Week 27

{July 4 - 10}

Monday was Independence Day!!! We had a great day! Josh and Ammon had to work that morning, and after they were done, Josh got the tubes ready for us to float the river. Since Gideon, Alyssa, and Molly were all unable to go rafting with us on Friday, they wanted to float on Monday while they were still in town. We floated from 11-mile to Shoup Bridge. One of the boats had a leak in it, so we opted not to take it. Instead, Gideon, Alyssa, Jonah, and Kathy floated in just one boat, while Josh, Micah, Malachi, Molly, and I rode in tubes. It was the first time Molly and Micah had ever floated on the river in tubes! When we got to eight-mile, then Gideon and Alyssa got out to take care of their baby and Molly and Malachi traded over to floating in the boat with Jonah and Kathy. The water was the perfect level--not too fast, not too slow, not too high, not too low, it was like Goldilocks' things: just right. We had a good time. Micah enjoyed it, and Jonah said next time we go, he'd like to go in a tube rather than a boat (that's what Josh and I prefer too). We went to Hobbs' house that evening for a July 4th get-together. It was SO much fun!!! We ate a delicious dinner, and there was a bounce house and activities in the yard for the kids. The adults and kids played in a football game against each other...until Aiden got hurt (somebody always gets hurt during the football games at their house when Mark Oliverson is involved!!). Mark and Aiden were both going after the ball, but got too close to the fence, and Aiden's face got smashed into the wire fence. Ouch! The kids played water games, the adults chatted, and the water games became a water dousing event between some of the kids and adults. As it started to get dark, David and Mark did fireworks in the yard, Gina gave glow sticks to the kids, and we watched the City fireworks in the distance. Ammon went with Hannah's family to the firework show on Discovery Hill, and met up with Edward and Kathy there at our usual parking spot. I liked having a different way to end the 4th of July day than we've done the past decade, though; it felt like the perfect way to celebrate the 4th, and I felt very happy and nostalgic during the fireworks show being surrounded with friends, happiness, laughter, kids running around, and beautiful and colorful bombs exploding in the sky.

The kids team

The adults team

Run for it Josh!

Some of the adults around the fire in the Hobbs' new firepit

What a large group of kiddos watching David's firecracker show

One of Mark's fireworks exploding overhead

Glowstick kiddos

On Tuesday, I spent the bulk of the day studying for my upcoming Praxis test, but I did take a break to make some Strawberry Rhubarb jam with some of the rhubarb out of our garden. When I was a kid, I remember my dad coming home after volunteering to work at the church cannery with a 5-gallon buck full of "strawberry scum". When they would make the strawberry jam, they scooped off the foam and put it in buckets, and the volunteers were allowed to take the bucket of foam {aka "scum"} home to eat. I loved that stuff!!! So when I made the jam, I snapped a photo of my "strawberry rhubarb scum" to send to my mom to reminisce about the past, since she knows I have fond memories of eating it! Josh finished up the last project of our garage construction--filling in the gap between the back side of the garage and the sloped ground behind it. When we had to clear the space for the garage, the construction company required an extra 2-foot perimeter all the way around in order for their men to have room to work. The ground behind the garage was the highest and steepest, because as we were digging and leveling, a lot of the extra dirt and rocks was added to the sloped ground that was already there. So Josh went along picking up most of the biggest rocks and putting them in the gap between the garage and the ground, then he took his Kubota, and gently moved the top layer of dirt so that it was more level between the ground and the garage.

Now you can walk across the flattened area that
was previously as high as half the window height.

To the left, you can see my new retaining wall. To the right, there's an overflow
runoff for the spring water that's used in the fields above our house. 

This is the area to the right of the garage that you can access the ground behind
the garage. The retaining wall is to the left, I created a rock ring around the tree
on the right, there's a pathway in the middle for bikes to enter the carport, the gate
accesses the ranch road and fields above our house, and the boys helped me fill
in this section of the sloped hill with rocks to look a little more appealing. 

