2008 Spring & Summer

Spring & Summer, 2008

We didn't want any of you to think we haven't been having a productive and busy summer. So here is our account of the spring and summer, just before we get ready to leave on September 4th for a two week trip to England and a wedding for Tony's niece, Tara.

When we returned from our winter "snowbirding", son Ken, Denise, and family (Brandon, Larissa, Brittany, Austin, & Kierra) were scheduled to arrive to begin working with Dennis & Jeanna in the Pullman pizza store. Sharon spent time cooking food for their arrival and cleaning their rental house in anticipation of their trek in the moving van across Washington on April 1st. After the initial shock of having an additional seven people in the family nearby, things started to settle down. This slow down gave Tony time to look for a new car to replace the old 1980 Colt he had been driving for the past nine years. See his smile!

Because he just wanted to drive his new car, we took off to see Salt Lake City, and then on to brother Jim's and Dick's in Wyoming.

We arrived in Salt Lake in time to listen to the Morman Tabernacle Choir rehearse, and the next evening able to hear the organist rehearse and take a tour of the Mormon Square of buildings.

Fortunately, we spent the week-end in Green River on Kathy's birthday - Dick & Cindy came down from Riverton. We went out for a very nice meal at a very nice restaurant...with some very interesting people. Know all of you will want to see this next picture of Tony acting crazy during the meal with a hairpiece from one of the young girls.
We then went on to Dick & Cindy's to check out his carpenter skills - see the picture of the bar he built.

Tony returned with enough material from Jim to build mud flaps for the motorhome - the first of many odd jobs we would tackle for the summer.

Mother's Day this year was one of my best with both sons and their families here plus Mom & Bob. With the 17 people invited for the brunch, there wasn't enough room at the table, so two of the kids were assigned to look out for the younger ones, two assigned to wait on everyone at the table, and two assigned to sit at the adult table. Rotation occurred every half hour. It worked great!

Dennis has redone the Pizza store logo (the original one designed by Sharon can now only be seen on this old pizza van). Guess this is progress. Another picture of progress is one of Dennis & Jeanna's latest purchases to help them get everything to the dump when they have a major project like a new roof on one of their rentals...Progress??? We came to their rescue when they broke down.

We started camping early at Meadow Creek. We were able to bring in several loads of wood very early - hopefully we won't run out again this year. It was so cold when we came back early from "snowbirding" that we had several fires late in the spring. One unusual picture attached shows our fireplace in the mirror on the opposite wall of our living room.

We continued our odd jobs by using the ATV to pull out all the shrubs in the front of our property, getting eleven tons of topsoil to level the yard, and replanting grass in most of the yard after renting a rototiller to do the really heavy work. We are not gardeners....we know that now. The grass is barely presentable. The very small trees we planted are not dead, but they haven't grown an inch - advertisement says they will grow three to four feet a year. Double click on the grass picture, you will see wooden sticks beside each tree. The daisys are a result of the grass seed we planted. It was more daisy seed than grass. The picture is of Phillip helping Tony plant the trees. Abby and I did the dirty work while Tony and Phillip used the electric tools.

All the grandkids, and of course, Grandma, had fun in the Wilson pool throughout the summer with birthday parties and BBQs on a pretty regular basis. Pictures are of Cally & Cody on the slide and in the pool.

A few of the activities throughout the spring and summer was Brittany's music concert, Casey's Junior Prom, a trip to the Pullman pizza store with five of the grandkids - Caily, Abby, Kierra, Phillip, and Cody.

Tony and I took Phillip and Abby to Boyer Dam and the fish ladder for the day. Since 911, the security is very strict compared to the "good old days".

We took Brittany geocaching with us for an outing and got her hooked on the sport.

Another picture is of Tony encouraging Caily to paint the old steps before he built a new set....and a trip to watch Caily in karate class....and Tony giving Caily a lesson in listening to music.

