Halloween comes to work

So just a little background first:  I work at the local college in the Food Services office.  Now some days are just ok but others are just right down fun.

Two of our kitchen people really got into the Halloween spirit.  Let me introduce you to our two new "lunch ladies"

Annette and Jeanette:

 

 

So those who know me well, knows that I am not a big fan of Halloween so this was the best I could do at dressing up - here I am with one of our cashier's, LeeAnn - she was a lady bug - and a cute one at that.



Anyone seeing Red?????

So tomorrow is the big day.  The day that all Utah and BYU fans wait for.  Yes,  it's the big game.  You know which one I'm talking about.  The University of Utah gets to make that hour long trip to Provo to play against the Cougars.  Will you be wearing Red or Blue??

Guess what color I will be sporting?

Too much time on my hands- I think

What do you do when you think you have too much time to spare?  Why you paint the mailbox of course.

Before:

After:



Our first egg

FINALLY - the chickens have started to earn their keep.  We got our first egg.  Ok I know that may not sound exciting to everyone but to us it is (yes we get excited over little things).  Alexis just about stepped on it when she went to put the chickens away for the night.

They haven't quite got it figured out to use the nesting boxes yet.

 

 



 

 

They've grown haven't they?  They are actually pretty friendly, they even let us pet them.  They love this barrel that they are sitting on.

The Contraption

That's the only name we can think to name it.  Apparently my grandfather made this when my dad and his siblings were younger.  It ended up in my dad's front yard a year ago.  It may not be the prettiest thing but the kids sure have enjoyed it.

Our friends no I mean family, The Hess' were here earlier this month and when they come around it is always a lot of fun.  It didn't take the kids long to figure out how to work it.  However, it does help when someone (Kirk) is willing to push you on it. 

Oh, and did I mention that you have to stop quite often to fix it????

A busy summer.....

I'm not sure where June went and I'm still trying to figure out how July got here so fast.  This summer just seems to be flying by.  We have kept a lot busier this summer than any other summers that I remember.  June started off with Jake and Alexis taking a trip to Yellowstone with the youth from our stake - all 150+ of them.  They had a great time. 

They were then home for a week before heading out to church girl's camp and football camp.  You would think that we would get a break - oh no- it was time to get Jake ready for the National Scout Jamboree for two weeks.  He will have lots to share when he gets back so stick around.

Alexis headed off to Cheerleading camp this last week for four days and will be gone again next week to EFY.  Hoping by the end of the month we can get back to some type of normal routine.  Oh wait, we just might. School starts the 19th of August.

Alexis was also in the 4th of July parade with the cheerleaders - They got to take the easy way out and ride:

Race Day

The advantage of living on one of the best streets in town is that you get to witness the bike races.  Yep, that right, today was the bike race.  So we set up camp on the front porch and watched these guy go by.  These guys come from all over to participate.

It is so much fun being on the watching end of things....

The Little Boys of summer

This year is Kaden's first year of playing T-ball.  He has been so excited about playing.  We went to watch one of his games recently and oh my, what fun it was.

These little boys all want to get the ball and be in the same place at the same time.

Do you think they are contemplating their next move?

 

 

Up to bat- nice thing about t-ball, everyone gets a turn and there are no outs.

 

Everyone gets a turn to cross home plate.

 

Way to go Kaden!!

A day at work

Recently I went with Carl to work.  Now as exciting as that may sound... it's really not.  He does a whole lot of sitting.  He gets to watch a crew of guys dig trenches and lay fiber optic cable.  He has to make sure that they are digging the hole deep enough, not hitting any utility lines and getting just the right amount of cable in the hole.

So, in other words, it can be right down BORING.  But every once in while I get the chance to go with him.  I usually take along my knitting, crocheting or whatever project I am currently working on and I definitely take along a book.

This particular day, I also took along my camera.  After sitting for several hours it was time to go for a walk with camera in hand.

Here is what I saw on my walk:

Check out those cute baby buffaloes

 

 

This old house immediately caught my attention

 

Love the rail fence

 

 

Yes it was an exciting day on the job.  But I love the area he has been working.  Very rural, along the Provo River and green for as far as you could see.



Off to High School

On Tuesday night, the middle school had their closing ceremony for the 8th graders.  Jake and Alexis both completed all the requirements to be able to move on to high school.  It has been a challenging year for both.  They had to read alot more than they ever had to in their old school.  But on the positive side, they both have made some new friends and seemed to adjust pretty well to a new school this last year.  Because of their accomplishments this year, they were able to go on the 8th grade trip to Lagoon for a fun filled day.

The principal, Mr. Strate - met with him a few times this year.

Alexis receiving her certificate of promotion

Jake receiving his certificate of promotion

All said and done, it was a pretty good year.

Donkeys and Basketball

So what do Donkeys and Basketball have in common?  Nothing really, except when you live in the country.  Last night, one of the high school organizations had a fund raiser.  They brought in the donkeys to play basketball.  No the donkeys didn't play but the people who rode the donkeys did.

