1st Annual Tanking Trip

We invited our friends out for a weekend of fun.  Tanking was on the agenda.  We were all new to this and couldn't wait.  We borrowed the tanks from my parent's neighbors (Thank you!)  and took our crew to the Gibbon bridge.

 This was the tricky part.  The boys had it figured out and sent us in first.  Getting out was the trickiest part!

We had fun in our tank.  At one point, the oar fell out.  I jumped in and got it, then the tank was headed for a tree.  I tried, I really did Kami, to pull it away from the tree.  The branch knocked her over!  Now, how do I get in?? ha ha!

 What great friends we have!  Thank you for coming this weekend!

The 2nd Annual Tanking Trip is definitely in the works!!!

Thanks to Kami and Jenna for some of their pictures.  With the combination of the three of us, we got some good pictures!  :)

**Side-note:  Thank you Megan for telling me about Picnik!  I think my posts will have more flare to them from now on!  :)

What would we do with out family?!?

Well, Matt had to take off for North Dakota again.  He thought it would be a quicker trip (5 sleeps), but then that changed to 8 sleeps.  So, the title of my post is just that.  What would we do with out family?  For one, I will say that my life changes drastically when Matt is gone.  Lily and I don't get out and do much just the two of us.  I dig myself in a little hole it seems.  I think I take it for granted when he is home every night.  We miss him when he is gone and get so excited for his return.  I know he misses us as well and it can't be too exciting in North Dakota!  :)

So, then I think, wow, I am lucky to have family close by.  I can just stop on over there anytime I want.  So, Lily and I have done just that.  We have even stayed the night there a couple times.  Lily got to play with cousins, ride on the four wheeler, take a bath in Grandma's ginormous tub!  I even got to do some physical work (much needed workout!), by laying pipe and a little irrigating.  

So, we are very fortunate for a close family.  I wish everyone had family to spend time with, miss them when they are gone, and be able fall asleep on their shoulder.



*Stay tuned for tanking pictures.  Matt and I took a few of our friends tanking on the Platte.  We had a blast.  Just waiting on a few more pictures and I will share our fun with you! :)

We have a swimmer!

Lily and her swim teachers

A fun way to enter the water!

Leader of "Green Light, Red Light"

Being tested on her skills the last day.

Diving for the sticks

Playing Motor Boat

Learning the froggy kick

Lily always made sure I was watching!  I got a lot of quick waves! :)

Learning how to kick!

We are so proud of Lily!  She is becoming such a great swimmer.  She passed Level One swim lessons!  Great job sweetheart!

The Fence is complete!

 Outback Fence came and finished the trim of the fence and stained it.  Take a look at the awesome before and after pictures.

 

 

 Staining the deck.  Wow, look at the differences!

 What a difference

 

Before

 

After!

 

Swingset

 

We even got her picnic table done.

Thank you Outback Fence and Stain!  Chris does a wonderful job.  If you are wanting a fence done, check out his website and give him a call.

Sorry, this seems like an Advertisement.  Trust me, I am not getting paid by Chris, or should I??? :)  We are just so happy with our fence and deck.  Now, just a few more honey-do projects around the house and we are set!  :)

Daddy's coming home!!!

Well, Lily and I started by counting down from 9 sleeps until Daddy got home.  He left for ND last Tuesday and will be flying in this afternoon.  We are so 'cited'!!!  We miss him so much.  

Family Koozies

**Do you find yourself losing your drink at family functions?

**Do the kids open more than one pop/juice/gatorade because they don't know which one is theirs?

**Are you tired of wasting drinks because they get warm outside?

:) Make family Koozies :)

I found them 50% off at Hobby Lobby and used foam letters, puffy paint, and ribbon to decorate. You could do almost anything you want to. The kids had a great time decorating their koozies. It was a nice craft for a hot summer day!

I bought enough for the whole Widdowson family because the above mentioned issues happened during the Fourth of July. So, all of these koozies will now stay at Gpa and Gmas. I am anxious to use them the next time we are all together.

