Family Reunion Weekend

This past weekend we attended the Boyce family reunion in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The reunion is usually held in Colorado, so it was quite a change of location. We stayed at the Terry Peak Lodge located across from the Terry Peak Ski Slopes.

My Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa David drove from Sun City, Arizona and brought my Great-Grandma Boyce from Pueblo, Colorado. They arrived to Gillette on Wednesday evening. We were able to celebrate my sister's 24th birthday with them that evening.

My mom was able to convince one of my sister's friends to play her "Happy Birthday" on his bagpipes. It was a great surprise and everyone enjoyed the performance.

The rest of our crew arrived Thursday evening late, after a trip full of car trouble and turn-arounds. My Great-Aunt Janet brought two of her grandchildren, Jared and Kelly, with her to the family reunion, and to get to see the Black Hills and Yellowstone. It was sure great to get to spend time with everyone.

We left for the Black Hills on Friday afternoon. By the time we arrived to the lodge and checked in, a heavy fog moved in to the mountains. It was really weird to look out the window and only see white.

The fog sure made it hard for the rest of the family to find the lodge along the winding mountain roads, however, it sure made for some beautiful pictures.

On Saturday, we all went our separate ways to explore all of the tourist attractions in the area. Some people went golfing, some went to view Mount Rushmore, and some went to visit Deadwood. Several of us went together to the Roo Ranch. Aunt Janet, Grandma Boyce, Grandma Bonnie, Jenni, Kelly, Madison and I had a lot of fun learning about the Australian wildlife.

Madison did quite well. She liked her stroller, but didn't like the wind. It was quite windy that day.

There were lemurs. The lemurs were very curious about Madison and made their way to the glass to get a better look at her.

Madison was also quite interested in the lemurs.

There were lots of Kangaroos, even a few that you could pet.

I expected their coat to be coarse, like a horse or cow, but it was really soft. These kangaroos were born at the ranch and were bottle fed, so they were super friendly.

Kelly got to pet all three Kangaroos that were in the petting area. She had a blast at the ranch.

They had all kinds of animals at the ranch: wallabys, kanagroos, lemurs, singing dogs, sloths, emus, zebu(humped cattle), and z-donks(a mix between a zebra and a donkey). It was pretty cool to see all of the different species.

Here is Kelly posing as a Kangaroo.

Madison had to be a kangaroo too.

They kept the baby kangaroos in the nursery. They made pouches out of fabric for the joeys to sleep in.

The baby albino kangaroo came out of the pouch and we were able to get a picture. I see a lot of similarity between kangaroo faces and those of rabbits.

They also had Kookabura birds.

My mom used to sing to us a song about Kookabura's:

Kookabura sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops that he can see
Stop kookabura, stop kookabura
Save some gum for me.

On Sunday we each made our way back to Gillette. It is time for making hay at our house, and my dad was busy bailing hay by the time we made it back. He took a break for dinner and we put Madison up on the tractor to get some pictures with her Grampa.

Maybe one day, Madison will be the one who is bailing hay.

She was sure checking out the steering wheel, trying to get it figured out.

Sunday night, we took the kids and bought some fireworks. We had a lot of fun lighting them off. Kelly was fasinated with the sparklers. She would dance around and around watching the trail of lights.

Jenni with her sparkler.

Grandma Bonnie with her sparkler.

Jenni and Brandon are no longer allowed to go to the fireworks stand together. They sort of went crazy with the fireworks. We did have a great time, and the kids really enjoyed getting to experience pyrotechnics. The adults enjoyed it a lot too.

Everyone left this morning. Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa David took the kids to Yellowstone, and Grandma Boyce and Aunt Janet headed back to Pueblo. We sure enjoyed getting to visit with everyone at the reunion. I was glad that so many people were able to come.

After we arrived home Sunday afternoon, I laid Madi down on her floor gym with her head under the flower in the middle of the mat. When I came back into the room, she had scooted herself quite a ways, she was nearly off the mat.

I guess that she will only be getting more mobile. We should probably work towards baby proofing the house. :)

5 Generations...Twice

Madison is lucky enough to have many grandparents...13 in fact. Here is my attempt at a family tree to help sort out all of the living grandparents.

The confusing part is that my mom, Grammy Tammi, has 2 sets of parents. I tried to line up the generations. I had 14 grandparents when I was born. I am so grateful that she will get to grow up knowing so many of her grandparents. There is so much to be learned from our grandparents, and I am excited for Madison to get to learn from them all.

Now into the pictures:

The Boyce 5-Generations: Carlene Boyce, David and Bonnie, Bruce and Tammi, Brandon and Jami, Madison

Grandma Boyce, Grandma Bonnie, Grammy Tammi, Mommy, Madison

(She always seems to be the center of attention)

Great-Great-Grandma Boyce and Madison

Grandma Boyce's oldest and youngest grandchildren

Adding my sister makes this a picture of the family of Bonnie Boyce-Wilson.

