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| It felt so uplifting when the bushes/trees started blooming! |
PROJECTS
PROJECT #1: Change the Landscaping along the back of the house
in order to make room for our future hot tub.
This was the biggest project we did outside our home in May, and it took about a week to complete. Josh built the rock walkway between the deck and the cement steps 8 years ago. It's a beautiful path, but there have been some problematic areas around it: 1. although there's a flowerbed next to the walkway, the pansies keep spreading and are constantly growing up in the sand between the rocks, 2. it's hard for the mower to get close along the perimeter of the rock edge due to the steep, sloping terrain right by it, so it has to be weed-eated constantly, 3. the rock walkway has to be weeded a lot due to the weeds growing in and around the rocks, and 4. the grass has a hard time staying green right next to the walkway due to the slope. These are the "BEFORE" photos taken of the area:
We decided to: 1. remove the rock-walkway, 2. extend the flower bed, 3. remove grass from the slope and level the area, 4. install railroad ties on the edge as the divider, and 5. fill it in with gravel and add cement squares for walking steps.
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Removing the stones from the walkway was the easiest part.
Then I removed the bricks from the old edge of the flowerbed.
I spray-painted a straight line where the new edge of the flower
bed would be by following the line of the roof when the shade reached
the right point. I created the border of the flower box using smaller
stones I'd taken out of the path, placing them upright along the line,
and digging down under each one to set it into a firm position.
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Next to the deck steps was another flowerbed that I had to remove. I
moved the lilies and peonies to a new flower bed I created that's along the ditch
behind the garden and next to the shed. I used some of the largest rocks from the
rock walkway to create the border of the new flowerbed.
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I decided to use a lot of the rocks taken from the walkway to place a perimeter
around the garden, too. Part of the garden already had a rock perimeter, so this
was a good use for the rocks as well as making the garden's edges all look cohesive.
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After I transplanted the flowers that were next to the steps,
Josh started removing the sod from that area first. I put the
sod in a low spot in the small field that's adjacent to the new
grass we planted earlier this spring by the fire pit.
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Digging up the sod was my least favorite part. It was hard work!
After Josh finished the first part, I did two more sections on my own.
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Josh removed the final section of sod, and got to work
installing the railroad ties. Kanyon helped us haul off the
dirt and extra rocks that I didn't re-purpose anywhere else.
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Josh did such a good job installing the 4.5 railroad ties! They
are level, and connected, and look great! I was so impressed!
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We raked the dirt and leveled it off, and then removed the
deck steps. Two of the three steps had broken.
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When our house was first placed on this site, the company
put these steps by the back door to use until we installed the deck
a year later. After that, they were used as the steps up to the
trampoline. We moved them back over to the deck since there's
a platform at the top of the steps, which would be nice to use
to get into/out of the future hot tub. The hot tub placement will
be under the deck railing, between the steps and the blue globe.
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| Josh used his dad's backhoe to bring in a load of gravel to fill the space. |
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He maneuvered it perfectly between the house & garden, the cement steps
and the railroad ties! I was super impressed at his driving abilities!
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He slowly dumped it as he backed up, trying to fill the space as much as possible!
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He did a great job! Josh, Kanyon, and I worked for less than
an hour to rake up/shovel the overspill onto the grass.
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I love it! It's easier to mow and easier to maintain. It ties in nicely with the gravel and cement
steps that were already between the driveway and cement steps, and it looks nice & clean, too!
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The rectangular hot tub will go just left of this platform
(we used the measurements of the hot tub as our guide to
make sure it would fit before we ever started this project).
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PROJECT #2: Make signs and tee-off points for our Disc Golf Course
I bought three baskets in March to make a Disc Golf Course around our home. I knew ahead of time where I wanted each basket placed, but I was unsure of the "official" tee-off locations. We practiced starting from different spots for two of the holes several times in March and April to determine which were the best for our Par 3 holes. Once we decided, I got to work making the signs. I used old/broken skis as the posts. Removing the bindings were harder than I thought--especially on the newer set. Thankfully, Josh came to my aid and helped me finish removing them. Then I screwed an old license plate into each one as a stabilizer for my signs. I finished by taping the typed-up/laminated signs onto the license plates. I installed each sign by the tee-off locations, and then Josh brought home some old rubber mats to use as the tees. I forgot to take photos of them when I installed them, so I just took pictures of them this week (hence the fading). I like how it turned out!
