May Reunion

I should have posted about this awhile ago but things have been busy as usual. Two weekends ago I decided, last minute, to go to the May reunion in Baker City, Oregon. My dad's mom is a May and I haven't seen many people from that side of the family in awhile. Since we are closer to them from here than we were in Idaho Falls I thought we better head on over. I am also sad to say that my kids had never been to my grandparents house in LaGrande. I can't believe that it has been so long since I went there! I am sorry, Grandma and Grandpa. We will visit more often! Anyway, I decided it was time to show my kids their house. Len had already planned to be gone for the weekend on a fishing trip so it was just me and the kids.

We headed out on Thursday afternoon. We took our time and made it to LaGrande around 6:00 pm. We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house and visited with them and with my Aunt Ruth's family. It was good to see them all. My grandparents live on a beautiful farm with a large orchard. It was good to be there again!

The kids and I stayed the night in a hotel with a swimming pool. We swam that night and then again in the morning after breakfast. Then we headed to Baker City for the reunion. It took us about 45 minutes to get there. We checked into our hotel and then headed to the park. It was the Miner's Jubilee that weekend so there were games and booths set up in the park. I have to say, for a small town, they sure know how to put on a good show! They had free games and activities for the kids set up in the park. The usual things like a fishing pond, bean bag toss, cake walk ... but they had awesome prizes. Kanyon got a stuffed moose and Kaydra got a watch that changes to match the outfit. The kids made out like bandits! They also had free snowcones (YES, FREE!). We had lunch in the park and met my dad there. It was good to see him again. We went to the library where they were having a book sale and then we drove around Baker and Dad showed us all the places he used to live and go to school. We went to a little diner that had a train theme for dinner. A train went around the restaurant on a little track. The kids thought it was pretty cool. Finally, we went to a downtown hotel for the reunion which consisted of cake and punch and everyone catching up on everybody. Miranda won a prize for being the youngest May present at the party. She was her typical self and difficult to watch while we were there. She loved how everyone would leave their half eaten cakes and punch cups on the table so she could climb up and help them finish them. It's a wonder that girl isn't sick all the time!

The next morning we went to the Jubilee parade where the kids came home with about 5 lbs of candy. It was a pretty good parade and lasted about an hour. Then we headed home because I had to work that night. We made it home and quickly unpacked and then I headed to work. Things went pretty good that night but on the way home my car broke down heading up the hill to home. I had to call Len and Neil to come and tow me home. I am SO glad that it didn't happen on my drive with the kids. I had somehow managed to blow a spark plug out of the engine. I don't know how that happens but the car does not sound very good when it does. Lucky for me, my husband was able to fix it. Always nice to have him around! Anyway, we had a good weekend and I am so glad that I went. It was good be reacquainted with family members. Plus, it was really fun to spend time with just me and the kids. I have really great kids and I had a lot of fun with them! After all, who knows how long it will be before they don't even want to go on vacations with me?!

Emotional Roller Coaster

What a crazy week it has been. I just need to ramble on a little bit. You have been warned.

You have already heard about the well so as you read this, remember that these two things (drilling a well and selling a house) have been going on at the same time this past week - no wonder I feel like I am going crazy!

So we accepted an offer on our house at the beginning of June. All month we have been worrying about it. Will the inspection be okay (it was), will the buyers financing work out (it did, then it didn't, then it did again, then it didn't), will we be able to close on time (originally June 30th - on June 29th we agreed to move it to July 10) and finally will we close at all? Well, today we found out that it will not close tomorrow or ever with that buyer. It basically fell through with financing. What a mess we have worked ourselves into in our economy! A couple years ago, my dog would have qualified for a loan and now you have to practically sign away your first born child with your signature in blood to make a sale go through to closing. I have several friends who have blogged about their houses falling through at the last minute. IT IS SO FRUSTRATING! My emotions cannot handle it!

Yesterday, when we got wind that the deal was pretty much dead, we put the house back on the market. Today it was official. In the last 24 hours we have shown it 4 times and most likely have an offer on the table to discuss in the morning. Don't get me wrong - this is great news -but how can one facet of our lives control so much? I just want this roller coaster to end -- or at least continue to bring me good news until the house closes - no more of this up and down stuff. Just tell me when it's over!

P.S. If you want a house in Idaho Falls in a great neighborhood that we miss a lot (there's another set of emotions going on there too!) or you know someone that does - take a look HERE and call my realtor. :)

The good, the great, and the sad

Sorry in advance to all those that read this post. Miranda is asleep and the kids are playing outside. I have had trouble finding a time to blog lately so this is going to be a mega-blog. Everything that has happened lately will be here, so it may take you awhile to read. Feel free to stop at any time!

