The Howards

6 months?!?

2010-12-20T16:12:00.005-07:00

Can you believe it has already been six months?! Its so crazy how fast the time has gone! Well we haven't shared a ton about Tru on our blog so let me introduce you.

Tru- a.k.a. TruBoy and Truford. Tru is very a very happy active, little man. He loves to be in his walker/scooter and to play on the floor. If there is something he sees and wants across the room, he will roll and roll and roll until he reaches it. No need to crawl, just roll everywhere. He loves LOVES daddy and always gives him loves and kisses when he comes home. One of his favorite things is to feel daddy's goatee.

When he laughs or likes something, he scrunches his nose and gives a little snort noise or blows in and out his nose really fast (if you can imagine that). When he wakes up in the morning or from a nap, he is the happiest kid in town. He will talk and squeal to himself until we come in the room, then he wiggles and shakes his head, snorts, and scrunches his nose all at the same time - the best thing ever to wake up to. He also likes to shake his head back and forth like he is saying "no no no" but I still don't think he quite knows what it means.

His favorite food right now- anything edible. It doesn't matter what it is, he will eat it whole heartily. He does still spit up a ton though. But he doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact, it just makes him dirty ALL THE TIME. The best is at church; it seems that it is always the worst there, he loves to spit up all over his church clothes and ours. Perfect when you have to do a musical number.

Besides Mom and Dad, his best friend is Penny. Penny is working on her jealousy issues and Tru loves to pet her and try to sneak in loves. When he is playing on the floor, Penny will come lay near by and Tru likes to gently pet her paws. He will chase her all day in his walker.

He is becoming better at snuggling, but since he was newborn he has never liked to be swaddled or restricted in any way. He always has his arms up and will grunt and push away if you try to snuggle. If take him from your hip and then lift him above you, his body position remains the same, legs out, arms out, stiff as a board.

He is curious about everything. Tru loves to play on shaggy carpet. He slowly runs his fingers through the carpet and you can tell he is thinking really hard about it. He has to touch everything that is in his reach. Feel it, and carefully think about it. In fact, one time, he went down for his nap and about 15 minutes later I could hear rustling in his crib, then I hear him giggling and squealing. I go in to find he had pulled these three stuffed horses off the side of his crib and was playing with them all having a grand time. In the store he pulls clothing off the racks. Just today Tru has tried pulling cords out of sockets, Christmas ornaments off the tree, and rip off all the wrapping paper from the gifts. Time to start child proofing.

Tru is our pride and joy. He is the best thing that has ever happened to our lives and marriage. It is everything and nothing that we had imagined. Hard at times, no doubt, but the funnest too. We are so grateful Tru has joined our little family. We love you Tru Blue!

Here is a little video of Tru with pictures and videos from the past few weeks put to his song.

Jackson Lake

2010-09-25T12:30:00.000-06:00

The Grand Tetons from the Jackson side.

Sara is so happy to be out in the fresh air. The weather was so wonderful and warm.

Not a wave in the water. And its very clear, you can nearly see down to the bottom.

They were having a controlled burn on the Driggs side and the smoke came over the mountains just as the sun was going down.

Thanks Ma and Pa for taking us! We loved every minute of it, even the bad jokes!

Mesa Falls

2010-09-22T21:18:00.000-06:00

Sara had to get out of the house again. She can't seem to sit still! I think she gets it from her mother! We had Jacob and Jessica come up with us to Mesa Falls. They had never been. Always beautiful!

New pictures of Tru and our vacation

2010-08-22T21:47:00.005-06:00

We headed to Bear Lake Utah this week with Matt and Amy . The weather was beautiful! We went to Pickelville Playhouse and watched Jaunito Bandito Rides Again. It was hilarious! Then enjoyed a fresh raspberry shake.

We also spent some time in Island Park this week at Jacob's Cabin with Siddoway's, Harris's, Schwendimans, and Leavitts. Sara did some surfing, and I enjoyed a long four-wheeler ride.

Tru was blessed today! Aug 1st

2010-08-01T22:31:00.000-06:00

Mr. Tru has a surprise at the end

2010-08-01T22:16:00.002-06:00

Sara took this on her iphone while she was getting her hair done. Listen till the end.

