4th of July Weekend

Here are a few pictures from our 4th of July weekend.
















While we were waiting for the fireworks to begin we broke out the glow sticks. Darren had the boys moving them around so he could get these cool photos. He's done the same thing with sparklers at past 4th of Julys.















Between the parade and fireworks the guys went fishing (since they couldn't the day before like they were planning - see sprinkler disaster post below) and the girls/kids went to Rigby lake. Here is me after getting buried in the sand by my sons.















Jake buried - he was hard to keep buried because he kept wiggling.















Everyone had to have a turn - except Tracie and Kat (chickens :-))
Ethan getting buried.



















Kevin buried.















Jacob and Ethan at the beginning of our sand castle. It turned out to be much bigger but Tracie has it on her camera. Maybe she'll post it.




















Kat was worn out and slept for most of the parade. When it was time to go Andy decided to help her wake up.




















Kat waking up
















Andy and Kat















Ben and Darren















Tracie and Ben















Jake waiting in line to spray the fireman hose. We were sitting near the fire station and while everyone was waiting for the parade to start they let the kids try to knock a cup off of an orange cone. They also had the fire truck there with the ladder fully extended. You could pay $3 and climb it. Since it went about 3 or 4 stories none of us were game.




















I love this picture. My brothers are all great uncles. Jake was climbing all over Ben and Andy and they just endured it. We went to Idaho Falls for the fireworks and this is them just waiting.

Sprinkler System

This past week my brother, Ben, took a week off of work and came to Idaho to help Tracie and me put sprinkler systems in our yards. What a way to spend a vacation, huh? Monday we rented a pipe puller - the first half of the day was spent at Tracie's house and the second half of the day at my house.




















Tracie holding the pipe for Ben















Ben with the pipe puller.

They worked on Tuesday and Wednesday at Tracie's house and finished her sprinkler system. I had to work those two days so neither Darren nor I helped there. Late Wed night Andy and his girlfriend, Kat came up to Tracie's house. So Thursday morning when I came back from my run I found Ben, Tracie, Jeff, Andy and Kat already hard at work in my yard. We spent the day digging and putting in the sprinkler system. By the end of the day most of it was done. There were only a couple of things left to do when they all went home (to Tracie's house).















Me - I must be taking a nap or something.















Darren















Ben - I think he's letting Jacob listen to his I-pod. Hopefully not an Alice in Chains song.















Andy















Kat
















Jeff















Tracie

Friday afternoon they came up again. Unfortunately this day didn't go as smoothly. The last step was to cut into our main water pipe and install the sprinkler. This was the part Darren was very nervous about. Because our house is over 50 years old, something seems to go wrong every time we do a project. After several trips to the plumbing store there were no parts that would work. It was Friday night, the day before a holiday and after 5 pm. We had no water in our house. Darren's worst fears were realized. We had to call a plumber, hoping that he would have the right parts. But we found out plumbers don't have after hour privileges at plumbing stores, either. He only had the parts on his truck. He was able to fix it temporarily so we would have water over the weekend but can't fix it permanently until Wednesday. So we still can't see the benefits of Ben's hard work and our new sprinkler system. Hopefully that will be a future post.

Oh, and before anything could be done, Ben told us we had to dig down to our main water pipe, which was about 6 feet down. So Darren, Tracie, Jeff, and I all took turns digging. We didn't have it finished by dark on Saturday night. Since Ben was going to start Monday morning we had to finish digging the hole on Sunday. Darren said it gave new meaning to keeping the Sabbath Day holy :-)





















Darren digging the hole



















Ethan kissing a huge worm Darren found in the hole. This picture is for Mary Ann since we were told she likes kissing worms.



















Another worm photo















And still another one
















This toy dinosaur was also found in the digging. If only it were a real one and we could sell our house for lots of money.















This is just a random picture of my beautiful rose bush. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's only in bloom for a couple of weeks.

Teton Dam Marathon weekend

No, I didn't run the marathon -- at least not yet. This weekend Rose came up to run the 10K race at the Teton Dam Marathon races with me. And of course, the rest of her family came to cheer her on.

This is the before picture when we still looked fresh. Since I didn't have my regular photographer there (Darren was in Southern Utah with students) I gave my camera to the older kids. I think my nephew, Jared, was the one taking all the pictures. I had a few interesting photos on the camera when I got back from the run. I decided some of them were blogworthy, so the following are Jared's photos.

Luke laying on the grass with his spiderman.

Kevin, I guess posing?

Luke, Jacob and part of Dave.

Me, about to cross the finish line. I was very impressed with this photo. He caught me at just the right time.

One of the kids waving a clapper thing they passed out to all the onlookers.

