Montana July 20 - 27, 2017

Thursday - July 20th

Linda had reserved for us to go up the North Fork from July 22nd to July 29th, but as the time got closer, things kept coming up for everybody and it was starting to look like nobody was going to make it up there this year.  Roger couldn't get that whole week off, so we decided that we'd go up early and just stay with grandma until it was our time up the North Fork.  Kari had to go home early also, so she decided to do the same thing.  When Kari called grandma about us staying at her house, grandma said yes, but she was worried that some of Don and Chris' kids would be there too, so it would be crowded.  Since it didn't sound like all of staying at grandma's would work, we decided to stop and do some camping along our way.  Our first night, we spent in Bannack State Park.  I love Bannack!  I think it is so cool!  We all headed up together, but at one point we separated, so Kari got there before us.  She had her tent set up and everything by the time we got there.  We set up camp and debated about if we wanted to eat dinner, then walk through the ghost town or if we wanted to walk through the ghost town, then eat dinner.

We decided to walk through the town, then eat dinner.  Looking back, I wish we would have chosen the other.  I think it would have been more fun to walk through the town right before they close it all up for the night.  You have to get special permission to stay in the town during the night.  It sounded like a big hassle and not something that they like to allow.  Anyway, we had fun wandering around and seeing all the buildings.

video 1, video 2

video

After looking around at the prison, we decided to start heading back, because most of the group had already gone back to camp.  Alissa, Parker, me, Kiara, Damen, and Missy were all together.  It was windy so every once in a while a door would swing open and slam shut.  It made things feel fun and a little spooky.  We walked by a house and we were thinking about walking through it before we walked back.  We were getting closer to it, when the door slowly crept open.  It was creepy how it opened slowly, but we weren't too concerned because of the wind.  We were all looking inside the house as we walked toward it.  There were stairs and a hallway next to it.  At the end of the hallway there was a door.  All of the sudden the door at the end of the hallway slammed shut.  That was enough for us.  We decided that house was too creepy, we would check it out tomorrow.  So we kept walking. As we were walking, we noticed that there was a bathroom.  I really had to go potty, so I suggested we stop and use it.  Missy said she wanted to leave, so she decided to keep walking.  The rest of us walked over to the bathrooms.  When we got there, Damen knocked on the side of it.  He knocked that familiar tune, da - da - da, da - da......  Then he left out the last two knocks.  Kiara giggled a little and said, "That would be funny if we heard 2 knocks back."  Right after she said that, we heard 2 knocks back.  All of us were watching.  None of us had touched the bathroom to make the knocking sound.  It was really crazy.  We checked both the stalls and nobody was there.  We were a little creeped out, but I had to pee really bad so I made everybody wait for me while I used the haunted bathroom.  We ended up stopping to look at the old school house on our way back.  We didn't go in, we just played on the merry-go-round.  We didn't want to risk being haunted again, so we stayed out.

Merry-go-round

When we got back to camp, we made dinner.  We ate some food and relaxed until it was time for bed.  When we told Missy about our haunting at the bathroom, she told us she had a creepy experience too.  She had decided to go ahead without us and kept walking.  she said she heard footsteps behind her.  She figured one of us had decided to walk back with her.  Eventually she decided to turn around and see who was walking back with her.  She was pretty freaked out when she turned around and nobody was there.  She heard the footsteps walking with her and she could feel that somebody was there.

Friday - July 21st

In the morning, before we packed up and headed to our next camping destination, we went back into town to walk through the abandoned houses.  Forest went for a little swim on the way.  He loves water and swimming.
I took some video of us as we walked into Bannack.  You can watch the videos by clicking these links: Video 1,video 2.

I took more videos this time when we went.  I wanted us to reenact some of the funny ghost hunting videos I have seen.  Brinley was feeling a little scared, so she decided to wait outside.  Roger, Brinley, and Forest decided to head back before we even started our little investigation.  Roger was feeling really tired and wanted to take a nap.  Here are all the videos I took: video 1, video 2, video 3, video 4, video 5, video 6, video 7, video 8, video 9, video 10.

video 1, video 2, video 3

We decided to hike up and see the cemetery.  I hadn't done that before.  We were going to hike up to it yesterday, but some hikers were coming down from there and warned us about a rattlesnake on the trail.  So we decided not to go.

After we finished exploring, we went back to camp, packed up all our stuff, and headed to our next destination.  We debated for a while about whether or not we should go there.  Because we realized that the road into the ghost town of Garnett would be too hard to drive on with the trailer we were pulling.  There is another way in, but it is far out of our way.  I tried to find a camp ground closer to that spot, but it was too far out of our way and I couldn't justify it.  We ended up going to the campground we planned on, but we decided not to go in to Garnett.  I was pretty bummed about that, since I had wanted to go to Garnett last year and we ended up deciding not to go at the last minute, also.  So, two years in a row, I tried to go, but didn't make it.  Next year, I will make it there for sure!  I'm determined.  

Anyway, we really liked our campground.  It was nice.  There was a river close by.  The kids had fun playing in the water.  The best part about this campground was that it had a shower.

video of campground near Garnett, MT

Before Roger and I walked over to the water, Roger rolled his ankle.  I was so worried that it was going to be really bad and would interfere with him being able to do anything on this trip.  It swelled up a little, but it wasn't too bad.  I am glad about that.  It would have been horrible to have him be hurt.

We spent a lot of time relaxing at camp.  The hammocks they brought were a nice addition.  Alissa brought her color guard stuff, so she could practice.  Kaylie is also on her color guard team this year.  This is the first year for both of them.  They spent some time showing each other the things they had learned.

