Raspberries--YUM !

We got invited to pick raspberries Saturday morning.  Bro. Cornelius, a neighbor on the other side of the block, left a message on Kendal's phone--that the raspberries were very much in need of picking.  The weather has been very warm.

Kendal and I picking.  The patch is very big. 

B

Bro. Cornelius helping Kendal attach a container around his waiste, so both hands are free for picking.

Three good sized bowls of berries.  I am not sure what we will do with them.  I usually do freezer jam, but we have a very small freezer right now.  I will probably do sauce for waffles and ice cream and then freeze, as much as will fit in the freezer, for smoothies. 

Marci's gone back to AZ for VB practice

Marci headed south on Wednesday morning.  She drove safely to Prescott Valley to spend a couple of days with Curtis, Courtney and the boys.  We miss her.  Life is always more interesting with Marci around.  There was a list of things she hoped to experience while she was in Malad, for 2 1/2 months ,and we got most everything checked off.  We are lacking in the "shopping" department around here, so she will need to do some more shopping before school starts. When she goes to Thatcher ( or Safford) from Malad she is going to a place with more shopping options!   I did not ever think we would live in a place with less shopping then Deming, New Mexico!!!!
 

Kendal's 18th Birthday and Bear Lake

So, as usual, we fit Kendal's birthday into a summer-work day for Dad.  When Kendal woke up, I called Dad at work and he came home to watch Kendal open his presents.  Kendal said all he needed to be happy for this birthday was a carrot cake and some Van's shoes.

Kendal also really wanted a shirt that he ordered online.

Kendal and I headed to Pocatello to the dermatologist where Kendal got the good news that he does not need to be on the acne medicine anymore.

Then we got back to Malad just in time to regroup and go to Salt Lake for Ashely and Adams wedding.  Sorry I did not remember to take the camera to the wedding.  Everything was very nice yet simple.  I hope you can find some pictures on someone's facebook.  

Saturday July 24th at Bear Lake.  Thanks Uncle Jeff!

Fishing

We finally caught some fish.

These are wide mouth bass fish.

Marci working hard to reel in a fish.  There was a lot of moss and plants near the edge  of the water, making it hard to reel in the fish plus the moss. 

Marci finally caught a fish.  It was 15 inches long.  We could not keep the fish --the restrictions are to through back any fish smaller than 6 inches--Keep fish between 6 inches and 10 inches and keep fish larger than 16 inches.  We caught quite a few fish and had to let them go back into the lake.  But it is still fun to catch a fish, even if you have to put it back.  It is no fun to fish and not catch anything.

This is for Grandma Christensen

The Kingstons

 The Kleinmans

Those who could make it to the Reunion--missing Kendal and Marci (sad)--but so nice to finally have Dan with us.

The big bunch.

Reservoir swimming and mud

Marci and Aubrey planned an afternoon with Aubrey's friends,of wiffle ball and swimming at Devils Creek  Reservoir--the mud part just happened spontaneously .  Marci is being a very good sport about not having people her age to do things with, on any kind of a regular basis.  

I only put  pictures of Aubrey jumping because, I thought Nathan would only be interested in Aubrey and Marci.  Marci was the photographer, so there are no pictures of Marci on this occasion.  Aubrey has a face book account now and I think more photos can be seen on her face book albums.

Marci challenged the girls to make a star shape , since there were 5 of them, but this is the best they could do.

This is the mud part.  I think a flip flop got lost in the mud --and a cell phone got lost in the reservoir!   Silly girls!!!    They had fun and the Suburban, I am told, is very dirty inside from these activities. 

rafting on the Snake River in Jackson Hole, WY

Here we are on the bus that took us to and from the water.

We are getting ready to go into an exciting part of the river.
Aubrey, Marci, Kendal and Dad are on the same side and I am on the other side to the back, near the guide.
We went on an 8 man raft where each person has to paddle.

Dad just about fell off the raft.

Dad trying with all he's got to sit back up on the raft.  Kendal helped out a lot!

Rejoicing to be completely back on the raft.

These pictures of  being on the water are from a company that takes your picture at an exciting part of the trip.  The whole thing is quite commercialized.  They tell you that everything will get wet and that is the truth--but with a bit of common sense a person could get their own pictures and not have to pay high prices to someone else.  But, not of the rapids ,   just at the beginning and the end.

You can rent wet suits before getting on the bus and we should have gotten wet suits for Marci, Kendal and maybe Aubrey--they were cold while on the raft.  The water was very cold and they did supply a windbreaker type jacket before we put on the life jackets.  You get totally wet from the waist down, for sure!

This is for Curtis

This is for Curtis.  This is the bottom front view.  It took me a few days to  remember to take the camera to the storage and take a picture.  

Curtis was wondering how we were able to fit all of our stuff in one storage unit. 

This is the far top view.  The size of the area is 12 x 30, and we fill it to the brim!  

Curtis and his Dad, Ralph, helped load all this stuff, very compact, in the biggest Uhaul truck and the biggest trailer they allowed--for the better of 2 days!!  They were awsome.   THANKS again.

4th of July in Malad

Malad Idol is a big part of the July 4th celebrations.  Friday, July 2nd was when all 19 contestants performed.  11 people in the group age 14 and older and 8 in the group age 14 and under.  Marci sang the country song "Kerosene".

Saturday night 5 people performed from each age group.  Marci sang "Unwritten".  This night papers were passed out for random audience members to vote on their favorite. Country songs are a better idea, with some of the audience voting, but we did not know that small detail.  Marci had a good time and added some spice to the Malad Idol competition.  

 Dad in the pie eating contest.  The pie was a traditional shorting crust with a fruit raspberry filling and whipped topping.  All the pies were the same.  This was Dad's first pie eating contest.  You could not use your hands and all the pie had to be eaten, even any that spilled on the table. Dad said he ate about 1/3 of his pie. 

We celebrated the 4th on Sunday.  Marci worked until 6pm.

We set things up on the "pretty" side of the house.

Malad does so much fireworks that I actually got very tired of hearing and smelling the fireworks.  You can buy all kinds of fireworks right here in town and you can buy anything you want in Wyoming--the police don't enforce any of the illegal stuff, so days before and even as I type right now, people are still playing with fireworks.  

Dad sang the National Anthem before the parade on Saturday morning and then again before the final evening performances.  The parade route went right in front of our house --it was a very pleasant parade with plenty of variety and lasted an hour.  

 Kendal wanted me to put this picture of him with white cream filling from the fruit pizza on his lips.