Homecoming and a Hot Date

I admit it's a bit strange to party for Homecoming without a kid in high school but these two did enough to make up for it.

Nathan was invited by his friend, Rhett, to ride the spirit bus in the parade and to the game. They had fun running Chinese fire drills on main street and doing cheers with the football players at each stop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


LeRoy and I cashed in his birthday tickets and went to the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert in Utah.

LeRoy was very excited to get a concert shirt and to be surrounded by so many country music fans.
We had great seats that allowed us to see Tim and Faith both on the large screen and on stage.

Some of the reasons we like Tim and Faith is their long-lasting relationship, their faith in God, and many of their songs have great messages. 

Back to School: Madison and Weber

Nathan is now in 6th grade at Madison Middle School and Hyrum is in 4th grade at Hibbard Elementary. This is a big year for each of them because it's the last year they will spend in their respective schools.

My Littles are not so little anymore!

Nathan has always thrived in school, both socially and academically, and this year is starting the same. He has Mrs. Christensen, Mrs. Willard and Mrs. Weathersby for a rotating schedule (gradual prep for Jr. High) and feels so big having an actual locker.

Hyrum has struggled and hated school from day one. I've never had him reply that he liked school and every single day his favorite thing is recess where he can be by himself and let his imagination go (he literally zips his imagination up in his backpack each morning). He has hated math, reading, and anything that doesn't have to do with creating or building. This year started with the same dread. But then, he came home EXCITED! He loves his teacher, Mrs. Summer, (her methods and personality are perfect for him) and was thrilled to introduce me to her at Back to School night last night. He is voluntarily reading on his own (never before without drudgery). It's only the 3rd day but he's getting up on his own and gets ready without me telling him to and he was SMILING when he walked out the door. I'm cautiously optimistic, but I have a feeling that this year will be a great year for him.

My Littles are not so little anymore! 

Justin started his first year at Weber State in Ogden with 8 math credits that he earned while in high school. Not bad for a first semester start as a freshman!

School will keep him busy, work at the testing center will bring in a little cash, and cheer will take up the rest of his time. Thankfully, he seems to love all of it and is quite expert at setting and keeping to a good study/work/sleep schedule.

He is sharing an apartment with Derek which they both seem to really like. After all those years of begging to have their own rooms and me insisting that they would thank me one day, they actually have thanked me. I love seeing my kids as each others best friends!

Summer's End

The summer went way too fast, especially for my garden. Some of my favorite times throughout the summer was when I caught my boys rummaging through the tomato, carrots, strawberries, peas. No technology necessary, just good old fashioned gardening.

Our cantaloupe, watermelon and pumpkin crops were so plentiful that we ended up giving some away. I've now been spoiled by such sweet, perfectly flavorful fruit that store bought just tastes bland.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The dry, hot summer led to many fires throughout our area as well as much of the USA. Montana had so many fires that it was said the whole state was burning away.

A truck driving over dried fields started a fire only a few miles from us, out by the Menan Buttes. In a matter of hours, what looked like a manageable fire grew to an evacuation warning for people just 1 mile away on the other side of the Snake River.

Helicopters ran consistently, fire agencies worked overtime and in two days they had it contained. The air however, took much longer to clear. Through a constant headache from the charred air, I was grateful that no homes or lives were lost. My perspective is forever changed having watched our neighbors lose their home only months previously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Vivien and Gabor shared tidbits from their trips over the summer as well.

Each time I see photos of their traveling spots I have the urge again to go visit. Then reality and our finances pull me back and I live vicariously through them.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


My dad, Grandpa Evan Fullmer, asked the boys the last time he saw them, what their favorite scripture story was. After one-line answers he challenged them that the next time he saw them he would ask again.

They instead (at a mother's nudging) wrote and mailed him hand written letters of their current favorite stories. Though I prompted the writing, I was touched and impressed with their detailed sharing.

Nathan wrote out another note for me, prompted by his reading in the Book of Mormon of the 2000 stripling warriors. Again, I am touched by his depth of understanding and application to his own life.

Complete with art work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm not sure where or why this fits in but it seems like it should be included.

What a kid!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hyrum and I had a startling, scary experience on the way home from the orthodontist one morning.

While driving on US 20, a large truck went flying perpendicular across the freeway, missing us by only a car length. While going southbound, he had crossed the median and through a miracle, he did not hit anyone as he went between the vehicles traveling northward. Nor did he flip and he left our two lanes of traffic and barreled through the shoulder, a fence, and flew over a mound of brush to land on top of the train tracks.




Hyrum and I were shaken to tears and I immediately pulled over, as did the others who had witnessed it. Others got out to make sure the driver was okay. The police showed up and took statements and I sat for a few minutes longer to catch my breath, pray with and offer words of comfort to Hyrum, and we went on our way. Gratitude for our safety is an understatement.

Hyrum decided on his own that he would no longer sit in the front seat. He isn't tall enough for it anyway - the airbag could injure him if engaged. He also gained a testimony of prayer before traveling since we had prayed for safety and a beautiful morning before we left for the orthodontist.

Original Story:

IDAHO FALLS — A pickup truck crashed near railroad tracks on U.S. Highway 20 on Monday morning.

Idaho State Police said around 9:30 a.m., a Dodge pickup went across all lanes and ended up on the northbound side of the railroad tracks between the Hitt and St. Leon Road exits. Troopers are still at the crash and investigating the incident.

UPDATE:

The following is an update from Idaho State Police at 4:40 p.m.

On Monday, August 7, 2017, at approximately 9:18 a.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a one-vehicle injury crash on US20 at milepost 313, near the Hitt Road exit, near Ucon.

