Loading Hay

This last week on Monday evening we unloaded the metal break that we hauled all the way from Oregon. I worked on sweeping and cleaning up the shop so that Adam could some how maneuver the piece of equipment into its designated spot, which there is not much option for. It was tricky to get it in through the shop door, but we were successful. On Saturday evening I watched my neighbor's boy while her and the rest of her family went to her graduation. We went out to the flat and helped in loading the bales of hay out of the field. I drove the truck while Josh and Jarom rolled the bales into a line so that it was easier for Ben and Daniel to load the bales on either side of the trailer to Adam and Jared who were stacking on the trailer. Tia kept an eye on Lincoln and Tate in the back of the truck and Tyson hung out on the trailer. I tried to snap some pictures of our load afterwards but it was too dark. On our second trip out to the field I made Tia drive since she had never done it before (neither had I), and we both had a great experience. It was funny because Tate was being such a busy body that while the guys were unloading the first load, Ben put Tate on these big bales that Wynn had there and he was stuck and couldn't go anywhere. We thought it was pretty funny.

Bitter Sweet

Monday and Tuesday I watched my neighbors boy most of the day while she studied and had her class for her Nursing Degree. We worked on getting Adam’s truck cleaned Monday night and then on Tuesday Adam took an overnight trip to Winslow Arizona. The rest of the week was bitter sweet. Susie and I loaded our kids up on Tuesday afternoon in her car and traveled to Sondra’s house in Pleasant Grove where we stayed the night. Her and Spencer were so hospitable to us, feeding us dinner and a yummy crepe dessert and Sondra waking up at 4:45 to make us some sandwiches and a bunch of yummy snacks for our trip as we headed out early to Oregon. Thank you Sondra for those snacks, we didn’t have to stop for any the whole way as they were sufficient to tide us over. We arrived to Oregon only to find everyone gone to school and work and found Thursday to be the same. We celebrated Logan’s birthday with pizza and a cake. On Friday we attended the funeral of a very dear friend to the family, Ruth Oxford. This sweet lady has pretty much been a part of our family since I can remember. I was told from one of my sisters that when my mom was in her car accident and had to receive care at home which involved some enema’s and such that Ruth was there to provide that for her and that when Ruth’s health failed after a tumor caused her to collapse and she was now in that similar situation that my mom returned the care and that is just how the relationship between these two was. When I had some issues after giving birth to Tyson and Lincoln, Ruth would offer her bedroom for us to stay in when we came to visit so that I could have my own bathroom. She has always been a very giving and selfless person. I am glad to see her be able to leave this life from the condition she remained in after her tumor and happy to know that she is with her dear husband (Big George). She is much happier where she is at now and someday it will be a great reunion with both of them. My Mom and sisters MaryJane, Lillie, and Susie sang at the funeral (found out that morning that we were singing) and some close friends to Ruth gave the life sketch and spoke. It was a good service which I was glad to be home for. Originally the main reason for us traveling this past week to Oregon was so that we could listen to my sister Lillie’s farewell talk today. She is leaving on Tuesday with Susie for Provo and will enter the Missionary Training Center (MTC) on Wednesday afternoon where she will begin her missionary training before going to the Olongapo Phillippines mission where she will labor in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ for the remaining of 18 months. She did a great job on her farewell talk and although we didn’t get to see much of her as she was the closest to Ruth and was very much involved in planning the funeral service, I am glad that we made the trip to support her in her decision to serve the people and the Lord. We left right after sacrament meeting as we had to hook on to a gooseneck trailer that we spent most of Saturday loading (as Adam arrived late Friday night with Daniel and the trailer to take home equipment he had purchased from an auction in Nampa the week before) and travel the soon to be long trip back to Southern Utah at a steady 65 mph. (not excited about that). On Saturday evening we did go out to eat in Nyssa at a small dining place to celebrate Susie’s birthday on Friday as we didn’t get to do much to celebrate it then and then Adam and I stopped by Alan and Tami Peterson’s place and had a relaxing, enjoyable visit with them (although we did interrupt their movie they were watching, sorry about that, however it was nice to visit and get a break from our kids).

