Salmon Tolman Fam: Week 24

{June 13 - 19}

Monday was a busy day. The construction crew came that morning, and started putting the metal siding on the framework. Ammon, Jonah, and Micah went to Basketball Camp at the high school from 9-3. Kanyon started swimming lessons (which lasts for two weeks) at 9:15 at the pool. I called the clinic, and after two calls, they finally were able to get Josh an appointment that morning with Dr. Whitson (aka Heather, our favorite doctor) at 9:00. Ammon drove the boys in to basketball, I drove Kanyon in and dropped him off at the pool, then I met Josh at the Dr.'s office. Since he was an early appointment in the day, they were able to see him right away. After the nurse took the vitals, and Heather listened to his list of ailments, she thought it sounded like a tick bite. She had him take some blood tests just to be sure. He'd had some kind of a bug bite on his arm several weeks earlier that had irritated him, and had produced a rash on his arm. But then the swelling/rash went away and it was a few days later that he started having all the flu-like symptoms. We never linked the two together, and since Kanyon had gotten sick shortly after Josh did, that made sense to us that he was sick with something else rather than a tick bite. She said the blood test results would be back that same day. He came home from work early and spent the afternoon resting, but his coloring didn't look good, and he was just so extremely tired. Every movement exhausted him. I took Tiki to get a haircut at 2:30, and did errands in town until she was done, and when I brought her home, Josh said the doctor still hadn't called him back with the results. I called the clinic at 4:30, but his doctor had already left for the day. The construction crew finished early in the afternoon, but they were ONE panel of metal siding short of finishing the job. It was on the back wall of the garage between the window and the northwest corner. They had to order the metal with the matching color, and it would be about a week before they would be back. I was so disappointed they didn't finish it that day. Josh was getting worse--not only was he tired and weak (he wasn't eating hardly anything by now), but he was also having a difficult time getting enough breath. We called Greg Cummings, his home teacher, and Uncle Tim, and they came over and gave him a blessing. We were so grateful that they could come. They arrived just as the older 3 boys headed out to go to the summer running program. We both felt a little better after the blessing, and Josh slept pretty well that night (he'd had a hard time sleeping through the night for over a week).

The progress at the end of day three of construction. I should've taken a pic
of the inside so you could see the missing piece, but I didn't.

On Tuesday, Josh stayed home from work. He rarely does that, but he was too physically weak to go. The doctor's office called that morning to confirm that it was indeed a tick bite that was producing these symptoms in his body, and that his kidney levels reflected her suspicions. I took Kanyon to swimming lessons, and the other three boys went to Basketball Camp. While Kanyon was swimming, I went and picked up Josh's antibiotics. He started taking them that morning, and got an inhaler to help him breathe as well. I started working on my college class final project for Applications in Visual and Performing Arts that day. Josh didn't go to Men's Golf League that night because he was still too sick, but Ammon did. Jonah had a soccer game at 5:30, Kanyon had a soccer game at 6:30, and Micah reffed two games for the U-6 league that night. Jonah's team won their game, which was exciting. I had to coach Kanyon's game because his coaches were gone. It was much more stressful than I'd anticipated. The game didn't start on time because we were waiting for refs, which were still playing in their own game. Our team had 4 kids gone, so there was only 2 subs, and one of the players said he hurt his leg and didn't feel like playing but his mother made him come. The other coach and I decided to just start the game and ref/coach it until the teenagers were done and could come finish the job. At every quarter, the kids were all saying what position they wanted to play, but I had to set it up on a rotation schedule or else they'd get burnt out. We managed to make it through the game, but it felt like it was a circus the whole time! (and I managed to not take a single photo because I was preoccupied with positions, rotating kids, timing the game, and shouting out calls to the players)

Taking a nap in the recliner in our bedroom

Kanyon really enjoyed swimming lessons.
He did great! He also loved his teacher Rachel.

The players on Jonah's team range from 12-16 years of age.

