Projects Completed and Pace's Visit

Summer is quickly coming to an end and we have been racing to get a lot of

outdoor projects finished before it gets cold and wet again.

The roof is finished and we just need to get the rain gutters back up.

If you notice, the old roof (where the siding ends) was 3-4 inches deep.

The patio furniture has been repainted and reupholstered.

The wooden swing has been stripped, sanded and re-stained.

Several loads of hay have been brought in and stacked. The 4-wheeler has been taken to get repaired or at least operational. The two globe willow trees have been removed as well as piles of concrete and junk from the pasture.

Just a few more projects to work on: running the TV cable through the attic, reorganizing the garage, and replanting the front border next to Izzy's.

It feels great to get some of those big projects done. There are a lot of things in the house that need to be done but they can mostly wait for colder days.

This last week, Lisa, Cameron and Ben came for a quick 5 day visit. We were able to celebrate Benjamin's 1st birthday. He is so fun to watch and play with.

Construction vehicles will be so fun.

The birthday boys. Benjamin - August 21st and Ralph - August 30th

He only got a little cake and frosting on his face.

Ben loves looking at and playing with books

A visit to Grandma and Grandpa Hatch.

Critters

Rubber Ducky Derby

It is county fair time again. It is a bitter sweet time for me - I miss not having kids participating but don't miss the craziness and stress of trying to get everything ready and in on time. It was fun this year to just be a spectator and cheer for my niece and nephews as well as former students I've worked with.
All spring and summer, I watched Todd, Kimmy, Issac and Seth walk their lambs and practice getting them ready for the judging. I'm not sure who benefited the most from those 2 mile early morning walks - the lambs or their owners. It was great to see them working so diligently to be ready. A couple of days before, the lambs all went in for sheering and then Dave and Michelle did the final sheering and grooming just before taking them to the fair. It was a lot of work for everyone. The first day of judging was long but all the kids did a great job and they all got blue ribbons.

Kimmy getting her lamb judged.

Todd getting his lamb set for the judges.

Seth leads his sheep to the final judging.

Issac waits for the judges to finish his class.

We've had two girls from Germany staying with us this week. Ironically, their names are Lisa and Alina. We took them to the fair and watched a little bit of the all-star lamb judging and the steer show as well as walking through all the other animal exhibits. It was a new experience for them but it was interesting.






On Friday, we went up the canyon to have a campfire and cook dinner. We went up some forest service roads and by the time we got to where Dennis wanted to stop, it was nearly dark. Needless to say, maybe tin foil dinner weren't the best idea because it was almost 10 PM by the time they were ready to eat. We sat around the campfire and played games. On the way home, Alyna came up with a a game where we got points for different animals we saw, 1/2 point for a rabbit, 10 points for a dear, 20 points for a raccoon or porcupine, 30 points for a moose, 50 points for a bear. I saw a rabbit, a porcupine, and a couple of deer so I won. Of course, I had an unfair advantage since I was sitting in the front seat.

Not my picture because it was dark when I saw ours in our headlights. Luckily,since we didn't hit the deer, they probably still look much the same as this one.

This morning, we went up to Beaver Creek Lodge and went on horse rides. It was a beautiful morning and we had a nice ride.

Our trail guide and Lisa head down to the river.

Dennis, Lisa, Annette, Alina and Alyna at the top.

Alina and Alyna

A Few Home Projects

Ever since we moved into this house 18 years ago we have had a variety of roof leaks. We would repair them and then either later that season or the next season we'd get another leak. So now we are having our roof replaced. We are not changing any of the trusses (at least that we know of at this point). That means that all the old roof has to come off - 3 or 4 layers of shingles as well as old wood roofing. What a mess!

It's gotten so bad that we even have weeds growing on the roof.

It is suppose to take a couple of weeks to complete. I hope we can stand the mess and the noise that long.

In the meantime, Dennis bought us a new printer/copier/fax machine. Unfortunately it is to big to fit in the computer armoire that we bought this last winter. So Dennis has decided that he can remodel the inside and get it to fit. It is quite a project.




I'll let you know how everything turns out.