This past week (June 29th to be exact) we got a call from the company that is drilling our well. They said that they had an unexpected opening and they could start drilling the next day. We were expecting them sometime around the 10th of July so this was a pleasant surprise. The contractor and the drill foreman came out to the farm and took a look around. They "witched" a spot they believed had a supply of water. This is where they take two rods (copper I think) and hold them parallel in each hand as they walk across the land. When the two rods cross themselves in front of them they figure they have come perpendicular to a line of water underground. The object is to find a place where two lines of water intersect.

I said, "You know, at work I have access to a machine that I can place on your bladder and it tells me how many milliliters of fluid are in there." They said that there are companies that use sonogram to find water as well but it will cost me $5000 and there would still be no guarantee. I told them that "witching" would be fine with me.

Anyway, the next day they showed up about 8:30 and started drilling. It was pretty interesting to watch. Even the kids liked it for a little while.

It seemed like a pretty messy job and we wondered what it took to be able to graduate from the guy standing in the mud with the shovel to the guy standing on the platform running the drill.

It did not go as well as we hoped. They found some water around 100ft but it was only 1 gallon per minute. Not really enough to run a house. They drilled to 160ft that day and then they hit some clay. The problem with that is that the clay was collapsing in on itself and wouldn't stay open. That is when the drill foreman told us that they would have to "case" the entire well until they either hit water or granite. This nearly doubled the cost of our well and it didn't even guarantee we would find water. We were sick. But they recommended that we keep going - after all, if we want a house, we need water. The next day they came back and started casing the well that they had already drilled. They worked all day and one of us was nearby pretty much the whole time. and then around 5:00 they hit another layer of basalt. This was good and bad. Good because water is often found in basalt. Bad because they thought they would be hitting granite so it meant that they had no idea what was on the other side of the basalt. It could be more clay or the basalt could go on for a long time. It is really hard to "case" basalt so they had to decide what to do next. They all slept on it and in the morning decided to continue casing through the basalt. This was hard work and took a LONG time. For example, the previous day they had run 260ft of casing and on that day they only ran 40 ft. BUT the good news is that they found water in the basalt! Half way through the day they found about 5 gallons a minute. Not great but good enough to supply our house if we had a holding tank. By the end of the day they had found about 15 gallons a minute. That will be plenty to run our house and water our lawn! We were so happy! The tension around the farm had been so thick you could taste it! We also said A LOT of prayers for good water. We were relieved to finally find some. Plus, we got the invoice today and it wasn't as bad as we thought. Thank you United Crown Drilling Company! You guys did great!

Here is a picture of the finished well and my happy husband: Here are some pictures that the kids took with the camera while they were bored watching the drilling!Hiawatha Bike Trail

For the 4th of July we decided to take the kids on a bike ride. Bike riding and running are SO popular here. There are designated trails everywhere and there isn't a day goes by that I don't see someone running or biking on my way in to town. We decided to take them on the Hiawatha Trail. You can see more about it HERE. We had been on the trail before but it had been about 11 years so we thought it was time to go at it again. The trail used to be an old railroad. It has about a 3% grade so it's a pretty easy ride. At the bottom you can ride back up or you can hop a shuttle and get a ride back to your car. You have to wear helmets and headlamps. You go through tunnels and across huge bridges. It's awesome! I recommend it to anyone traveling through the Idaho/Montana state line.

Neil and Kay have a bike trailer that we used for Miranda. They also decided to buy a tagalong to have on the farm. They figure we'll get lots of use out of it with all the grandkids. Kanyon rode the tagalong behind me. I have to say that it was awesome. It took a little getting used to at first but then I hardly pedaled the whole ride. He seemed to be pusing me along the way! It wasn't much exercise for me though! Kaydra rode her bike and probably had the toughest ride of all of us. She had to pedal twice as fast to keep up with us. She was a trooper though and did really great!

This is before the ride:

Here is a picture near one of the tunnels. They are all about the same other than the length of each one varies. There are signs at the opening of each tunnel telling you how long it is. That helped me decide if I would need my light or not.

The Taft tunnel is right at the beginning. It is 1.8 miles long and pitch black inside. Thus the headlamps. Kanyon was a little scared and started whistling so I enjoyed "Mary had a Little Lamb" while we rode along! The trestles are huge and so awesome. We loved to be able to look down on the trees. It was beautiful. As I said, I highly recommend it!

Here are some pictures of us at a trestle. What a view!

