The Other Three

It has been a busy month. Adjusting to the needs of a new baby along with three other growing children has gone fairly smoothly but not without a hitch here and there. Two weeks ago we went to Alpine, Utah for a CREF board meeting. Fred and Elizabeth kindly invited us to stay with them. The kids thoroughly enjoyed their pool! We made a stop at Krispy Kreme on our way home. Madi and Harry started back to school yesterday.

Harry in Fred and Elizabeth's Pool

Back to School

Back to School #2

Owen Digs Krispy Kreme

Madi Takes a Dive

Elliott Stephen Galer

Elliott arrived yesterday evening (July 22, 2006) at 9:39 p.m. after a long and difficult labor. Trish was marvelous, bringing this child into the world completely naturally, as she has our three other children. He latched on within just a minute or so and appeared to sate himself on colostrum before his weight and measurements were taken. After his first little meal, he weighed in at 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 19 inches long. Incidentally, this was nearly the exact size of Madison at her birth. Madison attended the birth and Helene (our dear friend and nurse widwife-extraordinaire, who has delivered all three of our boys) invited her to cut Elliott's umbilical cord. It's hard to believe that by the time Elliott is Madi's age, she will be nearly ready to go to college. His birth couldn't have been timed better. My Dad was in town visiting for just one day and was able to hang out with the boys and be here last night so I could stay with Trish and Elliott at the hospital.

Swimming the Snake

We drove over Teton Pass to Jackson yesterday afternoon so the kids (and I) could swim in the Snake River. There is a place where the water flows into a sidelet (is that a term?) of sorts where the current isn't so strong. It's still fairly deep, and of course cold, but it didn't stop us. We put Owen in a life jacket and each of the kids had a "floaty" if they needed it. Drove into Jackson afterward for some victuals before driving back over the pass. We stopped at the summit for a break and quick jaunt up the trail. The mosquitos were large and thick or we would have stayed longer.

A Resurrection of Sorts

My friend Ed has a few old cars sitting in his field. He told me that if I could get this 1975 Ford F100 Ranger running, I could have it. Michael and I went over last Friday afternoon and put a battery in it, poured some gas in the carbuerator, and started it up. It ran pretty rough, likely due to the old fuel in the tank. It had apparently not been started for "two or three years." After adding air to the tires and driving it to Lloyd's store in Archer to add a few gallons of good gas, we drove it home. It really spices up the neighborhood.

A School of Fish

Here are a few images of the Wiggly Ones on their last day of swim lessons last week:

Digging the Dunes

Madi, Owen and I went camping out beyond the sand dunes with Michael and Holden on Friday night. It was originally Harry and Madi that were supposed to go with me but Harry ended up with a cold and a high fever just before we were supposed to leave. Needless to say, he was quite disappointed, despite my promise that we would go again soon. We found a very secluded spot and the weather was beautiful. Here are a few images from the trip.

Madi was enamored with these big black beetles we found trekking all over the dunes.

Our camp. Michael’s Jeep is out of the picture to the left.

Owen pointing out interesting new things. Michael in the background.

Owen on dune

Teton Range in the background

Too bad we forgot our sleds!

Holden and Owen watch Madi cart-wheeling in the sunset

Spelunkers Michael, Madi, and Holden in the ice caves

Gotta Have More Cowbell

Our Independence Day was a full one. It started with Madi and me running in the "Whoopee Days" Liberty Run 5k. I was supposed to be along to "take care of" Madi. She ended up finishing several minutes before I did and I ended up with some trashed IT bands. I'm limping around today on megadoses of ibuprofin nursing my knees and my pride. She is quite the little athlete. We haven't seen the official results yet, but our estimate is that she placed 2nd in her age/gender category. They only awarded first places, and her friend Josie placed 1st, just ahead of Madi. Josie is a great runner too--she trains with her parents and has New Balance running shoes. I'm going to have to alter my sedentary lifestyle to try to foster some of these natural athletic tendencies my kids have obviously inherited from their mom!

We endured the parade for two hours, at least comfortably, sitting in chairs pulled out from Henry’s office at Alliance Title on Main Street. There were far too many cheerleaders, young burlesqish (is that a word?) dancers, and would-be right-wing political candidates trying to get their write-in campaigns off the ground, and not enough pipe and drum corps (let’s hear it for Henry's Fork Pipe Band!).

The afternoon and evening were spent at our place with lots of good friends gathered for good food and conversation. The highlight of the evening was Brian’s recollection of one of his favorite SNL skits featuring Christopher Walken and Will Ferrell parodying a Blue Oyster Cult recording session. Check it out for yourself here.

Henry's Fork Float

Madi, Harry, and I left at 6:00 this morning to float part of the Henry's Fork with Trevin, Riley, and Matt. It was a beautiful morning on the river and a great float, even though we didn't catch any fish. As a birding expedition, it was more successful. We saw lots of sandpipers, a Great Blue Heron, and a very majestic Bald Eagle sitting in a tree right next to us as we floated by silently. We saw and heard a lot of birds that we couldn't identify, not having the field guide or binoculars along. As we floated under Highway 33, there was a huge colony of cliff swallows who had built their nests out of mud on the underside of the bridge. We were on the water by 7:00 and home by 11:00. Here are a few snapshots from the trip. Madi took the one of me rowing.

Madi ready to shove off

Bald Eagle

Papa row the boat ashore . . .