Update finally :)

So I figured it was about time I update my blog and say yes we are really still alive very busy but alive :) Here is what we have been up to this past year...

Vanessa is now a big 4th grader and is loving that she can read anything in the elementary library and even the high school library. She LOVES to read. Trista is now a 1st grader and so proud that she is in the advanced groups and has the same passion as her sister loves to read. She also loves to draw. They are loving school.

Of coarse it wouldn't be a great year without the Filer Fair :) (Twin Falls Co.) The big girls loved all the power rides with daddy and Trista loved she was tall enough for all of them this year. Natalia couldn't get enough of all the rides.

Yep I turned the big 29 this year. It was a great day spent in Boise with Ryan's family getting to see our nephew Jackson baptized.

Vanessa in 4H again this year but even better her sister took it also (even though just a cloverbud). They both did so good.

Trista loved being the only sheep cloverbud this year and her lamb "Mary" did so good.

Vanessa was so excited they finally had an archery 4H club this year since she had her own bow already. Well being one of the youngest she ended up winning Grand Champion for Archery so exciting.

Typical Pops and Vanessa picture :)

In December was the first time in almost 2+ years The Gates siblings and their better halves have gotton together. Ryan's brother Justin and his now finance Melanie flew in from Kansas City it was a lot of fun.

The girls on Halloween

The day before Vanessa's 10th birthday we welcomed our new nephew Liam Vincent Gates to the family, Congrats Bryce & Ashley. We so loved being Aunt and Uncle and could give him back :)

Trista and Vanessa in front of the house

Natalia in the ER after she fell off the tramp and landed head first onto the main line connector poor thing she was so tough though.

Ryan's business float won 1st place in the business category in the 24th of July parade this year :) yeah

Ryan turned 31 this year...oh wait he said 29 with 2 anniversaries

Our little Natalia turned 2 July 14...time flies

The family is growing so fast and so many new changes but we are loving every minute of it.

Random Pictures

As going through pictures I thought it would be fun to post some of Ryan's family :) We are lucky that most of them live pretty close and we get to see them often.

Lisa and (Mark & Kristi's son) Jackson they have so much fun together.

Trista, Amanda and Taeli

This was at Amanda's wedding (I know they are not married anymore and a few other changes have happened. but I love this picture) There are still lots missing but this is a piece of the family.

Here is Vanessa, Trista and cousin Casey at Natalia's baby blessing 2008

This is 3 generations...Lamar's parents, Lamar & Teresa and all the grandkids, Layla was the only one missing in this photo I think she was sleeping?

Randall, Kaci, Layla, Natalia, Tiffanie, & Ryan...so much fun Layla was born 3 weeks after Natalia. I wish that we all lived closer :(

Ryan's siblings...Bryce, Lisa Nicole, Ryan and Justin

Kaci, Taeli, Randall, Layla

Miss these guys tons

This was all the family at Grandpa's birthday party last year.

Before grandpa's birthday party we went to see the Twin Falls Temple

Random

Well I decided to go through pictures and pick random pictures that meant something to me. Of coarse all my pictures do but these caught my eye at this moment.

This was taken in California in 2004. Ryan, Vanessa, Trista, Ryan's brother Justin and I went to California for Ryan's aunts grave service and well this is me touching cotton plants for the first time. Yes Ryan and Justin still laugh at me about my reaction and making them pull over :). What can you say I'm from Idaho lol. Yes I am dressed cute but we went to the beach the day before and I forgot sunscreen and I was fried and swollen fun.

Seems like this picture was taken yesterday but since Carey just had its graduation this past week it has been 11 years since this day for me. I miss my Papa Bear all the time he was the most amazing man ever.

We decided about 4 years ago that Tyler and I needed to get pictures taken. So yes this picture is our real heights. He is really that much taller than me...No I am not short he is just really tall lol. He makes everyone look small lol. This is his favorite picture of us lol.

We were taking the horses out for a walk earlier this spring (when we actually had a nice day not freezing or raining) and Trista decided she needed to ride. Natalia opted to go with Mima and check water on the 4-wheeler.

Yep this picture makes us all laugh this is moving Ryan's parents....Yep there is really 2 full trailers and a truck full lol.

After hunters ed Ryan got to try the mussel loader that one of the guys here in town had. The look on his face after was awesome you talk about a powerful gun. He was so excited learning about this gun.