Tru

2010-07-02T22:08:00.003-06:00

Well, we had a baby. June 16th 2010. 7 lbs 12 oz. Tru Howard. Here's some pictures of the little man.

The Cat's out of the Bag...

2010-01-26T17:50:00.004-07:00

Well really have not kept up on our blogging. Christmas parties, New Year's Parties, Daris's birthday, BOTH Dads' birthday, trips we've made, etc, etc, etc... We just have let too much time and too many picture pile up to try to play catch up! There is one very important thing that we DID want to blog about though. We really kept it on the downlow for a while, but word has spread, and if you have seen me (Sara) the question crosses your mind- "Is she pregnant or is she just getting fat?" Well the truth is- there is a baby in my belly. Yes, that right. We are expecting. Better yet- We just found out last week that it will be a little....... BOY! Both Daris and I were very excited. We both kinda felt it would be a boy... in fact... I have to confess that I had already bought a little boy crib set, and we originally painted our spare bedroom blue. So it does make it convenient that it really is a boy! Either way- if you felt left out because we didn't tell you- it is because we mainly told our immediate family, a then word leaked out from there. To be honest, its one of those awkward things to really tell someone.... like... "Guess what?! I am pregnant! Now Congratulate me!" Maybe its just me, but I am completely awkward about telling people. So, please don't be mad at me because of social inabilities! Here are a couple of the clearest pictures.

The Desert

2009-11-05T19:48:00.004-07:00

The last weekend in September we took off to Oakley. I forget how much more of a desert it is than in Newdale. It was about 90 when we went that particular weekend and so it was nice to try to hit one last ounce of summer. We went on a baja off-road ride, then hiked through the brush and cedars to a neat spot where there are Indian Hieroglyphs. It's too bad though- among these hieroglyphs are modern carved out names and pictures - some right over top of the Indian carvings. What are people thinking when they do this!?

Family Pictures

2009-09-21T20:18:00.004-06:00

Here are our family pictures we just recently took. We redeemed our "Christmas Coupon" from our sister-in-law Tracy. She did a fantastic job!

Camping

2009-09-17T22:21:00.005-06:00

Well, I am starting to panic. There isn't enough summer time left! We are trying to cram pack every once of outside time that we can. Here are a few escapades we went on recently. These first ones were at Palisades. We did some boating and camping with my family one night. The next we found a nice spot along the shore, and beached the boat and camped there the next night with Daris' family.

These pictures below were another weekend just past Green Canyon area. Daris, Penny, and I just went as our own little family.

Apples Apples Apples

2009-09-04T19:27:00.005-06:00

Here is the apple tree in our back yard. Last year we thought it was a goner and about ripped it out, but we trimmed 'er up, watered 'er, and gave some good food, and the branches got so heavy with apples, they started breaking off! I took the apples to a friends house and we canned apple pie filling and applesauce. Then I went and made some more with my mother and sister in law so they could have some too! IT IS YUMMY! (this year I can proudly say I have also made freezer jam, and frozen corn off the cob.) Behold the fruits of our labors!

Howard Reunion

2009-08-30T15:04:00.003-06:00

I forgot to put these picture up from the Howard Reunion a few weeks ago. We had a great time. We enjoyed the bike rides, huckleberry picking (which ended up making the best raspberry huckleberry strawberry jam!) and just relaxing. You can tell Penny had a great time with her little friends. They were very careful to keep her on her leash at the campground and to tie her up properly.

A little sunshine

2009-08-30T14:55:00.003-06:00

Last weekend Brad and Madlynne called up and wanted to go on a quick boat ride, so off we went to Ririe Reservoir for one last whoop-lah for the summer. Well, everyone else must have had the same idea. There was a gianormous line to even park your car and trailer. Forget that! So we drove to Palisades instead. Besides, it's prettier. And smells nicer. =)

Pack Saddle

2009-08-27T22:35:00.009-06:00

Last week Jessica B. and I decided to take a good hike, so we went to Pack Saddle just between my house and Driggs! We had a great time walking and talking. We also brought our swimming suits and took a little swim in the cold lake. There was a swing there that you can drop off into the lake. It was kinda SCARY at first.. but a lot of fun but again VERY COLD! I LOVE MY JESSICA!

