August 31-September 13

Here are some highlights from the past two weeks.

On Saturday, Sept. 5th, we wandered around the Morrison Knudsen Nature Center. It was a beautiful morning and we got to see lots of cool fish, including a sturgeon. In the evening, we celebrated my birthday with family. On the following Monday (Labor Day), we had a family dinner and BYU football party at Grandma and Grandpa Stott's house. Ambrose chose to write about that for one of his writing assignments this week.

"The football game was awesome. There was good food. It was nice and there were screams. Our family from Idaho was there! The end."

This Friday, Sept. 11th, the boys had fun helping Grandpa with chores that certainly didn't feel like chores. Gideon got to use the riding lawn mower for the first time and couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. Ambrose was just as gleeful about using the leaf blower and Silas had great fun using the pressure washer. A little while after we returned home from Grandma and Grandpa's, Peter came. The boys were delighted with his new car and got to go on a drive with the top down on Saturday morning. They also went hiking with him.

August 16th-30th

The boys spent some time in Provo and St. George and celebrated Peter's birthday with him. Unfortunately, they also picked up the Coronavirus. As a result, there's not too much to report on during the past two weeks. Probably our most exciting event was the walk we took last Sunday to a nearby park. The boys practiced using their new digital cameras and these ducks became some of the most photographed ducks in the history of the world.

August 9th-15th

Riki's family came to visit for a few days, so we had some fun family dinners and also went to Eagle Island on Tuesday. At Eagle Island, the boys got to paddle board, kayak, and swim with their cousins.

On Friday, I drove the boys to Ogden where they were picked up by Grandma Wall and relayed back to Provo. The boys will spend the next week in Provo with Peter.

August 3rd-8th

We were able to close on our house and get keys on Monday, August 3rd. Since I didn't get the keys until late in the afternoon when it was already really hot, I decided to wait until the morning to move things in. The boys and I headed back to Emmett for the night. Meanwhile, Kodie's family and the missionaries surprised us by moving all of our furniture in and assembling it that night. The next morning was Gideon's birthday. Kodie took all of the kids to Wahooz for the day while my mom and I stayed and unpacked boxes. Wahooz was a big hit! The boys loved it and Gideon particularly liked the go-karts. In the evening, we celebrated Gideon's birthday with a sushi dinner and a brownie "cake" and ice cream. 

A couple of days later, Gideon got this awesome electric scooter from Peter which he has enjoyed riding all around the neighborhood.

On Monday morning, we loaded up a U-Haul and cleaned our house with the help of many kind people. In the afternoon, we gave our keys to the new owners, said our teary goodbyes to the neighbors, and then backed out of the driveway and straight into our garbage can--leaving a big dent in the can and a small dent in the van. After that dramatic exit, the boys and I drove to a sketchy Motel 6 in Ogden where we learned that it's worth $30 more for clean towels and a bed that doesn't skewer your back with its springs. The next day, we finished up our trip to Idaho and celebrated Grandma's birthday.

The scheduled closing date on our new house got pushed back, but we are hoping that it will close tomorrow or Tuesday.

It's strange to look back on the last post from July 5th because so much has shifted in all of our lives during the past twenty-one days. Just a couple of days after writing that post (on our thirteenth anniversary), Peter and I met with a divorce attorney. (Hence the address change on this blog from 7seven07.blogspot.com to thewallboys.blogspot.com.) So, in the past three weeks

• We started the divorce process.
• Peter hunted for and found a place to rent and then moved out.
• We had an offer accepted on a house in Idaho and hurried the financing through so that our closing dates could line up better.
• I registered the boys for a homeschooling program in Idaho.
• We closed on our current house and have been busy packing and cleaning.

In addition to those things, Gideon also got in a bike accident this week when the front fork of his bike snapped off. He was wearing a helmet, but he hit his chin and blacked out. He also scraped off the skin on his right arm and both of his knees.

On the positive side, we got rain this week and when it rains in St. George all of the neighbors come out to celebrate and it becomes an impromptu party.

We also had a party with the neighbors on Pioneer Day.

Tomorrow we will load the U-Haul and finish cleaning the house and either tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday morning, we will begin our trek to Idaho.

It has been a busy two weeks! The boys and I went on a fun trip to Provo and Idaho.

 While we were gone, Peter traded in our car and bought a truck.

We got back from our trip on Tuesday of this week. On Thursday afternoon, we listed our house for sale and on Friday afternoon, we signed a purchase contract and filled out the seller's disclosures. On Saturday, we celebrated Independence Day with an early-morning trip to Toquerville Falls and fireworks in the evening.

 

Pancake Pro

Ambrose really really loves to make pancakes and he makes them frequently. After producing a griddleful of lovely pancakes, he returned to the griddle to use up the rest of his batter. He poured the pancake batter on and waited and waited and finally said, "I don't get it, these pancakes still aren't ready to flip." I looked at the griddle and realized that he had turned it off between batches so the pancakes weren't cooking at all. When I informed Ambrose of this, he groaned and said, "Ughh, such a rookie mistake!"

Stranger Danger

I took the boys to the dentist this week. Ambrose was the first to get called into the exam room, so I waited in the waiting room with Gideon and Silas until they could go back as well. When I went to check on Ambrose and see how he was doing, the dental hygienist related the following conversation:

Dental hygienist: "So do you ever go biking on the bike trails around here?"

Ambrose: "I'm not from around here." (The dentist office is about three minutes from our house, so I'm not sure why Ambrose said that unless he was just confused about where she was talking about...or unless he was trying to throw her off of his trail.)

Dental hygienist: "Oh, where do you live?"

Ambrose: "That's personal information."

Silas' Jacket Theory

Silas: "Mother, I need a new jacket."
Me: "But it's the middle of summer."
Silas: "I know, but I like wearing jackets."
Me: "But it's like a hundred degrees outside. They don't even sell jackets right now."
Silas: "But it follows the same principle as why you would want to hit yourself in the head with a hammer."
Me: "You mean so that it can feel better when you stop."
Silas: "Yes. If you wear a jacket, it can feel a lot cooler when you take it off."