Our Goofy Dog

Saturday - July 22nd

We woke up, packed up our stuff, and headed out.  I think we were all excited to get up there.  I felt so bad for not remembering that it was my dad's birthday.  I talked to him for a little bit before I grabbed the last of my stuff and he mentioned that he had just got off the phone with someone that had called him to wish him a happy birthday.  I told him happy birthday.  As soon as I said something, Missy and Kari hurried over to wish him a happy birthday also.  They felt bad they hadn't said something sooner.  They both had remembered yesterday and had planned to remember to tell him happy birthday first thing today, but of course, we all woke up and forgot.
We all stopped at grandma's house to use the bathroom and say hi, then we headed up the North Fork.  We wasted no time getting everything set up.  It was hard trying to decide where to sleep.  We are so used to staying in the other house.  This year was really different.  Dayson and his family decided that they want to live in the house up there.  I really don't like that idea and I'm scared that they are trying to take the property from us all.  There is a sneaky little squatter's law in Montana, that allows somebody to take over your property.  They just have to openly live there for 5 years, make a few improvements, and then it is theirs.  I'm not cool with that.  Linda doesn't think they are trying to do that.  I'm not sure what to think.  They seem like nice people, but I have a hard time trusting that their intentions are good.  This trip to Montana was very different and a lot less comfortable because of them.  It was really awkward to have them there.  They stayed in the house the whole time, with the curtains closed.  After a day or 2 another brother came up with his family and they brought blinds with them.  So, then they covered all the windows with blinds and hunkered down.  They only came out when we were gone.  It was weird.  Kari said she invited them to come and join us, but they said no.  I just didn't like it at all.

Sunday - July 23rd

We ended up sleeping like this:  Roger and I slept in the back of the truck.  Brinley and Parker slept in the front of the truck.  Alissa, Missy, Kiara, Damen, Kaylie, James, and the dogs slept upstairs in the old house.  Kari slept downstairs.  Linda, Dave, Mathew, and my dad slept in their RV.  Alissa said that they slept horribly.  It was way too hot upstairs in the old house.  Forest was so hot, he couldn't sleep.  He stayed awake most of the night, panting really hard and whining.  They all were hot and uncomfortable.  So, this morning after everyone got up, we went in and moved their beds downstairs so they could sleep better and hopefully not be so hot.

Linda pulled out a fun game and we all sat around and played it.  I can't remember what the game is called, but one person is the guesser.  Everybody gets to see what is written on a card, except the guesser.  Then the guesser asks each person, "What is yours like?"  Everybody answers the question and the guesser has to figure out what they are talking about.  It was pretty fun.  I was pretty proud of myself for my funny little burn on Dave.  I'm not a quick witted person, so I rarely think of the funny things like this.  That's why I was so proud of myself.  Dave is always teasing people like this.  Anyway, it was my turn to guess.  Everybody was answering by describing an animal or just saying an animal.  Dave said that his says mooo... (or something like that.  I can't remember exactly what he said, but I know he was describing a cow), so I quickly said, animals that are the most like you.  Lol.  We all had a good laugh at that one.  I can't remember what the actual answer was.

Parker playing in the Barn

A couple of people wanted to float the river.  We went to pick them up at Ford Ranger Station.  We had fun skipping rocks and sliding down the boat thing.  When the boaters showed up, they told us they had wanted to be picked up at a different spot.  So, we headed back to the cabin to wait some more until it was time to pick them up.
Video of the Boaters

After we picked them up, we just relaxed and hung out.  Nate Sterner, his girlfriend, and some of her kids came.  Nate brought an RV.  It was nice to meet his girlfriend and her kids.  She is really nice.  It was fun to have them there with us.

Kari pulled out some fun glow in the dark bouncy balls as it was getting dark.  The kids played a game, throwing the balls over the tent.  After that, when it was really dark, they all decided to play Ghost in the Graveyard.  They had a lot of fun.  It was really dark and they kept running into things.  It was funny though.  Nobody got seriously injured.

Playing a fun game

Monday - July 24th

Everybody slept a lot better last night, so that was good.  After Roger and I woke up, we decided to head in to town to take a shower and buy a little more food.  I took these pictures in the morning, before we left.  I just love it here.  It is so beautiful.  I really like this old house.  I want to fix it up sooo bad!  I keep thinking, I need to take an extra trip, just to clean it, fix it up, and make it feel comfortable and homely again.

We were gone for a really long time.  A trip in to town is never fast.  It was nice to shower and really nice to visit with grandma.  Don and Chris were cleaning up and about to leave when we got there.  Don told me about a really cool place to go hiking to some lakes for the dog to play in.  I really want to go check it out.  I wrote down all of the info he told me.  I hoped to go and see it on this trip, but I bet we'll end up doing it next year.
Grandma was feeling really sick when we saw her.  I could tell that she was really miserable.  I felt like she didn't want to scare me, so she was doing her best to down play it and act like it wasn't a big deal.  I felt really bad for her.  I really wanted to go and spend more time with her, but I kept worrying that my being there would be too much of a strain on her.  I love that she loves me enough to act tough and try not too scare me, and I feel really bad that I couldn't be more helpful to her.  I hate seeing her feeling so miserable.  It hurts my heart knowing that she is suffering.  I love her so much and I wish so badly that I could take the pain away somehow.

After we got back, Kari and Linda went to pick up the people who had gone boating.  They went a little early, so they could play in the river while they waited.  I really don't like playing in rivers.  I've just had too many scary experiences, that make me want to stay away.  So, we decided not to go with them.  We stayed here and blocked up the creek so we could play in that instead.  It was fun to see how full it got, but we didn't really play too much.  We were tired, so we spent most of our time sitting around and relaxing.

Alissa had gone on the float with everybody.  When they met up with Kari and Linda, they all stayed and played for a while.  They said it was a lot of fun.  Alissa really loved playing in the river.  She really wanted me to come and try it out next time.

The sunset was really pretty. I had to take pictures of it.