Jessica for about 12 or 13 some years has had a "fear" of beef. She was convinced by her boyfriend that she was really missing out, so she gave it a whirl. Now hamburgers are her new favorite food as seen here.

Catch of the Day

2009-08-04T22:26:00.002-06:00

For Young Women's we went fishing in Sue Rick's private pond. It was raining and lightening, but the storm blew over and we didn't end up completely skunked! Here's me in my proud moment!

Saddle UP!

2009-08-02T16:48:00.014-06:00

Well we took another little trip to Oakley and met up with my mom and dad along with my sister Holly and her family (Eric, Erica, and Megan- Brendan and Justin had to stay home and go to work) to go on trail ride to Independence Lakes, just up the mountain by Oakley. It is just a day ride to a series of small lakes. Every summer we would ride our horses here. It is one of my most favorite places on earth.

One of my favorite things is that there are so many wildflowers and streams you cross. The water is so perfectly clear. Some places it seems like ...... only God could make such a beautiful place. Man could not make something like this. It's too bad that pictures don't do it justice. The picture above with the open meadow of flowers, those purple flower were literately about 4 feet tall! They were gorgeous.

We all took turns riding and hiking. It was so funny, the whole time up and back Penny had to check on everyone along the way. She would go to the front and check on everyone on the horses, then run back to everyone that was hiking, walk with the person in the back for a minute then back to the front of the line. As you can see we were relieved to make it to the lake to have our lunch. We built a fire and had hot dogs and smores, along with other treats.

When we got up there, all our water was warm and about out, lucky Daris and I ventured up a little way and found a spring coming right out of the ground (as you can see us modeling the spring). So Holly hiked up with me and we filled our water bottles and drank up. I hope we all don't end up with parasites.

This one is my favorite picture of the weekend. When Daris and I went on our own little hike and found the spring, we just decided to climb over the hill. I should have taken more pictures along that hike! When you are climbing, it is just large rocks and boulders and you can hear water running underneath you through the rocks below, but you can't see it. Flowers and grass are growing through all the rocks in patches along the way. Then you come over the hill to see this lake at the top. You can't beat that view!

Newdale's Girls Camp

2009-07-10T18:40:00.003-06:00

The Newdale Girls camp was held in Island Park at the Jacobs Family Cabin. We had a great time, the water was great, the food was great and the views of the mountains were great. These were the only two pictures that we took.

Larsen Family Reunion

2009-07-10T18:36:00.002-06:00

This is the most current picture of Sara's family (minus the kids) Left to right: Amy, Matt, Nate, Holly, Madlynne, Brad, Brad, Tammy, Sara, Daris, Karma and Tim

Lewis and Clark Caverns

2009-07-10T18:32:00.002-06:00

Sara and I wanted to to head up to Lewis and Clark Caverns with Tyson and Jessica and we had a very enjoyable time. We took some pictures of the stalagmites and stalactites and of the view from the caves.

Fathers Day

2009-07-10T18:29:00.001-06:00

We spend Fathers day in the sun at Mike and Kathy's. Sara is basking in the sun while it was out. We enjoyed dutch oven potatoes and steak.

Kitchen Remodel

2009-07-10T18:22:00.002-06:00

Well, were at another project again. This time it involved some new cabinets for the kitchen. Sara's dad, Tim was the man for the job and made us all new doors. We've spend a couple day's fitting the cabinets to there spot and currently we are sanding them and getting them ready for some beautiful paint. We will take new pictures as soon as we're complete with the project.

Small Road Trip

2009-06-16T22:56:00.003-06:00

Sara and I wanted to go on a little drive Saturday morning, so we took one. I was excited to go because I finally fixed our car. It needed two new CV axles an four new upper control arms in the suspension so we could get rid of that raddle and the wiggle in the steering. So we drove through Ennis and then through Virgina City, which is the picture above, and around through Bozeman and home. It ended up being around 350 miles but was very enjoyable. Sara wants to go back up and go through the Lewis and Clark Caverns. So we may in a couple weeks.

