Sunday 31 August 2008
We’ll go youngest to oldest this time.
Zach
Zach enjoyed having Haydn over to play with on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Zach and Haydn enjoyed taking toys out of the toy boxes in his bedroom. Rachel said the toys kept them occupied for quite a long time. She heard toys hitting the walls occasionally, so who knows what they were really doing in there. By the time the weekend arrived, it looked like someone had stirred all of the toys randomly together on the floor. Sorting it all back out into buckets was one of Troy’s projects on Saturday.
Zach caught a cold late in the week, so he stayed home from church today. Rachel stayed with him.
Claire
Claire had Green Eggs and Ham Day at school this week. She said she tried a little bit of the green eggs, and had a big piece of Ham. Claire is generally enjoying school. It is fairly easy to get her up and going in the morning.
Emma
With Emma on the other hand, we still get a whole lot of drama and/or trauma every morning. Here’s the morning ritual: First, Emma comes in to snuggle with her mom in bed for a few minutes. Then, mommy must get her clothes for her. After getting dressed mommy must come downstairs with her and fix her lunch while she gets breakfast. After breakfast mommy must put the princess’ socks and shoes on. Once everyone is ready to go, mommy must walk out to the car with her and kiss her forehead as she gets into the car. As we drive away, mommy needs to blow her kisses for Emma to catch. Emma usually pouts and whines a bit on the 8/10 mile to the school. Sometimes the pouting continues on the walk from the car to the classroom. As school starts and the rest of the kids gather she gradually finds her smile. Wait 24 hours, repeat. (Note from the "mommy:" I don't cater to her like this EVERY morning. I don't always put her socks and shoes on.....)
We predict that Emma will be the one living at home when she’s 32. Our one hope is that Emma finds her prince charming before then. Of course knowing Emma, she’ll talk prince charming into moving into our house with her!
Emma was the “Star of the Week” at school. She made a little descriptive poster about herself, and they did a little spotlight on her on Friday. Also on Friday, she got to attend a special pizza lunch with another 12 or 15 kids. She earned the chance to get her name drawn for the lunch by good deeds at school. She enjoyed the pizza and the extra attention.
Katie
Katie is reveling in her “Tween-ness”. A couple of times this week when asked why she was doing something, she informed her Dad that it is “Because I am a tweener”. Katie talked Rachel into making a trip to the store next week to find a training bra. “Because I am a tweener now, Dad!”.
Katie spent the night at Laura Pang’s house on Friday and reportedly had a good time.
Katie has been taking piano lessons, but with all of the homework this year, plus a couple of after school activities, she hasn’t had much time, or will to practice. She might not last much longer.
Troy
After the ward boundary re-alignment, Troy and the Elder’s quorum presidency have visited most of the new members of the Quorum now. We lost a few, and were especially sad to see our Secretary Jimmy Parent and his wife Tasha go, but we also gained some good Elders. It will probably take a few months and a couple of activities for people to get to know each other.
Troy took the girls over to the Pang’s house to swim on Saturday. Because of the three day weekend, he didn’t have to get all of his usual chores all done on Saturday, therefore he had a little extra time to spend. Part of the point was to wear out the kids so they wouldn’t make more messes and wouldn’t fight as much. Sure enough, they sat and watched a movie for most of the rest of the afternoon.
At work, Troy has been invited to do some training at a conference in Guadalajara Mexico on the 9th of October. One of his co-workers speaks Spanish, but he is fairly new, so he wouldn’t quite be able to do the job – so Troy gets to go. Troy might take an extra ½ day for some sight seeing while there. (Rachel's comment: This is during our Fall Break from school so I'll be getting all the kids all day all by myself. So, if there is anyone who enjoys the laughter of children and long hours of rewarding labor please get in touch with me and I'll fly you to Gilbert!)
Rachel
The usual busy-ness this week. Kid care, Rachel’s day care, Mom's homework and special assignment Service, Udall and Smith billing, Stake Primary coordination, making dinners, doing laundry, cleaning, etc etc… A mom’s work is never done. With kids and messes it’s like the old Doritos commercials with Jay Leno: “Clean all you want! We’ll make more.”
Rachel started a hip-hop dance class. The first week the teacher worked them pretty hard and she ended up with sore muscles. The second week wasn’t quite as strenuous. She comes home and shows the kids some of her new moves and then they have fun practicing them all together.
Rachel stayed home from church with Zach and Claire today. No extended family dinner today either. It was nice to have a day off.
Rachel’s brother Ken and his family are traveling down from Kingman, AZ tomorrow to spend some time with us. We will host cousin play time and spaghetti dinner.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Finally...an update! Week of August 17-24
Sunday 24 Aug
Troy
Wed the 13th was Troy’s birthday. We try to string out birthday celebrations as long as possible around here. On the day of, Rachel and the Girls made some crafts and a cake. They sang Happy Birthday and we had cake and ice cream for dessert. On Friday night Rachel and Troy went up to Mesa. We ate at Mango’s Mexican café and then went over to a new city theater in Mesa for a concert by David Sandborn. He has been around for a long time and has a large repertoire. He probably doesn’t have to play the same songs two nights in a row. It was good music.
Sunday the celebration continued with the Zachresons coming over for dinner and dessert. We also celebrated Ann’s birthday and exchanged gifts and sang Happy Birthday for her too.
Rachel
Rachel caught a cold from the kids and didn’t feel well for a few days. It’s hard to avoid passing colds around – even in the summer time.
Rachel was the guest story teller for Emma’s 2nd grade class this week. Emma’s class is studying the human body, so her teacher requested a story with that theme. Rachel decided to split the groups of students into a couple different groups and give them different super powers. She said the students were very well behaved, and everyone liked the story. They caught the bad guy with their super powers. She also told a story to Claire's Kindergarten class about a hungry dragon. Claire was "Star of the Week" and requested the presentation. The Kinders loved it. Mrs. Tegtmeyer, the Kinder teacher, then requested that Rachel come back and tell another story based on the different themes the kids will be doing. Katie has requested Rachel to come tell a story as well, but Rachel is a bit leary of entertaining 5th graders. She doesn't want to ruin Katie's rep.
For the last two Saturdays Rachel was helping to put on a swimming merit badge day for the 11-year-old scouts that are under her purview in the Primary. The stake rented Chandler High School Pool. The first weekend they helped the boys get the prerequisite swim tests out of the way. The second week they covered most of the requirements for the merit badge. She has a nice tan now, but she is still recovering from the sun and heat today.
The boundaries of the wards in the stake changed, so Rachel had to spend some time training new Ward Primary presidencies. Our ward also lost our Primary president, but we gained 15 new kids – nearly doubling the size of the primary.
Katie
Katie is getting a lot more homework in 5th grade. She has also had to bring some home with her because she didn’t finish during class. She also has a report on Amerigo Vespucci that she is working on. For her report on the explorer she gets to dress up like him, and for extra credit she chose to make up a song about him and sing it for the class. Rachel is excited to make up some silly lyrics to the tune of Neil Diamond’s “Coming to America.” ("His name was Amerigo!")
Katie rode her bike to and from school a few days. She rides with a friend and seems to like it even though it is 110 degrees on the way home.