Providence Flooding

Providence has not been immune from the flooding that has hit so many other communities throughout Utah. It is one thing to watch it on the news, it's another thing to have it happening a couple of blocks from your house and effecting people you know and love.

Spring Creek is normally a small little stream and is occasionally completely dry. Not so right now. It is huge mess up Providence canyon, collecting rocks, branches and mud. The water travels through the South bench without any problems that I know of, but when it gets to Von's park it goes crazy.

The residents along the creek have been sandbagging and trying to be prepared for several weeks now. Last Friday, the water level started to raise and more sandbagging was done. Saturday was a little worse and Sunday the creek topped the riverbeds and sandbags. The Stake President called all the bishops to gather ward members and get up to the city sheds to load and place sandbags. That evening, they got some sandbags place across Center street since the water was starting to flow over the road.

Monday, it became apparent that the sandbags themselves wouldn't hold the flow of the water so large concrete barriers were brought in and sandbags were placed on top and along the lawn area. That evening, YSA family home evening groups from around the area showed up and helped fill and put up more sandbags. A secondary reinforcement set of concrete barriers were brought in and set up in fear that the first line wouldn't be able to handle it. Tuesday the secondary line was keeping e overflow from flooding down Center Street. They added several pipes to help channel the flow of the water and to try to save the road.

Unfortunately, the road is all breaking up, this end is falling into Erekson's backyard. There are so many big rocks and logs going through it that it is really amazing to listen to what is going through the pipe.
Frank Fuhriman checks out the barricade on Center Street in front of Watkin's home.
This tractor ended up in the creek. I use the water level on the tire to determine how the water is flowing. It has been up over the rim and lugnuts today.
This is the creek in front of Haderlie's, going over the road and eventually goes between Teare's and Leanne's house. The creek runs behind the houses at the East side of the subdivision behind us, turns and goes down behind Nate'shouse and on down to the drainage areas by the stake center. Many of the houses with basements on the East side on the subdivision have been getting water in their basements and have sump pumps going 24/7. It is such a worry for all of them.

Carol and I usually do a flood check every morning for our walk and then once or twice more during the day. It has been fun to get to see and visit with so many of our friends from our old 4th ward and so many others that have come to help out. Rob Alder got to be a hero yesterday morning. The water level was really high and getting alarmingly higher as it passed Erekson's house. Carol and I and all the neighbors who were there at that moment started sandbagging as quick as we could but it started to break away the driveway we there sandbagging. Rob got down and saw a big old log blocking the culvert and was able to get it pulled out. That saved the driveway and a few minutes later the city crew got there with the backhoe and pulled out a bunch of the rocks and branches that had built up there during the night.

We have been reminded once again that the things we collect in life have little significance and can be lost so quickly, but it is our relationships with our family and friends that bring us the greatest happiness.

Tripping, Part 4; Wales, Germany and Holland

We took a ferry from Ireland to Wales. We had to get up really early in order to get to the ferry on time so Dennis booked us a berth. It was nice to be able to get a little more sleep before our day of driving.

On our way back to the London area (about a five-and-a-half hour drive), we made several stops in Wales. The first was to Tinturn Abbey. It was built from 1131-1301 AD and what is left of it is such a beautiful and impressive structure.



We saw this cow not far from the Abbey when we went with the married kids a couple of years ago. It is the only one like it that we have seen. It was fun to be able to see it again.


We stopped at Avebery (Unique amongst megalithic monuments, Avebury contains the largest stone circle in Europe, and is one of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain.) It was rainy and windy so we didn't stop for long.


The next day, we flew to Hamburg, Germany. Dennis had meetings there for four days so we were excited to stay for a while and have some time to split up and do what we wanted to do. After being together 24/7 for 2 weeks, it was good to have opportunities to see and do the things we wanted to do at our own pace.


We went shopping and took a bus tour of the city. We spent a day with our friend, Anja Kreienbaum, shopping and going to the zoo. We had a wonderful time.

We spent the weekend in Holland, visiting our friends, old neighbors and ward members.

It was a wonderful trip.