July 2020 - Week 4

SUNDAY - It was our ward's turn for church again. The Sacrament went smoothly and it was so silent! Josh and I gave the opening and closing prayers. The Bishop forgot to announce that I was saying the prayer in his opening remarks, so during the opening song, I leaned over and asked Josh if I was supposed to do it when the song ended, to which he said yes. During the song, the Bishop realized his mistake about not announcing it, and he was staring at me to make eye contact. He saw the interaction between Josh and I, and he nodded 'yes' to me, and then we both laughed! It was funny! We ate with Ed & Kathy and Grandma in the yard, and then Ryan and Amanda stopped by for a bit, too. Josh and I went to the Judy's house that afternoon. We played SkipBo with Dallin & Jen 3 times; the 3rd time we played "Speed SkipBo" to get it done faster before Dallin had to go to work at the hospital. Josh took Jen and Sam on motorcycle rides before we went home. We sat in the Triple S for a bit, and Amanda joined us. Then the 3 of us soaked in the hot tub for a while, which was so relaxing and therapeutic for me! 

We caught Micah soaking in the hot tub for his first time!

 

MONDAY - I drove for River Shuttles for the first time this summer. I was on the Carey Creek crew, which thankfully had changed a lot since last year. There were a lot of different drivers, and the really negative/problematic ones weren't driving anymore, which made it a much nicer day for me. Julie Demick was the driver, and we had lots of good conversation on the long ride back. It was the best day I've ever had on the Carey Creek crew! Also, that was the first day that Hwy 95 was open south of Riggins since the massive rockslide happened 3 weeks prior, which saved an hour or more, and we got back to town by 9:30pm, which was awesome! It was a long day--I had to be to work by 5:45am. I was glad to feel purposeful again (I'd been a little depressed for over a week, and it felt good to be working again). Josh waited up for me that night, which was so sweet of him, so when I got home at 10, we were able to go to bed together, and he told me about his day riding and hiking up Kirtley Creek. 

There was a pilot car detour around the rockslide;
they'd moved/exploded enough rock to have 
enough room to drive on a one-lane gravel
road around it. 

Josh's favorite wildflower, the Indian Paintbrush

A snowman in July!

TUESDAY - I drove again for River Shuttles, but this time for the Boundary Creek crew. They had SO many cars that needed to be pulled out that they did a double run, but I didn't because I told Conny I needed to be home by 5 that night since I already had plans. I drove a nice Ford truck with the eco-boost, my favorite! It was a sweet ride! I got back to town about 3:30. Josh grilled up some pork chops for dinner before he left to Men's League, and then Jen, Amanda & Ryan, and John came over to watch "Hamilton" the musical, which had recently been released on Disney + on July 3. I'd been dying to watch it since then! But I waited because I wanted to watch it with friends, rather than by myself. I talked to Jen about it, and knew it needed to happen on a Tuesday night when Josh was gone golfing, but then we decided to wait to watch it when Amanda was in town. Then the viewing party grew: Ryan and John joined us, too. It was fun watching it with other people! When Josh got home, he finished watching the show with us as well. Sadly, Jen had to leave since her husband was working, and then Josh, John, Amanda, and I soaked in the hot tub together. It was the first time we've had 4 adults in it, and was the vision we had for the hot tub when we got it--to sit with our friends and enjoy it together. We've soaked in Hot Springs with John and Amanda for years, and this was a dream we'd all discussed together. We soaked for about 45 minutes, and it was heavenly! We saw the stars, had fun conversation, and it was so relaxing! It was a perfect ending to our fun evening! 

WEDNESDAY - I drove for River Shuttles in the morning down to Cache Bar. I got to drive the same sweet truck as the previous day. Unfortunately, though, after I got out of the truck and into the shuttle van to take us to Corn Creek, I realized I didn't have my phone with me. I searched my seat in the shuttle van, but it wasn't there. After we picked up our new vehicles at Corn Creek and were coming back through Cache Bar, Conny helped me break back into the truck. We searched everywhere for it, but couldn't find it there, either. I looked on the road where I'd gotten out of the truck and walked to the van, but didn't see it. It straight up disappeared. We stopped at the North Fork store on our way to town, and I gave them my name, a description of the phone, and Josh's phone number in case it turned up. The circumstances around its disappearance were mind-boggling to me! When we got back to town, I went down to the golf course to talk to Josh and gave him the bad news. I was rather distraught about it, but he handled it well. When he got home from work, we planted new Privot bushes along the ditch to replace the 20+ bushes that died 3 years ago in the bitter freezing sub-zero temps we had for a couple weeks. When it started raining, we went inside and Josh helped me order a new replacement phone. Amanda and Ryan came over that evening and we watched a few new episodes of Yellowstone together. It was nice to spend time with them in the evenings!

