Loser Family Reunion - 2009

August 18, 19, and 20, 2009 Loser Family Reunion at the Story Ranch in Wallsburg, UT. We arrived Friday afternoon and took the grand tour of the facility- W O W! Sadly, Danielle had to leave right after we got there and we missed her the rest of the weekend. Happily, uncle Bill and Debbie were able to come from California with Dad and Cindy. Saturday, Nichole let the girls play in her makeup bags. They really had fun with it.

Later, we got together and took a ride on the 4-wheelers with the girls in the back of one of the Gators and we drove up the canyon and looked at the beautiful fall colors. We had a great time and were so pleased to be able to share the time with so much of the family together. Rick drove one of the 4-wheelers with Nichole on the back. He had the stamina to drive all the way up and a little of the way down before Nichole had to take over and drive him back home. His sweet smile says it all...

Each night we (Bill, Debbie, Dad, Cindy, Rick, Kerry and I) sat on the porch that faces west and enjoyed the evening thunder showers that rolled through. Sunday, Dad, Cindy, Bill, Debbie, Rick and I went for a drive on the Mirror Lake highway to try to find a Moose in the wild for Bill to see. No luck on spotting a Moose, but we sure had a nice drive.Here is the view from this porch in the day time. Steve's Fox trotters are often browsing through the pastures, what beauties!

Then, at night, we (Kerry, Adam, Rachel, Nichole, Jared, Catherine and I) stayed up till the wee hours of the morning playing card games at the kitchen table. We made some precious memories and hope to continue the tradition every year. Next year we hope to include more of the extended family in the fun. Family is what it is all about. Families can be together forever.

Horned Toads - Who knew?

Down at the ranch Kerry, Kadee and I drove the 4-wheelers down around Losty Loop. On the way back I almost ran over a Horned Toad that made the dicision to freeze in the middle of the trail and rely on his stellar cammo. Luckily, I happened to see him and swerved at the last second to miss squishing him. I, of course, captured him and let Kadee hold him for a couple of snap shots. He was a fat little guy!

The next week, Kadee and I saw another Horned Toad on the side of the road and stopped to see if we could catch him. Unfortunately, this toad was dead and all that remained was the exo-skeleton. When I picked it up, a couple of crickets fell out. I put the shell on the side of the 4-wheeler and took it up to the playground to show Kerry. Kadee was sitting on the 4-wheeler in front of me, learning to drive and she was wearing a loose fitting flared skirt. When Kerry saw it, he picked it up and tossed it into Kadee's lap. Kadee's whole body tensed in seizure-like fashion when she screamed. I tried to brush the thing off but it had died with it's claws retracted and they caught on the skirt fabric, so when my hand brushed by, the skirt fabric stretched tight and it pulled back into place, giving the appearance of the toad jumping at Kadee. So, she screamed again, and seized again. My response was less than helpful at this point because I was silently laughing so hard that tears were streaming and I could not see to unhook the claws. All I could do was hold my hands over her eyes and turn her head away from the grizzly sight. We now refer to it as the Horny Toad Incident.

Two weeks later I found a baby Horned Toad. Here is a pic with him in my hands with a dime to show how small he was - so cute. By the way, Kadee was not afraid of this guy. Apparently, they have to be hollow to be scary.

WhereHasTheTimeGone?!?

It seems like summer is racing by in -like- 5th gear or something. Catherine and I have been having fun saving lots of money (thanks to Jammie) using coupons. I'm averaging between 51-65% savings and I'm really stocking up my food storage. Yay for She Shops Smart blogspot!!

We have also been spending some time with Rick - usually on Tuesdays. He is so much fun - even when he's not feeling well. I've been busy:

• I've volunteered to help Michelle make a couple of stack and slash quilts for the Loveland Family to thank them for the use of the house in Hawaii.



• Embroidered the Wood Family logo on 42 shirts for Catherine and Jared's Family Camp.



• Quilted a full size quilt for Jessica and bound it.
  


• Big Horn Ranch every weekend.



• Embroidered more bibs for the ladies in our ward who gave birth.



• Designed two new quilting patterns.



• Kadee to dance class every Wednesday.



• Bi-weekly activities with Wood family for the summer.



• Flint knapping with the club every Tuesday after Cub Scout meetings.



• Three doctors appointments in July - all looks good!



• Camp out with Rick's and Catherine's families on July 9th-11th.



• Day camp with Nik's, Nat's and Jammie's families on 24th.



• Installed a new zip line swing for the kids with Kerry at the ranch.



• Completed the beading in Jackie's wedding dress.

In Jail at the Hutchings Museum during Rodeo Week.

At the park on Nuttal Drive.
Working on a fish fossil at the Dinosaur Museum. Matt with a HUGE Eagle at the bird show in June.

It seems like I never sit down. I'm loving life!

Rick's doing better!