The kids stayed up late playing ghost in the graveyard again, and we had a lot of fun sitting around the fire and talking.  I love the evenings here, except for one thing.  The mosquitoes are horrible.  They are worse than ever!  They were finally able to get rid of the bats in the cabin, but by doing that, the mosquito population has more than doubled on our property.  Those bats were creepy to have in the house, but outside they made a world of difference.  I didn't realize how much good they had been doing for us.  It's horrible having the mosquitoes be so bad.

Tuesday - July 25th

Linda and Dad went in to town today.  I'm not sure what my dad needed to do, but I know Linda had plans to go out to eat with my cousin, Tanya.  Kari, Kaylie, Damon, and Zander (Ithink that's his name), left to go home this morning.  Kiara and James were able to get Linda and Dave to give them a ride home so they could stay longer.  We were all bummed that Kari left early.  We tried really hard to get her to stay.  She wanted to get home though.  She is making a big change in her life.  She has worked for Pizza hut since she was 16 years old.  She quit pizza hut and is going to run an I hop.  She's excited and nervous about it.

Of the rest of us, half of us went boating on a big float from the Canadian border and the other half went to Glacier.  We went to enjoy some yummy huckleberry ice cream and play in Lake McDonald.

After our ice cream, Roger, Brinley, the dogs, and I walked over to the lake to play.  The others went gift shopping, then came and met us to play in the lake.
Playing in Lake McDonald
Forest loves swimming.  But both of the dogs had a hard time warming up after they swam.

I had to hold and snuggle with Macy in a blanket to warm her up.  Forest curled up in a ball in the sun to warm up.

We were sitting by the water just talking and being silly when Alissa showed us the super sharp and pointy rock that she found.  She had almost stepped on it.  We started joking about how dangerous and horrible it is that a National Park would allow something so dangerous.  Lol.  We're just goofy like that.  Then I made a funny video about how we need to sue the park for allowing something so dangerous in a place where children visit regularly.  I don't know why my brain works the way it does.  I always think of the weirdest things.  Lately, I find that because of all the crazy and irrational parenting things I've seen online or I've witnessed in person, my brain thinks up these funny reactions to everything.  I've seen too many parents over react to silly things like this.  It makes me laugh, so I tend to mock them often.  Like when the kids do something that is not a big deal, I think it is funny to pretend to over react and throw a little fit, in the way I have seen a few crazy parents do.  My kids are used to it and they think it is funny too.  We always have a good laugh afterward.
We will Sue the Park

Roger noticed that I was taking pictures so he decided to pose.  Missy also decided to join in on the posing.

I was taking pictures of everybody when I had the idea to go stand behind the bushes, to have some greenery in my photos.  I thought it would look all artsy and cool.  So, I went behind the bushes and started taking pictures.  When they noticed me, they were all like, "What the heck are you doing?  That's weird.  Why are you being a creeper and hiding behind the bushes to take pictures of us?"  We all had a good laugh about it.  I hadn't even thought about how taking pictures behind the bushes would be weird or creepy.  They kept making jokes about how I was being a creeper, crouched behind the bushes taking pictures of them.

We finally tired of being at the lake, so we headed back.  We stopped when we saw a car pulled off the side of the road and a guy standing out of his vehicle taking pictures of something in the trees.  We asked him what it was and he told us it was a little black bear.  Kiara had really wanted to see a bear, so we decided to get out and see it also.  Roger tried to take a video of it with the phone but it isn't the best video.  We had a really good view of it, but by the time he started recording, it had moved farther away.  It was not a little black bear.  It was really big and brown.  It was knocking down trees as it walked.  It think bears are scary.
We saw a bear on the way back.

Here we are back at camp, chillaxing and playing games.

The kids stayed up to play night games, but they thought they saw an animal.  It made me nervous.  I didn't want the kids to be out running around in the dark anymore after that.  They were also nervous, so they quit.

Wednesday - July 26th

Forest and Macy were funny this morning.

Macy and Forest Playing Tug of War

Our only plan for the day was to float the river.

The Boaters leaving on their float

Forest was super funny swimming in the river.  It was like he was on a treadmill.  But he loved it.  He'd get out for a little bit, then get right back in.

While we were sitting around playing games, we had the funny idea to do a newborn photo shoot with Missy and her little puppy, Macy.  We were in a goofy mood.  It was a lot of fun.

When we finished our photo shoot, we came back to the table to finish our game and this is what we found.  2 bears had taken over our game.  Lol.

We played in the river while we waited to pick up the boaters.

Thursday - July 27th

We woke up early, packed up our stuff, and headed home today.  We were just about ready to leave, when Missy started yelling "No!" to the dogs.  We went to find out what was happening.  Last night, Nate and Dave had an issue while they were emptying the pooper from Nate's RV.  They ended up spilling a bunch of it near the out house.  Forest and Macy found it.  Macy started eating it and Forest started rolling around in it.  It was disgusting!  They were sooooo stinky!  We did our best to clean Forest off and then we left.  We had to give him a bath as soon as we got home.

Our drive was really nice.  The GPS showed me a really cool short cut.  I convinced Roger to take it.  It ended up being a dirt road.  It was faster, but when we got back onto regular road, we noticed the tire pressure dropping in one of our tires.  Roger took the next exit and went straight to a tire place.  They found a hole and said they could fix it for us.  We left the truck and went to eat at the restaurant next to it, while our tire was being fixed.  It didn't take long at all.  The tire was ready when we finished eating.  They didn't charge us.  That was really nice.  Here are a few pictures from our little stop on the way home.

