Summer time fun

This post has some fun pictures - at least for the Mom and Dad!

The tree house has filled in a little. The wood to the right of the tree has since been blocked up and put in the wood shed. We had enough extra from last summer that we only had to get about 2 cord this fall.

This is a picture of our garden. As you can see, the peas went crazy! We put a little 4 foot net wire for them to grow on, but that was not enough. They were over six feet tall by the time the peas were ready to eat.

Here is a picture of our tomatoes in our home made green house (with out the plastic covering).

Tara had our neighbor put a bucketful of corral goodies right as you turn in to our driveway. I was sure it would be too hot, but the flowers really did well in it! I wish we had a picture to show how much they grew.

The same neighbor (Alvie) is a great welder. He put together this hanging flower holder out of a couple of old iron disk wheels and axel (yes, it is heavy!)

IThis is a picture of our most recent in house remodel work. This corner used to have a gas heater with white rock behind it. We took that out when Todd put in the arches. (I am sitting in the blue chair as I type this).

Tara made this computer desk from scratch. She is awesome!

This room had a sliding pocket door. Todd came and in three days he was able to put in an arch way from our living room to the hallway. He also moved the coat closet closer to our bedroom and put in a second archway to the piano room. Tara and I then were able to put the mud and texture on and get it painted. Thanks to TODD!

This is taken from our kitchen table. We can now see the bus coming while we are eating breakfeast.

Here are few photos of a camping trip we went on. We decided to go last minute so it was dark by the time we were able to get any pictures.

Roasting marshmellows.

Landon looking for dry moss to start the fire with. You can see he had already found the creek!

Michone brought our dog, Brady.

Ashley and Ryan braving the roaring creek.

In case you missed it, we had a couple of wedding at our house this summer. Here Ryan and Allie Christensen (our neighbor) listen to a song.

Nice to see Ryan cleaned up prior to the big event.

What a cake!

Landon and Robin Chaffin.

Michone getting in costume for her part in the musical "Wicked"

Landon made this arrow with just a little help from Mom.

Landon became quite a climber this summer. He was being safe here - he has since learned how to swing from one rope to the other while 15 feet off the ground.

Ashley is also a great climber. She would use her toes to help her and they became quite blistered and raw for a while.

Flag Football

Landon has been on a Flag Football team this year and has really enjoyed it. There are 6 on a team with the coach being the QB. Landon has developed a good set of hands and has caught a couple of touchdown passes. We usually play two games a night. Here are some pictures of our last games of the season.
The coach is Matt Hanson - who is the son of the Best Man at my Dad's wedding. This is warmups and Matt giving his son Andy a pep talk.

I have heard that a person needs to be able to laugh at himself on occasion. Well.......

Here is Landon getting ready to "pull some flags."

Landon taking the pursuit cutoff angle.

Landon and his friend Jace.

Landon after taking a handoff and heading for the endzone!

This one is hard to see, but Landon is heading for the endzone after making a great catch.

Getting a well deserved drink at half time of the second game.

Asst coach Bingham and Landon. By the way - when did my forehead grow an inch and sprout wings!?

The ball is in the air....

Landon made a dive but it looks like the other team scored. However, a little while later in this game, Landon made a great angle pursuit and made a diving tackle (flag pull) at full speed to stop a touchdown. I could not help but let out a big "YES" when he pulled it!

The team with their pizza after the game. Notice anything on the yellow ball and the cheesy grin on Matt's face?

Matt feeling pretty good about getting "BYU" into the picture above. We give each other a hard time about Utah State and YBU. I would sure love to be able to give him a call this Friday night and return the favor!

SWIM BIKE and RUN

Last Saturday was a first for our family..........Michone and Ashley did a youth only triathlon! Tara and I were so proud of them! It was split into 3 age groups. Michone did a 100 yard swim, a 3 mile bike ride and a 1.5 mile run. Ashley did a 75 yard swim, 1.5 mile bike ride and a 1 mile run. There were approximately 180 children participants. It was an untimed event but we are sure that both of our daughters were #1.

After they are finished - I love how Michone "encourages" Ashley to hold up her hand.

This is the pond they swam across. Michone's age group is to the right and Ashley's is to the left. They swam across this and came out just to the bottom left of the photo.

Michone getting ready to start her swim. They only let 10 swimmers go at a time to make sure there was enough adults to adequately watch them. Once all ten were out the adults would swim back and start the next ten.

Michone in the water - she is the one with the yellow cap.

Michone does not like this picture but I think it shows beautiful form.

Michone in transition. Unfortunately, we did not get any more pictures of Michone as Tara and I were a little excited. Actually, not too long after this picture was taken, the announcer on the loud speaker (who had been reminding parents to keep track of their children and keep them out of the water) reported that a little boy had been lost. He had a grey Florida t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it. Yep - that was Ryan. The announcer also moonlights as a dentist who I go to. I wonder if he will ask me next time if we still have all our children.

Here is Ashley doing the backstroke. She was a great swimmer and the first one out of the water for her group. She did the first 30 yards or so in a breaststroke and then flipped to a back stroke.

Ashley coming out of the water.

Ashley in transition to the bike.

Start of the bike ride.
The event was held at River Rock Estates which is a development with a nice road and pond but not much else. This was a great place to hold it as there were no cars and it was safe for the children.

Ashley coming in. She was borrowing a neighbors bike and was not familiar with it - particularily the hand brakes. Shortly after this picture she needed to stop. She tried to reverse her legs and to her surprise she did not slow down. I was able to catch her right before she plowed into some parked bikes.

Ashley nearing the end of the run.

Ashley about finishing. She passed the two in front of her. There is also a Dad cheering her on!

A great finish!

Kalli, Landon, Ashley and Michone after it was done.

Tara's Dream Fulfilled

Ever since Tara was a child, she has wanted to go to Nebraska. On our way to Martin's Cove after leaving Mt. Rushmore, we were able to dip down and hit the corner of this most beautiful state. Tara said it was worth the wait and definitely better than what she had heard about the state. Granted, we only hit one small part, but it was quite pretty.

Our Future "Cabin"

We stayed in Casper Wyoming before going to Martin's Cove. We stayed at a place called "C'mon Inn". I was a little leary but it looked nice so we tried it. From the pictures below you can tell it was very nice. Tara and I like log work so it was neat to see the inside of this place. It appeared to be all hand peeled. There were several small hot tubs and we had a great time. Plus, the continental breakfast was nice. So, we recommend the "C'mon Inn" if you get the chance.

This is the swimming pool.


And one of the hot tubs.

In the middle there was this neat looking waterfall with a black bear on top. I think they had a mountain lion on the other side. There were 4 hot tubs around this.

This is looking from the middle (right above the waterfall and bear). It was a very nice place. The bedrooms were nice as well with flat screen tvs and pillowtop mattresses. It was a neat place to spend our last night. The next day we went to Martin's cove and then drove home that night.