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I used Josh's old skis from high school and Micah's skis that got damaged
last winter.
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Instead of numbering each hole, I gave them titles--because it
doesn't matter which one you start or end on, as they go in a
continuing circle. The name of this hole is "BE-hind-A Garage".
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| This hole is titled "BE-side-A Bulldozer" |
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| And this last one is called "BE-neath-A Tall Tree" |
PROJECT #3: Pour a concrete platform step by the garage entry.
This was actually an accidental project. Josh and the boys helped Edward with pouring a concrete porch for Grandma Parsons' new house, and there was a little bit of concrete leftover. Josh called to ask me if I thought we could put it somewhere, and I instantly thought of the garage entry! It turned out great, and I'm super happy with the result--especially since we did it on the fly!
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BEFORE--there was a rock step to the door of the garage. We moved the bench
and the two big rocks out of the way (one was under the bench because I originally
moved it to be the step, but it wasn't the right dimensions), and set up a quick
perimeter with some 2x4 boards we had. The twins helped us shovel the concrete, too.
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| AFTER--It looks so much nicer now! I love how it turned out! |
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The large rock that was the step to the garage is now
a step between the railroad tie and our cement steps out back.
It works out really nicely in that space!
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ADVENTURES
We took the jeep and motorcycle on several adventures to take advantage of the nicer weather, and when restrictions started lightening up, we took a few road trips with friends, too! |
Our favorite local hot springs is the Royal Gorge. We took
the Jeep to it one evening, had a good soak, and then stopped
at the Dusty Mule restaurant in Elk Bend on our way back!
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It was our first time eating at the Dusty Mule. The food was
delicious! Since restaurant dining rooms were still closed,
we ate our food outside in a covered area of picnic tables.
They hand-press all their burgers, YUMMY!
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| Josh and I took our first Jeep tenting trip this year over Mother's Day weekend. |
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| We went to a new spot along the Salmon River that's undeveloped near the Deer Gulch area. |
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I love this photo of Josh! This is what he likes to do when camping:
reading a book while sitting by the campfire!
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My friend Jen & I drove down to Utah to visit our friend Amanda. She'd been
isolating at home with her immune-compromised husband since early March
and needed a break. We just went for one night, and totally surprised her!
Although Jen and I stayed at a nearby Air BNB, we stayed at Amanda's house til
late visiting, and then we stopped by and visited again the next morning.
We had a ton of fun just sitting around, talking and laughing!
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Amanda trimmed and colored my hair when I was there, too!
I hadn't been to a salon since COVID started, and was in dire
need of a refresher!
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One afternoon, Josh and I rode the motorcycle down river. It was a really pleasant drive!
We stopped in at the Ram's Head for the very first time. Since it was the very first
day that dining rooms were re-opened, we stopped in for dinner. It was so good!
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| Our burgers were big and the French fries were super delicious, too! |
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Josh & I took a Jeep ride across the front side of Baldy. We rode past this pond
I'd never seen before!
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I love all the wildflowers in the mountains! We even saw an albino lupine
(they're usually purple--like in this photo)! It was really cool!
I didn't get a picture of it, but it was something we'd never seen before!
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There were some downed trees that blocked our path, so we were unable to make
it all the way to Smedley subdivision above town. Instead, we turned around and
retraced our steps and made it home just as it got dark.
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We drove John over to Hamilton Montana for his 40th
birthday. We ate at the Naps Grill (we LOVE that place!)
and he got the "Belly Buster"--a giant burger with TWO
12 oz. patties--because if you're going to turn 40, you might
as well do it in a BIG way!!!
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Josh & I went on a nice Jeep ride on Memorial Day.
