Sleepover........Marathon........Bakery

We watched these three yahoos Friday night, while their mom and dad went to Provo to stay over for the Utah Valley Marathon.  Zac has to catch a bus at 3:30 am from the hotel, to take him up the canyon to Wallsburg for the 6 am start time.
The boys were so good.  They rode bikes, did chores, made pizza, and when it was time for bed, they went down with no problems and slept all night !  Easy Peasy :)

I met CJ down there about 8:30 am.  This red wagon?  Awesome !!   We found a shady place on the east side of University Avenue, and waited for Zac to finish.

Christel and Thatcher

These two turned into little pills.  It was a hard hour waiting for Dad.  They rang cowbells, yelled, played, bugged each other, drove mom and grandma a little crazy, etc. etc.   

Even Spiderman was there to watch the runners :)

Treyson took this awesome pic of Zac as he ran by to the finish line.  Unfortunately, my phone camera has quite the delay....oh well :)

At the finish line - here comes Dad !  (that's the old Provo Tabernacle in the background, the LDS church is renovating it for a new temple)  It's quite the awesome sight.

They have it completely raised up on pylons.  Unbelievable !

Zac finished in about 3:45.  A little slower than usual.  He hasn't been training as hard, and he didn't feel the best afterwards :(

Ouch !!

Thatch liked the medal, until he got his finger caught in the orange middle part (that spins around)

The boys always have fun playing on the blow up toys.  This is the third year in a row we've been to the Utah Valley Marathon.  They put on quite the production.  It is great. 

Love this little guy !

The whole fam dam...... The boys are just getting ready to run the kids 1K.  Treyson ran all by himself, and  Zac ran along side Taggarino. 

Christel, Thatch and I waited at the finish line once again - cheering on the runners.  Yea !!!

Thatch conked out right after the kids 1K.  He fell asleep in my arms as I was bouncing him to the music that was playing.

It was a beautiful day - the weather was PERFECT !!!
Not too hot.  JUST RIGHT.

After the festivities in Provo, the boys and I headed back to visit Grandpa Roger at his new job at the Salt Lake Bakery.  We got a personalized tour, and the bun production was up and running and we were able to see the whole process.  The boys (and me) were fascinated.  Especially when we were able to see the 1000 pound DOUGH being stirred, and then dropped out into the "bowl".  It was a sight to see for sure.  It was fun to make the comparison to the 2 pound DOUGH that they had helped me make the night before for the pizza crust.  WOW, what a difference. 

They each got a FRESH sesame seed bun to take and eat on the way home.  It was a GREAT DAY !!

Summer Days.......

We had a visitor to our barnyard one day when I was home at noon.  He ran off when our goats became curious.  I was just standing there watching the chickens, when he walked up.  He obviously didn't see me. 

The Morgan Splash Pad at Riverside Park is a big hit.  I ran over on my lunch and visited with CJ and her friends and the kids.  Thatcher fed me colored gold fish !  It was great.  It would be neat if we could wiggle our noses, and have 6-7 mature trees all around the perimeter.  There was not alot of shade for the watching moms. 

Treyson and friend - Easton Phillips

This little cutie could be my grand - daughter-in-law one day :)
Apparently she and Thatch were playing footsies !
She (and her sisters) always looks so beautiful with hair in place. 

Then there is THIS Yahoo.  What a mug!!  He is all boy, that's for sure.  You can't seem to keep him clean, and he has a runny, boogery nose most of the time.  He's a cutie, and loves to share his goldfish with grandma.

Tagg in his new swim shirt and suit.  He LOVES the Splash Pad

Later at the Rec-Plex watching Treyson's game. 

Treyson had alot of fans - Mom, Dad, brothers, Lindsey and her girls, Grandpa Roger and Grandma Gwen, Grandpa Jim, and Grandma Shirlee, Grandma Ben, and Grandpa and Grandma "D".

CUTE FAMILY !!

Love this pic !

After we got home, we were out in the barnyard when a HUGE boom reverberated  across the valley.  We later heard they were blasting at the blue rock pit over by the Hitching Post.  Apparently too much? or misplaced? explosives made huge rocks fly out onto the freeway.  Wow, that would have been a sight.  Sure wish it had happened about 15 minutes earlier while we were at the Rec Plex.  THAT would have been exciting !!!