Yes, he had another surgery, with many new attachments, etc... No he is not bionic, now. His food does travel through rather fast though. He slept for about six hours today and when he woke up, he was able to drink some lunch (clam chowder and juice mostly). The important thing is the nausea is gone now and the pain is down to a level three (on a scale of 1 to 10). See for yourself - he is looking pretty darn good now. We love him so much and our prayers are with him every day. He hopes to be able to go home later this week.

The Nest at Big Horn

Okay, so we went camping this weekend at the Big Horn Ranch. Kerry had built a bird house last summer and we hung it on a tree by the fire pit in our camp. When we went up to move the trailer in, we noticed that the bird house was stuffed with twigs and the seams were coming apart. Kerry made the comment that maybe a family of mice had moved in - I suggested chipmunks as a possibility. Anyway, Kerry pulled the birdhouse down and pried off one side only to find a bird nest with 7 to 8 eggs inside. We snapped a couple of pictures and assumed that the nest had been abandoned. We called Kadee down from the swing to see it. She peeked inside and quickly asked, "Are those mouse eggs? Oh wait, mice don't lay eggs." After we regained our composure, I pulled out one egg to get a better look and told Kerry that it felt warm. His response was that it was just a warm day. Kadee held the egg and snapped a couple more pictures. After Kadee put the egg back inside, Kerry nailed the side back on and hung it up on the tree again.
About 15 minutes later we saw a Momma-bird and a Daddy-bird fly in and the Momma-bird went inside to sit while the Daddy-bird sat on the roof for a bit and then went off (bug hunting, I suspect). We think that they are some kind of Mountain Finch or mouse-bird, we're not sure...

Milford Obsidian

We drove down to the Milford Obsidian quarry following Bo's instructions. We learned that Bo is bad at estimating distances. (1 to 2 miles was actually .9 mile) The site is actually quite interesting. From the highway you can't tell that there is anything of interest. When you get up close the entire hillside is full of obsidian flows. It is not a high quality obsidian but is sufficient for our needs in learning to "Bop" also called percussion. The hillside is steep and there are lots of dig sites (holes) from previous excavations. We learned to walk around and look at everything before settling in to dig. This obsidian has lots of inclusions that vary in size from the size of a BB to fist sized chunks of fractured spherical detritus (crap). Most will be workable if you are selective about what you bring home. Some looks to be about the size of a Volkswagen but we were not willing to keep digging to confirm the dimensions. It was a beautiful day - about 70 degrees and sunny. Kerry wanted to go right back with a sledge hammer to break apart some boulders that were about three feet across that we could not lift. At one point Kerry was driving the 4 Wheeler down to the truck with a load of rocks and Kadee and I were walking down carrying the shovel and water bottles. Kadee was complaining that it was harder for her to walk down the hillside - it was steep - because she had the wrong kind of shoes. Then she said, "Well this might be easier if I did not have so much weight on my body." She cracks me up! Don't you just love what kids say.

Extrordinary Opportunity

A remarkable series of events lead me to an opportunity to take a trip with my Dad and my brother, Rick:

• Rick recovered from abdominal surgery with a mid line incision in only ten days
• Dad was able to stay in Utah during Rick's recovery
• My friend/visiting teacher Tricia was able to watch Kadee after school
• I am not currently employed
• My husband is generous and understanding

We spent ten days (mostly on the road) fulfilling some of Rick's "Bucket List" wishes. We made some lasting memories and were able to provide a happy surprise to quite a few people. The last visit in November was just after the tragic news of Rick's terminal cancer and everyone (without exception) was reeling from grief. This trip enabled us to leave them with some happy memories and to (possibly ?) leave on a high note. I say possibly because Rick would like to do some more traveling and enjoy what time he has with family and friends.

Some of the highlights for me were; surprising Gail and Joe, spending most of Thursday, April 30th playing hookie - rescue mission to relocate plants and moss, surprising Mary Cray and Rick and Michelle Smith, surprising Uncle Bill and Debbie and visiting their ranch, surprising Mom with a new digital TV and flip video and seeing her use them both, traveling with Cindy and re-learning how to interact with her, visiting Uncle Jim and Melody and the gold mine, and arriving safely home before the motor home broke down.

The two most spiritually rewarding times were attending Sacrament meeting with Rick and having the opportunity to hear him bear testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, the plan of salvation, and the power of the Prophet. I, along with half of the congregation, was moved to tears. The truth is a powerful thing and when told by a man of faith is beautiful beyond words. The second time I felt the spirit was sitting on the rocks watching Rick watch the ocean. He turned to me and simply said, "Such power!" That really brought home to me the power of God.

We kept Rick well stocked with food and brought him home at 158 lbs!!! I am especially excited about that because I did not gain even one pound over the course of both trips. I was traveling for 20 out of 30 days. It is so good to be home with my family - I missed them so much. Kadee is especially appreciated because she had such a hard time with me being gone. Here are a few pics from the day we played hookie...