Hard Days Work

So after a hard days work what is a guy supposed to do. Well Jaren decided to come home, still in his painting clothes, and light a fire and have smores. Has this kid been brought up right or what.

Notice the dog making off with what would have been his second smore.

We took the kids out on the boat on Saturday and explored a campsite that the Priests in the ward will be using for their high adventure in August. It is a pretty neat spot on lake Coeur d' Alene. The water was still cold but Zoe and Jaren braved it being that we bet them treats at the resort if they jumped in. We went back to the boardwalk, tied up the boat and went in for dinner and the biggest sundae's you will ever see.

At church today Nick saw the stake president and he told him that he had received email on Friday that Nick's mission call was out and had been mailed. So it looks as if this week will be when he finds out where he is going.

Other activities for today included going to church and listening to a man speak for 30 minutes who had a voice that was sloooooow, quiettttttttt, and mmmmeetttthhhhoooodddicalllllll. He about put everyone to sleep. Fortunetly in Sunday School there was someone there with a big needle of adrenaline who stabbed it directly into my heart and was able to revive me.

Summer fun

And now for the weekly update. The boys and I made another trip over to Oregon to take care of some final painting at Umatilla grocery store. It was another all nighter buy I took an extra crew and so there was 6 of us there and were able to be out in 2 days. We have since returned and the boys are currently out working on another job.

Nikki was home with the girls but Darbi decided to spend a couple of nights at a friends house so it was just her and Zoe. Zoe decided she wanted to do a camp out so they sent up a tent in the backyard. Needless to say, Nikki didn't get any sleep but Zoe had a wonderful time.

Home at last

The boys and I are finally back from Oregon. We spent a week there painting a small grocery store. The good part is Nick and Jaren are being paid to see how valuable getting an education can be. After working a few nights they have decided that doing homework and getting good grades is worth the effort. I would have to agree with them. Usually I run enough crews that I don't have to go out but we have been so busy that I have to put on the work pants.

Nick still has no word of any mission call. Of course we didn't expect it yet but still he runs to the mail box every day. Or should I say his mother does. She pushes everyone to the floor to make it out first.

Other than working and fending off bored children, life is great. We finally have weather in the 80's and I would have to say it is about time. Jaren has a party with his friends tonight and we are trying to convince him to invite a few girls. I think he is in the "I can't believe this is legal!" mode.

Sweet 16

Today is Jaren's 16th birthday. He gets to celebrate by driving to go to work and pull an all nighter tonight. We had a small party for him today. He is going to have his friends over on Saturday with yard games and smores.

Graduation and Boating

Nick had his graduation on Monday. It was nice because everything went so timely. I heard they had 11 valedictorians and I almost fainted because each one gets to talk. They did it as a group and each took less then a minute. That's my kind of talk. I am trying to push for that on high council Sunday. Something like, "Pray, say em'. Commandments, keep em'. Scriptures, read em'. Vulgarities, avoid em' on Sundays." That would keep my attention. Anyway, graduation was good. He made it and looked pretty happy doing it. His papers are in and he is on pins and needles to find out where he will go.

For family home evening we went to the lake and enjoyed a nice boat ride and dinner. This is about the first nice day we have had and so we took advantage of it. Now the kids are out in the back playing badminton while the dog chases the birdie and then runs off with it.

The boys and I leave for some out of town work for the rest of the week in Oregon. We are going to take our clubs just in case.

Random Pictures

Thought I would post some random pictures from the computer. I realized, after blog stalking a few of you, that pictures are the most fun. I do have to load some of Nick's graduation and such but I don't have time right now. I have been working and traveling quit a bit lately. I have a new crew that I am training but hopefully they will be on their own in a couple of weeks and I can lead the life of laziness once again.

Busy Day

Talk about an eventful day. We started off with early morning church. Which isnt' neccesarily a tragedy in and of itself but the night before the boys were up late and we had to wait up for them. It was raining cats and dogs on Saturday but they decided they still wanted to go out and golf. All day today they kept laughing about an "event" that took place at the golf course. We finally got out of them that on the third hole, Nick swung the driver and it flew out of his hands. It ended up in a tree and so he sent Jaren up to retrieve it.

