pearly girls

The very day after school was over, we headed to Utah for the first weekend of Summer! I took the boys on Friday and we stayed at my parents' house in Tremonton for 3 nights. On Saturday morning, we drove over to Logan for a very special occasion.

We spent the day with my my brother Mick's family; his 8-year old daughter Libby got baptized and his infant daughter Sunshine received her baby blessing!

It was such a happy day! During Jen's pregnancy, Mick and Jen decided to not find out what gender this baby was, and I thought for sure it would be a boy. I remember after having my 3 boys and being pregnant for the last time, I hoped and thought it was a girl because I wanted one so badly. I know how much Mick wanted a son, so I hoped and thought this baby would be a boy for him, too. So I was completely surprised when their baby was born and it was a girl! (Although Josh always thought it would be a girl, so he kept telling me over and over "I knew it! I knew it"!) Josh and I have 4 boys, and Mick and Jen now have 4 girls!  We are 100% gender opposites! They have such a cute family!

The two special girls wearing white...so sweet!

After the baptism and baby blessing, we went to Mick & Jen's house for a yummy lunch. Then my mom got out a film strip she brought about baptism and the kids watched with awe as we listened to the tape recorder, and every time it beeped, my mom moved the film strip that was projected on the wall. The kids had never seen anything like it!

Thanks mom for the fascinating, old-time entertainment!

It was neat that Mick & Jen's family got to celebrate two special things on one day!  And we were so happy to be a part of it!

the handyman can...

When Josh and I first moved to Salmon in 2001, he had an employee who owned a 3-wheeled Harley golf cart. I thought it was so strange and ugly. I thought of 3-wheeled golf carts as a freak of nature; so abnormal and different and so non-conformal. I never, EVER, thought we would own one...

Fast forward 11 years: The Golf Pro in Salmon purchased an old golf cart from a female golfer a few years prior, and had never used or fixed it, so it had deteriorated and was broken down. One day last fall, he asked Josh to please take it to the dump. Josh saw potential in it, and instead of taking it to the dump, he took it to his shop to work on as a winter project. Work slows down for him in the winter, and during those months he works on maintaining his mowers and equipment, as well as trimming up trees and bushes on the course. So, since winter is slower for him, he usually works on big personal projects then as well. For example, he's built two bridges for our backyard ditch, he's worked on cars and home improvement projects, and he built one of the rock walkways during the winter months. This year, he worked on this golf cart--this ugly, old, 3-wheeled golf cart.

 

 

The whole process took about a month. First, Josh took off the candy cane-striped top (it was super granny-style and unappealing to Josh). Then he took all the old batteries out and cleaned off all the old stuck-on battery acid. He put new bearings in the front wheel, and pulled off the rear wheels to fix the brakes because they were rusted and locked in. He pried off the carpet that was glued to the floor and attached new matting to the floor. He painted it in BSU colors--orange, blue, and white, and painted silver onto the fenders and frame. He bought another used, dead golf cart at an auction and removed its top to bolt onto this one, and lastly he purchased all new batteries for it.

This old, broken golf cart was free...but it cost less than $600 to make new again. Josh spent $20 on paint, $70 for the new hard top, and $500 for new batteries. It is the only golf cart that looks like it on our golf course with its 3 wheels and bold colors. Josh loves it because he enjoys quietly standing out and owning "different" things (remember when he bought the silver box car because he would be the only one in town with one?!) Josh did a great job with it; it doesn't even look like the same cart he started with last fall! He is often complemented about what an awesome cart he has, and I think it's even more awesome because Josh completely rebuilt it all himself!

Josh tends to make a believer out of me...so even though I never liked the look of 3-wheeled carts before, and I always thought they were ugly (and freaks of nature), I totally love this cart! Josh and I started golfing together on Friday night Couples' League in May, and I first took a ride on it then. In previous years, we always used rental carts, and I liked using gas carts over electric ones. But this cart, our 3-wheeled electric cart, was a smooth ride and I loved riding in it while we golfed! I liked knowing that it was our own cart, and not one that everybody uses. And I love it because it's unique and older and stylish, and it makes me feel so proud of Josh for the outstanding job he did with it!

Last Day of School

Since THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, the boys have had a busy and great year. They all loved their teachers, got good grades and report cards, and learned so much.

Ammon liked having 7 periods, and the change in the P.E. teacher mid-year was a welcome one. He excelled in reading, and learned to love science this year because of his favorite teacher. 

Jonah and Micah had a challenging class, but an incredible teacher. They made lots of friends, advanced in math and reading, and graduated from speech.

Kanyon did super well at his last year of preschool, and had amazing strides in his behavior and in communicating with others, and he began sight-reading words.

