Hello Again

Yes, We are still here, just too busy to sit inside at the computer to post on the blog! It has been a fun few weeks with lots of exciting news...Beckett got two teeth in one day right after I posted last time, and he is very close to crawling now. I thought he might go straight to walking because he stands up so well, but it looks like all that time spent crying on his tummy in crawl position may actually pay off. He's just a bit "relaxed" about the whole thing...not like his go-getter sister was. He had his 9 month checkup and is 19 pounds and only grew 1 inch in the last 2 months, so he's slowing down a bit. He is still in about the 80th percentile for height. Hard to believe he'll be a year old in not too long.

Aunt Karrie and Madison came back last week for Grandma and Grandpa Tharp's 60th anniversary party, which was a lot of fun. We got to see a lot of family from near and far and we had a big BBQ at the hot springs park in Thermopolis. I had my first double-header softball game Tuesday, and Karrie and Grandpa Guy came in to watch the kids since Kyle was one of our umpires! We are a pretty inexperienced team, but we had a blast...though I'm a little sore. It is definitely a game I wish I had gotten into earlier. I even made it to second base! I wasn't quite sure what to do when I got there, but luckily you're allowed to have people yell at you from the sidelines to tell me when to run! I've had 4 games now and haven't struck out yet! Anyway, here are some snapshots of the last 3 weeks...


Our attempt at having a family photo of grandparents with the grandkids at the anniversary party. Little Madison didn't really think it was a good idea at the time...

Here are Phyllis and Eddie with their five children (Pam, Jeff, Steve, Guy, Terry)

Adorable baby boy...

And adventurous big sister...notice how high the river is. It was all the way into the parking lot and grass lawn at the park.

Aunt Karrie and Aunt Teresa (Jeff's wife. They live in Colorado)

Our little family photo...

And I just love this one!


For Father's Day we headed to the lake after church to do some fishing and a BBQ. It was a great day to be outside and we all had a lot of fun. This one is definitely a framer of Daddy and Nattie in our new boat. Yes, we've been storing a boat for more than 7 years for a friend of Kyle's who ended up not moving back here. He signed over the title to us last week! Needless to say, Kyle is pretty excited.


Our little fisherwoman...she caught quite a few that day. She just loves it and wants to do it all herself. It was fun to have Madison join in this time. I took Beckett home after a few pictures...too much fun in the sun and he was ready to be done.

Kyle got some new weed spray this week to take care of our "jungle," and some of the dye is still there with the morning dew, which of course makes Bella look like a complete freak! It doesn't show on Katie nearly as much, and it is harmless at this point.


Nattie and her waffle this morning. She was jellous that I took a picture of the dog and wanted one of her.

She and Beckett will head to a sitter's house tonight while we go to the Big and Ritch concert! It's our anniversary celebration, and it should be a lot of fun. We're gonig with Guy, Jill and Karrie. Not much else is new...Natalie is done with her music class and will start swimming in a few weeks, and I'm trying to get some more jewelry done for a show in mid July. I had one a few weeks ago that didn't go very well. Kyle was gone so I had both kids, which was not ideal. I wasn't selling much so I packed up early and headed home. That was good because I missed the downpour about an hour later! We'll see how the next one goes. I'm doing some custom jewelry for a wedding that Mandy is in next month, and I'm really excited about that.

My cousin Rene and her family are driving through this weekend, so we'll have dinner and visit for a while Sunday. We have not seen them in a few years and are looking forward to catching up. I may try to make a trip to Pinedale to see a sick friend sometime next week, which I desperately need to do. He has been sick for a long time and I didn't make it down there last summer. I also have to congratulate my dear friend Emi in Pinedale who just got engaged! We've been friends/penpals for 20 years now. Another congrats to my beautiful friends Karen and Seth on the news they are expecting a baby girl in November! Karen and I went to high school together and she is one of the few that I still keep in touch with! Can't wait to see all of you Portland crowd when we visit next month!!! We are also very proud of Auntie Hannah and her STELLAR test scores to end her first year of nursing school. I know you will be a fabulous nurse.