My Ferzely kid time

Matt left for North Dakota on Tuesday morning. He will be there until the 14th, so 9 sleeps. We miss him a lot, but we only have 3 more sleeps now. :)

Lily went to Kinderkamp for her 2nd week from 10-12 at Stolley Park. The kids and I went to a park and did some shopping both days and then went to pick up Lily.

It was so hot both days the kids were there, so they didn't play outside much in the afternoon. I HAD to get some homework done, so they did a great job playing with each other in the meantime.

The little painters!

Everyone got a bath! These girls will do everything together if you let them! :)

The next day we went and fed the geese and ducks while Lily was at Kinderkamp.

We did a movie for "nap" time. Syd fell asleep, but the others just rested.

We had a lot of fun with you kids! Thank you for spending a little of your summer with us!

Fourth of July!!!

On Fourth of July, our family was having a float in the Gibbon parade.
Lily has been wanting to wear her 'July dress' for a long time. So, this morning she was the first one ready! We were told to wear Red, White, and Blue for the float. The Elsbury's looked great!!!!

Posing for a pic while we waited for everyone else!

The woman behind the show. Everyone (the adults) kind of drug their feet when mom said we were having a family float. But, I think it is safe to say that it ended in a success and we are all glad we did it. Thanks for a great float, mom!!

Decorating Cropa's pick-up!

Mom and Dad!
They had just celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary on June 18th!

We were float 76, so we had time to sit around and chat.

Hard at work separating the necklaces.
Red, White, and Blue
Do you think we planned it???

Grandma and her babes!!!

The ladies,
me, Laurie, Eliza, and Virgie

The men,
Dad, Matt, Scott (didn't follow the dress code), John

Getting all tattooed up!

Grandma and the two turkeys!

Maverick and I


The theme for the Gibbon parade was "Pride in small town America." You would think with these awesome signs, Eliza was an elementary teacher. ha ha! I think she needs to come do some bulletin boards for me!

Mullen's star! MJW

My wonderful family!

We had a great time going through the parade. It was amazing how many people were there sitting along the streets. We definitely had to ration out the candy, necklaces, bracelets, and tattoos we were giving out. It was fun to walk along the float and put necklaces around cute little girls! Later, we were RUNNING behind the float. Dad was trying to keep up with the guy in front of him. We'll just say, us girls got a great work out. I did get to see a lot of people I know along the side and gave out a few hugs as well. The kids enjoyed throwing out the candy. Lily would throw it to nobody sometimes and I was behind her picking up the candy. ha ha! Matt, Maverick, and John were in charge of throwing out water bomb balls. They pegged a few of Dad's friends and fired it at them. They were successful at some, but hit innocent bystanders as well. It was great fun!

After the parade, we went to the church for free ice cream cones. That has became a tradition that mom started a few years ago. This year we decided to go to the Shelton parade as well so the kids could get candy. We haven't gone to it in quite a few years, so it was a nice change. It wasn't nearly as long as Gibbon's, but it was nice. The kids had buckets full of candy, just what they needed. :) Man, I think we forgot Lily's at Gma and Gpa's, hmmm, darn! :)

Watching the Shelton parade.

I love the look that Lily is giving Grandpa.

Waving, so they will throw them more candy. :)

These two can't keep their hands off one another. They are so cute together!

We attempted a family picture.

We were all tired after the parades, but the kids managed to keep playing!

We had a nice steak supper on the grill and then relaxed. Scott and Eliza headed home and we did some fireworks.

I was so proud of Lily this 4th of July. She was not afraid of fireworks, in fact, it was the opposite. She loved them!!!

Matt was making sure they weren't burning each other and relighting them when they go out.

That night we took the Ferzely kids in their van. They were staying with Lily and I a couple days. We stopped and watched the Shelton fireworks out the van windows. They were wonderful. Have I told you that Fourth of July is my favorite holiday??? I had a great holiday this year! I hope all of you had a wonderful 4th!

God Bless the USA!!!