Granddaughters' outing

My friend Nancy Seamons and I took our granddaughters to lunch and then to the Thanksgiving Farm. We went to Wendy's since that was Ellie's favorite. We were going to the Jump on it place but found out that it was closed so off we went to the farm. Makayla and Ellie rode the horses and we went on the carriage ride. We had fun feeding the turkeys. Boy are they fast grabbers. The calf was very slobbery to feed, the horses were a little scarey and the goats were really tickly as they licked the kernel out of your fingers. It was an experience but the favorite thing for Makayla was the washing area with the little sprayers for your hands. Anyway it was really fun to go out with Makayla and Nancy and her granddaughter. It is fun to have the opportunity do be with your grandchildren.

The yard that grew and grew.

When we bought the lot for our house, it looked like a good sized lot but not too outrageous. It looked smaller that most of the other lots. When the house was built it looked a little bigger but had a huge drop off so we had some soil brought in and it made the slope less drastic and increased the yard right in back of the patio. Ok, so it was pretty big but we felt it would be manageable. Then we started the landscaping and the yard got bigger, not to mention expensive. We added rock walls to keep the slope in check, and sloping ramps to add access. Somehow the yard looked bigger and we wondered "What were we thinking?" Then it was time to put in the irrigation. Wow, the yard was really big! By this time Ric was incapacitated...so we had a landscaper put in the irrigation system(thank heavens or we really would have messed it up). We also had him plant a few big trees that needed a tractor to move them in place but that left about 2o trees for us to plant. With a small window of time to get them in before the sod needed to be laid, we valiantly rented an auger ( a big machine you drag around to dig the hole). That was a smart move on our part since Ric was still on a crutch and I had a pulled ham-string. It all went reasonably well...there were only a couple of times that I thought Ric was going to be run over by the huge machine while we dragged it from hole to hole. But when it came time to dig the lower trees' holes, we knew that we couldn't do it on our own. So we called two of the nicest men we know and they came to our rescue. Curtis Smith, a dentist and Shawn Hurley along with his wonderful son came and helped us move and dig and plant. Curtis was really good at drilling...I guess the dentist thing transfers over. We now have 31 trees. Then it was time for sod. By this time, the yard looked more like a park than a backyard to us and we weren't sure if we asked people to help that they would be our friends after laying that much sod. Ric said it would be ok but I thought it was too much to ask. I have never had to ask for help in my life so this was a new experience for me. I was so touched when we had over 35 people come to help lay sod over 2 days (we worked from 6 to 8:30 on Fri and 7-9:30 on Sat). Everyone was amazing. Men and women hauled, cut and laid 12,000 sq feet of sod. Our son and daughter in Idaho traveled all the way from Rexsburg to help, Justin was there helping as always and Clay came after work to help clean up. I couldn't believe that so many people would come to help us. It was a miracle to me. The whole yard has been a miracle with people showing up at the right moment to help move beams and tresses, dig trenches etc. Ric was able to walk without his crutch or cane when he needed to. So while the yard seemed grow in size, it also grew as a testimony of the goodness of people and God's love for us as a family. It is beautiful in many ways.

Fossil Hunting Trip

I volunteered to be the Fed Express for my sister. She bought a huge painting from Emily and couldn't get it in her car. It barely fit in mine. I drove up with Kelsey (she and Logan had come down to help us lay sod). I stayed the night with Kelsey and Logan on Sunday night. I got to Suzan's and delivered the painting. She and I went shopping and did some reading. On Tuesday morning, Skip, Suzan and I headed out to go fossil hunting in eastern Montana. I love the wide open spaces on the praries there. We stopped at one place and I found dinosaur bones, turtle shells and some teeth. We drove off the road and set up camp about 6pm. We had a nice dinner of soup, cheese, and crackers. The sunset was great and the weather was warm. Unfortunately, the next morning it began to sprinkle. The roads there are bentonite clay so if it rains they get slick and stick to everything. You can get stuck forever there. We hurried up and broke camp. Once we got off the dirt roads, it began to pour. We were glad we had not waited it out. Although I was sorry not to get to do another day of fossil hunting, it was nice to drive around such beautiful country. I had a great time and have a few cool fossils.