Penny's New Friend

2009-05-11T18:34:00.003-06:00

Our neighbor has a new puppy named Oakley. It has discovered our dog Penny and comes over to play. This afternoon, Sara caught them playing tug of war with each other. They kept them selves very entertained.

More Pictures of the KW

2009-05-11T18:15:00.003-06:00

It was finally a good sunny day, so I decided to take some better pictures of the Kenworth.

More Photos

2009-05-05T15:11:00.003-06:00

Well, this is the front and side shot. Still haven't finished the top eve. We will definitely be looking into a new door and will be painting the trim to match the new shakes.

This is the side I've worked on today, however, the wind is blowing so hard that little pieces of wood are flying in my eyes and everywhere. I may have to postpone finishing it until the wind dies down this evening.
The shingles that we have a thick and cut to different lengths to add a more rustic touch to it.
This is our little "Post Office". It was once used as the Newdale Post Office and still contains some old antique box's inside with my Grandpa Pete's name on it. Were currently using it as storage, but have decided to take the chicken coop wire off and paint the windows and soon the door that was just replaced because the wind ripped it right off. Seriously!

I've got the shakes

2009-05-05T14:49:00.003-06:00

Well, if any one has seen our little garage, you would know that it needs some TLC. So, because we live next to some wonderful neighbors, who are both builders, we acquired some cedar shakes on a swinging deal. Next to nothing! So, I took a few day's off and decided to improve the look. I almost forgot to take some before and after pictures. So here are some that I took. This is of the North Side of the garage. The siding is currently pilling and looking pretty terrible. The other side looks really bad.

This is the other side. Looks pretty bad. The window was broken and boarded up before we even moved in. I took the window out and took it into St. Anthony to have the glass replaced.

This is the front view. I had already started before I could get a snap shot of it. The shakes go on pretty easy.

Ma and Pa came and looked at the work. I still have some fine tuning on the front. I lost my ability to think properly that evening so it will have to wait until I get my reasoning skills back.

The Odell's

2009-05-05T14:41:00.003-06:00

Holly and Eric came over the other night and showed us some of there new family photo's that my Sister in-law took. I thought I would share some of them with you.

This is Megan

This is Erica
This is Justin

This is Brendan, he is graduating this Spring.
And this is the whole family together. I think it's a very nice picture.

The new Kenworth

2009-03-23T19:14:00.003-06:00

Meet #49, an addition to the family. The old man is back into the trucking business and started off with a Kenworth this time. These photo's were taken right after Brooke Passey put these lovely stripes on the truck. We wanted to choose something that you could see while driving on the other side of the freeway, while maintaining uniqueness.

This was taken the night before we striped it up. We also polished the tanks and wheels to make for a stunning appearance.

I'll have to take a better picture with the trailers hooked up.

Bullwinkle

2009-03-12T18:34:00.004-06:00

My mother is throughly pleased to see this lovely moose hanging on her wall. My father shot this moose in the Fall of 2007 and the taxidermy just finished the mount. I'll tell you one thing, it sure was tasty! We've had moose burger, moose steak, moose roast, moose heart and moose jerky! We haven't bought meat since 2007 and we'll be good until the end of this year.

Disney Land

2009-02-04T20:47:00.011-07:00

Well, we headed out of the cold state of Idaho to experience the happiest place on earth. We were excited when my sister Kim asked us to join them in Disneyland with there children. So Sara and I headed out Wednesday morning and arrived in Anaheim California at about 8:30 pm. We stayed only a few blocks away from the resort in my parents timeshare. After we arrived we felt that we needed to go on a little walk. The weather was awesome! On Tuesday the temperatures were -30 so 75 above was very welcome. So here we are in an outside mall with no jackets on. I miss it all ready.

This is the kids getting ready to go to California Adventures on Thursday morning and waiting with Sara for the bus.

