Greetings from Pocatello, Idaho. This week we spent in Garden City, Utah attending
the annual Locey Family Reunion.
Before heading to the reunion, we spent time with Mama's Grandpa in Salt Lake. We went to stake conference with him and celebrated Father's Day with Mama's Dad and Grandpa. Later that evening we had a dinner with the Locey family to celebrate Father's Day there. It was a great way to begin the reunion and get a few housekeeping items taken care of before beginning the reunion.
On Monday we decided to go to This Is The Place Heritage Park. The boys enjoyed riding horses, eating lunhch, and going on a train ride. They also made a bunny craft. After the park we drove to Bear Lake.
We played games, rode quads, built a swing set play area, and rode water toys on a boat. It was great to spend time with my family. We are grateful that we were able to have such a great time. We attended a play on the last night of “Who Shot Juanito Bandito?” We laughed and had a great time together. The food and
company were great!
On Friday we headed north to Pocatello to see A, Mama’s brother, get off the plane from his mission in Washington, D.C Spanish speaking. It was great to see him. He left on his Mission shortly after Hurricane was born. He reported on this Sunday. The point he made was that we are all winners in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each has their degree in which they are involved. The bright news is that the Father and the Son will love us regardless and rejoice when we choose to follow, and they will help with our success.
On Saturday we went to Island Park, Idaho to see Cedar Badge graduation for Mama's nephew was graduating from the week long leadership training program. Cedar Badge is a Boy Scout National Leadership training program that teaches Boys Scouts, Varsity, and Venturing Scouting. Mama’s family has been involve for the past 18 years.
After the graduation we went to Mesa Falls for a picnic lunch. We all enjoyed the cool mist of the falls and spending time together. We also stopped to see some property that Mama’s parents own in Blackfoot, Idaho.
Monday, June 27, 2011
June 19
We have begun our “winter” vacation. I mean summer vacation. We’re in Salt Lake and the rain is pouring steadily. It is beautiful especially for us who don’t see a lot of rain. There is a 50 degree difference between SLC and Tucson so we are a little cold but refuse to pull out our winter coats.
For our family home evening activity, we planted our garden. By the time web were done, it was dark. The boys helped build up the mounds for the melons and squashes. They were very tired from the day but were good sports. Underfoot named each of the mounds as a different mountain.
We got ready to come during the week by doing laundry, packing, cleaning up, having the bug guy come to exterminate bugs, and dropping library books off at the library.
Hurricane, Mama, and Underfoot participated in Vacation Bible School at a neighbor’s house. Prayer, different miracles of Jesus, and loving one another were some of the themes. We colored, created, and ate yummy snacks. I think the boys enjoyed playing with friends a lot. It was a great time and strengthened friendships. We left on Thursday and drove to Flagstaff that evening. The boys enjoyed jumping on beds. They loved it.
We arrived in Salt Lake City on Friday night. On our way, we stopped in Provo at BYU for some ice cream on the lawn. Mama, Hurricane, and Underfoot rolled down the hill on the grass. It was fun to hear them laugh. We spent the night with L4’s brother and family.
On Saturday we went to a train museum in Ogden, Utah. We took S and B, L4’s niece and nephew. Everyone had a great time looking at trains. Underfoot especially liked climbing on the full size trains. Hurricane was fascinated by the model trains. He wanted to watch them and chase them. It must be part of his genes.
For our family home evening activity, we planted our garden. By the time web were done, it was dark. The boys helped build up the mounds for the melons and squashes. They were very tired from the day but were good sports. Underfoot named each of the mounds as a different mountain.
We got ready to come during the week by doing laundry, packing, cleaning up, having the bug guy come to exterminate bugs, and dropping library books off at the library.
Hurricane, Mama, and Underfoot participated in Vacation Bible School at a neighbor’s house. Prayer, different miracles of Jesus, and loving one another were some of the themes. We colored, created, and ate yummy snacks. I think the boys enjoyed playing with friends a lot. It was a great time and strengthened friendships. We left on Thursday and drove to Flagstaff that evening. The boys enjoyed jumping on beds. They loved it.
We arrived in Salt Lake City on Friday night. On our way, we stopped in Provo at BYU for some ice cream on the lawn. Mama, Hurricane, and Underfoot rolled down the hill on the grass. It was fun to hear them laugh. We spent the night with L4’s brother and family.
On Saturday we went to a train museum in Ogden, Utah. We took S and B, L4’s niece and nephew. Everyone had a great time looking at trains. Underfoot especially liked climbing on the full size trains. Hurricane was fascinated by the model trains. He wanted to watch them and chase them. It must be part of his genes.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
June 12
We’ve had a few exciting things happen this week.
We harvested 4 bunches of grapes. On three occasions I’ve harvested a handful of berries from our blackberry bushes. Our garden is mostly fallow but we have harvested a few onions and some basil. We hope to get the garden planted this week.