Wednesday was busy. Kanyon and I weeded that morning, then we got ready to head into town for the Library Summer Reading Program's first activity day. There was kids free lunch at noon, so I took the 3 boys in for that. Jonah and Micah didn't want to stay at the library program, so they left with the Oliversons to go play at their house. I was the guest reader for the series again this summer, so I stayed until that started at 1. I took my laptop with me, so that while Kanyon was participating in the other activities after reading (which were making egg shakers and doing zumba), I could study for my Praxis test. I studied for an hour, then picked him up (he loved Zumba and dancing with his new egg shakers and I enjoyed watching him for a couple of minutes!) and took him to the golf course to do his range-picking job. We brought Aidan with us, and we all worked on the job together for over two hours until that was done, then we picked up Jonah and Micah from the Oliversons and dropped Aidan off. When we got home, I made dinner, and Josh took the twins to Young Men's, where they discussed plans and requirements for the boys' upcoming scout camp next week. When they were gone, I studied some more. After they came home, Josh gave me a blessing of comfort for my big test the next day. It was an awesome blessing, and I really appreciated the words of guidance and comfort that were given. I'd filled my brain with so much knowledge about language arts, science, math, and social studies, that I felt like I wasn't retaining anything, but in the blessing it said that the Holy Ghost would help bring items to my remembrance during the test, and that statement stuck with me and I started to feel better and not so anxious. When everyone went to bed that night, I stayed up and studied some more until after 11:00pm. 

On Thursday morning, I woke up a little earlier than usual (I've been sleeping in until 8 or 9 most days, and loving it!), and skimmed over a lot of the material I'd been studying the previous few weeks. I was about to hop in the shower when Gina stopped by and gave me a bag of chocolate and a good luck card. That was so thoughtful of her! I showered, got ready, and left around 10:30 to head to Rexburg for the test. The test began at 2:30, but I had to be there at 2:00 to go through the check-in process. I got to Rexburg after 1 and ate a quick lunch at Arby's (I wanted to go for food that would be easy on my tummy but also filling), then went to the testing center on the BYU-I campus. I'd gone to the same site last year, so I knew exactly where to go. The check-in process went much smoother and faster this year than last year, and I was much more at ease. However, right when I was ready to enter the testing room, my stomach felt horrible so I made a dash for the bathroom and spent a few minutes in there. When I came back, as soon as I got into the testing room, I knew I had to go to the bathroom again, but every time you go in and out, they have to scan you, and there were several others coming in at that moment getting scanned, and the instructors were ready to give the instructions, so I tried to keep my cool and held the contents of my stomach inside. My particular Praxis test was the Elementary Content--which includes four sub-tests totaling 4 1/2 hours of testing (90 minutes of Language Arts, and 60 minutes each in Math, Social Studies, and Science). No food or drinks, cell phones or personal belongings are allowed inside the testing center, so every time you need a drink or a bathroom break, a proctor has to come let you out, then you have to remain inside the immediate testing area or your test will be forfeited. I knew I needed to pace myself, but I also was feeling sick to my stomach; so about a half hour after starting my test, I was sweating profusely, and knew I couldn't hold it in any longer. Unfortunately, my language arts test was first (the longest one with the most questions which includes reading sections), and I wanted to get past that test before I ever took a bathroom break, but I just couldn't hold it any longer. When I left the testing room, the nearby bathrooms were already occupied, so I had to walk around to the other side of the floor to get to another set of bathrooms. I was kind of freaking out because it took more time, but also, I was worried that my stomach would never calm down and I'd have to use the bathroom every 30 minutes! I stayed in the bathroom longer this time than the previous time, just trying to make sure that my stomach was completely empty before I headed back to my testing room because I didn't want to leave again. Thankfully, I never had to again. I finished the Language Arts test with just about 5 minutes to spare, then I did the science and math tests really fast and ahead of the time allotted (they were all multiple choice questions), and the social studies is the one I struggled the most with. I had the hardest time studying for it, too. I didn't feel too good about my performance on it, but when I was finished with all 4 tests, the scores were shown on the screen. I had to have a proctor come back in to write them down because we're not allowed to leave the room with any of the scratch paper that was provided to us during the test. And I was so surprised, relieved, and elated to find that I had passed all four subtests!!! A passing score for Reading & Language Arts is 157, and I got 184. To pass math, you have to get at least 157 and my score was 188. A Science passing score is 155 and I received a 184. And finally, you have to get at least 155 to pass Social Studies and I got a 178. An added bonus was I finished my entire test in 3 hours, rather than 4.5. I felt on top of the world! I went shopping for a few things at WalMart, strolled around D.I., and I treated myself to dinner at Costa Vida before heading for home! When I got home after 10:00, everyone was in bed, but there were beautiful flowers, a card, and chocolate waiting for me on the counter from Josh. I was tickled with his nice and surprising gesture.