This next one is Miranda after the ride. It's hard to tell but she is covered in mud. On the way through the "Taft" tunnel to our car it was really wet and she got all the mud that spun off Len's tire. She was so good all day, hardly a peep out of her until she went through this tunnel. Then she was saying "mama, no no" through the whole thing. It wasn't until we got through to the other side that we realized why she was upset! It was a good day. That night we let the kids do some "poppers" in the yard and then we drove on the hill to watch the fireworks in town. We were a little disappointed because although Coeur d'Alene puts on a pretty good show, it wasn't much of a comparison to the Idaho Falls one - even Leonard said so!

Miranda's tooth

Now on to the sad part of the post. Yesterday, after dinner, Len gave Miranda a bath. She was all finished and playing with the kids when we heard a thump and a scream. Never a good sign. She did one of those cries when you wonder if they will pass out because they are not breathing for so long. Len was comforting her and Kaydra said, "What's wrong with her tooth?" I got that sinking feeling in my stomach. Len said, "Oh man! She chipped her tooth!" So yes, my baby girl is now a regular red neck, country girl. She chipped her right front tooth. I know that it looks like I am torturing her - and I was. I HAD to get a picture for the blog! We are waiting to see if she damaged it bad enough that it will die (turn black). Hopefully she didn't and then when she gets a little bigger they can file it down and it won't be so bad. If it does die, then it will have to be pulled and I will have a toothless daughter until she is in second grade :( I feel so bad. It's not really noticeable until she gives you her cute "cheese" grin. Then you can see it really well. I guess I really am raising country kids!

As a side note, some of you may have noticed a kitten in the picture with Leonard at the new well. We walked over there today to take the picture and we found two kittens. We are pretty sure that someone just dropped them off. They followed us to the field and to the well so we thought we'd bring them home. They are both males (no more kittens) and the kids were really excited. However, I have just learned that Kanyon is allergic to them. He came inside sneezing and rubbing his eyes which were all red and swollen. I have given him strict instructions not to touch them anymore today and to wash his hands any time that he does touch them. We'll see how that goes!

Ahhhh, I can finally relax tonight knowing that my blog is updated!

The Potty Tree

This past Saturday we built a fire in the fire pit and roasted marshmallows. I thought you all might enjoy the conversation we had.

Leonard: So, Kaydra and Kanyon, how's the potty tree?

Kaydra: How did you know about that?

Brooke: What's a potty tree?

Kanyon: It's a tree where we go potty whenever we are outside.

Brooke: What?! You guys should come in the house to go potty. You can't just find a tree wherever you are and go potty. You guys need to come inside!

Kanyon: (with as much sass as he could muster) Mom -- we're country kids now!

Oh brother! It was so funny! We were all laughing with that comment!

On a completely different note I want to congratulate my sister-in-law, Jodi, (and her husband, too!) on their new baby girl born exactly one week ago today. I can't wait to see her. They named her Juniper Kay. Jodi and Mike make beautiful babies. This is their fifth child and they are excellent parents. We are excited to see our new cousin! Congratulations!

For the Record....

I thought I would post a little about what's been happening the past couple of weeks. I jinxed the weather with my previous post about how beautiful it has been here because it has rained daily this week. It's crazy that we already went swimming in the lake this year because it has been way too cold this week! I started my job two weeks ago and I think I am going to like it. It is a very busy unit and patients don't stay very long so the turnover is really high. It's not uncommon to start with four patients at the beginning of the shift, then discharge most of them, and then have an admit or two all in one shift. I like the feel of the unit though. It feels a lot like the cardiac unit that I started working on as a new grad - I keep telling people that it feels just like home. The hard part about a new place is that I don't know any doctors, can't read their handwriting yet, and I don't know where anything is! I had to ask someone where I could find a band aid the other day -- seems so simple. But I know that it will get better and soon I will know this place as well as I knew EIRMC or Magic Valley.

My schedule has been kinda tough on all of us. I only plan on working once or twice a week but right now, while orienting I have been working three shifts. I know it doesn't sound like a lot but my kids are used to me being around so it has been a little hard on all of us. Plus, I am working Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 7-3:30 and Len goes to work from 3:00-11:00. We have someone watch the kids for the overlap in the afternoon but I usually see Len when he goes to work on Monday at 3:00 and then I don't see him again until Friday morning. I should be done with orientation soon though.

