Quiet Week

Last week was rather quiet. We got into the routine of being in school in the mornings. Homework hasn't really started.

Sweetheart - On Saturday, he helped a man put in a cement footer under his gate.

He thought it was a good idea and put a footer in under our gate.

We marked it with our hand prints.

Mama - As the Cub Chair, I meet with new boys about Cub Scouting with the Cub Master. We have 5 new boys in July. That's a busy month for Cub Scouting. Another silly think I did also came off a ladder too fast and hit the door knob with my backside. After all the physical therapy I thought I had busted my tailbone again. Ice is the greatest friend in the world, and after 2 days, I felt much better. I don't think I broke or moved it.

Underfoot and Hurricane - They enjoyed swimming the hot tub of our adopted grandparents, the Gravely family, for family home evening on Monday. We got some bananas from the ward's Pioneer Day celebration and needed to make something with them.

We 5x the recipe (a lot of bananas) and made a bunch of banana muffins that have been enjoyed as snacks. The boys set up a train track.

They put the farm at one end and the Little People Castle at the other end. They would then ship food to the castle and take visitors to the farm.  They were invited to the baptism of 2 of their friends on Saturday. 

 

Here are pictures of boys just because I can add them.

Hurricane

 Underfoot

Be well.

1st Week of School

We returned super late on Sunday last week and started school the very next morning.

Hurricane started in kindergarten, 

and Underfoot is in 2nd grade.

They were both super excited to go. After school we went to our tradition of ice cream. That evening we bought our school supplies and restocked the frig from our trip.

Underfoot wants to play school and has yet to bring home any serious homework. Hurricane asked all week if he could ride his bike to school and finally got to ride on Friday.

Sweetheart worked on restaking our tree on Monday and took care of a few things around our house before returning to work on Tuesday. Our area had what is called record storm with winds of 45 miles an hour and lots of rain. This all happened while we were gone.

Tuesday evening we hosted a BBQ for the 16-18 year old youth in our congregation. They played the newspaper game. The newspaper game is rolling up newspaper and trying to get to someone before getting tapped with the newspaper by calling out another person's name in the circle. The game got really fun when we used last names only have 4 doubled last names.

I edited and labeled the 1,300+ pictures from our trip and ran a Bountiful Baskets site this weekend.

Sweetheart continues to love his work.

Be well.

Lake Tahoe and Yosemite

Tahoe was a lot of fun! Sweetheart's parents generously provide the housing for the annual Locey reunion. We thank them over and over for providing the opportunity!'

Tahoe was a first for our family of four. The boys loved being with their cousins, aunties, and uncles. Sweetheart was assigned to plan the reunion, and we had some fun activities each day. Sweetheart wanted it kept simple with one daily activity. He let me intersperse some games and family evening gathering events.

Sunday - We went to church. At the reunion, the group usually eats together for breakfast and supper. Dinner (a.k.a. lunch) is one your own as are snacks throughout the day. Dinner is a word my Grandpa Kirkham used for lunch. I like to throw it in every once and a while. Sweetheart and I prepared meals for Sunday. We introduced the candy jar guessing game at supper. All were allowed one guess to win the jar of candy. There was a different candy filled jar each day. Angelina, the youngest, won the first day.

She immediately became everyone's friend. In the evening, we had an adult family meeting - a quick update on each siblings family, future reunion plans, and any other family business items.

Monday - We went to Nevada Beach just down the road from the time share. Children buried each other in the sand,

played in the water, squirted water guns, and built an impressive castle. The adults talked and played with children.

Sunscreen was a must for some of the more fair crew. In the evening, we had a candy jar (winner Auntie Laura Jane) and family home evening. Sweetheart had assigned each sibling an ancestor to learn about and share with the rest of the family. 

The children filled in "My Family" booklet with 4 generational pictures from both sides of their families.