THURSDAY - I drove for River Shuttles again to Cache Bar/Corn Creek in the morning. I looked again all over the road where I had been the previous day, and searched again in the van, but still came up empty-handed. My phone was old, and was needing to be replaced; in fact, when I started driving for River Shuttles, Josh told me that my first paycheck should go towards buying a new phone, and he was right--that statement definitely came true! Once I got over the initial shock of losing it, I realized the timing was good to replace it, it was just weird to be without it in the meantime! Amanda colored my hair when I got home from driving. I'd had my previous hairstyle of "Neopolitan" bangs with stripes of red (or pink), blonde, and dark brown for 5 years, and I was ready for a change. Since my hair had been growing out (due to COVID, the salons were closed for months), I thought a change in color would be nice to go with the new style, too. I decided to go with a dark brown all over because I'm tired having "dirty" blonde or "mousy" brown hair. I told Amanda I wanted a dark, rich color instead. Since my hair is thinning, I thought a dark color may make it look more full, too. She colored it and trimmed it in her trailer, and then she helped me style it in a new way, too. It's a lot darker than I thought it would be, but I liked it after she styled it, and so did Josh! He told me my hair was sexy, which he's never told me before! 

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

FRIDAY - Amanda and I woke up early and drove into town to watch the sunrise over the mountains. I took her to the golf course and drove her up on the gator to the new, unfinished lookout tee on Hole #9. The sunrise was gorgeous! We watched the pinks turn to orange, and then fade to yellow, and finally to white before the sun crested. It was very peaceful and relaxing to behold. I can see why Josh likes being at the golf course so early each morning! We went to go get some chai teas and then came home and soaked in the hot hot tub for about 45 minutes. It was the first time I've soaked in it in the morning. It was just lovely! I exercised and blogged during the day, and that night we went out to dinner with John, Amanda, and Ryan to the Water's Edge Pizza in Gibbonsville. The food was delicious, but the place was packed, so we sat outside at a table on the grass. Some of Amanda's high school friends were there, and she bantered with them through and after dinner. On the way back to town, we stopped at Dallin and Jen's to play games and see the outdoor projects they've completed this summer. Josh was absolutely exhausted, and Ryan kept approaching their big dog Shiloh, which made the dog bark incessantly which in turn annoyed Josh. Jen's high school friend and her family were visiting, and they were trying to teach us a new game called "Dominion" that Josh wasn't understanding, and he finally got irritated with all the circumstances that he wanted to leave. John wasn't getting the game either, and Ryan was getting cold, so everyone else in our party except me left. However, I stayed and played games with Dallin and Jen and their friends Erica and Scott until midnight! I love playing games and was so glad for the chance to play with people, even though I stayed alone to do it! 

I have no photos of the beautiful sunrise, because
my phone was AWOL, but thankfully, Josh had
his phone and took lots of photos from his 
perspective while working on the course. 

SATURDAY - Amanda and I soaked in the hot tub again in the morning, since Ryan was sleeping and everyone else was gone to work. When Josh got home, he went with us to shop at the Amish store while Ryan waited in the car. We worked on different stuff at home all day, and that night, Josh went to town to visit an old friend, and I talked with Amanda and we soaked in the hot tub again together. It was a pretty chillaxed day!

July 2020 - Week 3

 MONDAY - We paid off the balance of the hot tub and also paid off Josh's credit card. It was a really good feeling to have both paid off! Josh and I took a bike ride around the 4-mile loop this evening, which was the first time I'd ridden my new bike. It was really nice! When we got home, we soaked in the hot tub while the boys were at summer running. 

Josh captured a pretty sunrise at the golf course

bye-bye credit card!