The smothered pull pork burrito is my fave.
Also, I'm in love with their Horchata drink!

Beautiful sunset by Gilmore

The card even sings!

I felt so much lighter on Friday after having the Praxis test behind me, and all my current college classes for this semester done. I spent the morning weeding and cleaning and scrubbing the house because my parents were coming for a visit that evening. After cleaning for hours, I took a shower, and I when I got out of the shower, the piece of a branch that's been stuck in my arm since Memorial Day weekend magically came out. It had been lodged in there for 6 weeks, and I thought it would remain there forever. If anyone pushed on a certain location on my arm, they could feel the hard piece of wood inside. I had tried over and over to get it out, but couldn't. I'd even had others try to get it out with tweezers, but it was too deep inside. I'd gone to the walk-in clinic on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, but it was closed. I'd finally resigned myself to the fact that it would be inside of me forever, or I'd have it surgically removed...I wasn't exactly sure which choice was better. But all week long, it had been bothering me. It was pinching, and hurting, and getting swollen, and I could squeeze pus out of the entrance hole for several days (which had been sealed shut for over a month previously). Anyways, when I got out of the shower, it looked like a solid piece of pus was sticking out of the hole, so I pulled it out (I wasn't wearing my glasses, so I couldn't see for sure was it was though). And it was a LONG piece, it just kept coming! It actually wasn't pus at all, it was the piece of wood that had gotten jammed inside while I was pruning bushes back in May! I couldn't believe how long it was: 3/4 of an inch!! I was so glad to get that sucker out of me, and was relieved that it came out all on its own without requiring surgery, too. Ammon went with the Cross Country team after lunch to head up to the Bitterroot Mountains for an overnighter before the Beaverhead Endurance Run the following day where the team was doing an aid station at the 50K point. Mom and Dad arrived after 5:30 (they'd had a small fender bender in the Wendy's parking lot in Idaho Falls so they'd gotten there later than they'd anticipated). We made taco salad for dinner, played games for a bit (chess with dad, cards with mom), and then they opted to sleep in the trailer for their two-night stay. 

