Cool Cars

We like to go to the Spokes and Chrome-sponsored annual Car Show on Father's Day weekend in Salmon at the City Park. There weren't as many cars in it this year, but we loved looking at the ones that were there! It was a nice, sunny afternoon, too, which was a bonus! 

All the boys loved this hot Camaro! It was one of their favorites in the show.

I liked this paint job--the color looked both blue and purple!

I liked the combination of black, red, and chrome on this one.

Jonah and Micah were both taller than this modified truck!

All the boys were fascinated by the
giant stick shift handle in that short truck, too. 

Ammon and Josh at the end of the first row of cars we looked at.

Classic T-Bird--but with a fugly puke-green color...

..and it didn't stop on the exterior: they got the puke green interior to match it!

I personally preferred the lime green color on this hot rod better!

I thought this little circle window was adorable!!

This one was my favorite. I liked the fuschia stripe along the bottom.

The doors swing both ways on this one.

This one of my favorite pictures from the day.
Can you see Kanyon's reflection in this ford tire rim?

I'm enamored with the Studebaker logo on old cars.
I try to find one every year when we go to car shows.
I think my desire may stem from watching the original Muppets Movie??

This one was another of the boys' favorite vehicles. It was an awesome truck:
it had a sweet lift, an awesome sounding engine, and the color is super happy!

Summer Laborers

This is the first summer in like 10 years that I haven't made a summer chore chart for the kids. My summer has been almost completely engulfed in college classes thus far, and I'm behind on all my regular summer-y things (like chore charts, vacation planning, and relaxing). The weekly chores were always helpful in maintaining our house's cleanliness while everyone is home everyday, it gave the boys some organizational planning each day, and it also benefited them monetarily each week. 

But since the boys are growing older, they don't necessarily need the little bit of money from chores anymore. Ammon, who's now 15, works 2 jobs: he mows lawns (which he's done for years now), and he's also an employee of Josh's at the golf course. Sometimes he has additional work, too: helping Grandpa on the ranch by changing pipe and moving hay bales. So, he's not home a lot to even help with the house chores anymore (and his most-of-the-time messy room is evidence of that!).

Jonah and Micah have started changing pipe for Grandpa this summer, which is their new money-making job. They go every afternoon and work together. They also mow Grandma's big lawn using  a riding lawnmower (which is a paying job), and help me weed the garden (which is a mandatory job), and are willing to help me clean the house whenever it's needed (mostly we invite people over as the instigator to clean the house now that there's not a chore chart in place). They are good little workers!

Micah

Jonah

working together

waiting for the moved sprinkler pipe to pressurize

Kanyon is now 8, which is the age that I've taught each of the boys how to mow the lawn. Kanyon's new job this summer has been mowing our lawn, which I pay a measly $2 for every week (it's what I've always paid the boys to mow it--even when Ammon was 8, and I didn't feel like inflation would be fair). Kanyon doesn't love doing it, but he likes getting paid every week for it! He also helps me weed the pumpkin patch every week, and this year, he will be the only one to receive the extra income from the pumpkin sale day this fall.  

So, despite not having a chore chart, the boys all have their own summer jobs. I'm so thankful we live on a ranch that offers opportunities for my boys to learn the importance of hard work as well as ways for them to earn their own money!

Camping at Hayden Creek Pond

We went camping as a family for the first time this summer just days after the boys went to Father & Son Campout together. Since Josh usually has to work on the weekends at the golf course, we went on a Monday and Tuesday (June 15 & 16) instead. The great thing about camping mid-week is that there's usually not a lot of other people camping around us, too. We decided to try camping at Hayden Creek Pond, because we'd never been camping there, and heard it was a good fishing place. It's about 30 miles from our house, and since we'd never been there before, Josh and I rode his new motorbike there one day a couple weeks prior to camping to check out the site. But, unfortunately about 2 miles before getting there, his motorcycle started having some problems, and we turned around and went back home. So, we weren't able to check out the camp site, and blindly drove our truck & trailer there without knowing exactly to expect. When we drove there on Monday afternoon, we set up the trailer in the shade of some trees in a parking area right after the fishing pond. We weren't sure if there was a designated campground a little further down the road, but we didn't want to chance it (luckily for us, there wasn't--there's campgrounds WAY down the road, but nowhere near the pond). 

Unfortunately, when Josh got out of the truck to unhook the trailer, he dropped his smart phone on the ground, and it hit a rock and cracked the screen and wouldn't work. That kind of ruined the first day of camping for him. But, it didn't affect the boys; they went fishing right after we set up camp.