Bidding Online

The main event this week was Adam bidding online for some metal break equipment, a few heavy duty tables, and some heavy duty finger racks. He was pretty successful on his bidding and came away with what he wanted. Tarek and Vaughn were kind enough to pick the stuff up for us as we hadn’t planned on going to Oregon until next week for Lillie’s farewell. Adam spent some time on some injectors on his ’95 truck and then on Saturday I had to assist my Webelos on their Day Hike while Adam took the boys with him to Smiths Mesa to check on the cows.

Meat Shop Progress

This past week we went to the flat to help grind the meat and make hamburger from the cow they killed last week. It took all of the afternoon and evening to grind and package it all. Wynn and Phyllis gave us some to take home which was nice to build our meat supply up a little more, since we had a little left that my brother-in-law had given us. Thursday and Friday Adam was sick at home in bed. I worked all week to get my house ready for the pest control guy to come on Friday. It’s interesting how it takes me so long to get my house ready for him to come and then he comes and is in and out in 15 minutes and then it almost takes me another week to get my house back together. I always have a greater feeling of security from pests after it is all over. On Saturday we worked all day on the meat shop continuing to frame up the sides of the shop. The picture is proof of the status of it. Mark and Adam were there the whole time with a few family members showing up towards the end to install the west wall and finish up a few things. After that tiring task Adam and I headed over to St. George to attend a reception of the daughter of one of the architects that he does work for. It was nice to go do something with just the two of us even if it was to a reception that we only knew the father of the bride. Take what you can get.

Our Lincoln Turns 2

Monday was Lincoln’s birthday. I can’t believe that he is 2. Lincoln was given a tower of rice krispie cupcakes that started to fall while we waited for Adam to come in from helping with the cow. Lincoln was a little confused at us singing to him, but loved the attention. He shared one of his toys with Addy. They were so cute lying on the floor on their tummies driving little cars and a tractor around. As I mentioned earlier about the cow, we went out to the flat for Family Home Evening, in which the activity was for Adam and his brothers to kill one of Wynn’s cows that was barren. The brothers were discussing how she didn’t look barren to them and looked somewhat pregnant, but Wynn was just sure that that was not the case. After killing her my nephew Zac came in the house and told us all that the cow was pregnant and we were thinking how horrible that was and then my niece came in later and corrected the confusion that she really wasn’t pregnant, so we were glad to hear that cleared up. Tuesday night apparently Larry (the family dog) was in a fight with some Husky dogs, I don’t know if you could say he was technically in a fight, but more that he was getting picked on and having to defend himself. I asked Phyllis about it on Wednesday and she said the following is what happened:
She found Larry on the back lawn/driveway area with 2 Husky dogs on top of him having pinned him on his back with him, “fighting for his life, for what it was worth” (I just loved how she put that last part). She came running in the house yelling that they were killing Larry. Daniel, Tim, Jimmy, and Jared were downstairs playing video games, so Daniel ran up the stairs and out the door to handle the situation and after kicking the dog and it not doing much then he grabbed it and threw it off of Larry with that dog turning to bite him in the process, but missing. Daniel told Tim to kick it which he did with great force and Phyllis had to tell him to stop. In trying to find Larry outside in the dark they were unsuccessful, but after coming in the house they found him under the table bleeding in a few places. The police came out shortly after Daniel and Tim found one dog down by the pond and resisted to shoot it when Phyllis told them not to. The animal control said they knew who the dogs belonged to and the owners came out searching for the other dog. So Larry lives again for others to tell another story about.
Wednesday I escorted my two little boys down the road to the top of the field in front of the flat where g-pa was doing the water. Tyson was determined that he wanted to help g-pa with the water so he dragged a big shovel all the way there and tried to copy what g-pa was doing. Lincoln was right in tow with one of g-ma’s hand trowels ready to do the same. Lincoln was prepared to start marching back to the house when we were done, but realized the offer to ride in the back of g-pa’s truck was much more inviting. These boys are farmers that is for sure. I know I have to make sure to keep an eye on them more as Tyson recently climbed in the backhoe, started it, popped it into gear, and released the emergency brake. As soon as Adam had realized that the backhoe was moving he went running from the upper part of the driveway towards the backhoe only to find that Tyson had popped it into neutral. He pays attention way too much as to how machinery is ran, which worries me. When the boys wanted to use the forklift to hoist up the cow to hang it over night they couldn’t find the key. We asked Tyson about it and he said it was in his new pants at home. When I got home I checked in all of his dirty pants and couldn’t find it. I noticed that my ring was missing on Wednesday when I was walking down the road with the boys. After looking in the bathroom when I got home and any other possible place that I could have set it I began to get very worried that it was lost and decided to pray about. During my prayer the thought came into my head to ask Tyson, which I approached him about after he woke up. I said, “Tyson, mommy lost her ring and is very sad about it, do you know where it could be?” He got off the bed and walked to my closet, lifted up Adam’s boot and there it was on the carpet. I remarked, “I wonder how that got there!” I then thought that since we were on a roll then maybe he would know where the forklift key was, so I asked him about that. He said, “It’s in my yellow pants!” (which I swear the kid does not own any yellow pants) I went to transfer the laundry and at the bottom of the machine was a single key. I asked Adam if that was it and then took it to Tyson so he could return it to Adam and see his excitement for getting it back. So, beware my child is obsessed with keys and just about any machine on wheels.

