Weekend with the Saculles

Well we spent this last weekend with Mandy's sister Monica, her husband James, and James' extended family in Boise, Idaho. We are friendly with Monica's in-laws (the Saculles family of Valdez, Alaska) and we decided to go up to Boise to spend some time with them while they were down in the Continental U.S. visiting. We headed up there on Friday afternoon, and returned on Monday afternoon.

James' parents Juan and Luisa Saculles were there along with James' brother John, and John's two children, Johnathan and Jasmine. We also spent some time with the extended family, including: uncle Boyd, auntie Thelma, cousin Boyd, his wife Kim, cousin Michelle, aka "Missy," and her husband, Matt.

On Saturday we went to Zoo Boise. Miley had a fun time checking out the mean tigers, monkeys, penguins and bears. It was a roaster that day though with temperatures in the high 90's. We rented a couple little jeep strollers to push around Miley and Marley. That night Monica and James did a little BBQ at the house with steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs and brats with the whole clan. Luisa mad some Filipino pancit (a stir fried noodle dish common in the Phillipines). It was great! Following the BBQ we had a fun time trying out Monica and James' Wii Fit. The Wii Fit is a platform device that attaches to the new Nintendo Wii that allows you to do various exercises, balance games and strength exercises. Below is a video of me doing the hula hoop game on the Wii Fit.

On Monday morning before we left Boise we went to the park to watch James and Johnathan shoot off some model rockets. James had helped Johnathan build a rocket to shoot off. It was pretty amazing how high the thing went. There was a little device installed in the rocket that clocked its speed. One launch clocked in at nearly 80 mph. Below is a video of the launch.

Mandy & Miley going down the giraffe slide at Zoo Boise

Marley in her Jeep stroller at Zoo Boise

Miley running down a concrete tube at Zoo Boise

Johnathan, Miley and Jasmine inches away from a gigantic tiger at Zoo Boise

Miley and Johnathan making gooey worms at Monica and James' house

Miley the diva performing on the American Idol game on the Wii
(Luisa, Jasmine, Johnathan, John and Juan in the background)

Miley, Monica and Jasmine playing with bubbles at the park

Johnathan, Mason and James setting up the rocket at the park

The Prophet Said To Plant A Garden

Monday night for Family Home Evening we finally planted our garden. We have 5 rows of peas, 1 row of sunflowers, 3 tomato plants, and 2 kinds of squash. Miley helped drop in the seeds and pat the dirt, and Marley supervised. We can't wait to taste everything! Afterwards Mandy and the girls planted some flowers while Mason mowed the lawn.

Happy Father's Day!

Well yesterday I had a wonderful Father's Day. I was surprised in the morning by Mandy and Miley with some wonderful gifts. Mandy and Miley created a cute candy-bar card for me. It is pictured below, along with Miley's extra doodles.


I also got some new clothes. Pictured below are the clothes. Take note of the shirt on top of the pile and what it says on it.


After I opened the present with the clothes in it, Miley wanted to do some modeling of my clothes. Here she is pictured below trying on one of my 2XL shirts. Of course, it looks more like a dress.


Here is a picture of Miley and Marley cuddling in bed. Notice that Miley is holding Marley's hand being a very nice big-sister.


I also had an opportunity to watch my favorite Sunday morning show "Meet the Press," which of course will never be the same after the passing of my all-time favorite journalist Tim Russert. Not a better political analyst in the business. Those are some incredibly big shoes to fill.

Trying to get her energy out!

For those of you who aren't aware, Miley is a bit on the energetic side (bouncy, wild, animated, etc.). So to have a little fun, and in hopes of getting some of that energy out, we have put her in a couple of fun little classes. She has been doing a class called "Music Together" for a couple years. They have three sessions a year and each is 10 weeks long. Each session has a new CD with different songs on it. We go for 50 minutes a week and she sings, dances, and plays with instruments. We have a great time. She loves it so much! Below are three picture of Miley and Marley from the class.




Then recently the recreation department sent out a summer programs list in the newspaper. Most were too old for Miley, but there was a Mommy and Me Gymnastics and a Mommy and Me swimming class. The swimming class is later in the summer, but we started our gymnastics class 2 weeks ago. It is very cute. It is pretty unstructured, they just have them stretch a bit at the beginning and then they have several activities set up for them to play on. There is a swimming pool of balls, a balance beam on the floor, obstacles to run through and jump over, etc. The moms are mostly there to guide them through the activities and keep them from going wild. They got a free "leo" (that is short for leotard for all you non-gymnasts), and I found the perfect one for Miley! She always says she is a mean tiger and so when I saw it I had to grab it. We are having lots of fun and will keep everyone updated on our good times!

Beware of "Brewer's Blackbirds"...

