Back to School

It's the end of July, the sun is shining, it's hot, the zucchinis are on, and Ruth and Jared have started school. Welcome to year-round school. On Tuesday we had a meet-the-teacher morning and then the kids started classes. While they headed off for new adventures, my nephew Orion came down to spent the week with us. While Ruth and Jared were getting used to new teachers and friends, Orion and Chaz played a lot of wii and hung out with Chaz's friends. He's a good kid and it was fun to have him visit. By Friday all the kids were tired and ready for the weekend.


A New Job for Chaz

He may not have red hair and freckles, but after weeks of unemployment Chaz got offered a job at our local Wendy's. He starts on Monday. It is only part time, but it's a start.


Go, Go, Joseph

Our play opens this Thursday night at 8:00pm and then runs this weekend and next. All week Ruth and I have kept late hours doing dress rehearsals for the play. We've had a couple of crazy nights. Every new piece of costume, or change in choreography, threw my children's choir into a tizzy, but by the weekend things were settling down and the show was starting to run more smoothly. It will be the best show we've ever put on at the pavilion, but still I'm sure the first few shows are going to be an adventure. With a wink, I'm telling all my friends to come the second weekend.

Jersey Cream

Jersey Cream is the color the inside of our house became this weekend. Yes, it is possible to paint the entire upstairs of your house (minus bedrooms) in one weekend. That is, if you work from morning to night. (We have never been more thankful for the rest of the Sabbath day! Our shoulder muscles are thankful too.) In the 5+ years we've lived here, we've now painted every room in the house except for Jared's. The irony is that Jared is the one that has been begging to have his room painted since day one. Poor boy, he is still waking up to the color taupe. Next project, flooring.


Parade Preview

We love going to the Days of '47 parade preview every year. This year was no exception. As is our tradition we picked some of our favorite floats and posed in front of them. Float creations are notoriously a little on the creepy side, so we like to make our faces as creepy as the critter we are posing with.



















Sunday Pioneer Fun

I had such a great time at church today. Since it's pioneer day I arranged for a few people from our ward to come and play some pioneer music. We had a harmonica, and guitar and fiddle. The kids liked it all, but especially loved the fiddling. We even called our fiddler back for an encore. I dressed up in a pioneer costume and talked to the children like they were pioneer children. Some of my performers even dressed up. It was a lot of fun.

Pioneer Trek

Last week Kaitlin went on a four day pioneer trek with other teenagers from her dad's church. They rode a bus up to Martin's Cove and there, in small family groups, they pulled/pushed a handcart over 30, hot and dusty, miles of the Oregon trail. While it was really hard, Kaitlin loved the experience. Highlights for her were being carried across a river by the "brothers" of her trek family and visiting the pioneers graves at Salt Water creek, and testimony meeting on the last day. She came home with blisters and bites, but many happy memories and some new friends.

For my family that has never heard of Pioneer Trek, our local TV news did a news story about it last night. Here is a link to the story and a video.


Up House

You may have seen it on the Internet or on the news. Yes, they have built the 'Up House' just a few miles from our house. I noticed it a month or so ago when I saw them painting a new construction bright yellow. Then last week we drove over there to visit it and take some pictures. They say the inside is all the same as in the movie (but you can't go inside without buying a Parade of Homes ticket). It's going up for auction soon, if you're interested.


Hero Camp

I spent a day with Jared this week at cub scout day camp. He spent one day at "Dinosaur Camp" and I got to spend the day with him at "Hero Camp". What I wasn't expecting is to show up in the morning and have the Cub Commitee Chair hand me all the paperwork and telling me no scout leaders were coming and asking me if I would be in charge for the day because I'd done it before right?... um... no. But I took charge anyway, and off we went with 22 boys to day camp. You should have seen me checking them in:

Scout Lady: What is your troop number.
Me: That's the little red numbers on their sleeves right? I don't know.
Scout Lady (looking through my papers): Did Tyson take his medication today?
Me: He takes medication?
Scout Lady: Does Daniel have his epi pen with him today?
Me: I have no clue. Is that important? Should I call him over here to ask him?
and so forth....

The camp was very nice with lots of trees and shade and they had some pretty fun activities planned for the boys. Jared especially loved the bb gun shooting.


The Renovations Begin

Our hickory floors were delivered yesterday and are now sitting in our stripped down front room absorbing our air. My designing friend and neighbor, Julia, (who runs her own business you can find here) came
over and helped us choose a new paint color, since our pinky walls don't match or orangy floor. And here's the thing. In an open floor design with vaulted walls, you can't just paint one room, you have to paint the whole thing. So I guess that's what we will be doing for the next week, or two, or three. I know I've talked about this before, but I just don't have a brain for this kind of thing. I guess it's the same reason I can design a complicated scenery movement plan for a play, but can't seem to get rid of the pile of clutter beside my bed.



Go, Go, Joseph

Ruth and I are still working on the musical. Yesterday Kaitlin came with me and we spent eight hours painting on the set. In one more week we'll be starting run-through rehearsals. The show is really coming together and I think will be our best one yet. It will be the 1st and 2nd weekends in August.

Happy 18th Chaz

Chaz celebrated his birthday a week or so ago. He and Kaitlin made his favorite Chocolate Revel bars and he spent the evening doing some mysterious teenage things with friends. He is still on the hunt for work and, I hope at least, is pondering what to do with the rest of his life. Meanwhile he works around the house a few hours a day to earn his keep.


Injury Free 4th of July

We enjoyed a fun holiday at my parents house. We always love their home town parade that goes one way and then comes back the other way. You'll never find a better collection of wild grandmas on four wheelers and princesses on ridding lawnmowers. Our favorite this year was a float with two motorcycles and a little spotted donkey. The airplane candy drop went off without a hitch, no bleeding or anything (read about last year's adventures here). Jared even caught one. We wrapped the day up with a picnic with my family and my Aunt Edith from Canada and two of my cousins. In the evening we shot of fireworks with the neighbors. With the change in the fireworks laws our sky was alive with aerial fireworks. It was like living in middle of a fireworks show.