Three men and a baby? :)

The Wade 5-Generations: Hazel, Jerry and Linda (Papi and Mimi), Bruce and Tammi, Brandon and Jami, Madison

Nanny, Grandpa Jerry, Grammy Tammi, Mommy, Madison

Great-Great-Grandma Hazel (Nanny) and Madison

Nanny's oldest and youngest grandchildren

Nanny, Brandon and Jami, Madison

Nanny and most of her girls...we were missing a couple who couldn't make it from Wyoming to Colorado.


Just the three of us


Mommy and Madison

Madison also has 2 sets of 4-Generations. Hopefully I can get some recent pictures of the Hitt's and the Frisbie's.

We did take pictures of the Hitt 4-Generations when Madison was 4 days old. Here are some pictures from that day, my how Madison has changed.

The Hitt 4-Generations: Ruth and Harold, Bruce and Tammi, Brandon and Jami, Madison

Great-Grandma Hitt and Madison

Great-Grandpa Hitt and Madison

I do not yet have a 4-Generation picture of the Frisbie side. I do plan on getting one. Great-Gram Marie isn't a big fan of the camera, so it is hard to get pictures of her with Madison. (I think we only have 2, so here is one from the day Madison was born).

Great-Gram Marie and Madison.

Happy Father's Day

Hi All, Madison here. I just wanted to wish my Daddy, and all my Grandfathers a Happy Father's Day.

I sure love my daddy. He is so much fun. We play all sorts of games together and I love getting to take my bath with him at night. He sure knows how to make me smile!

Here I am with Daddy before he left for his softball games on Thursday. I got to go see him play a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't been able to go back again. Either the weather is too cold, or the games are too late. Maybe this week...

To celebrate my daddy's first father's day, we had a barbecue at our house on Sunday. We had quite the houseful, and I loved getting to see all of my family.

Granddad Rick was able to come for a little while before he had to go to work, so I didn't get my picture with him. I love you Granddad Rick...Happy Father's Day!

Here I am with Grammy Karen,

and Great-Grammy Marie.

My Uncle Brad and Aunt Amber couldn't be here. But I wanted to wish Uncle Brad Happy Father's Day too, he will be a daddy next fall when I get my new cousin. I am excited to have a new friend to play with.

I got to spend a lot of time with Grammy Tammy and Grandpa Hitt this weekend. Mommy and Daddy left me with them Friday night so they could go see a movie together. I love to spend time with them! Happy Father's Day Grandpa Hitt, I love you!

I was really surprised when my Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Hitt came to the barbecue too. We looked up the road and saw Great-Grandma being rolled down the hill in her wheelchair. It was wonderful to get to see them both! Happy Father's Day, Great-Grandpa Hitt, I love you!

My Aunt Jenni was there too.

She rocked me to sleep and I enjoyed napping in her arms.

I also got to see my Great-Aunt Janet.

It was a great day, but I did miss seeing my other great-grandpas.

Papi, I love you and miss you. Happy Father's Day.

Great-Grandpa David, I can't wait to meet you later this week. Happy Father's Day.

Love, Madi

Home Sweet Home

Wow, what a week we had on our Colorado Vacation. Here is a summary:

Madison and I stayed with our friends Jess and James for the first few days of our trip. We helped Jess out around the house so that she could rest. She is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her triplet boys, and even the daily chores around the house are exhausting for her...think 10 months pregnant and she is only half way there. I was glad to be able to help her out. Madison was pretty fussy while we were on vacation, and I hope that we didn't scare Jess and James too badly when they imagine her cries times 3.

Tuesday morning, we woke up bright and early and headed south to Pueblo. Here, Madison was able to meet her Great-Grandma Bonnie,

and her Great-Great Grandma Boyce.

We really had a great time visiting. We spend the majority of Tuesday and Wednesday with the Boyce side of the family. Grandma Bonnie flew back to Phoenix early Thursday morning, but we will get to see her again at the end of June for the Boyce Family Reunion in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Wednesday morning, we spent a couple of hours visiting my Nanny. Here is Madison with her other Great-Great-Grandmother. Nanny was thrilled to finally meet her first great-great-granddaughter and we had a good visit with her.

We were able to spend some more time with Nanny on Saturday after Brandon and my parents drove down from Gillette. We took five-generation pictures on her front porch and had a nice lunch with her. She had cataract surgery on Thursday, so she wasn't really up to a long visit. It worked out quite well.

Madison got to spend lots of quality time with her great-grandparents. She took naps,


played on the floor (she really enjoyed looking at every ceiling fan she could find),

and rested in her new swing. My cousin Kaylee bought a baby penguin during her trip to the Pueblo Zoo and let Madi borrow it during a nap. Madison grabbed hold with both hands, it was pretty adorable.

Madison also found a new friend in the mirror at her Papi's house in Colorado City where we stayed for the remainder of the week. She would coo and stare at the image in the mirror. It was a great place to take her if she started to get fussy, she would stop crying and would look at her reflection.