Emma
Emma has a hard time waking up in the morning for school – but eventually she makes it. She’s more of a night owl. Emma and Claire also have a hard time leaving mommy in the morning as the go to school, but they are able to walk to the playground together before school starts and console each other. I guess sisters can be a good thing sometimes.
Emma took a standard 2nd grader reading placement test last week and was able to read just over 200 words per minute. One of our friends from church also works at the school. After seeing Emma’s scores she had to find Rachel to say that she was amazed. Emma escpecially enjoys reading before going to bed. It’s hard to get her to turn off the light most nights (which in turn contributes to the “hard to wake up in the morning” problem mentioned earlier).
Claire
Claire is one of only two in her class that gets out of jail (a.k.a. Kindergarten) at the half-day mark. All of the other 5 yr olds are there for the full day now. Claire also did very well on her reading comprehension test. Much to our amazement she is the 2nd best reader in the class. She has been practicing lately with One Fish, Two Fish and the Bearenstain Bears’ B Book.
Zach
Zach made it by himself through part of nursery today. Troy tried a new technique to get Zach accustomed to being left for a few minutes, and then eventually Troy was able to leave him for the last 45! After church Zach wandered around singing “I Happy and I Know It” – clap, clap. I think they sang that in nursery for a couple weeks in a row.
Zach has a fetish for salt shakers lately. Over the course last few days, he found all of the salt shakers on the tables and counters and had fun emptying them onto said tables and counters. This morning as Rachel was trying to get breakfast ready for everyone, he grabbed the garlic salt that Emma used last night for her garlic toast and emptied it onto the counter. Then he found some water to mix with it. Even after Rachel got it wiped up, none of his sisters would sit by him because it stunk.
Thanks again for tuning in to our crazy life. We sure do enjoy it....most of the time.
Troy
Wed the 13th was Troy’s birthday. We try to string out birthday celebrations as long as possible around here. On the day of, Rachel and the Girls made some crafts and a cake. They sang Happy Birthday and we had cake and ice cream for dessert. On Friday night Rachel and Troy went up to Mesa. We ate at Mango’s Mexican café and then went over to a new city theater in Mesa for a concert by David Sandborn. He has been around for a long time and has a large repertoire. He probably doesn’t have to play the same songs two nights in a row. It was good music.
Sunday the celebration continued with the Zachresons coming over for dinner and dessert. We also celebrated Ann’s birthday and exchanged gifts and sang Happy Birthday for her too.
Rachel
Rachel caught a cold from the kids and didn’t feel well for a few days. It’s hard to avoid passing colds around – even in the summer time.
Rachel was the guest story teller for Emma’s 2nd grade class this week. Emma’s class is studying the human body, so her teacher requested a story with that theme. Rachel decided to split the groups of students into a couple different groups and give them different super powers. She said the students were very well behaved, and everyone liked the story. They caught the bad guy with their super powers. She also told a story to Claire's Kindergarten class about a hungry dragon. Claire was "Star of the Week" and requested the presentation. The Kinders loved it. Mrs. Tegtmeyer, the Kinder teacher, then requested that Rachel come back and tell another story based on the different themes the kids will be doing. Katie has requested Rachel to come tell a story as well, but Rachel is a bit leary of entertaining 5th graders. She doesn't want to ruin Katie's rep.
For the last two Saturdays Rachel was helping to put on a swimming merit badge day for the 11-year-old scouts that are under her purview in the Primary. The stake rented Chandler High School Pool. The first weekend they helped the boys get the prerequisite swim tests out of the way. The second week they covered most of the requirements for the merit badge. She has a nice tan now, but she is still recovering from the sun and heat today.
The boundaries of the wards in the stake changed, so Rachel had to spend some time training new Ward Primary presidencies. Our ward also lost our Primary president, but we gained 15 new kids – nearly doubling the size of the primary.
Katie
Katie is getting a lot more homework in 5th grade. She has also had to bring some home with her because she didn’t finish during class. She also has a report on Amerigo Vespucci that she is working on. For her report on the explorer she gets to dress up like him, and for extra credit she chose to make up a song about him and sing it for the class. Rachel is excited to make up some silly lyrics to the tune of Neil Diamond’s “Coming to America.” ("His name was Amerigo!")
Katie rode her bike to and from school a few days. She rides with a friend and seems to like it even though it is 110 degrees on the way home.
Emma
Emma has a hard time waking up in the morning for school – but eventually she makes it. She’s more of a night owl. Emma and Claire also have a hard time leaving mommy in the morning as the go to school, but they are able to walk to the playground together before school starts and console each other. I guess sisters can be a good thing sometimes.
Emma took a standard 2nd grader reading placement test last week and was able to read just over 200 words per minute. One of our friends from church also works at the school. After seeing Emma’s scores she had to find Rachel to say that she was amazed. Emma escpecially enjoys reading before going to bed. It’s hard to get her to turn off the light most nights (which in turn contributes to the “hard to wake up in the morning” problem mentioned earlier).
Claire
Claire is one of only two in her class that gets out of jail (a.k.a. Kindergarten) at the half-day mark. All of the other 5 yr olds are there for the full day now. Claire also did very well on her reading comprehension test. Much to our amazement she is the 2nd best reader in the class. She has been practicing lately with One Fish, Two Fish and the Bearenstain Bears’ B Book.
Zach
Zach made it by himself through part of nursery today. Troy tried a new technique to get Zach accustomed to being left for a few minutes, and then eventually Troy was able to leave him for the last 45! After church Zach wandered around singing “I Happy and I Know It” – clap, clap. I think they sang that in nursery for a couple weeks in a row.
Zach has a fetish for salt shakers lately. Over the course last few days, he found all of the salt shakers on the tables and counters and had fun emptying them onto said tables and counters. This morning as Rachel was trying to get breakfast ready for everyone, he grabbed the garlic salt that Emma used last night for her garlic toast and emptied it onto the counter. Then he found some water to mix with it. Even after Rachel got it wiped up, none of his sisters would sit by him because it stunk.
Thanks again for tuning in to our crazy life. We sure do enjoy it....most of the time.
Monday, August 4, 2008
The Party's Over...Week of July 27
Final Days of Boise
Monday 28 July
For our last full day of vacation we took the kids to the Idaho Discovery Center. The Center had a lot of cool science displays and hands-on exhibits and experiments. One of the kids favorite parts was a mini supermarket that was in one corner of the building. The girls spent an hour in there pretending to shop for items on the list and then making Rachel ring them through the checkout. Rachel also got elected to restock the shelves. Grammy, Anna, and her boys went with us and had a good time as well.
Monday night Troy and Rachel left the kids with Grammy for a couple hours and went out to dinner at Flying Pie Pizzaria – a Boise original.
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
The trip back to Boise on Tuesday went pretty well. We arrived at the Boise airport in good time. We got the very back row of the plane for our family of 6. Getting out of Boise was not too bad, but coming over the mountains into Denver was pretty bumpy again, and made Rachel airsick. We only had one hour to change planes in Denver – which gave us just enough time to walk to the other gate and get a sandwich at Quiznos. That wasn’t enough time for Rachel to get over the queasiness, however. Flying out of Denver was bumpy again until we got up above the clouds. By the time we landed in Phoenix (with more turbulance,) Rachel had to race to the restroom. Poor girl. Fortunately, Troy and the kids came through allright. It was good to be back at our house and in our own beds that night.
