Monday, June 22, 2009

How on Earth?

Last week after 9 years of dutiful service our washing machine malfunctioned! Fortunately I have a hubby who is handy and intelligent, he quickly diagnosed the problem, found the part online (for a very reasonable price) and had it on its way from California. Now, I did get to adventure with my children to the local laundromat with the colorful clientelle ranging from a high school girl doing her entire family's laundry to four carnies from Dairy Days while the part made it's way to Idaho. It arrived in good time and Jake quickly went to work figuring out how to install the new part, whose packaging declared it was easy to do.
I came home Saturday night and noticed the light in the laundry room was on, I turned the corner to turn out the light and this is what I saw. My 6'2" husband's head poking out of our washing machine. My first thought was, "How on earth did he get in there?" My second thought was, "And how is he going to get out". That's when I realized the appliance was in two pieces and he was merely inside the cabinet, still no easy feat to be sure.

So, with the help of a tutorial from youtube and some skills I didn't know Jake possessed our washing machine is up and running. Yay for self reliance and the internet!

A Walk in the Cemetary

My Mom and Grandma live about a mile from the cemetary that my Grandpa Jones and the majority of my Mom's deceased family is buried. We had planned on taking a hike while in IF, but the weather would not cooperate. We were able to take a walk to the cemetary between showers to see the headstone on my Grandpa's grave.
Jake carried Ella the entire way, either on his shoulders or in his arms, needless to say she was sent back in the car with Great Grandma Jones on the way home. Behind them is the canal that my mom, her friends and cousins spent a lot of time swimming in as kids. I find that ironic, today our kids are taught to stay as far away from canals as possible, but when she was a kid it was a summer tradition. The kids loved hearing her tell about going through the checks and floating in the canal.

The back of the headstone with the names of all the children.

The front of the headstone, my Grandpa was a great hunter and there are dozens of stories about him and hunting elk. My Grandma does a lot of crochet, which is why there is a basket of yard on her side.

The entire time Grant kept looking around him peacefully taking in all of the the scenery. Everytime a bird would fly by he would get excited and say "bird, bird". The dandelion he's holding was something Grandma Trudy had given him, he kept having me smell it as we walked down the road. Paislee received a lesson from Grandma Trudy about all the plants and weeds along the path home and picked a bundle of "wildflowers" for her as we walked.

Twin Falls Temple Visit

Last weekend we had a chance to visit my Mom and Grandma in Idaho Falls, instead of driving straight there as fast as we could (which is how I usually do it) we decided to take our time. We've been wanting to see the new temple in Twin Falls and decided that it was a great time to do so and let the kids stretch their legs. It's such a beautiful temple. Of course the grounds are well kept with gorgeous flowers.
This is Ella's handiwork with the camera, not bad for a 4 year old.

Grant wanted to have his picture taken and he wanted to touch the flowers, this is a sample of both. Behind Grant is a rock wall that has a waterfall on the other side of it to signify the falls that are nearby. We were going to check them out as well but the thunderstorm got in our way and the kids were impatient to get to Grandma's.
Paislee with some of the foilage around the temple grounds.

Ella with some beautiful poppies that were still blooming.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

A Sunday Shower

Sunday the morning the girls were playing in the backyard and Grant ventured out to find them. As he was enroute the sprinklers turned on! The poor kid did not know which way to go and just stood there in the yard screaming while he was getting soaked. If you look closely you can see the beads of water on his sad little face (the red stuff is strawberries).
He was in shock at his unexpected shower and completely dismayed as well.

Teddy Bear Ballet

Ella is quite the performer. She has been patiently waiting for the day when she was able to dance on a "real stage" again. Everyone she saw or met was immediately invited to come watch her dance. She did a wonderful job.
So much personality!

Strike a pose!
Blowing a kiss.
With her flowers from her family.