Lincoln the Crib Jumper

Monday evening we had Family Home Evening with just Lincoln since Tyson fell asleep on the way home from the flat. Lincoln enjoyed the one on one attention. After putting him to bed we heard a thump and the door open a short time later. Out comes Lincoln down the hall. My baby is a crib jumper and door opener. This is just not right. Thinking that he had lucked out before doing something similar like barreling out of the crib and hurting himself and then only crying at the door because he could not open it, I thought this was the same thing but after putting him back in his crib I only found him back out in the hallway again. I guess I should sum it up that he fell asleep on my lap. On Tuesday the boys and I, my nephews Josh and Johnny all rode with Adam to Salina early in the morning to take some cows to the auction there. Stuart and Heidi drove one truck and trailer while we were in another. I enjoyed the trip. Tyson seemed a little disturbed that we were selling Grandpa’s cows and bull and made sure to remind Stuart that he needed to sell and buy a bull. We had no intentions of buying cows this trip so that evening when Tyson said the prayer for dinner he made sure to put in, “please help us to buy more cows and get a bull for Grandpa!” I was laughing about that afterwards, however Adam was laughing that during the prayer Lincoln apparently had his arms folded and eyes shut but could not resist his food so he would lean forward and grab a bite of a roll with his eyes still shut and then peek to look for his cup of milk and after getting a hold of it close his eyes again while he grabbed a sip. Adam said that was the funniest thing he had seen in a long time. We just love our two boys. Of course when it was time for bed I put Lincoln in his crib and sure enough he was out in the hall reminding me that he could crib jump and open his door. I then put him in Tyson’s bed and locked his door from the inside, which only made him cry in there for a long time. When I went in to calm him down I was so curious as to how he gets out of the crib that I asked him to show me, which he did and now that is the funniest/smartest thing I have seen in a long time. He does it like he’s been doing it for months. There’s hardly a struggle. I guess it is time to break down the crib and get him a toddler bed. My baby is not so much one anymore. On Friday Heidi let the little kids ride the horses around for a little bit before brushing them down and putting them away. Tyson and Emily are on Sippy and then Erika and Lincoln are on Di (short for Diamond). It was cute to watch Lincoln clench his arms around Erika and her being such a big girl taking him around the farm. These kids just love the horses. Saturday morning we went to Lizzy’s baptism, which was great! She is so grown up. We had donuts out on the lawn afterwards and Susie snapped this picture of these cute boys (Gage is in the middle). We went out to the flat afterwards and changed into work clothes and spent the rest of the morning tearing apart trusses to get 2x4s to get working on the north wall of the meat shop, which was a success. The wind started to pick up in the afternoon so after eating a late lunch Stuart, Adam, Heidi, the kids, and I took Wynn’s cows up on Smith’s Mesa. We enjoyed watching the 2 baby calves romping around in their new open range. We got back late and called it a night.
Today, Lincoln’s nursery teacher told Adam that she was amazed at how good Linky was at shooting a basketball. She was impressed with his form and such. It really is amazing to watch him as he sets a stance, crouches down, extends and releases the ball in one motion and even flips his wrist. I know that he has been very observant of when Adam is shooting the ball at the short beam to our hallway.