TUESDAY - I went to Jen's to watch some episodes of a show we'd been watching together, but her family came home early from a camping trip they'd taken, so it cut our TV-watching short. We went outside and the kids talked to us about their camping trip, and they picked some veggies from their garden (and were nice to gift some to me, too). I left after a bit and went to the golf course to walk around the park loop. I surprisingly saw Josh golfing at Men's League on his last hole, and then he surprised me and walked with me on my second time around the loop, which was nice to have company! When we got home, we soaked in the hot tub for a bit before bed. 

Check out that massive beet!

WEDNESDAY - I picked raspberries for the first time this summer (they're a little behind due to the cold weather this spring). A guy came to pick up our old piano--he was very strange and talked to me for about an hour. He had some crazy beliefs...I was kind of relieved when he left. We had the sister missionaries over for dinner--unfortunately, dinner was kind of a disaster. I made deer roast in the crockpot, roasted vegies, and crescent rolls. The roast turned out kind of dry because Josh cut it before the veggies were done cooking in the oven. I'd never roasted veggies before, but they took longer than I'd anticipated. I cooked the beets and carrots from Jen's garden and added some red potatoes to the mix, too. It was the first time I'd ever cooked beets. Nobody in my family was excited to try them, but upon my insistence, they did! (And they didn't mind them as much as they thought they would, either!) Unfortunately, I also burnt the crescent rolls because I put them in the oven with the veggies since the veggies weren't done yet, and the veggies cooked at a higher temperature! The sister missionaries were good sports, though, and shared a nice message with us after dinner. Josh and I rode our bikes around the loop again that night and finished with a soak in the hot tub. It seemed to be the theme of the week: exercise and soak! 

I thought they looked so pretty!
Josh and the kids' faces looked disgusted
when they saw the pan, though!! Haha!

THURSDAY - Josh and I drove to Mud Lake after he worked that morning so I could go to another rock band practice at 11:00 for the upcoming parade in August. Josh dropped me off and went shopping in Idaho Falls. I practiced with Shane, Jeff, Amanada and our drummer (who's a new H.S. graduate) for 2 hours! We decided to only do 2 songs rather than 4 like we originally talked about. The first one is COVID Drives Me Crazy (to the tune of "She Drives me Crazy") that Shane wrote, and R-O-C-K at the W.J. (to the tune of R-O-C-K in the U.S.A) that I wrote. It was a fun practice and I really felt like we were starting to sound like a real band, which is a dream come true for me! I've thought since I was a teenager that being in a band would be awesome! Afterwards, Amanda and I talked for about an hour in my classroom. It was wonderful to catch up with her! We talked about her brain cancer, school committees, teaching, families, and life. I enjoyed it so much! The plan for the day was that when Josh was shopping, I would get some work done in my classroom, but when he got there 3 hours after dropping me off, I hadn't done a single thing! He was a bit annoyed when I asked him to help me move a few furniture pieces when he showed up, but after rolling his eyes, he obliged! I didn't get as much done in my classroom that I would've liked, but the practice took longer than I thought, and the time spent talking to Amanda was priceless and I wouldn't have traded it just to get work done. I drove us home so Josh could rest on the drive. When we got home, I made dinner, and then he and I went for a walk. It rained off and on during the day, and on our walk, we saw a rainbow which was so pretty! When we got back home, we soaked in the hot tub for a bit (of course!). Amanda and Ryan arrived at our home about 9:45 that night in their new van and toyhauler trailer, and we spent an hour getting them set up before going to bed. It was their first time using it and setting it up, so it took longer because of that, and also because it was dark already. Getting a trailer was their summer vacation, since they can't go anywhere right now due to Ryan's fragile condition, and they don't want him to get COVID, so they figured if they parked their trailer in Salmon for a week, they could get out of Ogden, and still be able to social distance. 

FRIDAY - Since it was Pioneer Day, Utah people got the day off work. Because of that, Ryan's friend Ty and his family joined Amanda and Ryan on their vacation to Salmon. Ryan's friends caravaned with Ryan & Amanda to Salmon the previous night, but they camped at Shoup Bridge campground instead of our house. I took Amanda down there on the 4-wheeler that morning to see how their night was and ask about their plans for the day. They floated the river that afternoon, and as they were floating, Amanda and Ryan hung out with me in the Triple S for a bit, while Josh took a nap. When the boys went to summer running that evening, Josh and I soaked in our hot tub again! We love the hot tub so much, and our nightly routine was such a relaxing one!