Claire stole her kit kat one morning and told me she wanted to "hold it fo just 5 minutes". That seemed to be her response for everything. It became quite comical with the things she wanted to hold with her 5 minutes.
The Hills stopped for a family photo. Pretty fun kids!
Grant had a terrible accident and lost his right eye. He seems to cope with out it just fine however.

This is our only picture of us in Disney Land. The other photos are in California Adventures. Sara got a lot of compliments for her flower from different people at the park!
We stopped in Vegas on our way through. Sara posed for the lovely photo on the very clean and full of the spirit strip.

Off to Oakley and Jackpot

2009-01-24T19:50:00.005-07:00

We decided to head down to Oakley for the weekend to visit the parents and also get some tasty food at Cactus Petes buffet in Jackpot Nevada for Daris' birthday. We had great time until Mr. Police man pulled Daris over for doing 60 mph in 50 mph zone and handed us a ticket for $75 big ones. Little jerk!

So we got back from dinner around 8:30 pm and sang some songs and Tim got out the Ukulele and we decided to take some footage of the events.

Here's another shot of him playing.

So of course we bring our lovely dog along with us to Oakley. She really enjoys comming down because she gets to spend lovely time with Gunner. We notice, however, that she makes the funniest noises while she plays.

The current storm

2008-12-22T21:24:00.002-07:00

Penny looks like a raccoon. We took her out to see the storm. Penny was covered in snow. As soon as she got in the porch she pawed most of it off.

This is just out side of our house. We didn't know if anything could be seen because it was so dark and windy. It was like a winter hurricane. Sara said that she has never seen a storm like this.

Christmas

2008-12-19T18:27:00.004-07:00

Well, were back to blogging. We took some pictures of the house and Sara's wonderful tree.

We were invited to Carol and Ronny's house for tacos to celebrate Sara's birthday and they happened to have "extra" tree, so we drug it in and put some lights and things on it and this is what we got. Penny wanted to pose for the picture.

Bathroom Remodel

2008-11-01T09:33:00.002-06:00

Sara and I needed to redo our bathroom sink and counter top. I don't know if anybody remembers, but the cabinets were grandma pink. So we decided to tile the counter top, put a new sink and faucet in and paint the cabinets. Well, we changed our mind on the tile and bought a pre-finished counter top, but it was short a few inches on each side. So I remembered that we had unfinished hardwood flooring in our shop. So we got creative and made a new counter top from hardwood and put a dark stain on it to have it match our floor and topped it of with some semi-gloss varnish. It looks wonder and vintage.
Now for the cabinets, Sara's dad made us two new doors to add a little diffenition to the room, we bought Benjamin Moore cabinet paint and went to work on covering the pink.
Sorry the pictures are blurry. I took them with my phone because we've misplaced our camera.

Boating at Jackson Lake

2008-10-02T19:45:00.004-06:00

After we were done boating, we drove through Yellowstone and took some nice pictures.

Sara and I had the opportunity to go to Jackson Lake and Yellowstone National Park last Saturday. This photo is taken off the dock.

We enjoyed a lovely boat ride in Aunt Robyn's boat. We road around and saw the scenery, then had a wonderful sandwich.

As you can see, Sara is quite the surfer!!

A little more than a breeze...

2008-09-03T21:13:00.008-06:00

As you can see, on Sunday we had a little more than a breeze at our house. Sometime in the night our big tree lost one of its main branches. Sad to say, but the rest of the tree will probably have to go, it's was pretty shabby before this branch fell.

Before we knew it, Niederers called and offered to cut up the branch and take the wood, but Bruce Harper had them beat!

Tuesday we decided we better clean up the rest, and by the time we walked out door, there were our neighbors, the Battons and Scott Brewer, to help clean up. We loaded the pick-up with loose limbs and then made a pile of the heavier sticks and logs.

Today, someone came by and picked up the wood, we still don't know who! Thanks to everyone for helping us clean up our little disaster!

2008-08-27T18:16:00.008-06:00

We decided to have a weekend with our good friends Tyson and Jessica. We first took off Friday evening to find the ice caves in the geo. With a few phone calls (all which dropped) and quite a bit of guessing, we found the caves out in the middle of the desert. It was really cool to slide on ice in the summer time.

