September 2017

Eastern Idaho State Fair

Josh and I got tickets to see Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall at the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot at the beginning of September. The tickets were to see both comedians, on two different days. However, Josh ended up being unable to go to both shows with me. He came with me to see Jeff Foxworthy on Friday, September 1, and then Kanyon was my date to see Bill Engvall on Thursday, September 7. Josh really likes Jeff Foxworthy's humor, but I personally prefer Bill Engvall. I totally loved Jeff Foxworthy's show, but I was unfortunately rather disappointed with Bill Engvall. Jeff was funny, kept the show going, and interested the crowd. I think Bill may have been drunk? His stories were sluggish, slow, and it felt like a long show with minimal laughs in comparison to Foxworthy's show. All in all, the tickets were a great price, and I'm glad we had the opportunity to go--as we've never been to a comedian show before. The food was outstanding, and I enjoyed spending time with Josh as well as one-on-one time with Kanyon. 

The funnel cakes are always a must for us!

We also love the Tortatoes!

Waiting to see Jeff Foxworthy

Jeff Foxworthy

Kanyon got deep fried cheese curds, and I tried
bacon on a stick. 

We played giant Connect 4!

One of Kanyon's favorite parts of the fair
was feeding the goats in the petting zoo.
He was laughing constantly as they ate
right out of his palms!

We paid a little extra to see the most giant
pig in the west. He was sleeping, but his
backside was giantly frightening!

Kanyon also got a Tiger's Ear (giant scone)

He liked drizzling designs on it with the honey butter

Bill Engvall

 New School Year

Since Ammon was the team captain for the XC team this year, he offered to have a boys team breakfast at our house on the morning of Labor Day. There wasn't an official practice planned that day, so he speared up a run with the boys' team. They met at our house early that morning, went for a run together in the area, and came back for a team breakfast. Josh cooked pancakes and sausages for the boys. The kids stayed for a bit, playing the wii together. It was so fun to host the event, and I'm proud of Ammon for suggesting it!!! School in Salmon started the next morning, Tuesday September 5--Ammon began his senior year, and Jonah and Micah began their last Jr. High year as 8th graders. 

Smokin'

Although the first photo is unrelated to the other two, I just gotta say that my husband is smokin' hot!! I absolutely LOVE riding the streetbike with him! It's become one of my favorite pastimes in the summer, and as fall's weather changes, I know it's something that I get less and less of, so I appreciate them even more! We had some smoky days in Salmon this fall as a result of nearby forest fires. In fact, when Ammon went for his senior photo shoot, there was so much smoke in the sky, it made for blurry backgrounds, and weird lighting, so we had to reschedule and re-take them. Although the air quality is always troublesome, smoky skies do make for some gorgeous sunsets, as well as interesting colors that change the glow of the sun and the moon. 

I love his long hair that curls out above/behind his ears!

Tiger/Grizz XC Invitational

The annual XC meet was on Friday, September 8. I left after work, and thankfully got there in time to see the start of Ammon's race, as well as all of the junior high boys' race. Ammon was disappointed in his race--he hadn't been feeling well all week, and the smoke in Salmon made it worse. He was the 5th runner for our team, coming in behind Treygan (who is a Freshman), which made him feel like he wasn't a team leader. We were so proud of him, though--it is hard to run when you're sick, and he definitely gave it his all! His time was 19:34.3, and was the 35th of 85 runners. In the Jr. High 2500m race, Micah ran a time of 9:58.9! He was under 10 minutes!! Jonah also did well, with a time of 10:28.0. It was a hot day, and the Jr. High boys were the last to run. They did awesome! Micah was the 18th runner individually, and the 2nd from their team to complete the race, and Jonah was in 40th place and was the 7th place member of the team. Both boys helped their team score 2nd place overall. 

I loved this moment after the race!

