. . . BUYING TIRES

Okay, look at these tires! would they not look fantastic on my '84 Dodge Prospector? I thought they would. I bought them on KSL thinking, "Yes, what a score! I can pull those old cracked tires off of my truck and put on these sweet looking bad boys"

I thought I had checked everything out. 8 lugs? Yes? . . . Okay I'm good. I drove out to West Jordan to pick these puppies up. Of course I can't drive the truck. It's not registered. It needs tires. Of course I didn't bother to measure anything. I'm not that smart. They looked cool so I bought them.

I took these massive tires home thinking they would make my truck look like a "monster truck." when I got there, I set them up next to the truck. Crap! There is no way those are going on my truck with out several modifications, all of which would cost more than I saved buying tires on KSL Classifieds. I just spent $280 on a set of tires I can't use. Now what?

Natalie could not stop razzing me about it. I had to sell them on KSL or she would never let me forget about my "great score." I payed Hyrum $15 to clean them up and make them shine and listed them on KSL. I had some calls but had to list them a second time to finally sell them. after spending $280 on them in the first place, $15 to Hyrum, and the gas money for driving to West Jordan to pick them up, I sold them for $300 and counted my self lucky.

I guess I will still be a KSL Classifieds fan.

. . . HIKING THE MOUNTAIN

Deseret Peak is the nearest peak to our home that still has year-round glaciers. There are two lakes under the glaciers. South Willow Lake and North Willow Lake both freeze in the winter so they have no fish really, but they are both beautiful places to visit on a hike.

Hyrum and Meghan went with me on a hike to South Willow Lake this last week. We were going to bring Ethan along so I hadn't anticipated hiking all the way to the lake. These two kiddos were great hiking partners. When they complained at the beginning of the hike, I encouraged them and kept them moving. When I was sucking wind at the end of the hike, they encouraged me and made sure we all got to the lake. We all got in the water and had a refreshing swim at the top.

We are all now extremely sore, but we can say we did it! That is what matters. On our hike we passed several groups of teen-agers who turned around before reaching the lake. After seeing others quit what seemed to be a difficult hike, we were discouraged. We talked about how once you decide you are going to do something, you just do it. Your spirit can overcome your body and your mind when they want to quit.

This was a great trip!

Getting the Family Together (Sabrina's Wedding)

The first adventure for these pictures was getting all of my kids to not only stay in their sunday clothes for the one hour ride to Highland but to get there with nothing slopped on clothing. Then there is the task of getting Ethan and Matthew to sit or stand still long enough to get a picture. We did it! Yea!

It is always an adventure getting family together when you are all adults with your own families. 

Recently, at my niece Sabrina's wedding reception, I was able to see all of my brothers and sisters together in one place. Mom was there too. The only one we were missing was our dear Dad. I think it is so challenging to get family together like this because it can be so rewarding. Even for the short time we were all together, I felt a powerful love and spirit of fellowship among us that stayed with me for days and even until now when I am finally getting the chance to write about it.

I was especially thankful for the chance to get these pictures of each of my children with Grandma. They love her so much.

Okay, so what is so adventurous about that? Well, Grandma had taken my car to Highland, there was a huge blizzard approaching and Natalie and I would have to drive back in separate cars. We didn't even get out of Lehi before Natalie had to pull over to nurse Matthew because he was screaming his head off. The blizzard was so bad, I couldn't see that she stopped, in fact, I couldn't see the car in front of or behind me. The tires on the car I was in were completely bald and I am sitting there just trying not to slide of the road. I could see that a Suburban was following me so I was not worrying about Natalie. Something told me to turn around. I did. When I turned around I noticed that the Suburban was not ours. I waited to see if she would drive by. 2 minutes, 4, 5. Okay, something is up. I backtracked and found Natalie stopped, still nursing Matthew and very distraught. I took Hyrum in the car and we continued to Tooele slowly. I nearly slid off the Freeway 4 or 5 times. Very scary trip. So, there you have the adventure part of the post. Never a dull moment.

. . . Fathers and Sons

Webelo overnight was at the Settlement Canyon Wig Wam this year. The Wig Wam is basically some land under the dam that was donated for the scouting program by a land owner many years ago. The main building is pretty sad, but there is a nice wide, flat, open space for camping.

Hyrum and I went and set up our tent among a miriad of other fathers and their webelos. We ate dinner that we had brought. We decided to try some freeze dried spagetti. I was surprised at how good it tasted. Then, we ate some freeze dried ice cream. The spagetti was better. After dinner, and before the evening campfire activities, Hyrum and I went up the mountain for a short hike. We saw two seperate groupings of dear. Hyrum really liked seeing some wildlife even though we were still in town. We decided to walk toward the dam. We had just about finished our hike and needed to turn back to make the campfire opening, when we stumbled across a skeleton of a deer. We crouched down and studied the parts and kept a rib and some of the teeth from the skull to show the other boys. Hyrum asked me how the deer died. We talked about the different possibilities including local preditors, old age, etc. . . Overall the evening was pretty fun.

