Taking after his Mother

Today's "Funny": This morning before Jed left for work and we left for church, Jed asked the kids if they wanted to play a card game. They all answered yes and so Jed asked Connor to go get the cards. Connor went to the closet and pulled out the vacuum and began pushing it towards the coffee table. Jed look at him and asked him what he was doing with the vacuum. Connor looked down and realized that he was grabbing the vacuum instead of the playing cards. Oh, we all had a good laugh at that one. Jed couldn't help but pipe in that he "takes after his mother!"

I'd fight that comment if it wasn't true.

Back to School

Connor, Aubrey and Ronin's 1st day of school.

I kicked the kids out the door this morning for the first day of school. Woo Hoo! Actually, the kids were up before I was and I was up at 6:30. Connor and Aubrey were already dressed, with their hair done, and beds made. Ronin was well on his way to being ready too. Wow! If it could only last.

Aubrey said that she woke up several times throughout the night because she was so excited. This is the first year she has a locker and thinks that's pretty cool.

Aubrey- 6th Grade

Connor-4th Grade

Ronin-1st Grade

I think Rigdon won't know what to do with himself now that all of his playmates are gone. I guess I had better cherish these times at home with him because before long he'll be gone as well.

Horseride

Aubrey on Dolly, Mindy on Blaze.

Two days ago, my Aunt Renae took Aubrey and I to a nearby forest area for a horseride. This was Aubrey's first real trail ride out in the woods. When we came within minutes of the trail head with the truck and trailer, we just about drove over a snake. We got out to see what kind of snake it was - it was a 5 foot rattle snake. We hadn't run over it and so we watched it slither off from a distance. Renae commented how of all the many times she's been out in that area, she had never seen a snake before.

So off we went on our trail ride -riding through beautiful trees and little canyons. Ten minutes later, we heard a rattling sound again...right in front of us in a cluster of rocks by the trail. All we could see was a rattler sticking straight up and shaking wildly. Renae was in front and upbruptly stopped her horse. The snake was too close to the trail to pass safely and yet there was a stream and thick, tall bushes and trees on our other side. We crossed the creek onto a small patch of grass just big enough to fit all of our horses. Surprisingly, the horses didn't freak out at all. We sat there while this second rattle snake wound it's way up the small slope and into some trees. We couldn't believe we had already seen two snakes in 15 minutes.

Aubrey taking Dolly for a gallop.

The rest of the trip was wonderful - lots of beautiful scenery, the horses were well behaved (I was on Blaze and sometimes he's a stinker), and we didn't see anymore snakes after that. We rode for two hours and had a 20 minute lunch break. Aubrey started feeling pretty saddle sore after the first hour but she did great and had an awesome time. She says her favorite part was riding through the creek.

Lunch Break.

Aubrey's ready to get going again.

We reached the top of the mountain - awesome scenery!

Thanks for the trip, Renae! Let's do it again soon!

Preston Parade

We had a family reunion the 1st of August in Malad, Idaho at Jed's grandparent's house. None of Jed's brothers or sisters came and we didn't stay very long either. We found out Jed's dad, Tom, had left a half hour before we arrived because he was driving his team of horses in the Preston Parade that day. So, we took off for Preston, Idaho to see if we could find him. To his dad's great surprise, we found him and his wife, Mo, pulling into the rodeo grounds with their horses. They let us ride with them in the wagon during the parade. The kids got to sit by their Grandpa while he drove the horses and had a great time! Aubrey especially enjoyed herself because there were horses everywhere.

We found out that the wagon Tom's horses were pulling was an original 1894 "school bus" for the children during that time period. Our kids couldn't believe it - it was a new idea to them that kids used to go to school by a horse-drawn wagon. Pretty cool.

 

Grandpa Tom with Aubrey, Ronin, and Connor.

Jed's Motorcycle Trip

Jed took off with a few of his buddys on a 3 day motorcycle trip to the Grand Canyon last month. I guess this was his way of getting to see it since he didn't get to go with his family back in June. The entourage traveled to Mesquite, Nevada where they stayed the two nights. From Mesquite, it was only a 3 hour ride to the Grand Canyon. Jed had a great time although his hand was extremely sore for days after because of the hand surgery he had a few weeks before the trip. However, he wouldn't have missed this trip for the world. I am very glad he could go.

They experienced every kind of weather during the trip, in this photo it's raining.

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

From Left: Jed, Bob, Chris, and Kent.

I swear, men are really just little boys in big bodies.