FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE

Today was Tilly's first day of school. She's in first grade, and is doing Connections Academy again this year. She's super excited for the new school year!

ROLLING UP MY SLEEVES

Our porches, when we moved in, were painted one of the most hideous shades of red's I've ever seen. I love red, but not when it looks like the color of the primer that my dad would prime the wrecker dollies with when I was a teen. The porches were drab, faded, and rusty-looking (if wood can look rusty), with peeling paint all over, splinters coming off in the kids' feet, boards coming loose, missing railings, etc. They were embarrassing. I hated that rust-red paint chips were constantly being tracked into the house. I wanted to repair and paint them, but about a hundred other projects were screaming for my attention first, and it was already snowy when we moved in, so there wasn't much to be done until summer anyway.

When summer came, so did a verbal notice from the management informing us that our porches were unsightly (as if I didn't already know that) and that they needed to be repaired. It was just my luck that Hyrum was driving semi at the time and wouldn't be around to help me repair and paint (not that he'd find any pleasure in the project anyway, right?), and the deadline for completion was near, so I was the lucky one who got to tackle it head-on. Yeah for me!

So the sanding was awful, horrible, miserable drudgery, but luckily, Dallas and Weston came to visit came before I had finished sanding, so Weston sanded the floor boards (after my feeble attempt didn't result in much difference), and Dallas did a bit for me too.

I painted the porch the color of the trim that I love on the house in Coos Bay, and if I'm lucky, I'll be able to paint the rest of our home the rest of the colors.

So, now it's time to see the before and after pictures.

Whole porch before:

During sanding:

After:

Peeling railing before:

After:

In front of door before:

After:

Steps before:

After:

Floor before (but after my sanding and before Weston's sanding):

After:

Heading up the steps before (my porch was a catch-all for junk...just keeping it WT, baby):

During sanding:

After (I wonder how long I can keep it uncluttered):

Maybe you didn't believe me about the junk. Here's closer proof (and a view of how badly the porch was chipped and peeling before any sanding):

 So much better!:

The back porch wasn't quite as bad as the front, but it did need a lot more repairs. My elderly neighbor kept me company while I painted this one.
Back porch before:

After (not landscaped yet, but I did re-set the patio stones at the bottom):

SCHOOL STARTS ALREADY?

Summer just FLEW by! In Rexburg, they have a big celebration in town for the kids the day before school starts. It's one last hurrah to say goodbye to lazy summer days and hello to homework.

My favorite part of this celebration? Everything is FREEEEEEEE! No ticket buying, no begging or hungry kids...it's "sure, you can do that!" to everything they saw!!
Here is a sampling of some of the free things they were giving away or letting you do:

Creamie bars (If you haven't tried them, they're such delicious ice cream pops!)

Popcorn

Lunch 

Rockwall climbing

Fishing for toys

Books for each kid

Bouncy house/blow up equipment

  All sorts of lawn games

Dallas and Weston were visiting with us during this event. Hyrum was driving semi the whole summer school break, and he had picked up Dallas and Weston in Eugene and brought them to Rexburg so they could hang out with me while he drove over the road. I was really glad to have their help wrangling the kids through the crowds, until...

the twins took Talea, Hyatt, and Kiersa to stand in line for the bull riding dummy, but then came back and sat by me. My kids looked around and couldn't see us, so they took off looking for us (yes, I have given them the lecture about staying put when they think they're lost and I'll come find them...SEVERAL times). I was distracted by talking to Hyrum on the phone, telling him all the fun he was missing, when suddenly I realized my kids were gone. The three of us split up in a panic and began searching the enormous, crowded park. Eventually, I spotted Talea and Hyatt (of course Hyatt was bawling, thinking he was lost forever), but I couldn't find Kiersa. A few minutes later I spotted her curls bouncing over by the basketball courts. After a scare like that, I was ready to pack up and head home.

Next year, they're going on leashes!!!

BEAL FAMILY REUNION 2010

The Lloyd Beal (Hyrum's maternal grandpa) reunion was held this week in beautiful Island Park, Idaho at the cabins of Eagle Ridge. My brothers, Dallas and Weston, were visiting us at the time, so they got to join us at the reunion, and sleep in the van.

We had a lot of fun eating,

socializing at the talent show (and showing off our Chubby story),

riding 4-wheelers,

riding horses (which, sadly, I didn't get pictures of),

climbing,

playing with Daddy's things (jaw harp and derby),

nursing wounds,

painting faces,

watching bugs (though only Paisli and Tilly were brave enough to touch them),

roping, and being roped,

taking family pictures (the grandparents and their grandkids),

goofing off at bedtime,

This is Teresa and Kiersa, by the way.

hitting a pinata,

canoeing (though the wind was so strong it kept blowing us to the edge...lucky for Hyrum he has such a strong wife who could rescue him after beating him in a rowing race...not that the wind was favoring me or anything),

shooting guns,

and a little less fun tending accidents.

Kiersa fell off the stairs and gave the back of her head a pretty good gash. Thank goodness Hyrum was there for me to pawn her off on since I DO NOT do well with blood. This picture is of when most of the blood was cleaned up (you know how head wounds just POUR blood).

Hyrum's grandpa was a veterinarian, so we thought for a minute he'd just stitch her up right there in the mountains, but he decided a makeshift butterfly bandage would do the job just fine.

 Poor thing had to have a bald spot shaved on the back of her head.

After the reunion was over, we headed over to nearby Yellowstone and Teton National Parks with Nana and also Susan and her girls for a quick fly-through on our way home. We really only stopped to see Old Faithful and pick up a stuffed animal skunk at the gift shop, but it's always fun to be at Yellowstone.