Last weekend I took the kids to Moscow to see Markell. It's nice to have her so close. We saw her new apartment and went to the park for dinner. The kids found shells, fish and ducks and Kaydra even spotted a swimming turtle. Kanyon was so disappointed that he was on the other side of the pond when she saw it and he couldn't get there fast enough. We stayed the night and then the next day we went to the water park there. The pools were heated and it was a nice morning. It is a great park and the kids had a good time. We will have to go back again. Even Miranda loved it. I have to watch her like a hawk because she thinks she can swim. Her favorite thing to do is put her face in the water. It doesn't matter how much she coughs or sputters, she still tries it again and again.

On Monday we signed up the kids for the reading program at the library. For every three hours that they read they get a prize. On Thursday Leonard took them back for a puppet theater workshop where they both made a paper bag puppet and put on a show. Kaydra had already read enough to earn her first prize. They seemed to have a good time.

All in all things are going pretty good. We have decided on a well company and we plan on scheduling the drilling on Monday. They probably won't get to us for at least a week, if not two. We are working on our blue prints for the house with an architect and hope to have those in our hands by the middle of July or sooner. We just have a few little changes here and there. In the meantime, as soon as our house closes in Idaho Falls we are going to put in our driveway and run the power and phone lines to the construction site, as well as get in the well! Things are starting to happen and I can't wait! I will post as we go along so that everyone can share in the journey!

The Farm

So, my friend, Melissa, asked for more pictures of the farm. She's right - it's beautiful and since most of the people that read this blog have never been to Coeur d'Alene, yet alone the farm I thought I would post some pictures of where we now live. We have been so busy and I will post soon on what we have been doing lately. In the meantime, enjoy, as everyone has been telling me for the past two weeks, "The pretty part of Idaho" -- Don't worry mom, I always tell them that there are some really good things about south Idaho too!

This is the county road we live on. We go for a walk down this road nearly every day. It clears my head and keeps the dogs from jumping all over me!

Here is another one with Kaydra. She is getting so old! She is such a pretty girl!

This is in front of my in-laws house. I love the grove of trees behind the kids. It's called "Toad's Grove" Affectionately after my sister-in-law. This is the field where our house will be. I am standing near the road taking the picture. The house will be back about as far as that pine tree in the middle of the field.

Now I am standing where the house will be. This will be our view on one side of the house. This is looking at the county road. The road is just on the other side of the pine trees on each side of the picture.

I am still standing where the house will be but this is the view looking the other direction.Pretty, huh! I really like it here - I can't wait until our house is done. I know that it will be awhile and it is really hard to be patient - but I am trying. Len has been working all week on getting quotes for our well. We need water before we can move forward with anything else! Because I know that you love her, I am also attaching some random pictures of Miranda. When Len and I took our engagement pictures we took them in this field full of daisies. I thought they looked pretty for some shots of Mandy too -- Enjoy!

I think this one's my favorite...

Update

We haven't been as busy this past week but our time does go somewhere. I thought I better update a little but there isn't too much going on that seems blog worthy. Len had to work this week but I don't start until next week. This gave me lots of free time to play with the kids and get settled into our new lives in Coeur d'Alene. The kids have been playing non-stop outside for the past week. They love all the things they can do here and their imaginations have been running wild. They made signs the first day that we were here that said :

Odd Jobs

We do your odd jobs

Kaydra and Kanyon

They had them hanging all over the farm. On every car door, on the doors to the house. And in their "club". A place where the cousins gather when they are all here just beyond Grandma's fence. It was pretty funny.

The weather here has been beautiful. June is usually known in Coeur d'Alene for continuous rain but we have yet to experience a good shower. We have had a little sprinkle here and there but nothing that keeps us indoors. This has also brought the bugs out earlier than usual. My poor kids are being eaten alive. Len would say, "it's not THAT bad." We have tried to be good about putting bug spray on them but they are usually dressed and out the door before I even get out of bed. Kanyon seems to have it the worst. Bugs like the taste of his blood, I guess. I purchased some clothing online yesterday that has "insect shield" in it. It's a special shirt that repels the bugs whenever you wear it. Len has one and says that it works pretty good so we are going to try it with the kids. Maybe I can talk them into putting on a t-shirt before they head out in the morning or evening since I can't seem to get them to stop long enough to put on bug spray.

We managed to take our first swim of the year in Lake Coeur d'Alene on Friday. It was REALLY cold. We didn't stay very long and the 80 degree temps outside felt much better than the water - but, hey, we went swimming in JUNE!

The kids have also discovered Grandma's kiddie pool and have enjoyed playing in that. It's a little warmer than the lake if you let the water warm in the sun for awhile -- but not much. Miranda cannot keep her hands out of it so we have to watch her close when we are outside. That girl would take a "bath" any day, any time. She sees a pool of water and starts chiming, "BA, BA, BA" which means, "I want to get in that and get wet all over so put me down NOW!" She is very persistent. On an especially warm afternoon, she won the battle, clothes and all.