Tyler J Sutton, 30, of Rigby, was driving westbound in a 2015 Ram 1500 pickup when he drove off the left shoulder. The vehicle continued to go through the median, crossing the eastbound lanes of US20, then through a fence, where it came to rest on the railroad tracks.

Sutton was not wearing a seatbelt and was taken by private vehicle for medical evaluation. This crash is under investigation by the Idaho State Police.

Solar Eclipse 2018

Our once in a lifetime event did not disappoint!

Our party began on Sunday evening as family members arrived from Utah and Idaho. The wait Monday morning was full of games and hopefully, building memories that will last a lifetime.

We all became children as we played and waited in anticipation. I'm always impressed with Levi's ability to pull together a bunch of kids and have them laughing, wrestling and running in crazy happiness. There were more than just a couple of crushes on the oldest cousin of their generation.

Sabrina, Becca's baby and the youngest cousin, was definitely a favorite with our family!

As the shadow of the moon started to cover the sun, the temperature began to drop. To those of us used to cool Idaho temperatures, we hardly noticed a thing but Grandma Fullmer had to grab a blanket for the quick thermometer changes.

Mommaclipse 2018
The Momma Cousins: Hannah, Jessie, Cami, Kara, Kate, Trudy, Kimber, Becca

In organized chaos we had everyone sign Eclipse mini-yearbooks so that each kid had one to take home. My boys loved spending the next couple of days doing the learning activities in them as they reviewed their memories of the event.

While we waited for full eclipse we were busy looking for shadow snakes and moon shaped shadows in the shade of the tree. We found both! Science is so wonderful!

As full eclipse came, the world around us became even more beautiful! There was a dusky sunrise effect but not as we see with a sunrise or sunset in either the east or west. It was a full circle of pinkish light surrounding us along the horizon with a deep blue sky filling the skies. In a matter of three minutes it was over but it was spectacular!

We went from full afternoon sun to a 360 degree sunset to yet another full sun.
The temperature changed.
The birds became silent.
We became loud with cheers and exclamations of awe.

After the first minute we stood in almost a calm reverence, nearly whispering as we looked around glasses-free directly into the sun and the resulting changes that the moon's shadow had brought to our earth.

Two minutes and seventeen seconds of wonder and amazement!

I couldn't help but wonder if this phenomenon in the sky was similar to what the Nephites experienced during the sign of Christ's birth.

Levi captured several phases of the eclipse on his phone. The full diamond ring (bottom left), a crescent sun at midday (bottom right), the shimmering shadow band that caused what looked like squiggly shadow snakes on the ground (top left), and Bailey's Beads (the little pink beads in top right).

Even Charlie was impressed!
Check out his jaw hanging open.
We'll pretend it is an expression of amazement, not just a yawn.

What a joy to share this event with family!
We couldn't stop talking about it.
We looked up when the next solar eclipse will cross the United States (Texas 2024) and made tentative plans to attend.
Even when the trips home should have taken 4 hours and instead took 9, there were no comments of regret.

Another important moment took place at the end of the day. I caught our preteens in a final attempt to build connections while the adults packed up to go home. It was wonderful to hear them share their favorite parts of the eclipse, discuss movies, school subjects, and any random topic that came up. My hope is to foster these relationships so that they have these same friends in their adult lives.

MTC and Provo Temples

Brooklyn, Korben, Hyrum, Zane, Logan, Max, Nathan

We had such a great time in Provo as we joined up with cousins to tour the Mission Training Center (MTC). They loved the big world maps, the scriptures and quotes all over the walls and the beautiful pictures of the Savior that we have not seen before.

After the MTC tour we split up because Nathan and Hyrum wanted to go the the two temples in Provo (the others went to lunch and we ate later).

These boys are so fun together! I love seeing their admiration for the temple and for each other.

They were a little sad that we couldn't go inside this temple again (we did for the open house) but we still admired it's unique style and beauty.

I couldn't help but see my young men as missionaries. As they wandered the grounds and admired the pictures and statue in the visitors center I could only see them as a companionship, sent here to teach our family.

Our final stop was to visit Grandpa Fullmer who had been struggling for several months with pneumonia. My heart hurt as I saw my dad so weak and aged. I'm grateful that my boys have a relationship with him and admire both their Grandma and Grandpa Fullmer.

The Big 50

Yup, his brain may tell him that he's still in his mid 20's but the calendar says it's been five decades or in other words, half a century. In Hawaii he qualifies for the senior discounts.

He was quite happy with birthday tickets to the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert coming up in Utah even though he would need to wait a month to cash in the tickets.

Nathan gave him a Texas Rangers hat that would surely make his Texas Papa proud.

For his birthday we took the day off and went to Jackson for a ride up to Rendezvous Mountain on the tram and gondola.

Standing at eye level with the Grand Tetons with a 360 view of Wyoming and Idaho was spectacular! However, my three boys were shivering as we climbed 4,139 vertical feet in a matter of twelve minutes and the temperature dropped from 82 to 64 degrees.

It didn't help that the winds at that elevation were blowing across leftover snow from winter.

Once we had hiked our share of the mountain we headed down to the city of Jackson Hole. LeRoy spends so much time working there that it was nice for him to just play tourist.

As a bonus gift at LeRoy's request, we decided to get old fashioned pictures taken.

Hyrum absolutely hates to have his picture taken but as soon as they had him dressed up and gave him a gun he was in character and he let them snap as many pictures as they wanted.

It brought back memories from a long ago trip to the same photo shop (circa 2003) when we had similar pictures taken with our four older kids before Nathan and Hyrum were born.