As you can see, there were some tight squeezes.

There were also some pretty sweet ice crystals everywhere.

Saturday, we went to Jackson Hole and spent the day wandering through town and then went to Bar J Wranglers. It was great. Here are Tyson and Jess while we were hanging out before dinner.

Some of my favorite pictures of Sara

2008-08-19T20:41:00.003-06:00

This is our first minutes as man and wife. We were sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple not just for time but for eternity. I think that Sara's long blond hair caught my eye early in the relationship. We were married February 18th 2005.

Sara's all ways been a good trouper to learn new things. I think this was the first couple times that we went golfing together. Sara has admitted that golf make's her completely frustrated and above all makes her swear.

Sun Valley is our very favorite place to vacation. We always stay at the Sun Valley lodge and relax in the huge soaking pool. We ended up going to Sun Valley for Sara's birthday and here she is showing off her new skis. She is a very good skier and can't stand to be left behind. She's made a goal to be able to ski as fast as my mom and aunt Robyn.

Water is a place that we both love to be. We decided to go boating some place that we have never been, so I talked the old man into going to Jackson Lake, Wy. As you can see from this picture your right next to the Teton mountain range.

This picture is in the Sun Valley lodge at River Run. We had just got done eating our lunch and taking a break. Sara gave a big old "cheese"!

Boating in Palisades

2008-08-18T21:21:00.009-06:00

We thought that we had better go boating this summer in Palisades, so we called Sara's sister Holly and made some plans. They reserved a camp spot on across the dam with there lovley travel trailer. It was great, the weather was warm and the water was wet!

Brendon and Justin had a wonderful time on the tube! They were afraid of the cold water and felt that the needed a wet suit, I of course didn't think the water was too bad.

Of course we took Penny the guard dog with us and she made sure that we were all "ok"
In fact Penny wanted to ride the tube, so she jumped on with Sara and Erica, Penny thought the water was warm as well.

We all had a great time together and the weather was perfect

This was the last run of the day, I felt like a little knee boarding.

Pioneer Day's--Oakley Idaho

2008-07-28T21:22:00.002-06:00

Every year we go to Oakley for a Pioneer Celebration. The Saturday kicks off with a early breakfast with eggs, sausage and pancakes. Meanwhile the runners are arriving from the Goose Creek Runoff, witch starts at the Oakley dam and finishes on Main Street. The children have a special "fun time" at 10:00 am, with a nap at 11:00, then it's back to the street for the p-rade!

This is a steam powered John Deere. This old gramp was spinning cookies and things

There were also plenty of pretty horses

Pictured here is Mindy Birch, Sara and Ali McBride--The famous trio!

Sara and I posted for a shot! Wow, Sara's tan!

Our New Sport-Biking

2008-07-16T20:02:00.004-06:00

Well Sara and I have had two very nice bikes but nowhere to ride them without leaving Newdale. So I purchased a Yakima bike rack. So this is our first day using them. They look fabulous with the a6
Sara stopped for a photo while we were biking in Moody.

Baptism for Hailey

2008-07-16T19:58:00.004-06:00

Hailey was baptized on July 5th. So while we were over in Boise we attended. Congratulations Hailey!

4th of July in Boise

2008-07-16T19:53:00.002-06:00

Sara and I ended up going to Boise for the 4th, and of course we had to bring our dog! We had a really good time, we ended up floating the Boise River in the morning and watching the fire works that evening.

Mom and Dad also had a very enjoyable time!

Handcart Trek

2008-07-02T14:25:00.017-06:00

We just returned from our youth group trip to Martin's Cove. We not only went to Martin's Cove but also to where the Willie company camped when help arrived from Salt Lake, then we also camped at Rock Creek, where the Willie Co. camped after going over the 27 hr walk over Rocky Ridge. This is also the same place where 13 people were buried in a common grave after freezing to death that night.

What an awesome experience. This picture is just outside of Martin's Cove in some of the area that we pulled our handcarts.

These areas were definately hallowed, sacred places. It was one of the most spiritual experiences that I have ever had.

