First day of school

This summer was a busy one.  The boys have 10 lawn mowing jobs but they can't drive yet so I get to take them around every week.  Most of the time I end up helping with about half the lawns each week due to some kind of conflict or problem with a boy.
I also had both boys take two on line classes this summer for high school credit.  They both completed Financial Literacy and Fit for Life.
So what all this means is I did a lot of home work with them and mowed a lot of lawns.

Today is Avrams first day of High School 10th grade!  It is amazing to see how much he has progressed the past few years.  Going from an Autistic school two years ago, to a regular charter school last year, to a regular high school this year is amazing!
I did have to go in 3 days before school started and throw a little momma fit demanding to talk with the director of special ed and counselor.  They didn't have Avram in his correct classes and I haven't been able to get anyone to reply to my many messages sent.
They ended up make the accommodations I asked for and set Avram up with a great schedule.  Avram is really excited for High School and feels like he knows a lot of people because of making friends on the football team.


Ila and Briggs started School last week.  Ila is now in 4th grade!  It is her last year at the south campus for Legacy.  (5-9 grades go to north campus). She is the king of the school and she has Pearl and Amy at her school also.  Ila is a social butterfly, I can tell she is super excited to be back in school and with her friends.



Briggs is the king of north campus as a 9th grader.  He is already in Advance musical Theater and he is a team leader this year.  He is also on the ballroom team again.  His teachers ended up making some concessions this year and so it looks like Briggs is going to get to play on the basketball team this year also.  He is so excited.

I don't think I have mention that he grew over 4 inches last year.  He has finally gotten taller than mom.

Bikers

The tour of Utah bike race seems to be gaining a lot of popularity among bikers.  This year they changed up the route a little and they did a circuit to finished off the race from Antelope Island to North Salt Lake.  This circuit just happened to be on my road so we got to cheer on the bikers and they flew down our street 3 times.

The fruits and vegetables of my labors are beginning to pay off

We love our Neighbors

We love our neighbors, that being said, we have a major problem we have been dealing with since they moved in.  We lived in our house for 10 years with out any kind of water problems.  When our neighbors decided to build next to us the city made them raise their property.  Since then we have had our basement flooded 4 times.
The first flood happened 3 weeks after we finished the remodel of our basement.  Since neither of us had any landscaping in the basement filled with mud.  We replaced the carpet but decided not to replace the baseboards.  Its really hard asking the neighbor for money.  The first flood was financially split between their contractor and them.  
I have been digging trenches and changing landscaping in my yard.  I attached drain pipes to every down spout and made it so all of our water was self contained and would run off different places then we were catching our neighbors water.
I finally, after 3 years, have their landscaping and sprinklers contained to a point where it no longer is a threat to my basement.  Rain storms are another story.  The contractor did not get a permit and did not pour our neighbors driveway approach correctly.  Because of the bad work that was done all the gutter water that comes down the hill hits their drive way and goes across their yard and into mine.  Our yard takes ALL the gutter run off and ALL of their house run off.
We had a huge rain storm last week and I was not home.  When I arrived home there were no longer window wells visible in front of my house because they were completely full of water.  The pictures below show the mulch from my neighbors yard on my lawn.






This was the last straw.  We haven't asked for any help with repairs on the last 3 floods.  I have paid and done all the labor to try and manage the water problem.  There is nothing else we can do other than pay to replace their entire drive way.
Adam went to the city engineer.  He knew exactly what house we were talking about and opened their file.  Apparently the bond that was collected before the build began was never returned because they never had the inspections cleared on their house.  The city engineer said, "It looks like we gave them a warning about the driveway 2 years ago but nobody has ever followed up on it."
Im assuming all the foul play in this situation falls on the builder.  So Im not attacking our neighbors but we have to replace windows in our basement that have now been ruined.  Adam called our neighbor and firmly but lovingly explained that we can not take on the water any more.  If they are going to sew the contractor we need to put in a list of repairs that really need to be done to our basement.
The city engineer said he would take the paper work and info to the city attorney the same day Adam talked to him.  A week and half passed and Adam decided to call the engineer to follow up on the progress.  The engineer said, "well it looks like an inspector has got a report to go look at the property but nothing has been done yet."  Adam stressed the importance of needing this done before winter.  Every storm, every time the weather warms up we have to be on top of things trying to prevent flooding in our house.
This is such an awkward situation because our neighbors do not truly understand the emergency situation we are in.  Adam says there is a possibility that the city will make them red their entire front yard and round 2 entry drive way.