Mama got me a book at the library about being a bee keeper. It is very interesting. I would very much like to have a hive of bees, if for no other reason than to boost the production of the garden.
We got out the GeoTrax trains this week. Hurricane and Underfoot have spent many hours playing with them. Their affinity for trains must be in their blood. Underfoot says that two of the trains are broken.
We got home from church today and found a puddle of antifreeze underneath Fred Ignatowzki. My initial diagnosis is that the water pump is leaking.
Mama has been busy this week with travel preparations and attending baby showers. It seems that everyone is having a baby except us. We hope to have another child soon. Mama is done with physical therapy.
We had a family over for supper tonight. It was interesting to learn about their family and the experiences they have had. The husband is a principal at a Jewish K-8 school. The wife also teaches at the school. We learned a bit about the differences between public and private education.
Hurricane’s personality continues to flourish. His language amazes us every day. He is very vocal when he wants something.
Underfoot is very patient with his brother. He loves to play. Underfoot says, “Please help the cho-choos to get better.” He wants me to fix the remote controlled trains.
We harvested 4 bunches of grapes. On three occasions I’ve harvested a handful of berries from our blackberry bushes. Our garden is mostly fallow but we have harvested a few onions and some basil. We hope to get the garden planted this week.
Mama got me a book at the library about being a bee keeper. It is very interesting. I would very much like to have a hive of bees, if for no other reason than to boost the production of the garden.
We got out the GeoTrax trains this week. Hurricane and Underfoot have spent many hours playing with them. Their affinity for trains must be in their blood. Underfoot says that two of the trains are broken.
We got home from church today and found a puddle of antifreeze underneath Fred Ignatowzki. My initial diagnosis is that the water pump is leaking.
Mama has been busy this week with travel preparations and attending baby showers. It seems that everyone is having a baby except us. We hope to have another child soon. Mama is done with physical therapy.
We had a family over for supper tonight. It was interesting to learn about their family and the experiences they have had. The husband is a principal at a Jewish K-8 school. The wife also teaches at the school. We learned a bit about the differences between public and private education.
Hurricane’s personality continues to flourish. His language amazes us every day. He is very vocal when he wants something.
Underfoot is very patient with his brother. He loves to play. Underfoot says, “Please help the cho-choos to get better.” He wants me to fix the remote controlled trains.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Late with 2 posts.
So this comes one whole week late. So much happened during this week that I thought I would be best to do 2 separate post so it isn’t super long for you. It is for my records also to keep the weeks straight in my head. I’ll be doing it in a bullet format so that each person gets their highlights and I don’t forget too much.
 |
| Just a teaser..... |
June 5
We celebrated Memorial Day by working and then going swimming at friends. We are grateful to the families whose loved ones have given their lives for our lives and to men and women who have given their lives for our freedoms to live, believe/worship, teach our children, and work as we enjoy.
L4
Underfoot
Hurricane
L4
- Our freezer has been on the fritz. On a warm day the inside of the freezer heats up to around 10 degrees. On cooler days, it cools to about 2 degrees. Since we are going on vacation, L4 wants to make sure the freezer is working when we leave for vacation. He replaced the thermostat, and THE FREEZER IS AT -10 DEGREES!We don’t need to buy a new freezer.
- He also changed the pressure regulator on our house. Apparently the valve had failed before we move in. We didn’t know it was broken until a plumber neighbor mentioned it to us. When L checked the pressure, it pegged the needle at 120+ psi. The maximum recommended pressure for a home is 80 psi. It was changed out Tuesday, and the pressure is now around 60 psi. We hope the change will save us money in our water bill each month.
- Also L4 found grape skeltonizers on our grapes. Last summer we fought those bugs daily. They attach to the grape vine and suck the sap from it until they lay new eggs to create more bugs. The bugs grow to be the size of an adult index finger. When they are terminated they shrink to nothing. (I guess we haven’t adopted the Hindu belief of not killing any living thing.) He found a spray to kill them and saved the grapes vines and ourselves from bug-picking insanity.
- Because the water pressure has changed how we water has to change also. He spent time fixing how much water is given to what. It is quite the task. We hope we can find a good balance.
Underfoot
- This weekend Hurricane rode a play car off the slide in our house. Underfoot was being obedient and helping pick up. He bent over at the same time that Hurricane pushed the car down the slide, and it collided with Underfoot’s face. He has a little black eye and a few minor cuts on the eye and nose.
- We were invited to go to Davis-Monthan AFB to see an EC-130 airplane. Our neighbor’s husband flies this plane. We got to climb in the plane and then did a tour of the base. We went bowling and shopping at the BX. It was a lot of fun.
- We had two little boys stay the night and day with us while their Mom went to support the young women in our church at a camping event and their Dad needed to work. Underfoot loved to have someone to play with for the evening and the next day. The boys fell asleep about 10:30 pm and were up at 5:15 am. They played hard. We enjoyed having them here.
Hurricane
- Hurricane is cutting 4 molars - all at the same time.
- He loved going bowling and seeing things.