They had four teams (3 made up of students and 1 made up of faculty members) and played 4 games.  Each game consisting of (2) five minute quarters.  Two of those games went into over time.  But in the end the Seniors ruled.

Yep, only in the country would donkeys be the star of an athletic event.

Our new cheerleader

Two weeks ago, the high school here had tryouts for cheerleaders for next year.  Alexis thought that would be something she would like to do.  She went to the clinic and learned the cheer and a short dance.
After the tryouts, she came home and wasn't sure how she felt about it.  About two hours later she received a text that said:

"Congratulations you made the 2013-2014 cheer team"

Now she wasn't sure how she felt about it.  I think she really thought that she wouldn't make it- but she did.

We had to go to the high school the next night where they introduced her as a member of next years team:

Way to go.. I am so proud of you for having the courage to tryout:

Time for some Spring Cleaning....and a few chicks

Living in New Mexico, I could never really work in the yard because the wind blew so much that it was just miserable to be out in it.  We used to say that we had two seasons 1) Windy and 2) not so Windy.

 So since we have been having some great weather here in Utah lately, I have been anxious to get out in the yard. It first started with pulling out all the old dead stuff to make room for the new growth that will soon be coming. Things are starting to come together quite well.  We have torn out the old fence in the back yard and cleaned up the leaves and dead plants from last year.

(That wood fence back there is now gone)

 

 

 

 

Yes, we even called in the big guns to help burn the pile of debris



On a different note:

Alexis has wanted to have chickens ever since moving here.  Well her wish has come true.  We have the chicks:

We have all been helping with converting the old shed into a chicken coop with a chicken run attached:

 



 

Jake was a good sport about laying on his back to help finish off the roosting nests

 



 

Maybe one day these chickens will pay off... I think I've spent way more money on this coop than eggs can equal.



95 years young

Last we week had a birthday party for Carl's grandmother.  I've talked about her before but she still deserves more airtime.  She recently turned 95 years old young.  She is still pretty alert, can do most things herself and just a joy to be around. 

She lives in an assisted living in SLC and thoroughly enjoys it there.  She has many friends there and lots of family around who can go see her often.  We love her!  Every year is a milestone and if her current health is any indication, she could have many good years to come.

 

yep, she's still got it

 

Grandma and Uncle Dale (her oldest son)

 

Treats are always a must at a party

 



Easter Fun

Kaden came and spent a few hours with us on Easter this year.   He was surprised that the Easter Bunny had even hid some eggs for him to find. 

Oops, we have someone trying to sneak off... 

 

 

We hope everyone had a pleasant and peaceful Easter.

 

 



 

 

Seeing San Diego from the window

So I just spent 4 days in Sunny San Diego.  Now I know what you are thinking... how fun would that be?  Well, it wasn't.  It definitely wasn't for pleasure.  My father-in-law has been in the hospital down there for 5 weeks.  Him and my mother-in-law went on a two-week cruise to Hawaii.  On the way back he got quite sick, had a hard time breathing and spent the last 4 days of the cruise in "sick bay".

When they docked in Ensenada, Mexico the ambulance was waiting to take him to the border to meet the U.S. Ambulance to continue on into San Diego.  And as they say, the rest is history.  We were hoping he would have been home by now but no such luck.  We decided that we had better make a trip down there to help lift his spirits and give my mother-in-law a break.

So we boarded the big blue and orange bird and took off:

This was the view from the hospital window-the ocean is out there somewhere

.

 Got real tired of seeing this every day--

One good thing about the trip is that we did get to see some green instead of mud and snow - so that was a nice change.

This was the best part of every day- the beautiful sunsets:

 

 

We are still hoping for a speedy recovery, the doctor is very optimistic and is hoping that everything they are doing will help him to continue improving each day (I saw minor improvements in the few days I was there).  If things will continue to improve, the doctor's are hoping he will be home within 3 to 4 weeks.  

 



A fine feathered friend

I have seen this guy several times on my way to work.  Finally I was able to stop and get a picture of him.  This was as close as I dared to get since I didn't want to scare him off.  I zoomed in as far I could-not bad.  He was sitting there like he was just watching the cars go by.

A little snow fun....

Recently we got some more snow - surprise, surprise.  We thought we had better take advantage of it since hopefully spring is on it's way.

We went to my sister's cabin for some sledding fun.  Jake and Alexis, along with cousin Rylli, had a great time.  I declared myself as the official photographer.

Oh and did I mention we saw evidence of Big Foot while we were there:

 

 

Ok so NOT true- it was just me - trying out the snowshoes

 

 



Random Sunday

This is a scene that I often saw on my way to work this winter.  I finally decided to make sure I had my camera with me so that I could capture it again.  Lucky for me, I did see it.  Every day for about two weeks, the fog was heavy and lying low.  I loved how it was sitting on the ground but could still see the mountains peeking out from above.

Just wanted to share: