A New Car!

This is our "new" 1992 Mercedes Benz 300E. Dave got it while he was down in CA for work. He ended up spending his working money...heee heeee, but we were in the market for a cheap car that could be used as an additional family vehicle that got better mileage than our Landcruiser. This fit the bill, and boy is it nice! They must have had it detailed every month. It looks new. I couldn't find a better car anywhere for the price. My sister drove it up for us last weekend, along with 2 of her kids. She flew back after the weekend, and the kids stayed the week. The boys had a great time with their cousins.

We went to the movies since it was so hot to go out. We floated the Boise River and had a cool time. We taught them how to ride a motorcycle, but we didn't get to go out riding because Zach had an accident just before the 4th. He burned his hand while we were all sleeping. Apparantly the boys thought they would rig up their own firework for the 4th of July. They stuffed a GI Joe full of cap gun caps and when he used a screwdriver to smash down the caps inside the head, it exploded. Since he was holding it, his hand got caught in the fire. I heard the bang, and went into his room to find it full of smoke and he was breathing out black smoke. We ended up at the emergency room at 12:30am until 3:15. Mostly 2nd degree burns. We still let them do their own fireworks for the first time this year but there was much more caution.

A Family Week

Dave's folks have been visiting for the last 10 days. It was a nice time. We visited some places that we hadn't yet seen, like Lucky Peak Reservoir and the Snake River. We hope to learn to water ski this year up at the dam.
The Snake River also has plenty of water, and maybe we can squeeze in a river rafting trip when the water is warmer.

The folks also got a mini tour of Nampa High School. We had our screening and evaluations last week for the boys. Both were accepted and both are excited for next year. Zach has lots of math to work on this summer. They gave us a 5th grade book to work on and he'll be re-evaluated at the end of the summer to see how he has done.

There was lots of time to just enjoy sitting on the front porch and watching the late sun sets.
We had 2 birthdays, and one anniversary during the week too.
Now, Dave is preparing for driving down to CA for some special customers and their painting projects. We hope he doesn't stay too long, we'll miss him!

Zach's arm healed just fine, thanks to the tip of using Bag Balm. It's the miracle stuff!

I'm leaving you with a picture of our dogs, when they can't come out front with us, they are still there!

The First Ride

Well, I forgot to take the camera. We were all excited to be fully dressed and out in open space.

I did get a picture of Zach's arm, after our ride. He took a dump right after we unloaded his bike and before we even had the others off the trailer. Ambition is sometimes hasty. Thankfully he wasn't going very far very fast. He simply didn't know how to balance when he hit an uneven place with his front wheel going so slow. He has broken in the new bike, it has rub marks just as bad. We hope Zach heals without scarring. The bike will just have to live with it. We were hoping to have some time before we needed to find elbow and knee guards, but guess we'll get them sooner than later!

Besides getting off on the slower side, we all had a great time. We went with the neighbors so there was a nice group of us. The area we went to, Pleasant Valley, is south of Kuna, just south of the prision. We literally stayed on our same Cloverdale that we live off of for miles, then took the road to the left and went a few miles, and we were there. It wasn't crowded, but there were plenty of other people there. Nothing like Galamis where we know thousands go to ride their ATV's in CA and surrounding states.

Once we got out there, I was surprised how fast the kids were comfortable with going. I brought up the rear, to be sure no one got left behind with a bike they couldn't get started. Well, ok, I wasn't going to go that fast, and neither was Zach after his fall, so we were definately slower. So, when we caught up, they would take right off. So much for stopping and resting! We all slept in late this morning. Guess riding a bike is good exercise!

Dave has plenty of work this week and next. He'll be working on Saturday, but hopefully we can take them back out on Sunday next week.

Spring is Here!

We've been working behind the scenes. Last year we sold our tent trailer before coming up here. We put that money in the pot. You can decide whether or not it was spent on house/bills or still in the pot .

Last week, we finally sold our private campground membership that we used with the trailer. I had a hard time using that money to pay bills, again. So, we decided to join the neighbors with a sport Dave and I have long wanted to do, but couldn't when in CA.

This is the purchase at the beginning of the week. This is Zach's bike, a Honda CRF 80. This was a steal of a deal from a guy that bought this for his daughter, but she didn't like to kick start, so he bought her a new bike with an electric start. It had hardly been used. The guy had a ton of calls because of his offer, and we got there first since we happened to be just down the street.

I've been searching Craigslist all week for more deals. Finally found on Wednesday another deal. A good bike for Josh. A Suzuki DR-Z125. It is older but again, not used very much and just the right size for him.