But back to today's activities. This afternoon I ordained Nick to the office of an Elder in the Priesthood. That was pretty neat. His papers go in on Wednesday and we have heard that they are coming back in a pretty timely manner. Tonight we went to his seminary graduation and a lady there told us her son received his back in a week and a half. Tomorrow is his graduation from high school and his senior all night party right after. Nikki signed us up to be volunteers, which should be fun. They graduate and then go on buses to an indoor waterpark nearby until 5am. Yikes.

Zoe and Nikki spent the day on a "shopping spree" because she has grown so much lately. Everything is high waters. She had so much fun getting some new clothes to wear.

As a suttle warning, don't come flocking to Spokane just yet. Our weather has been horrendous. We haven't been above 58 for weeks now and are getting rain almost everyday. I can't believe we are in June and have yet to put the boat on the water.

June 5

I title this post, "June 5" primarily because it took place on that date and secondly, because that was the day that these events occured on. We attended the banquet for track where Jaren earned his 3rd varsity letter for the year. The coach had high praise for him and said they were excited for what he will do in the future. The good news, bad news, of his running is that 3 of the 5 schools in our district are ranked in the top five nationally. That makes for some pretty stiff competition.

Darbi is on the road to reconvery with her arm. She now has on a permanent cast that will be in place for the next 5 weeks. That cuts into her summer fun but she is excited to have it off by the time she goes to "girl's camp" with McKenzie down in Utah. Her main frustration in life is being raised by a dad that is such a nerd. I dropped her off at school after she got her cast on and I asked if she needed me to come in with her since she was late. She gave me that, "you've got to be kidding me" look and asked if I could just right her a note to take to the office. I wrote, "Please exuse Darbi, she was having a pink club attached to her arm." She looked at me with daggers, grabbed the note and got out of the truck. I rolled down the window and asked if it would be better if I came in and sang to the office staff why she was late.

Nick graduates this Friday and is very excited to be done. His papers are in and he will have a few weeks to wait to find out where he is going.

Backyard Fun

We spent Memorial Day Weekend cleaning up the back yard and installing a fire pit. It took a lot more cement then I thought it would but it is worth it now that it is done. We have already had two wienie roasts and a night of smores. Nick and Jaren had their friends over on Saturday night and all sat around the fire, played badmitton(sp) and then came inside for a little "guitar hero."

Boys and Girls

Well our Saturday was divided as mom with the girls and dad with the boys. I think the girls went on some sort of boring shopping, hair cutting, nail painting, lunch extravaganza. Whatever it was, it doesn't sound fun. But ohhhhh the fun the boys had with a day of golfing and such. This was the first time we all went out this year. Nick and Jaren have a friend that works at one of the local courses who has been letting them on for free. So after a few trips to the course, they decided it was time take on dad.

Of course they know how to play the regular game of golf but had no idea how to play when it comes to betting. It was laughable the way they didn't know about the rule of thowing a pine cone at the head of your opponent in mid backswing. They caught on quick to the coughing while putting and the snide remarks about ones pants while driving. What surprised me most was that the guy we were playing with seemed to ignorance of this golfing tradition. I am pretty sure the final straw came when we accidently ran over his golf bag while attempting that time proven method of de-pantsing your oppenant while he walks up the fairway. The de-pantsing of Jaren was a success but the others guys clubs now aren't as straight as they used to be.

He then proceeded to yell and scream at us, which became shreiking as all three of us then tried to fake like we only spoke spanish and didn't understand what he was saying. With hindsight it was obvious that he had already heard us speaking English as we mumbled things under our breath the earlier four holes everytime he stepped up to his ball.

I don't know about him, but the three of us had a wonderful time. Both boys played well and now have some tactics they want to try out the next time grandpa comes to visit. I just hope he brings a strudy belt to hold his pants up and a face mask to protect himself from sharp pine cones.