It is good to be back, but not so good to be back into the normal busy pace of life. The kids went to school Wed through Friday and Troy went to work on Thursday and Friday. It’s a good thing for everyone that the week was short. Everyone was pretty tired after a couple days.
Sunday, 3 August 2008
This week we’ll go back to the old format of people reports instead of day-by-day reports.
Katie
Katie was very concerned that she would not be present for the first couple days of school when the other kids would “organize and label” their supplies. She was even more concerned that she wouldn’t get to go school supply shopping until Wednesday afternoon. We managed to find enough supplies around the house for her to get by with on the first day. Finally, she was a little worried that we wouldn’t be able to find the right room.
Fortunately on Wed. morning, Troy and Zach walked her to her classroom, and we found it just fine. It was right next to the room she was in last year. As we were putting her bag down by the door, her two best friends, Laura Pang and Kristin Whitehead came around the corner and they all ran to each other and hugged. After that Troy and Zach said goodbye and good luck, but I don’t think Katie even noticed that they were leaving. Homework for this week was mostly busywork for the first week back.
Emma
Emma wasn’t quite as stressed about having all of the necessary supplies, etc. And she didn’t seem all that stressed about leaving mommy to go to school either. Maybe she found some courage over the summer – plus she was kind of excited to get back to school.
Claire
Claire had big changes this year as she now heads out for Kindergarten every morning. Rachel walked her to the room on Wednesday and waited in line with her as the twenty-two kids went into the classroom. One of the kids in her class, Maya, remembered her from preschool a year ago, and helped her feel welcome. Claire has veteran Kindergarten teacher Mrs Tegtmeyer – who also had Emma a couple years ago. Claire made it to school fairly well on Wed and Thursday, but by Friday she complained that she wanted to stay home. Oddly, she also said that she wanted to go to full-day kindergarten. But I think that was just due to the novelty of school lunch. She was feeling left out in the morning as Katie and Emma packed up their lunches, and she didn’t get one.
Friday and Saturday Claire was a big stinker at home – due partly to the fatigue and stress of going to school.
Zach
Zach was glad to have a buddy his size to play with again. Haydn came over for babysitting on Thursday and Friday this week. In typical 2-yr old fashion they alternated between hitting each other one minute and laughing at each other the next. Monkey-see and monkey-do had a good time together.
Troy and Rachel
Troy and Rachel were both glad that there were only two full days of work this week. They both need another couple days to get his working stamina back up. Rachel had a bunch of Stake primary business and coordination that she had to get cleaned up on Wednesday as soon as we got back. So now we’re back and the vacation is over. Rachel says that now she needs a vacation from her vacation.
That should do it for now. Have a good week.
Monday 28 July
For our last full day of vacation we took the kids to the Idaho Discovery Center. The Center had a lot of cool science displays and hands-on exhibits and experiments. One of the kids favorite parts was a mini supermarket that was in one corner of the building. The girls spent an hour in there pretending to shop for items on the list and then making Rachel ring them through the checkout. Rachel also got elected to restock the shelves. Grammy, Anna, and her boys went with us and had a good time as well.
Monday night Troy and Rachel left the kids with Grammy for a couple hours and went out to dinner at Flying Pie Pizzaria – a Boise original.
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
The trip back to Boise on Tuesday went pretty well. We arrived at the Boise airport in good time. We got the very back row of the plane for our family of 6. Getting out of Boise was not too bad, but coming over the mountains into Denver was pretty bumpy again, and made Rachel airsick. We only had one hour to change planes in Denver – which gave us just enough time to walk to the other gate and get a sandwich at Quiznos. That wasn’t enough time for Rachel to get over the queasiness, however. Flying out of Denver was bumpy again until we got up above the clouds. By the time we landed in Phoenix (with more turbulance,) Rachel had to race to the restroom. Poor girl. Fortunately, Troy and the kids came through allright. It was good to be back at our house and in our own beds that night.
It is good to be back, but not so good to be back into the normal busy pace of life. The kids went to school Wed through Friday and Troy went to work on Thursday and Friday. It’s a good thing for everyone that the week was short. Everyone was pretty tired after a couple days.
Sunday, 3 August 2008
This week we’ll go back to the old format of people reports instead of day-by-day reports.
Katie
Katie was very concerned that she would not be present for the first couple days of school when the other kids would “organize and label” their supplies. She was even more concerned that she wouldn’t get to go school supply shopping until Wednesday afternoon. We managed to find enough supplies around the house for her to get by with on the first day. Finally, she was a little worried that we wouldn’t be able to find the right room.
Fortunately on Wed. morning, Troy and Zach walked her to her classroom, and we found it just fine. It was right next to the room she was in last year. As we were putting her bag down by the door, her two best friends, Laura Pang and Kristin Whitehead came around the corner and they all ran to each other and hugged. After that Troy and Zach said goodbye and good luck, but I don’t think Katie even noticed that they were leaving. Homework for this week was mostly busywork for the first week back.
Emma
Emma wasn’t quite as stressed about having all of the necessary supplies, etc. And she didn’t seem all that stressed about leaving mommy to go to school either. Maybe she found some courage over the summer – plus she was kind of excited to get back to school.
Claire
Claire had big changes this year as she now heads out for Kindergarten every morning. Rachel walked her to the room on Wednesday and waited in line with her as the twenty-two kids went into the classroom. One of the kids in her class, Maya, remembered her from preschool a year ago, and helped her feel welcome. Claire has veteran Kindergarten teacher Mrs Tegtmeyer – who also had Emma a couple years ago. Claire made it to school fairly well on Wed and Thursday, but by Friday she complained that she wanted to stay home. Oddly, she also said that she wanted to go to full-day kindergarten. But I think that was just due to the novelty of school lunch. She was feeling left out in the morning as Katie and Emma packed up their lunches, and she didn’t get one.
Friday and Saturday Claire was a big stinker at home – due partly to the fatigue and stress of going to school.
Zach
Zach was glad to have a buddy his size to play with again. Haydn came over for babysitting on Thursday and Friday this week. In typical 2-yr old fashion they alternated between hitting each other one minute and laughing at each other the next. Monkey-see and monkey-do had a good time together.
Troy and Rachel
Troy and Rachel were both glad that there were only two full days of work this week. They both need another couple days to get his working stamina back up. Rachel had a bunch of Stake primary business and coordination that she had to get cleaned up on Wednesday as soon as we got back. So now we’re back and the vacation is over. Rachel says that now she needs a vacation from her vacation.
That should do it for now. Have a good week.
First day of school. Zach wasn't going to school but refused to be left out!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Week 2 of our Glorious Idaho Vacation for 6! or Sunday, July 27
Zach continues his father's tradition of being the Willes Family Cat Tormenter.
The crew at Idaho City.
The Troy Willes Family after day at Boise Zoo in Julia Davis Park.
Sunday July 27th -- This week's installment also comes from Boise Idaho -- where the weather is cooler and the home cooking is mighty good.