SATURDAY - Josh golfed with the twins at the Boosters Tournament all morning/afternoon with Craig Oswald and Jordan Hansen. They had such a fun day together, and even won! I drove down river in the afternoon with Amanda and Ryan to show his friends where Goldbug Hot Springs trailhead was because his friends were following in the car behind them and Amanda couldn't remember exactly where the turnoff was. When we got back, I started getting the yard ready to host a get-together later that afternoon with the Berube's, Judy's, and Ryan's friend's family. We had a great time in the yard all evening. The kids played in the ditch and in the yard on the swings, and Josh even made a little slip & slide in his parents' yard which was a big hit! We ate pizza that Jen brought, and I had lots of fruit, popsicles, and drinks on hand. After dinner, the kids played in the hot tub, made smores around the fire pit, played frisbee golf and darts, and the Harris grandkids came down and played for about an hour, too! We had a yard full then! The kids were having a great time and it felt like the yard was finally being used for what it was intended for! We had good conversation with the adults, too: my favorite part was when just Amanda, Jen, and I sat in the Triple S alone and undisturbed...even though it was only for about 10 minutes! I'm grateful for good friends and quality time spent together! 

July 2020 - Week 2

SUNDAY - We went to church for the first time in 4 months! They split up our ward in half alphabetically based on last names. We were in the 2nd session at 10:30 of people with the last names I-Z. They blocked off every other row for social distancing and ease in passing the sacrament without members touching the trays. The services were less than an hour--only the Sacrament services were held, not the auxillaries. The Aaronic Priesthood who blessed and passed wore masks and took extra precautions. It was a very quiet Sacrament today--there wasn't any babies or old people in attendance (those at risk could stay home). It was very nice to have it be so reverent! The Sacrament portion didn't take as long as I anticipated, then we had fast and testimony meeting. The Bishop asked everyone to keep their testimonies brief since we only had about 20 minutes to share. There were many who were able to share their testimonies, including Josh, and it was a very spiritually uplifting meeting. I felt strengthened and buoyed up and was glad to go. I didn't realize how much I missed it! We had a nice chicken dinner with Ed & Kathy and Grandma afterwards. I told the boys I wanted to have a family togetherness day today since I hadn't seen them much lately; they weren't very excited about the prospect at first, but it turned out fun. We had planned to float the river, but it turned windy and overcast so we changed our plans. We played 3 games together and then talked/saw the Perkins family on a family zoom meeting (that's always an interesting event!). Then I took them to the movie theater to watch "The Great Outdoors"--our local theater has been playing old flicks at a discounted price since no new movies have been premiering lately due to COVID. The boys had never seen it; it's a funny one with some classic scenes. When we got home, we witnessed a glorious sunset. It was a wonderful Sabbath Day!

MONDAY - Josh and I went to Idaho Falls to see an ENT Dr. since his breathing has become a little more strained in the past year, and he hasn't seen an ENT specialist since before his mission 25 years ago. It went really well, and everything I'd hoped for got done: 1. They documented his medical history according to Josh's knowledge (I have a hard time remembering it all), 2. They scoped his throat, and 3. He got a prescription for his acid reflux. The scope looked good: we were both pleased to hear that there's no scar tissue built up or cancerous growths on his throat, but it was inflamed from all the acid reflux he has. It was a great appointment, and we're both glad he went. Overall, it was just a good day: we got our grocery shopping done while we were out of town, we ate out at Arby's, and the weather was beautiful on the drive!

