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).

July 2020 - Week 1

SUNDAY - After church, Kanyon went back to Pocatello with Tiffany's family for a few days. He was so excited! Josh and I took the twins on a Jeep ride up 4th of July Creek to the Forest Service Lookout. We'd never been all the way to the end of the road before, because there was still some snow cover on sections of the road the previous summer when Josh and I had attempted it. I'm glad the twins came with us--they usually don't. The drive was pretty and relaxing. The views at the top were gorgeous! You could see Salmon in the distance, North Fork and the Salmon River in the canyon, and the highway to Gibbonsville, as well as Montana territory far in the east and several mountain ranges. It's my favorite lookout so far and was the first one I've been to that's been manned by an employee. We walked around for a bit and took some pictures before making our way back down the same way we'd gone up. We hit a rainstorm on the way back and Josh pulled over under the canopy of a tree for a few minutes so the twins wouldn't get so drenched in the back seat! 

MONDAY - I was sitting on the Triple S early in the afternoon, and a family of 5 deer showed up, paying no attention to me. I love this new little spot in the corner of our property! I always feel transported to a mountainside while I'm there--I'm at one with nature, and feel so peaceful!

    My favorite part of the day, though, was when Josh and I went floating down the Salmon River with the Judy family that evening. One of the items on my 40 Things to Do List was to float a different section of the Salmon River that I've never been on before. The Judy's go kayaking a lot, so I asked if they'd go with us since they know the river from town heading north and could help us navigate it. The twins opted to go to Summer Running instead. We met up with the Judy's at the Island Park ramp in town and we floated to the Ranch. I loved it! It was so quiet on the river and there's very few homes along that section of the river, so it was very peaceful. It was cool seeing where the Lemhi River flows into it and seeing the cliffs of Discovery Hill, too. The Judy kids all know how to navigate their kayaks, so it was relaxing not having our kids or other relatives to worry about. Usually when we go, we end up taking others and it's a process to blow up all the tubes/boats, and then keep an eye on everyone in the river the whole time. This was by far the most relaxing float Josh and I have ever had! We even stopped mid-float for the kids to swim, skip rocks, and walk around and it was so nice just hanging out with Dallin and Jen on the rocky shore, talking to them as their kids played. We've also never floated in the evening--there was way less people on the river and the sky was calm, which was awesome, too! 

TUESDAY - I worked on a  project for several hours to construct a footbridge across the ditch by the sitting area in the Triple S. The Cranney's have a giant scrap pile of wood in the gravel pit of leftover stuff to burn from their fencing materials. I took the 4-wheeler there, found logs that were at least 15 ft. long, cleared away brush, wrapped tie downs around each log, and attached it to the 4-wheeler, then dragged it back to the Triple S. Once I parked the 4-wheeler in the Triple S, I had to unload the logs by hand and haul them to the ditch, because it was too small of an area to turn the 4-wheeler around to get closer to the gate. Micah helped me carry the first 2 logs through the sitting area and across the ditch, but the 1st one wasn't quite long enough so I repeated the process all over again. This time, the log I found was even bigger around, and I dragged it back on the 4-wheeler, but by then Micah had gone to cut hay for Grandpa, so I unloaded it myself. It was super heavy! The widest end was a foot across, and it was 16' long. I wrapped a tie down around one end and dragged it a few feet at a time by myself to the edge of the ditch, then pivoted the smaller end around and across the ditch. Then I moved it to the opposite side of the other post that I'd previously placed and took away the smaller first post by wrapping the tie downs around it and dragging it off to the 4-wheeler, then I took it to our burn pile. I was so proud of what I'd been able to accomplish alone. It was a lot of heavy lifting, but with the creative use of simple machines, I got the first step of the job done! 

