Christmas in Idaho!! part 3...Sleigh Ride

While we were in Idaho we were DELIGHTED to have a sleigh ride. The horses were beautiful and they even had santa bells on them. We jingled all the way! It was just like out of a story book. It was overcast, slightly snowing, not to cold, and we loved it!! We laughed, sang, Luke tumbled off and we all had a wonderful time.


Big thanks to the Miller family who graciously gave us the ride. I grew up with the Millers and their son was in my first primary class that I taught, he was even was one of the servers at my wedding reception (he is now married! He and his wife were there to help his dad on the sleigh ride....yep...feeling old).


My kids still talk about the sleigh ride. It is a memory they will always treasure.

Cooking lessons with James

James LOVES to cook. LOVES it! He is always asking to cook. He is always willing to help me in the kitchen and on Sunday I used that to my advantage. I egg rolls and fried rice. Since I am annoyingly frugal, we now make our own and I love them! I took this opportunity for James to learn how to make the egg rolls-so that I could do other things and still have egg rolls!! Such an evil plan.

James diced all of the cabbage and onions, shredded the carrots, and we had some sausage so he cooked that up for it too. I did add the seasoning but that's ok.


James cooked it all up!



I rolled up three. Then he declared that he could do it so let him! So I did. And he did better then me. Seriously, you can't tell which ones I did (and I've been making them for years.)

Wow James your hair is actually combed!!! Everyone remember this day, I don't know when this will happen again.

The egg-rolls were fantastic! I look forward to James making them again!

Soap in the Microwave

James was on a science experiment kick today that involved the microwave. First he started exploding marshmallows in it and then moved to soap.





Quickly adding "clean the microwave" to my to do list.


My house now smells like IVORY soap...a lot.

Christmas in Idaho!! part 2....SNOW!!!

When we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house the kids were in HEAVEN!! It was dark already, but they wanted to go play in the snow right when we opened the doors. Since all of their snow clothes were still packed, we convinced the boys to wait until morning.


The view outside the kitchen window. Check out all of those footprints! The snow was well played with.

Well, as soon as they could, James, Luke and Ben started playing almost nonstop in the snow. They build snow caves, tunnels, went sledding with their Uncle Ray, and then with the largest smiles on their face, they would come inside and drink hot chocolate next to the fire. They were in heaven! Especially after the next post you will understand their snowy happiness. :-)



The view out of the kitchen window. I love the snow slopping off of the roof. I don't see that much anymore living in the desert.



The Teton Mountains in the horizon...one of my favorite views of Idaho.



Luke with his snow cave.



James BEGGED his Uncle Dustin to bury him in the snow. He LOVED it! He also said he was quite warm.



James and Tommy shoveling snow just for fun.-weird kids!


And it was cold!! This was in the middle of the day, I took this picture right after my dad said "Oh it feels good! Such a nice day!" (The following week it was about 0* in the middle of the week. )

Christmas in Idaho!! part 1..Air Force Museum

This, for Christmas, year we parted from tradition and ventured up to my homeland of Idaho. To get there, it is a lovely 10 hour drive. The week before we left, the weather has been on the wet side, so we were nervous about the drive. Thankfully, it dried out the day we left. However, it left in its path, a blanket of fog everywhere! It was so thick that at times we were driving pretty slow.

Halfway to Idaho we stopped at the Air Force Museum. (We briefly stopped last time but it closed soon after we had arrived.)


In the van we were listening to a story called A Distant Prayer by Jerry Borrowman and Joseph Banks. It is the true story of Joseph Banks in World War II. It is a life changing story that I highly recommend. In it, Joseph Bank's aircraft is shot up. The detail in the book was so interesting, that the boys really wanted to see a B-17.


Well, the Air Force museum had it! (James was/is obsessed with that bright orange hat...he wears it A LOT) It was really interesting to place the plane into the story. It made the story more real to me.




The boys loved being at the museum! We were there almost two hours looking at all of the planes etc. At the end we all were able to get a smashed penny with an airplane embossed on it--we love getting those!

Adventures in rug making.

This year, for my sisters and moms I made rugs. Yep! Rugs. I know it sounds kinda drab but I was so excited to make them. I saw them being made at our local Peach Days last fall and I really wanted one for myself. So, in order to justify myself purchasing a loom, I decided to make one for my sisters and moms. Little did I know what I was getting myself into!!!


The loom itself would be fairly simple to make. It was made of 1x4s then there were nails 1" apart. Cory could have easily made one, but it was nice to just be able to pick it up all done.




The rugs were much more labor intensive then I had planned. Its a good thing I am pretty much anti-social. :-D I worked on them for about 4 hours a day and I would finish after about a week. I used 3 sheets for the "weft"-that's the fabric that goes left to right. And about 5 yars of fabric for the "warp." We would roll the warp into a giant ball. (Which instantly became a toy.) My boys and hubby were my official fabric rippers and I would scour the DI for sheets and large pieces of fabric to use. The process is called "twining." This website I referred to many times. It has great visuals. I also used the book Twined Rag Rugs from the library.



I loved making the rugs! I ended up making six rugs in two months. It was insanity! However, I did get to watch A Christmas Carol (my FAVORITE Christmas show!!) multiple times. I hope everyone who received one loves them like I do.

If anyone would like to learn how to twine...come on over!




Now to make one for me!!

2005 and 2010 Southern Utah Flood

About five years ago Southern Utah had its "100 year flood" and it wiped out 30 homes and even killed one person. (Side note...100 year flood means that each year there is a 1% chance of having it flood that large. Not that it only happens once every 100 years.) It was devastating. To watch the houses be washed away was so sad. That year we had 9 inches of rain and snow in about 3 days. My house is less than a quarter of a mile from the canyon that holds the river-so about a half of a mile to the river. I remember talking on the phone with my Grandma Hanson that day and she asked what that background noise was-well it was the roar of the river. Usually the river is a low, muddy, slow moving river. But dump in an excessive amount of precipitation, and it becomes a beast.

Here are some pictures that I took from our FIRST 100 year flood.


This is in Toquerville, (about 5 miles from my home) the river split and washed over the road. The road eventually had to be replaced.


In Toquerville looking to the west of where the water washed over the road.




This bridge was eventually washed out and replaced with a much nicer concrete bridge.



My boys, and a friend, standing above the canyon.



This is what they were standing in front of. The river that is usually about 10-15 feet wide and just a few feet deep, split.-Do you see that tree in the middle of the river on the left hand side...usually it was not in water.


December 21, 2010



This was in Santa Clara. After the flood of 2005, the banks were built up....way way way up. Whenever we would drive over the bride, we would almost laugh at the over zealous engenieers who designed such huge wash-ways. They looked completely overdone. However, as you can see in this picture and the one underneath, they are full! These two pictures were taken a day before it was the fullest. The next day, the water was almost touching the bridge.




At the Touquerville park. Because the sides were build up so high, the road was not washed out again.


By the Toquerville park.



At the LaVerkin edge.


For this picture, I was in the same spot as the picture above. The river was noticeably higher this year. I read one report that said that more than 18 inches of rain fell in the four-five days. Much more than the 8 inches in 2005. There were more calls to sandbag this year. However, since southern Utah learned their lesson five years ago and prepared for the worst, the damage was minimal. It could have been so much worse.

I have learned so many lessons from the flood. The need to prepare for the worst, but to expect the best comes to mind. I may never need the several hundred pounds of wheat that is stored under my bed, but if I do....I have it.

Wise man said......If ye are prepared...ye shall not fear.