A Springtime Post

 Spring has finally sprung, and that means a few things.  

 1 - It means Amber is done with her Freshman year.  I headed to Rexburg to pick her up on Thursday.  It was a pretty uneventful drive and I made it there safely and in good time.  One thing I was looking forward to was stopping at Lolo Pass.  Several years back when Chelsie was in High School, I took her to Idaho Falls to play in a soccer tournament.  I remember we stopped at the summit and there was stuff about Lewis and Clark and a monument to Stephen E. Ambrose, who wrote "Undaunted Courage" about the Corps of Discovery.  When I got there Tuesday, I was disappointed to find so much snow (see below), that I just used the bathroom and headed on my way.  No pausing to look at anything.  (Not that I could have found it in the snow anyway!!)

My courage was "daunted" and I didn't stay long.

One great thing about going to Rexburg is getting to visit with Dick and Lynnette.  They used to live here, and have relocated so they can live closer to family.  I can totally understand why they would want to live closer, especially after having just driven 1055 miles in two days, but I would be lying if I said I didn't miss them.  They are wonderful people, the kind who make you feel like you are their favorite person out of all the people they know.  (Of course, they make all their friends feel that way!  :)  but that's just the kind of people they are!  Rexburg won big when they moved down there.  They hosted me for the night, and I repaid their hospitality by making them pose with me for a selfie!!

I had Amber give me some pointers on taking selfies after I saw this!  Clearly I need some coaching!!

Although the drive from Lolo to Lewiston seems like it will take forever - probably due to the 50 mph speed limit for much of it - a view like this is worth the trip!  The bugs on the windshield detract from the river and canyon.  You'll just have to take my word that it is truly beautiful.  There are signs all along the road for hiking trailheads.  I'm going to do a little investigating and see about getting out there this summer for a family hike.

2 - Spring also means its time for prom, tonight!  There was a near Prom Dress Disaster (well not really a disaster, more like a snafoo, but disaster sounds better).  We ordered Kristin's dress from a website based in China.  The delivery date was anywhere from the 8th to the 14th of April.  I told Kristin she needed to come up with a Plan B if the dress didn't come.  Yesterday, we checked the tracking and it was still in Federal Way, Washington. I thought there was a chance it could come today, but when I checked tracking again this morning, it still showed the same status.  Time for Plan B.  She found a dress among our dresses from dances past, and all was well.  Fast forward to this afternoon when I checked the mail.  I couldn't believe it, but there was the dress, just as pretty as you please.  And it it VERY pretty.  After she saw it, she kept saying it was so much prettier than she expected.  YES!!  There was a little modification needed to spiff up the modesty, but I finished it by 5:00.  No worries, Cody wasn't coming until 5:15!! :)  The modification was one of those things I prayed would work out, not knowing exactly what I was doing until I was done!  Whew!! It worked out!!

Kristin and Cody posing for the requisite pictures.

The prom group, a very nice group, if I may say.

3- Spring also means yardwork. We spent most of today doing just that.  I was clearing out leaves from under a bush, when I saw something that looked like a hornet's nest.  I'm so glad I looked again, because look what I found!!!  The smallest nest with the smallest eggs.  (They are about the size of small malted milk Easter eggs.) So tiny and sweet.  The mama bird did not take kindly to me peeking at her soon-to-be-babies and showing everyone else my find.  She swooped out several times while we were walking by her nest.  Sorry, mama!!

And speaking of birds, here is a shot of one of the baby pheasants.  It is less than a week old in this picture and already its are feathers growing.  The past few days, the feathers have grown more, and the chicks try jumping and flying, especially if the door to the brooder is open.  Soon they will be put outdoors and able to use the caged run.  They are growing very fast.  

He'll forever be a fox!

John received his Wood Badge beads at a court of honor last Wednesday. (I didn't remember to put it in last week's blog. Still learning!!!)
He was in the fox group, so now whenever scouts are gathered he can sing the Wood Badge song with all the other foxes. Way to go, John.