Here we are on the trail. We went about 20 miles over 3 days. The first day we walked 3 miles, then 7 miles, then our last day was 10 miles. Not too bad.

As you can also see, we got a little wet.

It was very cool to watch the boys carry across some of the girls as we re-enacted the river crossing done by the Martin Co. One of most moving moments of the trip. Everyone was extremely reverent. Hardly anyone said anything and if they did, it was in whispers.

Here you can see our lovely handcart we pulled as well as our lovely outfits that everyone worked so hard on.

These two pictures are at Rock Creek where the Common Grave of 13 was. The picture of the willows was where the Spirit was the strongest I have ever felt. Again, another area where no-one talked expect maybe in whispers. We definately knew that this was an experience to remember.

I should of been a plowboy!

2008-06-08T12:24:00.006-06:00

Well it was time to till the ground so I hooked the old Massey Ferguson to the ripper and went to work. While tilling the land Sara and I cleared a nice spot to plant our first garden. All in all it was a cold June day.

This is myself perched a top of the Massey Ferguson Tractor

I FINISHED IT!

2008-06-06T09:49:00.003-06:00

So, I finally finished my chalkboard! I have been drawing on it for the past hour and a half. It was like I was five all over again! Anywho... I found the frame at the D.I. back in April. It was an old mirror that had been broken out. Then I gave it a facelift (and had to fix a broken wood piece). Now it has the perfect walllspace next to the stove. It was meant to be. I was so excited, I planned out a weeks worth of meals just so that I could write them on my chalkboard! I even shopped specifically for those meals! Maybe this can increase my organization skills!

Tagged by Kim

2008-05-30T11:24:00.003-06:00

So Daris' sister Kim tagged me and I'm actually spending more than five minutes sitting down at the computer. I feel like I'm in junior high filling this out, just so you know. Also, the info below is just what I feel like today. It is bound to change with mood.

Things about me:

Four movies I could watch over and over:

1. Nacho Libre (especially with any sibling)

2. Pride and Prejudice

3. The Count of Monte Cristo

4. The Four Feathers

Four jobs I've had:

1. Lifeguard

2. Melalueca phone lady

3. Secretary at insurance office

4. Bank teller

Four places I've lived:

1. Oakley, ID

2. Rexburg, ID

3. Meridian, ID

4. Newdale, ID

Four things I love to eat:

1. SALSA SALSA SALSA!!! (Puerto Vuerta recipe/ super fresh only)

2. Strawberry-spinach salad w/ homemade poppyseed dressing

3. Texas sheet cake (the extra fattening version)

4. Chocolate-malt ovaltine

Four TV shows I like to watch:

1. American Idol

2. Dancing with the Stars

3. Everybody Loves Raymond

4. Seinfield

Four sites I visit:

?????

1. A variety of blogs

2. Gmail

3. Netflix

4. The Standard Journal

Four places I have vacationed:

1. Puerto Rico

2. Florida

3. Monteray Bay

4. New York

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. A beautiful beach somewhere with my sweetheart (Daris gets mad because I never call him sweetheart)

2. Camping, roasting a s'more

3. In a super clean house instead of a messy one

4. At my table with a large piece of texas sheet cake in front of me

Four friends I tagged:

1. Mindy

2. Shelley

3. Rhonda

4. Ali

Four Wheeling in Green Canyon

2008-05-24T19:21:00.000-06:00

So Sara and I decided we were due for a four wheeler ride. So we called Tyson and Jessica and loaded up the wheelers and headed up to the radio towers up in Green Canyon. Of course we weren't able to make it all the way because the snow hadn't melted yet. This photo below is us coming off of the mountain and looking at the storm coming our way.

We luckily made it down the hill and into Green Canyon Hot-springs just before the storm hit. As you can see the ladies had some defendant helmet head.

Jessica is showcasing our four wheeler as Tyson and I were fixing his. We found a nice soft field to do some mud bogging!

The first camping trip of the year

2008-05-17T19:22:00.009-06:00

We hiked up to the top of this butte and found a nest of six rattlesnakes!

