Allie Rai's Surgery and Chris & Christys Visit

My step brother Chris and his wife Christy came to visit us this past week.  They are on a 2 or 3 year cross country trip together.  You know when you just decide to take off and see everything regardless of how long it takes.. Yeah me either, but these two guys are doing it.. So cool!!!!  Anyway we had an awesome visit with them.  The timing couldn't have been more perfect.  The day they arrived was the day Allie Rai had knee surgery.  Did I tell ya'll Allie Rai was having knee surgery?  If not.. Allie Rai had knee surgery..:)  Chris and Christy stayed with her most of the week which allowed Mandy and I not miss much work.  Allie Rai loved it.. It was the most time she has spent with them before..  Here are a few pictures from their visit and AR's surgery that you all know now she had.  By the way it was a VMO advancement.  It was not an injury.. Her knee cap travels too much to the side so they moved the muscle down and reattached it.  Thats the best i can explain it with my limited medical schooling..

Day of surgery  Seriously this kid has the attitude every parent wishes their kids did.  Joked the entire time.. Even while getting the I.V. 

 Day after..  Allie Rai with Mattie (Chris and Christies Chocolate Lab)

 Yesterday (Sunday Nov 1st) with new brace.

 

Just a picture of Mandy because she is soo dang cute!!!!

 

Chris and Chrisy at Grande Teton Brewery

We sampled them all.. :)

Fishing

Catching

Mesa Falls 9-26-15

So we took Allie Rai to Mesa falls this past weekend for a quick day trip.  The falls are roughly 45 miles or so from Idaho Falls.  Perfect driving distance straight up highway 20.  Great views of the Grand Tetons while driving up this high way when you get around Ashton ID.

 

Had a great quick visit.  Allie Rai seemed really impressed with the falls.    Here are a few pictures..

 

 

Lots of snow falls up here.. See below the snow pole

 

So we start our hike to the lower falls.  At this point in the hike everything is going great.  They have signs along the way telling you about the wildlife you may see.. 

 

Then we run into this recently posted sign.  Allie Rai and I thought it was cool.. Mandy not so much.  This was a game changer.  All I heard was "Nope, Sorry,, uh uhh.. noooooo sir... Back to the car now"!!!   Ha.. So I put my foot down like a man should and said "Well I'm getting a picture of it first"!!  Then I quickly retreated as instructed.. But I did get my picture.. :)

 

Fun trip.. 

 

1st Yellowstone National Park Trip

Well we finally made it to Yellow Stone.  That place is awesome.  I seriously recommend you putting it on your list of places to visit.  If you enjoy seeing wildlife, awesome landscape & active systemic stuff going on all over the place then you'll love it. 
This was Mandy and Allie Rai's first time crossing into Montana also.  We entered the park through West Yellowstone WY.  Another great little town to visit.  Very western style small town.  We plan on going back very soon.  There is so much to see and we only saw about 1/8th of the park. 

 Here are some photo's from the trip..

Mandy and Allie Rai's first time in Montana

 

 

Elk Walking along side the river.  There was a female and baby with him.. But I wasn't fast enough with the camera.

Buffalo just grazing by the road. 

Hot Spring behind Allie Rai.  It is right next to a river.  Boiling water coming out of the ground and spilling into the cool river.  

Huge herd of Buffalo in the background.

Mandy would not get out of the car due to the buffalo.  They say a safe distance is 100 ft.  These buffalo were probably 200 yards.. Mandy was not impressed by the distance.  She played it safe.  

 

Several geysers in the back ground.  

 Another boiling hot spring

 

Another Elk bedding next to a stream.

 

Boiling spring

 

Volcano looking geyser..

We finally made it to Old Faithful about mid-day.

 Mandy and Allie Rai waiting for Old Faithful to do her thing.. 

 

This was my favorite picture of the trip.  Soon as the geyser blows, Allie Rai jumps off the deck where everyone is sitting, runs in front of me (and about 300 other folks) and strikes her pose for a picture.. 

Allie Rai says "Don't just take a picture of Old Faithful, Take a picture WITH  Old Faithful"

 

Side note:  Never underestimate the stupidity of the public.  A guy behind us said to his group after the geyser went off "You think they turn it off at night?"  Yep.. He really said that..

 

Fun Trip!!  

Dawn's New Chapter

Well, my baby girl is about the fly from the nest.. I am not excited about it one little bit but she really wants to attend college in Georgia.  So this Saturday (Aug 22) Dawn will be flying back to Georgia to live with her Aunt Jessica for one year in order to gain back her residency for in state tuition.  And thus this will be the worst weekend of mine and Mandy's lives so far when she leaves..

After that year she will begin school at VSU.  She is not 100% sure about what she wants to major in at this point but she has a little time to decide.  Dawn will work and save her money for a year which will give her a good cushion when she starts school and not be so dependent on a job to start with and will allow her to concentrate on school as much as possible in the beginning.

When Dawn lands in ATL Saturday she will be heading over to watch the first Packers game in the dome.. (That lucky duck!!) 

As much as I hate her leaving home there are a couple little things that warm my heart to no end.. There is a little boy (an old Friend) of Dawns who has asked her to homecoming and i think the prom.  Therefore Dawn will be able to attend the homecoming and senior prom that she originally would have had we not moved to Idaho.  I think that is awesome. 

