.

We had a fun, and busy Easter, but loved every minute of it! :)

Easter carnival

On Saturday, 4/11 we went to an Easter egg hunt and carnival put on my local church. We went last year to the same one so decided to go back there as it was a lot of fun then too. The kids loved the cotton candy, popcorn, games, bounce houses, and of course the egg hunts. Both Hailey and Ryan were at the same time this year (ages 4-6) and it was CRAZY the number of eggs they had at just this one place (over 15,000 eggs!!). The kids had TONS of fun...and we did too as it was BEAUTIFUL outside! :)

A quick picture by the bunny (nice face, Ryan!) and a look at the eggs before the kids grabbed them all!)


Ready....set.....GO! It was over in seconds!


Checking for the "empty egg" with the number to see if we won (we didn't :) ). Then, check out the "love" these two were showing for each other. I thought for sure it was going to storm with them acting all lovey-dovey towards each other! :)


And, finally, playing games!! This was a lot of fun too!


After the carnival, we went out for lunch with both sets of grandparents, did a little shopping at Costco and then home! It was a great day! :)

G/G Buckhouse come to visit

Grandma and Papa Buckhouse were able to come to our house for the first time in April for Easter! We were excited to show them around the house and just spend some time with them. I didn't tell the kids that they were coming, so Hailey and Ryan were VERY EXCITED and SURPRISED when Papa and Grandma walked in there daycares to get them on Thursday (4/9). What did we do when they were here?!?! TONS!!

There were multiple walks/bike rides around the subdivision......feeding the horses....


dying Easter eggs.......watching Madagascar 1 & 2 ....


playing games ..... reading A LOT of books.....


taking pictures together on Easter (Hailey already changed and I love the second picture of Ryan and my dad).....


And of course a dip in the hot tub!


We all enjoyed their visit SO MUCH! COME BACK AGAIN SOON, GRANDMA AND PAPA!!!