Friday we got the best deal. I saw an ad that had what looked like a great deal on a trailer to haul 4 bikes, and a smaller bike that we could get by with because of the price. So, we went and took a look, and got to talking. Turned out he had numerous bikes to choose from because he was selling all 4, AND he had a home addition project he was working on and was willing to trade work for the bikes! He has enough work for Dave to trade for the big Kawasaki 300! Dave is in heaven. I got his wife's bike the Yamaha TTR 125 and we got the trailer to haul 4 bikes. Since Dave wasnt working, he took the job and is working there now and they let us take the bikes home! Here they are all in a row in the garage.Zach's is red, then Dawn's is Blue, Josh is the yellow and Dave has the big green machine.

We found all the gear on Craigslist too, except for a helmet and boots for Josh. He needed a size I just couldn't find, so we had to head to the store. We were happy to see some gear on sale so we did ok. So, we're all geared up and ready to learn! It is just perfect that they are starting a new phase for our development. The dirt has been all leveled off and there is big open space just down the street. We got the boys to learn the motorcycle and anatomy in the garage. Then, we took them down to the dirt and turned them loose on learning the clutch and first gear. They both picked it up really fast. By the time they were ready to go home, they were both able to start, stop, find first and second gear and neutral. We're working on technique and control and so far is much fun. They are all smiles.

Sunday we're heading to the trails with the neighbors. I think we'll be ready to get the boys out on trails and they can learn to handle some terrain. There are so many neat places around here to bike we're looking forward to some weekend fun now that the snow is melted. Hurray for Spring! We'll take a pic tomorrow with everyone geared up with their bikes and upload the full pictures then.

Nampa Christain School Tour

Well, we did it. We drove to Nampa, and toured the Elementary/Middle School, then over to the High School, which is another 2 miles down the road.

Zach would be in 6th grade, which is considered Middle School. This is nice considering he will be integrated with kids his age, since he will be one of the oldest in his class. His class would be about 23 kids and they switch teachers for History and Reading. The school is a converted barracks, and is indoors. It will work nicely next year when they move the kids around to use up the space that the High School kids left empty in January when they moved to the new campus. They have a gym and sports fields.

The High School campus opened in January, and is a very large, brand new beautiful building. You won't see bathrooms like these at most high schools around where we came from! They have a very large gym, but until it gets fully funded, they won't have the wood floors put in. They have lots of land, ready to build baseball and football fields, hopefully for next year. Josh is expecting to enter this school as a 9th grade freshman.

Overall, the boys are really excited about the hopes of attending these schools. They saw serveral people we know from Church. We need to figure out the logistics of carpooling (it is 16 miles away) and funds for tuition and all the extras that get added up when going outside of the house to school (like clothes and shoes instead of barefeet and sweats).

I think we will visit Cole Valley Christian later this week, just for comparison sake. It is only 4 miles away.

A Beautiful Spring Day

Well, last weekend was starting to look like Spring was here, then on Monday we woke up to snow! What a surprise. Thankfully, it was gone by noon, and the weather continued to grow warmer.
Today is 74 degrees! You should see the people come out of their homes and start working on their yards with temperatures like this.

We decided to go to the Foothills Festival this morning. We missed the hot air balloon launch at 7am, but saw one balloon giving "rides", tethered on a rope up and down. The admission line was long. So, we we were looking at the crafts, then through some houses and when we came out, the balloon was packed up and done! Turns out it was a developer's magical way of bringing people out to look at homes! Free admission, farmers market (that didn't show up) craft fair, hot air balloon rides, free BBQ (but not until later and we weren't going to sit around and wait, birdwatching guided tours, and a free Trek mountain bike loan for a premier tour of the new mountain bike race track. Mainly, it was all centered around the open houses. So, what we thought would take a few hours, was a pit stop to another area I had never seen that Dave thought I should. A quaint little town of Hidden Springs, on the other side of those foothills. But, again, it was just a car tour around the small town, and back home we came.

At least we got back up to Eagle for the first time since we got here last fall. I'm anxious to get out and see some of our area, now that the snow should be finished. Bogus Basin Ski resort closes tomorrow in honor of Spring. The mountain is still FULL of snow, but they've had such a great season, they figure why stretch it!

Rachel's Challenge

Wednesday night, we went to the Idaho Center where there was this "Rachel's Challenge" that had come to Nampa and all area schools, families, churches were invited to come and listen.
Rachel was the first to be murdered at Columbine High School in 1999's massacre. Her father now speaks to thousands about her life and how she impacted others with kindness.

Our church's youth group was going, and so we decided to go as a family to help out with the driving. It was remarkable to see how this one girl is able to continue spreading acts of kindness through the family's continuing efforts of bringing her story our entire nation.

As a recap, Rachel loved those who either just needed a helping hand, or needed an advocate when bullied. Testimonies from people who had come into contact with her show that their own lives have dramatically changed, simply by realizing she was doing this with a purpose and how they appreciated her for what she had done for them.

Rachel is an inspiring story, one that if you should get the opportunity to hear about her in your community, you should go! They even had channel 7 news there, broadcasting live to the entire valley community. Click on the title of post to be taken to her website.