Boy, we were both so excited to see Brandon when he made it down late Friday night. Madison must have sensed he was coming because she sure didn't want to go to sleep that night. When we woke up Saturday morning, Madison immediately started screaming at her daddy. After a 30-second chew-out session, she started smiling and talking to her daddy. She must not have enjoyed being away from him for that long.

We drove the entire 8 hour trip in one day on Sunday to make it back home. Madison did very well in the car, but was ready to be home about 3 hours before we were home. I eventually had to sit in the back seat next to her to help soothe her. She was ready to be back in her own home.

Our puppies were very glad to see us home, too. They spent the week at Brandon's parent's house, and were excited to have us home again.

During the last week, Madison has really been showing signs that she is ready to start eating some solids. So infant rice cereal was the first thing we tried when we got home:

I am sure that with a little practice, on both ends, this will be a great new phase in Madison's life.

Overall, we had a terrific week visiting all of our family and friends in Colorado. We had a great time, but we were defiantly ready to be home. As the saying goes, "there is no place like home."

On Vacation

School let out for summer vacation on Thursday. I am so very glad to be done with school until August. It was a long year, and I am glad to see it end. Now, I have three months of quality time with my baby girl. Yea!

My first day of summer was spent packing for a week long vacation to Colorado. It is amazing how much stuff a nearly 3 month old baby needs for a week away from home. I had to leave the bouncy seat in Gillette because our Tahoe was too small. A year ago, when we bought the Tahoe, we thought it would be plenty big enough for our family of three. Amazing how much changes in a year. If it was just Madison and I who were taking the trip, we probably would have had plenty of room, but we also were saving room for three of my cousins and their luggage for a week.

On Saturday morning, Brandon loaded our stuff into the truck while we waited for my three cousins to arrive. They were taking advantage of the free ride south to spend a week with their grandparents in Colorado City. So my cousins (who just finished 4th and 5th grades) and Madi and I loaded into the truck for the six hour trip to Denver.

The trip went quickly. Madison slept the whole way, and the three girls watched dvds and played on their hand held video games. My grandparents met us in Denver to pick up the three girls so that I could spend a few days with my friends Jessica and James. They are expecting triplet boys in early fall and I wanted to give them a hand around the house to help them get ready for the big arrival. You can check out their story at www.jamesandjessfischer.blogspot.com

Madison, so far, has been a pretty good traveler. She has been a little fussy...I am sure that the new scenery, people, and routine have her feeling a little insecure. Hopefully she will get used to things quickly so that the rest of our vacation goes smoothly.

We are planning on staying with James and Jess until Tuesday morning when we will head south to Pueblo. Then, Madison will finally get to meet the rest of her grandparents. We will share our time between Pueblo and Colorado City for the rest of the week. Brandon and my parents and sister will come down and join us on Friday and we will all head back to Gillette on Sunday.

I am sure that we will have lots of pictures by the end of our trip. Right now, I have no way to upload those pictures so they will have to come later. I suppose that I should really head towards bed, Madison has been getting up bright and early in the morning, so if I want good sleep I have to get it at night. The night owl in me is missing staying up late. :)

Growing Up

Madison is getting bigger by the day. She is reaching milestone after milestone and I am amazed at the pace she is taking.

Madison is now sleeping in her own room. Five out of the last six nights, Madison has slept in her own crib rather than the pack-n-play in our bedroom. We have been averaging getting up twice a night for some time now, and we usually go at least one five hour stretch, if not longer before we get up the first time. What an awesome sleeper we have!

Madison is starting to go through the teething process. We have already made it through nearly a week and a half of symptoms. Most days she does pretty good, but we are keeping the Tylenol and Orajel close at hand to help ease her discomfort. Her favorite thing to chew on so far is a finger, which works fine for the first tooth, but will not work very well beyond that. :)

Madison loves to sit up. She still needs some balance support, but she is determined to not be lying down if she can help it. She is so observant. She doesn't want to miss anything that is going on. She likes to sit in her bouncy chair and watch me do dishes, fold laundry, or sweep the floor. There is so much for her to learn, and she wants to learn it all now.

She still loves her bath time. We get lots of giggles and smiles while we are playing in the tub. This is getting to be a special time for Madi to share with her daddy. On this particular night, however, she was exhausted after a busy day...so much so that she slept through the majority of her bath. Daddy covered her with washcloths to keep her warm. It was adorable.

We took our first road trip this last weekend. Brandon and I loaded up Madison, Grammy Tammy and Grandpa Bruce in our Tahoe and drove to Rapid City for the day on Saturday. We did a lot of shopping and ate lunch at Olive Garden. It was a great day and Madison traveled like a pro. We hung her new toy moose from the roof and she stared at that moose every second she was awake. However, she didn't stay awake very long; she slept most of the time the vehicle was moving.

Well, Brandon and I only have two more days of school before our summer vacation. I am so ready to be done this year, more than usual. I wonder if that has anything to do with our little angel...

I suppose I should go finish putting laundry away while Madi is taking her evening nap...although I am really tempted to join her in a siesta. Until next time, Jami.