After school on Monday, Kanyon helped me pick the apples that were still left on our smaller apple tree (the bigger tree didn't produce in abundance this year). We got the new ladder out, and he climbed way up high and handed me all of the apples. This was the best year this particular apple tree has ever had: it produced so many more apples than ever before. We picked two baskets' worth. We ate dinner with Josh and the boys when they came home from XC practice, and had Family Home Evening together as well.
After school on Tuesday, we picked the rest of the pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. It was nice that we broke up this job into four different days, so that we didn't get burnt out. We loaded them onto the flatbed trailer ourselves that evening, and thankfully, Josh and the other boys came home in time to help us unload them onto crates in our garage. This is the first year that we've ever been able to store all the pumpkins in our own garage, which was a dream come true. The pumpkins filled up one entire bay, and it was a very fulfilling site. Kanyon and I were so glad to have this particular task of the pumpkin patch all done!
Wednesday evening is always so busy! After school, Kanyon went to scouts and I taught a piano lesson in town. The other 3 boys were at XC practice. After my lesson, I picked him up from scouts and took him to grab a bite to eat, then we went to the golf course to do his job of picking the driving range. I helped him out, and we were able to get the job done in about an hour and a half. Meanwhile, the boys finished their practice and went home. Josh got done driving his bus route, and began the task of digging up all our potatoes. We planted them in the garden plot close to our house this year, instead of in the pumpkin patch, and they didn't do so well: the soil wasn't rich enough for them, and we had WAY smaller potatoes than normal, and WAY less than usual, too. He made dinner for everyone after he got done with that job. As Kanyon and I were on our way home after 7:00 that night, we hit a deer. I was following a horse trailer on the highway, and was waiting for the double yellow lines to stop and the dotted lines to start so that I could pass it. I could see that two cars were approaching in the opposite direction, so I knew I just needed to wait and follow it for a little bit longer before I could pass. I wasn't looking for deer, because I was in a spot where I've never seen deer pass before. The first car from the other lane came past me, and I was waiting for the 2nd car, when the deer ran from that side of the road, across that lane (in front of that 2nd car), and behind the horse trailer in my lane. I slammed on my brakes (I was only going about 45 mph at the time). and my car slightly veered to the right. Because of that slight veering, my front right bumper hit the deer's back leg as it was leaving the road into the borrow pit. I knew instantaneously that the light was probably knocked out. But I couldn't hear any metal or tires rubbing so I kept driving. It wasn't until I got home that I surveyed the damage. It could've been a LOT worse! It broke the light, bent the corner of the hood, indented the fender, and the impact pressed all the metal on the side so that it prevented the passenger door from opening. Josh was so mad when he first saw it, because he'd had a stressful day, and saw it as a financial problem, rather than a minor affliction. We'd taken off full coverage on this vehicle last fall, so we knew we couldn't pay to have it fixed. However, upon closer inspection, nothing was damaged in the engine, and it wasn't rubbing the tires, so it really was just a cosmetic problem. He used a pry bar to push back the hood from the passenger door's hinges, and got the door to open and close, but with a popping sound each time. The next night, he ordered a new light box to replace the broken one as well. Kanyon and I were fine, except Kanyon (who'd been riding in the backseat), knocked his knees on the back of my seat when I braked suddenly, and his knees hurt for a couple of days. I knew I needed this car to be able to travel to various destinations in the upcoming weeks, so I was extremely grateful that the impact wasn't worse!
Jonah and Micah turned 13 on Thursday. They'd already had their friend birthday party the previous week, but we still celebrated with dinner, dessert, and gifts for them on their actual birthday. Jonah picked his birthday meal of chicken enchiladas and homemade salsa (Micah also got to pick his favorite meal, but we ate it on Sunday). It was yummy! I don't make chicken enchiladas much, but we all love them! And this was just my third time ever of making homemade salsa, but it turned out really well and I was rather proud of it! Micah picked the birthday dessert of chocolate/peanut butter pizza, which was also a first for me, but everyone seemed to like it! The boys opened their presents after dinner. They'd helped me shop for them a few weeks prior, so they knew almost all of the presents they were receiving. However, Josh bought them suit jackets (which they'd wanted) as well as a double inflatable kayak (because they both love floating on the water), and both were a fun surprise for them.