Monday - July 20th
Monday was the last full day that Grant was in town. After the usual late breakfast and start time, we all went up to Idaho City. It was an overcast day, so that kept the temperatures down just a bit. The drive up was very nice. It follows the Boise river and then some tributary creeks on up into the mountains. Once we got up there we walked down one side of the main street and decided to eat at Calamity Jane's Cafe. Not the prettiest presentation, but pretty tasty grub. Monday is a slow day for tourism, so Idaho City wasn't very busy -- but that was nice because we didn't have to watch the kids quite as closely. We had a good time walking around and reading signs and looking at buildings -- you know, the usual Idaho City activities. We found a Idaho City Musuem that had some interesting exhibits and artifacts.
The funniest Idaho City moment came as we were passing the back side of the Sherriff's Department Building. A couple of Sherrif's SUVs were parked in the back. Beside one of them was a couple rotund deputy's that were looking into the car. As we got closer we realized that they were trying to break into it with a coat hangar! It was obvious that they had locked their keys in the car and were now trying to get in. Todd secretly snapped a photo, and they glanced at us with embarassed looks as we walked past.
After our walk around, we got ice cream at the local parlor. As we got our ice cream and were sitting down, a large, bearded man and his pre-teen daughter came in and started joking with the staff in the ice cream shop. Todd struck up a conversation with him and found out that he is the owner of the local old-time photo shop. Not only that, but he is the winner of the national quick-draw pistol competition that they had in Idaho City last fall. Pretty cool.
On our way home we found a spot by the pretty creek and let the kids wade out and throw rocks into the creek. Katie and Emma rolled up their pants and walked across without getting too wet. Just as katie was coming in to go home, however, she slipped and fell in up to her neck. We didn't bring a change of clothes, so she borrowed some of Kevin's - since Anna came prepared for the kids to get wet. We actually got off kind of easy because Claire and Zach were asleep in the van the whole time we were at the creek. A fun time was had by all. Dinner that night was back at grammy's.
Tuesday - July 21st
Tuesday was Grant's last day. He had to leave early afternoon to fly back to Lodi. Thus we didn't plan any big events for that day. Instead, Troy and Grant took the kids to the local park for a bit in the morning. Just as we came home a big thunder and rainstorm started rolling in from the west. Grammy's neighbor, Tippy Thomas, was concerned about losing the apricots on Grammy's tree to rain and hail, so she brought out some sheets and the guys helped shake apricots into blankets. We collected three large buckets of apricots that way. Not all of them were ripe, but that only takes a day or two anyway. As a side note, a stranger stopped by a couple days later asking if she could pick some apricots from the tree and make jam. In payment, she promised to give Grammy some of the jam. Sounds like a fair trade.
After most of the rain stopped, Grant and Troy took a couple hours to clean up the front yard and bushes. The big yard is a lot for Papa Willes to try to keep up with. Grant and Jason took the rental car back and then flew back to Lodi. The rest of the day was spent getting ready to leave for Grampa Rogers' funeral and camping.
Wednesday - July 22nd
Wednesday was Grampa Rogers' funeral. Rachel and the Willes Girls stayed a little while at Grammy's and packed up the car. Everyone else had to leave early (10:00) in the van and the truck to get to Gooding around noon. We all travelled in our Sunday clothes and made it in good time.
Despite the somber occaision, the Rogers clan had a good time getting re-acquainted before the funeral started. I had to look at some of my cousins two or three times to figure out who they were -- based on my memory of what they looked like a few years ago. As the funeral proceedings started, they invited family into the Relief Society room for the family prayer. There were too many to fit, however, so they had to move the family prayer into the cultural hall instead. Lisa Rogers said the prayer. After that the coffin and family moved into the chapel for the funeral service. Granpa's brother Bob spoke, Aunt Deanne sang. Then Grammy (Kay) spoke and Todd and Anna sang. Finally, the bishop of the ward spoke and then all of the Grandkids and Great Grandkids (of all ages) got up out of the audience and sang 3 verses of I Am a Child of God. There were a lot of people up on the stand. Not everyone sang, but they were all willing to get up and lend their support.
The funeral then proceeded to the cemetary. Uncle Monte dedicated the grave. It was a hot, sunny day in Gooding. The cemetary was well-kept and many of the graves had flowers and mini rose bushes besides the headstones. After everyone left, Grandpa Rogers was buried next to Grandma.
The funeral re-convened back at the church for a meal of Ham and Funeral Potatoes. There were some family that were not able to go to the reunion, but they made it to the funeral, so we got to see even more of the family than the planned reunion would have brought.
After all that wrapped up, we met Rachel and kids at the Twin Falls Best Western. This hotel came recommended by Aunt Lorie Ann. It had a great indoor pool, and a nice breakfast the next morning. The Willes Kids swam for a while and then ordered Pizza for their dinner. After dinner they went back to the pool and were joined by the rest of the cousins that were at the funeral earlier. It's always fun times in the pool. We let them swim until 8:30pm. After that it didn't take them long to fall asleep.
Thursday - July 24th
Nobody, except maybe for Papa Willes, was in a big hurry to get to the campsite, so after a good continental breakfast at the hotel, we all went down to swim until about 10:00. After that we loaded up and went over to the Twin Falls Temple open house that just happened to be going on during July and August. It was a good experience for the kids (and adults). We watched a little intro video in the neighboring chapel, and then went with our guide into the temple. Zach wasn't happy about the white booties they made us wear, so he walked through with just his socks. The temple was of course very nice inside and out. They used nice marble on the floors and light wood (Tiger wood) accents and trim. Emma's favorite part was the huge chandelier in the celestial room. Claire liked the Telestial room with the mural of the Shoshone falls and the snake river valley. Katie said her favorite room was the sealing room with the eternity mirrors. Zach's favorite part were the chaise lounge chairs in the hallway where he climbed up, layed down and pretended to take a nap. (I guess they looked comfortable.)
After the temple they filed everyone back into the neighboring chapel where they had the cultural hall decked out as a reception center with a few exhibits, and even some cookies and punch! It wouldn't be a Mormon function without some "refreshments".
Before leaving for Lava Hot springs we stopped at Perkins for lunch. Not much different than Denny's. Up until now Troy had been driving the van (Moby the great white van) around with the Lassigs and Austin as passengers. Rachel was driving the Buick with the kids and was ready for some adult companionship for the last leg of the trip. We tried to put Troy in with Rachel and let Todd drive the Van, but Moby decided otherwise. The van has a tendency to stall while idle, and decided to really give Todd a workout. After Moby stalled several times while trying to get out of the parking lot, Todd parked it again and gave the keys back to Troy.