We're Bored - July 16, 2017

Sunday - July 16th

The title of this post sounds exciting, doesn't it?  Tee hee!  Anyway, we had a very nice and relaxing day today.  We did a lot of laying around.  It was nice.  At one point during the day, I had a little bit of energy and I wanted to go and do something, but nobody else did.  We were all just sitting around in the living room being boring.  I decided that maybe we could get creative and come up with some funny pranks and make a funny prank video.  Nobody liked any of my funny ideas.  Everybody said they were too tired and didn't have the energy.  So, I pulled out the camera anyway.  I decided to just record us, even though we are boring.  I hoped maybe with the camera out, everybody would get more energy and want to make a stupid prank video with me.  I wasn't able to get anybody excited about making a prank video, so I made one myself.  I pranked the dog and I pranked Brinley.  Neither one seemed to scare them at all, but I thought it was fun and funny.  Also, Roger went up to take a nap and Parker and I decided to go up and scare him.

A New Top For the Truck - July 14, 2017

Friday - July 14th

Roger ordered a cover thingy for the back of the truck.  It came in today, so Roger and Parker went to Ogden to pick it up.  They met up with Brian and Delaney while they were there.

 It's nice!  I like this cover a lot.  It will make our vacation a lot easier.

Summer Fun - July 12, 2017

Wednesday - July 12th

We finally had a chance to have some regular summer fun.  I've been so sad that I haven't had time or energy to do this this year.  I really miss this kind of summer fun.

Swimming - July 10, 2017

Monday - July 10th

I set up the pool again.  I had the chair set up, so I could relax and read a book while the kids played, like I used to do.  I really wasn't able to get much reading done though.  The kids kept wanting my attention.

Here's the video I took from our fun.  Normally I take more pictures, but since I'm trying to relax, I didn't take any.

Swimming, color Guard, Roger's Cool Look - July 9, 2017

Sunday - July 9th

We had a nice, relaxing day.  I watched Alissa practicing her color-guard.  Then she had me record it, so she could see how she was doing.  She started out practicing with her white practice flag, but used her performance flag for the video.  She says it is easier to work with her performance flag.  Their coach doesn't want their flags to get ruined, so they have practice flags and performance flags.  Anyway.... so the first part of the video is Alissa practicing her routine.

We decided to go out and chill by the pool again today.  We put the bench up to the pool, so Forest could jump in.  He was really scared to jump in at first, but eventually, he did it.  I don't think he liked the way it was getting in the first time, so it was hard to get him to get in that way again.  We wanted him to get in that way, so he wouldn't pop the side with his claws and he wouldn't make all of the water spill out while he is climbing in and out. 

Eventually, he just starts climbing in and out from the side.  We didn't end up losing too much water each time, and he seems to do okay with not popping the side.  So, that's good!

Roger rode his bike to work today.  I've been riding my bike to work also.  It's really not that bad.  Except, in the morning, it is still dark and I am scared of the dark.  I use a head lamp and I ride really, really fast.  It takes me about 7 minutes.  I think adrenaline helps with my speed.  I am totally freaked out.  The ride home doesn't go as fast.  It's not much longer, but, still, not as fast. Lol.  Since Roger wears pants to work, he rolls one pant leg up, so it won't get stuck in the chain.  It makes him look super cool! Haha!

Swimming - July 8, 2017

Saturday - July 8th

Today is the first day this summer that I was able to set up the pool and do our regular summer stuff.  It's really sad that it took this long for me to do this.  I really don't like having this job.  It makes it really hard to do the things I love.  I'm too busy.  There is not enough time in the day to accomplish all my regular chores, spend time with the kids, or do anything for myself.  It's not fun.  It's impossible to be the mommy that I want to be and have a full time job.  I really regret getting this job.  But, since I got the job, Roger ended up taking a pay cut, so it is kinda necessary for me to work.  It's a nightmare.  I feel so trapped.  My mom always warned me, not to get a job unless I wanted to keep it.  She said, as soon as you get a job, you start to spend more and rely on the income and it is really hard to quit.  She was totally right.  I'm so sad that I got myself stuck in this situation.

Anyway, enough of my whining.

Forest likes to lay on the air vent to keep him cool.  Parker wanted me to take a picture of them chillin' together.

 Here's the pictures of us playing in the pool for the first time this summer.  I'm determined that I will not have this job next summer.  We will make up for all the fun we missed out on, next summer.

It was so nice to relax outside and enjoy summer for a little while.

A Walk and Our New Appliances - July 7, 2017

Friday - July 7th

We have our new appliances installed.  We got our appliances installed for free.  Roger worked out a deal with RC Wiley.  When he was calling to work things out, the lady asked if he knew anybody who could help one of their workers.  They were short handed and there was a job that required two people.  Roger said that he could do it.  Since Roger went to help with another install, they installed our stuff for free.  It's so nice to have a microwave above the stove.  I love it that way.  Also, this microwave is much better than our 15 year old, tiny microwave.  I also, love our new stove and oven.  It is the first time I've experienced a convection oven.  Also, I can bake more than one thing at a time.  The top smaller oven is so nice.

Parker insisted on posing with the appliances when I took the pictures.  He's a funny kid.  Also, the dishwasher is amazing!  I've never had a dishwasher that is actually able to clean left on food off of the dishes.  Rinsing the dishes before hand has always been very necessary.  It's nice to be able to just load the dishes and skip the rinsing part.

 Roger and I took Forest for a walk.  It was really hot outside, so we let him swim in the ditch for a little bit.  He was being really funny, but by the time I pulled out the camera, he had pretty much stopped.

Our New Appliances - July 6, 2017

Thursday - July 6th

Our new appliances came!  Yea!  We are excited!  

Independence Day - July 4, 2017

Tuesday - July 4th

We had a really fun day.  Roger's friend, Dan, and his family, came to visit.  We had a yummy barbecue with a lot of food.  It was really good.  Roger and I bought a lot of fireworks and we were excited to finally have a year where we light our own.  We usually go somewhere to watch fireworks.  This is the first year, in a really long time, that we are actually home for the 4th of July.  Anyways, so we spent a lot of money and got a big thing of fireworks at Sam's Club.

