Diamonds in the Rough

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Dave's 37 bday!

Uh Oh, he's getting close to 40! Dave has a youthful side that he will never grow-out of like: eating Cocoa Puffs and Bubblegum ice cream. He will always be a kid at heart. We love that he is big, strong, capable, responsible and yet has a very fun loving side also.

LAUGHS

I love having a baby (especially one year olds) in our home. Caleb is always doing things that make us laugh. He discovered he could give himself kisses in the mirror. And he loves water so he figured out how to climb in the tub with Lydia..pjs and all...uh oh!

Kindergarten Luau

This year I got to do the Kinder Luau with Kami. Always a special mother-daughter time. The kids all did a cute Hawaiin dance "Hawaiin Rainbows" and "Huki Lau". Kami is a natural when it comes to graceful moves. She loved the moment to shine/

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

ROUNDUP the real deal!

Uncle Bert carries on the Randall tradition of cattle ranching. He owns the old Ashfork Ranch east of Williams, that my dad grew up on and I remember visiting as a kid. Bert finally decided to put cattle back on it after many years of not having any. So when Amy and I heard they were doing ROUNDUP again we had to come and join the "fun". We brought Baylee, Kami, and Lacey, too. We had a girls trip to Flagstaff, spent the night, then headed to the ranch in the morning. Everyone kept wondering why we didn't bring the men (you know the helpful manpower). We said " so we could have the fun" so we got put to work.

Lacey and Baylee had the job of painting the grease on the calfs after they were branded.

All the next generation of grandkids got trained on calf throwing.

Yep, Baylee's extra special job was greasing the .....well you can read it!

The Double U Brand

Uncle Bert surveying the crowd. This is what he loves.

Cousin Clay and Amy throwing the calf down. Way to go girl!

Uncle Bert's branded all 200+ calves.

We all smelt like burnt hair when the day was done.

Kami...she just liked hanging out by the horses and watching it all happen. She kept asking me if horses could understand her when she talked to them. Too cute!

Gettin' the Gate. We began and ended the trip like every good cowboy by gettin' the gate. We bequeathed that responsibility to the kiddos.

Down in the dirt! My turn to wrestle the calf. It was hard to hold it down while they branded. The trick was pulling the back foot behind its back.

Lacey and Baylee getting instruction from Aunt Garna on how its done!

Go Baylee! such a dutiful helper. She got right in their.

This horse HONEY was a good gentle horse for these young bucks to ride.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

RANDALL REUNION RODEO

Bert and Verna Randall posterity family reunion. Only the Randalls could pull-off such a fun reunion by putting on a family rodeo. Horses..cows...its in our blood! We come from a history of cowboys. My grandpa Randall was a true blue cowboy cattle rancher. My dad was the youngest of the 8 children, so it was quite a large gathering and so fun to see family members I haven't seen in a longtime.

Dave picking up Baylee, throwing her on behind..racing to the finish. They did good for their first time doing it.

Caleb the great spectator!

Lydia, wishing she had a horse of her own.

Baylee, giving pony rides

Watching the steer dressing...thinking how we gonna do that!

Way to go Kami! she caught a chick...a real country girl.

Baylee gearing up for the foot race.

Papa, back in the saddle again! He is such a good lookin' Cowboy. I loved growing up hearing all my dads stories of being a cowboy. The girls loved getting rides with papa.

Baylee got second place in the musical buckets activity.

Yes, we girlies tried the calf dressing, too... and did alot better that we thought we would. Of course we didn't win, but what a rush wresting that calf. Amy held the panties and I sat on the calf. This picture makes me laugh

Great shot of mom and dad and cousin Shane (he has always been a clowny guy)

Wow! look at those tuff guys. First place went to Dave, Dallan, and Troy for the steer dressing. Although, I think Troy gets most the credit for that one, that steer had no hope of escape.

Dad and Uncle Bert

A parade to honor my Dad and his syblings. Now the seniors of the crowd. What a good lookin' bunch.

Verna Pearl

Charlie

Roberta

Richard

Just like "the Man from Snowy River"

Love this pic of Chelsey...in her element.

...and me in mine. It's in the blood ...what can I say.

All of us together at last. It's been a while.

Our Adventure

Our adventure together started when a city boy met a country girl at heart (even though she grew up in the city). We are so glad that our paths crossed and that our destination was the same. Now after almost 8 years of marriage we continue to enjoy the adventure of our lives together. While I try to keep up the pace along the path, he makes sure I don't miss any of the scenery along the way. We want to appreciate each stage of our family journey together, by treasuring the moments that matter. With so much to be grateful for through ups and downs we like to carry on the phrase "never has life been better than this".

Describing Myself

So, I have always thought it challenging to describe myself. Maybe it’s a second child syndrome or maybe its because I am a melting pot of quircky traits. Luckily I am not alone in that, its genetic, haha!

So, here is my attempt at describing myself.
An Arizona native, though I was actually born in CA. I love Arizona and its diversity. The desert can be so beautiful. I come from a family of 4 kids. I am #2. I loved taking care of my sister Chelsey, who was 8 yrs younger than me and growing up I always loved babysitting, because I could just play with the kids. I have a lot of self-motivation and a challenge never stops me from trying. This trait was acquired at a young age when I wouldn’t let being the smallest and shortest be a disadvantage. I have always loved horses, since I can remember. It’s in my Randall blood, though I have never actually owned one. I love the outdoors and sometimes its hard to be doing the mundane house jobs when I would rather be outside. I really enjoy figuring out solutions to problems. I like gadgets (a trait from my father). Thus, when my Sunday School teacher hired me as his secretary, when I was a Junior in Highschool, I was in my element and thoroughly enjoyed getting his company out of the old and in to the new computer world. This job supported me through college. I truly love learning. School wasn’t easy, but I enjoyed what I learned and was able to go to BYU. In college I had a hard time deciding on a major because their was so many subjects I wanted to learn about. I took classes in Engineering, science, business, dance, recreation, and music. - so, I probably could be labeled as knowing a little bit about a lot of things. An experience I’ll never forget was living in Jerusalem and Egypt for 4 months doing a BYU study abroad. It gave me a bigger perspective. I am more of a listener than a talker. I love hearing about peoples experiences and I am good at keeping confindences. I remember as a youth sitting amongst my adult relatives, just listening to them talk. I am so grateful for a close extended family that loves to share ideas. I am a detail person and a planner, I am working on being more spontaneous. I am learning to appreciate the different stages in my life, and now that I am 32 I really wish time would slow down. I am so grateful to be married to Dave, a super wonderful husband and father. Above all, I love being a wife and a mom to 3 beautiful daughters, it gives purpose and meaning to my busy days. I enjoy music in my home - playing the piano, singing songs, and dancing with my kids. I especially love to dance with Dave, even though we don’t get to very often. I love doing projects with my kids and reading to them. I enjoy cooking healthy nummy foods and I have way too many cook books. Cleaning the bathrooms is my least favorite house chore and sweeping the floors (since they need it so often) is therapeutic. I will sweep and sweep with a million thoughts going through my head. I have always loved giving hugs (the big bear hugs), when I was young it was my pets, now it is my kids. So big hugs have become a tradition in our family. I love it when I can use my talents to serve others. I love the Gospel. I love that the Lord makes up the difference for our imperfections. I am so grateful to have a forever family.