Introducing the latest in Zero Carbon Emissions lawnmowers...

In an effort to implement an eco-friendly policy of lawn and garden maintenance, we have contracted with a new company that provides zero carbon emissions lawn mowing services. The employees are extremely efficient, if a little wary of strangers. While their work hours are somewhat sporadic, I believe they will eventually get to the entire lawn. I just hope they leave the vegetable garden alone.


Yellow-bellied marmots a.k.a. Rockchucks




There is a family of these creatures living in the wood pile by Paul's shop. And a lot more live next door in the rock piles near the potato shed. Sadly, one of them had recently expired, a fact which I had the near-misfortune of literally stumbling upon while heading up the hill on Tuesday to go for a run...eww! Life in the fast lane can be messy. But nature has a way of taking care of its own. Today when I went past the "accident" site, I noticed the body was gone. I'm sure the marmot family retrieved their loved one and had a proper burial...either that or some scavenger came along and enjoyed a roadside banquet. I like to think it was the first option.

A Lesson in Thermodynamics

The fact that school is out for the summer does not automatically preclude further learning. Case in point -- one of my children (who shall remain anonymous to protect his dignity) decided his bike tire was low. This presented him with several options:

1. Go out to the shed and use Dad's air compressor.
2. Find the hand pump.
3. Borrow the pump from Mom's bicycle.

And finally, the less obvious (at least to the female mind):

4. Ride two and a half miles round trip in the blazing heat to the local gas station and use their air compressor.

You can guess which choice he opted for.

Now, fast forward several hot, sunny hours. We were all inside the house, busy with various activities. Suddenly we heard a loud BANG! I thought it was Parker shooting off bottle rockets or firecrackers again, so I sent Jacob to investigate. He came back and told me that Parker was upstairs asleep. He had gone to work at 4:30 a.m. to rake hay and was pretty tired. The source of the noise remained a mystery.

It wasn't until later that evening that we discovered what had happened. My unnamed child came into the house, carrying a bike tire that had a large hole blown out of the sidewall. You see where this is headed...over-filled tire, hot sun, expansion, extreme air pressure...BANG!

The lesson learned: While living creatures need air to survive, too much of it can be deadly, especially if you happen to be a bicycle tire.

The Wild Blue Yonder

Yesterday was one of those perfect blue sky days that we've been missing for what seems like ages. We spent the morning enjoying the Rexburg Air Show, along with approximately ninety-five percent of the population of the Upper Snake River Valley. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but there were a lot of people there! It was okay, though; most of them were well-behaved. Armed with plenty of sunblock and camp chairs, we settled in to enjoy the show. In spite of the sunshine, it never felt too hot, thanks to the ever-present Rexburg wind. There's nothing like a high-octane display of raw horsepower to keep a bunch of boys interested. And the variety of characters in the crowd was enough to keep me entertained. Free admission events seem to draw such a diverse cross-section of the population (politically correct way of saying all the crazies come out of the woodwork). Parker played the role of official family photographer for the event. He took some great pictures and video. See below for more examples.

Tyler and Brandi came for a Father's Day dinner of BBQ ribs, baked salmon, mashed potatoes, salad, and pie for dessert. Now Paul is watching (quite possibly through closed eyelids) a documentary on PBS about bees and the problem of Colony Collapse disorder...zzzzz. And the boys are outside protecting our garden from foreign invasion by deploying sonic disruptive devises (can you say "firecrackers?") It's a good thing we don't have any next door neighbors...

If it's snowing, it must be June...

Ah, the joys of summer vacation in Idaho! The boys have been out of school for nearly a week and have yet to experience a halfway decent day spent in pursuit of every stay-at-home mom's dream come true...PLAYING OUTSIDE! Cameron and Jacob left this morning at 8 o'clock for Cub Scout day camp. They were so excited last night, they slept on the floor, with their clothes next to them so they could jump right up and be ready to go. Well, they walked back through the door just after 10 AM, approximately four and a half hours ahead of schedule. It seems the people in charge of the camp decided it was too cold, so they cancelled the rest of the activities for the day. In all fairness to the camp directors, fresh snow does tend to put a damper on things.

We planted a lovely garden this year, with the usual variety of vegetables; but I'm beginning to wonder if maybe we should have planted a different crop...perhaps snow peas and iceburg lettuce.



Disclaimer: This is not an actual picture of our yard.

Go with the flow...

I've decided we're a little like rafters on the stream of life. We float along peacefully, going wherever the flow takes us. Then the stream turns into a raging torrent and we have two choices: grab a life preserver and hang on, or go under. I choose the former. I'm looking out the window at the beautiful blue sky, wondering why we didn't have this weather yesterday. Let me backtrack. On Monday, Tyler told us that he and Brandi had changed the date of their wedding. Instead of June 21, it was now moved to June 4, two days away. They had planned to hold the wedding in our yard; but on Wednesday, a gigantic rainstorm came and parked over Rexburg. So we held it in our living room, with Tyler's bishop performing the marriage. It was a nice ceremony with a few friends and family in attendance. We would have liked for more of you to be here, but considering the short notice, we were happy anyone came! They plan on having an informal open house/party for family and friends later in the summer. We'll pass along more information as it becomes available. They will be living just west of Rexburg.



Marking a Milestone

Solve for x:

1500 divided by 4 + (5x2) + (2x2) - 30 = x

Give up?

Try this:

1500 miles in 4 years + 5 pair of running shoes + 2 pair of Yaktraks - 30 pounds
= a healthier me!



Paul just completed his 5th month of oral chemo and came through it reasonably unscathed. He's as busy as ever with work and church responsibilities. The boys finished school May 29th, and my last day on campus was June 3rd. So Parker got to play Mr. Mom for two days, lucky him! I have an online class to finish by the middle of July, then I'm a free woman...until the next semester. Parker will spend the summer working for a local farmer, Hayden has plans for scout camp. Cameron and Jacob will be attending Cub Scout day camp next week. Jacob will also be going to summer school for 3 weeks. Then soccer starts in July. All this should keep us out of trouble for awhile...

P.S. I just got an e-mail from the University telling me that my appeal to change to Fall/Winter track has been accepted! Now I can go to school when the boys are in school and be home when they're home.