Spartan in Utah and Montana

 Jared and Kaleb ran two Spartan runs this summer. One in Snow Basin, Utah and the other in Big Fork, Montana. The one in Utah was an obstacle course, literally 100% up hill and 100 F! Jared came back clean and Kaleb came back filthy! Jared said it's because Kaleb had to throw himself into the mud all along the way. Kaleb wore his dirt proudly.

This Spartan Run was in Montana and cold. Which is why they are wearing thermals.

I love that these guys will do these things together. The crazy part is these guys are best buddies since birth. And these guys are 4 years apart!

The photographer caught lots of photos of Kaleb. Probably because of his crazy screams and calls that he does all along the way.

Kaleb is such a skinny, light weight but super strong. The only thing he had trouble with was pulling a sandbag on a pully. It kept yanking him up in the air. Guys were telling him to climb the wall and jump. At one point, Jared just reached over and pulled down. 

That's Brotherhood!

Kaleb said this was fun running through the muddy water. I don't doubt it. He gets in to everything he does. He also ropes Jared into doing things like this.

 Jared always says, "why do I want to do that?"

These photos are from Utah where it was 100 degrees. Can you tell who the crazy one of the two are?

I love this picture. 

These are my crazy boys!

Kaleb said he was the only with a daypack. He has everything but the kitchen sink in that bag.

July

Victoria was hungry and inpatient for dinner.

So she grilled the hamburgers....which only proved that she 

could start a fire and grill the burgers all by herself. Aha!

We were at Bear Lake and this guy was sitting in front of us. 

He was using this little kids umbrella to shield himself from the sun. It made me laugh.

Super Cute

Paisley has made a great Mama. 

All these babies are healthy and she has plenty of milk for ALL 3!

Petunia, looks just like her Mama and is very loud like her Mama.

The smallest, Ollie, ended up being the biggest.

Sebastian head bumps like his Daddy. He rears up like he's going to hit hard and then he is super soft. Victoria taught him to fist bump on command. 

All three were adopted into their new homes. Petunia will be bred eventually and both little boys were made wethers. The little boys were adopted together, which I was so happy about. I wanted them to stay together. They looked pretty happy at their new home, hanging out with chickens.

 

July in a Blink

I love these Hollyhocks!

Mostly because of their beautiful color but especially because the seeds were collected from our Arizona friends, the Dart Family long ago. Every year I collect their seeds just in case something happens to the plants and they die or something. I'd feel horrible if I lost that connection with Chrissy.

I often hear a massive bumble bee busy collecting pollen and nectar before buzzzing to another bloom.

MerkTavitch is so cool!

We just need to get some meat on his bones and then keep it on.

July was busy with the installment of our front door and our back doors. We literally lived about three months without door knobs and the doors unstained but they were in place. I love these doors already. 

I was out back visiting with Brody over the fence when I saw this frog hanging out in the canal...and then I saw a little garter snake just a couple feet from the frog!

I love living up here in Northern Utah. We have all sorts of critters that come through our property. We have frogs, snakes, deer, raccoon, pheasants, ducks...

 

Thomas Reunion

Thomas Reunion, July 2, 2021

Kathy and Troy, Rich and Natalie, Mom and Dad, Kirk and I, Daphne, Jared, Kaleb and Victoria. I am so bummed that Aunt Carol didn't make it. She was undergoing treatment for Skin Cancer and didn't want to make the trip. We missed her. And now we really miss her. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her.

 Daphne always has an awesome project that she has been working on to show Uncle Rich. She sculpted this unicorn and painted it. It's beautiful

Can they slouch any more than they are?

We floated the canal, something I absolutely love to do so it was pretty fun sharing it with everyone.

Wildflowers

I haven't decided yet if I love, love, love the wildflowers in our yard every summer or if I hate the wildness mess of them as they grow out of season. They pop up everywhere, in places that you don't really want. But they are so, so pretty. I will probably let them spring up everywhere again next year. Every year I say that I am going to contain them in just a certain area. We'll see.