Sky Ranch Horn Creek

Another wonderful week at Horn Creek!

Saturday and Sunday: Drive with an overnight stop in Amarillo. Celebrated Westbrook's 5th birthday at the Big Texan. Cadie and Ranger rode with Nina and Papa and then Ranger rode with us on Sunday because we got a free Avis upgrade to a huge 12-passenger van. Thanks Avis!

• Monday: Exploring camp with lot of time at the rec center and zip lines.
• Tuesday: Bishop's Castle with a full van load. Once again, I thought I wanted to go, was nervous the entire time we were there, and was grateful once we were on the way back.
• Wednesday: Tubing hill, Nina and Cadie and I went into town do so some shopping.
• Thursday: Royal Gorge with our whole group including our 3 counselors. Grant, Julius and Ranger went early to do the Via Ferrada rock climbing. They all really liked it.
• Friday: Fun final day at camp.
• Saturday: We accidentally ended up driving all the way home. We had planned to stay overnight in Amarillo but when we went to check in to the hotel, they didn't have connecting rooms and we made a game-day decision to go straight through.

From Colton: "Horn Creek was so much fun. Kiyah and Rilyn came as well as all my cousins, but Sammers and Jody it was Wes' first time and on the way to the camp, he turned five. also, we went to bishops castle it was great I also went to the highest point possible and cadie got a ton of great picks. Julies was our consoler for the second time, and we were in the same cabin as last year."

From Cadie, "This past summer was filled with lots of fun adventures and family time! One of my favorite things from this summer was going to Horn Creek Family camp to spend time with my immediate family, grandparents, and cousins! We did lots of exciting things like zip lining, Bishop's Castle, western night, and more. I loved getting to know my cousins, Kiyah & Rilyn, better! They're amazing girls who I am thankful to be related to. On the way to camp, we stopped in Amarillo for the night, and Nina and I went to see Texas: The Musical (see separate blog post). I rode in Nina and Papa's car the whole road trip to camp, and the rest of the family rode in the 12 SEATER VAN that my dad rented!!! The van turned out to be very useful in ferrying around family and counselors throughout the week. The sleeping arrangements at camp were perfectly ideal from my perspective (meaning I had half of Nina and Papa's cabin to myself while everyone else had to share a few small rooms). Bishop's castle was phenomenal as always! I was the adult assigned to take care of Colton/be his buddy, and we had a wonderful time going to the highest places of the castle. Parker even joined us towards the end! I'm extremely grateful that everyone made the time to go to Colorado this year, and I hope we can have another amazing camp week next summer!"

Space Camp

From Colton: "I had so much fun at space camp. It was great. We did the moon shot so many times and the g force accelerator. I was there for a week and made a lot of friends like Chase and Dean. We went to the museum and I learned a lot about space also a ton of people went home sick, but I didn't. My favorite thing was the moon shot. My least favorite thing was bed time. Papa dropped me off early and I got to pick my bunk and I got to watch a movie.  At the end dad picked me up and I got to explore the museum."

From rango "i GOT TO CAMP AND PUT MY STUFF ON MY BED THEN I WENT TO THE FIRST PRESENTATION AFTER THIS, I WENT TO THE SECOND PRESENTATION THAT DAY. THEN I WENT TO MAKE A CARDBOARD ROCKET. THEN I WENT TO DINNER AND MADE NEW FRIENDS NAMED GARRET ELI AND DHILLON. THEN I WOKE UP AND HAD A GOOD DAY. I WOULD GO BACK TO SPACE CAMP SINCE I HAD A GOOD TIME. AT PICKUP I TOOK A PICTURE WITH A GUY ON STAGE THEN DAD PICKED ME UP. WE HUNG AROUND THE MUSEUEM FOR A LITTLE BIT BEFORE WE LEFT. MY FAVORITE ACTIVITY WAS THE SPINNY CHAIR idk what it was called."

As you can see from Ranger's entry, he is in full on teenage mode. Good thing he is still adorable. Grant and I were so thankful for Nina and Papa taking the kids on Aug. 31 to Georgia for a few days and then Papa drove the boys 4 hours to Alabama to drop them off at Space Camp. Cadie drove with Papa and she even drove for a few hours on the way home. I know it was a long day for Papa, but it was a huge help to G and I and we were able to have some downtime to celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary at the farm. 

