A Busy Weekend

Let me tell you about a busy weekend we had recently.

We're still trying to work on the UCB challenge so Lucky and I got out Saturday morning to Powell Slough Wildlife Management Area. Every time I go there I hear Virginia Rails. Jeremy saw one once while we were there but I missed it. Lucky and I did hear rails and one gave us a quick glimpse of it. Yippee! 

Can you see it just peeking out in the center of the picture?

 

What was also fun but I wasn't expecting is that there were also soras who were out a bit more than the rails so we got better looks at them. Fun fun fun. I like birds.

Later Lucky and Nichole had a couple appointments, several of us went for a drive around the lake, then we went home and ate biscuits and gravy.

The next morning, Jet decided to be up with me really early in the morning while I put some final touches on my Relief Society lesson I was teaching later. I got a new calling- Relief Society teacher. That day was also the Primary Program and the kids were so cute as usual.

Some of us went for another drive around the lake that afternoon/evening. It was a beautiful evening.

Monday was Veteran's Day.

Bison Day 2024

I love this tradition we've adopted of going to Antelope Island on Bison Day. We missed it in 2022 but were able to go last year and this year we made sure to go and of course we brought Otter the Bison, so named because when Jr. first saw the bison plushie a few years ago, he commented how it looked like an otter. Otter the Bison. Love it.

Had to get my bison selfie. I do it the safe way.  

 Jeremy also does it the safe way.

 

Besides seeing bison, we wanted to see birds for the UCB challenge. We got some on the causeway on the way in, some more at Garr Ranch, and some as we drove around the island a bit. 

We just needed a few more. We drove to certain places looking for specific birds.

 

And check out the magpie on the back of the bison. So fun.

 

We saw some birds out in the distance at one point but weren't exactly sure what they were. We wanted to get our 24 species so I hiked way out taking pictures every once in a while to hopefully identify which birds they were. Until my camera battery died and I had not taken the bag with the extra batteries with me. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.

Jeremy managed to get a picture through binoculars with his phone of me hiking through the sand. 

Have you ever hiked through sand? I've done quite a bit because of where I grew up. 

We figured out those birds were horned larks which Jeremy had guessed even before I went down there. 

Later we realized we didn't even need the horned larks for the challenge because we saw a bunch more birds from the causeway on the way out. Ha Ha Ha Ha.

But hey, it made for some good pictures- including me pouring sand out of my shoe.

Besides being Bison Day (and Play Outside Day, the first Saturday of every month), November 2 was also Plan Your Epitaph Day. So as we were driving around Antelope Island, we had some fun.

 

Here lies Jr. Jr. He fell off a cliff. 

His brother said, "It's not my fault you're so shoveable."

Mom: Plan Your Epitaph Day.

Lucky: I'm not buckled.

Dad: Wow. That was fast.

Dad: I think I would get a squid coming down my arm with the tentacles wrapped around...

Mom: It's Plan Your Epitaph Day, not Tattoo Day.

Dad: Plan your epic tat.

Jr. Jr.: Here lies Jr. Jr. His last words were, "What? That's not a bear."

 

Bonding Time

October 18 was Alaska Day. Throughout the day I kept thinking, "If I need to check with Nichole about something, Alaska (I'll ask her)." Tee Hee.

We made plans with Nichole for the next day. She finally got her movie theater trip with Mom and Dad like the other boys did a couple years ago. We of course got Little Caesar's pizza (and some free crazy bread) then watched The Wild Robot. It wasn't a surprise like with the boys because she let us know what movie she did want to watch and she helped with the surprise with the other boys but it was still fun.

Earlier in the day, Lucky got some bonding time with Mom and Dad when the three of us went out birding and got enough birds at two other sites for the UCB challenge.

Can you tell it was a sunny day?

I love bonding time with my family members.

Birding Adventure

On Public Lands Day, September 28, we avoided public lands and Jeremy, Lucky, Jet, and I went to Ouray Wildlife Refuge and Pelican Lake to do some birding. It was quite the adventure trying to get 24 species at each of those places for Jeremy and Lucky for this year's UCB birding challenge.

It was also International Rabbit Day and Jeremy and Lucky saw rabbits.

I didn't see rabbits but I saw the prairie dogs they saw. 

We also saw a porcupine like when I was there last.

Challenge Rewarded

Because Jr. Jr. read the whole New Testament (see my post from January 29 this year), we got him a king-sized candy bar of his choice. He was happy about that.

It's a good thing we got him that reward before his teachers who gave him the challenge gave him a reward. It was worth a bit (a lot) more than a king-sized candy bar. 

I texted them to tell them he had accomplished the goal and they had Jr. Jr. call them later to talk about it and what he had learned. So he definitely earned his rewards.

Challenge Accepted and Challenge Completed

Challenge Accepted:

My son's Sunday School teachers challenged him to read the entire New Testament in a short amount of time so after church that day he got right to work.

The best part is he kept coming to tell me about parts that reminded him of discussions we've had in our home. I'm so happy he wanted to share and I'm proud of him for not only reading it but getting something out of it.

Challenge Completed:

He finished reading the entire New Testament in two weeks. Way to go, son.