- Because of the molars, he has been tired and started to cough. The cough turned into a bark. The bark has gone away and has been replaced with a drippy faucet nose. We kept him away from our over night guests. We don’t think he is really sick, but his body doesn’t like it when teeth come in. He and Daddy stayed home from church today. He has also kept us up at night several times this week.
- I made Hurricane his own cake. The cupcake wasn't good enough for me unfortunately. So here is a lousy looking train cake.
May 28th
Hurricane
– He turned 2 years old! Yippee yay! Hurricane was born on the anniversary of the day Lance and I met.
– For his birthday, we decided to go camping as a family at Camp Zion on Mount Lemmon. Camp Zion is a camp leased by the LDS church on forest service land. To stay the night, it is $2.50 per person. The price was right, and the boys love the adventure of camping. They had a great time!
– Hurricane loves to swim. He will go back and forth between us as fast as he can get out of the other one’s arms. Unfortunately, he hates to float. SoI think we are going back to swim school.
Underfoot – Underfoot finished year one of Joy School. We had a celebration for the fact that the Moms and children triumphed in meeting for Joy School and making it through without much drama. Sickness was there but not drama! It was awesome!
– Lucas and Kirk loved to go and spend a day with my visiting teacher...more about that in a minute.
– Lucas got an invite to a friend’s party that invited the whole family. We went swimming and enjoyed the company of a neighbor.
Mama – I finished painting the closet we had rearranged. Underfoot and I painted the closest together after Joy School on Tuesday.
– I have been attending physical therapy for about a month to fix a few things. While there, the physical therapist (PT) “adjusted” my coccyx. I didn’t feel a thing until I stood up. Then I felt it. The PT said to not sit on it directly. It hurt to move. I had probably “broken” my coccyx when I was pregnant with Hurricane.
– The day after I taught Joy School. It was an easy last day because I was hurting. It felt like my tail bone had been broken. It hurt to sit, stand, and even to lay down. That night L4 took matters into his own hands and called my Dad to say I was being stubborn and what did he need to do. My Dad said I would need to humble up and ask for help. So Lance called my visiting teacher (on the sly.)
– On Friday, my boys spent the day with a wonderful visiting teacher who introduced them to the finer things in life like corn dogs. That evening I went up to the campsite and returned home with another family. The Boys spent the night on the mountain. We celebrated Hurricane’s Birthday with blue graduation cupcakes. (Mama was doing her best to manage pain, her own expectations for what a birthday should be, and to get us up on the mountain for some quality family time, golly gosh Dang It!)
L4
– L4 was the real hero by helping me in my stubbornness. As much as I hate to admit that I can’t do something, he stepped in and took charge. He let me rest and played hard with the boys.
– He drove the Scout to work one day. We figure he should drive it every once and a while to keep it running.
– Six years ago L4 picked me up for our first date. It was good to remember.
– He turned 2 years old! Yippee yay! Hurricane was born on the anniversary of the day Lance and I met.
– For his birthday, we decided to go camping as a family at Camp Zion on Mount Lemmon. Camp Zion is a camp leased by the LDS church on forest service land. To stay the night, it is $2.50 per person. The price was right, and the boys love the adventure of camping. They had a great time!
– Hurricane loves to swim. He will go back and forth between us as fast as he can get out of the other one’s arms. Unfortunately, he hates to float. SoI think we are going back to swim school.
Underfoot – Underfoot finished year one of Joy School. We had a celebration for the fact that the Moms and children triumphed in meeting for Joy School and making it through without much drama. Sickness was there but not drama! It was awesome!
– Lucas and Kirk loved to go and spend a day with my visiting teacher...more about that in a minute.
– Lucas got an invite to a friend’s party that invited the whole family. We went swimming and enjoyed the company of a neighbor.
Mama – I finished painting the closet we had rearranged. Underfoot and I painted the closest together after Joy School on Tuesday.
– The day after I taught Joy School. It was an easy last day because I was hurting. It felt like my tail bone had been broken. It hurt to sit, stand, and even to lay down. That night L4 took matters into his own hands and called my Dad to say I was being stubborn and what did he need to do. My Dad said I would need to humble up and ask for help. So Lance called my visiting teacher (on the sly.)
– On Friday, my boys spent the day with a wonderful visiting teacher who introduced them to the finer things in life like corn dogs. That evening I went up to the campsite and returned home with another family. The Boys spent the night on the mountain. We celebrated Hurricane’s Birthday with blue graduation cupcakes. (Mama was doing her best to manage pain, her own expectations for what a birthday should be, and to get us up on the mountain for some quality family time, golly gosh Dang It!)
L4
– L4 was the real hero by helping me in my stubbornness. As much as I hate to admit that I can’t do something, he stepped in and took charge. He let me rest and played hard with the boys.
– He drove the Scout to work one day. We figure he should drive it every once and a while to keep it running.
– Six years ago L4 picked me up for our first date. It was good to remember.
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