August 1 - I went to Pocatello with Nikelle, Molly and Hallie. While Nikelle was shopping, the girls had a grand time in the play area.
August 5th - Look how long the grass is! It's so thick and soft!
August 6 - Randy needed to put some gravel by the side of his driveway, so they put Jared's dump trailer to good use, it worked really well.
Maden, Annie, Clark and Declan came down to spend the day, we had lunch on the patio, and then later went to McDonald's. They were good kids, we had a fun day.
It's that time of year again! Summer sunsets! Oh how I love the colors and brilliance!
August 7 - Jared and Nikelle had a gender reveal party. They had balloons on a board that had either blue or pink powder in them. If there was more pink powder, it is a girl, or if there was more blue, then it was a boy. The kids all had a turn to shoot and arrow at the board.
Then the adults that wanted to took a turn, with Jared and Brian taking some extra turns.
And, It's a GIRL! We are so excited!
After we all knew what the baby is, the kids played. Molly and Hallie were a little disappointed at first because they thought they were going to get a new brother, but they both decided another sister would be great. I loved getting this hug from little Paul!
August 8 - It's the day to mow the lawn! It is so long!
You can really see how long it is as Blake mows. It sure looks good though!
In case you can't tell, the top is before it was mowed, the bottom is after. It looks so good! I love these coral roses that are in the front!
August 9 - Blake went with Brian and Aubrey to ride the electric scooters they have for rent in Idaho Falls. He loved it!
August 10 - Blake and Brian went to the range for some target practice.
August 11 - We tried a new thing...Randy, Ryder, Blake and I drove west of Boise to the Schwartz Sturgeon Pond. You can catch and release Sturgeon. Ryder helped some with the pole, Blake and Randy had to help each other release the fish. I helped by taking lots of pictures.
Some of them were really big, some just average size. Ryder liked getting in the water to look at the fish. He and Randy really didn't love touching the fish.
After they had caught a lot with the pole, the owner of the pond came and threw food out and Blake caught them with his hands, the owner called it noodling. They are really interesting fish.
After fishing, we ate at Cheesecake Factory in Meridian, then stayed at The Holiday Inn Express. Ryder loved the pool and hot tub.
August 12 - While we were in Boise, Blake got notified that the 4Wheeler he ordered in January had finally come! He and Randy went to Pocatello to pick it up. Then, Blake mowed the lawn again. It certainly grows fast.
August 13 - Blake, Brian, Aubrey, Randy, Courtney and Ryder went up to check on the trail cams and the hunting blind. Our new 4Wheeler came just in time!
Just some pictures of our house with clouds and sun. It's so interesting how different the colors are with different light. I love the front porch and all the sunflowers.
Another beautiful sunset! Medicine to my soul!
August 14 - Hallie was so proud of her "Mukduk" shirt and wanted to send a picture to Cindy. Jared traded the seats on ours and Brian's 4Wheelers, they looked pretty silly.
August 16 - Yep, mowing again! It seems like it needs it every 4-5 days!
August 17 - Ryder's first of 2nd Grade! He's going to Riverside Elementary. And Courtney's first day of 11 years of teaching 3 grad at Riverside!
August 18 - Molly lost another tooth! And it was her Back to School day. Brian brought his tent down to set up for the camp out in the back yard the next day. Molly was a real trouper in helping to set up the tent. Then we went to McDonald's. Blake and Jared took Molly and Hallie for a little 4Wheeler ride to look at the ditch.
August 19 - Before the cousin campout! Here's all our grandkids. Left to right - youngest to oldest. Hallie (3), Declan (4), Brody Bear, Clark (7), Ryder (7), Molly (7), Annie (9), Maden (12). Oh how I love these little humans!
August 20 - A beautiful start to this day!
The annual Mountain View Hospital party at Tautphaus Park. The kids love the bounce play ground. Clark was really good at the bouncing from one big ball to then next.
After bouncing and eating, we headed to the zoo. Of course, we had to take some pictures on the tiger and lion.
Molly, Annie, Brian and Jared liked the petting zoo.
And, a beautiful end of the day, too!
August 21 - More of God's beautiful creations. Nikelle took this picture from their driveway. Just amazing!
August 22 - This sunset was absolutely breathtaking! It looked like the sky was on fire! Then, for a bonus, there was some lightning in the clouds, it was just incredible.
August 23 - Molly's first day of 2nd Grade at Groveland Elementary.
Blake, Brian and Aubrey went fishing at the Shelley fishing pond. Kind of smaller fish than the Sturgeon.
July 26 - Another trip to the Boise area, this time with Jared, Nikelle, Molly and Hallie. We stopped in Rupert, so Blake and Jared could paint a Pickle Ball court for the Coates family at their beautiful riverfront home. We got to eat at Red Lobster Meridian! We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Nampa. The hot tub and swimming pool were a great hit.
August 27 - Back to the Schwartz Sturgeon Pond so Jared could experience the fun of catching the huge fish. Molly was a really good pole holder, while Blake and Jared were releasing their catches. A funny thing happened, while she was holding the pole, there was a big sturgeon on the line and she didn't know. Jared reeled it in, and it was the biggest fish they had caught all morning.
It got really exciting when they both got fish at the same time.
When it came time to do some "noodling" or catching by hand, there was some really big ones. The bottom right picture is of a huge one that swam by them, but they couldn't catch it. The owner hid some painted rocks for Molly and Hallie to find. They were thrilled and called them "Brody Rocks". When we explained to Jim, the owner of the pond, why they called them that, he got a little choked up. He was glad it was so meaningful to them.
August 29 - Clark's first day of 2nd grade, and Annie's first day of 4th grade at Summit Hills Elementary. Maden's first day of 7th grade at Praxium Middle School. It's part of the District 93 Middle Schools.