The most exciting part of the journey occurred a few miles down the road. As we were getting close to Pocatello there were a couple of loud thumps under the front passenger seat. Troy thought that he ran over a rock that flipped up. When we got to Pocatello we looked under the van at the wheel and found a bungee cord hanging under there, and removed it. Thinking we had found the source of the bumps, we headed out again. As we came down the hill from Pocatello, however, there was suddenly a very loud "thump thump thump" on the wheel well. We pulled over quickly, realizing that our tire was falling apart. Rachel was in the car behind us and pulled over with us. We were able to find a jack and tire iron in the back of the Buick (after unloading everything from the trunk), but the tire iron was the wrong size. After a few minutes, Papa and Grammy circled back around and found the Tire iron for the van in the back of it. In the meantime, Uncle Dan arrived with his truck and trailer - but he didn't have a jack and tire iron that fit either. Anyway, we finally got the old tire off and the spare on, and 45 minutes later continued on our way. Anna and I have "fond" memories of many Willes trips with auto troubles. I think it wouldn't be a true Willes roadtrip without a breakdown of some kind. We arrived at our pretty little campsite above Lava Hot Springs around 8:00 and setup camp just before it got dark. It's a good thing it gets dark so late around here. Also - we owe Uncle Monte for loaning us pads, tents and sleeping bags for the whole Willes crew. The campsites were very nice, and included covered picnic tables, firepits, latrines and running water faucets. There was also a group campsite which we should get ... next time.
Friday - July 25th
Friday was Lava Hot Springs Day. After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon, we went back the 7 mile dirt road and 9 mile paved road to check out the town and swimming pool of Lava Hot Springs. (Papa went with us, but Grammy stayed back to relax at camp). There's a short little stretch of minor rapids of the Portneuf river that goes down under main street. There are shops in the town that rent tubes by the hour and then people float down and walk it back up. It's the original natural water slide park. We ate lunch at "Ye Ole Chuckwagon." The girls had authentic western recipe... chicken nuggets, of course. Much better grub than Denny's.
The swimming pool was a lot of fun. They had two big water slides that Emma, Katie, Austin, and Kevin could go down, and a large shallow area where the small kids could play. There were a lot of people there -- some of the Rogers contingent included -- I think we all had a good time. Zach even took a little nap on a pool float for a while near the end. Rachel kept moving him to keep him in the shadow of a nearby lamp. We got back to camp in time for dinner and the reunion auction.
The big dollar items at the auction this year were a hand made patchwork quilt made by Janice that went for $83 and a couple of pies that Deanne made. The shirts that Rachel ordered did not arrive in time, but we still sold 20 of them for $20 each! Todd and Anna donated two parkhopper tickets to disneyland, which Linda bought for $95. Reports are that they made a record $1200. After the auction ended, the girls had fun handing out glow bracelets that Rachel picked up at the Dollar Store. Zach went to bed with his bracelet still on. The second night is always better. Everyone slept a little better on Friday night.
Saturday - July 26th
Saturday morning after breakfast with the clan, we packed up camp. Katie and Emma had fun playing pictionary with their second cousins of similar ages up at Aunt Lorie Ann's campsite. Anna and Todd and boys (including Austin) got up early and drove to Twin Falls for a big air show that happened to be this weekend. (They said it was hot out on the airfield, but they had a lot of fun nonetheless.) Anna gets extra kudos for surviving camping AND the airshow all day Saturday while being big and pregnant. The AZ Willes family boarded Moby and Grammy and Papa drove the pickup to Pocatello Wal-Mart to get a new tire. We ate lunch while the new tire was being put on, but we still had to wander around Wal-Mart for another 45 minutes before they had it ready for us. Next stop was in Gooding where we stopped to get things from Grandpa Rogers' house. We got dinner at Dairy Queen -- where they still strongly believe in Fry Sauce. Rachel said it brought back memories. On our way out of town we drove by Grandpa's farm house and told the girls stories of when their Dad and Aunt Anna were little and went to visit cousins there. We finally made it back to Boise at 9:30 pm. Whew!
Sunday - July 27th
Church with Grammy and Grandpa again. Troy's highlight was making stonehenge out of playdough while in the nursery with Zach :-P Grammy made a yummy roast and pototoes for dinner. That evening the kids helped grammy make snack mix and then played games until it was time to get ready for bed. Postnote: Zach's new word for the day is "What?". Claire called his name and he responded with "What?". Over and over and over again. He even managed to throw in a "godfather/mafia" tone to it near the end of the. "Whuuuutt?"
Sunday July 27th -- This week's installment also comes from Boise Idaho -- where the weather is cooler and the home cooking is mighty good.
Monday - July 20th
Monday was the last full day that Grant was in town. After the usual late breakfast and start time, we all went up to Idaho City. It was an overcast day, so that kept the temperatures down just a bit. The drive up was very nice. It follows the Boise river and then some tributary creeks on up into the mountains. Once we got up there we walked down one side of the main street and decided to eat at Calamity Jane's Cafe. Not the prettiest presentation, but pretty tasty grub. Monday is a slow day for tourism, so Idaho City wasn't very busy -- but that was nice because we didn't have to watch the kids quite as closely. We had a good time walking around and reading signs and looking at buildings -- you know, the usual Idaho City activities. We found a Idaho City Musuem that had some interesting exhibits and artifacts.
The funniest Idaho City moment came as we were passing the back side of the Sherriff's Department Building. A couple of Sherrif's SUVs were parked in the back. Beside one of them was a couple rotund deputy's that were looking into the car. As we got closer we realized that they were trying to break into it with a coat hangar! It was obvious that they had locked their keys in the car and were now trying to get in. Todd secretly snapped a photo, and they glanced at us with embarassed looks as we walked past.
After our walk around, we got ice cream at the local parlor. As we got our ice cream and were sitting down, a large, bearded man and his pre-teen daughter came in and started joking with the staff in the ice cream shop. Todd struck up a conversation with him and found out that he is the owner of the local old-time photo shop. Not only that, but he is the winner of the national quick-draw pistol competition that they had in Idaho City last fall. Pretty cool.
On our way home we found a spot by the pretty creek and let the kids wade out and throw rocks into the creek. Katie and Emma rolled up their pants and walked across without getting too wet. Just as katie was coming in to go home, however, she slipped and fell in up to her neck. We didn't bring a change of clothes, so she borrowed some of Kevin's - since Anna came prepared for the kids to get wet. We actually got off kind of easy because Claire and Zach were asleep in the van the whole time we were at the creek. A fun time was had by all. Dinner that night was back at grammy's.
Tuesday - July 21st
Tuesday was Grant's last day. He had to leave early afternoon to fly back to Lodi. Thus we didn't plan any big events for that day. Instead, Troy and Grant took the kids to the local park for a bit in the morning. Just as we came home a big thunder and rainstorm started rolling in from the west. Grammy's neighbor, Tippy Thomas, was concerned about losing the apricots on Grammy's tree to rain and hail, so she brought out some sheets and the guys helped shake apricots into blankets. We collected three large buckets of apricots that way. Not all of them were ripe, but that only takes a day or two anyway. As a side note, a stranger stopped by a couple days later asking if she could pick some apricots from the tree and make jam. In payment, she promised to give Grammy some of the jam. Sounds like a fair trade.
After most of the rain stopped, Grant and Troy took a couple hours to clean up the front yard and bushes. The big yard is a lot for Papa Willes to try to keep up with. Grant and Jason took the rental car back and then flew back to Lodi. The rest of the day was spent getting ready to leave for Grampa Rogers' funeral and camping.
Wednesday - July 22nd
Wednesday was Grampa Rogers' funeral. Rachel and the Willes Girls stayed a little while at Grammy's and packed up the car. Everyone else had to leave early (10:00) in the van and the truck to get to Gooding around noon. We all travelled in our Sunday clothes and made it in good time.
