Jorgenson Adventures

Friday, August 4, 2017

July Happenings

Oh my word. We're already in August and I pretty much posted nothing in July. How is summer so busy?! So, so busy. I feel like we're just running from one fun thing to the next and before we know it, its over. Craziness. So a quick recap on July.

July marks the beginning of birthday season in our family. Jake and Zack both had birthdays in July. Zack is 13 and officially a teenager. Holy moly! As far as teenagers go, I think he's a pretty good one. He works hard, hard, hard. We give him way too many chores, and for the most part he rises to the occasion. He's also way smarter than anyone I know. I mostly don't understand anything he says these days. He loves to put things together and figure out how to do things. He's still really good at origami as well. For a while now all he's asked for is a 3D printer. He researched and found one that didn't cost too much, so that's what he got for his birthday. There's been a lot of printing going on around here.

Jake is so hard for birthdays. He'll rarely ask for anything and won't even tell me any dinner ideas or anything. He sees no purpose in birthday celebrations I guess. I did manage to get him something he liked this year and I think I even made him food he enjoyed. This is harder since he's lost lots of weight and won't eat just anything. Jake and Zack have a tradition of going to Kneaders for all you can eat french toast for their birthdays. Best day ever for Zack. Anyway, we sure love Jake around here. He's such a good dad and is good at getting through to the kids when I lose my cool. He's the child whisperer for our kids. And of course he slaves away at a difficult job. Works harder than most people I know. What a good man we have.

We finally got a garden in this year and its been growing growing growing. It's all starting to ripen and now I have to figure out how to use it. This is delicious, but also difficult because its way more than we can eat. Jake has all kinds of canning ideas in mind. I love eating food that I've canned, but it sure is a lot of work! Jake assures me that he'll help. We shall see....

We went to cousin Season's for the 24th of July, but didn't have the day we planned on. Shortly after we got there Kate somehow gashed her knee open on the slip n slide. Poor girl. She ended up spending the whole afternoon getting stitches and hardly even saw her cousins. Boo! Good thing it wasn't a serious injury, but it definitely wasn't how we planned on spending the day.

We ended the month in small town fashion. There's a canal in Heber people float down and I've wanted to do it for years. My friend finally figured out where to go, so we made plans to do it. She told me she bought some kids floaty tubes, so I bought the same and figured we were good to go. My kids kept asking if I was sure the tubes would work because they seemed really small. I assured them we were good to go. When we got to the canal we realized the tubes were indeed on the small side. Like really small. But of course this didn't stop us (me). Zack and I used two tubes and had to lay on our stomachs with our legs dragging behind us so we didn't sink. Even Sage couldn't sit on the tube without it sinking, so she was also on her stomach. Zack didn't want to go in the first place, so by the end he was really mad. He ended up losing one of his tubes halfway through and walked the rest of the way. He said it was "torturous" with no hint of a smile. Sage was a good sport, but the water was really cold. She started shivering and said she was "getting hypothermia." Then she "bit her tongue because she was shivering so hard." She finally climbed out and walked on the ground a little before the end because she couldn't take it anymore. It was soooo funny. My friend and I were dying. I so wish I could have taken pictures. Needless to say my kids can't wait to do it again! (or not).

We topped off the canal floating by going to the demolition derby. It was my first, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was awesome! We really had a great time. Jake even played musical chairs in between one of the rounds in front of everyone. I was proud of him. It was such a fun night! I love living in a small town!

Kid derby. So cute!

Rollover!

Kate and Sage came with me to help make bratzlis for Swiss Days. Swiss Days prep is in full swing here.

Farmington Festival Days parade!!

Jake went hiking with Zack's scout troop

Zack's birthday. He specifically requested those drinks

13!!!

Grandma Great came up from Boise to visit! It was so great to see her!

Jake's birthday mountain bike ride

Love this man!

Lemonade stand

Stitches

Friday, July 7, 2017

Tetons/Yellowstone

Our big trip of the year was camping in the Tetons for 5 days. Jake and I went to Yellowstone when Zack was a few months old, but we haven't been back since. We'd never been to the Tetons, so we decided it was time to go. We had great fun in Tiny. This is the first time we've ever used Tiny with full hookups (electricity, water, sewer) and it was luxury. No worrying about running out of water, so we could actually shower. The best things about a trailer are the showers and the kitchen. According to me that is. We were also able to use the microwave and air conditioner. Like I said, luxury.

This trip was a little different than other camping trips we've done because it involved a lot of driving to other places. We generally kind of hang out in the campground, but not this time. When we were in the campground we went on a couple of hikes and did some fishing. Our campground was right by the beautiful Snake River. The kids got to try their hand at fly fishing. Unfortunately for Jake, the fishing so far this year hasn't been awesome because of the high runoff. He still enjoyed it, but the river was running fast and high so not a lot of luck. We've also discovered the fun of laser tag while camping. Its so great. Jake is not a game person, but this is something even he enjoys. Probably because he wins every time.

Anyway, we spent two whole days in Yellowstone. That place is huge with so much to see and do. You could spend a week there and still not see everything. We did a lot of driving to everything, but tried to make it a point to stop frequently and see a lot of things. Such a beautiful place. By the end it's like, "oh, another geyser/hot spring/waterfall. Which is ridiculous because they're all amazingly beautiful. Unfortunately we didn't see any bears, but we saw elk, deer, and bison.

We only spent a day exploring the Tetons, which I'll definitely do more of next time. We went to Jackson Lake and the kids swam. That lake is huge and beautiful. Well, all of the lakes in the Tetons are beautiful with huge mountains towering above you. Awesome. Then we went on a hike to some waterfalls at Jenny Lake. The kids were troopers as we did this at the end of the day so they were already tired. The hike was over 5 miles, but they made it! The waterfalls were huge and so pretty. I think it was worth it but Sage would probably disagree.

We were so busy every day that we ended up eating dinner most days at like 8:30 at night because we got back so late. We also went through 2 cans of mosquito spray. Those suckers could pick you up and carry you away. Another downside of a wet year I guess. Anyway, enjoy major picture overload.

Oh yeah, can't forget the way the trip ended. We were 20 minutes from home when all of the sudden our awning was dragging on the road. We were able to quickly pull over to check it out. This happened in the middle of a wind and rain storm of course. Anyway, we had to just rip the awning off because there was no repairing it (no big deal since we never use it). But that left us with a 15 foot awning that wouldn't fit in the truck or trailer. So what did amazing Jake do? He got his sawzall out of the truck box and sawed it in half. It was the best! I only wish I'd taken a picture, but I didn't dare due to high emotions. We were able to get the awning in the trailer and continue on our way. And we even laughed about it after:)