The Great Snake Charmer!

This is a summer experience from Erik.

So we moved into our new home and we have been spending every day of the past two-three weeks putting everything in its place. We have new grass but we were not able to install sprinklers. So, we have to hand water the grass morning and night. Tonight we started the backyard by hand (rotating sprinkler) that we move from corner to corner. After twenty minutes, we move the sprinkler. Lisa has been so good at handling this while I put Kyson to bed, but tonight she was already putting him to bed so I was responsible for changing the sprinkler.

It’s about 9:00 pm. I click on the porch light and walk on the grass to the left side of the yard. I pick up the sprinkler and start dragging it towards the right side of the yard. I look to my left to pull more slack in the hose. I squat down and start to adjust the sprinkler so that it covers the areas I need. Almost done; so I start to slide the hose over to the right and my hand brushes up against something unfamiliar. It’s not grass. It doesn’t feel like fence. It doesn’t feel like the hose. So I look over and quickly realize it’s a snake! Wait a minute…..I know that pattern…..oh yeah it’s a rattlesnake! I squeal like a girl and jump about 5 feet back! Hovering over my knees, I catch my breath with wide eyes facing the snake. My brain slowly starts to function again and I ask myself; “do I say thank you for not biting me and spare his life?” Oh yeah, Lisa and Kyson are terrified of snakes. I guess I am going to engage in a battle to kill the snake now. I look to my right and grab our shovel (it’s there to scoop poop – yes I remember those days Mom and Dad).

Shovel in hand, I raise it in the air like a Last Mohican. Now the snake starts to coil up and rattle. I think at this point he/she is thinking; “I should have just bitten the dumb guy.” Standing about 8 feet away (further than striking distance), I throw the shovel at the snake like it’s a spear. Of course, I don’t kill him. Now the snake is mad and my shovel is lying next to him. What do I do now? BB Gun! I run inside and grab my BB gun with the scope on it! I quickly drop 30-40 BB’s in the chamber. I’ve got him now.

I run back on the porch and pump a few times. I look in the scope but it’s too dark to see the snake. I fire the gun anyways. He’s mad and I can’t seem to hit him. I fire again, and again, and again, and again. I might have hit him but he slowly slithers backwards and ends up on the other side of the fence through a small opening. I can still see his half his body on my side of the fence. Do I grab him and pull him back in like a bad wrestling episode? Nope….

I run back in the house and grab a flashlight. I hop on top of the doghouse next to the fence. I can see the snake. Now I start to get excited. History flashes through my mind….10 pumps! So I pump it 10 times and hold the flashlight next to the barrel. I am feeling confident like a marine in battle. I look through the scope and can see the snake clearly. I slowly pull the trigger. I missed again. Now I am starting to realize my scope is not sighted in. The game is on! Instead of 10 pumps, I start going until the gun won’t pump anymore. Marine in formation, I fire again. Miss! While this is happening, cars are driving by on the street next to us (we are the only house on the block so they can see something is going on with a man hanging over the fence with a flashlight and a gun). I am so in the zone, I don’t even care.

Determined, I end up shooting about 25-30 shots. I know one of them hit the snake because I can see the head fasciculating (convulsing). He stops moving. I think I have finally won! I take a few more shots to make sure. Hands go up in the air as if I just won a skeet shoot competition, forgetting that it took about 30 shots.

With a smile on my face, I enter the house. By this time, Lisa is now sitting on the couch downstairs with Kyson upstairs asleep. She looks over at me and is confused as to why I have a flashlight and BB gun in hand. After some awkward giggles, I tell her the story. Thankfully she finds humor in the way I reenacted my victory, but she firmly closes by saying “Tomorrow you will be buying snake-away to put around the entire house.”

I think I kept going out back every 15 minutes checking to see if the snake was truly dead…..

Vacation memories

Yikes, I am really behind on this.  Thank goodness there isn't a July challenge yet.

Growing up, we would do road trips from Oklahoma to Utah every summer.  Along the way, we'd stop in Cheyenne, WY and Pocatello, ID to see my dad's family.  Then on to Orem, UT too see my mom's side.  That's the childhood vacation and I loved it.  I remember wishing we could go somewhere else for the summer and one year we finally did.  It was fun but I missed seeing my cousins.

A few years ago, Jared and I took a road trip to Nauvoo.  That was a lot of fun.  We went at Halloween so they were having a lot of events including a parade, Jack-o-lantern contests, and other street vendors.  It was fun celebrating a holiday the small town way.

Next year, we are planning a beach vacation to celebrate, among other things, freedom from school.  We hope to make it to a place where we can learn how to surf, lay on the beach, and go on fun excursions around the town.  We still haven't decided our destination so if you have any suggestions, we are open to them.

Erin

Vacations I've Loved

Look at that! It's the last day of the month, and I'm finally writing a response to my own challenge! Yeah, it's been that busy over here.

Anyways, on to my favorite vacations.

1. Switzerland: Yes this one has to come first, because it was the most amazing, peaceful, fun, interesting, memorable of all my vacations ever. I remember how excited and surprised I was when I came home from my Freshman year of college, and my parents said I couldn't so something a certain week. I asked why, and they matter-of-factly said we were going to Switzerland. It was so unexpected, but amazing. And being in that culture, being in all those small towns - all the little memories that I have from that experience still brighten my day every once in a while.

