FIREWOOD:
We "labored" on Labor Day by going to get firewood in the mountains. We didn't do it at all last year, so we knew we had to go a couple times this year to make it through the winter (our main heat source in our home is a wood stove), but the 3 of us didn't have a day off from work/school/vacations all together to go get wood until Labor Day! It was cold and rainy, but we got a full load on our first trip this year, thanks to Kanyon's strength in helping me remove branches after Josh cut them down, and then helping Josh load the logs into the truck.
Since we already had our chainsaws out and we were all home from work for the day, after we unloaded the firewood at home, we decided to also trim the large tree closest to the house. A couple of large branches had gotten broken in a recent windstorm, so we cut them out in addition to all the low-hanging branches. It really opened up the yard!
Our electricity was out for a few hours one evening, and we made the best of it by turning on some lanterns and playing games together! We tried out a new game that I'd recently gotten: Buildzi. It was actually a lot of fun and a good use of the down time!
FRIENDS:
FRIENDS:
Ryan and Amanda came to town and stayed with us one weekend because she was doing wedding hair for a client. While she was here, we invited John and Jen & Dallin over for a Pie dinner one night--we had Shepherd's Pie for dinner, and Raspberry Pie for dessert! Dallin had to work, so Jen came late and missed dinner, but she stayed for a visit that evening, and Kanyon taught the adults how to play Tetris on the XBox. It was hilarious playing with these adults!
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| homemade raspberry pie with fresh raspberries from our garden |
When Josh & I went to pick up Ammon from the airport, Josh and I met up with my Dominoes friends for dinner at Stockman's Restaurant in Idaho Falls before his flight arrived. We had a fun time visiting and laughing, and the dinner was excellent!
QUICK TRIP to UTAH:
I had a doctor appointment with a laryngologist in Layton on Monday morning, Sept. 18th. Josh and I drove down together the night before and stayed at a hotel in Layton. After my appointment on Monday, I had a test scheduled later that afternoon in Pocatello to take to become a Certified Pharmacy Technician, so while we were at the hotel, I studied all night long. At the appointment on Monday morning, the Dr. and his assistant scoped my throat multiple times and we saw the live scope projected on a large screen. It was so interesting to watch! He affirmed what my ENT had said that I have nodules on my vocal cords and some irregular tissue was observed on my larynx. After the Dr. appointment, Josh and I drove north and stopped at Taco Time in Tremonton for lunch--it was the location of our first date together back in 1997, so we took a photo to commemorate the occasion 25+ years later! I studied on the whole drive to Utah and again on our drive back until we reached Pocatello. Josh took me to ISU and dropped me off, and I took the test for almost 2 hours. I felt pretty good about it. There were a few questions I was unsure of, but I felt like I'd passed. I didn't get the results for a few weeks, but thankfully, I did pass and received my certified pharmacy tech license in October! Since it was National Hamburger Day that day, we also celebrated by eating at Farm Boy Burgers in Mud Lake on our drive home that evening.
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| Taco Time in Tremonton |
Kanyon participated in an employee Cornhole Team Tournament hosted by Saveway one Sunday in September. The event was at the park. He joined my then-boss at the pharmacy Allison (I no longer work there). He still works there in the produce department, but had a hard time finding another employee join him in the competition, and since my boss didn't have anyone to play with, they were teamed up. Josh and I watched him for a little bit, and he did really good! For as little as he plays this game, he was a natural at it! I think their team got 3rd. 
NATURE:
Jonah and Micah turned 20 on Sept. 22nd. They both got to call home that night from their missions (Jonah is in Toronto, Canada and Micah is in Santiago, Chile) since it was their birthday. We had a group video phone call together, and it was so awesome to see them both together at the same time! We have loved the weekly phone calls, but because they have different P-days, we don't often get to see them at the same time anymore. It was so wonderful to see them together on their birthday!
Ammon came home to visit Salmon from Arizona one weekend to be here for his friend Maddie's wedding. It was so fun to have him home for 4 days! We played games, ate together, talked, and laughed. He got to see a lot of his friends and classmates at the wedding, and he had a great time reuniting with people he hasn't seen for several years! We loved having him back home for a little bit and were sad to take him back to the airport.
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| All dressed up for the wedding |
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| Paige & Ethan, Ammon, and Ava |
3 years ago I built a little foot bridge to span the ditch in the "Triple S" area by our house. This fall, there was some debris that came floating down the ditch and it got jammed at the bridge, and with all the built-up debris, the ditch flooded, and as a result, the bridge moved about 20 yards down and got stuck in the ditch. Josh single-handedly pulled it out of the mud, lifted/pushed it back, and placed it back in the same location it was before. Unfortunately, the flooding did some damage to the wood and it hasn't been as sturdy since, so we'll have to replace it at some point in the future. But I was SO impressed by Josh's strength and his ability to move it without equipment--it's a solid, heavy bridge! 
Josh took me on a motorbike ride one autumn afternoon, and it was so lovely feeling the breeze in our hair and admiring the river and trees from our view behind the handlebars! It is so rare that we ride the street bike these days, so I relish it whenever we ride together, even if it's just riding around our neighborhood (like we did on this day).
Josh captured lots of glorious sunrises & sunsets again this month!
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