In other John news... he has begun to put back together our yard which was made to look like a war zone after the remodel. Those big trucks really took a toll on the yard, not to mention the trench (moat) that they dug right through the front yard (strip of dirt behind John) which he has to re-seed, but not before he fixes all of the underground sprinklers that were broken, pipes too, throughout the project. It will keep him off the streets and out of trouble for much of the summer I imagine!! In this picture, he's building a retaining wall to build up the front yard to be level with the new porch.

Welcome Flat Stanley!
We do have a guest for the next couple of weeks. Flat Stanley came to stay courtesy of Burke Jensen, Trevor's friend who moved to Indiana. He's supposed to be having grand adventures, but so far the most adventurous thing he's done is go see Kristin's Duck Stamp drawing. (To the right of Stanley.) We have a few more weeks to take him fun places.




Prom, 2008

Prom was last night. Here is Allison with her friends, left to right, Abby, Erin, and Kaitlyn. They had fun getting ready together and having their dates pick them up together.














Putting on the boy's flowers proved tricky for most of the girls.











Allison and her date, Jake Leavitt

Sadly, these are all the pictures I got of them before they left. I had to leave in a rush because there was a problem with Chelsie's dress. ....















Here is the dress that I have been working on for the past 2 weeks. It over all went well, ,and I have to say, it was my best invisible zipper ever, Unfortunately, said zipper got caught in the lining, which I also thought I did a nice job on, and it wouldn't budge. I got to Sena's house and Mandy was stitching up the rest of the zipper by hand. In the end it looked okay, but what a way to end a project. Chelsie loved the dress though, so all was well.








Here is the group that Chelsie went with. From top to bottom - Michael, Janie, Ryan, Chelsie, Ryan, Marika, Sena, Ryan. (I think Michael should have just changed his name for the night, hmm, Ryan would have been a good choice.)













Princesses Chelsie and Janie, with their boys. In place of the coach, they got the Hummer treatment. A fun time was had by all. And that is the Prom 2008 report.







In other family news, Amber had a doubleheader in Spokane. One game ended in a tie, and one game they were the victorious ones. 5 - 1. Saturday for those who were home, (John, Michele, Kristin and Trevor) was spent doing yard work. (I think I can see a trend for most of the Saturday's in the future)

Allison goes to regionals this week for tennis. She said she and her partner have a good shot at making State. You go girls!

Spring in the Banana Belt?

Contrary to the weather outside, it supposedly is spring in the Lewiston/Clarkston valley. Who knew we would wake up to snow on the 21st. Crazy!!! My kids are wondering what the big deal about global warming is all about!!




Where is Davy Crockett when you need him? This cuddly looking bear was just across the street in the field for several days. He wandered in from the south, and kind of liked the neighborhood. We tried to spy him with the binoculars, but he stayed in the brush. I guess the advantage of living in a town with hunters in every other house is that there were several offers to take care of him. I hope he made it back to his real home.

Soccer season wrapped up for Kristin and Trevor yesterday. They both had a great season, and as parents, we were glad when they played teams with some defense. There were a few games that could only be described as massacres. Amber's team has had a great season so far and their last 2 games are this coming Saturday. They have one make up game later in May, but it is on a Sunday, so she will be missing that one.
Prom is the buzz word this week. Allison had two dress choices, both of which were beautiful, and her dilemma was figuring out which one to wear. Chelsie's was a little different. Not finding just the dress she was looking for, she and I trooped to the fabric store to find a great pattern (which of course, needed to be modified for modesty purposes) and a very beautiful bolt of fabric. I won't even try to describe it because it will sound ugly! Needless to say, last week was spent with many crossed fingers and a few prayers and a few hours to get part of the dress done. This week will be spent much the same way. So far, so good. Look for pictures next week. (you can cross your fingers and say a few prayers too. :-)