Our plans changed a little though.  Earlier in the day, our neighbor stopped by and invited us to watch his fireworks.  He said that he used to own a firework stand and he still has his license, so he can get the fireworks at the wholesale price.  And he gets the big commercial fireworks.  He said he spent $700.00, which is equivalent to $1300 at the retail price.

When it got dark, we grabbed our chairs and headed down the street to watch the fireworks.  We figured, we would do our fireworks after.

The fireworks that our neighbor did were awesome!  It was so fun to be right up close to the big fireworks.  I loved it so much!  Also, this year, reminded me a lot of that year we were in Montana over the 4th and we thought it was so cool, because everybody was lighting the big ones and it was like every where you looked and all around you, fireworks were going off.  I love when it is like that.  I think it is the coolest thing ever!

The fireworks were amazing!  There was one part that was bad though.  One firework fell on it's side and shot fireworks toward us.  The big parts didn't hit us, but part of it hit Brinley in the knee.  It wasn't bad at all.  It just scared her.  She didn't cry, so that was good.  After that, Brinley and her friends didn't want to be so close to the fireworks anymore.  They walked back to the house to watch the fireworks from the safety of our yard.  They also had lots of fun playing games.

The firework show at the neighbor's lasted for a long time.  I'm thinking it was at least 45 minutes.  It was long and so cool!  Anyway, we were all feeling tired after that, so we debated for a little bit about whether or not to do ours, but we decided that yes, we want to light them.

Ours weren't nearly as cool as the neighbor's.  But they were still fun.  When we got to the ones that go in the air, things got a little exciting.  The first one Roger lit, started out nice, but fell shortly after it started.  It started shooting fireworks right toward Brinley, Parker, and their friends.  That was it for Brinley.  She was really scared now.  She spent the rest of the show sitting behind a chair at the back of the garage.  Her and her friend watched a show on the I-pad, instead of the fireworks.

The next up in the air firework, did the same thing.  This time it shot at Parker.  It went right under his seat.  He picked his legs up and jump out of his seat, to safety.  Nobody got hurt.  It was just exciting.  After that, Roger found a cinder block to put the fireworks in, so they couldn't fall down.  Everything went smoothly from that point on.  It was a really fun night.

Here are links to some of the videos I took: Forest, trying to get stick through the fence door, Forest and Fireworks, walking past someone's fireworks, Trying to get a video of the fireworks.

Fireworks - July 1, 2017

Saturday - July 1st

Forest is so cute and funny when we give him a treat.  I thought he looked funny, walking around with the bone in his mouth, but seeing these pictures, makes me realize, I thought it was a lot funnier than it actually was.  Oh well.  He's a cute dog.  He'll turn one year old on the 4th of July.

 We are getting excited and impatient for the 4th of July to get here.  Along with our big pack of fireworks, we bought big containers of sparklers and the throw down poppy things.  We figured, there are enough of those, that we can play with them, before the 4th of July.

Roger and I were sitting outside relaxing, when he had the thought to pull that fun stuff out.  The kids were excited about that, especially Parker.

Parker wanted to see what would happen when he lit one of these on fire.  It was very disappointing.  Nothing happened.  He even had a hard time getting the box to light on fire.

 We stayed outside when it got dark, because we knew people would start lighting their fireworks tonight, and we had some sparklers to use.  Our neighbors, across the street, lit their fireworks tonight.  He has to work on the 4th, so this was the best night for them to enjoy their fireworks.  It was fun to sit out and have a firework show.
I was using my good camera and seeing how well it took night pictures.  It works well, if you can hold the camera still.  I told Parker to pick a pose and hold still, so the picture wouldn't be blurry.  The big picture is the one I took with the good camera and that's the pose he chose.  He really makes me laugh.  I love how goofy he is.

We Almost Got A New Puppy - June 30, 2017

Friday - June 30th

We took the kids to the neighbor's house to meet our new puppy.  We decided that we are going to name him Bear.  He is so cute!  We had a lot of fun playing with him and watching him play with his siblings.  Then the neighbor suggested we take him home and let him meet Forest.  We liked that idea.  Bear isn't old enough for us to take him home to keep yet.  He still needs one more set of shots.

video of the puppy

Puppies attacking the hose

Playing with the puppy at our house

Trying to get Forest and the puppy to be friends

 So, things didn't go very smoothly when Bear and Forest met.  It was pretty eye opening.  We had a lot of fun playing with the puppy, but we realized that having this new puppy was going to be a lot more work, since we already have our Forest, who keeps us pretty busy.  We realized that it really isn't a good idea to get a puppy, until I am not working.  That way there is someone able to be home with the puppy all the time.  So, we took the puppy back, and discussed things.  We all agreed that it didn't feel right.  We are sad not to get the puppy, but it will be okay.  Hopefully, it won't be too long before we get to get another puppy.

We Are Getting A Puppy - June 29, 2017

Thursday - June 29th

Roger and I were out and about and on our way home, we saw our neighbor, outside with a bunch of puppies.  Roger wanted to stop by and ask him about them.  So, we did. While we were talking to him, he asked if we used to live in Tremont street.  He used to live with his grandma, across the street from us.  That was fun.  He was a teenager while we were living there.  Now he's all grown up and has kids of his own.  His wife runs a daycare in their home.  Anyway, it was fun to visit with him.  We love these puppies, but this one is our favorite.  We decided we want to get him.