Despite the somber occaision, the Rogers clan had a good time getting re-acquainted before the funeral started. I had to look at some of my cousins two or three times to figure out who they were -- based on my memory of what they looked like a few years ago. As the funeral proceedings started, they invited family into the Relief Society room for the family prayer. There were too many to fit, however, so they had to move the family prayer into the cultural hall instead. Lisa Rogers said the prayer. After that the coffin and family moved into the chapel for the funeral service. Granpa's brother Bob spoke, Aunt Deanne sang. Then Grammy (Kay) spoke and Todd and Anna sang. Finally, the bishop of the ward spoke and then all of the Grandkids and Great Grandkids (of all ages) got up out of the audience and sang 3 verses of I Am a Child of God. There were a lot of people up on the stand. Not everyone sang, but they were all willing to get up and lend their support.
The funeral then proceeded to the cemetary. Uncle Monte dedicated the grave. It was a hot, sunny day in Gooding. The cemetary was well-kept and many of the graves had flowers and mini rose bushes besides the headstones. After everyone left, Grandpa Rogers was buried next to Grandma.
The funeral re-convened back at the church for a meal of Ham and Funeral Potatoes. There were some family that were not able to go to the reunion, but they made it to the funeral, so we got to see even more of the family than the planned reunion would have brought.
After all that wrapped up, we met Rachel and kids at the Twin Falls Best Western. This hotel came recommended by Aunt Lorie Ann. It had a great indoor pool, and a nice breakfast the next morning. The Willes Kids swam for a while and then ordered Pizza for their dinner. After dinner they went back to the pool and were joined by the rest of the cousins that were at the funeral earlier. It's always fun times in the pool. We let them swim until 8:30pm. After that it didn't take them long to fall asleep.
Thursday - July 24th
Nobody, except maybe for Papa Willes, was in a big hurry to get to the campsite, so after a good continental breakfast at the hotel, we all went down to swim until about 10:00. After that we loaded up and went over to the Twin Falls Temple open house that just happened to be going on during July and August. It was a good experience for the kids (and adults). We watched a little intro video in the neighboring chapel, and then went with our guide into the temple. Zach wasn't happy about the white booties they made us wear, so he walked through with just his socks. The temple was of course very nice inside and out. They used nice marble on the floors and light wood (Tiger wood) accents and trim. Emma's favorite part was the huge chandelier in the celestial room. Claire liked the Telestial room with the mural of the Shoshone falls and the snake river valley. Katie said her favorite room was the sealing room with the eternity mirrors. Zach's favorite part were the chaise lounge chairs in the hallway where he climbed up, layed down and pretended to take a nap. (I guess they looked comfortable.)
After the temple they filed everyone back into the neighboring chapel where they had the cultural hall decked out as a reception center with a few exhibits, and even some cookies and punch! It wouldn't be a Mormon function without some "refreshments".
Before leaving for Lava Hot springs we stopped at Perkins for lunch. Not much different than Denny's. Up until now Troy had been driving the van (Moby the great white van) around with the Lassigs and Austin as passengers. Rachel was driving the Buick with the kids and was ready for some adult companionship for the last leg of the trip. We tried to put Troy in with Rachel and let Todd drive the Van, but Moby decided otherwise. The van has a tendency to stall while idle, and decided to really give Todd a workout. After Moby stalled several times while trying to get out of the parking lot, Todd parked it again and gave the keys back to Troy.
The most exciting part of the journey occurred a few miles down the road. As we were getting close to Pocatello there were a couple of loud thumps under the front passenger seat. Troy thought that he ran over a rock that flipped up. When we got to Pocatello we looked under the van at the wheel and found a bungee cord hanging under there, and removed it. Thinking we had found the source of the bumps, we headed out again. As we came down the hill from Pocatello, however, there was suddenly a very loud "thump thump thump" on the wheel well. We pulled over quickly, realizing that our tire was falling apart. Rachel was in the car behind us and pulled over with us. We were able to find a jack and tire iron in the back of the Buick (after unloading everything from the trunk), but the tire iron was the wrong size. After a few minutes, Papa and Grammy circled back around and found the Tire iron for the van in the back of it. In the meantime, Uncle Dan arrived with his truck and trailer - but he didn't have a jack and tire iron that fit either. Anyway, we finally got the old tire off and the spare on, and 45 minutes later continued on our way. Anna and I have "fond" memories of many Willes trips with auto troubles. I think it wouldn't be a true Willes roadtrip without a breakdown of some kind. We arrived at our pretty little campsite above Lava Hot Springs around 8:00 and setup camp just before it got dark. It's a good thing it gets dark so late around here. Also - we owe Uncle Monte for loaning us pads, tents and sleeping bags for the whole Willes crew. The campsites were very nice, and included covered picnic tables, firepits, latrines and running water faucets. There was also a group campsite which we should get ... next time.
Friday - July 25th
Friday was Lava Hot Springs Day. After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon, we went back the 7 mile dirt road and 9 mile paved road to check out the town and swimming pool of Lava Hot Springs. (Papa went with us, but Grammy stayed back to relax at camp). There's a short little stretch of minor rapids of the Portneuf river that goes down under main street. There are shops in the town that rent tubes by the hour and then people float down and walk it back up. It's the original natural water slide park. We ate lunch at "Ye Ole Chuckwagon." The girls had authentic western recipe... chicken nuggets, of course. Much better grub than Denny's.
The swimming pool was a lot of fun. They had two big water slides that Emma, Katie, Austin, and Kevin could go down, and a large shallow area where the small kids could play. There were a lot of people there -- some of the Rogers contingent included -- I think we all had a good time. Zach even took a little nap on a pool float for a while near the end. Rachel kept moving him to keep him in the shadow of a nearby lamp. We got back to camp in time for dinner and the reunion auction.
The big dollar items at the auction this year were a hand made patchwork quilt made by Janice that went for $83 and a couple of pies that Deanne made. The shirts that Rachel ordered did not arrive in time, but we still sold 20 of them for $20 each! Todd and Anna donated two parkhopper tickets to disneyland, which Linda bought for $95. Reports are that they made a record $1200. After the auction ended, the girls had fun handing out glow bracelets that Rachel picked up at the Dollar Store. Zach went to bed with his bracelet still on. The second night is always better. Everyone slept a little better on Friday night.
Saturday - July 26th
Saturday morning after breakfast with the clan, we packed up camp. Katie and Emma had fun playing pictionary with their second cousins of similar ages up at Aunt Lorie Ann's campsite. Anna and Todd and boys (including Austin) got up early and drove to Twin Falls for a big air show that happened to be this weekend. (They said it was hot out on the airfield, but they had a lot of fun nonetheless.) Anna gets extra kudos for surviving camping AND the airshow all day Saturday while being big and pregnant. The AZ Willes family boarded Moby and Grammy and Papa drove the pickup to Pocatello Wal-Mart to get a new tire. We ate lunch while the new tire was being put on, but we still had to wander around Wal-Mart for another 45 minutes before they had it ready for us. Next stop was in Gooding where we stopped to get things from Grandpa Rogers' house. We got dinner at Dairy Queen -- where they still strongly believe in Fry Sauce. Rachel said it brought back memories. On our way out of town we drove by Grandpa's farm house and told the girls stories of when their Dad and Aunt Anna were little and went to visit cousins there. We finally made it back to Boise at 9:30 pm. Whew!
