June 2017 - Week 2

June 12: My first day at the TMT (Teaching Mathematical Thinking) college credit math class in Idaho Falls. It went by pretty quickly--our assigned instructor was gone, so his replacement was a female, and she kept things going at a fast pace. There was a power outage due to a sudden windstorm early in the day, so we got an extended lunch too! My coworkers Kim, Janna, and I just ate sandwiches back at our hotel room for lunch, but we treated ourselves to dinner after the class ended for the day at the Indian restaurant that I love--Tandoori Oven. It was so good! Also, I got this photo from my mom of Kanyon playing chess with Grandpa. She and Grandpa also took Kanyon and his cousin Abby to see the movie Captain Underpants in the theater. It made me so happy to hear that he was enjoying his time with them!

June 13: Our regular math instructor came back, and he delved deeper into the lessons, and also gave us more time to figure out problems and work with our table. He walked around and talked to each group after every problem, so the day seemed to go by a lot slower. One particular problem--the chocolate milk task--really irritated me! I couldn't figure it out, and every time I tried, I got a different answer! After that, whenever I got frustrated or bored, I made designs out of the linking cubes (math manipulatives) that were on the table, and that seemed to focus my creative energy! I discovered that I sort of knew one of the ladies sitting at my math table (besides Kim and Janna of course)! She used to be married to Josh's 2nd cousin--her mother-in-law is Josh's dad's 1st cousin from Jerome. I totally remember meeting her once at a family reunion many years ago, and have heard Sally (her mother in law) refer to Darci and her 3 kids before. She also knows my friend Kerry, so that was a fun surprise! I loved that we were at the same table together! She was hilarious fun, and was kind enough to even bring me fountain Dr. Pepper two mornings later that week! It was very rainy all that day, so we ate our lunch back at our hotel room again. That evening, Janna and I went to the newly re-dedicated Idaho Falls temple. We ate dinner in the cafeteria and did a session in addition to some initial work. It was so wonderful to be back in the temple there again! In Salmon, there was so much rainfall received that day that Josh had to cancel Men's League that night due to excessive water on the course. He doesn't ever remember having to cancel Men's League before for that reason in the 17 seasons he's worked there, so that was a pretty big deal!

I built a patterned wall!

my (sort of related) friend Darci

June 14: In Salmon, the day started out foggy but it began to clear up, and by afternoon, the skies were blue and summer had returned! We were happy to see the sun that day in Idaho Falls as well. Janna, Kim, and I ate our lunch outside at a park near the school that our class was at, which was a nice change. That evening, Eve drove over from Rexburg to Idaho Falls to meet me. We had dinner together at a Vietnamese place that neither of us had ever been to before. I really liked their noodles! Then we went to the movies afterwards to see "Megan Leavy"--based on a true story of a woman who was in the Marines and trained a combat dog. I totally cried! I hate crying in the theater--it's so painful because I'm trying not to sob! It was great seeing Eve; I needed a friend to talk to, and she was just what I needed to be around to get out and relax! My mom took Kanyon swimming at the Natatorium in Tremonton during the day--he had a lot of fun (he was really looking forward to swimming a lot this summer, and my mom helped him make that wish come true!).

Josh captured this on the golf course
that morning amidst all the fog

Look at all the new snow on the mountain!

I love the contrasts in this photo: from the
green grass to the white-capped mountains,
and the stripes on the fairways vs. the tall
hay grass on the neighboring ranch. I like the
short smooth pond in contrast to the tall,
textured trees, and the fountain in the center

At the natatorium, my mom got this photo of Kanyon ready to jump in.
There's a viewing area for non-swimmers in an upstairs area with bleachers

My 2nd pattern using linking cubes

I loved the decor on the walls!
Also, those noodles were delicious!

June 15: My mom took Kanyon to the Tremonton library park that afternoon with my sister-in-law BreAnne and her son Brendan. Kanyon and Brendan played together really well! I'm glad for the opportunity he had to spend time with cousins while he stayed with my parents! In my math class, the same ladies sat at the same table every day, so by the 4th day we were getting along pretty well. We decided to all go to lunch together out at the Thai Kitchen. It was a lot of fun! And I really liked the food! I love trying new food, and I love eating out with others, so it was a great combination! It was my favorite part of the day! After the class ended for the day, I drove to Blackfoot to go to a dinner at a fellow MMoM's house. I belong to the facebook group Mormon Moms of Multiples, and one of them was hosting a dinner. Since I was going to be nearby, I committed to going. There were only 2 other moms who came besides me and the host, so it was kind of a flop. I stopped at John and Linette's house on my way back to Idaho Falls, and had a nice visit with them. I called Josh after I left there, and talked to him on the phone the rest of the way back to my hotel. He told me that the twins had ridden their motorbikes to Roylance's house that afternoon, and then to the Bennett's house out on Kirtley Creek as well. They all spent the night at Colter's house, which was a fun treat for them. He also told me about the funniest piece of mail he'd gotten that day--my mom had gotten Josh a Father's Day card and had Kanyon write on it before sending it in the mail to Josh since she knew Kanyon wouldn't be home in Salmon for Father's Day. What he wrote was so raw and honest, it was a crack up!!

