Wrankle Round-Up

Spring Break 2010!

2010-03-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

It rained the entire week we were home for spring break! A complete damper on our plans for playing outside and getting lots of yard work done! Not to mention, planting a garden!! We stayed inside mostly, watching movies, playing Monopoly, baking pretzels, and listening to our favorite music.
Here I am in the midst of it all! Trying to cook breakfast while photo snapping opportunities are going on all around me.
Here's Ella with her short hair! She begged for me to "cut it off" so one night I put it into a ponytail and chopped it! Cute, little bob!

Ella with Eli watching Raiders of the Lost Ark on a rainy, dreary day last week. We got good at just hanging out!
Ms. Stylish and always ready to pose! We went to the library, shopped, played with friends, read books, cleaned (I love this one!) and just enjoyed our lazy days.

October 09 Trip to Denver

2010-02-10T18:15:00.000-08:00

Here's Brynn striking a pose in the window of the Plinth Gallery where Russell had his solo show.

Lookin' good...at the Arvada Center for the Arts near Denver. It was a brisk day at the outdoor sculpture park.

Three goof balls in Boulder at the top of some steep stairs we climbed to inquire at a violin maker's shop.

Brynn-age 8 on a beautiful, fall day in Denver park.

Here's Ms. Ella-age 5 in her favorite shoes...fairy slippers! She lost her shoes on this trip so she had to wear the slippers every day! Oh, darn.

Russell and Eli trying to be truckers in the King Soopers grocery store. They pulled these Bronco hats off the shelf. Eli begged us to buy him every hat he saw but we only let him get one!

Scenes of Summer in Toquerville!

2009-07-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

Here's Ms. Ella with her first toothless grin! She lost it last night and was visited by the Tooth Fairy who put a note and a 50cent piece under her pillow. Ella was overjoyed and proud all day!

Patiently waiting for her swim lessons to start...Ella sits at the piano and makes up a song or two.

Wanting a picture for his profile on Facebook, Eli poses with Brynn who has wild eyes! Those two can't keep their hands off each other. Brotherly...Sisterly love, I think they call it!

The sounds of summer thanks to Eli and his budding talent as a violinist! He has graduated from his current teacher and is now moving on to a new one. A new chapter in our lives and in his, too.

A glimpse of Ella in dad's studio. Always a favorite spot for her to play and explore!

Ella feeding our chickens hay! She is a funny girl...not afraid of animals or their antics!

The kids decided to get serious and earn some money for the summer. They made a sign and sold all of the figs off of our tree. 25 cents each; what a bargain! They made almost $40 and then called it quits.

Setting up for the day...shade umbrella, big sign and cozy chairs!

Ella is our chicken chaser. She runs and retrieves the hens who regularly escape their coop. She's not afraid to man handle the ladies and throw them back into their play yard.

We went overnight camping in our 1956 Mercury Camp Trailer at Red Cliffs Campground near Leeds. It's about 15 mins. from our house. We had a huge rock wall behind our camp and the kids climbed on it nonstop from the time we got there to the time we left!

Eli and Brynn investigating.

They each found their own hole to sit in and get out of the heat. It was a fun spot!

Here's the camp trailer and our truck that pulls it. We brought our bikes and our propane for cooking...life was great!

Self portrait of Brynn..she grabbed the camera and took a few shots of herself. Notice the spider sac behind her. She was so intrigued by this. We have about six different pics. of it on our camera!

Ella pretended to be our puppy "Meatball" and went in and out of the dog kennel. Good times at the Wrankle's!

2009-06-03T14:07:00.000-07:00

Mudballs!

Eli with his brand new braces!

Helping sister...always a good helper!

Bathing beauty on the rope swing!

For my 37th Birthday I took the kids down to Ash Creek in Toquerville and we spent the afternoon swinging from a rope, swimming, making mudballs and sketching! Definitely the way to spend a hot June day!

Christmas in St. Lou

2009-01-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

Here's just a few of the many pictures I snapped while in St. Louis for a week to spend Christmas with my family and all of our cousins and siblings. We had a blast!