Sunday - July 27th
Church with Grammy and Grandpa again. Troy's highlight was making stonehenge out of playdough while in the nursery with Zach :-P Grammy made a yummy roast and pototoes for dinner. That evening the kids helped grammy make snack mix and then played games until it was time to get ready for bed. Postnote: Zach's new word for the day is "What?". Claire called his name and he responded with "What?". Over and over and over again. He even managed to throw in a "godfather/mafia" tone to it near the end of the. "Whuuuutt?"
Shopping at the Great Boise Mall
Peace out for this week, chickadees! Talk to you soon!
Live From Boise! It's.... the Week of July 20
Sunday 20 July
This week's installment is written from beautiful Boise Idaho. Mid-day is in the low 90's but mornings and evenings are very nice. With the high lattitude and daylight savings time the sun doesn't set until 9:00, so evening activities can continue longer than usual. (It also makes it more difficult to get the kids in bed before 10:00.)
Troy stayed home on Monday and finished up some work. He told everyone at the office that he would be on vacation beginning Monday, which gave him just enough peace and quiet to get one last project cleaned up before taking off on Tuesday. He wishes he could pretend to be on vacation more often.
Rachel spent the day packing and cleaning in preparation for the trip.
Tuesday we didn't have to be out of the house until 1:00, so that gave us enough time to get everything into the van and the house cleaned up just a bit before leaving. The big adventures for the day were the airplane flights from Phoenix to Denver and then from Denver to Boise. The girls were very excited to ride the airplane. Once we got to the airport and were able to look out the window at the big planes and trucks, Zach was also very excited. He kept pointing out the window at all of the equipment outside calling them "tools". It was quite a sight to see the three girls walking down the concourse with their carry on bags.
The first flight to Denver went well. The Frontier Airlines planes were nice, and had a screen in the back of all of the seats. The kids also had their own little bags with coloring books that they carried around on with them. As we were coming across the mountains towards Denver, the plane hit a thunder cloud and gave us quite a ride for a few seconds. The kids and Troy thought it was more fun than scarry - but the stewardesses got a couple bruises as they were tossed around.
We ended up with a late flight because our original flight was changed. So we didn't even get on the final flight from Denver to Boise until 9:30 pm -- finally arriving in Boise at 11:30. Needless to say the kids were tired but we made it to Grammy's without any major meltdowns. We didn't get everyone to bed until 1:30 in the morning.
After such a late night on Tuesday, we let everyone sleep in and take it easy at Grammy's house on Wednesday. The kids had fun exploring the back yard with the trampoline, pool and treehouse.
Unless there was a good reason to get up early, the vacation mode for our family is to get up around 8:00 and get breakfast. By around 10:00 we are usually ready to get out and do something. On Thursday we decided to take a trip to the Boise Mall. Not a bad way to pass the afternoon... if you like shopping. Zach and Troy got bored and tired by the end, so they took a nap while Rachel and the girls tried on clothes in Children's place. The big adventure was being in the mall when the power went out to a section of it. The girls had some money saved up, so they bought some stuffed animals. Total damage: about ~$160.
Thursday night Grampa Willes (Papa) hosted a music education session. He and the girls had a good time talking about Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm. Papa played some samples on his stereo and keyboard.
After the music session, Grant, Stephanie, Evan and Jason arrived from Lodi, CA. Everyone was excited to see them.
Friday Troy's family and Grant's family and Papa Willes went over to the Boise Zoo. Zach's favorite was the Monkeys. He calls them the "Ooh Ooh Ah Ahs". The animals were more active than we've seen them in the Phoenix Zoo -- probably because the temperatures were much cooler. At the end of our trip we came to where they are constructing a future African animals exhibit. There were no animals in it yet, but Zach really liked watching the big trucks and tractors! The girls made sure to stop in the gift shop before ending the outing.
Anna's family arrived that afternoon -- so now all the cousins were together. Dinner that night was shredded beef tacos back at Grammy's house. Even with that many people dinner wasn't that crowded. We set a table outside so some of the kids ate out there -- leaving enough room from the rest of the crew in the dining room. That evening we attended cousin Austin's performance as a troll in the play "Sleeping Beauty," the wrap-up of a week-long drama camp. Grammy had tried to get Katie in as well, but we didn't arrive in time. Next year. We hit a yummmmmmy ice cream place called Goody's for after show treats. It's in the "trendy" Hyde Park area of Boise. It reminded me a bit of Mill Avenue, although only the size of two blocks rather than 3/4 mile. It was cute. Papa also held another music lesson that night. Kim Butterworth arrived late that night to join the festivities.
Saturday was Boise River day. After renting a raft at a local shop, most of the crew took turns going from Julia Davis or Municipal Park down to the take-out at Ann Morrison Park -- about a 2 mile trip. It was long enough to have some fun in the raft, but short enough that we could make 3 runs that day, and the drivers of the vehicles got to take turns riding down the river. Todd was sick, but even pregnant Anna and Kim took a turn on the raft. Stephanie and Evan also met us for the final run of the day. For that run we had 4 adults and 6 kids all loaded in to a 6 man raft. The river also got gradually more and more busy as the temperatures rose mid-day. Grant said they were almost playing bumper boats for parts of the final trip. The kids had a great time going over the little bumps and splashing each other as we went down the river. Rachel didn't want to take Zach, so she got stuck at home the whole time :-( Note for next time: It took about an hour to rent the raft. So it would have been best to leave an hour early in the the pickup to get the raft. All the people could have come in the van and met at the park later. Also - neither Julia Davis, nor Municipal park had very good places to put the raft in. It would be worth scoping out a better launch spot. We were all together again at Grammy's house for dinner that night. As a consolation prize for being home all day with Zach, Troy took Rachel out to dessert at Goody's again. We met Grant and Stephanie and Megan and her family who were all coming from Austin's final performance.
After getting the kids to bed, Troy, Grant, Anna and Kim went over to see Dorian in the Hospital. He has a tube down his throat which prevents him from talking, and the medication he's on keeps him from being very alert. He was able to open his eyes and nod his head yes or no to questions. Really, it's a miracle that he's still alive. He's been in the hospital for 6 weeks now. It's going to be another few months probably before he can get out of the hospital.
Sunday morning was far from restful. We had to get everyone ready for pictures by 10:00. Amelia McDonald Berg and her husband Paul are semi-professional photographers. They were able to come over on Sunday morning when everyone was looking good, and take pictures of the group. Even Megan and Austin and Cade made it over. Taking pictures with children is always tortuous, or humorous - depending on if you're responsibile for the particular child that does not want his picture taken. Paul's Technique was just to make everyone say cheese and then snap photos in rapid succession - hoping that there would be at least one where everyone was looking cute, facing the camera and had their eyes open. The photographers posted the photos online so we could see them and order the ones we want.
As soon as pictures were done Troy, Brian, Anna and Todd went over to practice "This is the Christ" with the pianist before church. Troy says to remind him to make a copy for his ward to do sometime. Sacrament meeting featured Brother and Sister Farar who just returned from their mission at the Far West visitors center. Our musical number went fine. I think Papa was proud to have his family perform for the ward. The kids went to primary. Troy took Zach to the nursery.