Tuesday - Pictures are very important to me. Ten years ago family pictures were taken at Bear Lake during the reunion. We asked that a white shirt and blue jeans were wore to match the picture from 10 years previous. We had a surprise photographer, BC.

BC is Sweetheart's friend from high school. BC's family was also vacationing at Lake Tahoe. For a family of 32 people, pictures were taken remarkably fast of the whole group in 25 minutes doing various family groups.

After pictures, we went on a hike to Spooner Lake for lunch. The hike was fun and was in contrast to Bunsen Peak from last summer. 

Hurricane slowed down after lunch so I promised him a big bowl of ice cream if he beat his cousins back to the car. He was motivated, and Hurricane and I beat the entire crew back to the cars. He was super proud of himself. We swam in the pool later.

A talent show and white elephant exchange happened in the evening. We laughed at the stolen white elephant items and cheered for the talents each share. Poems were recited. A dance performance, comedy routine, and skit made us laugh.

Hurricane won the candy jar that night. He was a little more stingy about doling out the candy.

Wednesday - Virginia City was the destination. It isn't the same Virginia City as in the Ponderosa. This is the real one built on a hillside.

We rode a train, visited a church, ate BBQ provided by Uncle Aaron at the city park (Cousin Grant won the jar by guessing the exact number), visited a mine, and had ice cream.

We learned that millions of dollars of ore were taken out of Virginia City in its height, and the trains ran day and night. We rode the train in honor of Les and Claire Locey.

Grandfather Locey loved trains and spent part of his and Grandmother's retirement riding them.  We want are children to know the stock that they are built from.

We swam again that night.

Thursday - Emerald Bay proved to be beautiful and a great hike. Since it is popular, we parked along side the road and hike a 1.5 miles to get to the beach.

Our family rented kayaks to go to the island and see the "tea" house that is built at the crest. On the island the boys cliff jumped into the clear water. The water at Tahoe is clear to the bottom. Hurricane again wanted to win and beat the other kayak back to the beach following his Portneuf River run. He didn't win. With the threat of a storm we hiked out and went to Fallen Leaf Lake. The lake is not connected into Lake Tahoe.

We swam again before returning for supper (the last candy jar winner was Uncle Matt) and a flour war.

Thanks to friends' donation of nylons we filled about 80 flour bombs.

(Note: Tights don't work well. They are woven too tightly and hurt when you are hit with one.) Someone said that it was therapy to throw things at each other.

We left with mostly smiles.

Friday - We woke up to a text from Uncle Aaron sharing that their cousin's wife had died the day previous. For Sweetheart and I, we reflected on how precious life is.

Sand Harbor is Aunt Michelle's place. She grew up coming to Tahoe, and Sand Harbor is where they would come. We were in an alcove of rocks where children caught fish and crayfish.

Adults played Hearts, read books, and cliff jumped.

We returned for a left overs BBQ and one last drip in the pool. Our car was pack for an early morning departure.

Saturday - Yosemite National Park was on our way home.

Leaving at 5:30 am we traveled to the East Entrance and saw some of the highlights by starting in Toulumne Meadows to El Capitan to the Yosemite Valley and waterfall and on to Half Dome, Glacier Point ending at the Giant Sequoias.

We have 2 new Junior Rangers from Yosemite as they completed their requirements for another badge and a bonus patch. When we entered we thought we'd leave by 12 noon. We left at 4 pm. The sites were spectacular, and we had a memorable day. On our way to Redlands, CA, we encountered a wreck and took at detour of about 1 hour. We arrived at the hotel at 12;50 am. It was a very long day. They boys were amazing!

We hope this finds you well and happy.

Idaho and the 4th of July

We had an excellent adventure on our family trips. We are grateful for wonderful family, safe travels, and precious memories. We spent a week in Idaho and a week in South Tahoe, so I'll do an Idaho installment and a Tahoe installment. 

Idaho comes first.

