The remodel/addition so far

We have been dreaming about a major remodel/addition to our home for a long time now. We've had the plans in hand for more than a year, but by the time we got them, all the construction companies were booked for the season. We had to patiently wait to hire a contractor and get on their calendar, but glory, glory! Ground is broken and things are finally underway.

 A view in the shop of the things we had moved out of bedrooms and from the crawlspace by May 15.

 Digging on the north side of the house for the new garage foundation on May 28.

 Digging in the front of the house for the covered patio footings.

Porch removed from the west side of the house and hole dug for the foundation of our living room.

 Watching TV in the family room on camp chairs because of all the furniture we have moved out on May 31.

Ana jumping up from the garage after the floor was removed and dug out for the garage to be converted to living space on June 1.

R.I.P., Bidoof

When we arrived home from fishing Memorial Day weekend, we hauled all the duffle bags inside, unloaded the fishing gear into the shop, cleaned out the coolers, fed the dog and had dinner together. As we gathered in the family room, Seth opened up the top of Bidoof's cage to check on him.

When we left on Thursday, he had been as perky as usual. Miriam cleaned out his cage, refilled his food and water, and put everything back together. When we checked on him Monday, he was basically unresponsive.

Seth cautiously picked him up. We used an eyedropper to get him some water, then sugar water. Ana retrieved a rice pack, and we laid him on it to try and warm him up. After our initial shock, we sat down together to watch Studio C. Everyone took turns holding Bidoof as he lay on the warm rice pack.

Bidoof lying on the rice pack while snuggled in Seth's arms on Monday night.

The girls went to bed heartbroken. "Will you take care of him tonight?" Ana asked with big, watery eyes. Seth promised her that he would.

He set up a box with a heating pad in it right next to his side of the bed. He put water, carrots and hamster food next to the sweet fancy bear hamster. He even tucked him into a clean sock.

Bidoof in his sock sleeping bag with carrots nearby.

We woke up at 2:30 a.m. and checked on him. His breathing was labored. When we woke up again at 6:30, he was gone.

Seth fashioned a casket for Bidoof from a check box. Ana prepared a little headstone for him. That evening (Tuesday, May 27), we held a short funeral for him in the front yard and buried him at the base of a pine tree on the mound south of the driveway.

Bidoof's grave.

We had Bidoof for over 2 years. When he first arrived, he was nervous to be held (he actually bit a couple of us), but once he settled down, he was the sweetest guy a family could ask for. The girls loved holding him and letting him snooze in their bathrobe pockets or in the crooks of their arms. We loved watching him retrieve carrots from the bottom part of his cage, shove them in his cheek pouches and carry them up the tubes to the top part of his cage. When Seth found a small pet playpen at D.I., the girls set it up on the family room floor and made an obstacle course of toilet paper tubes for Bidoof to climb in, around and through. He even joined Winnie and her dolls for a tea party or two. Seth liked to let Bidoof perch on his shoulder while we sat and watched T.V. in the evenings; he could hear his tiny squeaks. We couldn't have asked for a better rodent as a pet.

Bidoof around the time we got him, back in May 2018.

More Friday field trips

Week 6: Cemeteries

We usually decorate cemeteries sometime in June because May gets crazy busy. Not so this year! Instead of being late, we were well ahead of the game when we postponed our Friday field trip for Saturday, May 9. And Rebekah got a few hours of driving under her belt when she drove us to Annis, Archer, Ririe, Ammon, Iona and Lincoln.

 Seth taking a pictures of his grandparents' headstone in Archer.

Bekah and Ana goofing off at another cemetery.

Week 7: Hell's Half Acre

We again postponed our Friday field trip for the day after so Seth and Grandma and Grandpa Scott could go with us to explore Hell's Half Acre west of town on Saturday, May 16. We didn't hike the entire 4.5 miles back to the origin of the lava flow, but we went about halfway so we could see what the area was like.

 Winnie next to a fissure.

 The girls on a giant lava lump. (I'm sure that's its official name.)

 Seth, Ana and Bekah.

 Sitting down for a rest.

 Checking out the geocache we found.

Eating ice cream from Reed's on the way home.

Week 8: Henry's Lake

We lumped in a whole lot of fun during Memorial Day weekend in Island Park May 21-25. Rachel and Justin weren't able to make it, but they opened up their cabin to us, so we enjoyed the view and being together. Our family went up Thursday evening, and the rest of our group (Grandpa Dennis, Grandma Susan, Calvin, Lily and Cooper) joined us Friday night.

 Ana pulling her bow after Seth set the weight on it at the cabin on Friday, May 22.

 Bekah, Miri, Seth, Ana and Winnie checking out Quake Lake just across the state line in Montana on Friday.

 Ana, Cooper, Calvin and Winnie making origami claws on Saturday, May 23. It turned into a whole big role-playing game that involved an emperor, a general, some gladiators ... and I'm not sure what else. It snowed pretty much all day, so we stayed inside for the most part and saved the fishing for Monday.