Micah even caught a fish that evening!

And for the first time, he cut it, gutted it, and cleaned it all by himself!

We ate sloppy joes for dinner, and the weather became overcast and stormy, so we played some board and card games inside the trailer that evening. Tiki (our dog) joined us on this camping trip (this was only her second time camping with us), and because of the thunder storm (which she hates), she came in our trailer too (which was a first). We cooked starbursts and s'mores over the campfire that night before going to bed. Tiki refused to go outside at bed time, and slept in the trailer all night long, as well. 

The next morning was beautiful and sunny, and we cooked breakfast over the campfire. Kanyon had the idea to bring sausages to cook over the fire, which we've never tried before, and I got toaster strudels to try out in the pie iron over the fire as well. Josh cooked all the sausage links on the roasting sticks, and he accidentally brought a package of patties instead of another package of links, so I cooked the patties in the s'mores maker, and they turned out good. The toaster strudels were uber delicious, and I can't believe I've never thought to bring them camping before! We are adding both items to our future camping breakfast menus! 

I recently bought a 2nd pie iron, and a wire s'mores maker

After breakfast, Josh went on a long motorbike ride down the road and up trails into the mountains. He was gone for a couple of hours, and he had a good ride. Ammon would've joined him as well, except he'd been in his motorbike accident just days before, and he was still sore and in pain, and he was bummed that he had to stay behind. While Josh was gone, the younger boys did lots of exploring while Ammon mostly just read the book "The Maze Runner".

Notice the bandage on Ammon's elbow

The boys hiked up to a cave (the higher one in this picture)--which was filled with stinky bird (or bat?) poop: 

They hiked up to a rocky cliff at the pond:

They rode bikes down the road, and around the pond: 

They caught a frog in the creek:

They made a little fort out of some overgrown shrubs, but then quit after a Fish and Game officer stopped by and said there may be rattlesnakes around, especially in the shaded shrubs. And then they went fishing again, but nobody caught a bite this time:

When Josh returned from the motorbike ride, we ate lunch, packed up our campsite, and headed home. It was a typical 24-hour excursion for us! It was a pleasant camping trip, and I'm glad we went. I love camping with my family: it's time spent together, time spent outdoors, and time spent enjoying the small things. Josh had a good ride (which is always therapeutic for him), Ammon relaxed (which he needed to--and I was glad it was a break from relaxing in front of the T.V., which he'd done since his accident), and the younger boys had lots of little adventures, so all-in-all I think it was a successful overnighter!

a Crash and a Gash

Ammon got in his first major motorbike accident on the evening of Saturday, June 13.

He had gone motorbike riding with his friend Tim to go golfing at the golf course, and they were on their way back to our home after they were done golfing when it happened. There is a gravel trail adjacent to the highway for walkers, bicyclers, and ATV users, which is what Ammon drives on when he rides his motorbike to town from our house 7 miles away. The trail goes up and down over driveway crossings, but the trail has been used so much that the driveways are like gradual little hills which create fun little jumps. The highway had some road work done this spring, and they added the new asphalt on top of the old asphalt, creating a taller road. A new access driveway was built to a recently installed power box near the Shoup Bridge, and the new driveway was built to be as tall as the newly finished highway. The driveway access was unlike the other older driveways: it was tall and square rather than being shorter with gradually-inclining sides. He hit that new driveway going 50 mph, and the bike catapulted high. When he landed, the back wheel came down first hitting the opposite side of the driveway, but the front end took a nose dive to land on the gravel trail below. The effect threw him off the bike, sent him flying through the air, and then landing and sliding in the gravel on the ground along his left side. Tim had been far enough behind him that the accident didn't affect him, and since the access driveway was so high, Tim couldn't even see from where he was what had happened to Ammon after he landed the jump.

Josh and I had planned to to out with friends that evening, and I felt uneasy leaving home without Ammon returning on his motorbike. We left a little later than planned because one of our friends was delayed, but he still wasn't home yet. We drove around, picked up 3 friends, and were just getting ready to drive down main street to head to Josephine's Pizza, a restaurant 30 miles north in an area of no-cell service, when Ammon called saying he'd had an accident and his arm really hurt.