Ammon's last day of 6th grade with his favorite teacher Mrs. Smith

Jonah's last day of 2nd grade with his awesome teacher Ms. Schauss

Micah's last day of 2nd grade with his patient teacher Ms. Schauss

Kanyon's last day of preschool by his cubby

Bye, Bye {Baby} Birdie

On the eve before the last day of school in May, I was yelling for all the boys to come to the dinner table. Dinner was ready, and it's an evening ritual to gather everyone up from the four corners of the earth....I mean from the house and yard. Kanyon came running in from outside and was excitedly telling me about a baby bird he found on the walkway. "There's a baby bird on the rocks" he said. I thought it must have been a dead one, because between us and Grandma, there are 3 cats that roam the property who kill lots of mice and birds and just leave the remnants lying around. So I inquired if it was dead, and told him not to touch dead animals. He insisted it was alive, so I decided to forgo the gathering of children for dinner, and I went outside to check out his claim.

We have a lot of mature trees in our yard, so several times a year, we find empty bird nests that have blown out of the trees and onto the grass after a storm. Sometimes we find bird eggs on the ground that are cracked, broken, and empty. Once we even saw a mama bird feed its babies in their nest up in the tree branches. But I have never seen a live baby bird on the ground, and I was not expecting to see one either! But Kanyon's claims were true, and I was so surprised at what I saw! So I ran inside and got my camera; I didn't know how much longer the small bird would remain on the ground (remember...the cats?!).

I took several photos of it laying on the rocks, and we stayed by it for about 5 minutes before returning to the house to eat dinner before it got cold; Josh and the other boys were patiently waiting at the dinner table for us.

After dinner, we went back outside to see the baby bird again, but alas it had unfortunately (and expectedly) disappeared. One can only guess what became of it! ;) I am glad that I grabbed my camera and took these photos right then, because the opportunity would've been missed if I'd waited. I am glad that I stopped the rush of life for a moment to really see the beauty in God's creations around me. It was a happy moment for Kanyon, and truly a "joy in the journey" moment for me.

Kanyon's preschool graduation

At the end of May, Kanyon graduated from preschool. He has been going to the Pioneer Preschool since he turned 3 years old, so he's attended the school now for 2 1/2 years. He has loved it so much, and has grown tremendously. The previous years, he went to school two 1/2 days each week, but at the beginning of this school year, he went to school all four 1/2 days each week. I'd requested it because he does so well with the same schedule and routine, and he struggled previously with going to babysitters and preschool every other day. We saw such an improvement in his behavior and his learning this year! So much, in fact, that after his birthday in February, they changed his schedule back to two 1/2 days instead of four because there were other students who needed the increase in the amount of days more.

We feel so blessed that he was able to attend that preschool, and that he's done so well as a result of being a student there. He has loved his teachers Geri and Cathy, and he loved the friends he made at school. His best buddies were Wyatt N., Hudson, and Bryson, and he got to sit by all of them at Graduation! (Bryson was to his left, Wyatt N. to his right, and Hudson is on the far right)

Graduation was so cute! Miss Jane played her guitar, and the kids sang several songs. Miss Geri also also narrated a story called "Caps for Sale" that the kids all acted out. It was a fun program and I enjoyed watching Kanyon participate in the songs and actions and performing. I videotaped parts of it, too, but unfortunately my video camera broke during it :(

Performing "Caps for Sale"

Singing with Miss Jane

Dancing

Doing Actions for a song

Getting his diploma and hat gift from teachers Miss Geri & Miss Cathy

He was so happy to be graduating from preschool! He did a great job performing and he had a huge smile on his face almost the entire program, because he just can't wait to attend Kindergartden now!

Mow, Mow, Mow the lawn

Josh and I met while we were both working for a lawn landscape company. After we were married, we continued working together in the same industry until we moved to Salmon in 2001. Shortly after the move, he began thinking about purchasing a lawn-mowing company. I actually never thought it would happen...but after 11 years of thinking and talking about it, he finally followed through with it: this spring, he bought a lawn-mowing business. A man in our ward had his own small mowing business, and wanted to sell it. He approached Josh about it, and that was pretty much the end of that (or the beginning, I guess I should say)!

My husband is the Superintendent (aka Greenskeeper) for the Salmon Valley Golf Course, and has been since moving to Salmon in 2001. His job entails fertilizing, mowing, fixing mowers, mowing, trimming trees and ditchbanks, and mowing. I thought he was crazy for wanting to buy a business that essentially just elongated his day of mowing! For the most part, he has enjoyed his new business and meeting his clients and taking care of their lawns. He is truly talented at making things grow and creating beauty outdoors!

Our oldest son Ammon also has a small mowing business, and has for 2 years now. He began mowing our lawn and Grandma & Grandpa's lawn when he was 8. Then when he was 10, he started mowing for 3 other people as well. This year, he's added 2 more lawns to that. Ammon and Josh help each other do the trimming for each other's clients, and they pay each other as their employee, too.

