Baby Magic?!

My littlest boy left a surprise for me in my nightstand drawer yesterday morning, a little bit of BABY MAGIC!!!


Kanyon is a little pack rat. He loves to pick up any item in the house that will fit in his hands, and transport it to a different part of the house. In particular, he places the objects in drawers or behind doors. This is a fork left in the bathroom drawer!


None of my other children have ever done this! It's good and it's bad. Good because it always makes me happy and smile and laugh when an object is surprisingly found in an unusual location. Like this photo: I couldn't figure out where all the forks were, and then I discovered them along with some bowls by the telephone stand. He had taken the opportunity to empty part of the dishwasher for me!


It's bad, because if you can't find something-you never know WHERE to look; the object could be anywhere in the house! I found some BINGO gamepieces we were searching for the other day in the bathroom closet. I found some fingernail polish in one of my shoes last week. We think maybe he threw one of our phones in the garbage, because we still can't find it! Not to mention his fascination with throwing things in the toilet. In this photo, it's his bathtoys. But it's also been garbage, his pacifier, and the toilet paper roll.


Yesterday morning, I was laying in bed, and I kept hearing the hamper lid open and shut, open and shut. This is what we found:


When I emptied the hamper, this is how many items he had thrown in!!! That's our baby boy! Always producing the "Baby Magic": he makes things disappear, and then they magically reappear!!!


He is SO happy when he is producing his "Baby Magic" and loves his new role as the Official Family Possessions Courrier!

The gift that keeps on bridging!

We live on the Tolman Ranch in Salmon right next door to Josh's parents. A large irrigation ditch designates the boundaries and separates the two yards. When we first moved into this house 6 years ago, the bridge across it was a broken narrow wooden plank. Josh and his dad replaced that with an old beam that was pulled from a torn-down old farm building. It was a lot more stable, but still only about 18 inches wide. Multiple times a year, kids would accidentally fall off of it into the water. Over the years, it began to rot. For Christmas this year, Josh surprised me with a new 3-foot-wide bridge that he built all by himself. It is so beautiful! It has a slight arch, and a hand rail, and he stained it to match the hand-built fence surrounding our yard. He made it during the winter at the shop at the golf course, so I had no knowledge about it. He even moved it into place across the ditch one day near Christmas when I wasn't home. When I drove up the driveway and saw it, I was so ecstatic! Josh has always been the best gift-giver and is extremely good at keeping secrets. Everyone who comes to the house comments on the beautiful new bridge, and now we even have plans for him to make another one identical to it on the opposite end of the yard where a narrow wooden plank still sits. We have all enjoyed it, especially Kanyon. We love to sit on the bridge in the summer and put our feet in the cool water on hot days, and because of its width it has already saved us from slipping off it and falling into the ice this winter! I LOVE it! It's the simple things in life that bring us joy, so I wanted to share my thoughts about this Bridge of Bliss with you!!!

This is just like the bridge we had before.

This is our bridge now! Isn't it beautiful?!! Our yard is on the right, and Grandma & Grandpa's is on the left.

Baseball...it was a HIT!!!

Spring is here! And that, for Ammon, means baseball! This year, Josh and I coached his team. Ammon is in the league between T-ball and minor league. For the 7-8 year olds, the coach pitches to the kids. Josh was a great pitcher and a super coach!

I was in charge of organizing the batting line-up and the out-field positions, which worked out perfect for me because I had to manage Jonah, Micah, and especially Kanyon as well! Interesting note: Ammon is right-handed when he writes, and left-handed for sports (baseball, golf).

Ammon is a great little player! It was a fun season and we had a great time seeing the kids on our team improve over the 6 weeks. But we are just as glad that the season has ended! Our life seemed to be scheduled around those twice-a-week games!

My Husband...the Politician?

Last October, we had some issues with the school board member that represented our area. She misrepresented us, and it really upset us. The school bus route that covered our area was completely removed, and nobody in the area knew. We fought with the school board for 2 months before we finally came to a compromise. That battle started a fire in my husband. Ever since the start of the school year, he has gone to every public school board meeting except for two. He decided last fall that he wanted to be on the school board. Our school board member representative's term is expiring. So, Josh is running against another fellow for the 3 year spot. It's quite a commitment and there's a lot of heated issues going on in the school district right now: new administration, teacher's jobs being cut, a new building being proposed, major bus concerns, as well as the regular disciplinary and personnel and budget issues. I'm so proud of him for taking a stand to better the schools for our children. I'm so glad that he is willing to make this sacrifice on his personal life (and, might I add, Monday night football in the fall--since the school board meetings are on Monday nights). I am so happy that instead of whining and complaining about things that are happening, he wants to be an active force. Because, if you want change, do something about it! And he's trying to do just that! The school board election is today, and I'm nervous and anxious for him! If he makes it, it will be a large commitment on ALL our part. Three years is a long time, and there will be lots of meetings and time away from home. It requires a lot of dedication, but he's proven that he's willing to go the distance, and we are too!!!

First Camping Trip 2008

We couldn't wait to go camping! All winter long, the children kept asking "when can we go camping?" or "is it time to go camping yet?" and the answer would always be "We will go camping after Easter AND after the snow has melted!" So, sure enough, the day after we returned from our Easter excursion to Utah, they all thought it was time to go! Apparently they forgot about the second part of "Before we go camping...." because the snow hadn't melted yet!! So we waited for two weeks, and on the first weekend in April, we took the kids camping at Challis Hot Springs. It's an hour's drive down the canyon, and a little more pricey than what we usually pay to go camping, but it was well worth it! It was so awesome! We went with some friends and had a great time chilling, visiting, and swimming together! As soon as we got home, the questions started all over again "When can we go camping again" and "How long before the next time we go camping?" Apparently not soon enough!

Micah, Kimi, Kanyon, Kala, and Ammon enjoying the heated pool. Jonah (not in picture) was sitting on the steps, afraid to come in all the way!

Kanyon after swimming in the warm pool for the first time. He didn't want to take off his swim shorts. He loved to be swimming!

Jonah and Micah playing with sticks and dirt at our campsite by the river.

Josh visiting with Kimi and Kerry next to our trailer and truck.

Ammon spent a lot of time in his cousin Ellie's trailer. He was part of their family for the weekend: he ate with them, played with them, swam with them, slept with them...

Kala and Amy. Kala-the unshowered one and Amy-the newly showered one.

WARNING! This is what unattended Camping Bed Head looks like! EWWW!!!