On Saturday morning, after a very rocky nights sleep, we arose and went to have breakfast with the group. The day was spent in classes where Hyrum was able to earn several requirements toward pins for webelos. I enjoyed the time spent watching him play and work with the other boys. He is well-liked by the other boys and is freindly and respectful to the leaders and other parents. I was pleased to see that. I really admire my boy!

The very next week, May 20ish, was the father and sons outing up Ophir Canyon. I decided to take Ethan and Hyrum on the outing. It did not start well. We arrived only to realize that Ethan, who was not yet potty-trained, was wet and we had left the diaper bag on the couch at home. I called Natalie and had her meet me at a half way point to bring the diaper bag. I took Ethan and left Hyrum to play. Needless to say, I arrived again at camp just before dark. We built a fire next to the creek and roasted marshmallows together and just hung out until about 10:00pm. Ethan was tired, so we went to sleep. I had a really good night's sleep, surprisingly. Below is a picture of Ethan still sleeping when I got up to get the fire going.

Me and Ethan getting warm by the fire.

Hyrum and Ethan getting ready to roast marshmallows.

Ethan slept well. He was bushed!

We had a great breakfast, which the ward provided. There was as much as we could eat. Hyrum climbed up the side of the mountain with the other boys while Ethan and I sat by the fire.

We packed up soon after Hyrum returned and drove further up the canyon to the end of the road. There is a beautiful glacial bowl at the top of the canyon. We got out and hiked for about a mile further up the canyon together until we were off the trail and clearly in a wilderness area. We looked around and enjoyed the quiet sounds of the breeze in the trees, the birds, and the small animals of the forest. What a great experience to have together!

. . . Irrigating w/ Sprinklers

This is the way my back yard looked after the sprinklers were in. I was not sure that the pvc was deep enough.

I was able to get some good (rock free) dirt from a new home build. The guy charged me for the price of placing 4 dump truck loads in the middle of my front yard. I hoped it would be enough to bury these pipes deep enough that they won't break when the tractors came in to drop off the sod. As it turned out, I did have two breaks.

You may notice the yard is still full of weeds. No, I do not kill these. I cover them with dirt about 3-4 inches thick and lay sod on top of that. So far, that has worked just fine.

I need to say something about this yard. After we moved in, we learned that this was the last home built in the neighborhood. In Tooele, that means that everyone else cleared their yards of all the debri (especially rocks and boulders) and dumped it in the last remaining vacant lot. Well, there were so many rocks in our yard that the machine I rented to dig the trenches could not even break through them. That is the other reason the trenches are a little shallow.

Eventually, all the pipes were in and the dirt was spread and rolled "flat." It was time for the sod. We ordered some shade resistant sod from St. George instead of going with the local sod. This was the advice of a trusted landscaper. Apparently, the grass doesn't react differently when growing under a trampoline or a tree. It stays unform with the rest of the lawn. It is also hybridized to be draught tolerant but still grow a wide blade. So far, all true. Very pretty grass!

. . . ROCK SCREENING

Here are the steps down into the secret garden. I am going to leave the blocks a little scattered because in my mind I see one day there will be ground cover between the blocks and the steps and some crawling, vine-like flowers flowing over the blocks. Then the blocks will just kind of poke out between the leaves and flowers. Hey, its my vision. You don't have to see it now. You can see it in a post a year or two down the road.

In the little secret garden area, I have my little system going. On the right you can see where I am digging terraces for the planting beds. The large flat rock in the bottom right of this picture actually is the marker for where the water will flow over the edge from the water fall. Yeah, a waterfall. I am putting a waterfall in the secret garden. There is also going to be a secret path and a few little secret statues hidden in the foliage. Am I still the only one who sees this without laughing? Just wait!

Ethan and I built the rock screen on the right. I didn't measure one board! It is just perfect. The little red wagon slides under the screen and catches almost all of the fine soil that falls through. It is at just the right angle to get all of the fine soil separeted from the rocks. The rocks slide down to the bottom. I haul the rocks away to use for an underground drain at the side of the house. The fine soil gets shoveled into the wheel barrow Where it is mixed with some spagnam peat moss. This mixture is then shoveled right back into the bed ready for planting when the walls go in. The larger rocks that I find under the ground are being set aside for the water fall and the wall.

I just love it when a plan comes together. This is about an hour and a halfs worth of work on the beds and steps. Just perfect for a weekday evening after work.