We drove up Lick Creek in Gibbonsville--a road we'd never
been on before. We thought about the Chaffin family who
ALWAYS camped there over Memorial Day until 2 years
ago when they tragically lost 2 young family members
in an ATV accident.
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We weren't able to make it to the top of the road due to snow, so we turned around
and went back down, and passed the Chaffin campsite again.
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Our next stop was the Gibbonsville cemetery--neither of us had been there
before, either. It's such a beautiful, peaceful, natural cemetery. We walked
around, looking at headstones, and thinking about people who we knew who
are now buried there.
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| Our last stop on the Memorial Day drive was Granite Mountain lookout. |
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In an effort to get these perfect shots with his favorite
wildflower and the snow-capped peaks in the distance,
Josh laid on the ground to take the photos. As a result,
he was COVERED in ticks! We found at least 4 on his
hand, arm, and shoulder before he stripped off his
sweatshirt & shook it out. I found a tick crawling up my leg,
too. It was then that we decided to leave and go back home!
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TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK
I missed my students so much! The two days a week that I worked at school to make their packets and correct their turned in work was so lonesome, and I wanted them in the classroom with me! I was able to see at least every student once in person during the school shutdown, because I went to two drop-off locations and helped hand out packets to them, but it wasn't the same! The PTO didn't have Teacher Appreciation week this year--at West Jefferson they always host a luncheon, decorate teacher's doors, and give a small gift. I always feel so loved during that week--I appreciate the PTO so much and the parents who volunteer and donate their time to make school an uplifting place! I did have a few students who's parents remembered, though, and their small tokens of appreciation meant so much to me!
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I'm with one of my students at one of the Grab 'n Go locations
for picking up lunch and educational packets.
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This homemade oatmeal raisin cookie was to die for! And one of my students
brought me some warm crustos that she's made herself!!
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One of my students and his mom made this giant card for me. This is the
front and back. They spent so much time on it, and it was the most
meaningful card I've ever gotten from a student!
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This was the center of the card. I love it so much! I'm going to laminate it
and hang it up in my classroom in the future! What a treasure!
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I emptied out my students' desks and put all their belongings into bags. It felt
so weird in my classroom after that!
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MOTHER'S DAY
I absolutely LOVED Mother's Day this year!!! Usually, Josh is gone driving bus to the H.S. state golf tournament--but since spring sports got cancelled, he got to spend it home with me! In addition to that, all my kids were home, which was so nice (it was right before Ammon left to do his summer internship in Victor)! Josh took me Jeep tent camping on Friday night to a new place, which was relaxing. I told Josh the gift I wanted most was help finishing the landscaping project, which he did on Saturday after we got home from camping! And then as soon as it was done, I went in and ordered my hot tub! We hosted a Mother's Day dinner for Josh's parents on Sunday, and Josh cooked BBQ ribs, which I LOVE!! He did a fantastic job marinating and grilling them! He even gifted me a new Adirondack chair, because he accidentally broke one that I bought last summer. And to top it off, we spent some quality time together as a family playing cornhole (my love language is quality time), which was so fun and made me so happy!
END OF SCHOOL
During the last week of school at West Jefferson at the end of May, students came in at assigned times over the course of 3 days to turn in chromebooks, pay fees, and pick up their supplies and yearbooks. I too Kanyon with me for one of the days so he could clean out his locker.
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Kanyon has some awesome Jr. High teachers.
This is Mr. Packer, his science and P.E. teacher.
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Salmon schools didn't end until the first week of June, but the twins did receive some awards in May at the annual Awards Ceremony. The event was done online this year, which was nice, and the boys picked up their awards afterwards at school during a pick up time.
Jonah got awards in Algebra II, U.S. History, and Band
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Micah's awards were for Algebra II, Biology, Choir,
and for being in the play.
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High school gradations everywhere were different this year, too. In Salmon, graduation was held on the lawn of the school, with seniors sitting 6 feet apart and the audience was in the parking lot. The graduates wore their caps and gowns and paraded in cars down main street prior to graduation so that people could see them and cheer them on, since attendance at graduation was limited. There were banners hung on Main Street in Salmon all through May and June with the names and pictures of the graduates as well, which was cool! At West Jefferson they held the graduation in the gym and also sat the graduates 6 feet apart. They televised the ceremony so anyone who wanted to could watch it, and after the graduation, the graduates paraded through the halls of the jr high and elementary school and then circled out into the parking lot and walked outside on their way back to the gym in parade fashion, so everyone could see them and cheer for them in the parking lot. I was in the halls of my school, along with the principal and a few other teachers, and we played loud music, hung a disco ball, and cheered them on so loudly before they hit the parking lot. I had so much fun, and absolutely loved seeing the graduates!
There were 3-4 banners of graduates on every light post
on Main Street in Salmon (the banners hung back-to-back)
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The West Jefferson graduates walked through this balloon archway
as they started down the parking lot after walking through the
school halls at the end of their commencement.
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One of my students painstakingly made me a canvas with a hot
air balloon design made by rocks she painted and glued on.
I loved the thoughtfulness and time it took her to make such a precious
gift for me! I treasure it and will hang it in my future classrooms!
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For years, I have been on the lookout in thrift stores, craft shops, and
antique boutiques for pictures of hot air balloons to hang in my classroom.
I have not been able to find anything! My team teacher that I mentored this year
gifted me two pictures that she created and framed. They were genius and so perfect!
I was blown away by her generosity and I can't wait to hang these on my classroom wall!
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I am switching grades I teach and moving classrooms next year, so I had to empty out my classroom and move all my stuff to another room in a different hallway after school ended. It was a lot of work and was sad for me to take down all my stuff off the walls. I'm going to teach a 3/4 combo class next year after teaching 2nd grade for the past 3 years. I'm excited for my new class and to start anew in a different room, but the move was definitely bittersweet!
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A few employees helped me move most of the furniture out on the
last teacher work day, and I got it all done except my desk and closet area,
which thankfully Josh came down and helped me move after that.
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Since my classroom theme has been "Rise Up",
I measure the kids on the first and last day of school
to see much they physically "rise up" during the year.
The kids loved seeing how much they grew this year,
and seeing how much their classmates grew, too, especially
since they didn't get to actually see their classmates at the end of school.
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GOLF COURSE
Josh loves his job at the golf course, and especially the opportunity to be outside all day. He captured some pretty moments this spring as the season evolved and the grass turned green while the Bitteroot Mountain range in the distance still had snow on them. He sure has an eye for beautiy, and a talent for creating beauty, too!
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It took a while to get the fountain up and running this year,
because part of it broke and he had to fix it first.
It's a beautiful feature at the golf course.
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| He witnesses a lot of beautiful sunrises! |
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One Sunday night in May, Josh loaded up his truck and work trailer
with equipment to go help the Challis golf course aerate the next
morning. I couldn't believe how much he squeezed in! The aerator
went in the back of his truck, and the gator and sand trailer BARELY
fit on the trailer! I was impressed at his tetris abilities of loading it all!
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RANDOM
We all got familiar with the online program ZOOM. I met with work friends, my family met on it weekly in May, and I met with my class at school weekly as well. In addition, each of the boys had to use it for some of their school classes as well.
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Some of my work friends met online for Tiffany's birthday
since we couldn't go out to eat together to celebrate.
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| Perkins family weekly zoom meeting |
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One of my whole class zoom meetings--
in April, we'd met in small reading groups, but expanded to full class meetings
in May so I could teach them some math concepts and they could do show 'n tell.
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We had a terrible windstorm blow through Salmon one
afternoon in May. It broke several branches at home and
the golf course that had to be cleaned up, and also broke
the doors off our shed and blew over the shelf inside it! Kind
of crazy! Thankfully, Josh was able to put it all back together.
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I changed up the wall in the dining room by adding a shelf
that my Grandpa Rose made for me when I was a child (it's
on the far left in the bottom photo). I painted part of it green
to look similar to the other shelves, and then rearranged
all the shelves to fit the wall space better.