Hope you all have had a great June and are planning a fun 4th of July! Hugs to all.

Lots of Firsts

Well, sorry for being a bad updater lately, but we've had a lot going on! We've had a few weeks of firsts in the Tharp Clan...Beckett's first Cowboy Carnival, Cousin Madison's first horse ride, Natalie's first music class, my first night away from Beckett and our first pony just arrived yesterday! Kyle was gone in Rock Springs last week, was home for 2 days then left again for North Dakota, so it's just we three amigos again for a while. Hopefully he'll be home by this weekend. The weather has been icky (yes, we do need the rain), so we're going to try and hit a matine movie this afternoon just to get out of the house! We'll see how long Beckett lasts. We're all finally (mostly) over the colds we've had for a few weeks, and Karrie and Madison left just yesterday again and we miss them already! Here is a recap of our "Life Way Out Yonder..."


Kyle and Nattie found the first water snakes of the season, which Natalie wanted to keep and name. However, Daddy convinced her that they did not want to live in the house (nor did Mommy want them to live in the house) so they let them go in the irrigation canal.

Cowboy Carnival was a wet one again, so our numbers were not that great. It was a good time, though, and here is a picture of Guy and Aunt Pam riding his two three-year-olds in the horse race. We were shocked that Buford beat JJ because he's such a lazy little guy sometimes, but he proved himself! In the later race Pam was neck and neck for first place and they called it that she got second. We all thought differently, of course!

Here is Natalie on a pony at the Cowboy Carnival. This is pretty much what Chocolate looks like, or will look like once we get her broke to ride next year...

Madison petting a little calf...

And Beckett hanging out with a cracker waiting for the races to start.

The lovely cousins dressed up and ready to dance to our new favorite band that Grandpa Guy discovered...Michael Franti.

I went on a little retreat with some of my MOPS mommy friends this past Friday for one night. We stayed at the Circle J Ranch in Ten Sleep, right along the Ten Sleep Creek. It was so high and fast with all the spring runoff...but very beautiful. I was OK with that first night away (wondering how Kyle was doing) but was itching to get back the next morning! We stayed up late chatting, and I went on a walk to get some pictures and did some reading the next morning before our late breakfast. It was really nice.

And the kids and I went to get Chocolate yesterday. It took a little bit to get her in the trailer, but once the was in she was fine. She seemed pretty calm when we unloaded her and she and Momma Stormy are now pasture mates. Here they are taking a nap...

And here's one a little closer. She's only one year old and not broke yet, but once it dries up outside we'll go out and start grooming her and getting her used to us. She's never once whinnied for her old friends and seems right at home here. NAtalie keeps opening the back door to yell hello to her. On the way out there yesterday she kept singing "we're getting my pony...we're getting my pony today!" It was too cute. She's definitely a horse lover at heart.

And here's our not-so-baby Beckett. He'll be 9 months old tomorrow! I just can't believe it. He still has no teeth yet, is eating lots of baby food and mushy bananas and loving to play with big sister. They laugh a lot together now, which is really fun to see.

Natalie had her first music class yesterday and had a blast. Parents awre encouraged NOT to watch so the kids can do their own thing, but that's OK because my friend Amber's girls are doing it too, so we get a little mommy chat time! She came out saying she had so much fun and can now say the word "instruments" perfectly! She got to play the cymbals. I think it's so important to encourage music and arts for kids. I can't wait for the December concert. In other news, Kyle is now fully recovered from his surgery and much more comfortable now! We're so excited to have a date night the 25th to go to a Big and Ritch concert with Guy and Jill. We even have a sitter all lined up. That's about it for all of us. Hope you all have had a great few weeks and a good start to the summer vacation! Hugs to all.

"Let your children observe you being generous to those in need." ~Unknown