..feliz cumpleanos...a ti..

today is Ashlan is seven (7). today it is all about her. (until about 7 tonight, then it will be about mason and his pinewood derby.) i took donuts in to her class today. she was sooo excited! she got to stand up on a chair while her classmates sang "happy birthday" to her (with cha-cha's). and she got to be the first one to take a bite out of her yummy donut. does it get any better than that?

...on the special chair, while being sung to

...with her FABULOUS teachers...Ms. Hynes & Ms. Woodley (LOVE them)

...1st grade class

...with her group.

we love you Ashlan. thanks for bringing so much joy into our family!

..Feliz Cumpleanos..

..redding tournament..

last weekend mason had a tournament in redding, ca. his team took 1st place.
the fields where they played are called "the field of dreams." they are replicas of a couple of major league fields...they were in heaven.

the team with their trophy

each boy got an individual trophy. the baseball player in the middle is 3D...very cool

team picture

..expect the unexpected..

there are 2 cowboys front and center, Rocky is the one on the right.

Last night governor Palin was in Reno for a political rally. she had called and asked the pres. of the PBR (professional bull riding) to have two PBR riders come out for the event. (reno is also know to put on the "richest rodeo in the west") my cousin, Rocky McDonald (some of you know him better as Jason) was one of the lucky ones. i really had no intention of going to the rally since i voted early, but we really wanted to see Rocky since we are his biggest fans. so... i loaded up the kids, (matt was working late) and we drove down to the Livestock Event Center. when we arrived the line was forever long and it was sprinkling and it was cold. long story short, we were able to get a hold of jason, he got us in without having to stand in line, and we got to go down on the stage to help cheer on gov. palin! the kids were good sports. i was a little worried that the girls might freak out while we were on stage because we were standing for a while, but they did well. (and they were kind of hidden!) ..thank you rocky for a memorable night..

in this picture i'm towards the top holding malie. ashlan is right below the "country first" sign.
a special "thank you" to rachel hamrick for being there with her camera and capturing this moment for us!

..happy.halloween..

from 2 of the 4 bigler kids...
the boys ran off to trick or treat with their friends before i could get a picture of all of them.
they are much too cool now to go with the family.

both girls wanted to be cheerleaders this year.

the girls with their biggest fan...our favorite little cowboy, Hoyt!

..amazing.race..

after about a month of planning with kim and tanner and darren and annie, we pulled off our halloween hunt, amazing race style. we remained anonymous and sent out all info. via an email account from Jack Ripper. in the end we had 4 different teams with 4 couples to each team. we had 4 different pitstops to go to and perform a task. the first pitstop:

ferrari farms pumpkin patch. search the pumpkins and find the one with your team name, split it open and retrieve the next clue.
(don't ask why we just didn't throw it on the ground to split it open!) next stop: scheels(a 300,000 sq. ft. sporting goods store). search for one of the 14 statues of past presidents for the next clue. Calvin Coolidge was the pres. we had to find. (we were thrilled to have pedro and napoleon on our team...costumes were optional:) from there we went to fox's pizza where 2 people had to eat one slice of flamming hot pizza! way to step up to the plate shawn and dave!! from there we got our next clue to the coconut bowl. 2 people had to bowl a 60 to get the next clue. matt and i did the bowling, unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of that...i got my first strike:) yeah for me!
our last pitstop was the "ultimate rush" swing at the GSR. it's a 180' tall swing that you free fall from. always wanted to do it, but was too afraid, until sat. night. for some reason our camera didn't take very good pics. of the "fall" but here i am suiting up. i went on it with my good friend Shawn(in above pic. eating pizza). i had to pull the rip cord and once we got to the top, i froze and couldn't pull it. it is sooo dang high:) after a few moments of some deep breaths...away we went! my eyes were closed the entire time:) glad i did it, but i will never to it again!
another pic. of our group...the yummy mummies
the whole gang! after the swing we all went and had dessert at claim jumpers.

we had soo much fun! thanks everyone for some great memories! next year we will have to step it up...

..gracias.muchas gracias..

Thanks Jan!

..my first award, so exciting..

The rules are as follows:

1. post 6 things about yourslef

2. pass the award onto 6 deserving bloggers

..about me..

1. i love all things chocolate (the chocolate bar is my new best friend)

2. i married a roper...who knew

3. i'm obssesed with photography...i really need a new camera

4. i'm training for a 5k in January

5. i'm a little ocd

6. i love a good smelling candle

..six fabulous bloggers..