My beautiful flower garden - Love my Iris :)

$*%& Raccoons

That is what the raccoon must be thinking, and that's what we'll need to do.............although Roger D. is ready to get rid of all of them, because THIS IS JUST TOO HARD.  We got a call from Lori Birt this morning at 3:30 am - another massacre was occuring in the barnyard.  We threw on our clothes and rushed out.  Barnyard appears to be calm, BUT the coop - OUR SAFE COOP was a mess.  Two dead chickens, and a raccoon STILL IN THE PEN.  Roger went back in the house for his shotgun, and I tried to keep the devil in my sights with the flashlight.  I heard a BANG, like wood on wood, and the raccoon had escaped, headed south across the back patio.  We searched and searched the pen to see where he could have gotten in, but couldn't see anything.  Could he have climbed up on the upside down 6 gallon bucket, and opened the nesting door?  We are stymied.  We'll need to check it out better in the light of day.  I set a heavy weight on the nesting door and moved the bucket.  Hopefully he will stay gone for the night, but I'm sure none of us will be getting any more sleep (including our poor neighbors).  We are down to 11 chickens now.  5 in the barnyard and 6 in the coop.  We have lost 13 chickens in the past 8 days.  NOT GOOD.

What is new...........

Camryn is in Sedona with her Grammy Pam and cousins.
They are having a great time !

Well, our other duck - Cyclops of Darkness was killed on Monday night.  We re-baited the live trap and the next night caught us a BIG raccoon.  

Today, we woke up to TWO MORE chickens that were killed by yet ANOTHER predator.  We are down to 5 in the barnyard.  Three of them are roosting in HIGH places tonight, but the banty rooster and black one went back to the usual place.  Roger set more traps.  We'll have to see what happens..........The predators don't seem to be bothering the turkeys thank goodness.  I can even get the turkeys to eat "scratch" from my hand, they are pretty tame around me, but we think they may take after the little boys, so we'll have to watch that. 

The boys went over to the Splash Pad on Tuesday night for a Morgan City root-beer float night.  They had a good time, except Thatch didn't care much for water in his face. 

Payson likes to color AND eat suckers :)  He got the big scab on his nose from taking a FACE PLANT in the road.  Sure miss him (and his mom and dad). 

25 years ago today.....

Love and miss my little sister. I think of her often, and wish she was still on earth. Whenever our family gets together at the property, I wonder what little ones she would have there running around with the other grandkids. I know she will live again one day, and I look forward to seeing her again.

Drama in the barnyard...........and other Saturday stuff

We've had some traumatizing events concerning dead chickens and little boys finding them the past few days....Not good.

I ran some numbers and put together a spread sheet, and over the past 1 1/2 years, we have had 34 chickens !  15 are living - 19 are dead.  8 of them have died in the past week :(

Of the 19 dead, the causes have been vultures, racoons, skunks, dogs, winter kill, mean chickens, and some we've had to "take care of".

Tonight Roger D. set a live trap.  Hopefully this will help, and we won't find any more bodies in the morning.  

Today was especially sad because Treyson's duck, Dark Vegan, had been killed.  He wasn't hanging out with the other duck and turkeys as he usually does, so I sent the boys around to the other side of the barn to see if he might be there.  He was, and it WAS. NOT. A. PRETTY. SIGHT.  

A few days ago -  Dark Vegan in front, with his mate, Cyclops of Darkness in the rear.  So sad.  I guess we won't be getting baby ducklings anytime soon :(

Zac and Tagg bringing the tractor over from the property to pick up the plows.  Tagg loves to drive the tractor.

Making sure the goat doesn't get out the gate !

Miss Piggy is getting quite tame.
She is a sweet little BIG pig.  

Thatcher loves the trampoline, just like his brothers :)

Treyson was helping me and Grandpa Roger get the bird's nests from the little red shed.  

We put up a plywood ceiling, to keep the pesky birds out.  They were making SUCH a big mess.

We finally have water in the HOLE !!  Yea !! We can start watering our lawn.  Grandpa is doing his HAPPY dance.

Thatcher loves to kick the soccer ball around 

I tried to get Thatch to close his eyes and take a nap.

I was pretty close..........but no cigar :)

We found a hole in the barnyard full of feathers and a chicken leg.  SOMETHING is living here and killing our chickens.  We worked to cover up the den.

Tagg is NOT happy about the dead chicken situation !

We cleaned up and headed to Garret Durrant's wedding reception.

While there - they had this nifty little photo booth
Of course we had to get a few shots !

Back to the barnyard - time to bury our friend 

Tagg got a little big GAGGY

But then he manned up and put Grandpa's glove on, and grabbed a leg and dropped her in the hole.  Treyson was content to stand back and watch :)

Dark Vegan's funeral - the boys gave the eulogy. 

They were so sweet :)

Thatcher is getting pretty brave around the goats, especially little BRICK.  We love our little barnyard menagerie and all that goes along with it, even the sad things.

Life is Good/Great/AWESOME !!