At the City Museum in downtown. A renovated building with over seven floors of tunnels, slides and activities...and its all recycled! Our favorite spot to visit when we're home.

A tractor ride around the yard with Papa. The kids loved the adventure!

Christmas morning with the cousins...mass hysteria with gifts and new presents!

We celebrated all of the birthdays while we were there, too. Might as well take care of it all at once! Cupcake celebrations.

Adorning the top of the tree with a Santa hat. Brynn was chosen to be "Tiny Tim" and get on Papa's shoulders to finish the job.

Ms. Torri Rachelle...our darling!

At Yates Auto Body with the crew and Reid and Michelle in the background.

Our new puppy, Meatball.

Our new puppy!...and other pictures

2008-12-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

Here is our new Shih-poo; Shitzu Poodle mix. We drove to Cedar City in the middle of a snow storm and nearly got stuck but it was all worth this little fella! He is 10 weeks old and an early present from Santa!! It's hard to see his big, brown eyes but he is a heartbreaker! Wonderful puppy; rarely barks, doesn't really chew and is full of happiness and love! Just what we wanted!

Can you see him hiding in Eli's coat?!! If you're not careful you might step on him!

Look at our snow! One foot and still falling! It's been an amazing snowstorm. Our first official snowday since we've lived here...the kids are loving it! We're still deciding on the puppy's name: maybe Marley Meatball?! We'll live with it for a few days and then make it official.

Ella all dressed up for the 6th Annual Holiday Sale. It was a beautiful day...warm and sunny!

Brynn and Ella at the Festival of Trees. It was so much fun to see all of the creative decorating.

Brynn's new High School Musical shirt...she's very proud of it and wears it constantly!

Papa kissing Brynn goodbye before school in late October. Notice his huge bowl of oatmeal completely gone!!! We loved having him here for Halloween. The holiday wouldn't be the same without a special visit from our Papa!

First Day of School for Lori and Toothless Wonder

2008-09-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

Mom, this one's for you! You said to have my picture taken on the first day of school...so here it is! Do I look like the charming schoolgirl I once was???!!

Here's Brynn up in the tree showing Gramy and Papa her missing tooth! She has been nagging me to send you this picture. We love our toothless wonder, Brynn!

Grand Targhee Folk Festival Trip July 2008

2008-08-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

We stopped in Idaho as we were driving and had breakfast at a local restaurant. The portions were huge and the kids loved the bacon!

Look at those plates of pancakes!! Eli and Brynn were in heaven!

Ella posing in front of Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone Nat'l Park!

Brynn posing in front of Old Faithful with her crazy cowboy hat she got from the music fest.

Don't forget about Eli, too!

Sitting in the hot sun...waiting for Old Faithful to blow!

Russell and the kids sat down and waited for Old Faithful to do her thing!

Two, cute sisters in Yellowstone amongst the wildflowers.

We visited Danny Crump in Red Lodge, Montana and went to an animal sanctuary there. Brynn thought the bear was funny to stick her fingers in his nose so I took a picture of her so she could always remember him.

We took the kids to a park in Red Lodge and the boys played a round of hoops! Danny is in the purple shirt trying to impress us with his b-ball skills!

Coming across the Bear Tooth Pass into Montana at 12,000 feet we stopped and found snow to play in!

Russell, Ella and Eli in front of falls in Yellowstone.

Here's our posing beauty in front of the falls-always ready for a camera pose...look at her toes!

Our camping spot with our tent and table of food. We all fit in the tent together and we stayed nice and warm and the big pine trees kept us out of the sun and shaded which was a nice retreat from the sun at the concert hill.

Ella had so much fun with new friends. This is her friend Etta who Russell knew her mom from Byu many years ago. They were the ones who told us about this fabulous folk fest!

Our hang-out on the side of the ski slope where we listened to music from 12 to 10 every day! We had a great time talking to new friends and the kids roamed around together and played!

Brynn showing off her new blue cowboy hat with fur on the rim! She begged and begged for it for 2 days and finally on the 3rd day she convinced a group of young ladies to buy it for her! She thought it was beautiful!

