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Friday, May 23, 2008

My Strong Silent Mysterious Man...

He is my knight in shining armor!
It would cost me a fortune to keep our vehicles tuned up and running smooth, if he wasn't so willing and able to do it himself.

Nobody likes to have their picture taken while they are working or under the hood of a car... so I will give him a break on the annoyed look, and be grateful he didn't come out from under and chase me down while I was clicking away at him.

I just didn't want the moments to go by and not stop to appreciate all he does for our family, to keep us safe, warm, fed and provide us with all we need.

He is awesome, I love him, and he is my hero!!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

ALC trip to Sun Valley...

The training meeting went well, the trip up to Sun Valley with 2 other colleagues was fun, we laughed and laughed on the long car ride up and back.
I didn't know them very well before I left, but know them a little better now. Some things I might not have wanted to know. Like what to do when a cow gets into the green alfalfa and bloats... it's not pretty. I think they were just trying to see how squeamish I really was... it involves an old garden hose, or a knife, and a needle with some fishing line. Along with the gross stories, I heard some really funny stories too. And some neat interesting things about their families.


It was a super long car ride for a 4 hour meeting... 3 hours up and 3 hours back.
I felt like I had been run over by a train when I got home last night.

We were in and out of there so fast and back on the road, I didn't get any pictures in Sun Valley at the beautiful lodge! It is amazing!

But I did get a few pictures on the ride home.... this series I dedicate to my niece Hailey, I think I remember she was named after this cute little town.


It is such a cute, fun town nestled in between the mountains!


My favorite new place I want to go back very soon and spend some time here!

You can't see the sign for the trees, but this is Hailey Paint...

The most quaint little downtown shops...

(you can't see from the low overcast clouds, but the mountains are right behind these buildings)

The Hailey Hotel...

The Hailey Nursery...

The Hailey Post Office...

The Hailey Airport (see there are the mountains)...

And some of the best barns and farmlands as you head out of town.

It was a fun but very tiring trip... I know it isn't nice to gloat on others misery, but I was so happy at least I didn't have a 5th grade field trip today like my colleague does.

Good Luck Kevin!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Early morning to ALC tomorrow...

The good news... I will be here tomorrow.
Sun Valley Resort!
The bad news... I won't be on the golf course, darn.
I am leaving a 4:30am for an annual association leadership conference for one of my clients in Sun Valley tomorrow. I keep trying every year to talk my strong silent mysterious man into coming with me, it is a 3 day event, but I only really have to be there for one of the day's meetings. But I would sacrifice and make a long weekend out of it, if he would come with me. But since he isn't interested in going with me, I will go up and come home the same day.
It should be nice up there tomorrow, I don't look forward to the long ride in the car, or the long meeting... but I do look forward to seeing the resort again.
It is so beautiful!

SPT ~ Something Borrowed...

This is more just wishful thinking on my part, instead of an actual borrowed item... but after a nasty, potentially tragic incident yesterday with Taylor, I would love to borrow just part of her energy!

She is really young and had tons and tons of energy... I swear her feet never hit the ground, and she is quick, and an accomplished escape artist.

Knowing this about her, I am always extra careful when entering or leaving the front door.... she loves to run amuck through the neighborhood, if the opportunity presents itself. And I am even more careful when she is in the car with me. She rides great in the car, even much better than Morgan who whines the entire time.

So with all this in mind, they had been feeling couped up lately, so yesterday I took them on a quick errand with me, just so they could go for a ride.

While in a busy parking lot, I opened up the back door to the Tahoe which lifts from the bottom up, carefully creeping the door slowly, knowing she would be waiting to escape on the other side of the door (even though I told her to wait in the back seat).

So I get one hand on her, and lift the door the rest of the way up, and she ducks and weaves and shoots right past me! In shear panic of her getting away and getting hit by a car... I dove with both arms outstretched and tackled her to the ground grasping for her collar, as she squirmed and wiggled trying to escape my weight holding her down on the pavement. Finally I was able to get my fingers under her collar and guide her back inside the car.

I was relieved to have her safe and sound, but I was soooo mad at her.

