Idaho

We met David's flight at the airport in SLC. Keys had been left hidden for us to drive the silver car home. Unfortunately the steering wheel key is not the same as the door key. We ended up having the airport security come and open the door for us. It wasn't even easy for him, who had lots of experience breaking into people's cars...

Then we were at "Smith'aven" also known as our Idaho home... And we got to see Tyler Joe and Brian! And see the basement finished! And see Mo (the dog)! And see Dell's peonies blooming! And see the porch steps sliding down the hill! And smell Idaho! And see the wildflowers blooming! It was nice to be home. The wild flowers (sego lilies, lupine, sunflowers) were beautiful. We played ball with Tyler too. But he later got a cowboy hat and a lasso and had much more fun with them!

We had fun at Riverdale's hot springs swimming pool. Tyler at first didn't want to jump off the edge of the covered seating area in the pool but then got the hang of it and wanted to do it over and over.

We enjoyed our days with Tyler while Katie and Brian catered in CA. He missed his mom and dad though. David and Kent didn't give KT the info she needed. They gave such answers as everything was fine... So she called me to get the real scoop. What we did, how many times Tyler made it to the potty, blowing bubbles, working outside, helping Uncle Dave move cement pieces over the hill, helping throwing the weeds away. Grandpa got him a wheel barrow just his size. Made working so much easier for him. Tyler really is a good worker! He helped me clean windows too! He also enjoyed getting paid for doing it... (He likes dollars better than coins...)

Tyler was rewarded for "pooping in the pot" with some fruit snacks. He liked toys instead. Just little ones. And after we had gone through the little ones I had brought for him from Alaska, he found some in a bag in what used to be David's room but is now the crib room. I think they were left over stocking surprises? Anyway, he found them. And he decided what he wanted the next time he pooped... One toy per day, the fruit snacks the rest of the time.

Abby came up with her parents for an Orton family reunion. They were able to stay with us a couple of days. I was able to do our Valentine's Day Treasure Hunt and our Easter Egg hunt with Abby and Tyler. Abby is good at hunting. Tyler just had too much fun finding the confetti eggs and hitting them over his Mom's head! Besides, Grandma had lots more candy so you didn't need to waste time getting the eggs that had candy in them...One day Katie found him and Abby in the crib room opening cards (Old Maid, Crazy 8s, etc) and toys. They were so very quiet... and they were having so much fun!

As the Butlers had the crib room, David had his room, Kent and I shared our room, we put up a bed for the Ortons in the basement. Our basement is wonderfully cool in the summer. It was COLD for the Arizonians. Abby told me, "Grandmama, it's too cold down there!" After we left, the Ortons stayed in our room, and it was too hot up there...

We even made some zucchini relish with the zucchini Eliz brought from AZ. Lots of pints! Then Ortons left for Yellowstone.

4th of July: we went to the Preston cemetery, the farm (took pictures of granary, tore the ladders down as people were climbing up and tearing things apart, and walked the fence line, most of the fence is still in good repair that was done in previous two summers) and did fireworks. We started lighting off fireworks but then the candle lighter ran out of juice, the candles kept going out, too, and then we ran out of the matches from the kitchen and couldn't find anymore...until Brian found the 72 hour kit in the laundry room. There we found some waterproof matches and were glad we were prepared. The sparklers were still hard to light and we had to use the propane stove/grill.

Monday, after finishing up some work around the house, we packed, Elizabeth, Andrew and Abby arrived just in time for a Prime Rib dinner (prepared by Brian) from our portion of the cow, then Eliz and Andrew took us to the airport. We left ID with farmer's tans and lots of pictures-that are still in my camera...I'm wondering when I'll get the pictures downloaded to share.