What we did this week -

 So for FHE this past week, we headed north to Veyo ya'll for some grub and crawdad hunting.

 Strong work, Drew.

 We were about the only ones there.

 This was the hi-lite of the evening.  Shana and I just looked at each other and laughed (then I told Shana to hurry and take a picture).

 Didn't catch anything other than one dead crawdad, but we had a good time nonetheless.

 This was not caught in Veyo.  A few days later, there was a relatively huge rain storm all night long and when we got up the next morning, this was swimming around our pool.  Drew hauled him in and set him free.  

 Jack-Jack's first day of Kindergarten, looking poised for success.

 Finally, this weekend was a fun getaway to the SLC to spend time with the Young family and once again attend A Cappellastock up in Ogden with my Mom.  Laynee and Maddy camped out back.

 Jack and Maylie with their ducks in a row.

We capped it off with B-Dubs.  I would've taken more pics at the concert, but my camera was short on batteries.  Great weekend with friends and family.  We're hoping to get more people to attend the concert next year on August 24th in Ogden, so pencil it in and call my mom for tickets.  I also attended Music and the Spoken Word this morning at the Conference Center - something I would recommend to all.

I can see my Dad doing his happy dance

 Dad loved it when it was time for us to go back to school.  He would rub it in for weeks leading up to the big day.  Now that I'm the dad, I get it.  It's nice not being the only one getting up in the morning to get out the door.

And you want your kids actively engaged in self-betterment, so with that, I raise my hands in the air and join my dad in his back to school happy dance.

That's all I got.  Thanks for checking in...both of you.

We Can Do Hard Things

It was a great day for the hike.  I was bummed because I couldn't go with them, but I got off work around 11 am and started from the bottom and hiked up to meet this crew as they were hiking down.  My biggest concern at the time was hiking fast enough that I could at least see the "Subway" portion of the hike before turning around to finish the hike.

Sure enough, I made it to the Subway, shimmied up the rocks to the next level and kept turning corners and expecting to hear and see the kids, but it wasn't til I came to a waterfall that I couldn't pass, and encountered a different group of hikers that I found out why I hadn't met with my crew.  One of the adults asked if I was Spencer Wells, and when I said I was, he told me my daughter was hurt and not too far behind them.

They allowed me to use their ropes so I could scale the falls, and at our usual lunching spot, the crew was basking in the sun eating lunch.  You wouldn't know anything was wrong looking from a distance, but there was a collective sigh of relief when they saw me approaching.  I wondered why.  I knew Laynee was hurt, but how much good could one more person offer...but it was much.

As it turns out, Laynee broke her distal tibia jumping off a rock into a shallow pool and couldn't put any weight on it at all.  Kyle and Mason had been piggy-backing her for the previous hour and a half, and when they saw me, their shift had gone from 'every other' to 'one in three.'

We knew it wasn't going to be easy, but we also knew we didn't have any other option.  So with Laynee on our back, we hiked the Subway.  

It wasn't easy...not for us, and not for Laynee, but we did it.  We're guessing a good 6 miles of scrambling over boulders, walking through the river, and straight up the canyon at the end.   

I really did enjoy that hike.  It was a great experience that I wouldn't change even if I could.  Laynee never wants another piggy-back in her life.

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Before...

...and back to school (next week).

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We weren't expecting a good apple crop this year because we haven't had one in a few years, but as it turns out, it's been a good year.

We all had our jobs - Judd put us in position, the boys and I picked the apples,

and the ladies turned the apples into the "golden nectar."  It was such a fun day to hang with family and  stock the shelves with apple sauce that we can appreciate for months and years to come.

The final tally was 64 quarts and 17 pints.

Great Grandpa Judd  and Seth with Baby Taytum

Finally, garden update.

It's so typical that while Drew is harvesting summer squash, Jack is harvesting an ice cream sandwich.

Another week in 2005

 I had a hard time convincing Jack that the doctor uses a saw to cut his cast off.  He'd just look at me and smile and say, "No they don't.  You're just kidding me."  After about 2 or 3 minutes of this repetitive conversation, I think he finally realized I wasn't "kidding him."

 And these were the treasures we found underneath the 3 week cast.  I'm glad it didn't need to be on any longer - that thing was ming'n!

 Oh yeah, he's back.

 That time of year once again when I reminisce about the hardest summer job I've ever had.  I helped dig trench for the electric out at Tuacahn after I graduated high school.  Because of the heat, our work day started at 4 am, and I was up at 3 am just to get there on time.  Because of the Desert Tortoise, we had to ride from the main road up to campus on a horse-drawn trailer.  Working there convinced me that I wanted to go to school for a long time.

 I do love that place.  It's inevitably warm, but I'd always rather be warm than cold.

Finally, Seth and Big Mac playing Monopoly.  I know the school haircuts are just around the corner and I'm gonna miss Seth's "summer hair," but we're starting to get excited for school around here.