Rebekah passing the time reading on her Kindle.

 Ana and Bekah checking out the pier at Henry's Lake to see if the fish were spawning on Saturday. They didn't seem to be.

Winnie watching Ana unwrap her present from the family on her birthday, Sunday, May 24.

Ana trying to figure out why her copy of "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" (the new Hunger Games prequel) is blank. Turns out, we ordered a "Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" journal. The Amazon post for it made it seem like it was the novel and not a blank book. Why would you have to pre-order a blank book?! We returned it and got the right book for her.

Ana trying out the bath sheet she received as a present. Her bath towel was too small and "not fluffy."

Grandma Susan, Seth, Bekah, Lily and Winnie looking at the Madison River from the Refuge Point trail. After having home church at the cabin Sunday morning and having Ana open her presents, we took the afternoon to go on the 2.3-mile loop trail and explore other points of interest related to the 1959 earthquake that transformed the landscape in the area. 

 Group photo on the hike: Grandma Susan, Winnie, Ana, Seth, Andrea, Bekah, Miriam. Lily took the picture for us. Grandpa Dennis, Calvin and Cooper stayed back at the cabin.

 Ana looking at the remains of cabins that were destroyed during the 1959 earthquake.

The crew fishing from the bank at Henry's Lake on Monday, May 25.

 Winnie with her first catch of the day. She had never fished before (just practiced casting with a little Barbie pole with a weight on the end), but she pleaded with Seth to let her use a real fishing pole with a hook and bait and everything. Then she prayed every night for days that she would catch a fish. She ended up catching two.

 Ana reacting to her fish flopping on the line after catching it. Ana had never caught a trout before (just chubs), so she was excited to also catch her limit that day.

 Analee making friends with Willow the dog.

 Bekah poking the dead fish.

Miriam, Ana, Lily, Winnie, Calvin and Bekah with all our fish.

 Ana learning how to gut the fish. She made the cut, but Seth removed the guts. None of the rest of us was willing to learn how to gut fish that day.

 Winnie's reaction to Seth gutting fish.

Week 9: Moving furniture

Instead of running out somewhere and doing something cool, we spent the weekend of May 29-30 moving most of our heavy furniture into the shop. Our remodel/addition has finally begun (see later post), and we wanted to get as much out as possible while we still had a garage floor. Grandpa Scott lent us his trailer and his dollies, and we managed to move out all the couches, the bunk beds, the piano, the stove, the end tables, the fireplaces, the Barbie house, the oak closet, the cedar chest and the headboard from our room to the shop.

 Ana and Bekah acting as counterweights tied to the piano as we rolled it down the ramp from the kitchen to the garage.

 Bekah practicing the piano in the shop after we moved it.

Winnie, Miriam, Ana and Bekah riding on the loveseat and couch as we move it to the shop.

Week 10: West Barnes Mountain

Bekah went with her friends to hike to Lower Palisades, so I took the other girls to explore a new trail: West Barnes Mountain past Kelly's Canyon. It was a steep 1.2 miles to the top (and back down again), but it was fun to take Peach and enjoy the view and trail mix.

 Miriam and Winnie headed up the steep trail.

Peach's muddy paws on the trail.

Miriam and Peach at the top.

 Miriam, Peach, Ana, Andrea and Winnie at the top.

School ends in quarantine

The girls all finished out their school year at home with quick trips to their various schools for parades, picking up yearbooks and cleaning out lockers. Everyone (except Bekah's seminary) was finished with classwork by Friday, May 15--two weeks before school was originally scheduled to be finished. The extra two weeks were for students who had fallen behind to get caught back up before receiving final grades. Bekah and Ana finished their core classes even earlier since most of the school work was handed out ahead of time, and they could finish at their leisure. This academic year certainly went out "not with a bang but with a whimper."

 Rebekah on "prom day" for online band classes on Thursday, May 7.

 Bekah driving the van for the first time (Friday, May 8) after receiving her permit. As soon as the stay-home order was lifted, her driving school contacted her about receiving her driving instruction--something she's been waiting for since March 25. All occupants of the car had to wear masks, and everyone/everything was sanitized every half hour. She completed her instruction in a week and has since been driving us around town.

Ana's poster and car decorations for the teacher parade at Rocky Mountain on Friday, May 8. For one hour on a specified date, all the teachers sat on the lawn of the middle school, and the kids could come past and show their support. 

Rebekah's lesson for "Come, Follow Me" at home on Sunday, May 10. 

Winnie and Miriam in the back of the truck for the Fairview teacher parade on Friday, May 15.

 Holding their posters in the back of the truck.

 Ana emptying out her locker at the middle school on Tuesday, May 19. Students were assigned specific times to come clean out their lockers and turn in books so that they could manage the number of people inside the school at one time.

Ana, her mask and backpack outside the school.