Penny was a very happy dog! She got plenty of running in with our rides. She probably ran 12 miles today.

This was camp Howard-Odell, just next to the river that you follow when going to Swan Valley.

We packed our bags, threw the four-wheeler and motorcycle in back and hooked up the pop-up to the Chevy and headed to Swan Valley area with Sara's sister Holly and Eric. It was very warm and for the first time Sara and I didn't freeze during the night. We generally just took it easy for the day, rode the bikes around and had moose tinfoil dinner. Yummy! I sure love moose burger a lot better that plain old cow!

Priceless

2008-05-14T21:32:00.003-06:00

Well were back online now! Our internet has had a few hiccups and disconnected us from the world. It's amazing how many things I've accomplished these last weeks with out it. However there were a few things that I was very anxious to know, like how much my little surgery ran me.

Here's the break down.

1. Surgeon $2,299

2. Hospital $5,200

3. Highdef Scan (to see what was wrong with me) $880

4. Other random charges $739

For a grand total of $9,118

That just a little more than I make a month! Anyways I feel wonderful and very glad that we found a solution.

Sara's Dad is a bronco rider

2008-05-05T22:41:00.004-06:00

So I guess Sara's dad was giving there new horse a try this last weekend. It didn't end up as well as he hoped. The horse bucked him off and threw him into the rocks.

Sara as a young girl

2008-04-30T13:56:00.005-06:00

Sara is 2 years old in this photo.

This was Sara after playing in the fireplace!

Swinging outside next to the woodpile

This is Sara with her Grandpa Cyril Larsen

Sara's birthday with her sister Amy and brother Nathan

Sara with her Dad

Our weekend fun!

2008-04-27T15:46:00.006-06:00

Well the Doctors finally found out what Daris's problem was. His gallbladder was at a functioning rate of 0%. So with a quick call to Courtney Friday evening, we had surgery scheduled Saturday morning with Dr. Cory. The operation lasted about an hour and put four little scars on his belly. He wanted to me point out that yes, his stomach is swollen. But he say's he feels better already and should be able to go to work on Monday if all goes well.

Sara 's Favorite Pictures of Oakley

2008-04-24T19:00:00.006-06:00

This photo was taken outside of Sara's home, the classic barbed-wire fence.

Sara's Grandma, Venola, has several goats that she raises and uses for milk. So we get to drink fresh goats milk when we visit

This is Venola. She's 87 and still goes to the mountains and cuts wood, milks her goats and herds her sheep. She also moves pipe in the summer. She's a very "active" granny!

This is a hay stack.

This is Sara's favorite picture of her grandma's home. This looks out to her corals.

Off to Oakley City

2008-04-24T18:49:00.005-06:00

Its been awhile. So I thought about some of the things that Sara and I have done. This is a picture taken just down the road from Sara's home. We arrived and her parents weren't there so we hopped on the old motorcycle and when for a ride. It was still rather chilly, but we made it through.

Our Henny Penny Dog

2008-03-10T19:29:00.006-06:00

We took Penny to the photographer today, and "Wow" she (Sara) took some wonderful shots of our pooch. Penny will be turning 1 this spring. A party date is not yet set. Check back for details!

2008-03-08T20:41:00.001-07:00

This is our dog, Penny. She looks rather small compared to the piles of snow.

2008-03-08T20:32:00.003-07:00

This is our lovely new stove that we just installed today. It was removed from a pioneers home from the 1990's . Now we can melt the snow off of our cars in the winter months.

Sara Changes her Hair Color!

2008-02-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

Sara decided to go dark. I personally think it looks wonderful on her, it makes her eyes just pop out.

Sara and I pose for a photo

2008-02-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken just outside the lodge in front of a bronze grizzly bear.

In the Lodge

2008-02-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

Sara's getting ready to head out and hit the slopes after lunch.

Our Sun Valley Ski Trip

2008-02-20T08:25:00.001-07:00

Yet again we headed off to Sun Valley Idaho for another wonderful ski trip! We had the privilege of skiing with Robyn and Eric for the day, and oh was it beautiful!

2007-10-24T21:26:00.000-06:00