Jen Parkinson got a new job, told us they are moving.  We ended up stopping to visit with her, since she was out working in her yard.  They have been working hard on a swimming pool they were building in their backyard.  They had talked a lot about having us over to swim.  They love their dogs and it id fun to have someone that wants to have doggie play dates.  Anyway, everything changed super quickly for them.  She got offered her dream job and it is in California.  She will start in September, so they are hurrying to get their house sold.  So, now instead of spending all their time on the pool, they are fixing things up and trying to sell their house.  I'm happy for them, but sad that they are leaving.  We really like them.  Her husband has already been in touch with some companies about a job, so it sounds like he will have something lined up really soon.  They are really excited to be living close to the beach.
We didn't get to stay and talk for too long, because we needed to hurry to our business class.  I'm really enjoying our business class.  It is very helpful.  I feel like I get a ton of inspiration when I am there and I am learning so much.  It is also lots of fun to get to know the people in our class.  I've really been loving it.
A video of Forest pouncing
Forest peaking out the blinds

Hiking the juniper trail in Logan - Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Wednesday - June 28th

Roger and I went hiking today.  I didn't have to work and we decided that we would try to go on a hike in all of my days off. It was so nice to have the day off. I slept in until 9:30am. I can't remember there last time I got to sleep in that late. I didn't think I'd be able to sleep in, since my body is used to waking up early. I woke up when Roger got home, but I managed to fall right back asleep. It felt so good. Then I woke up and laid around for 2 hours before doing anything. 

I needed to help Brinley clean and organize her room today. We got half way through, before I woke Roger up to go hiking. We had to stop at Pet Smart to buy a new crate for Forest. The travel crate we have now is too small. It was really hard to get him into it. Now he has a big one that he seems to love. We also bought a harness for Forest to help him stop pulling when we walk him. We tried it on him in the store and it helped immediately. It was so nice. I was so embarrassed when I was bringing him into the store because he was pulling so hard he was practically dragging me. It was a much different and nicer experience taking him out of the store.

The hike we went on was really nice. There was a stream next to the trail. Forest was nervous to get in the water at first, but before we knew it that was all Forest wanted to do. He kept trying too get over to the steam. At one point the water was really close to the trail and we crossed through water. Forest was so excited, he pounced into the water and started splashing around. It was so cute and funny. I tried to get a video of it, but the camera took forever to turn on. I missed it.

Roger and I have to decide what vacation to do this year. We wanted to do 2 trips, but realized that with Roger's new schedule, we can't. He won't have enough vacation time. So I talked to my sisters tonight to try and figure it out. I think we might end up doing the fall Disneyland trip. But that means I won't get to go to Montana. I don't like that idea too much.

Heather invited me to watch a movie at her house tonight. It was a depressing movie. We didn't have time to finish watching it though, since I had to come home to go to bed, since I have to work in the morning.

Alissa has Torticollis - January 11, 2017

Wednesday - January 11th

Alissa and I woke up early this morning, like always because it's a school day.  Parker managed to wake up early also.  We were relaxing in the living room.  Parker and I were sitting by the fire and Alissa was bundled up in a blanket on the couch.  She had her head leaning against the wall while she watched a show on her phone.  She said that it felt like her neck needed to pop all of the sudden.  She hates when her neck pops because it feels extra scary for her.  It makes one side of her face go numb for a little bit and she feels like she is going to pass out.  She had told me about how that happens before, and it scares me a lot, but I never knew what to do about it.  Anyway, she was scared that it was going to pop, so she sat up and moved hoping to stop it.  She said when she sat up there was a little pop and her neck started to hurt really bad.  She bent her head to one side and the pain wasn't as bad, but when she tried to bend it the other way, the pain was horrible.  She started to cry and was totally freaked out.  She had to keep her head bent to one side.  She managed to calm down and tried watching a video to get her mind off of it.  I called Linda (my 'ask a nurse' sister).  I told her what was happening and she suggested that we take Alissa to the doctor as soon as possible.  I called and made an appointment.  They couldn't get us in until 11:30am, so Alissa had a couple more hours that she had to suffer through.  She managed to get in a good position where the pain wasn't has horrible and she fell asleep until it was time to go.

She was so worried we would hit a bump or something on the drive there.  She was in a lot of pain and couldn't bear the thought of the pain she'd experience if we went over any big bumps.  The roads ended up being really bad.  We have been having the craziest weather lately.  This morning we woke up to 4 more inches of rain.  The rest of the day it snowed and slushed (what I call snow that is almost rain) on and off all day.  The freeway really took a beating from all this crazy weather.  There were a ton of pot holes all over the road.  It was kind of scary.  I think Heavenly Father must have really been helping me, because I managed to avoid hitting all of them.  On the way back after she was on medicine and not in such horrible pain, I wasn't as good at missing the potholes.

The doctor checked her out and asked her a lot of questions.  She asked her to try and put her head up straight.  Alissa moved it as far as she could with out the excruciating pain.  Then the doctor asked her if she could move it further than that.  Alissa told her, "I probably could, but it will make me cry."  So, the doctor told her not to do it.  Alissa is scheduled to go in for an MRI of her neck on Monday.  The doctor seemed to also be concerned when we told her how it feels when Alissa's neck pops.  I'm glad she will be getting things looked at and I'm glad she has some medicine so it doesn't hurt as bad.  She has 3 different pain meds that she is taking.  She said they don't get rid of the pain completely, but it hurts a lot less and she can put her head up straight.

