Summer Vacation

Just catching up...

Last Summer we had the chance to take a fun trip to Sun Valley with my family. We were joined by my parents and my two brothers, their wives and kids. My sister Anne couldn't join us this year. Our group is on the small side but we sure had fun.

We stayed in Matt's brother's house in Hailey (just south of Ketchum/Sun Valley) which was great. He has a big yard where the kids played lots of games and ran around. Matt, my Dad and brothers took the kids fishing several times and they caught multiple fish each time. Other than my Dad's tumble in the river (losing his glasses, hat, wallet, and phone) that was a highlight for the guys. The girls did a little shopping in Hailey and Ketchum. Overall we had a great time just hanging out. Here are some of the pictures.

Matthew, Jake and Katie reading about the swans at Sun Valley.

My Dad doing something with his fishing line. He also spent time tying his own flies. He is sure a master fisherman and he even makes his own fly rods.

My brother zonked out on the couch holding one of his 2 month old babies (who wasn't very interested in sleep at that point).

Miss C. showing off her sucker (which she got from the Grandma Store, see below)


My mom who is the master of all things creative, brought along a good behavior motivator for the kids. "Grandma Linda's Country Store". The kids earned "Grandma Dollars" by making good choices, helping out, or obeying and then they got to spend their dollars at the store. The kids LOVED it!


Some of the offerings in the store and their prices.

Grandma Dollars


Matthew holding Baby R. Two cuties.


All of the grandkids.

A Good Day

Saturdays are good days, packed with things from start to finish. Today, though, was especially good. We started off with Matthew's football game against rival Skyline. Oly played great, winning 40-14. Matthew didn't get many chances to touch the ball but he made two great blocks that left his guy admiring overhead cloud formations.

After football, we came home to find that we had killed one of the many rats that have been eating our tomatoes. The picture below shows what our tomato plants look like thanks to those rats. So, I emptied the dead carcass out, reloaded the trap with more peanut butter (making sure to leave the rat "essence" that I was sure would attract more rats) and then put the trap back out. Within 20 minutes, we had another dead rat, and then within an hour we had our third dead rat. I don't like to think of myself as bloodthirsty, but I loved to see those dead rats. (Matthew and I proudly display them below.) We are hoping that's it for the rats.

Inspired by the vanquishment of the rats, we went to Jake's soccer game. Jake played great, scoring two goals and assisting on another. What I was most proud of though, was his red face. It was hot, but he hustled all game.

Later, I finally convinced Jake to let me pull his tooth that had been hanging down like the single tooth of an old hag. When he finally did, I held on for dear life and when he tried to push my arm away and -- voila -- no more tooth. He looks like good old Jake again (not like an old hag) -- just with fewer teeth. (See below)

We also got the house clean while Amanda was taking pictures. A huge accomplishment for us. Like I said, it was a great day!




Tomato eaten by rat. I hate rats!


Large rat trap loaded with peanut butter.

Dad and Matthew proudly displayed two of the three dead rats.


Jake's toothless grin. The kid looks good again.