2. Hawaii: Sorry, Jason, this one came in second. This was our honeymoon destination, and it was wonderful in totally different ways than Switzerland. I think everyone in the world should go to Hawaii at least once in their life, and Jason and I plan to go at least one more time. The sand, the shockingly warm ocean water, the scuba-diving, the Polynesian Cultural center - all awesome. And of course, the company I was with was great!

3. Pinecrest/Moab/Washington D.C.: Yes, these are tied for third place. Each represents something unique and important to me. Pinecrest - aaaahhhh, camping..... And of course, moms in hairnets, bats and tennis rackets, cliff-jumper Aunt Julie, and singing the Lollipop song over and over - what could be better? Moab - red rock, hiking, being with my kids and my husband - a great escape that's not so far away. D.C. - Another place that everyone should go at least once - and stay there for at least 2 weeks so they actually see everything. A place that you can live there for 4 months, and still feel like I need to go back to.

I hope I can give my own kids great vacation memories like these.

Karissa

From San Antonio ~

Hi there!  I wanted to start by making sure each of you has our new blog address.  I just started it but thought it was a little more personable then FB.  The address is www.samolls.blogspot.com

Hmmm, favorite summer vacation.

The most favorite one I remember from being little is my family would head to Fallen Leaf Lake.  I was little; it was before we moved to Antioch.  I remember a really big rock out in the lake, seemed forever far away, and every day it was my goal to get to the rock.  In reality, it probably wasn't that far but I guess I've always had swimmer buried deep inside :)
As an older person, my parents took us all to NY, DC, NJ, MD, DE, PA before Bryce left on his mission.  It was awesome.  We had so much fun and in a short week, I fell in love with the east coast!  I love the business and craziness and hustle and bustle.  It was fun to experience DC and to understand what we were seeing, the Smithsonians were incredible.  And of course, the yummy food - a real NY-style bagel (more cream cheese then bagel) and a guy in DC sold my dad a watermelon...he cut in quarters, long-way.  He gave each of us one and then asked my dad for money.  Sneaky.  It was delicious.  We were there for the 4th of July and to see the fireworks from the Capitol was an amazing experience - over a million people were on "The Mall".  It was great!

Now as a married person, Erik and I have SO many dreams of travel:  DisneyWorld, Europe, the beach, the Virgin Islands and so much more!!!  Our first possibility will be DisneyWorld so be ready, Cameron and Suzanne!  :)

I never thought...

I love my babies so much and they bring me so much joy. I never thought I would feel about someone, the way I feel about them. You all know that feeling and I felt it with Turner so strongly that I didn't know how it could be duplicated for another child, and yet I love Britta just as strongly.

A few things I thought I'd never do as a parent,
- carry on a conversation with a baby at the grocery store about which cereal we should buy
- be okay with vomit all over me
- pull the car over to get a toy, pacifier, snack that fell on the floor
- kiss a snotty child on the mouth or use my hand as a Kleenex
- share my food only to find that I only got one bite
- become sooooo forgetful
- hide in the car in the garage or the bathroom or the closet just to be alone

And I never thought I would have 2 kids so close together. I never imagined that I was capable enough to figure it out and get used to it. But I am and I did. As a side note, I recently discovered my biceps from carrying around both kids, one in each arm. But I have come to realize that all the challenges that come to us come because we are strong enough to handle it. And I never thought I would gain so much self confidence by becoming a parent. Erin

Reminds Me of Molly

Remember those days when you had to get out the shovel before you could mow the lawn to clean up the poop that Molly left? Well, yesterday I had an experience that reminded me of those days. A little background (sorry, this is going to give the ending away) -- we are currently trying to potty train Turner and he is doing very well with #1, but not so much with #2. He does not want to sit on the toilet because it is too hard to get out. Instead he needs to run around and hop to work it out. Well, yesterday we were at a Memorial Day barbecue with some friends and I saw Turner doing his "poopy dance" so I ran and grabbed him and carried him inside as fast as I could to the bathroom. Unfortunately as I was pulling his underwear down it came out and landed right on the bathroom floor. So, I picked it up with some toilet paper, took off his now dirty underwear and just put his shorts back on. Then, a little while later we were back outside having dessert and I saw in the distance he was squirming again so I ran over to him and just as I arrived it came out of the bottom of his shorts and right onto the grass. So, naturally, I did what any father would do and I bent down and picked it up with the wrapper from my ice cream sandwich! Fortunately, I was spared from any embarrassing moments as I don't think anyone else noticed me using my wrapper as a "pooper-scooper". Jared

There She Goes!

I just have to brag a little because this is something I have never accomplished nor do I plan to ever accomplish in this life - probably not in the next life either!  This morning, my beautiful, determined daughter ran, biked, and swam her first triathlon!  What a feat!!  She has been training for months with a friend and was determined that she could do this.  And when Karissa decides she can do something, there is no stopping her!  We couldn't cheer her as she ran or rode her bike, but we were all there as she swam her 400 meters cheering her on!  Funny Austin wanted to ask her some questions as she touched the side of the pool, but Jason would have none of that, as Karissa's energy was almost spent.  So Emmett and Ella bent down low to the ground and encouraged their Mom on.  Karissa did a great job and we are all so very proud of her!  Go Karissa!!