Kevin's mouth

Kevin scratching his head.

Then, I took over the camera. This is the boys wrestling in the grass while we were waiting for the awards ceremony.

Ethan doing a trick for me on the playground.

The kids waiting for the slide. A little while later a boy peed his pants at the top of the stairs. Luke and Jacob were following right behind. The boy's mom was trying to get him down but the kids behind him weren't about to get down and give up their place in line. I had to pull them off the ladder. The mom took the boy off but then the kids tried to go back up and there was pee dripping off the stairs. The little boy in the gray shirt was putting his hands right on the steps and his mom wasn't around so I tried to get him to put his hands on the railings. Someone had a water bottle and poured it on the steps but I'm sure that didn't kill the germs. Gross.

Best buddies Luke and Jacob.



















This is one of my favorites.  Rose with Michelle and Heather.

Heather climbing the rock wall.  I think she made it half way up.

Kevin just getting done with the rock wall.  He only went up a little way and then wanted down.  I didn't have enough time to actually get a picture of him on the wall.  Jared did 

the same thing so I didn't even get a picture of him.  And Ethan wouldn't do it at all.  

Kaitlin made it all the way to the top.

The twins after the race - not looking as fresh anymore but with our medals.  We got a lot of twin comments.

Luke and Jake forming 

a train down the slide (that was before the pee incident)

I thought this was funny.  We only have one bathroom in our house and Dave was in there taking a shower.  Luke and Jake both needed to potty so they were both standing in line right outside the door.  

Sunday morning - Luke, Michelle, Ethan, and Jake on my bed playing army guys.















Sunday morning breakfast

We also went swimming at Green Canyon (indoor thank goodness).  The hot pool has a roof that is sometimes on and sometimes not.  This time it wasn't on and it started pouring rain so we went out and sat in the hot tub.  I hadn't even gotten my hair wet but by the time I had sat in the rain for a few minutes it looked like I had dunked my head under the water.  We ended Saturday with pizza at Dave's sister's house and a game of Ticket to Ride with me, Rose, Ethan, Kevin and Jared.  It takes a lot of something to be very tired at the end of a long day and play a board game with three not so tired boys.  Overall it was a very fun weekend.  The only thing that would have made it better was if Darren was there having fun with us.  

Science projects and cookies

This week we did something in our family we've never done before -- a school science project! Every fourth grader had to do a science project for the science fair in order to get an A. Having never had to do one before (neither Darren or I ever had a science fair when we were in school) we weren't sure what to pick. I started looking at some of the suggested websites for ideas and I called Rose for help since she is a science teacher. All were great ideas. But then I saw one that I knew would be the best. It was "Can you make a photograph without a camera?" Darren was on board with it (he had to be because I couldn't help with this topic). And, of course, Kevin had to agree to it since it was his project. Darren and Kevin spent a few days at the photo lab and out in the yard working on projects. My job was to help type up the report and do the display (it takes a lot of patience waiting for a fourth grader to type a report - Darren actually helped finish that because I didn't really know everything they had done). And Kevin actually thanked Darren for helping him with the project and said he enjoyed it. The day of the science fair he was able to show others what he had done and he said they were all impressed.















Darren and Kevin working on the display.
















The cyanotypes (questions regarding the process have to be addressed to Darren or Kevin)















I can't remember what these are called but you use special paper, put the leaves or whatever you are photographing on the paper, put them under glass and put them in the sun for a while.
















Kevin and the finished display. The pictures in the middle are scanograms (scanned on a scanner).

The other day Jacob brought me some cookie cutters, and in a sweet voice with a sweet look, asked if we could make cookies. The other boys weren't home so it was just the two of us. This type of cookie is not my favorite to make because it causes a big mess. But with only Jake it wasn't too bad.




















Jake "helping" roll out the cookies.



















Decorating and eating the finished product.

Our Weekend

The end of April began baseball season for Kevin. When my brother, Gary, was a kid he was on the Cardinals team. I remember them having a tough time and not winning very much that year. So when I found out Kevin was on the Cardinals I wondered if that team name was jinxed. So far, it seems to be. All the other teams are much better and Kevin's team spends 3/4 of the game in the outfield. Hopefully it will get better. But he does look very handsome in his uniform.



















Darren's parents came to Rexburg for a few days. Since they are now retired they decided to take advantage of experiences like watching a grandson's play and baseball game. Friday night we went out for ice cream cones. Jacob really got into his.






























Ethan's kindergarten class put on "The Three Little Pigs". Ethan was one of the narrators and he did an awesome job. He had a lot of lines to memorize and he needed very little prompting from his teacher.















Ethan's class before the play.















