Hot Springs

We haven't been camping just to camp for a few years.  We decided we needed a break only camping could provide. We headed up to Bonneville hot springs and campground near Lowman to enjoy some downtime as a family. The older kids brought the guitar and ukulele, we brought lots of food, and nature provided the rest.  It was just what we needed.

People have created dams with the rocks, making pools of different temperatures. During the hot part of the day we enjoyed the "swimming pool" temp area, and in the late evening we enjoyed the "hot tub" temp area.

This is the cooler side.  I am wearing a t-shirt because I neglected to wear adequate sun protection earlier.  Thankfully everyone else was tan enough and didn't even get rosy.

We stumbled across this meadow while on a little hike and decided it would be even prettier in the spring.  As for Ethan, when there is nothing else to do, you might as well whittle a stick.

Michael did not spend as much time in the river as the rest of us. "There's no shade!" I just have to shake my head in pity. While we hung out in the water Michael entertained himself exploring, crossing logs, traversing rocky river beds and enjoying the shade.  He was pretty pleased with this photo.

Breaking Down to Build Back Up

Our house is little. Our living room is miniature.  Our kids are big. We could sell and move, but we really love our location, the kids love their schools, they love the neighborhood, and Michael and I love our very small mortgage.  In an effort to make our home more livable, we hired a contractor, Christian, to make our living room 8 feet deeper, with a two-foot bay at the end.  Despite numerous setbacks, lots of conversations with the city, including discovering the city owns half our front yard, building finally started.

We had everything carefully budgeted, but realized we needed to make some changes to the electrical. With the lights we wanted to install and the extra outlets, electrical alone was going to cost an additional $2,800! There went our budget.  I called my brother who has experience running electrical and he said, "Do it yourself, electrical is easy." Our contractor said, "I bet you could do it. Electrical is easy." The guy at Home Depot, a retired electrician of 40 years, said, "You can do it.  Electrical is easy." Even my neighbor, who is a current electrician said, "Why don't you do it yourself? Electrical is easy." While visions of news articles blaming faulty electrical wiring as the cause of a catastrophic house fire ran through my head, we started running electrical. Ethan had the dubious pleasure of dragging wire through the rafters, while Michael with some direction from my lovely brother, started wiring outlets and switches. I drilled holes, ran wire, and wired lights, but mostly I just drove back and forth to Home Depot.  We are incapable of actually buying everything we need at one time.

With a little help, a lot of questions, and some time spent on YouTube, we managed to get most of the electrical installed within a week of working evenings. A big thank you to Joseph for spending a couple of those evenings with us, lending tools, guidance, and making sure we did not fry anything.

$400 later, and with more trips than I can remember to Home Depot and Grover's, we managed to make everything work, and install all our wants. We even managed to pass our electrical inspections on the first try! That means we are not actually going to burn the house down. While I would never tell anyone that electrical is easy, it was doable.  And that's almost the same thing.

Our fancy new pendant lights over the kitchen counter.  I'm not sure if we will keep these globes, but they were cheap, easily available at Home Depot, and I was past making hard decisions. The bright spots are three of the six dimmable, flush mounted, LED lights we also installed.

Our roughed in light switch, with dimmer!  It works and now, a few weeks later, looks much more respectable.

Our contractor made every effort to build the new front of the house before knocking down the inside wall.  Here is the front of the house, just before the living room became one room.

I pulled out the Sharpies and let the kids and visitors draw on the soon-to-be-demolished walls to their hearts' content.  The art lasted about a week before it was time to demolish.

When it was time for the dividing wall to come down, the kids looked at me with big eyes and asked if they could help take the wall down. Christian had no objections, and Ethan happily started kicking holes in the wall.  The spray insulation and framing you can see through the window frame is the bones of the new living room.

Libby started kicking the wall and our contractor leaned in the window to hand her a hammer.  He suggested she might do more damage with it.

They also let Sam use a hammer.  I really enjoyed working with our contractor.  He is young and energetic, and just seemed happy to be building things.

Ethan also had to punch the wall.  Christian popped his head in once again to check on the damage the kids were doing. He reminded Ethan to check for studs before punching things, and then left him to it.

As the rest of the wall came down, my kids just sat like this. I think they spent most of the afternoon watching the wall come down with the same intensity they reserve for Netflix.