WEDNESDAY - I loaded up the truck in the morning to get ready to go camping with Josh. When he got home from work, we packed in the food and left about noon to go to Horse Creek Hot Springs--my FAVORITE hot springs! It took about 3 hours to get there, and the place was pretty bare - just a few day trip soakers and one other camper were the only other ones there. We were able to set up in the same place as last year and were the only ones in the lower campground, which made me happy. Josh cooked us some steaks on the tabletop grill: they were absolutely delicious! After dinner, we soaked in the hot springs and had it all to ourselves for about 45 minutes before others came and we headed back to our campsite. I got the bed ready in the back of the truck while Josh made the fire (we slept under the stars to cross off another item on my 40 Things to Do list). We played 3 rousing rounds of SkipBo while we waited for it to get dark and for the day-soakers to leave. When the last day-soaker left, we walked back over to the Hot Springs and soaked in the deepest, hottest pool inside the building. It was refreshing and so relaxing. We had some great conversation, and soaked for over an hour. It was heavenly! We walked back to our campsite and got under the dew-laden covers in the bed of the truck. It was the perfect night to sleep under the stars! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the moon wasn't up yet. The view was spectacular. I never thought sleeping under the stars would be so fun! I'm so glad we experienced it at our favorite hot springs! It was a very memorable experience! 

THURSDAY - Sleeping in the back of the truck overnight was a cold, wet experience. There was even frost on our sleeping bag when we woke up! However, Josh said he wasn't cold at all during the night-he never was on the edge of the sleeping bag like I was because he said he snuggled into me all night! We slept in until the sun came up, then we walked to the hot springs for one more soak before people would be arriving for the day. We had it to ourselves every time we soaked, which was the perfect scenario! We packed up and drove home, driving a little out of the way for part of it to go on a mountain road we'd  never been on before. It was a good drive. We unpacked when we got home and I worked some more on my new footbridge by the Triple S when Josh went to work. I brought over shorter wood pieces we already had and a wood block to brace the shorter pole upon the ground. I dug down, leveled the ground, set the wood block, and laid the pole back over it. It was a pretty good match to the height of the larger pole, and just needed to be shaved down in  2 spots to be level between them. I laid out the wood pieces until they covered the poles, and figured out what the placement would be (sizes of the pieces and spaces between each piece). I only had to cut 2 longer pieces into half in order to get the right number of planks to cover the poles. Then I used the chainsaw to shave off 2 parts of the shorter pole that had spots sticking up so that the boards would lay flat and level across both poles. 

FRIDAY - I got to work in the morning of screwing in the boards into my new footbridge (I charged the drill all night since it was dead the previous day). I worked until I ran out of long screws. I took a shower, got dressed, and went to town to get more. While I was in town, I visited with Pam Mark at her house for an hour or so, and we got caught up on our families. It was nice to see her! When I got home, I finished screwing in the boards, and made 2 more cuts with the chainsaw to the poles in order to be more level for the boards to lay on them. I finished the bridge in the afternoon. It took me 3 days, but I was so proud of myself for doing this project from start to completion! 

SATURDAY - Josh and I took Phil and Darcy on a Jeep ride. It was a great day for a ride--it was the hottest day of the year to that point: over 90*! We headed down river, then up Sage Creek. We drove up to the Lookout on Ulysses Mountain. It was a 60' metal tower that you had to climb up ladders to reach the lookout platform. We'd never been to a lookout like it before! I started climbing up, but stopped at the first level because the next ladder wasn't attached and it spooked me. Josh and Darcy made it all the way to the top and said the views above the burnt tree level (where I stayed) were amazing! Phil chose to stay on the ground the whole time. When Darcy and Josh came back down, we drove to Indian Peak and saw even more views--it was so beautiful from the top! We drove down through Hughes Creek Middle Fork and came out Hughes Creek, marveling at all the pretty homes and cabins. We stopped for dinner at Water's Edge Pizza on the way home; Phil and Darcy had never been there before. We enjoyed our usual pizza and the company we were with. When we got to Salmon, we stayed at Darcy and Phil's for a bit, playing cards with them on their backyard patio. We played Spades, but sadly the ladies lost terribly and then we played 3 rounds of Cards Against Humanity with their friend Anthony, who joined us. We laughed so much! We finally left to go home when it got dark and cold. I loved everything about the day--being with friends, exploring the mountains, seeing the beauty in the world around us, having good conversation, sharing laughter, eating good food, feeling the sun's warmth, and playing games. It all made for a very memorable day!