the exit wound

Kanyon playing "chest" with Grandpa

Playing "Village Idiot" with Grandma

On Saturday morning, we took my parents for a drive. My dad had wanted to "DO" something while they were visiting us in Salmon. Josh and I each came up with a choice, and let him pick. Josh's choice was to drive up to Iron Lake, go fishing/floating on the lake, go hiking up to Taylor Mountain, and have a picnic. My choice was to drive to Crystal Park in Montana, have a picnic, and dig for crystals in the mountainside. Dad said he didn't bring his hiking shoes, so he opted for the Crystal Mountain choice. I was so happy! I've wanted to go there for years, but we never have. The 8th graders go there for their field trip, but when Ammon's class was scheduled to go there, the government was on shut-down for a few weeks, and as a result, the students didn't end up going. We drove the long way to get there: south to Tendoy and up and over Lemhi Pass to get into Montana. Dad had never been over Lemhi Pass but had desired to, so he liked that we went that way. When we got to the top of Lemhi Pass, we could see people waiting for some of the 100K runners to come through on the endurance run. We didn't see Ammon, though, because his aid station was 5 miles north of the road that goes over the pass. Then we drove through Grant, and up past Bannack. We originally wanted to stop and walk around that Ghost Town, but knew there wouldn't be enough time to do both Bannack and Crystal Mountain in a day, so we just stopped there for a bathroom break. We thought Dad would be interested in it, but he said he'd never heard of it and he didn't even get out of the car while we were stopped. Then we drove north to Crystal Park. We got there around lunch time, and had a picnic before we started digging. The Hobbs family was also there; they'd gone camping there the night before. That was so fun to run into them! We weren't quite prepared with the right tools; I'd just brought a few small shovels, so it was great that they shared their experience and tools with us, the screen was especially handy. The whole hillside was covered in digging holes; dad said it reminded him of war-stricken Vietnam with the bomb-struck holes everywhere. We dug and sifted for over two hours. We found lots of tiny and broken crystals, and filled up a couple of empty water bottles with them. It was fun, and also therapeutic to work in the dirt and find treasures! I told Dad it reminded me of that one time when we hiked up the Big Rock Candy Mountain down by Heber as a family when I was a kid, and he was leading our group, and we kept finding rock candies all over the trail to eat. It was SO exciting, and I remember thinking "this mountain really DOES produce rock candies!!". It wasn't until YEARS later that I saw a bag of candy shaped like rocks that I realized what he'd done. It was a magical hike that day when I was a kid. It was neat as an adult to find small treasures hidden inside the dirt of this mountain!! The Hobbs family left about an hour or so before us, but left some of their tools with us to use, which was nice. When we left, we drove east towards Wisdom, and stopped to have a nice dinner there before going home. Dad read one of the pamphlets in the restaurant while waiting for dinner to come, and he read all about Bannack, and said he'd like to go there with us sometime when he comes back (we just KNEW he would when we stopped by there earlier in the day, even though he seemed uninterested in it at the time). We got home pretty early that night, so we went on a 4-wheeler/motorcycle ride around the ranch. Unfortunately, I ran out of gas in my 4-wheeler, and Josh was tired & ornery, so we ended our ride short. However, we were entertained by mom and Kanyon after we got back home. Mom had never driven a 4-wheeler herself, so we had her drive the little 50 around. Because she's so short, she fit quite nicely on it, and she got braver and braver each loop she took around our driveway while riding it. Then Kanyon wanted to show us tricks on the 50 as well. We finished the day by playing cards with Grandma once again! It had been a super fun, super full day with my parents!

hiking up the hillside

Kanyon and Trevyn liked walking around together

David showing us how to use the screen

Kanyon with a "diamond" he found

Overlooking the pretty mountains and forest in the distance

Dad really wanted to find a big crystal like Aiden, but never did

Thanks Gina for the photo!

My mom didn't sit or dig: she just liked watching us!

Josh found this great little spot which was full of them!

I loved these pretty wildflowers that were all over!

Josh giving Dad instructions on how to drive it

Mom holding on for dear life!

Kanyon showing how to ride the 50

Mom tried the 50--and did great!

He's just showing off now!!

On Sunday morning, there was a huge rainstorm that came through. Mom and Dad were out in the trailer, and stayed there during its duration. Josh and Ammon were at the golf course working, and had to take cover because it was so heavy and came on so quickly. We all went to church together, then after Kanyon gave the talk in primary (on temples), he left with Mom and Dad to go back to Utah. The night before, Dad kept talking about having Kanyon stay with them this summer--and after thinking it over and going over our summer schedule, Josh and I realized it would actually work out the best for Kanyon to leave with them today for this coming week. We were all a little sad to see him go, but knew he would have a great time.