I don't know if Dawn wants me giving out the little fellers name but he is apparently a good little Christian boy and very active in church.  He and Dawn hung out a lot while she and Allie Rai were in Moultrie a few months back.  Dawn became very active in his church ( I think it was Mount Olive Baptist Church).  Mandy and I graduated with some of his family so we are very familiar with them as y'all would be as well.

The No Hot-Tub, Hot-Tub Patio Project

So Mandy and I have been busting tail in the back yard trying to get as much done as possible before winter hits.. (Then is snow sking time.. Whoop Whoop!!)
Anyway, we have a little side patio off of our main patio which was originally put there for a hot-tub.  Well I'm not exactly hot-tub material and frankly do not care for the up keep.  I already have to keep up with a small pond in the back yard..  So we decided to do the following... 
Me and Allie Rai built two benches, pushed them together to form a "L" around two sides.  Then I took my 20 dollar Wall-Mart fire pit I got a while back and surrounded it with concrete pavers from Lowes..  Mandy planed  some new flowers and plans to put some ivy in next spring.

So our "No Hot-Tub, Hot-Tub Patio" is DONE!!!

Side note:  When you ask your wife "So what do you think" and her response is "I like it, And i'm shocked"  How exactly is one to take that?  humm... 

 

Dawn Moving Back Home

Well, the day every parent dreads and hates is just around the corner from us now.  Dawn has decided she will be attending college in Georgia.  Therefore Aug 22nd (3 weeks ) she will be moving back to Moultrie.  She is going to be living with Jessica and Shaun for one year to gain her residency back in order to get in state tuition. 
Dawn has been offered 2 jobs to work during that year.  One of which is in the ER in Tifton and the other is at the  YMCA in Moultrie.  I honestly hope she take the YMCA so there wont be any commuting to work everyday.  So good news for family back home, but sad sad news for me and Mandy.  We have discussed this and prayed about it and this seems to be the best thing for Dawn.

So, one year in Moultrie working and living and she will start the following year at VSU.  Or that is plan as of now.  Due to the fact that she graduated a year early I think it will be a good thing to get another year under her belt before jumping right into college. 

Also, Dawn has started a new blog as well.  Check her facebook page out to get the link.  Her first post was pretty powerful..   Y'all take care.  

New House Update

So, we spent our entire weekend of the 4th moving into our new house.  Since then Mandy and I have worked every day and all last weekend either in the house or in the yards.  The folks before us were obviously not yard people.  Paul (our shop superintendent and my best friend here in Idaho) showed up to help me all day Saturday to clean up the back yard.  After 2 full (and I mean FULL) truckloads of pieces of forest I finally got the back yard presentable.  Heck, I even found a full size purple plum tree in the corner of the yard.

We still have an office which is untouched and full of boxes and an empty basement..  The basement is another story and will be a work in progress.  The basement has a 3rd den or living area which ever you want to call it, a 5th bedroom, and a full bath.  Mandy has generously given me the base to do whatever I want to do with it since the main floor has a living room and a den already.  I am very surprised she said that because there is no telling just how awesome this thing is going to get.. That will be later blog post as it progresses. 

Anyway here is where we are so far.. Pictures below..
**Please do not show Dawn and Allie Rai this post.. Mandy has not sent them a single picture of anything.. She wants everything to be surprised when they get home..

Front

Kitchen

Breakfast Area & Living Room (View From Kitchen)

 

Breakfast Area and Kitchen (View From Living Room)

Entry

View of Entry from top of stairs

Dining Room

Den

Master Bed Rm

Mandy's Favorite.. her new 250sq ft. closet

Unfinished portion of Basement for Storage

Part of back yard..

Allie Rai Baptized 4-19-15

Sunday morning Allie Rai made a decision to be baptized.  Mandy, Dawn & myself are so proud of her.  She has always been a strong believer and follower of Christ.  She has many times been the rock of the family and kept us going in the right direction despite her age.  She can get me so frustrated at times and then turn around and say a prayer that will bring a tear to your eye. 
Dawn was baptized at Funston church same place Mandy and myself were.  Dawn has really done good in her faith and still continues to walk with the Lord and has grown into a great example of how Christ can change and lead your life in great ways.  We are so proud of both our girls.

Some pictures we took Sunday.

 

 

Grand Targhee 4-11-15

Well I finally got Allie Rai up to Grand Targhee for some Spring time snow skiing.  We had a ball.  She has gotten so good that she is able to ski on the steep intermediate slopes with me and other guys from work.  Below are some pictures taken.

Our First Ride up.. She is totally excited to get to see me ski again..

Our first run down on this particular slope has a turn where you can stop have get a great picture of the grand Tetons in the back ground.  

2nd ride up, she is totally chilled and looking like a pro waiting to get to the top.. 

 

Just another spot we stopped to rest for a second on the way down.. Some of the slopes take you about 20 min or so to get down.. This place is huge..

We stopped here also to watch a ski championship going on in the background.  People are skiing down that cliff.  I could totally do it but didn't want to leave Allie Rai by herself waiting on me.

 One of the guys I work with wanted to take this picture of us in front of that sign.  Then I sent it to Mandy.  She didn't fine it as amusing as I we did. 

Kyle was there this weekend too.  So we skied with him for a while as well.

Pretty nice view from the top.  

Video of Allie Rai and Kyle headed down one of the slopes..