Remodel and Swimming

This week we worked on the bonus room in the mornings and went swimming at Gibbon's pool in the afternoons.  We took down plastic and insulation so that James could do the electrical yesterday, Saturday.

This is Rex's letter to Talmage last week.  Talmage likes the boys' hand-written letters.

Sariah got a selfie-stick at Vard's trinket giveaway at Spechts on Sunday night.

On the way to Connell, Sariah and I got a kick out of this reader board.

While digging potatoes, Rex found this little friend.

Sariah and the YW left beautiful chalk art pictures and scriptures on the sidewalks around the neighborhood on Wednesday night.

HOT get-up!

Lyle helping get a classroom ready.

On Columbia River Road, Hyrum and I passed this field of onions.  We were on our way to get our first books from the library since COVID started!!

There were flood lights set up for night harvesting.  Pretty impressive sight!

10:30 on a Saturday night, what else would we be doing right?  James and I seriously sweat it out yesterday.  It was 100 degrees outside and we were dripping inside.  But, we finally made some headway!

 

Helping Uncle Vard

Sariah made this announcement for me to this upcoming school year.  As of today I have 8 students including our three boys.  I am super excited!
Rex handled the drill pretty darn well.
A lot of tools to organize.

Since dressing rooms are closed for COVID, the new way to try things on is to take a picture and then look at the picture.  All the kids came away with some pretty good deals at Ross.  This year everyone is responsible to buy their own socks!
Rex and Lyle were all over these jackets.  They aren't the same size but there were only two of them and they were close enough!
Sariah was thrilled with her shoe rack from Vard!

We got several bids this week and started cleaning up the bonus room.  21 days to make this into a classroom!

This was my FB post today: To fight darkness with light I want to share this today. I had reasons to drive to Basin City and Moses Lake this week and I’m so grateful I did—what I saw on the way was absolutely inspiring!! I passed the Taylor Flats/Ringold Intersection 4 days in a row and witnessed what true unity and hard work can do. Our community’s congregation of German Baptists (and many of their family and friends from across the United States) came together to literally build their House of Worship from the ground up in one week. From concrete to painted in a matter of days, it was a wonder to behold. As an example to my kids we would park for a minute and roll down our windows and watch the beehive of active men, women, and children all doing their part. I also pointed out to my kids, “those are real hammers you are hearing, not air compressors!” Thank you for bolstering my hope in the God-fearing people of America! (First picture is Wednesday and the last picture is Saturday evening!)

 

From HOT to HOT!

We went from muggy HOT to dry HOT!  Got up to 107 this week.  We spent time in one kind of water or another every day this week.

Finally found the beach this year.  A panoramic made for a few anatomical mutations.

Hayden was with us Friday, Saturday, and some of Sunday.

Emma and Jhett were with us Tuesday through Friday while Taneil took her big kids to Rexburg.

Lyle is definitely the fish of the family.

Clay Man.

Haka!

We tried to do as much as we could in the mornings.  Probably our last time through the pumpkin patch.

Play dough creations.

We had the sisters over Thursday night.  It was so good to visit with them.  They shared experiences that were special with their siblings and challenged us to do one thing everyday to serve in our family.  It has made a difference.

Emma was the one who would share banana popsicles with me.

A piggy-back ride in my raspberry bucket.

Sariah practiced and practiced until she got her backflip down.

Just couldn't quite make it through scriptures.

Nighttime elbow therapy with Hayden.

Sariah redecorated for us.

James took the boys to the river yesterday (Saturday) but the beach was so full they had to find a different spot.  They had fun cooling off anyway.

Friday - Homeward Bound

It was a very early, crazy morning trying to get the van back to the rental place.  We got to our gate as it was time to board.  Everyone was ready to be headed home.

The ride home was less eventful - no one had to be removed from the plane.  The little guys took some naps after a short night.

Hyrum got some fun shots of our plane coming into Denver.

We had a 7 hour layover in Denver.  During that 7 hours there was a torrential downpour.  Storms seem to follow us on vacation.

We got into Spokane around 6.  We really broadened our horizons and for the first time our family had TACO BELL together.  It was a long day.  We made it back to 270 about 9pm to find all in good order except for a few dry spots and of course my hanging baskets were toast but I kind of expected that.

Thursday - Savannah, Georgia

We were close enough to the Atlantic Ocean that we just couldn't pass up the chance of seeing it.  We woke up Thursday morning just outside of Savannah, Georgia and headed for Tybee Island.  The sand was much different than Pensacola, but the waves were bigger.  We knew we had a long drive ahead of us and so Bryant didn't get in the water.  The rest of us had a great time.  

(Until it was time to get back in the car and everyone was sandy and wet, and HOT!)

We sent a picture to our ministering sisters to say "Hello from the Atlantic Ocean!"

James finally got some "boiled peanuts."  They tasted like beans mostly.  He ate so many of them though that his fingers turned to raisins.

We hit the road back to Tampa with an hour detour to the Busy Bee Stop so the kids could get their alligator tooth necklaces as souvenirs.