Homecoming '08

I don't know if I will recover for awhile from my first full week of Homecoming at Connell High School. 5 full days of chaos and they call this "high" school. You can see from the picture though that the "Lyle Taylor Cut Contest" at Christmas is going to be a pretty exciting event as the rest of you try to compete with "Captain America". The Ninja Turtles were just stand in though and not the real ones. I did win best dressed among the staff with this stylish costume. The one thing that I did like about it was that I didn't have to worry about looking good.

All the pumpkins are gone out of the garden and the water is on it's last move. Another summer has come and gone. What a summer it has been, too. We are on our way to a wonderful season ahead as we look forward to the Holidays with everybody home and Haley getting married. It doesn't get any better than this. Happy Halloween!

New Voter

This is Blaire on her 18th birthday.

Pumpkin Time

Fall has finally come to the Basin and the days are definitely getting shorter and cooler. We have 4th cutting hay laying in the field after it got rained on. The Hales have been out harvesting pumpkins and this picture says it all. Did you ever imagine so many different varieties? The big one that Blaire is on weighs about 120 pounds. Zeus doesn't weigh that much but he is bulking up for the Lyle Taylor "Cut" contest at Christmas. Blaire turned 18 today, wow! She's already registered to vote. What a poor election to have to begin your voting career in. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the little Wells boy in Rexburg. The two big Wells boys will need to take care of him, as well as his mama.

More From Nauvoo

I just wanted to post another picture of our vacation this summer. This is all of us at Carthage Ill. in front of the Carthage jail. The window above us is the one the Prophet fell from after he was shot. The well by us is where he laid at his death. Being there was a great experience and worth the effort.

Nauvoo - The City Beautiful

We just spent two weeks on the mother of all road trips and it was great. Over 4000 miles and 11 states in those 14 days. Kase and Vard kept it more than interesting and I know Kase loved the trip because every time he climbed back in the car he would say " that was my favorite". We got to stay with the Specht's in Lincoln for a couple of days and thanks to Makaley's prayers, the weather was great. We saw our first fireflies and found out that Iowa is one big corn field with some soy beans for spacing every so often. We saw beautiful country in almost every state. We had an unplanned event in going through Sturgis S.D. during the biggest motorcycle gathering of the year. You can't imagine the number of motorcycles (and other things) we saw for two days. No wonder we had to go to Chadron, Ne. just to find a vacant motel. Nauvoo was more than beautiful and 2 and 1/2 days was not enough. When you go, plan on at least 3 days there. We went to Independence Mo., and Adam-ondi-Ahman and finished at Liberty Jail. Oops, I missed Carthage Jail in there.

Following the Mormon Trail back to Salt Lake was amazing as we saw Chimney Rock, Independence Rock, Register Rock, (lots of rocks on the trail) Martin's Cove, Rocky Ridge, and Rock Creek. Dave and Kay Freeman were our guides at the last sites as they are serving there mission there. So much to say that it will have to come at later times and places. Hope the pictures make this copy.

Cherries Are Done

Well it has been almost a month since I have updated and cherry harvest is over. As usual, it was a marathon event for all. Blaire and Laryn worked for Uncle Ivan at Radar hill and I was at Northwest Tart. The weather was actually one of the best harvests that I remember. We had a number of days in the 90's but not a single day over 100. The only serious injury that I know of was one girl on clean up caught her hand in a conveyor belt and had some stitches. Tough for her, but otherwise a safe harvest.

We are leaving for our Nauvoo vacation tomorrow morning at 5. Vard and Kase will be with us and we are excited about that. Live entertainment is hard to beat on a long trip. I will try to update sometime on the trip. We are excited.

Before leaving we got in a little fishing with Wayne Riner on the Columbia River about 5 miles from our house. Kase was the lucky one and got to reel in a 4 footer. Vard had one on the line, but he got away. Typical fish story. Probably would have been a big one! This picture tells the tale and it was a beautiful day.

"Easy Rider"

Last Saturday I spent the day riding with the Basin Bikes and Babes to Enterprise Oregon and various stops on the way. 12 hours later and almost 400 miles in 95+ degree weather was quite the day. It was a lot of fun, but a little long for the "new" biker in the club. We had 10 bikes and 13 riders on the trip. Some guys really had "babes" with them. Tamlee McGary, Sally Pugh, and Debbie Bleazard were the babes. No major problems and everyone was home safe. That's a good ride.
Kase and Haley and her "beau" have been here the past few days. I think that I hear bells ringing. Remember, everyone is here this Christmas. I'm thinking more than just Santa this year. There's a new babe on the way and that will work great for the Nativity.
A month from now we will be in Nebraska battling 90 degree heat and 90 % humidity. Now doesn't that sound like a great vacation. Add a little $5 gasoline and we're livin'. We really are looking forward to it, but my summer is almost already over with cherries starting next and leads into the vacation and when we return school starts. Wow! Hope I can get this picture of "Easy Rider" here.

Vard's Girl

Well, here she is, Vard's woman. I don't know how I got into this picture. I quess I had to approve of the lady. Anyway, she has been to the beauty shop already for a little work. Vard is much more concerned about the price of gas than he was when he was driving our vehicles.

Last One for Today

One of these days I will figure out the picture deal and have some pics of Zues, Vard's girl, and the maybe even the cemetery. Bet you can't wait for those!

Summer's Here

We have had 80+ temperatures the last couple of days and it has been really nice. The garden is starting to look like one with lots of pumpkins (135), corn (3 varieties), and tomatos. (Is that with an "e"?) anyway.... The weeds are doin' good too.

Needing Help!

Jennifer was very helpful to me. As you can see, I am adding a new post to my blog. Creating lots of interest, I bet. Anyway, I just spent the entire day changing the alternator on the Silver bullet. Any engineer who designs a car so that you have to take out the drive shaft to change an alternator should loose his credentials. Yesterday I spent some hours trying to fix the tiller. The drive chain assembly locked up and the tines wouldn't turn. I tore it apart and put it back together only to have it go a few feet and fail again. When I found the website, they would not sell me another drive chain assembly, only the parts. That means I will have to take it apart again and determine which parts are bad before being able to fix it. Ain't nothin' easy.