Our yard is home to a small flock of birds. I have done some research and figured out that these birds are a species known as "Brewer's Blackbirds." Pictured below is a picture of a male and a female "Brewer's Blackbird."

Male Brewer's Blackbird

Female Brewer's Blackbird

On Saturday as we were pulling into our driveway after returning from lunch, we noticed a baby bird sitting by the driveway. The bird looked like maybe it had fallen out of a nest. A foot or so away sat the mother bird attempting to feed and watch over the small bird. A couple of hours later, I decided to walk around the driveway to see if the baby bird was still there. It was, so I walked towards it to see if it was all right. As I got within 3 feet or so of the bird, an adult blackbird at the top of a neighboring tree decided that my approach was unacceptable and decided to dive-bomb me from the top of the tree. The bird didn't actually hit me, but repeatedly swooped down within a couple inches of my head. I of course immediately headed for cover. As soon as bird #1 dive-bombed, all of his bird compatriots decided to join in the fun and also made me run for my life. This would be fine and dandy if this was the only time that this happened. Ever since this happened the birds have decided that I am "persona non grata," "public enemy number 1," etc. Yesterday we went for a walk around the block with the kids in our red wagon. Our dog, "Mister Rambo" decided to chase after the baby bird. This of course set off the birds, and another attack ensued on the entire family. We of course ran for our lives.

While doing some research on this bizarre phenomenon, I stumbled across an article describing a similar behavior taking place with these birds in San Luis Obispo, California. Kind of scary! We hardly dare go out into our yard at the moment.

Home Sweet Home

I thought I would show you a couple of developments in our yard. Our back yard is something out of a horror movie, and will probably not improve anytime soon, but our front yard is looking very summerish. I finally bought some red, white, and blue decorations and we hung them up right before Memorial Day. The hanging flowers by the door are my wonderful Mother's Day gift. I had been wanting some FOREVER, and was kind of hoping Mason would ask what I wanted for Mother's Day. He never did ask, but the Friday before Mother's Day he told me he needed help getting something out of the car. There were three HUGE flower baskets. I was so excited. I have such a sweet husband! I would like to say they are doing well, but the white one was dead within a week. I have taken the advice from a friend and cut it back to see if that would encourage growth, but I think it is really dead. At least the other two are doing great! We also finally made it to the nursery to pick out Marley a gift. When she was born someone from work had given us a gift certificate to the nursery. They thought it would be nice if we bought a tree to plant that we could watch grow as Marley grows. I was skeptical however because I was afraid someday we would move and have to leave the "Marley tree" behind! So instead we found this fun bird bath. It is movable, and we thought the girls would enjoy watching the birds come to get a little drink. It even has a little stone squirrel on it! We will be excited when it finally decides it is summer so we can go out and enjoy our yard!

Trip to Rupert...

As some of you may be aware, due to a recent death in the family, we traveled to Idaho on Sunday night to attend a funeral. Mandy's 17-year-old cousin Ryan Barfuss passed away in tragic ATV accident on Thursday, May 29, 2008. So we traveled up to Rupert on Sunday evening so that we could attend the funeral on Monday. It was a beautiful, moving and well-attended service. The death of a young person always affects people in a dramatic way - and Ryan's death was no different. We are happy that we made the effort to be there.

It is always nice to have a chance to spend time with family. We did a chance to spend some time with Monica and James (who came down from Boise), and with Heidi and her kids (who came over for the luncheon from Twin Falls). Miley had a fun time playing with Macey and Riley (as always).

On our way back home from Idaho, we stopped in Jackpot, NV for lunch. For those of you that are not familiar with Jackpot, it is the equivalent of Wendover, but on the Idaho-Nevada border, as opposed to the Utah-Nevada border. We had originally intended to stop at the "Horseshu Hotel & Casino" to eat at a Mexican restaurant there called "Pancho Villas," but as we were unloading from the car the security guard informed us that the restaurant was closed on Mondays. He recommended that we visit the neighboring "Four Jacks Hotel & Casino." He indicated that they have a small restaurant inside their casino that serves buffalo and elk. So we decided to give it a try.

This is the Horseshu Casino in Jackpot, NV

The restaurant was a quaint little place, and when we arrived, we were the only people in the place. I opted to try the Elk burger, and Mandy had chicken fried steak.

While we were eating, a man hit a jackpot at a slot machine right next to the entrance to the restaurant. A loud bell started ringing and continued for a couple of minutes. Miley was very curious what the ringing was all about. Mandy was quick on her feet and informed Miley that people that eat their food win monies, and laid out some olives from her salad for Miley to eat. Miley gobbled them down, and Mandy imitated the slot machine with coins from her pocket and her own home-made ringing bell. Miley was quite pleased with her "little jackpot."