The Blanding Bugle

Volume 18 Issue 6

June 2009

Boy Camping &
Girl Fun!

As much as I enjoy camping (I really do), I didn't go this past month. Steve took the boys camping over Memorial Day weekend leaving just Jessie and I at home. 

The boys had a great time doing all that "boy" stuff in our "new" tent trailer.  It works great and Steve was thankful to have it and finally get to use it.  Of course it was "Father & Sons Campout Food" but they didn't starve.

Jessie and I on the other hand had a great two days.  First we went and got some vegetables for our "garden" (really just deck pots with potting soil) then went to dinner.  We them spent a few hours shopping at the mall and got some very fragrant body lotions.  We then came home and gave ourselves pedicures and watched the A&E production of "Pride and Prejudice".  We only made it about 3 hours in before we both fell asleep. 

In the morning we had breakfast at a local coffee shop (had to use all my gift cards from my soccer players). We had breakfast rolls and hot cocoa in the beautiful morning sunshine! We then went and bought a few more plants for our "garden" and started working in the yard. 

The boys finally came home, tried and smelly.  They had had a great time. 

Let's do it again next year!

Soccer Comes to an End

As grateful as we are that a sport season begins, we are thankful when it comes to an end.  This season was full of hot practices, wet--soaking wet games, blow out and nail biters.  It was full of excitement, disappointment and injuries. It was a season some want to forget and other wish could have continued.

Jessie was playing in a division where she was the oldest (late August birth date) and therefore she was often was the biggest and best on the pitch. The first part of the season they played teams that challenged Jessie and her team. Near the end of the season her team improved as they started to blow out teams.  They got very good at passing as the goal of those games was to see if they could pass five times before they shot on goal.  Jessie had a great season and was a go to player.

Chris and Matt had a great season but were on a struggling team.  Their last few games it seams as if a different team showed up and they put together some great rallies, but just never enough to win.  Both played on the offence and in some games that meant the didn't touch the ball to much, but when they did they could make moves with the best of them.

Mike and Jason had a great season. Every game was a challenge and a hard fought game.  More times than not they came away with a tie or a loss, but they continued to get better. Jason was great goalie and forward and Mike played forward all year and even got to score this year. 

Kray was on a co-ed team and found out that girls can play! He was a scoring machine, often scoring hat tricks (that's 3 goals) in a game. He also was the best goalie on the team.

Youth Conference

For our stake youth conference this year, Kray, Jason and Mike helped out at our the Washington State Special Olympics held at Fort Lewis May 30th.

They started the night before with a dance cruise around the Puget Sound.  They really had that boat rocking and rolling.

The next day they were at Fort Lewis helping out. They were assigned to the aquatics venue so they didn't have to stand out in the hot sun, but were inside in the humid pool.  They were all smiles when then finally arrived home late that night.  They had had a great time.

Mike

Jason & Lisa

Kray with one of the athletes.

Manly Yard Work

Give a man a toy and he will use it. We have this "pretty little woods" in our backyard but it really is obnoxious because it is just wild blackberry bushes.  We have been trying desperately for the past five years to claim it back. Despite our best efforts the bushes return year after year, although there are less of them each year. This year we are going after them manly style.

Steve has purchased a flame thrower (that's what "men" call it) and is burning the berry bushes and other obnoxious weeds that are there as well.

We then are taking a tiller and turning the earth over so that we can get to the root of the problem.  Berry bushes will continue to grow as long as there is a root system, so we have to pull them out--every one of them out.  It is a very back breaking job as it they are on a very steep slope as well as completely exposed to the sun.

If you look closely at the photo you will see in the foreground the completely tilled ground. Then the remains of our burn pile and beyond that the part that has been torched and in the background more berry bushes that need to be cut down and burned.  The photo is held level; it is that steep. I had to pull the tiller up the hill while Steve tried to push it up.

In the second photo you can see the beginning of a rocked bottom Blanding Brook.  We have pulled out all those rocks from our back yard. We are hoping that when the rains come again the Blanding Brook will flow over the rocks. 

Kray & Sarah
at her prom