The build is currently 98% done, and I will post pictures soon!

Sam's Birthday

Sam's birthday fell smack in the middle of our family reunion.  We asked if he was okay with celebrating when we got home.  He happily agreed.  While in Rexburg we did buy ice cream sandwiches for all the kids in honor of his birthday and gave him a mini drone.  The ice cream was devoured and the drone quickly broke.  Thankfully, we were able to return it to the local Walmart and get a Batman towel and a couple "squishies" as replacements.  Sam was very contented with his birthday.  A better drone came a few days later from Amazon.

Afton, my cousin, wanting to make sure we celebrated Sam's 8th birthday to her satisfaction, also bought a huge chocolate sheet cake she surprised him with after dinner.  Sam bashfully said, "I like seeing my name on a cake" and "Can we have my birthday at the reunion again?"  I guess I needn't have worried he would feel neglected on his birthday.

A couple days after we made it home, we celebrated with family.  At Sam's request, Libby made a hamburger cake.  It was enjoyed by all, except Sam, who almost never eats the delectable desserts prepared in his honor.

Sam can't have a birthday without superhero merchandise.  He's read almost all the superhero books in the library and can quote all the facts.  When we watch Marvel or DC movies, he is the resident expert and helps the rest of us understand what is happening.  I guess I'm just grateful he gets most of his information from books and not the movies.  It makes me feel like a slightly better mom.

He blew out all eight candles and now it is official.  My baby is eight years old.  He is so excited to be baptized soon.

Reunion

Every couple years my mom's family has a reunion.  This year it was in Rexburg, and although it was a smaller turnout than usual, we had excellent fun.

We loaded the van with all our kids, my mom, and all our stuff.  Michael was very proud of his packing job.  I am posting it here so everyone can marvel at its splendor. We shouldn't have bothered to bring any food.  The amount of delicious food served would make you jealous if I described it all. I will just let you imagine the weight gain.

My cousin's daughter, Afton, who has four kids of her own, became the official hairdresser.  My girls won't let me do anything beyond a simple braid, but for Afton they sat patiently while she conceived and executed elaborate styles:

Libby had this same mohawk braid two days in a row.  She loved it and insisted I watch how it was done, so we could recreate it. I have not tried it yet. I'm a little afraid.

Grace sported a different style everyday.  Everyone fell in love with her hair. They should just be grateful they don't have to brush and braid it every. Single. Morning.

We also got to enjoy some stunning sunsets.  This is the only thing I miss about living in Jordan Valley, OR.  I love sunsets over flatlands!

Just an awesome video Michael took of Libby's true talent.  We are proud, and highly amused.

We were planning on spending a day in Yellowstone, but the kids vetoed getting back in the car. Cousins also begged us not to go. We spent the extra day with our relations, swam in a man-made lake, and were happy.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone in 2020!

My Dad

My dad is 76 years old.  He decided to cut down this tree. Unfortunately, it did not go well. The last month has been chaos.  At first we believed that dad would be okay, with a few broken ribs to show for his time.  Then his spine injury started acting up and he was quickly moved to a Boise hospital.

He has since undergone surgery and a lot of physical therapy.  He has lost almost all muscle control from his waist down, and is slowly regaining some.  We have no idea how much control he will regain, or if he will be able to live independently, but he continues to make small, steady improvements. The hardest part of this process is the unknown.  Spinal injuries are all different, so we still don't know what the future will hold.

My sister and I drove up to my dad's home in Burns with five of our kids, to pick up a few things.  On the way we found a real, live phone booth!  The phone didn't work but there was the added bonus of an active wasp nest! We also bought some gas station fudge, in exchange for using the facilities. The fudge, and the needed facilities were worth it.

We collected dad's treasures, including this interesting piece of petrified wood.  We also forgot his hearing aid batteries. Thankfully, we were able to buy those locally.

On the way back we stopped at a gas station, in dire need of the facilities, again.  These guys entertained themselves, while other members of our party waited in line for said facilities.

We continue to hope and pray for my dad.  The improvement hasn't been great, but it has been steady.  He will soon be headed to a skilled nursing facility to continue his physical therapy.  He's hoping for a short stay.