TUESDAY - I fasted all day to help me lose weight. I started intermittent fasting in June--eating within an 8-hour window, and then shrinking to a 6-hour window after a few weeks, but it wasn't enough, so then I started fasting for 24-hours once a week. I drank water as needed but didn't eat anything. I worked on several outdoor projects: staining the new fence (using 2 partial cans we already had from previous fence-staining jobs), trimmed the red bushes north of the house, trimmed the hedge bordering the ditch, weeded the pumpkins, and grinded the edges of the deck to get rid of the pieces of old gray paint and then stained the edges with the new cedar stain. It felt good to be working outside to help keep my mind off food. I saw a free piano online that evening, so I took the boys with me that night to help me get it. We took the truck and cargo trailer to pick it up in the North Fork area. I've wanted a new piano for years since a few of the keys on mine didn't work and I felt this was too good of a deal to pass up. Unfortunately, my tie-down job wasn't very good and it tipped over in the trailer coming home. Josh was at Men's League, and I met up with him in town when we got back, and that's when we discovered the tipping situation. Josh was irritated with me for getting a piano, and I was irritated with him for being irritated with me, so I had him take the truck and trailer home, and I took his Jeep to go to Jen's house. We walked 2 loops near her home and then went inside and finished watching the first season of Durrell's in Corfu. I'm so grateful for her friendship, especially when I need an out!

Micah was really close to going into the ditch at work
along the driving range at the golf course. 

The garden looks so good when it's weeded!

You can tell where I stained it, compared to where I hadn't done it yet.

WEDNESDAY - Josh and I drove to go visit Ammon at his summer internship at a golf course in Victor. We took the truck and cargo trailer with his street bike in the trailer. We stopped in Mud Lake on the way so I could practice songs with Jeff, Shane, and Amanda Erickson for the school's float in the upcoming fair parade in August. I had such a good time singing and jamming with them! I practiced for an hour, which gave Josh a chance to rest in the truck since he'd been up early working that morning. Ammon's job was at the Bronze Buffalo Club at Teton Springs Resort. He got off at 4:00, but we got to the golf course at 3:30. We had actually arrived in Victor sooner, but we'd dropped off our cargo trailer at a forest service campground first, and thankfully so, because we got the last spot there! When we first walked up, we didn't recognize him because he was wearing a mask and a cowboy hat. I've never seen him wear a cowboy hat since he was 8 years old! We didn't even consider that would be him! He looked so handsome, though! Josh and I looked around at the resort stores as we waited for him to get off, and Josh practiced a little golf until Ammon could join us. Josh and Ammon golfed 18 holes, and I walked until I surpassed 15,000 steps for the day, and then I rode in the cart with them. The course was absolutely beautiful, nestled next to the pine-covered hills, and with native plants growing in the rough. There was a lot of ponds, creeks, sand bunkers, and beautiful homes along the course, too. We had a fun evening plying golf and talking with Ammon. It was so good to see him! We also saw his living quarters and met his roommate that he really liked. We took Ammon out to dinner at a place called Knotty Pine. The food was decent, but we mostly just enjoyed talking and having time to catch up with him. We dropped him back off at his house around 10:00, then drove back to our campground to sleep on the floor of the trailer. 

THURSDAY - I didn't sleep good on the floor of the cargo trailer because we used our new sleeping bags for the first time. I felt too hot, or couldn't get comfy all night. Josh slept pretty good, though! We packed up and headed out around 8 in the morning; we wanted to get an early start to avoid crowds. We parked the truck and trailer on a nearby highway pullout, and continued towards Grand Teton National Park on the motorcycle. Neither one of us had been to that National Park before, so it crossed off another item on my 40 Things list. We drove into the park by Teton Village. It was a nice, small road and we enjoyed driving leisurely through the trees amid other bikers. We joined up to the main road at Moose Junction then continued north on the loop, stopping at Jenny Lake. We took the ferry across the lake, and hiked up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. Hidden Falls was so beautiful, and the water flow was so strong and loud! I loved it so much! From Inspiration Point, you could look out over the lake and see the valley in the distance. It was a rocky ledge along the mountain hike, so the view was unobstructed there. It was pretty! From there, Josh and I decided to hike back around the lake rather than take the return ferry, which was about 2.5 miles on foot. Thankfully, we'd done the hike in the morning and we were both glad we'd taken the ferry across first because we were getting hot and tired and our feet were sore by the end of the hike, and by the time we returned to the visitor's center, the line for the ferry ride was so long! Walking had been a good way to stretch our bodies and take a break from the motorcycle, but we were glad to get back to riding. We headed north on the loop: when we left Jenny Lake, it was PACKED! I couldn't believe the amount of cars that had shown up while we were there! The parking lot was full and the parked cars extended along the national park road. I'm so glad we got there early in the day before it got crazy! We stopped at a general store at Jackson Lake and had a picnic lunch at an outside table on the shore. It wasn't busy there and it was pleasant to eat alone. After lunch, we finished driving around the loop, stopped only to take our picture at the park sign, continued our drive through Jackson, up over the pass, and back to our truck. We we were getting saddle sore by this point and were glad to be done riding for the day. However, we both loved experiencing the park via the motorcycle! I want to take more trips like this! It made me so happy to feel, smell, and see the surrounding sights so vividly! We stopped in Rexburg on the way home to eat dinner and Josh bought me a bike for my upcoming birthday at WalMart, which I was so excited about! It fit nicely in the cargo trailer, so the timing was right. After we left Rexburg, I drove the truck all the way to Salmon and we got home about 7:30 that night. It had been such a wonderful, memorable day!