Josh went back to work on Wednesday. Ammon, Jonah, and Micah had their last day of Basketball Camp. I took Kanyon to swimming lessons, then went for a walk around the park. As I was walking, I saw Josh pulling a trailer of limbs to the burn pile behind #9 green. He dumped the limbs, and then came and picked me up, because he saw me walking. He said one of the willows along 9 fairway by the first ditch had broken in the windstorm last night, and he had to clear the brush out. He took a break for a few minutes, to catch his breath and gain some energy, and we watched Kanyon at swim lessons while he did so. Then I went back with him to help clear the remainder of the branches and brush from the area and dumped it at the burn pile. He was very appreciative, and I was glad that I could help him. I was frustrated with the garage construction being on hold for a week, and I wanted to get projects done, so after we got home, I started building a rock-ring around the Poplar tree adjacent to the carport. There'd been one originally, but after all the excavation work done around that area, it had gotten ruined. I got about half of it done that afternoon. Kanyon started a new job for the summer that evening: picking the driving range balls. Josh told me that the kid who's been doing it didn't show up the previous Wednesday, and it has to be mowed every Thursday. So we asked Pup if he'd allow Kanyon to do it, and he agreed. So I went with Kanyon to the golf course after taking Jonah and Micah to their Young Men's activity at 7. It was cold and rainy, and I wanted to stay with him the whole time to make sure he understood how to do it right. He got to about the 175 yards before we left for the night, because the twins were done with their activity, and it was dark and Kanyon was freezing. We told Pup we'd be back in the morning to finish it.

The broken tree at the golf course.

Kanyon driving the golf cart with the trailer
that picks up balls on the Driving Range.

On Thursday morning, Kanyon and I went to the golf course before he had swimming lessons in order for him to finish the ball-picking job. When we arrived after 8, Josh had already started mowing the front portion that we'd picked the night before. Kanyon was almost done before having to leave for swimming lessons, so I finished the last few rows for him in order for Josh to get the mowing done. After we got home, I worked on the rock-ring project around the Poplar again. Jonah went mowing with Ammon that afternoon, so I had Micah and Kanyon help me by picking rocks off of the garage floor and putting them on the hillside behind the Poplar. They each had several wheelbarrows full. After I finished the ring, I picked some of the bigger rocks left over from the project left behind from the excavation and added them to the hillside, too. I thought the area looked fantastic when we were done! Jonah had a soccer game that evening, and Kanyon just had a practice. Soccer lasted for eight weeks, and it got tiring going twice a week every week, and knowing it was always on the schedule. But the upside was that we got to sit and talk with our friends who's children were playing soccer as well, and I really enjoyed that social time! After we got home,I went back into town to watch the late show of "Alice and the Looking Glass" at the theater. I love the Alice stories, and couldn't find anyone to go with me to the movie. It was the last night it was going to be in our theater, and I just decided to go. Josh had originally agreed to go with me, but then when I asked him to come to soccer, he said I would have to choose, because he didn't have enough energy for both. I thought soccer would be better for him to go to, so that's what he did. It all worked out, though. I didn't mind going alone to the movie theater--it's just funner to go with someone else!

The view of the new rock ring and rock-covered hillside,
as seen from our driveway.

The view from the north of the carport.

The view from inside the carport looking out.

Movie Selfie

On Friday morning, Kanyon and I worked on weeding the pumpkin patch for a couple hours. We'd been weeding it Tues-Thurs before this week, but since he was involved in swimming lessons in the morning, that didn't work out. We'd done some each night (except Wednesday when he was at the Driving Range late), but due to the mosquitoes, we weren't able to do as much as we normally did each day. I taught a piano lesson at 10, and went back and weeded some more. We finished around 11. That afternoon, I worked on sorting the flatbed trailer that was parked by the garage. The construction crew threw all their excess material and garbage onto it. I threw some things away, then started loading items into the suburban to take to the dump (Josh and Ammon had the truck and mowing trailer in town). It took a while to clear off the trailer and organize everything, but finally got it done. I took a load to the dump, came home, and moved the trailer out of the way. All the long pieces of metal I stuck in between the garage and the old shop (which was previously an addition on our old house). Micah also helped me move some large shale rocks from the ditch to the front of the garage; one for a door step, and one to possibly put decorative items on in the future (like planters). I barely got both projects done when Josh and Ammon came home from mowing. Josh didn't even notice I'd cleared excess materials out of the way by taking them to the dump. He just noticed the rocks Micah & I'd moved. He wasn't too impressed--but they were super heavy, and I'd used a hand truck to get them there, and I thought I'd been very clever in doing the job myself without asking for his help! I was tired from all the working outside on a hot day, and was hoping to go out for dinner that night, but he'd felt good enough that he wanted to go to Couple's Golf instead, because there was a big tournament beginning the next day, and he wanted to see the golf course from the viewpoint of a player. So we went to Couple's Golf and had a nice time. The golf course was beautiful, and so was the weather.

The view of the garage with a rock for a door step, the garbage-loaded trailer
cleared out, and the rock ring around the poplar tree.

