Lad is Back Home



Lad came home from serving his two year Mission in Carlsbad California on October 31.

So of course, we had to greet him at the airport in Halloween costumes.

Skye made his super cool mask in welding class. Arron and I spent the afternoon doing "arts and crafts" to finish ours. Laiken was a black cat and Jon was Dark Night.

I don't think we fooled him for a minute.

We were pretty anxious to see Lad after two years of just letters and e-mails.
 

So much has happened in our family since Lad left two years ago.

We moved to the Villa. Sold our business. His little sister got married and he has a brother-in-law. His little brother is taller than him and is driving. His grandparents moved down the road and his dad is now working in Florida!

But as soon as he stepped through those doors...it's like everything was back to normal again.

I can't even put into words how great it is to have us all back together.

Lad is so great! I feel like when I try to describe him to people I just gush. It's like I don't even know where to begin to convey, just how amazing he really is. You have to 'know' him to fully 'know' his awesomeness...it just can't be explained. Lad has had so many wonderful experiences while on his mission. We are hearing new stories all the time. I know he wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I love what his misson has done for him.

 

 

Arron has missed him so much these last two years. He couldn't get anyone to go ride with him like Lad does. He also had to finish quite a few house projects without him. These two are close. Arron was able to come home from Florida for ten days so we could all be together for his Homecoming and early Thanksgiving.

We didn't waste any time getting Lad re-aquainted with home life.

 

We had a Turkey to prep. for dinner!

Two turkeys actually. The boys set them up behind a log, called to them, and when they stuck their heads up...well, you know the rest, it's history, at least they were...history that is.

They were also tasty.

 

Skye has been waiting for Lad to come home so he could do this turkey shoot with him.

They make me laugh all the time. Boys do the craziest things. I'm so glad they enjoy each others company so much. It was getting pretty quiet at the Villa with just Skye and I there.

 

 



Welcome Home. To both my boys.

 

 

A Tale of Two Turkeys

Their meager beginnings evolved into a life of luxury
but ultimately came to a tragic end.

It all began when Big Momma the Buff wanted chicks.
All the other hens in the coop laughed at her
sitting on her eggs all day.
They knew they would never hatch.
All Big Momma's hard work would be for nothing.
She would not eat, or drink for worry her eggs would get too cold.
Everyone felt that Big Momma would make a wonderful mother,
but how could we help her dreams come true?
Something had to be done.
There must be baby chicks in need of a good mother...
or even baby turkeys.

Big Momma was so proud of her new family.

She would take them out of the coop with such care,

making sure no harm would come to them.

She heroically chased off the other hens, dogs and even

people from getting too close to her babies.

Her little chicks and baby turkeys knew how lucky they

were to have a mother like Big Momma,

 they followed her everywhere.

The turkeys grew and grew.

Soon they were twice as big as their nest mates.

They didn't know they were turkeys and not chickens.

They just kept on growing.

 

Until one day, very close to Thanksgiving,

the farmer decided they were big enough.

To the very last day the two brothers had always

been together. Whenever you would see one turkey

the other was never far behind.

But their fates in the end were much different.

You see only one turkey made it to the farmer's table...

The first turkey was a delicious 22lb. addition to the

Thanksgiving feast.

The farmer was anticipating how wonderful the second turkey

would be, brined to perfection on Christmas eve.

But fate had something else in store for the remaining bird.

One cold and windy November morning,

 a coyote found his way to the farmer's villa.

The coyote was caught red-handed

eating the last of this poor turkey.

Now all the farmer wants for Christmas is

a Ruger mini 30 rifle with a Redfield scope.

All the farmer's wife wants for Christmas is

a new coyote fur rug so she can wipe her feet on it

when she goes out to feed her sweet chickens.

To be continued.......

Reflecting on Christmas

This year is almost over. I'm ready to say "Hello" to 2011. 

Don't get me wrong, 2010 has been great, busy, but great.

I'm ready to slow down...
(Those will probably be famous last words)

I didn't expect we'd have another Christmas
in this house but I'm glad we did.

It has been home to our family for almost nine years.

I love it! I know I will miss it... it is where we were all together.

One thing about this life is it is always changing.

I'm excited for all the new adventures our changing family will experience in 2011.

...Now for the big decision, when should I take down the tree?

Thanksgiving

I love Idaho. It is such a beautiful state,
both the landscape and the people.

This year I celebrated Thanksgiving with
my sister Lydia and her family.

On the drive up we came across a herd of cows

that had broke out of their pasture.

Arron quickly pulled over and with Skye's help they
were able to wrangle them back behind the fence.

Arron got his tools out of the truck and fixed the gate, while
Laiken ran to tell the neighbor.

I'm sure the owners were out of town for the holiday.

It was a lot of fun preparing Thanksgiving dinner with my sister.

I am thankful for family.
 I am especially thankful to have family that lives close.

We played games, watched movies, went shopping
 and even took the kids sledding!

I look forward to many shared holidays with loved ones.

Spring Break

This year by some miracle all the Shore's got together for Spring Break! Don and Suzanne reserved two Yurts on the Oregon Coast. A little cold and a little rain didn't stop us from having fun.

A huge bonus is that Lad was going to drive us in his VW Bus.

Every nook and cranny is filled with provisions, Let's go!

Yes, of course we went to the Tillamook cheese factory. For ice cream, and cheese too. ( I got the lady in the back to wave at us)

I have to admit, we went to the cheese bar many times. Hey, we like squeaky cheese.

We hiked up to a lighthouse in the rain. I think the hats mom got the boys for Christmas were used on the last trip to Oregon, they sure come in handy. I think Arron looks like he just came off a boat.

Laiken likes to act like she's not having fun, but look I have proof, is that a smile I see?

Skye looking at the shoreline.

Amy, Caleb and Liam. I love the smiles in this picture.

Uncle Eric and Skye sporting some great hats on the trail to

The Octopus Tree.

Aunt Amy and Lad

Skye and Adam beat us to the tree, and what a cool tree it is.

Laiken loves her cousin Zayah.

If you want to see crazy cool trees I guess Oregon is the place to go. Just look at the size of this!

Now for the back side of this one...

...I couldn't help but get a picture of this, who knew trees had backsides. No wonder it's standing so tall.

Back on the trail. My nieces, Lili and Zayah.

Lili has a great eye for edible forest foods. Here she is standing in a patch of "Sour Apple" plants.

Yummy! They really do taste like sour apple. Lili was sure to get extra to put in her pockets for the car ride.

Lad's sock monkey Job, or Jo for short. He rides in the bus, watches our candy, and is great at defogging the interior windows.

The boys ( Lad and Skye ) slept in the bus. I think mostly so they could say they had breakfast in bed.

Arron made blueberry pancakes and bacon. Lad's bus oven and cook top work excellent!

I had my doubts about taking the dogs on this trip, but watching them run on the beach almost made up for any inconvenience they were.

Maggie needed a little extra attention after she was

almost lost at sea.

We spent a beautiful day at Cannon beach. No rain, yay!

Jump rope anyone?

Oops, looks like it "snapped" back.

Uncle Arron telling Lili his favorite color is "asparagus" She's not buying it.

The column in Astoria. The climb to the top was a bit dizzying. Grandma and Grandpa treated all the grand-kids to balsa airplanes, it was well worth the climb.

It's a great view from the top.

Before we know it our kids will be moving out and starting their own adventures. I'm so glad we took this opportunity to spend Spring Break together as a family. Time really does fly when you're having fun!