McDonald's chicken nuggets are his new favorite--he says he doesn't like
Burger King's chicken nuggets anymore after trying the McDonald's ones,
because the McDonald's ones are so much better! 

Darci, Kim, Janna, Susan, and Daralee at the Thai restaurant. 

My 3rd (and 4th) block designs--I moved on from patterns to images

This arrived a few days in the mail
BEFORE Father's Day. Too bad!!! haha

June 16: My LAST day of the TMT college class!!! Yay! We even got an early release, which was fantastic! I had learned a lot in the class, and was so glad that I'd had the opportunity to go. There were about 40 teachers in the class, and I met and talked to so many of them, which was so nice. But it had been a long week and I was so excited to go home! I had to do a bit of shopping first, though. After doing all the mundane shopping, I purchased a new camera that I've been longing to get for years, thanks to my parents (they sent me some college graduation money, and I saved it just for that purpose). I was so excited to see my family again that nightd, and to sleep in my own bed, too! I really missed it after sharing a queen bed all week with my coworker.

My last block design. The instructor is wearing the black shirt in the front of the
room. A lady at the table in front of me reminded me so much of my Aunt
Candi. Her hair was the same color, her height was similar, her grin was similar,
and her profile was uncannily similar. I couldn't stop staring at her for the
first two days. She is just to the left of the teacher in this picture. 

June 17 Jonah and Micah were heading to Scout Camp at Bear Lake with my dad the following week, so I drove back down to Idaho Falls after lunch to take them to meet up with my dad that afternoon. At the last minute, Josh decided to drive down with me, which was so nice! We dropped off the boys, their scout backpacks, and extra overnight bags with my dad, and he took them back to Tremonton with him. Josh and I did a little bit more shopping, then drove to Salmon and hung out with the Jackson's for a bit. We played corn hole and dominoes, snacked, talked, and laughed! I enjoyed spending the day with my husband; I'd really missed him all week!

Josh captured this beautiful rainbow on the
golf course that morning

I was so glad that I was able to witness this Peonia blooming
by our back porch--I was afraid I'd missed it being gone all
week. For some reason, out of my two plants, I only get one
amazingly awesome bloom each year!

My new friend Susan from the math class
gave me these earrings, so I wore them
the day after my class ended. I love them!

Josh and Phil hanging out on the swing
that Phil built out of a trampoline frame!

Phil gave Daniel some drink shots he didn't
want, and I successfully made a tower out
of them after several patiently-placed attempts

June 18: Father's Day! Unfortunately, the only child home was Ammon, and he was gone all day playing in a tournament, but he did leave left Josh a nice surprise gift on his recliner that morning! The twins had gone shopping for him at the Amish store the previous day and had gotten him some of his favorite things, and Kanyon sent that (funny) card earlier in the week, so he wasn't completely forgotten on his special day! I got Josh a new charcoal cooker for camping, and a side-by-side inflatable tube for floating the river. We went to dinner together that night at The Broken Arrow up in Gibbonsville because they were having a special prime rib dinner just for Father's Day. Josh had never had smoked prime rib before--it was nice! It was an untraditional Father's Day, but I admit that I was happy to have the opportunity to spend more one-on-one time with him!

"Engine Ruiner" is in reference to the
mower that Josh and Ammon use to mow
their personal clients' lawns with--Ammon
accidentally burnt up the engine in it
earlier that week. It got overheated on a
large job he did on a super hot day. 

June 2017 - Week 1

June 5: The younger boys and I were so happy to have summer come, so that we could finally sleep  in! And after our busy weekend in Pocatello, we definitely slept in on our first Monday morning of the summer! That afternoon, I took Kanyon to town to sign him up for the Library Summer Reading Program. We were astounded at how high the water levels were for the Salmon River! The Island Park was flooded in town, and the Shoup Bridge Campground was flooded near the bridge on our way home. 