After Alissa's appointment, we went to Walmart to get all her medicine, then we chilled in the truck while we waited for it to be time for my doctors appointment.  I had made an appointment with Dr. Wilding to ask him about my knees, my thyroid, and my weight loss goals.  I wanted to know what I could do for my knees.  I told them that they don't hurt right now, but whenever I try and start jogging again, I have to stop, because my knees hurt so bad.  I have to take it easy for a while until they recover.  I was really hoping that he would suggest some kind of knee brace or something to help, so I could run without the pain, but that didn't happen.  I asked him what I could do and he simply said, "Don't jog."  He told me to walk and use other exercise equipment until I lose the weight, then I can try jogging again.  He said it is too hard on my knees when I weigh this much.  It made me laugh when I talked to him, because it was such an obvious answer that I hadn't even considered before I talked to him.  I have been telling myself that the way I would lose weight is to start jogging again.  I'm really glad I got that gym membership so I have more ways to get in shape and lose the weight.  Doctor Wilding said it wasn't time to check my thyroid yet, so I didn't need to worry about that, and he prescribed me some Phentermine to help with my weight loss.  We had a good laugh about that also.  He asked if I had tried it before.  I said I had in 2006.  I didn't use it for very long but I like it.  He laughed when I said I liked it, because he was telling me it can be an addictive medicine, so he was checking to see if I would have a problem with it.  I don't know how to explain the whole conversation, but we had a good laugh about it and Alissa told him I do have an addictive personality.  He prescribed the medicine for one month.  I will go back and see him in a month, so he can see if it's working and if I want to keep going with it.

Another nice thing about that appointment was, when I went to pay, they said I had a credit on my account.  Doctor Wilding used to put money in my account for me so I didn't have to pay a copay when I visited him.  He hasn't done that in a long time though, so I was super surprised that there was a credit on my account.  I love that!  It makes me feel so special and cared for.  Dr. Wilding is a really good guy.  I'm so glad to know him.

Roger had an interview at work yesterday for an AMT position.  They said they had to interview one more person today then they would let him know.  He doesn't have high hopes that he will get it.  He is the most qualified and he has been working in that position for the last 6 weeks while they have been working on the hiring process, but Autoliv is not run by super smart people and they have always been about hiring their friends for the big positions.  Roger is not friends with the guy doing the hiring and he kind of feels like the guy doesn't like him, so who knows what will happen.  Roger's at work now and he still hasn't heard anything.  If they don't hire him, the other guy they are considering is a guy who is already an AMT in a different area.  He is someone who has never worked in Roger's area before, so he knows nothing about what they do down there, and if they move him, they will have to hire another person to be the AMT in his area.  It seems extremely stupid to move that guy over, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's what they do, because the guy is friends with the person hiring and he asked if he could have the position.  It is sad how stupid they are in their decision making there.  Roger had worked in that area for 13 years.  He knows it all very well.  He has also been working the job that he is applying for for the past 6 weeks and he has done an excellent job.  Roger heard that the guy hiring had asked another employee who he thought he should hire.  The employee told him to hire Roger.  He explained that Roger has been working down there the longest, plus he's been working in that position for over a month.  He told him that he thought Roger deserves it.  I guess we will see soon enough if they do the right thing or not.  I feel bad for all the stuff Roger has to deal with at work.  I'm so thankful that I get to stay home with the kiddos.  I am a %100 sure that I couldn't handle what he does at all.

I am feeling weak and super tired tonight, so I am going to go to bed now.  Also, my upper back hurts and I don't know why.  I feel like I overwhelmed myself with starting my vlog.  I was super motivated and determined to post a video every day.  It is fun, but the editing is so time consuming and youtube is frustrating because sometimes it uploads a video in mpeg4 format just fine and other times it won't.  When that happens I end up having to produce the movie in other formats until I find the one it will accept.  That takes forever, because it takes at least an half an hour for it to produce, then more time for it to upload and process. It's just frustrating and time consuming. I don't have enough time with homeschooling, crocheting , feeding my family, and taking care of the house.  I think I need to get more organized and prioritize things so I'm not stressing myself out trying to accomplish everything.

Another Snow Day! (Kinda) - January 9, 2017

Monday - January 9, 2017

The kids got another snow day today.  The temperatures were ridiculously cold out with tons of snow, then yesterday, it warmed up to 40 degrees.  They sent out many many warnings about a big storm that was going to drop a lot of rain and we would even have thunder and lightening.  That's crazy during the winter!  Anyway, the whole situation was supposed to cause major flooding or major ice everywhere.  so, they canceled school, just to be safe.  It ended up not being bad at all.  The roads were a little slushy in the morning, that's all.  But tonight, it is terrible.  Roger said it was so bad going to the gym.  He said the roads are pure ice.  It is not safe at all.  I have a feeling they won't cancel school, since they canceled it today.  They really should have had the kids go today and cancel tomorrow.  I guess we'll see what happens in the morning.  We have been having the craziest weather.  It's kind of fun and exciting.  It's also fun that the kids got to have two snow days.  They got to experience their first snow day and their second one right after.  I love it!  It would be really awesome if they cancel school tomorrow morning.  I'd love that.

I spent most of my morning editing the video we made last night.  We played pretend camping.  It was a lot of fun.  I made some yummy s'more cookies.  It was an experiment.  We didn't have what we needed to have s'mores, but we did have s'more cereal.  So, I made chocolate chip cookies and mixed s'more cereal in the dough.  The cookies tasted really good.  I was glad about that.  I have no idea how to get more views on our channel.  That's frustrating, but even if we never get lots of views, I don't plan to stop.  I think it is a lot of fun.  I love making videos.  I feel like I am more active when I vlog, because I want us to be more entertaining.  Life is way more fun when we are more active.