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| I'd bough them birthday balloons and tied them to their chairs, and when they came home from school, I realized that they were already wearing matching colored shirts! |
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| Happy 13!! |
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| Jonah with his dinner choice of chicken enchiladas and homemade salsa with chips. |
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| Ready to open their gifts! |
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| Trying to figure out what this thing is: an inflatable double kayak! |
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| Jonah with his gifts |
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| Micah with his arrangement of gifts |
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| Micah's dessert choice: chocolate peanut butter pizza! |
Josh and the three older boys left Friday morning to go to Boise for the Bob Firman XC meet. They stopped at Craters of the Moon on the way, and had a short run around some of the trails. When they arrived in Boise, they went to Eagle Island, ran the race course, then went to the hotel, changed clothes, and had a team dinner at a nice Italian restaurant in Meridian. I worked on my college math class project, had a college phone call appointment with an advisor, taught a piano lesson, went to late lunch with a friend, had a hair appointment, taught another piano lesson, picked another basket of peaches off the trees, and worked on my college class some more. I was sad that I couldn't go to Boise, but I stayed busy all day so that I wouldn't have to think about the fact that I was missing another sports meet of my kids. I'm so grateful that Josh drives bus, so that when I am unable to go, he is there for them! He enjoyed However, I did finish reading the 2nd Harry Potter book to Kanyon that night at bed time, which was exciting, and we looked forward to watching the movie ourselves the following day since the other boys would still be gone.
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| At Craters of the Moon. Ammon, Jonah, and Micah are all on the left. Ammon is wearing a gray sweatshirt with orange shorts, Jonah is right next to him with an orange hoodie, and Micah's head is visible right behind Johnny. |
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| The team right before dinner. Jonah and Micah are in the front, wearing white shirts. Ammon is in the back wearing a black shirt. |
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| Jonah and Micah's dinner table group |
On Saturday morning, Kanyon and I picked a lot of corn. There was still quite a bit that wasn't matured yet, but we went through all 3 rows picking what was. I shucked the corn (he helped a little bit), and spent all afternoon scrubbing, cooking, and cutting it to prepare it for storage in freezer quart bags. We picked about 130 ears of corn that day, which translated into 30 quarts of freezer corn; we saved about 15 cobs to have for dinner the following day, too. That evening, we watched the 2nd Harry Potter movie together. Meanwhile, the XC teams from Salmon had a great day. The HS girls got 3rd overall in their division. Ammon ran a great 5k race with the HS Boys: he had a time of 18:42; he really likes that course. He was the 3rd runner for our team, and placed 72 out of 258 total runners in his division. The Middle School girls also placed 3rd, and the Middle School boys team was 1st out of 28 schools! Micah ran the 2 mile course in 11:36, and was the 6th runner for our team; he placed 48th overall. Jonah ran the course in 12:14, and was 83rd out of 349 runners. It was an exciting day, with great weather, and the boys had a good time. Josh got to visit with lots of extended family and friends throughout the course of the day, too (the races were staggered between numerous divisions all day long). Gideon, Teddy, Grandma & Grandpa T., and cousin Ryan all came to support our boys, as well, which was so nice! The bus got home really late that night--around midnight, and everyone was pooped from their exhausting weekend.
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| Ammon fluffling his hair to get ready for the HS boys race! |
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| Run, Ammon, Run! |
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| Go Micah! |
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| Smile, Jonah, this is supposed to be fun! |
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| Ammon got new shorts/socks while he was in Boise and LOVED them!!! When I first saw this photo, I burst out laughing! I'm so proud of my boys! |
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| Our Middle School boys--1st place winners!!! |
On Sunday evening, the Pace's joined us for dinner. It was Micah's turn to choose, and he wanted Toby's family to come. Micah also got to pick the meal, because we hadn't eaten his birthday dinner yet, so he picked corn-on-the-cob, mashed potatoes, and BBQ chicken. It was super yummy! The kids played outside for a bit after dinner, and Josh and I visited with Dustin and Amber on the deck. When it started to get dark, we came inside and ate apple crisp with ice cream that Amber had brought, and we played the game of Things together. It was hilarious fun!! I honestly can't believe I didn't click a single pic of our evening with them.
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| Kanyon often wears clothes that are too small for him, and he doesn't even care. His "flood" pants he likes to wear to church are quite a sight, especially with white socks, and I giggled this particular Sunday when I saw him walking around! Also, he likes this shirt, but it's also too small for him, so what he does is undo the buttons on the sleeves in order to be more comfortable. You have to look really closely to notice it in this pic. The kid truly has dress clothes that fit him; he just chooses to wear these instead! |
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