Since Jonah and Micah are now 8, they mow our lawn (so Ammon no longer has to). They use a push-mower and they each have to mow half of the lawn. Josh has a riding lawnmower for his business, Ammon has a push-mower for his business, and we own a push-mower, too. So the twins each use one of the push-mowers, and they mow the lawn at the same time, essentially cutting the mowing time in half! They've done a pretty good job for their first year!

Josh anticipates that his business will become a family business, and as the other boys grow, they will be able to go with him and help, too. We both think it's important for the boys to learn the value of hard work, and his new business not only creates a little extra money for our family, but it will also be instrumental in teaching the boys how to work alongside their father.

Jonah & Micah's Spring

ACTIVITIES:

For months, the 2nd graders worked on making their own books. They created the story line, then wrote and edited it into a book format. They drew pictures to illustrate what the words were saying. They created the binding for the book, typed the story, and put it all together. The final touch was to make the cover for it. They read their books to other students in the school, and then the whole 2nd grade had an Author's Night after school one day in May. All the books were on display, and there were pictures and videos of the kids reading, and there was refreshments for everyone to enjoy. It was so great to see the products of all their hard work! Jonah's story was called "The Three Brothers", and it was about three brothers who lived in a magic land. Micah's book was titled "Mack and Robot" about the adventures of a boy and a robot.

The last week of school, Jonah and Micah's class did a Reader's Theater of 3 stories. Jonah and Micah are great readers, and they were readers in all 3. I thought the stories were cute and funny, and I enjoyed listening to the students.

SPORTS:

The students in our elementary school rotate between going to music two days a week and P.E. two days a week. Beginning in the 2nd grade, the students get to participate in a track meet that the P.E. teacher organizes and directs. Jonah and Micah were so excited for their first track meet! They participated in 2 individual events, and 2 class events. They both ran the 400m. They are both fast runners! Jonah placed 3rd in the race. 

They both participated in the gunny sack race, too. Micah placed 3rd and Jonah was 4th. This was such a fun race to watch! Boys were bouncing and falling and rebounding all over the place!

The two class events were the tug-o-war and the over-under relay. Ms. Schauss' class placed 2nd in the tug-o-war (out of 3 classes).

FIELD TRIPS:

The 2nd graders got to go on 2 field trips this spring. The first was sponsored by the BLM and Forest Service. They had 3 stations that the classes alternated between. They went to the airport, and got to look at and be inside the Forest Service helicopter training apparatus. The boys loved that! They also went to the Forest Service/BLM buildings and got to go in a fire truck and put out a fire, and they went to city park and learned about fire safety from Smokey the Bear.

Their final field trip in May was to the Alpaca Ranch. I got to go with them, and I found it fascinating. They learned all about Alpacas and their fur, and the competitions that their owner takes them to. They were such adorable animals!

AWARDS:
On a day during the last week of school in May, the elementary school had an awards assembly. Jonah and Micah received Terrific Kids awards for getting all A's on their report card. These are the 2nd graders who earned all A's:

They both also earned the 100% attendance award for the entire year. They didn't miss a single day! They received small awards each month, but there were only a handful of students who received it for the whole year. They got their own cups filled with fun things, including free movie passes.

Ammon's spring

SPORTS
Ammon ran track for the junior high. He practiced every day after school for 6 weeks, and really got in shape. This was his first year, and he was only able to compete in one track meet: the one held in Salmon (6th graders can't go on the bus with the 7th & 8th graders to other school's track meets.) He did 3 events: 400m, 1600m, and 4x400m relay. He really excels at long-distance running, and we enjoyed watching him pass others as he continued the 4 laps around the track in the 1600m. At the end of the race, he was able to pass two girls that he'd been trailing behind. It was an exciting finish! He really enjoyed running, and is now planning to run Cross Country in the fall instead of play football because he had such a positive experience!

400m race

1600m race

4x400m relay

FIELD TRIPS
At the end of April, Ammon took a field trip with the junior high and high school bands to compete at Festival at South Fremont High School in St. Anthony. Josh and I took the afternoon off to go see him compete and to do some errands in southeast Idaho. His junior high band played three songs, and were critiqued by 3 judges. Then they had a sight-seeing competition after their performance. It was his first band field trip, and he had a good time on the long bus ride with his friends!

At the end of May, the entire 6th grade went to Idaho Falls for a fun end-of-year field trip. They went to the zoo, had a picnic, and then went roller skating. He liked the zoo, and had fun with his friends on the bus and at roller skating--he'd never roller skated before so it was a totally new adventure for him!

AWARDS
At the spring band concert, Ammon played with the intermediate band. It was a great concert, and the kids did such an excellent job! His favorite was the Mission Impossible theme song (I tried uploading the video of it to Blogger, but it didn't work.)

Mr. Anderson, the band & choir teacher, gave awards at the end of each group's performance. Ammon received the "Teacher's Choice Award" in the Intermediate Band for being such a great student and always listening and doing his best! He was so happy and we were so proud of him!