Wolfenoot!

Wolfenoot was November 23.

I wore my wolf sweatshirt to go out and do a little birding with Jeremy. He only needed a few more species in a certain county for this year's UCB challenge. 

The challenges are done every other year and there is usually a different challenge each time. This year it's getting at least 22 species (since it's 2022) in as many different counties as you can. A little added challenge was going out on 2-22-22 and seeing 22 species. You may remember the kids and I did that in February.

As Jeremy and I were driving, we stopped on the road at one point for wild turkeys to cross. We got to count them for the challenge (I already got my 22 species in that county. I was there supporting Jeremy).

Later that night as Jeremy was trying to thaw our Thanksgiving turkey enough to get the neck and giblets out, Jet saw it in the sink full of water and kept telling us how the turkey was swimming in the water.

How cute is that?

I slept through dinner but the family saved me some bacon and full moon pancakes because you have to eat meat on Wolfenoot.

 

The next day I made a lot of food and we ate it for Thanksgiving.

Practice What You Preach

The beginning of August Nichole and Jr. went off to FSY (For the Strength of Youth conference) at BYU. Jeremy went to a county fair in Downey, Idaho, then when he came back he was doing balloons at the Utah County Fair (which meant he could sleep at home both nights of that fair. Yay!).

We were also studying Job that week for scripture study so we got to put into practice what we taught the boys. Continue to turn to the Lord in trials and you'll be better off in the end and recognize blessings in the midst of trials.

We started off strong. Monday, Jeremy was at work, Nichole and Jr. were getting ready for FSY, and Lucky said, "I feel sick," then threw up. Sigh. I'm sure it was from the heat. I mentioned it has been a hot Summer. Someone was going to let the younger boys play at their house while I took the older kids to FSY so I had to cancel that. I was able to find someone to come over and be an older person here while Jr. Jr. took care of Jet and Lucky rested (Lucky helped, too, because it didn't take long for him to feel better since he wasn't actually sick, just a bit dehydrated probably). That was really appreciated since it took longer than I thought to check them in and get them to their housing, say goodbye, etc.

And I forgot to take a picture of Nichole before I left but I got a picture of Jr.

The first night, Jet was calling out, "Goodnight," to his siblings, even the ones who weren't there. That little guy is so cute.

While Jeremy and the older kids were gone, we did some work and play, work and play. Jr. Jr. wrote down things to work on (dishes, cleaning our rooms, etc.) and some fun things to do (video games, eating treats, etc.), made them into strips, and picked them out of a bag. Work and play.

We also celebrated some holidays. 

Wednesday, August 3, was Grab Some Nuts Day. We opened our container of mixed nuts. Yumm. Jeremy said he ate peanuts that day while he was in Idaho.

It was also National Watermelon Day. I didn't eat watermelon but I watched the Studio C sketch, "Cool Guy Can't Eat Fruit Casually." That's what it's called on YouTube.

 

One of the days that week, a friend stopped by to say Hi then she came back a few minutes later and brought us pizza. What a sweetheart. 

Jeremy got to see his friend, Dan, again. They were at the fair convention together back in November and he was at the juggling BBQ in June. Dan was manning a photo booth at the fair in Idaho.

Jeremy also built a large sasquatch scene out of balloons. He managed to get a bald eagle and mountain bluebird in there. Love those birds.

 

Friday, August 5, was Work Like a Dog Day. I thought that meant we'd get a lot done at home. Nope. Here's where we got to look at our blessings again amidst trials. Jeremy was headed down to Spanish Fork when the car engine light went on and the car made sputtering sounds. He was only a few minutes from home so I took Jet away from eating his breakfast (luckily we had snacks in the van), woke Jr. Jr. up, and packed the boys in the van to go pick Jeremy up and get him to the fair on time. Then we came back to get the car to the mechanic who couldn't look at it until Monday. At least it didn't happen in Idaho.

Fast forward a few hours and I was taking one child to the ER while the other two went to a football game and a parade with friends. I cannot thank them enough for taking the boys last minute and entertaining them for 5 hours.

Recognizing blessings again, it wasn't as bad as it could be and only needed a few stitches and he was such a trooper at the hospital. He was totally fine. After the initial hurt, he was running around like normal and in a good mood (including in the waiting room of the ER. Sigh). He got to play with cars and one of the people there drew a track for him on paper for him to race the cars on. She later drew a dinosaur for him when she found out he likes dinosaurs.

My wonderful husband was so patient about getting picked up an hour late from the fair because we picked up the boys first before going to get him.

 

Saturday morning, August 6, I picked up Nichole and Jr. from FSY and made sure to get a picture of Nichole. They both had a good time. Jr. said it was like a spiritual UVU Prep.

I was able to take Jeremy down to his fair and pick him up no problem. We even wiggled our toes in the van on the way to celebrate Wiggle Your Toes Day (the kids wiggled their toes later).

That night we celebrated National Root Beer Float Day as things calmed down a bit after the long week.

We really did have the opportunity to look on the bright side of things that week. There were definite challenges but blessings as well.

By the way, the car is fine, and Jet is healing nicely.