Summer Rain

 

A Parade and a Remodel

Victoria and her good friends Josie and Brooklyn hung out on the tailgate with Bonnie to watch the parade, social distance style. Due to the Virus, the parade traveled right past our house. It was great because we were busy with ripping out the bathroom with our only shower.

Miss Bonnie got lots of attention. Guys would stop the parade to ask what this cute little goat's name was. Bonnie is pretty social. She was a complete bottle baby so she is people imprinted.

I turned around and saw this! Not only is he wearing his "Eat Mor Chikn" shirt that he painted as a costume that he wore for Dog 4H. Sammy was a cow with a cow bell around his neck. Anyway, I turned around to see him waving to the parade people sitting on the toilet that they just removed from the bathroom. Miss Hyde Park waved to Kaleb and yelled that she liked his seat! Kaleb, you're not going to get a girl friend this way....or maybe that is what he's trying to do.

So this took place the second week of July and we are now in September....and the bathroom is still not done. We have hit road block after road block. I won't tell you what just happened....well, lets just say that I have to order ANOTHER ceiling rod for the shower rod that Kaleb bent himself. 

I am so happy to see this bathroom go! The plaster on the walls was so thick! It was disgusting. The boys gladly took the walls down to the studs.

We have had this dump trailer parked right out front of our house quite a few weekends.

 

Camping in Idaho

Knowing that Victoria struggles up in elevation, we thought we would give it another try and attempt to camp again. This time in Idaho. She has started on a whole new handful of supplements to help her brain recover, rebuild her adrenal glands, work with an Occupational Therapist to help recover from the brain injury....we needed the weekend away from it all but unfortunately, the medical condition was still present. She stayed hydrated, took all her supplements, took naps and played games when she could.

She is pretty amazing.

And like I've said before, there is never a dull moment. Always a party!

Victoria is teaching Kaleb how to rope. 

She brought her little roping dummy along.

Look closely at these next two pictures. I was trying to get Jasper to look at me so I could get an awesome picture of him sitting in this little grassy area. We were off the trail and it was quiet. The perfect place to just sit and "be". Well, he wouldn't look at me, and then he looks at me with just his eye. He would not turn his head!

Look at his eye. I think he was annoyed that I wanted him to look at me and he KNEW it!

He finally looks at me and glares at me. He let me know that he did not want his picture taken.

Kaleb brought his nature journal that he has been working on for the past four years. Kaleb and I have had some fun times working on our journals. He is better at keeping up with entries. Lately, I haven't been so good at it but he inspired me to make an entry.

 

Rockland Idaho

The girls and I spent a wonderful afternoon in Rockland at our dear friend Rachael and her adorable little boy. It was an afternoon of dogs and horses. I love how Silas is patiently waiting for Victoria and Rachael to arrive on the ATV. Really, he is waiting so he chase them!

Rachael turned Victoria loose on the ATV. She drove it up and down their driveway, which is really a dirt road on their 40 acres of property. It worked out because if she were to walk the distance, it would have wiped her out due to the medical condition that she has.

Rachael has taught Victoria about Connection Training. So they were practicing the techniques with her horses, Rowan and Frea.

Of course her Ram, Ramses wanted to get in on all the attention too.

He looks more like a goat than a sheep to me, but he's a sheep.

I got to push little Ren around while he took a nap.

It was pure bliss.

There they go again, with Silas leading the way!

I'm in heaven.....

Victoria and Daphne were working with Rowan. I like Rachael's vest that Victoria is wearing. She has the pockets all stuffed with hay as a treat to reward him. 

 

June Camping

I'm writing this in September about our June Campout in Smithfield Canyon. 

How has the time flown by when we were supposedly doing less because of this Covid Virus.

Either way, we all needed a break and get a way. Daphne set up her backpacking tent and had quite a few things to do stashed in her bag. 

The boys slept in the 4 man tent that Kirk and I honeymooned in. That tent was worth every cent that we spent on it. It felt like a lot of money at first, but it has lasted on many, many, many camping trips.

I love that our family enjoys each other's company. I love that there is never a dull moment. 

It always feels like a party is going on.

Like I said....always laughter going on, lots of goofiness....which is usually Kaleb. 

Kaleb can make anyone laugh just by being his crazy self.

This is proof that it still gets chilly in June when the sun drops behind the mountains. Sammy is a bit cold and I guess we forgot their coats. Oops. 

I love Sammy's basset hound neck. He has so much extra skin.

It was enjoyable even though we almost packed up early to go home. Victoria's headache was almost un-manageable. She slept a lot. We think it was the altitude messing with her concussion making it worse. It's hard not being able to do a thing to help your child manage their pain. 

This summer has been an adventure in itself with her brain.

Dog lazy days of Summer!

 

Daphne's Scavenger Hunt

I bought Daphne this plant called "The Cat's Meow".

I planted it "somewhere" in our yard. I gave her the label stick and told her to go find it.

She hasn't found it yet. Maybe I should give her a prize or something if she finds it, even though the plant is kind of the prize. I might need to give her a hint. Our flower beds are quite large.

Dinner at Bear Lake

We packed up our dinner on a Friday Night and brought it to Bear Lake.

The drive through the canyon was beautiful.

Kirk cooked up the hot dogs and accidently dropped one on the ground.
Jasper was hungry the whole time because Victoria uses hot dogs as training treats for 4H.

She gave him the hot dog that fell on the ground and he honestly didn't know what to do with it.

It that was Henry he would have swallowed it whole. Jasper, he mouthed it a couple times, held it in his mouth like a cigar and finally chewed a hunk off. It was funny watching him figure it out.

The wind kicked up and the waves kicked up as well.

It was beautiful.

Victoria took this picture of Jasper.

Her buddy

We came through the canyon when it was dark. It was a little nerve wracking because deer were everywhere. You just hope that they don't jump out in front of you.

I think my neck was stiff by the time we got home because I felt like I was preparing myself for one to jump out in front of us. It didn't happen but they were so close to the road it was crazy. They could have easily done it.