Homecoming

Homecoming week was early this year: September 11-16! I drove back to Salmon for the festivities on Wednesday and Friday, but sadly missed the rest. Josh went to Buff Puff on Monday, and thankfully another senior's mom Dawn Aldous captured some images of Ammon throughout the week, so it didn't make the distance feel quite as far. The festivities were as follows: Monday--Buff Puff, Tuesday--home volleyball game, Wednesday--skits and lip syncs, Thursday--Powder Puff and bonfire, Friday--parade and football game, Saturday--XC meet at Challis and dance.

He loves to pull out his shorty shorts for public occasions!

The crowd at the home volleyball game. I love Ammon's outfit for orange & black day!

Josh joined the staff in their lip sync dance.
He was one hot Backstreet Boy!!!

The men rocked the dance-off against the ladies in the staff lipsync. 

Ammon played the part of a Salmon football player in the senior skit. 

He was "water" in the lipsync--they did a fun
one with Moana music. 

This was Hannah's answer to Ammon about being his date for the Homecoming
dance. When we got home from Skits/Lip Syncs, this was on his bed. The poster
read: "Sorry to keep you in SUSPENSE for my answer, but I couldn't "PICTURE"
going with anyone else! YES!"

Jonah and Micah rode on the XC float in the parade. Jonah is on the other
side (unseen in this photo as usual), and Micah is on the far left.
It was a cold, rainy, wet day for a parade!!

Ammon rode on the senior float. Maddy Beyeler
did the float--it was a Super Mario theme.

I drove home to Salmon for the second time
that week on Friday. It was snowing on the drive.
Someone had made a snowman by the side of the
road, which was super funny to me!

At the football game--we lost. Ammon is on the top right in a gray shirt. 

After the XC race in Challis, we rushed home to
get ready for the dance. These two looked
so coordinated and handsome together!

What a great group of kids: Eve Garrett and Steven VanZuyen, Kaitlyn Burgess
and Wylie Teller, Katie Jo Gebhardt and Andy Gebhardt, Katherine Berasi and
Kyle, Rachel Gebhardt and Ethan Jones, and Hannah and Ammon. 

What a good-looking stud!

Challis XC Meet

This is one of our family's favorite meets! I love how spectator-friendly it is. We didn't camp overnight at it this year, though, because of homecoming dance that night. The weather was beautiful for it, and the skies were thankfully clear of smoke, which was nice. In the middle school boys' race, Micah placed 2nd with a time of 9:04.8, and Jonah placed 9th with a time of 9:31.0. Micah was also the second runner from our team, and Jonah was the 6th runner from Salmon. Their team placed first in the race overall. Ammon also had a great race, and felt much better about his performance than the previous week's race in Idaho Falls--plus his health was improving, which was nice. He ran the 5K in 18:26.4 and was the 4th runner in from the Salmon team. He was 9th place in the division.  

Kanyon misses his friend Aidan, and was so happy
to see him at the XC meet. They ran around together
for a few hours, which was so heartwarming to see. 

It's hard to get both Jonah and Micah in the same photo during a XC race,
but I was able to capture it here!

Jonah beat Colton by 3 tenths of a second at the finish line!

In the 5K race, they go through this water crossing twice. 

My bright orange supporters!

They all had a great race!

Jonah and Micah's Birthday

Due to their XC schedule, we celebrated Jonah and Micah's birthday in 3 segments. First came the gifts--they got to open them a day early because on their actual birthday, they were heading to Boise for the Bob Firman XC meet. They got new church pants, and the big gift: iPhones!!! Aunt Barb also made them a cake, and they got money and gift cards from their grandparents. On their actual birthdate (the 22nd), I took them to see a BSU football game that night. It was their first college game they'd ever seen in person. I drove to Boise from Mud Lake and picked them up from their hotel after they'd already previewed the course. Unfortunately, they had to miss the team dinner, but they'd been to that same restaurant the previous year, so they were okay with that. Sadly, BSU lost the game. Thankfully, the weather was nice, and we got to visit Gideon and Alyssa afterwards and see their new house before heading back to the hotel, so that was fun. My spud harvest break began the 26th the following week, so we had their family dinner on the 27th. They chose chicken enchiladas for the meal, and each of them picked different desserts: Peanut Butter Chocolate Cups and Cornflake Cookies. I can't believe these boys are already 14 years old! They have grown up so much, and are becoming fine young men! They are the best hard workers, and do so much good for others. I'm grateful to be their mom! We love them so much!