We had a ton of fun last night, but I had a hard time staying awake to get it all edited.  So, I decided to finish it this morning.  It took a lot longer than I expected.  I am still waiting for it to finish producing.  It is taking forever!  I didn't get to spend all day working on it, though.  Roger is home today, so we went out and about.  Roger is bored and tired of feeling like he is lazy, so, he decided that he was going to go to the gym and learn about joining.  He has never had a gym membership in his life.  He was always so active in sports, that he never needed to go.  He liked what he heard, so he came back and told me all about it.  I decided that I wanted to join too.  So, we went back to the gym and both of us joined. I'm excited to start going.  Roger went tonight with his friend, Brian.  I didn't go, because I really want to get this video uploaded.  Also, I signed up for the biggest loser challenge at the gym.  It starts this Saturday.  I figure, I don't want to lose any weight before the competition starts, that way I have more weight to lose and a bigger chance at winning.  I'm excited to start going to the gym again.  I think it will be fun and super helpful.  I'll feel a lot better about myself when I get in shape, plus the break from the house and all my usual stuff will be nice.  Also, Alissa can join.  It will only cost $15.00 a month.  There is no contract.  We just pay each month she decides to come.  I told her she needs to earn her membership by doing her chores everyday.  She chose dishes for her chore.  She started tonight and it was wonderful.  She did such a good job.  She was extra helpful tonight and I loved it!  I'm happy for her to earn her gym membership.  She is doing excellent and I think she will really like going to the gym.

Playing in the Snow and Indoor Camping - January 8, 2017

Sunday - January 8th

We woke up to even more snow again today.  I love the snow, so I'm enjoying this.  But the weather forecast says it's going to warm up tonight and tomorrow and we will start having flooding due to the amount of snow we have and all the rain we are supposed to get tonight and tomorrow.  It says the most rain will fall tomorrow, so we should expect flooding in the evening.  I'm bummed because I love all this snow and will be so sad if the rain washes it all away so quickly, but I am curious to see what this crazy weather we've been having will bring us.

Roger, Parker, and I went out to shovel the driveway this morning.  Parker had a lot of fun playing with Forest and digging in his snow cave.

 Forest was funny after he climbed up here.  He didn't want to move.  We were shoveling snow and even when it landed on him he wouldn't budge.  Parker thought it was funny, so he climbed up next to him to add more snow on top of him.  Forest didn't seem to mind at all.

 We made a video for our vlog tonight.  We played pretend camping.  We had a ton of fun.  After we made our treats for our fun night, we set up camp.  Then I had us all go on a hike through the house with the lights off.  We used flashlights to light our way.  Roger is a stinker and didn't follow us on our hike.  Instead he hid somewhere and we had to go find him.  We knew he was going to jump out at us and scare us.  It was a lot of fun.  He scared me really bad.  After that we sat by the fireplace and told ghost stories.  When I was telling my story, Roger noticed that he could see my reflection in the fireplace and he thought it looked cool and creepy, so he took some pictures.

Here is our video we posted on youtube.

After all of our fun, the school called to say that school is canceled again tomorrow.  This time it is canceled because of possible flooding or freezing rain.  I think nobody knows what to expect.  The kids were so excited!  I scared Alissa when I went to tell her about the phone call.  I told her I had some really bad news that she was going to hate to hear.  I sounded really sad and sympathetic and took a long pause before I told her.  She was so happy that she didn't have school and so glad that it wasn't something bad.  she said I really did scare her by the way I told her.  She really thought I had some terrible news.  I'm not usually good at tricking people, so I was proud of myself for that one.  Lol.

Back to Normal - January 3, 2017

Tuesday - January 3rd

Life had to go back to normal today.  School started and Roger has to go back to work.  Yucky yucky.  It's hard to get back to that stuff.  I love it when we can all be together without the interruption of school and work.

Forest was being really cute begging Alissa to rub his belly when he woke up.  Our poor little Alissa had to go back to school today.  No fun.

Here's Forest chillin' with Roger after Roger woke up.  He's a fun puppy doggy.

Utes Basketball - January 1, 2017

Sunday - January 1st

Missy and Mikal invited us to go to a University of Utah basketball game with them.  They had VIP tickets that they got from Mikal's boss.  It was awesome!  We got free food and our seats were right behind the players.  It was a lot of fun.

The game was televised, so we told the kids to look for us.  They sent me a few pictures of us on tv.  They said we were pretty much on the whole time.  It was fun.  They thought it was fun watching us at first, then they got bored and went off to do their own things.

We had a lot of fun hanging out with Missy and Mikal. On the drive to Missy and Mikal's house, I found $25.00 in the pocket of my pants.  I must have lost that there around Christmas time, when I was trying so hard to earn money crocheting to pay for Christmas.  Everybody pays with cash, so I had a lot of cash that I was dealing with.  Anyway, it was a fun surprise, but the money didn't last long.  After the game, we went out to eat at the Olive Garden and used my money to help pay for it.  The food was yummy, but I wasn't really hungry.  We had free food at the game, but Roger said that wasn't real food.  He's funny like that.  Anyway, it was a lot of fun hanging out with Missy and Mikal.

Missy got an EMF detector (the thing that detects spirits somehow)  She had used it in her house but hadn't found anything.  It was fun to play with it and talk about the places we could take it.  After the game, when we got back to her house, it was dark.  Before it was time to leave, I needed to use the bathroom, but I all of the sudden felt really scared of her hallway and bathroom.  We pulled out the EMF detector.  It didn't go up, but it was just below the red mark where it would go off.  When we used it earlier, it hadn't budged from the starting point.  I was creeped out.  They all thought it was nothing.  So, I hurried and went to the bathroom as fast as I could.  When I came out the door, Roger (of course) was hiding in a room at the end of the hall and jumped out and scared me.  That freaked me out a lot.  It was funny though.  Good times.

 These are the pictures the kids took of the TV when we were on it.

 Roger caught a ball when they were throwing them to the audience.

 The drive home got really scary.  A we hit a big storm when we reached Ogden.  The roads were not fun.  At one point, I was looking in front of us and my eyes couldn't comprehend what they were seeing.  There was a car on the freeway heading in our direction.  It was actually turning around and headed toward the exit.  It was just a terrifying sight, as soon as my brain figured out what I was seeing.

The drive was long and not fun, but we made it home safely.