Hurricane liked camping. He liked switching canoes. He was going to 'win' the canoe race with aunt Rachel. When he hit a sandbar he said 'we've landed'. Hurricane liked finding golf balls on the canoe trip. He liked fireworks. He liked getting candies at the parade.

Underfoot liked going to the cabin, the parade, sleeping outside, and the fireworks.  Underfoot did not like canoeing when the hail came down.

Mama liked how kind her siblings were to our family. 

Scott, Mama, Aaron

 She liked the cabin. Fourth of July was great even though she lost her flip flop shoe while canoeing. Mama laughed hard on the 4th of July, and she made two apple pies and a delicious lemon supreme pie.

Daddy really liked being at the cabin. He really likes Mama too....

Monday -  Underfoot, Hurricane, and I went to Aunt Rachel's classroom to be. She will be starting as a 2nd grade teacher this fall and wants to have a welcoming, safe place for her students. We moved furniture, cleaned off the projector screen from the drawings Hurricane left on it, and moved her library. We thrift store shopped for some of the white elephant gifts and the candy count jars for the Locey family reunion. We had a fun day!

Tuesday - We had a visit from out of town friends and had lunch.

Seeing their family and catching up was awesome!! Sweetheart flew to Pocatello. My brothers suggested that Sweetheart be picked up in the Meridell Park limo.

 The boys surprised Sweetheart in the airport. We went for ice cream and then home to bed.

Wednesday - We got up and went to the cabin as a family. The cabin is a wonderful place for us to rejuvenate. 

We played pool, games, soaked in the hot tub, 

 roasted marshmallows for s'mores, 

chopped wood, watched a movie, and slept. I finished my Loius L'Amour book.

Thursday - Before we returned home to Pocatello, we took a family picture in the field below the cabin. We had a lot of fun posing. 

We returned back to Pocatello where the boys went with Dad. I went to see Maleficent with my sister-in-laws and nieces.

After the movie, the adult women had pedicures. Sweetheart and the boys laid asphalt, moved heavy machinery, and put up a 50 foot flag for the 4th of July. We all gathered for supper at our favorite restaurant, El Herredero.

The boys slept on the back porch the last few nights we were in Pocatello. Sweetheart and I were glad to have the bed to ourselves. Underfoot and Hurricane don't feel the need to move around at night when they are outside.

Friday - The 4th of July was awesome! Uncle Aaron had use watch The Sandlot as part of his family tradition while he made a pancake breakfast. 

Aaron and Rachel

 After breakfast, I made a few pies - lemon supreme and apple-lemon. They were delicious. We attended the parade where candy, toothpaste, and water were abundant. My brothers and our families had a quick lunch at the car museum before canoeing down the Portneuf River.

 When we started out the sky was blue. The boys and I (minus Sweetheart) landed on a sand bar. Hurricane announced proudly, "We've landed." He said it like we had discovered a new country or something. When we launched, hail was dropping from the sky. I laughed hard because it was so wonderful! The canoeing took us the rest of the afternoon.

Scott and Aaron

We barbequed and watched fireworks at Scott and Jill's house. The day was magical.

Saturday - We woke up early to drive to South Lake Tahoe. The day was long because we had such a full week. When we arrived in Carson City, NV, we shopped for the L family reunion and went to bed as soon as we arrived at the resort in Tahoe.

Tahoe is next..... Be well.

Going North

Mama prepared for our summer trip on Monday and Tuesday. Packing, cleaning, sorting, and preparing are full-time tasks. Tuesday evening was the boys last swim meet. They both have improved over the season and love to swim.

Underfoot won a race. He was so excited. Emma A., the boys' babysitter, came to the swim meet to help time and watch boys. She and her family will move this week to Texas.

On Wednesday Mama took the boys north. They started their trip with their last swim team practice for the summer.

Underfoot lost a tooth that morning.

They made it to Las Vegas in record time and stayed at the R. home. The R. family used to live 3 doors down from us. Now they live in Las Vegas. 