Laurice...always has the cutest blog backgrounds. she also helps me make my changes!

Ganelle...love catching up with her life through her blog.

Deidre...a great friend. new to blogging and doing a great job.

Megan...because she's my sister. she inspires me.

JennyL...for her creative writing. you can always get a good laugh reading her posts!

Camille...for introducing blogging to the foothill ward. we are a little better because of you.

..since when..

the boys just got back from a weekend at diseyland/california adventure with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents (they flew to oakland by themselves and met up with matt's sister) and now they are across the street at this house, housesitting. for the rest of the weekend. at night.

since when did they grow up so fast, and who said it was okay?

..raise your right hand..

after 60-some odd yrs. of being a mexican citizen, my dad will be sworn in as an american citizen today at 2:00 pm. Congratualtions dad!!!

..see dallin run..

D-man had is first (this year) cross country meet on Thursday. they competed against two other middle schools. out of seventy five 8th grade boys, he finished 20th place. his time was 5:52. they ran just under a mile. he is going to give his aunt megan a run for her money! way to go d!

..lady..

while at the b-ball tournament, malie made a new friend. she found this ladybug crawling on her and was fascinated by it. she was entertained for a good hour or more. thank you "lady." you made our day. we will be back in a couple of weeks. could you come out and play again?

..nevada outlaws..

Mason is on a traveling baseball team. over the weekend he played in a tournament in elk grove, ca. sadly, they lost all 3 games :( better luck next time boys...
even with 3 losses, mason still had a smile on his face

batter up

leading off

stealing 2nd

ready position

..histoplasmosis..

{a fungal infection inhaled during the cleanup of pigeon droppings}

i am beyond fed up with these dirty infested creatures. we have a couple that are nesting under the eaves in our courtyard, and i am sooo sick of sweeping up feathers and their aesthetically displeasing droppings. they are disgusting. i can't take it anymore. go.elsewhere. you are not liked here. go away.

..5 am + wilbur may park = reno ballon races..

..autumn..

this morning you could feel it in the air. crisp cool air. love the colors. love the feel. love the smells. my favorite time of the year.

..what's next..

thank you all for you comments and for being loyal GH customers. sorry to leave some of you dissapointed...but it's what needed to be done. most of you are curious as to what our next chapter will be. matt has a business that he and some buddies are working on, but he didn't want me to go into any detail because it is still in the early stages. they are very optimistic though, and the results they are seeing look very promising. once he starts working on this "full time" i will let you in on more! for the time being, he has a real 8-5 job, and is really hoping this new business works out because he likes being his own boss!

..closing a chapter..

it is with mixed emotions that we close this chapter of our lives. Great Harvest has been our life for the past 16 years. monday we closed our doors. we will miss our loyal customers, our hard working employees, being a part of the community but most of all, our endless supply of bread. not just any bread, but the best bread there is. Great Harvest bread is the only bread that my kids know and love. yesterday it was painful to have to buy bread from somewhere else. my kids felt the pain as well. when i got it out to make french toast this morning (it's what we eat every morning) this is what i heard, "that bread looks sick, i am NOT going to eat it. where did it come from?" "this bread is disgusting!" breakfast was just not the same. when ashlan got home from school she informed me that she only had a few bites of her sandwich for lunch because the bread was "the sickest thing ever!" luckily, there still is a GH in town (the store we sold a year ago) and i will be making the 15min. drive to get our fix of GH bread (and chocolate chip cookies) so we all don't starve to death.

..missing home..

This is the first summer since graduating from high school, that I wasn't able to go home.
I didn't think I would get homesick, but I am. Here are a few things we are missing...

the quiet, peaceful little valley, rainy afternoons, sitting in the back yard visiting, watching cousins play, 4-wheeler rides, golf cart rides, walking to the barn to see the animals,

going to the ranch, helping papa brand, getting dirty, playing in the river, swimming,

having a bon-fire with cousins, eating paletas, going to casas, riding in back of papa's truck,wide open spaces, staying outside until dark, aunt Deannas homemade ice cream, Sunday dinners, no schedules, riding horses, fishing in the pond, my affordable hair dresser, a maid,

Nandy & Papa, gigi, aunts & uncles, cousins, and the best part of all...bubble baths in nandy's tub!

Mexico...tierra bendita, you will be missed. You will always be home.