working on Stuart's Railroad

We were out and about this afternoon, and found several building kits on clearance at the local hobby store.  Since Stuart has been working on the railroading merit badge, we thought it would be a good idea to let him buy a few of them.  We came home, and were all working on this one.   Here is the progress so far

The Monster in the Couch

Yes, we have a monster that lives in our couch - and it comes out and attacks at random.

Although, I should probably back up the story a bit.  With Joseph working nights, he tends to sleep on the couch in the basement during the warm summer days.  He was laying there, asleep, when all of a sudden something was attacking him, something sharp and pointy, from the INSIDE of the couch, from behind the cushion.   In his half awake state, he rolled over, and looked, only to see 2 yellow eyes staring back out at him.  Any attempt to remove the little monster from inside the couch was thwarted, by an attack of claws.

Apparently, the cat likes to hide in the space under there (the cushions don't fit tight), and she wanted to play. 

Joseph gave up trying to reclaim the couch and finished sleeping on the floor.

Fun Family Time

It has been a busy few days.  Mom and Dad brought Stuart home.  We were able to see him for 24 hours - before he left for Scout Camp.   When they got home, he came straight downstairs to see us.  He is HUGE!  He really did grow 2 inches while he was gone.  He is as tall as Joseph now, and obviously taller than I am.  He is eating even more, and tripping over his own feet (which are even bigger).  He managed to break the shower handle downstairs (I'm still not sure how that happened).  But we are very glad to have him home.  It's been much too quiet without him home.

Saturday, we have a large family picnic over at Mack Park.  We brought the boy a giant green ball and bubbles, but we all had the most fun in the creek.  We even had my father, with his jeans rolled up and his cane, wading in the water!  The boys have had the most fun though - throwing rocks and building damns.

Mom and Dad are heading to Matt and Crenda's for the rest of the week, but plan on being back up here on Saturday, when Stuart gets home. (see? we are replaced as soon as we have children!)  They'll stay for a bit longer and then head on home.

Quality Time with Joseph

Doesn't it seem, that we simply don't have enough quality time with the ones we love?

Joseph and I decided to spend the day together.  He had the day off from work, and the shop was closed - so we decided to take off for the day.

We started the morning with a canoe trip down the Bear River.  That river winds and winds.  Nathan and Elaine loaned us the canoe (and the truck to haul it) and told us, if we "let in" right where we turn to go to there house - we were about 2 hours from the dock in Amalga.  I was a doubtful in the beginning - we are less than a 10 min drive at that point - but they were right on (hmm... like they had done this before or something  ;-P

Anyway - Nathans instructions were to just hoist the canoe over the barbed wire - I asked if he meant the barbed wire with the "NO TRESPASSING" sign - and yeah... he did.  Joseph and I were a little squemish about that - and found a section with no fence - that worked well.    We had breakfast on the river (chocolate milk and fresh donuts - YUM) and headed off!  It was comical at first-with me in the back trying to steer - but we got the hang of it.

It was a gorgeous morning!  and so quiet out there, we were able to see portions of the valley that you can't see any other way.  The wildlife was everywhere, and not afraid of us.  We saw deer, falcons, even a HUGE owl.  The fish were litereally jumping right out of the water.

After our canoeing adventure, we headed out to Ogden, and stopped and had a nice picnic in a park in Willard  - including a nap!  The weather was perfect - light breeze, but not too warm.  After our picnic, we saw Mom Tveter, and helped her out with yardwork and shopping.  With the wedding coming up, we trimmed back all of the bushes up the front walk and cleaned up the roses and mowed.  It looks much better now. 

The evening ended as we leisurely headed north again, stopping at the fruit stands (there isn't anything really in yet, but it was still fun) and ended up at Patti and Aaron's.  They were shooting off fireworks and roasting smores in the back yard - out in the fields.  I would really like someone to explain to me, how it is that the general intelligence of guys drops significantly when fire is involved - and PLUMMETS when you add fireworks to the mix?   But, they had fun and nothing blew up, so I guess all's well that ends well.

It was still a fantastic day.