See the bench?! There's usually a park there!

The campground was flooded in the parking area.
P.S. That's a temporary bridge that was put in this spring as they rip out the
current one-lane bridge and construct a two-lane bridge in its place. 

June 6: Water levels rose even higher today! The twins helped fill sandbags in town for a couple hours (for people who's homes are affected by the flooding) while Kanyon and I did errands in town.

This is the same campground as the previous day's picture, but the water levels
rose to reach the stumps near the entrance! I've never seen water reach that before!

June 7: Josh took me on a motorbike ride down river. We wanted to see how the river looked past North Fork. It was unbelievable! It looked like a lake in spots, the rapids were super high and fast in other areas, and parts of the bank had washed away in others. There was even a house that was getting sucked away, too! It was a beautiful first ride of the summer!

 

We saw these Bighorn Sheep next to the road
on the way to and from down river!

June 8: I got my haircut and colored with Kerry that afternoon, and Josh took a motorbike ride up to Iron Lake. The road was still snow-covered in spots, and although he made it through some of the snow, he was unable to make it all the way in. I went to Bunco that night, and it was so much fun! It's the most people that have come since I've attended--we had 5 tables of ladies!!

June 9: Our Stake Youth Conference was today, in conjunction with a ward from Boise. There was a devotional that afternoon, then a service project at the Sacajawea Center, BBQ dinner at the Guard Station up Williams Creek Road, then an outdoor dance at the Hwy 28 building pavilion. It was a lot of fun--especially the dance! Josh is in the Stake YM, so he helped with the service project, and made dinner at guard station, and I helped drive youth to/from the dinner and went with him to the dance.

I think he's so cute when he laughs!

June 11: After church, I drove down to Idaho Falls to spend the week to attend a college class required by the State of Idaho for certification. I stayed at a hotel with two other ladies from Salmon, Kim and Janna, who were taking the same class. I drove Kanyon down with me, and my parents met me in Idaho Falls to pick him up and take him home with them for the week while I was away. Josh and Ammon work every day, and the twins were busy changing irrigation pipe and helping with hay season with Grandpa T., so having Kanyon go to my parents' home while I was gone was the best choice to provide him with some consistency each day, and a fun opportunity to spend one on one time with my parents as well.

This was the view from our hotel room window! Loved it!

The Falls on the Snake River were fuller than I've ever seen them, too!
It was breathtaking! 

June 2017 - End of School/Beginning of Summer

Since summer has been so busy, I'm going to blog it one week at a time rather than trying to cram a month of fun into one super long post! However, June started on a weekend, rather than a full week, so I'll start with just that!

Our last day of school was Thursday, June 1. The high school/junior high had their annual bbq and games on that day, and the elementary had kindergarten graduation that morning. The school day started with a graduate's parade through the elementary--consisting of both graduating seniors AND kindergarten graduates! It was so fun! Then they walked right into the gym and the kindergarten graduates walked onto the stage for their program. I stood behind my little friend Ben the whole time, trying to remain unseen. He did so well, and I was super proud of him! After graduation ended, and the class party was done, I helped the teacher clean up the classroom until school got out. Thankfully, it was an early release--everybody was so excited to be out for the summer! Jonah and Micah went to a friend's house for a party for several hours after school, until Micah had to ref a soccer game in town that evening, and Kanyon came home with me.  

Two Kindergarteners Brylee and Ben, in front of the bulletin board I made
to go along with the Graduation Theme "Oh the Places You'll Go"

I was in charge of lining the students up in the halls until all the students
had graduated, then I took them back onstage for their parents to find them.

Some of the parents had made this awesome decorative banner/balloon arch
the night before. It looked terrific and was a great backdrop for graduation!

Kanyon with his 4th grade teacher Mrs. Clarke.
She was so amazing and we are so grateful he had her!

June 2: Jonah and Micah left that morning with the stake youth to head to Pocatello for the Idaho Falls Temple Youth Cultural Celebration the following night. They'd been practicing weekly since March, learning songs and dances with other youth in our stake, the same songs and dance steps as all the participants learned. They left on a bus, drove to Pocatello, had practice all day in Holt Arena (with thousands of other eastern Idaho youth), and spent the night at host family's houses that night (which they both TOTALLY loved!). I was supposed to be a chaperone for the event, but learned the previous week that I was no longer needed, which worked out great for me, because then I could go to the High School graduation that night instead. Ammon's best friend Eli was a senior this year, so Ammon stayed home from the YCC event practice that day in order to go to the graduation that night, too. Graduation was fantastic--lasting just an hour. The valedictorians did a joined talk, where each of them had their own part they wrote but it went along well with what the others said, which was nice. And the speaker was Nola Barningham, which was a fabulous choice--her talk was was so inspiring! I like how the programs were printed on fans, so you could cool yourself down in the hot gym during the graduation (something we should do again next year when Ammon's class graduates!) I was so glad I was able to go to it! After graduation ended, we took photos outside for a while before Ammon and I left to drive down to a hotel in Idaho Falls for the night, so that we could meet up with our stake at the drop-off location the next morning in Pocatello for him to attend the second day's practice and YCC event the following night. 