Up close and personal with Lyle Lovett. We could get right to the stage front and watch the musician's every move. It was fun to see them so close, but oh so loud!!

Here's Eli and his daddy waiting for a musician to begin playing right up near the stage. Eli especially loved watching the players up close and would go up alone to see their instruments and how they danced!

The kids played in the woods nearby all day, everyday. Here's Ella coming down to check in...what a cute girl!

The first afternoon we got there the kids spied the horse corral and begged to go horseback riding. Russell and I relented at $24 a pop and let them go. Eli and Brynn went on a guided one hour trip through the mountains and Ella stayed in the corral for a half of an hour. All three loved it and said it was a highlight of their vacation!

Here's Ms. Brynn...

Ella loved her big horse and talked the guide's ear off! When she was done the man could tell me everything about our trip and our family thanks to Ella and her incessant talking!

Another shot of Brynn up on her horse for the first few minutes...timid but ready to roll!

Eli paid $7 of his own money to climb the climbing wall at the resort but as soon as he came off the wall they made him take his harness off. He was so disappointed that his money only lasted him about 2 minutes...we were too.

So, that's it! We had a blast and hope to do it again next year!!

Our Summer Vacations!

2008-08-02T08:30:00.001-07:00

First, we drove up to Salt Lake to see our great Gramy Ruth at Sandy and Chunk's and we were there to meet our Klamath Falls cousins for the first time!

Ruby is trying to take a picture of Ella who is sitting in the shade watching chipmunks run by.

Brynn and Ruby-what cute cousins!!

Brynn was so sweet to baby Finn. She took care of him and played with him and he loved her!

Brian couldn't get enough of Ella. He kept saying she was so squeezable! We finally got a picture of the two of them together!

Sandy's neighbor offered to let the kids all take turns riding on their new pony. What a delight in the middle of suburbia!

Brian took Eli fishing with Power Bait up at Tibblefork Reservoir in American Fork Canyon. The boys caught nothing but we had fun anyway!

A picture of the cousins...nearly impossible to get everyone to look and smile!

Here I am with Gretchen in front of Tibblefork Reservoir up American Fork Canyon. We had fun visiting and catching up!

Summer Vacation Fun with Gramy and Papa!

2008-07-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

We took Gramy and Papa and the gang up to Kolob Reservoir- a mere 8,000 feet- to get away from the heat and to barbecue and FISH! Just being up there and sitting around and talking in the cool weather was fun for me!

Look at those dirty faces...and the beautiful smiles underneath!

Brynn and Papa relaxing in the shade and getting ready to cook hotdogs for dinner.

We love our Gramy!!!

Eli got tired of fishing and caught a big crawdad instead!

Crazy Papa, he bowled like an alien...backwards and upside down! He still managed to win the game with the highest score!

Brynn is always striking a pose...even when she's roasting marshmallows!

Fishing with Russell

In the Kolob Reservoir...Brynn and Ella

Here's Ms. Brynn with her trusty violin. She has to be coerced to practice but seems to love it and do well when she's playing it. We hope our kids get a good foundation in music after all the lessons and time spent.

Happy Father's Day 2008

2008-06-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

The kids decided it would be fun to make a banner for their daddy so when he came home from work he would be surprised....so we colored on it and wrote all of the things we love about Russell and taped it to our garage door. The kids were so proud of their accomplishment...

Ella in our backyard hammock....getting so big already!
And then finally, after a phone call to see where he was, our sweet dad arrived and was delighted! There was a big grin on his face as he rolled down the driveway! Happy Father's Day!

Here we are!

2008-06-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

Ella in March at a nearby camping spot near Leeds, UT. This was when Gramy Yates and Torri, Tyler and Michelle Yates were in town for spring break. We had a great time with them! Brynn on Easter holding a furry bunny...she would love to have one herself, maybe someday!

Eli's 5th grade graduation day at LaVerkin Elementary! He's posing with his teacher, Mr. Leavenworth...a great guy! Eli had a wonderful year and we can't believe he's going on to intermediate school.

Just a few photos of the kids...we'll keep this updated, so check back often! Love you all!