  We stopped by the Teton Dam site on our way home--neither of us had been there before. The informational sign for it had long since been destroyed or removed, but we remembered a lot about what we'd previously learned/heard about it (I had done a science report on it in one of my college classes a few years before), and we googled what we were still curious about. It was a good stop on the drive!

FRIDAY - Our hot tub FINALLY arrived! We unloaded it, leveled the ground it was on, then started filling it with water. After stopping and starting the filling process several times (due to our poor water pressure), it was full and the heating process began. I had hoped to soak in it that very night, but sadly, the delivery guy said it would take overnight to bring the temperature up to the desired level. It fit the space nicely and I love the look of it and I'm glad it was finally here! We'd been waiting for this moment since May! I also took the time to look at my [new] piano that evening--the one I'd picked up on Tuesday. Everything looked good on it, thankfully, except the keyboard cover got jammed when it tipped in the trailer: it was stuck in the open position, and wouldn't close to cover the keys. I tried fixing it, but was unable to. It's still a better piano than the one I already had, so I vacuumed/dusted them both and moved the new one into the place where the old one was and moved the old one to the side and listed it for free online. 

SATURDAY - Our family went camping in the Pahsimeroi valley--the first time we've ever camped there, although we've talked about it for years! We camped between Patterson Creek and the sand dunes that were created from the mine up the creek. It's a pretty cool spot! Nobody else was there, so it was pretty quiet, and we were well hidden in the trees from the nearby road. After we arrived and set up camp, Josh and the twins went motorbiking on some trails in the nearby mountains and Kanyon and I stayed behind and played several board games. When the guys came back, we all played the Goat Lords card game and Josh cooked us up some Dutch oven BBQ chicken for dinner. It was delicious! We sat around the campfire for a while. I cooked the boys some apply fry pies over the fire, then went on a walk around the perimeter of the sand dunes as the sun was setting. It was a nice walk. I loved our relaxing camping trip with the family in our new trailer! 

This was the first time we took motorbikes
in the toyhauler trailer. They fit pretty well!

They found snow in July! 

My shadow looked like my favorite animal: the giraffe!

It was such a pretty camping spot! We would def go there again!

After I got back from my walk, the boys had wandered from the
campground, and the camp chairs looked like they were social
distancing! I totally laughed at the site! Josh was so deep into
reading his book, he hadn't realized he was alone at the campfire!

SUNDAY - Josh made us eggs and sausage for breakfast on the camp chef, and afterwards we played Phase 10 for quite a while as a family outside. Then we drove in the truck up the canyon about a mile to explore the old mine site on foot. Josh loves looking at relics and artifacts from settlers and miners. When we were done exploring, we drove back to the campsite, Josh cooked us grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, and we packed up our campsite and headed for home. We got home after 3, and by 4 everything was unloaded, and the trailer was cleaned and unhooked. Since it was a sunny day, we took the boys floating on the river between town and the Ranch. It was our first family float of the summer. The water level had dropped about a foot in the past 2 weeks from the heat and the river was really busy that afternoon. We had a good time: it was relaxing and we enjoyed being on the river and soaking in the sunshine! When we got home, Josh and I soaked in our new hot tub for the first time I loved it! The views are great and the seats are comfortable. I'm so glad we have it! We've been wanting one for years!! It was just a really good day...

You can see the trail of sand down the canyon
that began at the mine (and ended at the campsite).