Church

Here is an older picture that my in-laws had :) I thought I would post it with a fun thing that happened yesterday. Trista was suppose to give a talk in church yesterday and she was so excited and had her talk picked out and everything but she woke up Sunday morning and couldn't talk and didn't feel good at all. Ryan woke up not feeling well also, so they decided to stay home. When I called to talk to Trista's primary teacher she asked if Vanessa would mind doing the talk and terrible me said sure she'd love to. Of coarse telling Vanessa this I got slugged. LOL!!! But Vanessa did an awesome job and I can't believe how big she is. Sitting in Sacrament with just her and I was sad I missed the rest of the family but it was a great uplift also because as we sang the hymns I would listen to Vanessa who knew every word in the book and sang along. It really is great to sit in church and listen to your daughter sing with you. She is such an amazing girl I am so proud of her and all she has accomplished. It was a great day for both of us.

Love Comes Softly

A woman's dream to forge a new life for herself on the great American plains becomes a test of her pioneering spirit, her inner strength, and her undying faith.

It was Marty Claridge's dream to build her new life on the frontier with her husband. But when the courageous pioneer woman is suddenly widowed, she's offered a new opportunity – to marry a widower in a marriage of convenience that leads to unexpected love.

I had seen the Love Comes Softly movie years ago and just fell in love with the movie. Then I got even more excited when I learned that there was 8 movies in the series. Then how excited I was to learn that the movies were based off of a book series. So I had to read the books. I read all 8 of them in a few weeks (I drove my family nuts lol ) but I just fell in love with the books and the story. I will have to say I was more impressed because they are books that I would let my children read anytime.

Since I have read this series I have read a few more series from the author Janette Oke and I have really enjoyed them. So if you get a chance I say defiantly read them.

Mothers Day 2010

My mother's day this year was so great. My favorite part about it is all the home made things the girls and Ryan make me I love it :)

Well we started mother's day off by having to help my mom separate sheep so part of them could go to my Uncle & Aunts for the summer. Thankfully didn't take that long. Then we were able to have a fun visit with them. They brought me shot glasses from Vegas LOVE IT :)

We had such a great mother's day minus the fact that I had a huge final due that day yucky...

While at my moms our dog Wiley wouldn't quit barking in my parents wood shed well Ryan went to look into the matter and Wiley ended up killing a rock chuck. I was so proud of him lol.

Here is Ryan with Wiley's reward :)

Here is Ryan and Wiley digging the Rock Chuck out :)

So cute my brother and Ryan and my mom all working on the girl little grocery cart that broke. Normally we wouldn't bother but if you have seen how much this thing gets used it is amazing. So funny seeing these grown guys working on this little toy.

Vanessa got my Uncle Cal up in the tree house since he hadn't seen it... he wouldn't go down the climbing wall though lol

Natalia playing in the bum lamb pen and having a blast

moving the big metal chute use to be a pain but with the skid steerer it works great now :)

We even played a round of HORSE yep I was ahead until I had to go play in the dirt with Natalia lol

Here is the sheep and the horse (yep its the guard dog works great) in the pasture after we were done.

Natalia is a natural herder lol. She stuck her arms out and growled at the sheep to get them to move it was so funny none of us could do anything but laugh.

out herding sheep

The three girls on the way to Mima & Papa's house what a beautiful walk it is.

Trista with her mothers day gifts for Mima in hand.

Hunters Ed

Well I can't believe it I remember when I took hunters ed which didn't seem that long ago and here is Vanessa taking it. She will be 10 this year and that is how old you have to shoot everything except big game which you still have to be 12. She was so excited to take this class she did awesome.

Ryan had to take it over because that wonderful state of California lost his records lol. So he got to be in class with Vanessa they had a blast.

This is Vanessa shooting. They said she had the best form of all the kids which was awesome since she was the youngest :)

Here she is heading out to take the field test and make sure she can get across the fence with a gun, etc...we laughed at her this day because she hates pink and that is what she is wearing lol.

Congrats to Ryan & Vanessa

Since this my dad took Vanessa out and shot at the 22 target (she had amazing aim) it was a great family time all our family and my parents and brother were out shooting. Vanessa also got to shoot a shot gun since then (Mima's small one) and rubbed her shoulder for awhile lol.

Bug Zoo

The Kindergarten and Pre-School classes took a field trip to the Bug Zoo I was asked to go with them. Well I woke up that morning thinking "what am I thinking I HATE bugs" Trista loved it because she got to hold a lot of different types of bugs. She is defiantly like her dad and loves them.

The were able to go to the creek and search for bugs :)