My Computer is Broken

I keep thinking that this is a good thing, having no computer at home. But no, it's not so good. It's lame and I hate it. I am not ignoring all my friends and their blogs on purpose. You are all just stuck on my computer that is on vacation in the Dell service department. It hasn't even sent a post card-how rude!

Wordless Wednesday

"That Thank you note Must have done It"

Ki has lost another tooth. I say lost, but what I really mean is that

Steve had a pull them out. Her teeth get loose but need some force to actually

leave her mouth.

She wanted to write a not to the Tooth Fairy.

It says, "Thanks 4 giving me money. I hope you like this tooth.

Heart Ki"
I guess being in school for a week had made the word for seem very hard to write. She thought that the numeral was easier. That's my girl.

When she woke up this morning I said something to her, I can't remember what that was but she ran to her room and picked up her pillow and found 2 dollars. She turned around and said,

"That thank you note must have done it, I got 2 dollars"

That is one lucky girl.

Okay, This is It

This is Brandie's family

This is Jeremy's family

These are the Grandkids.

I didn't get pictures of anyone else that are worth blabbing about a month later.

So I am done with my trip to Idaho. Obviously I don't have enough going on right now, so I have to relive the month that I had so much going on and so much fun.

The End

Almost Done

There is a little known, beautiful spot outside of Kimberly, Idaho

called Cauldron Linn. You drive out in these farm fields and there is a dirt road that leads down there. If you looked back from the road you'd never know it was there.

It is a small scale set of water falls that are very beautiful and dangerous. If you tried to ride this part of the river you wouldn't survive. The water comes out with such force that you'd get sucked in and be recovered several miles down stream. The Boys threw a dead tree in to see where is went.

My little sister Hailey, who won't be "little" much longer. She is getting so tall.
Amazing

The boys tried to watch the tree but never did see it again. For the record, Steve is the shortest boy here by far. Both of my "little" brothers are 6'4''. They remind him of his "shortness" frequently. He tolerates it very well.

Thank you Jordan for sharing this little gem with the rest of us.

Part 4, Christensen Family Reunion

We left my parents house in Idaho with a 13 hour drive North to Kettle Falls, WA ahead of us. We were going to a family reunion on Steve's side of the family. We hadn't been up there for a few years and it is always good to have the girls spend time with their only living Great Grandparents. One of Steve's brothers and his son, and Steve's parents were able to come and there was plenty of other family there to keep us busy. It is a beautiful valley that they live in and it is so refreshing to see farm land and blue, blue skies. We played at the lake, took a hay ride, slept in tents out in the field, rode the pony and El even got on the horse with Todd. It was a wonderful time and we got to see family that I have never met. A great group of people those Christensens are.

Part 3, Two Boys on a Hike

Steve and his Dad had started planning a serious backpacking trip in January. They really wanted to go to the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana, but when we found out that the Christensen's were having a reunion during July, they adjusted plans to fit that travel route. They settled on the Sawtooths and a 60 mile trail was on the agenda. They were disappointed to find that the trail was still berried in snow and they had to cut the hike short.They were only able to do 30 miles, but saw some beautiful country. They now know that if you are going into the Sawtooths you have to wait until the end of July or early August, after the snow pack has melted.

Taking in all the beauty

Wow, look at that backdrop-It's real

A reflection of the Sawtooths

The boys at the trail head.

On their way out they herd "that these 2 guys from, of all places, Phoenix were to first 2 who made it to the Lakes for the year." They enjoyed hearing that. I am so grateful that Steve was able to get out with his Dad and have such an amazing hike. I know that they were bummed that they couldn't go any further down the trail but enjoyed what they did get to see. I know that this will be a hike that they will try to do again.

Be Kind Please Rewind -Part 2, Gross Details Included

Gathering the Eggs

The Chiecken, that came before the egg

Yeah, I know it was like a month ago but I am just gett'n around to the details. So while we were in Idaho, a sweet sister in my parent's ward needed help,

butchering the chickens.

***This will get a little descriptive, not for the chicken lovers or tender hearted***

I was SO excited to get to share this opportunity with my girls. I can't say that I grew up on a farm, we just had a cow or two and some chickens. But I remember when we butchered the chickens. It is something that I never thought that I would get to share with the girls, let alone my sister Hailey who never got to be part of this process at home. So we put on some grubby clothes and went to Gina's. A couple other ward members where there too. They had already started the fun without us but there was plenty to do. Steve and Colton were assigned to catch the chickens, Hailey said she would join them. It was so fun to hear her squeal while she was trying to catch them. You have to be careful when you catch them so that you don't bruise them or break their legs. I didn't realize that Steve had never butchered chicken either. So after you catch them, you have to do the awful, use the ax to chop off their heads. Then you have to let them bleed so that you can dress them. It is true that they will flap around with their heads chopped off. Gina wanted skinless chicken breasts so we didn't have to pluck them-that is even messier. My Pops had to prove that he is still a rancher at heart and got one dressed fast enough to produce a beating heart. When you would cut the breast off the bone, sometimes it would pulse a bit-kinda freaky. Hailey was getting good at catching and chopping heads and I even got to do the honors. Ki and El watched one chicken head fly and thought that was enough. They went inside to play after that. It was great to see Steve work like that, and to hang out with my Pops watching him do something that seemed so natural to him. He was telling us that when he was growing up his family would do about 200 chickens a year. That is what they would eat every Sunday. After all the meat was in the freezer Gina invited the girls to come the next day to gather the other chicken's eggs. They liked that part a little bit more. It was great to hear Hailey a few days later when she said, " I killed chickens, and it was AWESOME!" I am so proud of the city kids (Steve and my youngest siblings) for taking the opportunity to do something that we don't get to do everyday.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

I am so proud of my Ki girl!

She was so excited for school to start on Monday, that she asked me to wake her up at 3:30 am to get ready. I told her I'd think about it, and darn it, she is catching on to when I say I'll think about it.

She goes, "so your not going to, are you?"

She surprised me and got herself up and ready to go at 6:30 am. That is more manageable, at least for Steve. I stayed in bed for a little while longer. It was Ki's first day of 1st grade. She is glad to be back in school. She has Mrs. Tropea this year and we are very excited about that! She is amazing and I've known her for less than a week. Ki is glad to have 3 friends from our ward in her class. That always makes things a bit easier.