Labor Day Hike to Darby Wind Caves

Derek and LeRoy missed out on our first hike to the Darby Wind Caves and both have wanted to go for the last two years. We realized that it wasn't going to work out with everyone's schedules so had to pick a day that most of us could be there. That meant Levi would miss out, and we missed him.

We started with our usual stop at the Spud Drive-In.

It's unusual to find something that makes Derek look so tiny but the screen structure of the theatre accomplished that. Justin was really wanting to do a flip off the lowest beam but once he got up there he realized that is was a much further drop than he expected.

After miles of hiking, multiple needed rests, and a few stops at the edge of the cliffs we made it to the base of the cave. We stopped for a brief snack at the monument honoring the five women and girls who were killed by lighting in 1951 during their hike down from the caves. While there we read a little about the camp and the girls and looked for the trees struck by lightning.

The hike into the cave is slippery and steep but well worth the effort.

Once inside, Justin decided to scale the rock walls. The height and grandeur of the cave is spectacular!

After carefully maneuvering over wet, loose rock we got to the small entrance of the cave and wriggled our way through. The suffocating darkness can get pretty creepy and the breeze sweeping through the cave is extremely cold. We learned the last time we visited the cave to come with plenty of light, layers of clothing and gloves.

Justin asked LeRoy to take a picture of the two of us. When he saw the picture he said in a flirty voice, "just me and my best girl hanging out in a cave".

Coming out of the cave is like crossing winter and summer seasons in a matter of minutes and our bodies took a bit to adjust as we carefully crossed the terrain with numb fingers and shaky legs.

As the last one out of the cave I had the opportunity to watch my children work together and protect each other from harm.

The water that runs out of the cave provides a waterfall that runs wide and fast during the spring but during the late fall months it runs in a trickle. We hiked down to the bottom of the falls where Bret, Aaron, Kristin and Nathan were crazy brave enough to stand under the bitter cold water.

The hike out is always the hardest because we have already experienced the best of the trip - the cave. That's when silliness comes in. The silly songs, funny jokes and goofy faces keep us going through the final tiring miles and solidify our memories.

At one of our stops Erika informed us, "growing a human while hiking is exhausting".

When Hyrum gets tired he gets very quiet and then he gets his second wind and it's all poses and theatrics from there on out.

Derek and Justin kept busy noticing the finer details of nature and capturing them with phone cameras.

Spiders and flowers were aplenty.

Daymia kept us at a quick pace coming down the trail declaring, "the faster we get down this mountain the fast we get burgers!" And once we were finally on the road again Justin begged, "drive faster! I'm so hungry my socks look good".  Our traditional stop at Basin Burger filled all our bellies and our final hike of the summer was complete.

September

School took over our weekdays and soccer dominated every Saturday morning. Gradually, we settled into our new schedule and before we new it, October had come.

Fourth grade has brought four times the homework. Instead of one math worksheet each night, Nathan has up to 30 math problems to figure out with spelling and reading on top of that.

Brock joins us many afternoons for the after-school snack.

Justin goes all out for his after cheer-school-coaching snack.

We wind our evenings down with reading and pet snuggles.

Getting the boys moving for soccer every Saturday was my weekend chore. I'd finally get them out of their beds (usually with tickle torture and promises of hot cocoa) to find them cuddled up with Charlie on the kitchen floor.

Hyrum is all bundled up for another sunny, yet chilly, soccer morning.

After soccer we get our chores done, which Brock usually helps with so that the boys will be free to play faster. The photo albums were quite the dusting distraction.

Nathan volunteered himself to clean the bathroom the moment he posted this on the door.


When Derek came for a weekend visit, Hyrum was thrilled to have someone understand his design plans (which were only stored in his head). The two of them spent the afternoon cutting, drilling and building a clubhouse.

His plans required a front door, back door, a sun light, shelf and soft floor.

When they finished, Hyrum gave us personal invitations to join him for some hangout time. He also had great plans to spend the night in it, which I allowed, but he never made is past full dark.  Still, he has completely enjoyed his "own apartment".

The following weekend he used up the leftover paint and, with Nathan's help, gave his home a splash of color.

He then made an "OPEN" sign ( with black electrical tape) to hang when he was open to visitors.

Back to School

Nathan ~ 4th grade with Mrs. Garner

Hyrum ~ 2nd grade with Mrs. Schwendiman

Charlie walks them out the door each morning and watches while they get on the bus and like clockwork, he begs at the door to go out as soon as he hears the squeals of the bus pulling into the subdivision. However, he's not so great with homework help.

No, really, the dog ate his homework!

Justin is a Junior and rockin' the year with Cheer.

He takes the trusty Malibu early each morning for cheer practice and gym before school starts.

6:30am - Alarms go off; Justin responsibly gets right up while mom drags herself out of bed to make breakfast.