Sunday afternoon we all had a good ham and potatoes dinner and then took turns taking naps while the kids played games and watched veggie tales.
So thus ended a great week of vacation. The cousins all had a good time playing with each other and getting to know each other -- even if they did get on each other's nerves now and then. I think a good time was had by all.
This week's installment is written from beautiful Boise Idaho. Mid-day is in the low 90's but mornings and evenings are very nice. With the high lattitude and daylight savings time the sun doesn't set until 9:00, so evening activities can continue longer than usual. (It also makes it more difficult to get the kids in bed before 10:00.)
Troy stayed home on Monday and finished up some work. He told everyone at the office that he would be on vacation beginning Monday, which gave him just enough peace and quiet to get one last project cleaned up before taking off on Tuesday. He wishes he could pretend to be on vacation more often.
Rachel spent the day packing and cleaning in preparation for the trip.
Tuesday we didn't have to be out of the house until 1:00, so that gave us enough time to get everything into the van and the house cleaned up just a bit before leaving. The big adventures for the day were the airplane flights from Phoenix to Denver and then from Denver to Boise. The girls were very excited to ride the airplane. Once we got to the airport and were able to look out the window at the big planes and trucks, Zach was also very excited. He kept pointing out the window at all of the equipment outside calling them "tools". It was quite a sight to see the three girls walking down the concourse with their carry on bags.
The first flight to Denver went well. The Frontier Airlines planes were nice, and had a screen in the back of all of the seats. The kids also had their own little bags with coloring books that they carried around on with them. As we were coming across the mountains towards Denver, the plane hit a thunder cloud and gave us quite a ride for a few seconds. The kids and Troy thought it was more fun than scarry - but the stewardesses got a couple bruises as they were tossed around.
We ended up with a late flight because our original flight was changed. So we didn't even get on the final flight from Denver to Boise until 9:30 pm -- finally arriving in Boise at 11:30. Needless to say the kids were tired but we made it to Grammy's without any major meltdowns. We didn't get everyone to bed until 1:30 in the morning.
After such a late night on Tuesday, we let everyone sleep in and take it easy at Grammy's house on Wednesday. The kids had fun exploring the back yard with the trampoline, pool and treehouse.
Unless there was a good reason to get up early, the vacation mode for our family is to get up around 8:00 and get breakfast. By around 10:00 we are usually ready to get out and do something. On Thursday we decided to take a trip to the Boise Mall. Not a bad way to pass the afternoon... if you like shopping. Zach and Troy got bored and tired by the end, so they took a nap while Rachel and the girls tried on clothes in Children's place. The big adventure was being in the mall when the power went out to a section of it. The girls had some money saved up, so they bought some stuffed animals. Total damage: about ~$160.
Thursday night Grampa Willes (Papa) hosted a music education session. He and the girls had a good time talking about Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm. Papa played some samples on his stereo and keyboard.
After the music session, Grant, Stephanie, Evan and Jason arrived from Lodi, CA. Everyone was excited to see them.
Friday Troy's family and Grant's family and Papa Willes went over to the Boise Zoo. Zach's favorite was the Monkeys. He calls them the "Ooh Ooh Ah Ahs". The animals were more active than we've seen them in the Phoenix Zoo -- probably because the temperatures were much cooler. At the end of our trip we came to where they are constructing a future African animals exhibit. There were no animals in it yet, but Zach really liked watching the big trucks and tractors! The girls made sure to stop in the gift shop before ending the outing.
Anna's family arrived that afternoon -- so now all the cousins were together. Dinner that night was shredded beef tacos back at Grammy's house. Even with that many people dinner wasn't that crowded. We set a table outside so some of the kids ate out there -- leaving enough room from the rest of the crew in the dining room. That evening we attended cousin Austin's performance as a troll in the play "Sleeping Beauty," the wrap-up of a week-long drama camp. Grammy had tried to get Katie in as well, but we didn't arrive in time. Next year. We hit a yummmmmmy ice cream place called Goody's for after show treats. It's in the "trendy" Hyde Park area of Boise. It reminded me a bit of Mill Avenue, although only the size of two blocks rather than 3/4 mile. It was cute. Papa also held another music lesson that night. Kim Butterworth arrived late that night to join the festivities.
Saturday was Boise River day. After renting a raft at a local shop, most of the crew took turns going from Julia Davis or Municipal Park down to the take-out at Ann Morrison Park -- about a 2 mile trip. It was long enough to have some fun in the raft, but short enough that we could make 3 runs that day, and the drivers of the vehicles got to take turns riding down the river. Todd was sick, but even pregnant Anna and Kim took a turn on the raft. Stephanie and Evan also met us for the final run of the day. For that run we had 4 adults and 6 kids all loaded in to a 6 man raft. The river also got gradually more and more busy as the temperatures rose mid-day. Grant said they were almost playing bumper boats for parts of the final trip. The kids had a great time going over the little bumps and splashing each other as we went down the river. Rachel didn't want to take Zach, so she got stuck at home the whole time :-( Note for next time: It took about an hour to rent the raft. So it would have been best to leave an hour early in the the pickup to get the raft. All the people could have come in the van and met at the park later. Also - neither Julia Davis, nor Municipal park had very good places to put the raft in. It would be worth scoping out a better launch spot. We were all together again at Grammy's house for dinner that night. As a consolation prize for being home all day with Zach, Troy took Rachel out to dessert at Goody's again. We met Grant and Stephanie and Megan and her family who were all coming from Austin's final performance.
After getting the kids to bed, Troy, Grant, Anna and Kim went over to see Dorian in the Hospital. He has a tube down his throat which prevents him from talking, and the medication he's on keeps him from being very alert. He was able to open his eyes and nod his head yes or no to questions. Really, it's a miracle that he's still alive. He's been in the hospital for 6 weeks now. It's going to be another few months probably before he can get out of the hospital.
Sunday morning was far from restful. We had to get everyone ready for pictures by 10:00. Amelia McDonald Berg and her husband Paul are semi-professional photographers. They were able to come over on Sunday morning when everyone was looking good, and take pictures of the group. Even Megan and Austin and Cade made it over. Taking pictures with children is always tortuous, or humorous - depending on if you're responsibile for the particular child that does not want his picture taken. Paul's Technique was just to make everyone say cheese and then snap photos in rapid succession - hoping that there would be at least one where everyone was looking cute, facing the camera and had their eyes open. The photographers posted the photos online so we could see them and order the ones we want.
As soon as pictures were done Troy, Brian, Anna and Todd went over to practice "This is the Christ" with the pianist before church. Troy says to remind him to make a copy for his ward to do sometime. Sacrament meeting featured Brother and Sister Farar who just returned from their mission at the Far West visitors center. Our musical number went fine. I think Papa was proud to have his family perform for the ward. The kids went to primary. Troy took Zach to the nursery.
Sunday afternoon we all had a good ham and potatoes dinner and then took turns taking naps while the kids played games and watched veggie tales.
So thus ended a great week of vacation. The cousins all had a good time playing with each other and getting to know each other -- even if they did get on each other's nerves now and then. I think a good time was had by all.
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