The Shoe Tree!

I have been wanting to blog about this random tree for a while but have never gotten around to it. There is nothing else too exciting here in Eureka, so you get to hear about the shoe tree. Last summer we went to Reno and we were driving on Highway 50 (The Loneliest Road in America) and we came upon this tree.


What is that in the tree, a lot of random shoes.


Tayton thought it was pretty funny, a tree with tons of shoes in it. There is not much else to see on the drive from Eureka to Reno.


Close-up view.


This is the pile of shoes that have fallen over the years. I bet it is a couple of feet deep.


Of course my husband, being the child he is, had to throw shoes into the tree. I wouldn't let him throw his own shoes, just shoes he picked up in the dump pile. It is actually pretty hard to get them to stay in the tree, and every time he threw the shoes up, he knocked about 5 pairs off.

So that is my post about the random shoe tree. If you ever have a pair of old shoes and don't know what to do with them, you should go on a nice drive to the shoe tree and throw them up there.

Our Molly!

I am heartbroken, out dog Molly died last week. She was in an accident and Levi took her to the vet right after, but it was too much and she died at the vet. I got so attached to her, and I miss her so much. I have finally stopped crying, so I figured I could blog about her now.

We got Molly and our other dog Satch about two years ago from a family that couldn't keep them anymore. A week after we got them they got loose and Satch ended up getting hit by a truck. (Apparently we have really great luck with dogs.) Molly was so sad and lonely. We ended up bringing her in the house and letting her stay with us and she never left. She was the perfect dog, she loved my kids, she loved attention, but she was so mellow and just so fun to have around. Levi loved to take her hunting and to take her to work. Molly loved Levi and was so happy when she was with him (smart girl).

Levi decided she needed another dog around her again so that is why we got our new puppy Buck. She was a bit jealous at first but she warmed up to him. Molly didn't have a mean bone in her. We are happy that we still have Buck, but we are still so sad to loose our Molly. I am so glad we got her for the two years we did. I have so many wonderful memories of her, and I never knew how much she meant to me. The hardest thing is to look at her empty kennel. I keep picturing her in there, and I am waiting for her to come out. I am hoping over time it will get easier. We love you Molly and we miss you so much. Thanks for being a part of our family.


Our first picture of Molly.


Levi, Tayton, and Molly.


Molly out hunting, she loved to go bird hunting.


We took her with us all the time when we went fishing last summer. She loved to play in the water and the brush nearby. It was so fun to watch her.


Tayton and Molly. Tayton is doing pretty good with the entire thing, he said that Molly is up in heaven with Satch and Jesus is playing with her, and we will see her again. It is amazing to me how smart my child is.


Not the best picture of her, but this is how mellow she was in our house. She would just lay around and want to be loved.


Tanna loved giving her hugs, even though in this picture it looks like Tanna is choking her.


Tanna giving more loves to her. One of her first words were Molly. Tanna loved this dog and has spent most of her life with her.


She was so mellow in the house but when we let her outside, she loved to play. Here she is playing out in the snow with us.

Wrestling and Birthdays!

We had a fun week this week. It all started on Monday when Tayton was in his first wrestling tournament! He wrestled 4 times and he ended up winning one of his matches. He wrestled really great. He was the smallest kid there and he had to wrestle older and heavier kids. He loved it and had a great time. I got to be the lucky person in charge of concessions all day, we ended up with a ton of leftovers and poor Levi has been eating sloppy joes all week.



Tayton getting ready for his first match.


I didn't get the best pictures, but here he is on top, fighting to get him on his back.


Here is Tayton getting his medal. He was very proud of himself for all of his hard work.


Tayton on the stand with his wrestling buddies!


Then on Tuesday it was my 28th birthday. I had a fun day, Levi stayed home from work and we went out to lunch and just hung out until I went to go teach dance. The girls that I taught dance too all sang happy birthday too me, it was cute.


Here is my beautiful birthday cake. Tayton decorated it with pirates and heart sprinkles. It was so much fun!


So that was our week. Thanks everyone for all the birthday wishes. I hope everyone is doing great and here are just a few random pictures to leave you with.


I sent Tayton in his room to go clean up his big mess and this is what I found. He never just falls asleep like this.


I can get dressed all by myself!


Mom don't laugh at me and take a picture, help me.

Our new puppy!

This is what Levi decided he wanted for Christmas. This is Buck. He is a German Wirehair. I wasn't too pleased at first about getting another dog but I guess he is growing on me. Tayton really wanted to name him wiskers but I think we convinced him that was a name for a cat. The people we got him from had allready named him Buck so we decided to keep that. Our other dog Molly didn't like Buck at first, but she loves him now and they are best buds. Tayton really loves him and they have a lot of fun together. Every night Tayton trys to sneak Buck in his room or Buck trys to be the sneaky one. Here are a few pictures of Buck! He loves to play in the snow. Not the best picture of Buck, he looks like a puppy on drugs. I will try to take a better picture. Here is our other dog Molly. Tanna had a great time her first time sledding. I think my kids are just the cutest things ever! These are my new obsessions. I love these little hats. I think she is just a doll. So I know it is almost February but I have to put the last of our Christmas pictures up. Here is our branch Christmas party. Tayton was a sheppard and it was pretty funny. He was wearing this hot costume under the stage lights so he kept sweating and he got bored because it took a very long time so he started using his sheppards hook as a gun and started shooting things. It was pretty funny. I felt bad but I am sorry, you can't expect a 4 year old to sit up on stage for an hour. Tayton is at his school Christmas concert. He did such a great job. He was the loudest one out of all the Pre-schoolers and Kindergarteners. He loved it. Tayton with his pre school teacher Mrs. Dyer. \ Waiting in line for Santa, he was so excited. He kept jumping up and down, it was so cute. I love Santa! As you can tell, she really enjoyed sitting on Santas lap. Maybe next year. Tanna thought it would be fun to get some markers out and color all over her face. She got in trouble and this is how she pouts. I think it is pretty funny!

Christmas Fun!

We had such a great Christmas! I love little kids on Christmas! We got to spend it with out families in Utah. We had lots of family parties and it was so fun to see everyone. Here are some pictures of the past two weeks. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!


Playing at the Peak during the Sorensen family party!


Mom and Tanna going down the slide.


Tanna loved the playground.


Taytons favorite was by far the zip line. He must have gone on this 100 times. I was suprised he could last that long.


Pinatta's are so much fun.


Tanna was not quite sure what to do at first but she got it by the end.


Here we are at Hardware Ranch going to see the elk.


Tayton had so much fun looking at the elk. His favorite was when the elk were fighting. (It was not an actual fight, more like some food aggression issues.)


Tanna loved the horses that pulled us and she liked the elk too.


This poor guy had his antler hanging in his face. I hope he gets better.


Here is my beautiful riser on Christmas morning. As you can tell she is so excited.


Tayton loved everything about Christmas! He got spoiled rotten. He must have been good this year.


I love Christmas, after I wake up!


It's my wizard castle, thank you Santa!


Oh what can it be?


It's a princess couch!


More pirates, thanks mom and dad!


Santa brought Tanna a kitchen, it is a big hit!


Happy New Year! We spent the evening at home because everyone is sick except me. It was still fun though, we had fondue and cake and played games.


Tanna loved blowing the noise makers.


Me and Tayton also lit some sparklers. It was fun but really cold.

I hope everyone has a great 2010!