Then the pain began to show itself, my elbow was scraped up, my knee was beginning to raise a big knot on it, and because I was wearing sandals my big toe had been scrapped down to blood, including the toe nail which was scrapped down far enough I can feel the skin underneath. So gross!!!

It really doesn't look as bad as it feels, so I am not getting much sympathy at home.

But ouch! Maybe if I just had equal her energy, I could stay one step ahead of her, instead of always feeling like I am trying to keep up.

I can't wait until obedience school starts in June!!!

It just can't get here to quickly. I hope I have the energy to endure, and a really hope she passes!!!

SPT ~ Something New...


I forgot to post my SPT last week, and since I have already posted about the new look at my house... I will just add a couple of my favorite "NEW" things.

Stay tuned for something borrowed....

Monday, May 19, 2008

The boating adventure of a lifetime...

Of all the fun we had with my Mom while she was visiting... I had to save the best story for the last. This will be one of those stories we tell our children and their children for generations to come.
Saturday night my bff and her husband (we will refer to him as "the captain" to protect the innocent) invited us to dinner at the Sandbar Restaurant (we didn't know how ironic that would turn out to be later that night). The teenager protested and didn't want to go, but we forced him and made him feel guilty about spending time with his Nene so reluctantly he went. You know how much fun a reluctant teenager is to be with.


So we were excited, it is one of our favorite places to go out. It is right on the Snake River, and we were going just before dusk, so we might catch the sunset on the water.
Dinner was wonderful as we anticipated. And "the captain" invited us out for a stroll up the river on his boat. That sounded like a fun trip and we could catch the sunset while we were out there.

So we go down to the dock and help him put the boat in the water...

and the "all aboard"!

The boat is pretty new to "the captain" and you can see the thrill on his face... he was really excited to take us out.





The teenager, still really reluctant to hang out with us, tagging along. But we were convinced at some point he was going to break down and smile and have a good time.



The captain was a good driver and it was smooth sailing...

I am not a boat person, but I love the water, and it was really fun being on it... as long as I wasn't responsible for anything. So I took it upon myself to be the trip historian.

The sun was beginning to set, and the colors were changing over the water...


It would be a big part of the log if I could get some nice pictures of the sunset...


But my strong silent mysterious man would not let me stand up to get a clear shot of the water over the railing... I was bummed out, but obedient to his instruction, reluctantly (wonder where the teenager gets it from?).


See... I knew he would break down and have a fun time...


Just as the sun dropped behind the horizon... and it seemed we were the only ones on the river....


The boat stops and throws us forward in our seats (really good thing I was sitting down)and all we hear is a horrible, terrible, loud scraping noise... and the engine stops dead!!!!

What was that?????

We had hit a sandbar in the middle of the river, and instead of being made of sand, it was rocks and gravel...

The captain very carefully checked to make sure everyone was not hurt, and calmed us all down...

Then he was mortified...

he had seen the ripples in the river which would indicate shallow water, but didn't react in time to miss it. At this point he was really beating himself up.

One by one, we all got out of the water and began to attempt to push the boat off the sandbar, to no avail.

At first it seemed we might be making headway, but after some time we realized it was pretty stuck and we didn't have enough strength between us to muscle it free.

It wasn't all doom and gloom, we kept up our spirits and prayed together.

We were optimistic everything would be just fine.



After a few hours when it was really really apparent we were not getting that boat off the sandbar, we began to try and use our cell phones to call for help.


The biggest delima for the captain was who to call, you see he was still feeling embarrassed and ashamed for being in this predicament, so we waited for his approval on who the 1st call would be to, then when we finally decided to just call the authorities since they didn't know us... we couldn't get cell service.


So the men waded across the river to an island that was a higher elevation and attempted some calls. They got through, but got cut off before they could get a full message out for directions to rescue us.


Apparently at some point, one of the homes on the river must have made a rescue call for us, as the sheriff arrived and could holler out to us from the shore that he was getting a boat out to us.



