Let's Have a Look-See

At work I volunteered for crosswalk duty. So everyday, I head out to cross the kids across State Highway 25.   To my delight, our school received a grant for a crossing light.  It looks very much like this...minus what looks like a city in the background. So, I was surprised when the local paper's headline read: Crosswalk Signal Confuses Local Drivers. Come on...when it is red stop...that's it...stop when it is red. Gotta love Idaho.

 So we went on a little Idaho Adventure. My dad's cousin...Mary... has been inviting me to come visit her at "The Ranch" since we moved here. We decided to go...I wrote down the directions...we googled them...it came up as Ray Christians Ranch. Here is Ray Christian...also my dad's cousin...his wife and Mary. They were so very nice to us and shared a wealth of family stories. We tried to find this place in the dark... not really a great idea...but when we turned into this gate, I knew where we were.  This is where we had family reunions... Empey Day... as a child. Here is where we used to camp.  There was plenty of pop and ice cream.  Here is the bridge. No frog was safe that weekend. And the weekend would not have been complete without all the kids climbing this hill. We didn't climb it, but I know he could have. I enjoyed this little adventure, as I renewed my memories of a happy time in my life. Wes...

Callie goes down again. Honestly, she is proud of this and calls it 'epic' The soccer field is along way from anywhere. Wes went and got the golf cart to get her to the car. He drives is like a maniac. She is lucky she wasn't injured again. This week has been crazy. I planned this great trip to Utah this weekend. The band has a competition in Payton and I thought it would be great to get all my kids together for the first time since Todd got home. First Richard gets sick, then Callie hurts her foot, Scott got sick yesterday and I never fess up to being sick, but if I talk, I cough. Uggg. On a happy note. Callie is not using crutches. No one likes it when I talk anyway. And I heard a funny taking Rich to school today. This was the poll question: Is it okay for kids to keep a gun in their car if they are going to go hunting after school? Only in Idaho!

Rich and Todd have been sharing a room this month. Can you tell who sleep where? If you guessed that Rich is the mess, you win. Here is another thought. Notice the attire of those who watch Little League. Yea, it is still worth it to bring a jacket , blanket and I still keep gloves in my purse. It has been okay, but once the sun goes down, bring out the outerwear! I have been at the middle school for three days this week and then on Friday I found myself on the campus of BYU . Let me share some of my thoughts with you. At BYU I can hear the birds singing, watch a butterfly go by, while well dressed students walk by on their way to class. At the middle school kids in the hall are yelling, shoving, poking, and standing at the top of the stairs watching some one drop their gum, while the other laugh. When they get out of school it is like a heard of bison coming . Something is not right here. Thus my week has passed.

I will be the first one to admit that here in Jerome we enjoy the small things in life. We have finally had temperatures above 70 and the humming birds are back. How do I know that? Well I put out the humming bird feeder a couple of weeks ago and have been keeping an eye on it. They came back about a week ago and I spent the weekend watching them. What a life!

Here is the town of Jerome. In the background, if you know where to look are the Owyhee Mountains. Okay, so we do not have green trees yet, but we are soooooo close. Almost ready to plant. We should have 6 inch corn by June. These are all over town. And here are some very red tulips. They are also enjoying the weather. They have a bike path here in Jerome. You defiantly see more walkers than bikers on it. And let me tell you, that when you do see a walker, runner or biker, a salutation is expected, as in, "Good Morning" "Hello" or a nod of the head. I love this path. I took pictures a month ago, but they never made it here. This walk is ever changing. I start as soon as it is above 45ish and walk until it is under 45ish. That gives me about 8 months. My biggest problem is I won't walk when it is windy, which takes out most of th...

As I look at my window, I am amazed that my back yard has come to life. Just two months ago it looked more like a bowl of ice cream than a yard. This is truly a miracle and it makes Spring more significant, not to mention, bright and happy. There are a few things that happen in Idaho that are unique. First of all, if you are a farmer, you have your kids go out in the fields and pick rock every spring. This practice known as 'rock picking' comes about yearly because in addition to potatoes, grain and sugar beets, we also grow rocks in Idaho. The word green is a verb here. You here phrases such as, "The grass has greened up nicely" or My yard is greening up.' And my favorite, "That will green right up." I am happy to report that things are greening up nicely. Now that things are greening up, people have to go out and clean their yards. I'm not sure what we did to our yards in California, but I never remember cleaning the yard. This, cleanin...

The other day I went to sub and found that the class was going to the Discovery Center of Idaho for the day. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was very much like the Exploratorium in San Fransisco. Of course you don't get to see the bay. The kids had a great time. It is in Boise near the zoo, only cost $4 for kids and $6 for adults : a great bargain. I do not recommend that you do this as a substitute teacher however. There is nothing like walking into a classroom and finding out you will be on a bus all day, in charge of children that you do not know. I told them all that their name for the day would be 'what's your name'. As it turned out, the kids were great. Our class was split up on two buses and I hoped all the way home we hadn't left one in Boise.

Wes and I finally made it to the Magic Valley Symphony. I was pleasantly surprised by how incredible they sounded. They had a guest conductor, Jose Luis Egiluz, from Spain. All the music they did was also from Spain. They had a local acoustic guitarist, who did an excellent job with his solos. Missing from the performance was Music Director, Conductor, Ted Hadley. He had to go the High School district championship basketball game with the Pep Band. That would be his day job, not to mention the job that has a paycheck attached to it. Going to the symphony is like being at the circus for me. I just can't decide what to watch. This was a group of about 70 musicians. Some as old as my mother, while others were as young as my daughter. The concert was followed by a reception with punch and brownies. All of this for $8. All in all, a very pleasant evening. We started going to the Symphony in Stockton. Beginning band has killing our sense of what music was, so, I decided we deserved to he...

I just found this on the counter. A couple of weeks ago Scott applied to Boise State, although he did not pay the application fee. Today he received this post card notifying him of his acceptance. The other side has information on how to go on-line and enroll. I guess a post card saves postage.

Depending on where you live, warm is different. This morning we had snow on the roads again, but this afternoon it is sunny and oh, so warm. So, how warm is it? I just checked and it is about 45 degrees. It feels heavenly and I have to admit that my thoughts on the way home from work were of spring. When I got home Callie had her windows open and was getting ready to go for a run. So how warm does it have to be to be warm?

Here is what time it was when I left the car. And when I was finished. My favorite thing about living in Jerome is going to the DMV. I had to go today to check on a driver's licence extension for Todd. I was finally ready to go about 11:00. I drove down the the building. The building also houses all other county offices. I had to stand in line today. I asked my question, got my information and was done in about 10 minutes. Isn't that awesome? I can't help it, I love it.