Highlights summer 2010/ Ape caves and Lava Canyon

We were invited to go to the Ape caves and Lava Canyon on Labor day. Tayler had hiked the ape caves years ago and has told us repeatedly that we needed to go so when we were invited we jumped at the chance. The picture above is us coming out of the cave and the one below is us before we went into the cave. It was interesting no tour guide and lots of climbing over sharp rocks but cool. We went with the Steele family and the Cutright family.

A good friend of mine told me to go to Lava Canyon while we were there. The force behind a volcanic eruption is amazing! We were very close to Mt. St. Helens.
There were signs like this all over the place.......Look below and you will see two crazy men that did not stay on the trails.....I think I won't say anymore about that.



The suspension bridge at Lava canyon was fun, kinda scary but made the trip exciting. Need to go back when it isn't so cold.

Eagle Scout

Tayler is an Eagle Scout!
It won't be 100% official until we get the paperwork back but it is official enough for me
Congratulations Tayler on this huge accomplishment!

Container Garden

Since we don't have enough room in our back yard to have a garden we decided to plant some squash and tomatoes in containers and see how they would do. I think I like container gardening, and will do it on a larger scale next year. We are supporting the tomatoes with 6' bamboo sticks, it is hard to see in the photo but the 2nd one from the right an early goliath tomato is now taller than the stick. The one on the right a sugar plum tomato is almost as tall. The one on the left is a beefmaster and is starting to take off with the warmer weather we had. The second from the left is a bush early girl. Then we have 2 yellow squash and 2 zucchini plants. I am surprised that they are doing so well with all of the cold weather we have been having. We have only had a couple of days in the 80's.


This is a close up of the tomatoes on the early goliath. The biggest is almost tennis ball size. Now if they would only turn red!

Black Powder and Carbide Cannon Fun!!

This is a 8" Black powder cannon I found at work. I thought it would be fun to buy some powder and try it out. So we bought some pyrodex powder (black powder substitute) and headed out to Sid's house.
This is our fourth attempt, the first couple were pretty sad. We started with 10 grains of powder and worked our way up to this shot with 30 grains. Please forgive the poor quality videos, they were taken with our cell phones because we left our cameras home.



This is our fifth shot with a 40 grain charge. It is really loud, and lots of fun. We decided to stop at 40 grains before we overcharged and had an accident.




This is Sid's Carbide cannon. After shooting a bunch of times he started putting a potato slug in the barrel and shooting it. It was pretty cool, and a lot safer than the Black powder cannon.

National Guard

I am getting ready to go to a parade to welcome home our National Guard. Some of the troops are still in Kuwait because of the recent eruption of the volcano in Iceland so hopefully they will feel the love from our area.

I know so many people who think we shouldn't be at war, I agree lets just pack up all the bad guys in the world and put them somewhere where they can't hurt any of the non warring people and let them blow each other away........in a perfect world huh. War is bad and I hate it, I hate that it seems to be a necessity.

On the other hand I am so thankful for the men and women that are willing to put there LIVES on the line for thousands and thousand of people who think we Americans are just sticking our noses where they don't belong......I am thankful that they are willing to do this day in and day out and that their FAMILIES are willing to live without them for long stretches of time so that they can HELP others. I feel justified in my feelings because my Nephew put his LIFE on the line, my Brother put his LIFE on the line and my Brother-in-law put his LIFE on the line for others.

I like this quote.....and someday in a perfect world maybe this could happen :)

The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you.

John E. Southard

Dirty word

Over my lifetime I have found one word that strikes fear in me to my very core. CANCER! I hate that word. I hate what it means and what it does to people and families.

Today my Dad is going to have his prostate removed. I just want to cry. I know he will be ok and that it is a very curable cancer but I hate it just the same. Today will be filled with praying and distractions.

Silver lining: I have seen amazing miracles where cancer is involved. My amazing sister who is one of the strongest people I know has beaten cancer and I am so thankful she did, life wouldn't be the same without her or any of my family. I am so very thankful for family.

It was an honor

I have heard these word from Movie stars and pop artists and have thought they didn't really mean it. Well the Nerd Herd was nominated for the think award yesterday at state, and I think it was an honor just being nominated. Getting third before the finals was an amazing accomplishment.

It was also an honor to watch our team get out there and battle and work hard and not get discouraged and just keep trying. It got a little brutal in the finals, we were smashed and bashed quite a bit and me as a Mom was a little perturbed but if the tide had changed I would have been all for our bot doing more pushing so that being said I am very glad we got this opportunity.

Things we need to remember. Human nature is to win no matter what.....even if we think it isn't nice. So be tough. Don't give up and give it your all. Be gracious in the winning and the losing, something the Nerd Herd does very well. The number one thing though would be to Have Fun!

Thank you Sid and Chan Hei, Dan and all the parents for all the hours and hours of service to our kids. Thank you for teaching them that learning is fun and that they can do it. Can't wait to see what next year brings!