Best Buds Tim Barningham, Eli Jackson, and Ammon Tolman

The Jackson family

...just because he's so handsome

June 3: Ammon and I woke up early, ate breakfast, and met up at the Highland Stake Center in Pocatello at 8:00 with our youth group. We figured out where his costume packet was, where he was supposed to go, and then I said goodbye and headed back to Idaho Falls to take a shower and check out of my hotel room. Then I had the day to myself! I did a little shopping, took myself out to lunch, went to a movie, and relaxed until it was time to meet up again at the Highland Church with David and Gina that evening so we could ride to the Holt Arena together (parking was limited there). The Holt Arena was jam-packed with people--12,000 participating youth and another 12,000 in the audience. It was the hottest day of the year so far, over 90*, and the combination of the amount of people inside with the heat outside made the building stifling. It was incredibly hot and moist, and smelled like a giant locker room! I sat by the Williams', Hobbs', and Beyeler's. We got there early, and weren't impressed with the youth director--the lady was very ornery. Apparently all the youth were tired of her too, because they weren't listening to what she said and she repeated it in the microphone a dozen times, which was annoying! FINALLY, as it was getting ready to start, the youth settled down, the lady stopped talking, and as President Eyring came in on a giant modified golf cart, the arena went silent and everyone stood up. It was incredible! He spoke for a few minutes before the celebration production got underway. There was multiple songs, dances, acting parts, and video throughout the one-plus hour program detailing the history of the area, and the history of the temple being built. It was very inspiring, and very cool to see all the youth with their coordinated movements during the dance numbers, and the different costume pieces they wore to add effect. I like how the giant structure in front was changed and reconfigured for each of the different sections of the program, and how it eventually became the shape of the Idaho Falls Temple. One of the boys' favorite songs was the Spud song--you could feel the excitement the youth had in performing it, and seeing the giant potato sacks being thrown around during the dance was hilarious! For the last song, "The Spirit of God", the kids all turned on their individual LED lights, and the Angel Moroni was suddenly lifted up through the top of the temple stucture. It was magical and I felt the spirit so strong! I'm glad the boys had the opportunity to participate in the Youth Cultural Celebration, and that they were willing to participate in it, too!!! After the celebration ended, the bus drove the youth back to the Highland church parking lot again where we met up with them. The stake provided them with pizza, and then I checked them out to drive home. We left the church about 10:30pm. Right after we got on the freeway, we realized that there was a massive traffic jam due to thousands of people being on the road and the six-mile-long, one-lane road construction ahead. It took almost 3 hours to make it through those 6 miles. It was SOOOO frustrating! We couldn't drive through the median to get on the southbound lanes in order to take an alternate route because the police were ticketing anyone who did so, and there was no exit until the road construction ended! We were truly stuck! After an already tiring day, we didn't make it home to Salmon until 3:30 that morning. We drove Hannah home and dropped her off, so it was 4:00am before we got to our own home and beds. 

This is owned by the son of the Logan Restaurant's
owner. I'm in love with Indian food now! It was divine!

Taking myself on a date!

I watched a matinee by myself of Snatched

President Eyring's entrance and address

The youth were separated into 4 districts, based on their stake location.
We were in the yellow district. 

Ammon front and center

Micah, center

Jonah, center

June 4: The temple dedication was in 3 sessions that day, and took the place of having our regular church. But, we didn't make it to any of them. The older 3 boys and I slept for most of the day as a result from getting home so late. I seriously didn't even wake up until around noon! We had lunch with Josh's family, and then I went back to bed for a few hours. Josh had a meeting with the Stake Youth leaders that night regarding the upcoming youth conference, and then he had to work for a little bit at the golf course fertilizing greens, so I went into town with him. I love watching him work! I'm always interested at all the different things he has to know how to do for his job--and I love seeing the beautiful landscape of the golf course develop throughout the summer as a result of all his hard work.