Late Memorial Day Weekend Post!

Marsh promised my mom when we got married that he would try and get me up to Idaho at least 3 times a year. So far he has done pretty darn good at keeping his promise. We try to go up every Memorial Day, Labor Day and then either Thanksgiving or Christmas depending on the rotation...and I beg for more visits in between! ;-)

We had so much fun up there this year! We played games w/family (met my little cousin's "pet" chicken--she had even painted his talens! Crazy girl), helped my mom w/some stuff around the house, painted Slim's w/the new Chevron colors, planted the garden, played w/my niece and nephews, spent time w/my cousin from Provo that came up just to see us, and of course spent time in the boat...man I miss that!

Well, since we usually drive to Idaho at least 2 out of the 3 times we have been able to see the progress on the new bridge they are building over Hoover Dam. It is pretty amazing. Everytime we drive by I always admire the skill and knowledge it takes to build such a structure. We are counting down trips til we get to use it and save time by avoiding all that Dam traffic as my mom says!


I was trying to get a picture of the stairs they have on the arches but we were going to fast and the continous shot on the camera doesn't let you zoom in quite as far as normal...so just imagine these temparary stairs built along the top side of these arches. There are no railings, just a safety wire I'm sure they attach their harness too...it is crazy.

What if the two arches coming together are off by just an inch...I seriously am in totally awe, even just looking at this picture again. My brain just doesn't think of this stuff. It reminds me of that game we used to play when we were little...Archrival. I don't know why...probably cuz of the arch...lol. ;-)

Part of the reasoning behind going up for Memorial and Labor Day is so that we can help my mom plant and harvest her garden since both seem to be right around that time frame. My mom's garden is about the size of my backyard here in AZ and we use every bit of it. I love it though and it always creates so many memories (and cans in my food storage!!)

Here is the garden before holes are cut in the plastic. We have to weight the plastic down because of the Idaho wind...if we didn't it would mess up the plants and would probably be quite the sight!

Here are the holes being cut and the plants being planted.

Grandma Di's biggest helper. Brayden (my nephew) loves helping plant the seeds.

He has so much fun helping, we couldn't even convince him it was time to take a break and ride the lawn mower that he absolutely loves! It is so fun because Grandma Di doesn't even care how many seeds he puts in one strip. (he is planting green beans here and usually you put about 4 seeds in the strip of plastic that has been cut in a long rectangle shape. Well, my sister, Julie, and I went out that first night to make sure the drip system was working and that all rows were getting water well...we came across "the rows" that had been planted by Brayden. We found a pile of seeds here...a pile over here....8 in this one, 2 in that one. We could not stop laughing as we were trying to re-seed the rows.)

Dillon (Brayden's little bro) already starting his love of planting...let me guess...beans?! LOL

But, it didn't take much to get him to take a ride w/his dad. Those boys go crazy over any tractor, lawn mower, 4-wheeler, construction machinery. They are true boys!

Too bad they weren't really mowing--they left that to me! ;-)

And I just had to put a picture of my dog Cassi. She is 14 years old and is such a trooper. Everytime I leave Idaho I cry. Well duh I'm leaving my family. But a big part of it is I always think to myself "this trip may be the last time I see Cass..." and then I realize I'm still just a little girl who loves her dog!

Thank you to all our Idaho family/friends for making our trip so fun and entertaining. We miss you tons! and can't wait to see you in September!