Back into our routine

Anette and I are back home and recovered from our trip to Texas. We had a really wonderful time while we were there. Thanks so much Craig and LaDawn and John and Denisa. You can be very proud of what good families you have.

While we were gone Creed has his mission interview with the stake president, so we were hoping he might get his mission call today, but there was no phone call from the Post Office, so it will probably be next Wednesday.

We returned home to a tree loaded with ripe cherries. I have never seen so many on one tree. So far we have picked about 30 gallons and it there is probably at least that many more to go. We have been drying them and making cherry syrup. We are also giving them away as fast as we can.

Jake and Lindsay are still trying to get a closing date on their house in Wyoming. It is quite a process and I know they are getting tired of staying with us. But it has sure been nice to spend so much time with those cute grandchildren.

Hatch Patch Saturday

It's been a while since I've updated here, so to catch everyone up, I just finished with finals for Spring Term on Wednesday. I think I'll get an A in my CS and Religion classes, and maybe a B in Physics. Summer Term starts on Monday.

Today (Saturday), however, my Roholt grandparents took me to Hatch Patch, which is some property up one of the canyons here which is owned by my grandmother's family. We had a fun time, and I even have a few pictures!

First of all, we saw a red-tailed hawk, but I forgot to upload the pictures of it. Even though it was a rather wet day, I went out kayaking some.

We also went to the Hatch Family Reunion, where I met more people I'm related to (somehow)!

One of my aunts also gave me a haircut...

But forgot she'd switched to a shorter guard when she made this cut.

Despite that, it was still a good weekend.

Craig's Adventure

The day before Trek, Craig headed up to the younger kids' scout camp. He got there just in time for the big storms to start. He got some very cool lightning pictures! He also got very wet!

The tents were the kind that sit on rebar-reinforced platforms. During the night, one of the leaders in another tent could tell his tent wasn't going to hold much longer, so he told the boys to get out. They all got out, but the tent flipped before the leader got out. He was pinned for awhile under the platform. He told the boys he was going home, but I guess he really went to the doctor. Craig doesn't know how badly he was injured because he wasn't in our troop and he didn't want his boys to be any more freaked out than they already were.

After that all happened, camp was normal. Craig mostly talks about the bad food!

They Return!

James and Elaine have returned from their "trek," (as has Kjirsti). Elaine has not quit talking about it yet! She was ready to turn around and do it again! It was not easy, and the trek ended up being shortened considerably. The leaders would not let them pull the carts at all yesterday; they just played games and had a testimony meeting.

The first day, terrible storms were predicted. The night before the whole DFW area had been under tornado warnings and wind warnings. Tornados did touch down in several places. (Craig was at a boy scout camp, but that's a story for another post!) Anyway, the rain was supposed to continue. But the trekkers never saw anything but a few welcome sprinkles and cloud cover. Oh, and lots of mud!

The second day, it was very hot and kids and leaders started to have problems with dehydration and heat exhaustion. I understand the trek Doctor took 8 IV's with him and used 7; they ended up sending about 20 people to the hospital; they bought every last gatorade the nearest Wal-Mart had and used it all; I think they said they also sent about 5 kids home. Anyway, with the heat index predicted to be 109 the next day, the doctor was literally afraid there would be fatalities if they kept going, so they scaled back the plans for day three and came home several hours early.

James, Elaine, and Kjirsti didn't have any problems, though I understand Kjirsti injured her knee a bit and ended up riding a horse and in a car for awhile.

They all seemed to have fun, and like I said, Elaine hasn't stopped talking since she got home. It was all I could do to get her in the shower and then in bed!

Attached picture

I don't know why but I always have problems uploading pictures. I'll try again.

Our week. I think you may be interested in what has happened to us here in Smithfield. Our last day at the temple will be 10 June. We are planning on leaving her about the 16th depending on Lloyds condition. He is havibg problems again.

3 June 2009 We had a hailstorm last night. It was the worst hailstorm we have ever had. It started with rain about 9:30 and lasted for a couple of hours. I had to go buy more tomato, squash and other broad-leafed plants. Much of the garden is ruined. I’m hoping that most of the plants will be able to come out of it. I’m not sure how much garden we will get this year. The fruit trees lost at least half of the fruit and what remains is heavily pot marked and will probably only be good for jam, it just shredded the leaves and broke most of the stems. I’m hoping that what is left will come out of it without replanting. We had a reported 1.25 to 1.33 inches of rain/hail in a two-hour period. This was the most rainfall they have ever recorded in Smithfield in such a short period of time. Several homes west of us were flooded out when the water level in an irrigation canal overflowed its banks due to the rain. The attached picture shows the hail at the bottom of the front downspout.

New blog

Hey all. We have started a private family blog. I think I sent invitations to all of you.
If not, let me know.
This is a place for the kids to show off some of their schoolwork or creativity. And me, too!
The address is dalleydays.blogspot.com, but like I said, it is private, so you need an invite to see it.
LaDawn