Since Pat and Carl were staying at a hotel with a swimming pool, we had to take advantage of that. I was the only one that didn't get into the pool or hot tub. Once you are an adult you're not as willing to get your picture taken in a swimming suit but here are three of the swimmers.
(Jacob liked his "big muscles")

Salt Lake weekend

This weekend we made a quick trip to Utah for my father in law, Carl's, 65th birthday party. I forgot to bring my camera. So all the great photo opportunities were lost. We had great food, great cake and great conversation. We enjoyed shopping, live soccer, hanging out and lots of traveling (okay that part we didn't enjoy so much, just endured). When we got home I took pictures of the only things I could to represent our trip.















When we were watching Parker's soccer game, the boys were playing behind us on a grassy hill. I wasn't present but apparently, Jake was rolling down the hill and hit a metal pole. His ear was a little bruised but not much. After a full day, though, it has a nice black and blue look over the whole top half. It's ugly but doesn't seem to bother him.















This is a picture of my new running shoes. I joined a running group through the city of Rexburg recreation dept and went to the first meeting on Wed. It turned out I was the only new person and everyone else has been running together for a year. They all had just gotten back from running the Salt Lake Marathon. I was very much intimidated. But I did find out that the best place to buy running shoes was at Ossines on Redwood Road in Salt Lake. So when I was down there this weekend Darren and I went there to get me some new shoes. They also have a free service where they analyze your feet and watch you run. Then they help you pick the best shoes for your feet and running style. I tried them out this morning and so far, so good.

Easter 2009 and a few extras

I know I am a week late but I took pictures of our during conference activities specifically so I would update my blog and never did it. So following are some of those.
















Tracie started this puzzle on Christmas day and it has been unfinished since then. So Saturday I worked on it. When I was this far done I had to move it into the living room to free up the dining room table, got caught up doing something and when I returned it was half way destroyed. So Tracie and I finished it again on Sunday during the afternoon session. I made sure Jacob and Ethan knew I wasn't happy, though.















We bought the boys these boxes at Ikea a while back. As with most things there you have to finish it yourself. Ethan begged to paint his so we did that Saturday during conference (I think that's why I moved the puzzle). Darren helped Ethan and it turned out pretty well.


















Kevin working on his box.




















A few days ago I saw Ethan and Kevin sneaking around, dressed weird. Come to find out, they were spies. Pretty creative in their outfits, I think.




















Kevin in his spy outfit.

















Before the Easter egg hunt. I take pictures like this every year - first the empty basket, then the full ones. It has been crappy weather every year since we have been going to them but it was great weather yesterday. Kevin had his first baseball practice so he didn't get to go. He didn't really care, though.



















The full baskets. Jacob froze when all the other kids started running for the eggs. By the time I coaxed him out there we only got two eggs before they were gone. A kindergarten friend of Ethan's was standing next to him and saw that Jacob only got two eggs. Without being prompted by any adult he took two of his eggs and put them in Jacob's basket. I thought that was so sweet. His parents weren't even around and I didn't know them so I couldn't tell them what a good kid he was.




















Jacob painting Easter eggs




















Kevin with one of his masterpieces.


















The boys acting normal. :)

















Easter morning - if Ethan had longer hair it would look like MaryAnn morning hair (no offense MaryAnn)




















Ethan with one of his eggs.
HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!!!

After the funeral

This post is all about our Utah adventures after the funeral. We stayed with the Mitchells for the first two nights. It's always crazy when my three kids and the Mitchell five kids are all together.




















Here's cute Michelle. She was walking around the couch with a tissue in her mouth so I took her picture.



















Thursday night many of my siblings came over to play games. Many brought treats so I took a pictures of that yummy display - and Ethan's hand reaching in to grab some jelly beans.




















Bachelor brother Ben was proudly displaying this shirt. Whatever, Ben, you'll change your mind eventually.
















Tracie and Jeff put on a scavenger hunt for the kids after hitting the dollar store. Here's Jeff playing Santa Claus and handing out the goods.

















A wild game of spoons.















After the Mitchells it was a couple of nights at the Clarks. Saturday we went to Orem for lunch at CPK and Shandy's soccer game. Here's the group of fans at the soccer game. The kids didn't last very long just sitting and watching. My boys were wild examples for Dexter.
















This is the best picture I got of Shandy on the soccer field. I promise it's her.


















Darren must have taken this picture. I like it because it's a candid shot.





















Saturday night Jacob watched The Incredibles with Shandy. It was a fun weekend but we had to leave early on Sunday to try and avoid most of the storm. We hit some of it in the Salt Lake valley but made it home right before the blizzard in Rexburg started. Whew!