6:55am - LeRoy, Nathan, and Hyrum up and getting dressed.

7:00am - Scriptures over breakfast.

7:20am - Justin leaves for cheer (Wed at 7am for gym).

7:30am - Nathan and Hyrum leave for bus.

2:45pm - Bus returns home.

Homework, gym, piano, soccer, dinner, showers, reading, bedtime . . . repeat next day.

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Vivien started her first year of University, moving from Bratislava to Brno.

Umm yeah I got some stuff :D barely fit in my dad's car :D and we even went shopping to get some kitchen, bathroom and cleaning stuff. And some food :D

I have a nice new room with Kika. New small kitchen, bathroom and toilet. I love it. Other dorms don't even have bathroom in the room but they have to go to the hallway.

Anyway it's a maze for new people there. We got lost couple of times :D and it's a pain if you have a class at the 4th floor. It's more than 100 stairs you have to make! I don't even need to exercise after school :D :D also Brno has a lot of hills so you are going up and down in the city. It's not what I'm used to around my home :D our dorm buildings are also in a hill so I'm getting in shape :D

Yeah after an hour of crazy numbers and formulas he got our attention. That creature is supposed to be an elephant and those are birds fighting over a worm :D :D :D that's how he explained Newton's laws .

Repairing a bike, ironing, sewing his pants, cooking with me. Could I ask for more? I love this boy ❤️

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Levi started his 2nd year of college at EITC.

By October he was the face of the EITC Open House as well as a paid developer putting in (LONG) professional hours.

Summer Wrap Up

LeRoy was given tickets to the Culpepper and Merriweather Circus in Ashton. LeRoy, Bret, Erika, Nathan and Hyrum enjoyed watching the acrobats fly through the air and laughed at the silly clowns They were even impressed that the elephants and lions looked healthy (unlike the emaciated creatures we have seen in the past).

Bret and Erika also took Nathan and Hyrum to a Chukars Game in Idaho Falls.

Pretzels, a foul ball hitting a car, the cool evening wrapped in blankets and a souvenir poster all added to the fun.

Flip flop weather calls for cute toes. Daymia painted and stamped fun designs on their itty-bitty nails.

 This summer's favorite games were Rummikub, Clue, Uno, Telestrations and Wackee Six.

Nathan has loved reading the Michael Vey series. One evening he asked me to mail a letter that he had written to the author, Richard Paul Evans. We sent the letter the next morning and Nathan checked the mail daily for about a month. Finally, he received a response and now he has a goal to meet Richard.



Aaron and Kristin's Wedding

Bret's brother, Aaron, stayed with us for a couple of weeks before his wedding.

Waiting outside the temple for the bride.

Erika and Bret flew to Denver to meet up with the Hellbusch family and then they all flew to Indiana for the wedding.

Erika, Bret, Katie, Megan, Cory, Jill, Aaron, Kristin
(Jill looks like one of the kids! Ron taking the picture)

Derek's new hobby is carving pencil tips. The first one is a regular #2 pencil; the second is a carpenter's pencil. His text: "I saw a video on Facebook and decided to give it a try so I bought an xacto knife and it's so much fun!"

Another burst of creativity from Derek.  His text: "I just finished it! It's made entirely of discarded bar code stickers from work :p just over 2000 of them . . . but it's sturdy and awesome!"

Speaking of Derek, he was the best man at Chris's wedding. It was so strange to see these two all dressed up and formal and serious. There's eight years of mischief behind those grins! Chris also asked him to step in last minute to walk the bride down the isle, even though he had only met her once. He was so worried about doing something wrong and was unsure of his part; asking me what he was supposed to do. I told him that his main role was to make sure the bride didn't trip or fall while walking down the grassy isle in her heels. When he accomplished that, he turned to stand in best man position next to Chris and winked at me. So did Chris. These boys have a special place in my heart!

Bret and Erika took a helicopter ride over Rexburg. They absolutely loved it!

Helicopter view of our house (far left). We need more trees!!

LeRoy turned 48 in August (that is freakishly close to 50!). He was so excited for his New York style Strawberry Cheesecake that after blowing out the candle he took a big bite right out of the side and then let Nathan and Hyrum each have a bite.

Daymia turned a mature 22 and squealed with excitement when Levi surprised her with a pinata.

Levi, Daymia, Erika, Bret, Shane, Katie and Brooke all had a birthday campout and the next day Levi took her to Bear World.
(I would like Levi to plan my future birthdays!)


Charlie is outgrowing many of  his puppy tendencies and becoming a trusty, dependable companion.

Bret and his cat, Nolan, taking a nap.  Bret and his new puppy, Rufio.


Daymia has wanted a gecko for a long time and this summer her reptile dream came true.

We all got to meet Sylvester and see huge bulgy eyes and watch his jumping skills.