Yesterday I went to a stake relief society activity and tried to remember the names of some of the vaguely familiar faces that I saw. Lucky for me, most of them didn't recognize me either so it was like I was new all over again. It made me miss home where "everybody knows my name" but it was still fun.

All in all things are going quite well. We received the inspection report for our house in Idaho Falls. My favorite part was the first where he said, "Visible evidence indicates above average maintenance and home care. In general, the home is in very good condition." AHHHHH! Thank you! We have worked very hard to make it that way! There are a few minor things that we need to fix, but it looks like it won't be a big problem. We are still hoping to close on June 30! We are keeping our fingers crossed and saying lots of prayers!

Moving Day

Yesterday we moved to Coeur d'Alene. I am not really sure what else to say. I am sad and happy. I miss my mom and my sister already. They are my best friends and now we are too far away to go to lunch at the last minute. I know that we will see each other but still .... it's really hard right now.

I want to thank my parents again for putting up with me and my kids for the past two months. I really enjoyed spending time with you guys and I hope you liked having us there. It was good to have some company while Len was in Coeur d'Alene and I couldn't have asked for better accommodations. Thank you! I love you!

This past weekend Leonard flew to Idaho Falls and we picked him up at 2:00 on Friday. The kids liked going to the airport and meeting him and they were really excited to see him again. We had several errands to run after we picked him up. We went to Dad's office to sign some paperwork, went to the uhaul place to pick up a trailer, went to Mike's Music to pick up a piano dolly (Thanks!), and then went to the realtor's office to sign papers. We accepted an offer on our house on Friday! We are so excited and hope and pray that it all goes through. They are having the inspection done this week and working on the finishing touches on their loan and then we will (hopefully) close on June 30. The timing was perfect for us and I hope it all goes through. We had already decided that we were going to move all of our stuff out of the house and take it back with us. We dropped the trailer off at the house and Len rested it on our wagon while we finished our errands. At 5:30 we had several people (Kelly, my dad, Paul, and Jackson) meet at our house to help load in the piano. For those of you not familiar with our piano, it is very old and VERY heavy. Here is a picture but realize that you can not tell how heavy it is from looking at it, so the picture doesn't really do it any justice! Each time we move, our helpers DREAD THE PIANO! Anyway, they managed to get the piano out the door and into the trailer when we remembered that the wagon was keeping the trailer from moving. We placed rocks under the wheels and then they continued to move in the piano. Everything went really well until they got it in place in front of the trailer and then this happened:

Yes, that is the little red wagon crushed by the trailer with the piano loaded in the front. Kaydra and Kanyon started crying. It was kinda funny - but not to them. Leonard was glad because we didn't really have room for the wagon anyway. It gave us a funny story to tell and made an interesting lawn decoration for our neighbors to look at for the next few days.

We made it here safe and sound and are feeling so blessed to be here and be taken care of so well. We are settling in and feel like things will work out. I start my new job next week, so that will give me something to write about for sure! Wish us luck!

Kaydra's Un-Birthday Party

Last Thursday we decided to have a birthday party for Kaydra. Her birthday isn't until August but we have always moved at the beginning of the summer so this means that she doesn't meet anyone at school until fall and when her birthday comes, she doesn't really know people well enough to invite them over for a party. It seems like I am always saying "next year we'll let you have a friend party". Well, since we were again moving in the spring, I decided to have a birthday/moving party for her to spend some time with the girls in the neighborhood and also the girls she will really miss at school. We invited ten girls over for milkshakes and pizza. It was quite the party. Everyone we invited was able to come. We had a good time. I took each girls' picture with Kaydra as they arrived and they each made a scrapbook page for Kaydra to put the picture on. When they were finished she had a little scapbook of all her friends in Idaho Falls to take with us to Coeur d'Alene. I think it will be something she will really enjoy. As the girls left we gave each of them a copy of their picture with Kaydra so that they will have something to remember her. Kaydra has been the most challenging with our move. She cried on the last day of school because she is sad to leave her friends. She doesn't really want to stay in Idaho Falls without us (of course) and she is excited to be in Coeur d'Alene but it seems hard to leave her friends behind. I told her that we will both have to make new friends. It breaks my heart to see her so sad. I wish we could live in both places. I know that Kaydra will make some great friends in Coeur d'Alene and she will be happy there too. But still, we will miss Idaho Falls.