Saturday was a busy day! Josh and Ammon worked for a few hours that morning. When Josh came home, we went to town. We went to King's to get free hot dogs for their Father's Day special. We went shopping for some new rope for the hammock and bird bullets at Murdoch's. Then we picked up the Oliverson boys and headed to the Car Show at the city park. The car show had a lot of entries this year, and we loved looking around. We brought Erik and Aiden home with us. The boys played in the ditch together, and built boats to race again. I worked on my project for my college class again as they played, and then I headed to town that afternoon for Claire Judy's baptism. It was a nice baptism, and they served a taco luncheon afterwards which was so delicious! When I got home, Mark had just gotten there to pick up the boys. Then Josh and I took our boys back to town. Kanyon had to pick the driving range again because of the tournament, and the twins were asked to help set up the 5K Moonlight Run Race course around the city park and golf course. The twins stayed after setting up the course to eat pizza with their cross country team before the race started, so Josh and I brought Kanyon home. I was originally planning on running the 5K night race, but changed my mind when I couldn't get anyone to do it with me. Jonah and Micah ran it, though. Micah finished like 7th overall. I went in late to watch them run around, and sat there cheering people on. My friend Celyn came walking by pushing her son in a stroller on her second lap (it was a one-mile loop that you ran 3 times), so I joined her on her 2nd loop. I wasn't really ready to participate; I was wearing flip-flops, but since she was walking, I thought I'd be okay. It was so fun to catch up with her as we walked that mile! She's moved to Ceour d'Alene, so I wasn't expecting to see her there! It was such a fun surprise!

Kanyon and Aiden inside one of the rare cars who's sign read "PLEASE touch".
Most of the cars had a sign that said DO NOT TOUCH.

This was my favorite car!

This was the boys' favorite entry!

It's a golf cart that the retired fire chief modified. It was so awesome!
It won the people's choice award, and for good reason!

Seriously, these 2-door beasts are so impractical! Look how long they are!
They're like a boat! Why have only 2 doors? I don't get it!

On Sunday morning, we found out that Josh's cousin Judson had passed away in the night. He was just 13 years ago. He had epilepsy, and had experienced a huge seizure the day before that stopped his heart. He was life flighted to Primary Children's the previous evening, but he didn't recover. It was a rough way to begin Father's Day. After Josh came home from working, I told him the sad news. We got ready for church; we had to be there early so that I could practice a song with the primary kids. Sacrament meeting was okay; it wasn't the best Father's Day program we'd ever had. Camille did a super fun activity in primary for singing time, though; she'd requested information from some of the dads: their favorite snack, favorite primary song, a nickname, and their favorite memory with their kids. Then she'd put a picture of each dad on a paper bag, and stapled on a colorful tie to the front of the bag under the picture. She asked the kids the same questions about their dads, to see how well they knew their dads, and then they got to take the bags home to give to their dad, with their favorite snack inside. It was amazing how much work she put into it! The kids loved it, and it totally cheered me up! After church, we ate lunch with Josh's parents outside. Then Josh took his Sunday siesta, and the kids and I worked on writing clues for the gifts we'd gotten for him, so that he could find them in a Scavenger Hunt. Kanyon requested that we do the scavenger hunt, because we've done it for Josh before, and it turned out great! Some of the clues were vague and ambiguous, so he had to look around for a while before finding the gift bag. For example, Kanyon's clue was "it's on something that you like to do with your kids"--on the 4 wheeler, since that's what he'd said his favorite memory with his kids was during the primary singing time activity. Jonah's clue was "This is what you take to work"--it was on the mower in the mowing trailer; this was the toughest clue for Josh to figure out. Micah's clue was "You take this with you when you go into the mountains"--this also stumped Josh; it was in the camping trailer. Each child gave him a gift, and I gave him one, too. He got chocolate-covered cinnamon bears, jerky, his favorite granola bars, white chocolate kit kats, Mtn. Dew, a toy mini cooper, and I gave him a spun-glass globe with a glow-in-the-dark stripe through it and a stand to hold it. The boys were disappointed that I didn't gift him a gnome this year, because I ALWAYS do, but I thought it would be nice to have a change, and since he gave me a glass ball for Mother's Day, I thought it would be fun to gift him one, too. After he found all the gifts, the Hobbs family came over for dessert and card games. We played outside on the deck, because the weather was beautiful, and the younger kids played in the ditch and yard. We enjoyed their company!

On the scavenger hunt

Checking out the mini cooper that Ammon gave him

On to the next clue. I love the rolled hay bales in the
background--it's my favorite image in the summertime!

Jonah and Micah each gave him a dollar bill folded into the
shape of a collared shirt. Their Sunday School teacher had
showed them how to do at church; they were so cool!