One event in June was a camping trip with 6 year old Kierra and 5 year old Caily. They were told they could stay two nights if they were good and only one night if they weren't - they were so perfect on the camping trip. Kiley (the daughter of camping friends) watched out for them and taught them everything she knew about fishing, playing in the creek and ATVing. Pictures are of girls carrying logs to load into our log trailer and on ATV with Grandma to go to the creek.

Our next June event was a trip with Mom & Bob to South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming. We spent time with Uncle Bob & Bernadine and cousins Roberta & Jerry and Mary & Dallas. Picture shows a great BBQ out at Otho with cousins and their husbands. It is always neat to see what new improvements have been made at Otho. Watched Uncle Bob perform tricks with Bernadine's dog Daisy Mae - he had even taught her to turn a somersault! We did drive by the President's Park near Rapid City, but not too much activity there so we didn't go in.

Next stop was Alliance, Nebraska, to get Tony back on the Mann ranch. Three foxes were caught in 24 hours in this small trap. Larry, Judy, Tony & I took a trip to Scottsbluff to take a bull to the sale barn and have a short visit with Zetta. Sharon drove over again later to visit Pam. Spent a great evening at Melanie & Jarad's, and another at Janice & Archie's. Archie took Tony on a tour of a company that made air conditioning and heating devices for trucks so they didn't have to run their engines.

Here is where I want to pay tribute to my three fantastic uncles who with their wives always make us feel welcome and so special.

Jean (age 90 ) (wife, Maxine), Bob (age 86)(wife, Bernadine), & Leo (age 84) (wife, Zetta).

Hope I can age as well as they have done.
Our next stop was Dick & Cindy's in Riverton, Wyoming. Michael had come home from Laramie to see us on this stop. As you can see by the picture it took four workers to get the windmill up that we had brought to them on the last trip - Tony, Cindy, Dick, & Michael. Cindy hung a bird feeder in the middle and we got to see the first bird find it within an hour.

Then we went on to Jim & Kathie's. All three kids were home this time - Nicholas, Brittany, and Cody. We took a picnic lunch for an all afternoon scenic tour to the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in Wyoming and Utah . Accidently spotted a geocache without even looking for one.

July provided us with a few evenings at Dennis & Jeanna's bar (built by Tony) with Jeanna's college friends Rose (from Alaska) and Emily (from Seattle). A huge bird hanging around their yard gave Tony an interesting photo opportunity.

We spent another week-end camping at Meadow Creek, picking huckleberries, riding ATVs and roasting marshmallows. Then our big trip to the Hiawatha Trail with Bill & Janet and Joyce & John for the 15 mile bike ride along the former railroad bed with required helmets and flashlights to get through the nearly two mile 40 degree tunnel. One picture of Tony with his gear, another of the scenery and beginning of one of the many tunnels, and another of one of the seven trestles we crossed over in the distance.

A first for Sharon was tubing down on the Snake River near Hells Gate Campground with Tony's second cousin Linda & Mike. We took Brittany with us on this excursion. Pictures show Linda and Sharon on the tube and then Brittany and Linda trying to get back in the boat after they had been thrown off the tube.

The next first was parasailing - wish I could get the video onto this blog of Sharon parasailing. Tony was so busy taking a video, that no still picture was taken. It was a great experience, but probably not one I will feel the need to do very soon.

Another camping trip to Meadow Creek to show California friends our camping spot. Ten of us and two dogs took a long ATV ride to Princeton for breakfast. By the pictures you can see that there was no dust on the road. It rained over half of the ride.

Throughout the summer we did a major overhaul on the outside of the house. Tony rebuilt the steps to the deck and the deck railing all around. Sharon painted everything in sight and sewed a new cover for the swing set. One more purchase we made was a 24 foot enclosed trailer. Now we can tow the car and the ATV behind the motorhome when we head to Arizona and California for our "snow bird" trip in 2009.

I know I have put a lot of names that half of you won't know, but the other half will. We've had a great summer with lots of new experiences, and now looking forward to the next adventure of traveling to England for a visit with Tony's relatives and friends and to attend Tara's wedding.