Grant flew to Alabama on Thursday night to attend the boys' graduation ceremonies on Friday morning and then fly back home with them. Grant said there was a lot that seemed familiar from when he went to space camp as a kid.

I think the beginning of camp was rocky for both boys. They hadn't been there before and I think the unfamiliar environment was a bit tough to adjust to. But by the end of the week they both said they wanted to go back.

Tattoo!

I LOVE my new tattoo. It represents the end of my mastectomy journey, my roots in Kansas, and my home in Texas. Brooke Matamoros has a tattoo from this artist and I love it. She did an amazing job and I couldn't be happier. Cadie even came with me for moral support! My brother and sisters are doing sunflower tattoos too. Eric's is gorgeous. CJ's is a pink sunflower on her arm. And Bethany is still considering her plan. 

Colton Turns 11

Colton reports, "My birthday was amazing! We went to Ripley's, and we gave everyone a Ripley's Believe It or Not Book party favor. Also, at school I brought moon balls and space ice cream for everyone. On Tuesday,my grandma DD made a little family party at her house and it was awesome. My friends got me so many Lego sets and an orange Stanely water bottle, the people that came were Alexandra Shultz, Theo Sigfusson, Thomas Jacob, Luke Cherkassky, Betsy Westcott, Harrison Hill, and Donald Dafoe. I went with a space theme with all the birthday things and the week before my birthday I was at space camp and my mom got me a space birthday pack."

We had lots of celebrations this year! I sent Colton a space themed birthday package while he was at Space Camp and it included a birthday shirt and some decorations that we used for his festivities back home. We did the party with his friends at Ripley's on Saturday, then on Saturday evening he went to Luke Cherkassky's pool birthday bash, then Kristie and Thomas Jacob came with us to the farm for an overnight, Sunday was his actual birthday and it was pretty relaxed, Monday we took space themed favors with space ice cream and a moon ball for his classmates, and then DD hosted a delightful family dinner with pizza and ice cream cake at her house on Tuesday.

Colton is still more of a little kid than a big kid. He loves baths, his favorite TV show is Sonic Prime, his favorite thing to do is play with friends or build legos, he is still afraid of the dark, he prefers to sleep with me and definitely doesn't like to sleep in a room by himself, he likes to go on errands with me to the grocery store and Kohl's (we especially like it when we get an Amazon return coupon), he is grateful for his new school, and he is funny and sweet. We are so thankful for this little dude!

Back to School

No picture this year of the 3 together because we all went separately given new school for Colton and Cadie living with DD and Big John because of the construction. We are all a little edgy right now. I had taken Monday off work to do something "fun" with the kids before school started, but it ended up being a day of haircuts, errands, and prep for school. Poor Colton HATED his haircut, so we ended up going back to Ursula and she fixed it and he ended up being ok. I took Ranger down to Dallas Fades Barbershop and he really liked his short cut. Colton looked so handsome for his first day at Zion. We only got accepted the last week in July so it has been a scramble to buy a supply pack, order uniforms, get tuition paid, etc. 

We hope you have a wonderful year Cadie (10th), Ranger (8th) and Colton (5th).

 Ranger: "Back to school has been a little tough. Mom has recently met all of my teachers and likes them. My schedule is very good except for two teachers, Ms. Graham and Mrs. Gibson. Ms. Graham is strict and doesn't like me very much. Mrs. Gibson has way too much energy and is too preppy for the morning. Cross Country has been good, and I like running with friends. Morning practices have just ended and today was my first day after practicing after school. My favorite teacher is Mr. Mires because I like the way he runs his class. The transition from summer was a little rough but I have gotten in a routine for the year. Right now, we are living at Nina and Papa's because of the house remodel. Cadie is staying at DD and Big John's for the time being and Dad is at the farm. Colton has started Zion elementary School this year and really enjoys it and thinks it is a better fit than MIS would have been. Overall, it has been a little hectic with all the variable, but we are getting by."

Welcome to the World Whitaker Faraday Hensley!

Our family has grown! Whitney, Daniel, and Wes welcomed their new little man, just a day after they got home from the July 4th party at the farm. Close call. We all love him already! Cadie and I even got to go down for a long weekend to help Whitney and meet him. He is adorable.