Comings and Goings

Sunday night Marty left to go to BYU for Summer Term. Monday he came back because he forgot his pillow and computer. Wednesday EC came to spend the week, Thursday Nick left to Trek and Chris went to New York to spend a few days with Courtney. Saturday, Ethan came for a couple days before going to EFY, and Morgan and her friend spent the night to see him.

Dan, EC, Marty and I all went to the Draper Temple with Luke for the first time on Saturday morning and after, the four of us sealed Dan's Shaeffer Grandparents to each other as well as his Dad to his parents. Saturday night we hosted the young families in the ward for a BBQ and Sunday, Dan's best friend from Clovis, Mark Mitchell, and his wife, came to dinner.

Chris with Courtney and friends at the Mets game.

Teenage Hair Experiments

Nick and Will decided to bleach their hair. 

Monday they rode their bikes to the hair school but found out 

they needed an appointment and it cost $45.

So instead, Tuesday they rode bikes to Walgreens and bought a home bleach kit.

He wanted my help, so we read the directions together, but I told him he would have more fun if he and his friend did it themselves without my help.

They came in every 10 minutes to see if I would check and see if it was working. 😂

He was so excited with how it turned out! Made me happy to see his excitement.

Thursday morning we dropped him off at Trek.

This year they went to Martin's Cove.

He loved his family and his Ma and Pa. He thought there were some cool stories.

But also thought there were too many of them. Great food, though.

Quiet Sunday

It was good to be just the five of us (six with Aunt Marge) again.
We came home to an abundance of strawberries on our plants so we picked and picked and Dan made strawberry ice cream for dessert.

Sitting outside for dinner was heavenly. We had to eat early because the Young Women were having a pre-trek fireside in our backyard later that evening, so the patio wasn't shaded. We moved the table to the grass for shade which made it seem extra special for some reason.

The boys still wanted to play Spike Ball. And also wanted to see if Chris really was taller.

We had a nice FHE about the temple as Chris has friends who are starting to go through. Its awesome to have Marty's perspective as well.

Safe and Sound

After an incredible week, I don't think I was ever more grateful 

to have everyone arrive home safe and sound!

Marty and his friends drove home. 

Chris drove most of his friends home.

Dan, me, Nick and friends and two of Chris' friends who drew the lucky straw flew.

Oh, and Kershaw too.

After the boys were all home that night,

And the friends were all home back to their families,

And the cars were unpacked and unloaded,

I ate ice cream.

Thursday

Four boys had to leave early this morning. I heard them go and couldn't fall back to sleep, so took Kershaw for a 5:30 a.m. walk around the loop. It was lovely to be out in the quiet dawn.

Sleeping under the stars!

Chris and friends sprayed down the ATV's and wiped them off to start getting camp cleaned up.

They play hard, but they work hard too.

Nick was excited to drive the jeep.

He drove me over to the old schoolhouse. Yikes! 

However, he did great and is a pretty good driver already!

Photos of different cabins and styles to get ideas for our cabin.

That afternoon we hiked to the Falls. The water was RUSHING! I've never seen the river so high.

While I made dinner, the boys had a Spike Ball tournament.

The bracket 

During our last campfire, Chris played the guitar. Then Johnny and Aldo also played and sung.

What a trip. Harrowing. Frustrating. Hard Work. Unplugged. Grateful. Beautiful. Priesthood. Friendship. Blessed. Together. Family.

Wednesday

Wednesday, Day 4:


Marty and friends left first thing after breakfast to ATV over to Pagosa Peak for a big hike. When they were gassing up at the store, they found out the mountain road was closed as there was still a lot of snow on the mountain. So instead they ATV'd to Williams Creek and hiked there.

Dan decided he needed to put the teenage boys to work. They helped him move pipe from the old property to the new property, then placed it in the irrigation ditch on the hill to help with the flow. They were awesome workers and happy to have a project!

Meanwhile Dan and I measured out the new home site, marking the corners with cairns and experimenting with where we wanted angles and views.

Austin could barely move, but didn't want to miss out on the action, so rode the mule to the work site.

New pipe 

Marty's crew got home to join us for a late lunch and entertained us with stories of the bear they saw along the trail! They started walking toward it, but then thought better of it and turned around and came back!

Dirty and happy

Dan had work to do in town so took all the boys to the Hot Springs. 

I was thrilled to stay home by myself cleaning, reading, writing and napping!

Chris' friends left to do a photo shoot after dinner. 

Notice how they coordinate in flannel shirts for the campfire!