I really admired the city in the glowing sun behind the stadium. 

Touchdown!

Bob Firman XC Meet

I haven't made it to the Bob Firman meet ever! It's the largest meet of the season (there were 44 teams in Ammon's division and 33 teams in the middle school boys race), and was held in Boise on September 23. I was glad I got to go this year. However, there was such a long line of cars to get into the single entrance that I nearly missed Ammon's race. I only saw half of it, which was quite upsetting to me! I ran into the race, freaking out because I thought I'd missed it all, but thankfully I only missed one of two loops and I got to see him finish. It was quite foggy that morning and a little chilly. Ammon had the best race of the season at Bob Firman; he ran the 5K in under 18 minutes! His time was 17:59.44! That's outstanding! There were several hours in between Ammon's race and the twins' race, so I took Kanyon shopping for a bit in between, and when we came back, the weather was much nicer. By then, his friend Aidan had come as well, so the two of them played by the lake until it was time for the twins' race. This race was a 3K, rather than the 2.5K they had been running, so their time isn't comparable to the other races of the season. Both boys had a great race again: Micah finished with a time of 10:53.46 to score a medal in 15th place. Jonah had another excellent finish, beating several teammates with a time of 11:48.21. Salmon Jr. High boys scored First place overall in the team scores! They beat out 32 other schools to get that title, which is impressive! As always, Salmon was the last bus to pull out of the parking lot after the events of the long day. Kanyon rode the bus back to Salmon with Josh and the boys, as I had a workday on Monday, but Kanyon was on Spud Harvest. I took myself out to dinner at Thai restaurant, and then I drove to Nampa to stay with Darcy and her friend Liz overnight. Darcy and I relaxed in the hot tub, and chatted for a while. It was nice to catch up with her, as I hadn't seen her since she started nail school in August in Boise. 

Kanyon went with me to Zurcher's. This
costume he tried on cracked me up!!!

I like what the boys scratched into the sand--very fitting!

There he is again sporting the shorty shorts!!

Checking out the scoreboard to discover their team was FIRST!

What a sexy sight to see as we waited for the medals to be handed out.

For the 2nd year in a row, Micah medaled
individually at the Bob Firman meet!

Salmon had 4 runners in the top 20! And their 5th runner was 21st!

The most important people in my life are all on that bus!

I love mango sticky rice!

Baptism

Josh was able to baptize our friend Daniel on the evening of Friday the 29th, right before we left to go to Utah. They'd become good friends ever since we did the Moonlight 5K Walk together in June. It was an honor for Josh to perform the baptism.  

Garden

I love growing our own food! Every weekend I came home in September, I'd pull ripened food out of the garden to eat. It was wonderful! During the last week of September, when I was home for Harvest Break, I cooked and bagged all the corn. Kanyon helped me shuck the corn (as the other boys were all still in school in Salmon during the day), and we shucked over 100 ears of corn to create 27 quarts of cooked, frozen bagged corn. He also helped me dig potatoes, pull onions, and pick apples and raspberries. This year, I got the most raspberries I've ever gotten before out of our garden. It seemed liked endless picking every weekend! I made a few rounds of freezer jam, and also froze several quarts of whole raspberries. We grow two varieties: golden and red. They are so delicious!

In all the years we've had a garden, I've never gotten so many raspberries in one picking!
It was rather exciting to see how much they produced this year!

I sorted them out for freezer jams. 

We grew two types of potatoes this year: yukon gold and red. The onions had
a better time this year than the last few years as well. 

I dehydrated apples,  made apple desserts, and donated a basket worth to
Lemhi After School Promise. 

It is such a process making freezer corn!

I find this method works best for keeping
the cut corn contained!

I love admiring my full day's work!

One day over harvest break I weeded out this pathway along the flowers
that had become overgrown and messy. It looked rather nice when I was done!