Conference Weekend

Monday was such a nice day and I really didn’t want to stay in the house and do my normal Monday morning routine, so I talked Adam to taking me with him out to the flat. I started peeling pears to bottle, but caught a ride with Adam back to our house to spend some time cleaning. Adam took the boys and his dad up to Smiths’ Mesa to plant some peach trees. I really wanted to go with them so I could continue to enjoy the beautiful day, but knew I needed to stop pampering myself at some point. They picked me up on the way back. We cleaned off the cement meat shop pad for Family Home Evening.
Thursday we watched the twins from 9-2:30, which Tyson enjoyed having them over and playing all day. They were all funny to watch. One of the twins brought this cute little pink hat to which Tyson took a liking to and was wearing around while they were outside. He looks very funny in it, but boy could he pass for a girl. When the hat became an item to quarrel over I decided to go through my slip pickings of hats that we have collected for Tyson (because he never cares to wear them) and found enough for the other three kids to wear so this picture moment could not be passed up. I realized I should have taken a picture of Tyson with that pink hat as it was a funny sight.
Friday morning, after the boys woke up, Adam and I dropped them off at Susie’s while on our way to the temple. I’ve been helping my visiting teachee with the temple work for her husband and her that they have been working on and we finally completed names of children that needed to be sealed to their parents, so that is what we did. Adam had to remove some pieces of tile from a church building for an architect that he does work for, so we went and did that (while in our church clothes) afterwards. Imagine two people dressed in church clothes with one dropping pieces of tile off of a church building on a Friday in broad daylight…an interesting sight I’m sure.
Saturday morning Adam went out to the shop early in the morning to finish working on his truck and the boys were not up yet, so he came back before the 1st session of conference and we watched it at home. We went out to the flat right after so that Adam could continue his finishing up of his truck before the 2nd session, which we watched out at the flat. Abby was so nice to straighten my hair for me during that time since I only had time before the 1st session to take a shower and wash it. I was wishing I had a lot more hair at that point so that Abby could just play with it and take a really long time to straighten it…in other words it felt really good. After that we hid eggs for the little kids to find. This picture is of Lincoln, Gage, and Tyson enjoying their loot. Mark showed up with a truck load of bread to be unloaded for the animals and I snapped some pictures of the little kids helping out. They really enjoy throwing loaves of bread out of a truck. In the one picture Lincoln really gave me a cheeser when I said, "Cheese!" We had an informal dinner since the Priesthood session was at 6 p.m. and there wasn’t much time for a sit down one. While the men were gone the women visited in the kitchen. I don’t know that the word “relax” can really be used in a sentence with women. We stayed out there visiting until late. This morning we went to Stuart and Heidi’s to watch both sessions of conference. I only made Tyson sit on my lap through two different portions of conference. We will take it a little at a time. Heidi made some yummy homemade pizza in between sessions while I put the chicken pasta salad together for the dinner at the flat afterwards. I always enjoy conference and feel that there are many basics that I need to improve and better myself and our family on and am very grateful for the instruction and reminders.