29 July 2008

We're posting on Tuesday this week because we just returned from a guerilla (or gorilla?) style road trip to Utah for Grandma Beth's funeral (Brandan's dad's mother). Guerilla for the swiftness and intensity of the roadtrip -- gorilla for the way we looked and smelled at the end of it.

We love and admire Grandma Beth enormously. Farm wife. Mother of 11 children. Grandmother of 46. She knew each of us and kept track of the details of our lives. All 11 children spoke at her funeral, many of them revealing new aspects of her personality -- her courage, humor, toughness, sense of adventure, service and faith. We are proud to claim her as our grandmother.


The weekend provided an increasingly rare opportunity for all of Brandan's brothers and sister to gather together. It's hard to get the cousins to stand still for a photo, so this is the most of them we got at one time. From the left are Kaylee, Parker, Logan, Salem, Sophie and Abe.


After the other cousins hopped off the hammock, Salem pushed Logan and Abe so they could swing. Abe says Salem gives the best pushes.


Sunday night we helped celebrate Drue's birthday. Maggie made funnel cakes for his birthday cake. She poured batter from a pitcher into a ring mold that was in a pan of hot oil. True love is making funnel cakes for 22 people.

Here is Sophie taking her first bite. Delicious! Sweeter than scones but not as sweet as a doughnut. Sophie ate hers with a mound of whipped cream. Brandan and Becky had fruit and cream on theirs.

20 July 2008

It's hard to exaggerate how long our kids have been looking forward to the county fair. They started planning their fair visit after we went last year and have been counting down the months, weeks, days to the fair since January. Wednesday was the big day.

Number of 4H projects admired: 0.
Number of cows or pigs inspected: 0.
Number of fried things on sticks consumed: 0.

Our fair visit was strictly about the rides, about 5 hours worth.


Here's a break-your-heart photo of Helen after Becky told her she was too short to go on yet another ride. You'll grow, baby girl.


Helen could ride the Wacky Worm if Brandan rode along with her. This ride was not made for 6 foot tall adults, but Brandan rode it twice. It was Helen and Abe's favorite ride.


Brandan went on some of his favorite rides with Sophie, like the Magic Carpet. Becky tries to keep her adrenalin in her adrenal glands where it belongs and is a complete spoilsport about fair rides. Sophie's favorite rides were the Magic Carpet, the ferris wheel and the swings.

Gibson was surprisingly content riding in the jogger all afternoon, enjoying all the sights and noises. He even took a nap for several hours. It was 95 degrees, but he was comfortable in the shade of the jogger.

13 July 2008

For Family Night, we did a little kitchen chemistry, exploring carbon dioxide. Pure carbon dioxide is denser than the air in the bubbles so Sophie can make soap bubbles float over a bowl of carbon dioxide gas. The carbon dioxide was made with that old stand-by in the kitchen-- mixing vinegar and baking soda.


Here is Abe looking through the microscope at yeast reacting with sugar and water. Tiny streams of bubbles formed, pooling into ever larger circles. Yeast breaks sugar down into water, alcohol and carbon dioxide and it's the carbon dioxide bubbles that make bread rise.

Wednesday we sadly said goodbye to our friends, the Weavers. Rob turned our ward into a bunch of soccer nuts, Amy made our choir sound angelic. She has been Sophie's piano teacher the past 3 years and now we're a bit snobbish about piano teachers-- she's set an impossible standard for Sophie's next teacher. Amy is also a terrific cook and fellow Barefoot Contessa fan. They have 3 great kids who are some of our kids' favorite playmates. We're so sorry for them to leave, but if you're looking for a good dentist in Nampa, we have one we can recommend.

Thursday's harvest-- two orange tomatoes, a handful of strawberries and 5 purple beans. You can't buy produce like this at Albertsons. On the other hand, we'd be pretty hungry if we only relied on our garden for dinner.

It's been so hot, our kids have worn their swimsuits almost every day. They've been to friends' pools, the water park, the river, and here is Gibson playing in the sprinkler in the backyard.

6 July 2008

Helen loves being the queen! Sophie made her a great crown and Helen's favorite dress-up is currently a Sunday dress Sophie has grown out of. It's the perfect length for an elegant gown for a 3 year old.


It's time for an update photo on Brandan's clinic. The exterior is almost complete. They have a move-in date of September 8. This is easily one of the nicest buildings in town.


Becky has a new church calling-- Primary teacher for 9-12 year old girls and Activity Days leader. She gets to teach Sophie which is super fun. This Wednesday the girls went on a hike. They wanted their photo taken with a fuzzy, wuzzy caterpillar, but as the shutter was pressed, an icky, scaly earwig squirmed into view. Poor earwigs-- they get no love.


We had a good old-fashioned 4th of July. Our small town really shines on the 4th. The celebration starts with a small town parade- fighter jets fly over, the local politicians (who you actually know because the town is so small), firetrucks, classic cars, the jump rope club, a cement truck (that seemed out of place), horses, bagpipes, flags everywhere. Our criteria for a winning parade entry- CANDY! If you throw candy, we'll cheer for you.

Saturday we went hiking at Valley of the Rogue State Park, which is a great name for a great park nestled right between the freeway and the river. At the end of the hike, the kids found a terrific madrone tree with wide, low branches that begged to be climbed.