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Josh usually grows his hair out in the fall and winter and gets a new haircut every spring, but since COVID hit and the salons were closed, he didn't get his usual haircut, and instead kept growing it out. I really liked the curls in the back. It got SO thick--I'm not sure it's ever been this long before! He finally got sick of it, and actually wanted it cut since it was getting hard to wear a hat over it anymore due to the volume of hair. We thought we'd try out a mullet for the first time in his life, in order to keep the curls in the back that I love so much, but shorten the top so he could wear a cap more comfortably. Neither one of us has ever been a fan of mullets, and it was hilarious to look at it after I cut it! (btw, it was the first mullet haircut I've ever done and wasn't completely sure what I was doing!)
Speaking of hair: Jonah has been growing his out, too! I made him let me trim up the sideburns and the base of his neck, but it was so long, I could braid it even then! I've never been able to braid any of my childrens' hair before!
I had a bit of an incident one day while in between some zoom meetings. Every morning for breakfast, I fry a few eggs. However, on this particular morning, I had an early zoom meeting for work, so I didn't fry my eggs first thing. As soon as the meeting ended, I went into the kitchen, started cooking the eggs in the fry pan, and then left to go to the bathroom. By the time I was done using the bathroom, I had totally forgotten about the eggs. I decided to get ready for my next zoom meeting with my class, and since it usually takes me about 10 minutes to log in and get it ready, I thought I should start it. Well--2 minutes after signing in, one of my Spanish students got on, and I was helping him alone on a project he was struggling with. Ammon was in the kitchen, taking a final, and was annoyed that he could hear me talking, so he came and shut my door. After about 10 minutes, all my other students started getting on. Just a few minutes later, I smelled something burning. I opened my bedroom door to discover a house full of smoke. I couldn't believe it! I shouted with a surprised voice "WHAT'S burning?!" To which Ammon replied "YOUR eggs". I didn't even register what he was talking about for a minute, before I remembered that I'd put eggs on the stove about 25 minutes earlier!! Thankfully, Ammon took the pan outside as soon as it happened, opened windows, and turned on the ceiling fans (in the middle of his final!). He said he'd yelled at me as soon as he noticed it burning, but because my door was shut and I was talking to students, I didn't hear him! I have been getting so forgetful as I age, and it's especially worse if I do anything out of my routine! I ended up throwing away this fry pan--not a big deal, really, I'm just glad my stove, kitchen, and house didn't burn thanks to Ammon!
Salmon had a "Butterfly Effect" project in May. As businesses started to reopen and state restrictions loosened, the Salmon Arts Council wanted to help lift the spirit in the community. Their idea was to have people paint butterfly murals on businesses, display butterflies in their home windows, and decorate yards with butterflies, too. Just as the butterfly emerges from a closed-in chrysalis, we as a community were emerging from a dark season due to the COVID pandemic. It was a beautiful sight driving Main Street in May and seeing all the butterfly artwork!
This is the first spring that we've gotten to enjoy being in the Triple S since cleaning out the area last fall (Triple S stands for Secret Sitting Spot). Josh and I spent many afternoons and evenings sitting by the ditch bank, relaxing and enjoying our surroundings. I love this new spot on our property!
Since spring track season got cancelled, some of the runners in the upper class were running in some time trials on the high school track, which were videoed and sent to universities. His older teammates needed some people to compete against (it's better to run with others than alone for pacing). Micah participated in the time trials, because he loves running and wanted to see if his times were the same or better than last season's times after exercising and running at indoor track meets all winter. There were several Saturdays that he ran at time trials, because the runners designated each day for a certain length (for example one day was 400m, then 800m, and then 1600m). It was nice to watch him run and cheer him on again! We missed high school spring sports!
One day when I went to work at West Jefferson, I took Kanyon with me. He got to play with his friend Jackson at his home in Roberts one afternoon and loved it, and then the next morning, he got to hang out with his friend Ryker in Terreton. Ryker's family took the boys to play in boats on the canal down the road, and when I came to pick him up to go home to Salmon, I got to see him still on the water. Kanyon has always loved the water, and it was a fun time for him to spend two days in a row with friends that he hadn't seen or spent time with for months. He got really lonely and bored during COVID!