Josh told him we'd be there in a few minutes, and he high-tailed it back down the highway to reach Ammon. Ammon also called Grandpa after getting off the phone with us, to see if he could come help him, since he was closer to the accident site than we were. By the time we arrived, Ammon was just getting into Grandpa's car. We looked at Ammon's arm, and said we were taking him to the E.R. There was a very deep gash, and I could see a muscle or tendon in the hole, and I knew that I couldn't clean it out the wound as well as a doctor could, and it would be much more painful for him if I tried. Tim and Grandpa got the motorbikes home (except for some scratches on the bike, Ammon's still worked fine), and Josh and I (and our friends) drove Ammon to the E.R.

His left side was all banged up: road rash on his shoulder, deep wound by his elbow, scraped knee, and scratched ankle. But miraculously, he hadn't broken a bone. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet, which also got scraped up on the left side, but that saved his face and scalp from receiving the damage. The worst was the deep wound by his elbow, which is what the doctor focused on cleaning up and mending.

Ammon got a couple of shots in his arm to numb it before they began the task of cleaning it up. When it was all clean, the doctor measured how horizontally deep the gash wash: it was 4cm!!!

It was gross! I told Ammon it looked like Jupiter's red eye!

After the doctor joked with Ammon for the bad choice of only wearing shorts and a T-shirt while riding the dirt bike, he commended him for wearing a helmet and said it was the best kind of motorcycle accident: it was painful enough for him to remember it, but since he didn't sustain any permanent damage, there wouldn't be lasting effects. The doctor installed a drainage tube in the hole and sewed 6 stitches to seal the opening.

We were in the E.R. only about an hour and a half, and were so glad that we were the only ones for the most part! Ammon came home with his arm all bandaged up, and he laid around the house taking it easy for 3 days before going back to work and resuming his regular schedule. His knee was sore for a while, because it scabbed over, making it hard for him to walk or run without a limp. But his arm has taken the longest to heal, and he's been good about not complaining much about it. After a week, 3 of the stitches came out, after 10 days, the drain tube came out, and after 2 weeks, the rest of the stitches were removed.

3 days post-accident

1 week post-accident

10 days after

2 weeks after

3 weeks later

Ammon realized and admitted that he was being stupid when it happened. Hopefully this was a good lesson for him in motorcycle safety! We are just so grateful that we were still in town when it happened, that he was wearing his helmet, and that the accident wasn't so much worse.

Colorful Creations

This is the view when you walk into my master bedroom (which, btw, I just LOVE the size of):

The partial wall on the left blocks some of the view, but on the right you can see our bed and the double recliner. When I work on my laptop (for college, or blogging, or email, etc.) or when I watch TV with Josh in our room, I sit on the left side of that brown double recliner. Out of all the places I sit in our house, I probably sit in that chair the most! On the left side of the photo in front of the partial wall is some filing cabinets (holding a portable CD player and a laptop) and a hanging shelf (holding my purse). 

The wall directly across from my seat in the brown recliner is the one above the filing cabinets. It has been blank (except for the shelf holding boxes with mailing supplies) since we moved in 5 years ago. It started feeling un-inspirational to me, and I got tired of looking at the white walls, so when Josh took the boys to Father and Son Campout one night in mid-June, I decided it was time to finally bring some color to it. 

I had an idea last summer to put all the kids' gifts of colorful creations they'd made for me at school in one location, and I thought that would be the perfect spot. I don't know why I waited nearly a year to put that idea into action! 

I hung up the flower paintings that Jonah, Micah, and Kanyon made me for Mother's Day when they were in 1st grade. I love the vivid colors!

Under those paintings is the shelf that holds the mailing supplies. On one end of the shelf, I placed the colorful decoupage vases that Jonah and Micah made for me for Mother's Day when they were in 4th grade, and the colorful tile mosaic that Ammon made for me when he was in 4th grade, too.

The area still looked kind of empty, so behind their colorful gifts I put the light-up floral lamp that my Grandma Rose gave me when I was a child, a vase holding a rose that Josh gave me for Valentine's Day a few years ago, and the paper floral bouquet card that the boys gave me this year for Mother's Day.

Under the shelf, I attached some 3-D paper snowflakes that Micah colored for me as a Christmas gift this past year (and when the air conditioner is on, I like watching them blow and twirl around!). And lastly, I hung up the giant bulletin board that I got for school last year that I'd stapled colored paper triangles all over to make it look like a bright quilt because I want to attach ticket stubs of places I've been/concerts I've seen/things I've done to it. 

Now when I sit in my chair, the wall in front of me feel so much more inviting, stimulating, and uplifting! I love admiring the colorful creations that I've been given from my boys!

I thought the contrast was funny in this picture
between the contents on both sides of the partial wall:
 you can definitely which sections of our room are "his" and which are "hers"!