After many hours went by, and the realization that we would have to abandon ship... we boarded the rescue vessel. Loaded with 6 of us and 2 rescuers the boat over heated and bogged down, this made me more scared than I was waiting on a marooned boat in the dark, in the middle of the river... it sounded like evinrude the little mosquito that operated the boat in "The Rescuers" when he ran out of energy! but we were finally able to float backwards down river to a boat ramp at someones home, where the sheriff met us to gather our names, birth dates and security numbers and give us a ride back to pick up the car. The first attempt he took the captain and didn't make it out of the driveway because the captains drivers license had expired, so then he grabbed my strong silent mysterious man, and after running his license to make sure he didn't have any arrests or warrants, he took him to get a vehicle to come back and pick us up.


I have no idea what he will do with all the information he gathered, but we didn't get any tickets or fines that night. I couldn't get a picture of the nice sheriff, because my strong silent mysterious man thought it inappropriate since it was really dark outside and every time the flash went off it blinded everyone in a 10 foot radius for 3.5 minutes until their eyes adjusted again, apparently it was annoying everyone but me. After all I still had the important job of logging the adventure.

Had I gotten a shot for posterity, it might have gotten us a ticket to go along with it, so I refrained. But I personally think he would have had a good sense of humor about it.



The captain, bless his heart, was still feeling like crawling under a rock. And apologized over and over and over again... then came to our house on Sunday and apologized some more to my Mom, so she wouldn't go home mad and thinking he was a bad guy. We love him to death, he is such a good guy, even keeping us out til 1 am stuck on the river wouldn't change my mind about him.



The boys went back out on the river Sunday and rescued the boat. Apparently it took allot of tools, a few more muscles, and creative mechanics to get it loose.

We all had a ton of these baby tiny sea shells, rocks and sand in our shoes, but no body was hurt, no body caught pneumonia, and we all have a great adventure to tell about for years to come.

It really was an adventure of a lifetime!

The finishing touches...

Nene went home this morning... it was such a fun week with her. It went by so fast, but we had a great time together. I think I might have worked her to death, it wasn't much of a vacation for her. But we appreciated all she did to help us while she was here.
Here are pictures of the last finishing touches in the living room.

The nick knacks above the book shelf.

And some baskets on the other shelf.

My strong silent mysterious man got the mirror hung up... sweet!

And a neat metal sculpture by the front door.

I really liked this sculpture, and the way the glass pieces reflect the light.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

1st Family campout of the 2008 season...

Friday night we went on our 1st Family camp out of the season to Brownlee Dam at the lower end of Hells Canyon on the Snake River.

It was just an overnighter, so you would think we didn't need much stuff.
But when you are packing for 3 dogs and a teenager... it adds up pretty fast.
We got all loaded in the car and on the road...
Our dogs are so spoiled, they couldn't believe they had to ride in the way back.

Our favorite camping spot was already filled up, but we found a nice spot farther up along the river and got a little camp set up before it got dark.
The sun setting in that canyon is so pretty.
The boys couldn't wait to get their poles in the water...
We had wrapped up some foil dinners to cook when we got to camp...
They cooked really fast and were super yummy with potatoes, chicken, orange sweet peppers, onion, carrots, some spices and some fresh pineapple... that was a great addition with the chicken. YUMMY!!!
The next morning, Morgan was up early, ready to go fishing.
So my strong silent mysterious man got up and and with her help... he caught a fish pretty quickly.
When he hear all that excitement, Rudy wanted to come help too.
Then the fishing hole, quickly turned into a swimming hole. We couldn't keep them out any longer, they were just iching to get in that water.
(Taylor was with us, I just had to put her in the kennel while I was taking pictures, because she is a crazy free spirited puppy and wanted to run the entire mountain side in 3.5 seconds, but she swam and played with the rest of them, I just had to keep her on a leash or near a bag of treats so she wouldn't run off)

So finally the teenager gets out of bed and within a short time he catches a fish too.

He can't be shown up by his Dad...

We had such a fun time, and the weather was warm and perfect...

Everyone was wiped out...


And slept really good on the way home... it was a quiet ride back to civilization.

But a good time was had by all!

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