17 August 2014 - Youth Conference

This week we went back to the church orchard to help pick peaches.  As the evening was winding down, it rained a little, following by a spectacular rainbow.

We had the second of two fund raisers for the scouts and for girls camp.  We help park cars for the county fair and the rodeo.  Here's Jessica working hard.

The concrete cured this week, so the girls helped me fill in the space between the new patio and the fence with weed block and river rock.

On Saturday Jessica and Joanne had youth conference.  Here they are working hard at the service project at a local school.

10 August 2014 - Jessica's Birthday

This week was our ward pool party at the Caldwell City pool.  It was well attended and we had a good time.  I had been working on the house all day (see below) and was so hot and tired that I was grateful for both a break and a chance to cool off.  Here's Jessica going in off the diving board with Emily and their friend Savannah waiting their turn in the background.

Sunday was Jessica's birthday.  As always, many of you sent cards and gifts and we are very grateful for your kindness.  We reprised the homemade ice cream cake (yum!) with a 15 on top.

We decided to get serious about cleaning up the rest of the back yard before winter.  We actually hired a contractor to put in a sidewalk around the side of the house with a patio around the air conditioner.  This is the 'before' picture with concrete forms in place.

While the contractor was busy outside, I was busy inside remodeling the garage entry way and hall half-bath.  We put in a new tile floor, crown moulding and a new toilet.

3 August 2014 - A Swing through Utah

This week we went back to Utah.  I'd been wanting to take the kids to Dinosaurland for a while now, and to see my brother Mike's family (in Vernal), so we spent three days with them.

Here we are at the quarry.  If you haven't been here, it is hillside they've built a building around where they've partially excavated a large collection of dinosaur bones, which they believe collected when numerous dinosaurs died and were washed into a shallow area of an ancient river that flowed here.

After the quarry, we hit the museum in Vernal.  Here are the girls in the dinosaur garden.

Levi liked the dinosaurs, but he was dead serious about his Slurpee.

The next day we hiked to Red Fleet lake.

About a mile and a half in, right at the water's edge, there a number of dinosaur tracks embedded in the rock.  Here's Mike's hand in one.

This is near the dinosaur tracks on the cliffs above the lake.

We seem to have a knack for bringing unseasonably cold and rainy weather to Utah when we go.  The kids are playing tennis in the rain here, though you can't tell very well from the picture.

After Vernal, we drove to Orem to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Phil.  Phil's always good to take us rappelling.  Here's Jessica at our usual spot in American Fork Canyon.

I don't know why I didn't get any photos, but on Friday evening we had a little family reunion gathering.  My mom and dad have been called on a mission to Brisbane, Australia, so we took the evening to spend time with family on both sides.  It was really good to see so many of our aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

We were very outdoorsy this trip.  On Saturday we got up early and hike to the top of the Y in Provo.  Here is Joanne having conquered the Y.

A panoramic view of Utah Valley from atop the Y.

All three girls sitting on the Y.  It was very dirty.

After getting cleaned up, we went to West Jordan for our nephew Cameron's baptism.  We got him a Lego Movie t-shirt for his birthday, since he introduced us to the movie.  He had a great baptism and we had a great time having lunch with extended family afterward.

After the baptism and barbecue, we went up Little Cottonwood Canyon for more hiking.  I have been wanting to go back to Lisa Falls for a long time -- I haven't been here since Joanne and I were first married and the girls had never been here.

Grandma had a little late/early birthday for Joanne/Jessica.  Here's Jessica opening her present.

Then we all got to share in some cookie dough ice cream cake.

After a long week of outdoors, family and fun, we headed back to Idaho Sunday evening.

27 July 2014 - Joanne's Birthday

This week was non-stop fun.  On Monday, I formed a little motorcycle gang (i.e. a guy from church and some of his friends) and we rode to Stanley, Idaho, a little mountain town surrounded by 12,000 foot peaks.  It's about three hours east of Boise.  This is us stopped at a scenic overlook at about 8,000 feet.

A view of Red Fish Lake with mountain peaks behind.  On July 21st, it was only 68 degrees.  We ate lunch at the lodge here.

After my return from Stanley, the next day was Joanne's birthday.  Jessica was at Boise State for an EFY-type youth conference (BYS specifically).  I had arranged for Emily and Madeline to stay with Eric and Laura while Joanne and I had an overnight adventure in McCall.  McCall is a Park City-like town about two hours north of Boise.  It sits on Payette Lake.  Here we're mountain biking in Ponderosa State Park.

After our ride, we literally cooled our heels on a small beach on the lake.

Sunset over the sailboat marina at Payette Lake.

The next day we drove the truck up past Brundage Ski Are to Brundage Lake.  The water was so clear you could see all of the rocks deep beneath.  One of the beautiful places on earth. We mountain biked here too.

 Later in the day, we went back to Ponderosa State Park and drove/hiked to the top of Osprey Lookout, a basalt cliff overlooking Payette Lake.  Joanne has conquered the peak.

Back in town, the girls and I made a homemade vanilla bean frozen yogurt cake for Joanne's birthday.  Lest anyone wonder, the candle on top is a question mark.

Blowing out the candles.

The girls were creative and got Joanne 5 Second Rule.  It's a fun game and we played it for her birthday.

On Friday, I got some inflatable kayaks from the college's Outdoor program.  We took them to the Boise River for a three mile float.  Joanne is in the foreground here and Jessica and Emily are behind.

This was us at our launch point, less than five miles from our house.

Jessica and Emily weren't always in sync, but they eventually got the hang of the tandem kayak.

On Saturday, our stake held a Pioneer Day celebration.  Among many activities, the girls hauled Madeline in a handcart.  I estimated that I cooked 300 pancakes that morning.

And on Sunday, we rested.

20 July 2014 - Girls Camp

This week was Girls Camp at Pinetop, in the mountains about an hour east of Boise.  Joanne was one of three leaders from our ward, and we had 24 girls go.  This photo was on Bishop's Night.

I went up for one night as one of the priesthood leaders.  I was there for Bishop's Night, and all day the next day.  This is a shot of one of the games the girls were playing.  Jessica's in the pink shirt in the middle.

There were several forest fires burning in the area of Pinetop.  I hiked with another priesthood leader to the top of a cliff at the camp and took this photo of the opposite ridge.  You can hardly see it through the smoke, and ash was falling on us most of the time we were up there.

Madeline and I were glad to have our girls back when they got home on Friday, so we made them signs and bought them flowers.

13 July 2014 - Brian and Tiffany's Visit

Brian and Tiffany came to visit us this week.  Cameron and Brian took me miniature golfing, bowling, arcade playing and bumper boating at Wahooz! in Boise.

On Saturday the girls had a swim meet and we all got to go watch them.

The kids got motorcycle rides, but Lily is so little her's had to be on the gas tank.

And we took the kids rock climbing at the Y.

Lots of fun for all and always glad to have family come visit.

6 July 2014 - Fourth of July

For the 4th of July week we decided to have some fun at Roaring Springs.  Joanne and Jessica are conquering the Avalanche halfpipe here.

On the 4th of July, we had a busy day.  It started with a pancake breakfast at the church with a short program.  Then, we went to a yard party at Joanne's yoga teacher's house, then to eat dinner and watch fireworks at Aunt Kathy's house.

The next day we took a raft from the college's Outdoor program and floated the Snake River through the National Birds of Prey Wildlife refuge.  It was awesome, but would have been better in kayaks, since the Snake flows pretty slowly and the raft was a little hard to move in places.  Still, it was a nice adventure.

When it got too hot, we threw a line out and let the girls float along in their life jackets.