House O' Sullivans

Right before we ate dinner, Zeke walked to the back door and robustly pushed it closed, then resolutely announced, "I just locked Satan out."  Good thing.

Last Thursday, Casey and I woke up ridiculously early, dressed in pioneer garb, and loaded a bus bound for Wyoming.  We spent three days hiking a portion of the Mormon Trail with the youth of our stake.  Casey was the appointed trail boss and I a fiddler.  Just a couple of days before our departure, we assumed the roles of Ma and Pa, when another couple found out that they couldn't come.  Casey and I were assigned to the vanguard handcart in a line-up of ten. It was humbling to walk that section of trail, literally among dozens of pioneer graves.  I learned much about sacrifice and the way that it makes things sacred.  That trail was definitely sacred ground.  The details of the trail and the travail and the fun and my personal reflections remain in my journal.  As I always say, the blog is like the "large plates."  The juicy stuff stays largely in my personal journal. Today I celebrated the pioneers on the sidelines.  I've worked t...

Yesterday, as is the weekly custom, I took the kids to the library and maxed out our 30-item limit.  One of the books we randomly selected was this one: Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle . Yesterday afternoon, I noticed that Hallee had finally mastered the fine art of riding Sophie's pink scooter.  She's been trying for months to get the balance and glide just right and yesterday was the day.  So last night I surreptitiously pulled the book from the pile and read it to the kids as one of our bedtime stories and announced to Hal that on the morrow I'd teach her to ride.  She was worried about possible bodily injury, so her prayers included a plea to Heavenly Father to protect her during her attempt to master the sans training-wheel ride. Sophie just picked up a bike and started riding a year and a half ago with no troubles, so I think Hal's been intimidated to try because it was so ridiculously easy for Soph.  Hallee likes to be perfect right away and ha...

Last Thursday we journeyed to the Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, Idaho to join our friends, the Spaldings at their family cabin for three days.  We started our joyous reunion out with a dinner picnic on the shore of Redfish Lake.  A live bluegrass band performed right behind us, creating the perfect mountain ambiance, at the Redfish Lodge while we swam and played in the sand.  Andy rented a paddleboat and all 6 of our (combined) kids boarded with Sophie and Simone manning the pedals.   Zeke was all upons. Zeke, sporting a faux-hawk. Andy and Bethany and their three kids--Simone (6), Phebe (4), and Bronte (2).  Bethany and I met in a singles ward about ten years ago and quickly became friends.  We did lots of camping, exploring, and adventuring together while we were still single.  The last time Casey and I were in the Sawtooths was when we went to Bethany and Andy's wedding just a month before we were married.  We love these p...

The other day I was in the process of making lunch.  Zeke was hungry, and since the grub wasn't ready yet, he headed out (logically) to the garden where he started in on the green peppers, then the sweet banana peppers, then moved on to the hot peppers.  He ate two of those bad boys before he realized that his mouth was on FIRE.  He came running inside with a contorted, confused face, then started to whimper.  I explained to him that he'd started eating the HOT peppers.  He then asked in a quivering voice, "Mom, will you put a Band-Aid on it?"  When I told him that a Band-Aid would be ineffective, he went into his bedroom and soon reappeared with one of his Bear-Bears and promptly stuffed it into his mouth (in an attempt to ease his suffering).  When THAT didn't take effect, he asked me to go find his OTHER bear and stuff that in too.  Poor little buddy.

This summer it is non-stop action around here.  These first few photos are from a while back, but I just found them on Casey's phone and they deserve posting.  With the help of his friends Dave and Trent, Casey installed his first BIG carving project several months ago at a law office downtown.  Dave and Trent, working on the installation. The masterpiece.  Way to go Casey.  You are AWESOME!! A few months ago, Dave went with Casey to do a service assignment at the local thrift store.  They found some amazing stuff. Check out these PANTS!! Bling!! Two weeks ago we drove to Colorado.  We had a family reunion in Pagosa Springs on the weekend and thought we'd tack on a visit to Cortez and Mesa Verde on the front end.  We stopped at the "Matrimonial Springs" on our way into Moab to fill up our water bottles. Casey, Zeke, and Hal, drinking from the spring that flows right out of a giant sandstone cliff near the intersection of th...