Underfoot and Miss Sweetness

Hurricane was reunited with his best friend and partner in crime, K-man. (Together they are known as the K-Men!) 

The K-Men

I'm not sure what all exciting things they did in the few hours they had together, but some of their past exploits include bombing the chickens with their own eggs, throwing just about every imaginable item over the block wall fence, and causing mischief and mayhem. The next morning they went to Red Rock Canyon and earned their Junior Explorer Badge.

Miss C. bought some fun road games and presents. The ball maze has become the popular toy.

Their next stop was in Salt Lake City, where they visited Mama's Grandpa Hoggan. 

The boys fed the ducks, turtle, and catfish at Grandpa's pond.

After saying their goodbyes, they went to Deseret Industries (like Goodwill) and shopped.

Lunch was at The Pantry at Temple Square, and on to Idaho.

We also went to see the Christus.

Mama commented that her whole body relaxed once she came within 30 miles of Pocatello. For her, there is something magical about returning to the land of her birth. She and the boys went to the Kirkham Cabin for a few days of fun in the woods. 

Underfoot reported that they went hiking, slept on the couch, and had a great time. Mama's brother taught Underfoot and Hurricane how to shoot a .22. They loved it. Perhaps we will take up a new hobby. 

This is the other brother.....

On a side note, I learned today that one of the men in our congregation was a shooting instructor for the military. I am hoping he can teach all of us how to shoot!

I've been holding down the fort here in Tucson. I have been working like crazy to save some of my vacation time. On Friday morning I helped my friend assemble an above ground pool. It was his second attempt. The first attempted ended in dismal failure when a gust of wind blew over the whole thing before he got the water in it. So, this time around he asked me to help him. I stayed for about two hours. He was able to get water in it before the wind started to blow. It was fun to help him. He is not one to ever ask for help!

There was a small 5.2 earthquake on Saturday night in Tucson.
 
At work I am learning about a whole new kind of math called statistics. Mama calls it sadistics. I thought I knew something about the subject, but the more I am exposed to it, the more I realize I don't know much at all. It is fascinating to me.

Saturday night I harvested 27 pounds of grapes from two of our vines. I got them inside and started inspecting them and realized that most of them were still a little tart. (I had harvested them about a week too early!) so I kept the most ripe grapes and fed the rest to the ladies. When I came out to check on them this morning, they didn't come running to me like they normally do. Instead, they just casually looked at me, like someone who had just finished Thanksgiving dinner. I guess when they are well fed they don't seem to be bothered to eat more or sick to their stomachs!

I visited a couple in our congregation on Sunday morning. I learned that the wife makes cakes for weddings, birthdays, and just about any other event. She had made a huge cake earlier and had all the left over cake tops. (The part of the cake that you cut off to make the cake level.) I told her that I would see some teen-aged boys later in the day who would love to eat the leftover cake. It was delicious! There was so much of it that I will take it in to work on Monday.

Lately I have been thinking about gratitude. There are so many reasons to be grateful in my life. I have a healthy family. I have the means to provide for them. I have hands that can work and a mind that can learn. I could not ask for a better life. The best decision I have ever made was the decision to marry Mama. All good things stem from her.

A brief recap of the week before:

- The boys finished soccer camp. Hurricane liked it very much. Underfoot felt more confident and liked it better near the end.

- We went to Mesa Temple to attend the temple with Alex A. Alex was in the priest's quorum (young men's group ages 16-18) that I am an advisor. Alex will be going on an LDS mission to Madagascar starting in July.

- Auntie Y, my sister, and her children came to visit Auntie M, my other sister. We went to Canyon Lake with them Friday evening. I always enjoy being around my siblings. The boys enjoyed playing with their cousins.

- The boys attended one away swim meet and both got to swim in a relay. Hurricane swam the relay with a goggle full of water. He wants to swim relays all the time.

Be well.