Our friend John made himself a $100 cheesecake for his birthday (literally, all the ingredients came to $100). He was kind enough to share a piece with Josh and I . It was truly amazing! I've never had such rich, thick cheesecake before! He grated some white Lindt chocolate bars for the top, which is what the white stuff is. We savored it over several days. YUM!
Josh and I went to Idaho Falls on Memorial Day weekend to go to an RV show and do some shopping, and when we got to Idaho Falls, we discovered it had snowed that morning! It was so crazy to see so much snow covering the green grass so late in May!
It's also exciting when the garden starts to sprout, too! Springtime images like these fill me with hope and a sense of renewal, especially after a long winter like this year!
Over Memorial Day weekend, Josh and I went over to Phil and Darcy's house. We hadn't seen them for months, ever since COVID started. It was nice to hang out with our friends again. We played Ticket to Ride, and I WON!! I think it's only the second time I've ever won while we played with them! I was ecstatic that I beat both Josh and Phil, who usually win!
On Memorial Day, Josh and I went jeeping up to Gibbonsville--up Lick Creek, to the Gibbonsville Cemetery, and then to the Granite Mountain Lookout. After we got back home, we barbecued dinner and then cooked smores and starbursts over the firepit. We felt like we did all the traditional Memorial Day things without going camping: spent time in the mountains, visited a cemetery, grilled burgers, and cooked over a campfire! We love where we live!
Josh and I took the boys to Great Falls on Friday May 30 to help Josh's parents move Grandma Parsons out of her home there, so we could move her to Salmon. She's lived there for 40 years, and this whole moving process has taken months and multiple trips there to accomplish. Both she and Grandpa lived during the Great Depression, and as a result are hoarders. There was SO much stuff to go through. Thankfully, most of the basement was emptied on previous trips, so we just had to focus on the main living areas upstairs. We left on Friday morning from Salmon, and once we got to Great Falls that afternoon, we all worked for a SOLID 4 hours emptying items out of the house and into the giant U-Haul truck or Edward's horse trailer. I packed up her sewing room single-handedly, and the boys were good about hauling the full boxes to the truck and opening/taping new boxes to be filled. Josh's job was to use his tetris-packing abilities to pack the U-Haul to its capacity. Kathy boxed up random and fragile objects. Edward moved things from the basement and other rooms. It took all of us, each doing our own roles, to get the job done. It was hot and muggy, and by 6:30, we were exhausted. We ordered pizza for the boys and ate at our hotel down the street from grandma's. We slept good that night! The next morning, since the hotel still wasn't serving continental breakfast due to COVID, I took the boys next door to Denny's to eat while Josh and his dad walked back to Grandma's to get her started on packing her bedroom. I've only taken the boys out for a fancy breakfast once before, so when the waitress came to take our orders, and she asked Jonah how he wanted his eggs, he hesitated and then said "umm, fried" thinking he wanted them cooked, not boiled. I laughed at his innocent reply, and then explained what the waitress meant. The whole scenario was funny to me, and I giggle every time I think about it! We all basically got the same breakfast, but Kanyon ordered one with a giant sausage, and his breakfast cost twice as much of any of the rest of ours did! (Which is pretty typical for Kanyon when he eats out!) Eating out at Denny's was the only photo I took of our entire 2-day packing trip! When we left Denny's, we headed to Grandma's house, and finished packing/loading her bedroom and personal bathroom. It only took about an hour with all of us working on one room. We all loaded up and headed into our separate vehicles for the drive back: I drove with Josh in the U-Haul, the boys drove my car back, Edward drove his truck and horse trailer, and Kathy took Grandma in Grandma's Jeep Cherokee. Although the U-Haul was slower, we actually made it back to Salmon first since the others stopped longer for breaks. We started unloading it all into Grandma's new house (which is down the road from us) before she and Kathy arrived. It took us over 2 hours in the heat to get everything unloaded. We were totally beat! It had been a whirlwind trip, but we'd accomplished so much, and Grandma was so happy to be in Salmon. I'm grateful for boys who know how to work, for a husband who is devoted to his family, and that I was able to take the day off work to help out, too.
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