Too hot

We realize how wonderful the weather is in Island Park every time we return to Bountiful.  It is really hot here.  So we take advantage of time with our friends in their pool.




This past week I met up with my closest friends from High School.  I know none of us expected to have the trials each of us have had in life and yet my friends are all strong in the gospel and have learned to rely on the Savior.

Lisa Loveless Burr- Just had her husband unexpectedly die 3 months ago.  She has 6 children.  Her father passed away a few years ago from an unknown disease that took his life within 3 months.

Athelia Graham- Never had the opportunity to marry.  She spent years teaching but decided to return to BYU and go to law school.  She took the Barr exam the day of this get together.  She had a brother commit suicide which is always devastating for a family.

Annalyn Benson Rassmussen-  Struggled for many years trying to get pregnant.  When she finally did get pregnant she had quadruplets.  She was around 25 weeks when all four babies were born, lived for a few minutes and then died.  She has since had four children.  She has had a couple of melanoma cancer scares but has been able to get them removed before they spread.  She grew up the poorest out of all of us and she now is the wealthiest.

We have all been through many trials but after many years apart we can get together and be as close as we have always been.  I am so thankful the Lord gave me such good friends in high school.

It’s apricot season

Its apricot season!

I spent the week drying apricots, making jam and canning.  I love eating fresh apricots.  It always reminds me of the summers in SLC when we would sit in our big apricot tree and snack on the fruit.

A big step

It took forever to get things moving on our lot.  But we finally have running water on site!!!

My boys are learning all about chopping fire wood with and axe.  We are lucky to have a chain saw up there so we can cut the logs before chopping them into smaller pieces.

Adam has had some great success fishing this year.  It has been many years since Adam has fished.  This is the longest fish he has ever caught in a river.  This fish is being measured by a size 14 shoe.

Another run North

We have spent a lot of time in Island Park.  The weather has been perfect.  There has been more rain than usual but that just helps to keep the dust down on the trails when riding.

Briggs is a little crazy on his bike.  I couldn't believe when I turned around he was doing the dab.

Father bonding time

Adams mom needed some work done on her house so Adam took the boys to Mapleton to help do the repairs.

After the work came play.  The boys went fishing for several hours in Hobble Creek.

Island Park 2019

The kids are growing up and getting to be really independent with their off road vehicles.

Cabin

We purchased a lot in Island Park this past winter.  We are building a cabin.  We aren't sure if it will be a cabin that we rent out for short term rentals or if we will turn around and sell it immediately after it is build, it will all depend on the market.  In the mean time we get to spend lots of time together working and playing.

Beauty

Every year as I ride through Island Park it takes my breathe away to see the beauty around us.

I feel so humble and grateful that the Lord has given me this opportunity to spend time with my family in such a beautiful place.  It is wonderful being together and enjoying time as a family.

I don't know if it is just me or if it is the opposite in all things but 10 years ago my life wasn't what I had planned.  Everything happening seemed to be out of my control and each day was a struggle.  We had no money, many health problems, and a lot of struggles.  I thank the Lord every day to be where we are today.  (Obviously life isn't perfect and there are always struggles) ...

But Im so thankful my Husband has a job that can take care of our family and provide enough for us to do fun things together as a family.  Im eternally indebted for the atonement and its healing powers in my life.

Im thankful for my children and their health and strength.  Im thankful for a healthy body that allows me to be with my children.  After many years in pain, in bed or sick I am so grateful for the medical procedures that have given me freedom and joy.

Im thankful for the strength that has risen from our weakness'.

I would like to say I would feel this blessed and thankful without the struggles we suffered years ago but I don't know.  I do know that everyday I am thankful for all the Lord has blessed me with and I never forget that it is all from Him.

Summer 2019

I have been putting entries into my blog all summer but I saved them in my draft box until I finished writing on each one.  Now I have a ton of entries to posts so this will be a land slide of information.
The beginning of July brought our annual trip to Island Park.  This year was a little different.  Instead of renting a cabin we have purchased an older bumper pull trailer.
I recovered the couch/ kitchen table benches/ windows and I made curtains.  Its been a fun trailer and I like glamping much more than camping.

Thankfully we had another wonderful week in island park and everyone was safe and had fun.







I prepared most of our food ahead of time so we had some great meals over the fire and in dutch ovens.

This year some squirrels ended up making a nest inside of Adams truck!  He had to rip off his dash board to find the nest, and a dead squirrel.