Lee on the Rogue River in IK

Pictures

Triathalon
Rainie Falls on the Rogue River
The Cabin with the Grandkids

Recovery and Rivers

We had a great family outing at the Burley Idaho Spudman Triathalon. Logan, Justin and I participated in the 1 mile swim (my wave was cancelled due to a drowning of one of the swimmers ahead of us), a 26 mile bike race, and a 6 mile run. The whole family was there with the exception of Clay and Brittany who had to work but did include my sister Suzan. After the race, we attended the Twin Falls Temple Open House. The grandkids were really reverent and it was such a beautiful building. Parker, Dallin, and Landon are below on the Temple steps. After the two nights, the girls were joined by Brittany and we traveled to Boise to stay at the Marriott there by the river. We went floating down the Boise River, (where I broke every boating rule I know), accidentally popping the raft Kelsey was in, seeing river otters, eating licorice , and laughing our heads off. We went to the play "Oklahoma" at an outdoor theater in the mountains and just had fun talking, eating and hanging out. My sister Suzan, daughters Ashley, Kelsey, Staci, Brittany and I all had a blast.[Photo]Ric is continuing to get better. At his last doctor appt. he was given permission to start putting weight on his leg. He has begun physical therapy and is relentless in his persistence for recovery. Last night we went to a wedding reception and he only used one crutch. He is getting stronger, today he even washed a couple of pans for me. Yeah...a first in 8 weeks. I am stoked and so is he. ( Not about the dishwashing however.) We completed the cement work in the yard and now we are getting the sprinkling system in. Somehow, our yard has grown since we bought it. It looks much, much larger. I am wondering who will be mowing and doing the weeding. I really hope it is not me. We built a deck while Ric was been broken and we really appreciate all the kids did to help with it. Ric even sat and a stool and drilled in nails. I learned to drill those long screws in too and did a pretty good job I must say. With Ric in recovery, I did the Rogue River in Ore. without him. I missed him the whole way because he would have loved it as much as I did. The mountains there are spectacularly green and lush with streams and little waterfalls everywhere. The water is cool and clear. It was hot and the water felt great to cool off. The river was class III and two IV's. I think one of the IV's was a III and I paddled that in my IK (inflatable kayak). I took one swim. Mostly because I loaded my boat stupidly and after I removed the ballast in front had no further problems. I hate to swim, but felt better when the other IK paddlers took their turn at least once. I didn't paddle Blossom Bar and just rode in the raft with Nancy Seamons. There have been 2 deaths there this season and I didn't want to stress out Nancy. She rowed it perfectly. It was lots of fun. We hiked, swam, ate, jumped off rocks into clear streams and used water cannons to spray passengers on the motor boat cruises on the lower part of the trip (they started it and finished it too when the boat put the stern toward us and gunned the jets, totally dousing us with a rooster tail of water). It was a great river.Last Friday, I did a quick day trip with Nancy on the Westwater section of the Colorado. It is III's and IV's too. I just was a ballast the first section with the rapids. I was thinking as we were flawlessly sailing through the rapids that I was going to have to go with less experiences rafters in order to see carnage. At Sock it to Me rapid, Nancy's oar hit a rock and popped out, we were swept in the wave train to "Magnetic Rock" and pinned against the rock. The raft started to flip while Nancy was struggling to get the oar in place. I yelled "High side!" so we threw ourselves on the edge of the tube and were able to keep upright while we pushed the raft slowly off the rock. One of the boats, came down and bumped us off at the end so all ended nicely but it was a thrill for a moment. I rowed the last 10 miles which was good experience for me since we are acquiring a new raft in Sept. I am excited to get Ric and I out there. I envision Ric rowing with all kinds of gear and me paddling along in a kayak. Sounds great, huh?!
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