Bear Lake

Bear Lake is up and running. Doug and I and Mom have made two trips up there. The first was to open the house and get things ready. It was beautiful up there in early June. There was plenty of water around in the fields and everything was so green. The house was fine... no vermin and everything functioned. Doug was a powerhouse of energy and we did so many projects. I cut all the grass, Doug managed to start the various machines and we hauled the two AT V's up there. We pulled the boat out of the garage and of course did the shooting chore. It was great. Barbecues and great food.

Doug and I and Douglas, Nate and Spence did another trip up there to haul up the "Induna" mountain car. I have debated on selling it but we have so much of ourselves into the building of this unusual four wheeler that I was not sure I could part with it. That little go anywhere truck is built! We put it on the car hauler trailer and strapped it down with these huge straps and the Ford Pickup pulled it up over the passes with no trouble. That diesel really pulls. It gets good mileage as well and we averaged 14miles/gallon pulling that loaded trailer.

When we got there, we found we had trapped a skunk in the Haveaheart trap. This was placed out in the field away from the house. We had to dispose of this and Doug almost got sick. We cut the grass again, and rather than cook in the house, we ate out. The stuff at the Bear Cave up the street was not as good as I remembered it but the raspberry shakes were great. We stopped at the Bear Steak House on the way home and it was probably great for Bear Lake but we can do better with the grill. The kids filled there tummies for the ride home.

Doug and his family have been up there for a week. Doug did a lot and had a good time. They took the ATV's up mountain roads and pulled them around with the Induna and trailer. Doug got all the toys registered in Idaho, Induna, boat and ATV's so they are legal. In Idaho, you can put plates on an ATV and drive down the roads legally so the Polaris has plates.

One huge project that Doug managed was putting new doors on the garage. Men came up from Home Depot in Logan and put up two modern garage doors so it will be easier to get in and out. So many projects to do up there. The place looks so cool with its blue roof. When we repaint the house, I want to put up blue shutters and flower boxes under some of the windows and we will have a proper little Bavarian home.

We will got up the last weekend in June and get ready for the big Fourth of July event. Rob and Eva and their family and I think Jeff and Tammy and family are coming down from Spokane. Bryan will be there for a split second as he Roy and Doug and the boys are leaving for their high adventure backpacking trip in Wyoming. It will be a blast. Looks like the lake is OK and we can put in at the North Beach.

Well that is the news from St. Charles, Idaho

Yet another Grandson

It has been such a bumper crop of grandchildren this year!

Rebecca just had her little boy. On Friday the 13th!!! This is grandchild # 64 and # 100 in appearance in our immediate family counting Mom and Dad, all the children, their spouses and their kids!

We were thinking of having a reunion where everyone wore a T shirt with their number of appearance in the family. Mom would be of course # 1, I # 2 and so on so Becca's little boy would wear # 100!

We are so happy for Becca and Paul. There was of course drama with this arrival. Becca called last evening and reported that she was having false contractions. We discussed whether Mom should go down last night just in case. "No we will just see what happens". I could tell in her voice that she would have the baby soon.

Paul called this morning and said they almost pulled a Rayanne and Mike having the baby in the car. Becca laid down on the floor of the hospital elevator and started to push. The baby was born before they got to the delivery room but thankfully not in the elevator. Becca was also born on a stretcher and they took Mom into the OR and managed to get their OR fee. So Becca duplicated her own birth! When Paul called, they had been in the hospital 20 minutes.

So much wonderful high drama. Cheryl always asks about her birth and I simply said that Mom went into the hospital and had a normal delivery. The drama started with the birth of Rebecca who was taken to the hospital by her oldest brother, Roy. Roy freaked out when the nurse came into the waiting area and congratulated him. I had taken all the kids to our place in Northen Michigan so Mom could have a rest. Great family stories!

We feel so blessed, out of proportion to what we deserve. We are so grateful for you all. Our cup runneth over.

Dad

Mary Yesterday

Alsion thinks I should be fair and show the picture of Mary before her delivery yesterday. Well I copied the picture from Mary's blog so I guess it is alright to show it.

This is another baby that grew straight out. I must say there are a lot of hormones around the family just now.

Alison developed a prehensile foot when she was so anteriorly big. She can sweep the floor with her foot and pick up everything without bending over. My mouth fell open when I saw her do it.

Well four more coming and we are rooting and praying for all of you.

Summer is here (almost)

It has been so nice here in Salt Lake. There has been plenty of rain and the hills and foothills are covered with green growth and the tops of the mountains are capped with snow. It is as pretty as the mountains in Bavaria. Our lawn is lush, the bushes that the deer ate all summer have rebounded. Our little garden of a few eggplants and tomato plants are in and growing. Our rose bush that we planted last year is starting to bloom.

With this spirngtime and early summer we have had a bunch of new grandchildren. Tammy had their little girl and last night Mary had a little girl at Providence hospital in Michigan. Rebecca may correct me but I think that is grandchild #63 and 99th place in the family! Four more coming including Gemina! This is wonderful news.

We went up to Bear lake and had a two day trip there. The first day was driving with Doug driving. We took the Ford pickup and trailered the two four wheelers up there. I cut the grass and Doug did a million projects all on Saturday and we drove back Saturday night. It is also very green and there was plenty of water in the fields. Could not tell about the lake but Doug (who rode up to the North Beach) thought we could put in the boat there. We took the boat out of the garage. Mom took Doug's carpet cleaner and cleaned all the ruge. The place looked great!

We will go up again for a one day trip and haul the "Induna" Toyota FJ cruiser up there and park it in the yard. It runs great and will be handy putting the boat in. Doug and I will go up next weekend.

Rob and his family will come down to Bear Lake for the 4th of July vacation. Jeff may come but may not as Tammy is getting over a wound infection. Roy, Doug and Bryan are coming back for a day or two before leaving for a backpack trip in Wyoming while we are all up at Bear Lake. The house survived the winter and the grass and fields are green. It is such a gorgeous place. Speaking of gorgeous, here is a picture of Mary's 9 lb 12 ounce baby girl.