WHAT KIND OF MOTHER.....

It was Wednesday night, Scouts was over, and the kids were in the van waiting, waiting, okay, waiting on me, because I always seem to find someone I just HAVE TO talk to. I finally get out to the van and tease, "Geesh, you guys, here you are, I've been scouring the church for you, it's way past time to go, so let's go". I don't think they find that funny anymore ;) As we leave I realize I have no gas, so we have to go a different direction. I turned onto Highway 79, which tends to be a fairly busy road, and after a minute I hear a "thump, thump". James asked Jacob if he remembered to take his Webelos book off the roof of the van. Holy Cow, you've got to be kidding me, I can't tell you how many Cub Scout books I've bought over the years! I don't think I hid my annoyance very well, poor Jake. A half mile later I pulled into the gas station and James, Matthew, and Jacob jumped out and started running toward the road. Here it is, almost 9:00 at night, pitch black and 3 of my boys are running down a highway. I figured they wouldn't get very far and I'd grab them as soon as I filled up. But, a full size van holds a lot of gas. As we pulled out Joey and Rachael were very passionate about finding their big brothers. I was surprised at how far they were able to travel. I pulled into the suicide lane and talked to them through my open window as they continued to search the road. It wasn't too much longer before Matthew spotted the book and rescued it from the oncoming traffic. The book is miraculously still in one piece, albeit, quite dirty. So, I ask, What kind of mother allows her children to walk the highway at night?!?!? Apparently, this kind of mother.

My Hero

A couple of weeks ago the kids and I were out by the barns when I accidentally disturbed a nest of hornets. I don't know how it happened, I'd been walking around the area for at least an hour, but I guess I took a wrong step. Several hornets started attacking me. Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing my usual mucky boots, but rather sandals. Thankfully, I did have on long pants. The hornets attacked the tops of my feet, my hands and my arms. They weren't able to get through my clothes. As I ran into the house the kids were brushing them off my back as I flicked them from my pants and shirt front. I was stung 7 or 8 times and the areas ended up getting quite swollen. The next day I was pretty sick and didn't feel well for 2 or 3 days. The swelling went down fairly quickly, but then the itching began!!! Trent was still out of the country, and I was very nervous about going out in search of the nest. It needed to be taken care of, I certainly didn't want the kids getting stung or myself again for that matter. We all avoided the area as much as possible, and everyone was fine.
Then, a week or so after the incident my sweetie finally came home (2 months feels like FOREVER!!!). He found those culprits that harmed his wife and suited up. Here it is the end of the summer (85 degrees and super humid), and he's putting on heavy pants, his thick army coat, boots and a hat. He armed himself with wasp killer and headed out for battle. The enemy is no longer a threat, thanks to MY Hero!
*insert picture of white knight in shining armor* ;)
It's good to have Trent home, thanks Honey

Dahlke Beach

(Kaitlyn 8, Rachael 2, Jacob 10, Trent - old)

We were able to spend most of June at Grandma and Grandpa Dahlke's house. I loved being able to catch up and spend time with all the amazing family. The kids have lots of cousins they haven't seen for a few years and it was great for them to be able to spend time together.

(Joey 7, Kaitlin 7)

Joey has really taken off with swimming this summer. It helped that Grandma has an awesome pool right outside her back door. The kids swim at least 3 times a day.

Rachael discovered the joys of the pool as well as goggles :)

(Emily 6, Ashley 2, Rachael 2, Kaitlin 7)

We were even able to invite my brother, Mark and his girls over for a visit and a swim.

Uncle Garth

Trent has an eccentric uncle that lives in the high desert, near Palm Springs. When we are out visiting our California family, making the trip to see Uncle Garth is one of our favorite things to do.

Garth is extremely talented and has truly made his patch of desert blossom like a rose. We love climbing on the rocks and discovering the wildlife. This time the older kids and their cousins were allowed to go off on their own. They explored caves, searched for Indian drawings, and challenged one another to see who was the best climber.

Several years ago Garth made the "magnet pond". He collected iron filings and put them into a pit. Over the years many magnets have been brought in and we all love to make unique creations with the filings and magnets.

Joey and his best cousin friend, Ben spent a lot of time feeding the fish their peanut butter sandwiches and trying to catch glimpses of the frogs.

A few weeks after school let out the Dahlke family hit the road. We had many places to see and we decided to begin with my Grandma Gray. We drove North to Nebraska (about 14 hours) and stayed the night in a hotel. The next day we headed west through Wyoming and by that night we were in Salt Lake City, UT and at Grandma's house. Within 10 minutes of arriving, my Boy Scouts had a couple of tents set up in the back yard, very impressive! Our plan was to stay in Salt Lake for several days, but had received a phone call during the drive informing us that Trent's Grandma Bowles had passed away. Therefore, we needed cut our visit short in order to get to California for the funeral. It's alway fun to visit with family. I love being able to take my kids places that I used to visit with my family when I was young. Grandma has a little park behind her house that I used to love to play in. Now my kids enjoy spending time in the same park.

My Grandma is a neat lady and I'm so glad my kids are able to get to know her. The Sunday before we left we had a big family barbeque so we could visit with much of my extended family. We live far away, but I'm grateful we get to see everyone at least a few times a decade;)

Horsemanship

(Troop 560 enjoying some down time at the campsite, they also found a water hole in which to swim as well as fish...What a great camp out!)

For years our Scouting program was broken. Recently we've had some amazing men called to be Scout Masters, and they've helped fix many of the problems. Our newest Scoutmaster makes sure the boys have plenty of camp outs to attend and merit badges to work on. Our latest merit badge has been horsemanship. To finish it up the boys went on a camp out to a members home who has several horses. My boys were not too thrilled about going (anything that pulls them away from video games is frowned upon), but once there, they all had a great time.

(Matthew, 13 years old)
All three of them learned how to ride, control (sort of), and generally care for a horse.

(James - 16 years, Bryan - 17 years)

Trent told me that once the basic lessons were over the boys were allowed to saddle up and ride at their leisure. James took advantage of this opportunity and rode for quite a while. He also made sure to properly unsaddle the horse and rub it down. Good job boys, and thank you Brother Collier for your horses, knowledge, and patience with a bunch of teenage boys!!!

Ahhhh, Country life

I love living out in the country. When we lived in Loa, it was great having horses and cows for neighbors. I remember one time I was talking on the phone and I looked out the window to see a flock of sheep grazing on my lawn, how cool is that!!! That never happens when we live closer to the city. Occasionally, I might see a group of squirrels, but it's just not the same as a flock of sheep. Friday I was out walking the hills around my house and I saw some large objects coming down the street. As I got closer I realized they were peacocks, yes two male peacocks. I was close to the house so I ran in and got the kids. We watched them walk down the street until they disappeared. A bit later Trent and Rachael joined me as I finished up my miles for the morning. As we were chatting Trent pointed toward a neighbors house....sitting on their porch railing were the peacocks. We waited for a few minutes to see if the people would emerge, but no such luck. I REALLY wanted to catch their expressions as they opened the door and found themselves face to face with my two new friends;)